Star Odyssey-Chapter 3464: Assassination

"Third Boss, you must be careful. Qi Shangjun has an innate gift that allows her to freeze the void, much like a battle technique that uses the power of space. Her innate gift made her unstoppable in her youth, and in her youth, she was once hailed as the greatest of her generation. At that time, no one could avoid her ability to freeze the void. However, as people’s cultivation improved and more people gained access to the powers of space and time, her innate gift lost its effectiveness. Still, it’s very effective in ambushes," Old Tao explained.

Qi Shangjun shot a cold glare at Old Tao. "Old man, you’ve offended my Qi family! You won’t die a good death."

Old Tao did not want to offend the Qi family, but currying favor with Lu Yin was necessary at the moment. If Lu Yin had died in that initial ambush, that would have been the end of things. However, seeing Lu Yin easily brush aside that deadly trap had badly shaken Old Tao. He was now certain that, aside from the Seven Seraphs, no one could match the Third Boss.

If not now, then when?

This thought caused Old Tao to become even more animated. "You old hag, you’re the one who’s courting death! Do you even know who you’ve offended? Our Third Boss is a god amongst men, hailing from a mythical land! How dare a mere mortal like you even think to compare yourself to him? Shut your filthy eyes! Even looking at our Third Boss is an insult. You want to kill him? The mere thought of such a thing is a sin! You’re not worthy! Ptui!"

Qi Shangjun grew furious as the old man continued ranting, and she wanted to do nothing more than slap Old Tao dead.

She and Old Tao were old acquaintances. He had once referred to her as Fairy Qi Shangjun, but now, he dared to publicly call her an old hag! How outrageous and infuriating.

Qi Shangjun sneered viciously. "Fine! Fine, old man. Just wait. After I deal with him, I’ll make sure you are tormented for an eternity!"

With that, she flung her sharp spike straight at Lu Yin while descending into Ninerings City. She arrived at the place where several others had already gathered, and they worked together.

Lu Yin looked over. A spiritual treasure formation? So that’s their plan. They were setting up a consciousness-based spiritual treasure formation, which explained the powerful consciousness attack earlier.

Qi Shangjun was cooperating with several Spirit Ancestors. By using a spiritual treasure formation, they were able to unleash a consciousness attack that was as powerful as an Ortuser’s attack.

"Again!" Qi Shangjun refused to believe that Lu Yin could withstand several such assaults.

Ortuser-level consciousness attacks had caused a great deal of suffering to the Spirit Nidus. There were even incidents when Dukkhans had died from such attacks. As far as Qi Shangjun could tell, Lu Yin was an Ortuser, at best. An Ortuser-level consciousness attack should be enough to easily defeat him.

Lu Yin casually grabbed the sharp spike and casually twirled it around his fingers while staring into the distance. He was waiting for the consciousness attack to appear.

Old Tao was shocked, and exclaimed, "Third Boss, be careful! That’s a consciousness-based spiritual treasure formation!"

Palace Master Yao and Cai Keqing were watching intently. Once again, there was a consciousness-based spiritual treasure formation before them. They had once taken part in these formations.

Anyone who had fought in the war in the Consciousness Megaverse would be familiar with this particular spiritual treasure formation.

Against conscients, this formation served as a shield that protected the people of the Spirit Nidus. On the other hand, when used against cultivators from the Spirit Nidus, the formation was a destructive weapon.

The Qi family’s status in the Spirit Nidus was entirely reliant on this spiritual treasure formation.

A surge of consciousness once again bombarded Lu Yin. Qi Shangjun did not know how Lu Yin had endured their first attack, but that was irrelevant. There was no doubt that he would be swept away by the second, third, or fourth attacks. The Qi family had slain countless enemies with this formation, and this Third Boss would not be an exception.

Lu Yin stood motionless in the sky, his expression showing only curiosity as he studied the spiritual treasure formation.

So that’s how it works. It uses consciousness as a sourcebox’s dangerzone, and the formation then exponentially amplifies its power. Interesting. Lu Yin’s eyes lit up as he was inspired by an idea.

Qi Shangjun had already released seven consciousness attacks. The formation was being controlled by three Spirit Ancestors and herself, an Ortuser.

All three of the Spirit Ancestors were bleeding from their seven orifices and were on the verge of collapsing.

