This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder-Chapter 699: Divine Strike

Yinian raised his sword and slashed, attempting to deflect Gu Longyu’s oncoming blow, but his hands faltered. Gu Longyu slashed down, sinking his saber’s blade into his shoulder. Cracks formed around the wound, causing black qi with countless tiny motes of light to drift out.

Gu Longyu frowned. The breakthrough in his comprehension did not allow him to dominate Yinian as he expected. He held an absolute advantage, but he didn’t think it was enough to kill Yinian.

He raised his saber again, intending to attack Yinian and cleave him in half, but the latter left behind vestiges as he floated away in a ghostly manner. Gu Longyu’s saber only seemed to solidify. Anyone who gazed at the saber would feel as if they were staring at the world itself.

The saber slashed the phantom left behind by Yinian in his escape. They should have vanished upon contact, but strangely, they remained in existence, appearing even more real—not just the first one, but all subsequent phantoms.

When Gu Longyu’s saber slashed them, a mark appeared on all the phantoms, and when he slashed the second phantom at a slightly different location from the previous phantom, a fresh wound appeared on all the phantoms, even the one he had already slashed.

“Guh!” Yinian groaned as he clutched his chest. Countless wounds had appeared. They weren’t as extensive as the ones on his phantoms, but the locations mirrored the wounds exactly.

Yinian could sense it. Through the Law of Five Phases, Gu Longyu had anchored his past visages and attacked them. What had happened to him in the past would naturally manifest in the present. Still, that was far from enough to make him back down.

He charged, and Gu Longyu obliged.

The two continued to fight. Only now, the scale of their aftershocks magnified, making it seem as though the sky had truly shattered for the denizens of the second planet. Even when the peak experts of the top forces gathered, they dared not intervene.

It was much the same for the reinforcements from the Death Defier Alliance. Although the two sides fought each other, they kept the scale small, knowing that the final outcome would be determined by the victor of the battle in outer space.

Countless wounds covered Yinian’s body, while only a sparse few covered Gu Longyu. Their situation had reversed. The Law of Destruction did not excel at healing, being far below average, and his previous regeneration was due to his powerful immortal body, but the addition of the Law of Five Phases changed that. It dramatically raised his offense, but the increased healing and defense were nothing to scoff at either.

Compounding all this was Gu Longyu’s transforming qi. The more time passed, the greater the percentage of essence qi that made up his reserves, bringing him closer to becoming a true immortal sovereign.

The number of wounds on Yinian’s body continued to increase, while Gu Longyu’s decreased, but after a certain point, the number of wounds on both bodies maintained a fairly stable rate, with only occasional fluctuations.

Gu Longyu frowned. The longer the battle drew out, the more accustomed Yinian became to his attacks and power. Although his essence qi was still transforming, he could sense that it was slowing down. True, his power increased, but it was no longer such a crucial difference that it would allow him to strike down Yinian.

More importantly, he could feel his ascension to the Origin Immortal Realm hitting a barrier. It was not that he did not have the qualifications, but that a full breakthrough could not happen in the midst of battle. At most, he would be a half-immortal sovereign.

Still, Gu Longyu’s saber did not stop. It was as if he would not stop even if the world ended. Having fought Yinian several times, he was extremely wary of Yinian fleeing and returning even more powerful. Each time he encountered Yinian, the latter would always return far stronger.

Logically speaking, this should no longer be the case the farther one traveled along the path. Especially at the Extremity Immortal Realm or Origin Immortal Realm, even a small advancement was like crossing a mountain—impossible without at least thousands of years passing.

But Gu Longyu no longer thought of Yinian in normal terms. So in this battle, he had to eliminate Yinian!

On the other hand, Yinian did not back down either. Cracks covered over twenty percent of his body. As for why it was only twenty percent, that was because nearly thirty percent of his body had disappeared and was continuously leaking immortal qi of primordial chaos.

If an immortal monarch carelessly touched primordial chaos qi, they would lose a chunk of their body. A true immortal would immediately die, and even immortal emperors would treat it with extreme caution. Even an immortal sovereign would have to pay attention, but Gu Longyu ignored it. The power of the Law of Five Phases allowed him to overcome the destructive nature of the qi.

Suddenly, Yinian paused.

Gu Longyu did not miss that chance and attacked with all his might. In a single instant, he released ten slashes almost simultaneously. Why only ten? That was the perfect number that allowed him to unleash his full might. Any other combination would result in lower overall damage.

And Yinian took all those attacks, increasing the number of cracks by a few percentage points and covering more of his body in black. However, his face remained composed. The “injuries” did not stop him—at least, the extent of the damage could not stop him.

Yinian resumed his fierce battle with Gu Longyu as if nothing had changed. Yet, Gu Longyu felt something amiss. Although everything felt no different—the same ferocity, the same killing intent—something had changed.

Gu Longyu had an ominous premonition. It was not the same danger he felt when facing Yinian, but one from