While powerful, the spiritual treasure formation was not something that could launch infinite attacks.

Without an Ortuser like Qi Shangjun, the combined efforts of three Spirit Ancestors, at best, would have produced a consciousness attack at the level of a sequence powerhouse. It would not have come even close to reaching the level of an Ortuser’s attack.

Qi Shangjun stared at Lu Yin in a daze. Is he completely unharmed? How is that even possible?

Others believed that Lu Yin and his group were from the Consciousness Megaverse, but just like many other top figures in the Spirit Nidus, Qi Shangjun knew that Boundless had come from the Tianyuan Megaverse. How could anyone from there endure such a terrifying barrage of consciousness attacks? Even if this Third Boss was from the Consciousness Megaverse, surviving such an onslaught should have been impossible.

Countless conscients had been obliterated by this same spiritual treasure formation.

Lu Yin casually threw the spike at Qi Shangjun. She froze the void, only for it to shatter, layer after layer. The spike stabbed through her shoulder, and then into the body of the Spirit Ancestor who stood behind her. In an instant, the spiritual treasure formation was broken.

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The other two Spirit Ancestors, sensing danger, tried to flee, only to be stabbed by another sharp spike that Lu Yin had thrown out. Blood stained the ground beneath them.

Lu Yin raised a hand and flicked a finger at Qi Shangjun. The resulting shockwave repeatedly passed through her body.

The old woman coughed up blood. She was utterly astonished by how well Lu Yin had resisted the consciousness attacks, as well as his overwhelming physical strength. Even so, Qi Shangjun did not try to retreat. Even as blood streamed from multiple wounds, she stood her ground, glaring at Lu Yin.

A smile touched Lu Yin’s lips. "What are you waiting for?

"Is it Life's Requiem?"

Qi Shangjun’s gaze narrowed. "You... how do you know?"

Not once had Qi Shangjun ever revealed to anyone that she cultivated a sequence technique. She had always focused on cultivating her consciousness, as was the tradition for her Qi family.

However, Qi Shangjun had secretly cultivated the sixth-ranked sequence technique: Life's Requiem. This had been kept secret to all but the Qi family and the High Seraph. No outsiders had ever learned of this secret, not even the Revolt Alliance.

It was Qi Shangjun’s trump card.

Earlier, when she had first ambushed Lu Yin, the old woman had released her sequence particles in preparation to unleash Life's Requiem.

While she was confident that the Third Boss could not possibly survive the ambush, she had still taken the precaution.

She had not expected Lu Yin to not only evade her initial strike, but also ignore her consciousness attacks. Even then, his durability did not matter, as her final trump card had always been Life's Requiem.

This sixth-ranked sequence technique was enough to bury the man.

Never had Qi Shangjun dreamed that Lu Yin would recognize Life's Requiem.

Life's Requiem consisted of sequence particles that first analyzed an opponent with the laws of the universe. Then, they would transform into a poison that was specifically tailored to the target at the precise moment of analysis.

It was the same sequence technique that Meng Sang had cultivated.

This sequence technique was not particularly useful during a fight, but as soon as it activated, it would decide the final outcome.

If Lu Yin had not fought against Meng Sang in the branch stream of the River of Aeons, he might not have recognized Life's Requiem. In that case, Qi Shangjun’s ambush might have succeeded. However, even during Lu Yin’s first encounter with the sequence technique, he had been able to neutralize it. Lightstream enabled him to reverse time by a single second, and that one second was all he needed.

Qi Shangjun had no idea how diverse her opponent’s training was. Lu Yin had dabbled in nearly everything, and he had also mastered all that he had cultivated.

The fact that Lu Yin had recognized Life's Requiem left all who heard him astonished.

Old Tao was stunned. Had Qi Shangjun actually cultivated a sequence technique? Not only that, but it was the sixth-ranked Life's Requiem?

Palace Master Yao, the Misery Gate’s Si Kong, and the other experts watching the battle had never imagined such a thing.

It was no wonder why the Qi family had protected Qi Shangjun so fiercely. She was extraordinarily talented. She had been born with an innate talent, was adept at cultivating the power of consciousness, and was even a sequence powerhouse. In fact, she had not even used her Spirit Transformation innate gift yet. The woman fully deserved her ranking of seven black spirits on the Black Spirit List.

Given more time, she might have even been able to compete for the title of Seraph.

But the fact that Lu Yin had recognized Life's Requiem rendered the sequence technique useless.

Qi Shangjun knew that her efforts to endure had been in vain. She recognized that she was physically much weaker than Lu Yin and had also been severely injured. If she persisted, she would undoubtedly die.

She had barely survived when escaping from the Consciousness Domain, and she had been protected by the Qi family since then. She could not accept dying to this Third Boss, and neither could her Qi family.

"Third Boss, the Qi family controls the Consciousness Domain. Spare me, and you can name your terms," Qi Shangjun softly stated.

Lu Yin scoffed. "The Qi family controls the Consciousness Domain? Is this a joke? What about the Revolt Alliance?"

Qi Shangjun gritted her teeth. "The Revolt Alliance and the Qi family are not what outsiders believe them to be. If they were, even if I had barely survived, I would have never escaped. If the Grandverse Manor wants to change the very foundation of the Spirit Nidus and abolish the restrictions in place, then defeating the High Seraph won’t be enough on its own. These restrictions have been in place long before the High Seraph rose to power. For example, the fact that beast-form Spirit Rebirths are forbidden from being together with human-form Spirit Rebirths is an ancient tradition that has never been changed. The High Seraph didn’t start that."

Whether or not the High Seraph established the restrictions that existed was irrelevant to Lu Yin. All he wanted to do was stir up trouble and cause mayhem. After all, he was not in the Tianyuan Megaverse. He did not care how much havoc he caused in the Spirit Nidus.

However, Lu Yin was curious about Qi Shangjun’s attitude. "You don’t seem to respect the High Seraph very much."

Qi Shangjun let out a breath. There was a bit of blood at the corner of her mouth, and when she started speaking, that congealed blood broke open. "A person who’s been shackled since childhood won’t think of breaking free. However, once those shackles are removed, that person will never allow themselves to be restrained again."

Lu Yin nodded. "That’s a good point. You’re quite lucky. If not for the White Willow being stolen, you would still be the obedient ancestor of the Qi family who stands guard over the White Willow, content to remain in the Consciousness Domain. You might have never broken through and become an Ortuser, even at the cusp of death.

"Now, not only have you become an Ortuser, but you’ve also broadened your horizons. You are no longer subservient to the High Seraph, which allows your perspective to surpass most people’s. Impressive, truly impressive."

Qi Shangjun sighed in relief. "Will you spare me, Third Boss? My Qi family will surely compensate you generously."

Lu Yin suddenly lashed out. His hand fell like the sky, descending upon Qi Shangjun. "Unfortunately, your Qi family will never have that same kind of perspective. How could a single family rebel against the High Seraph? Do you take me for a fool?"

Qi Shangjun’s eyes bulged, and she felt the threat of death. Her entire body flushed red. "Third Boss, you’ve forced me!"

Every cultivator in the Spirit Nidus would experience a Spirit Rebirth. It was an inevitable result of their cultivation method. However, a Spirit Rebirth also served to distinguish the talented from the mediocre.

Mediocre cultivators would never be able to obtain a Spirit Transformation innate gift or weapon. Such things were limited to the truly gifted.

Naturally, Qi Shangjun was a genius, and possibly the strongest one of her generation. Of course she possessed a Spirit Transformation innate gift, but it could not be used in normal combat. It was something that had to be reserved for a truly desperate situation, and it was also her greatest secret. Not even anyone in her Qi family knew what it was.

The only thing that the members of the Qi family knew was that Qi Shangjun had kept her Spirit Transformation innate gift a secret. They had no idea what that innate gift was.

Qi Shangjun’s Spirit Transformation innate gift was a simple one: it traded her vitality for power.

When burning her life force, the more she burned, the stronger she would become.

Her successful escape from the Consciousness Domain was not only because of her successful breakthrough. How could a new Ortuser hope to fight their way out of the Consciousness Domain?

Her success also could not be attributed to the Qi family. At that time, the Qi family had decided to abandon her. While they had secretly aided her after her breakthrough, that help had not been enough to let her escape. They had merely shown her the path. The actual reason why she had escaped from the Consciousness Domain was entirely because of her Spirit Transformation innate gift.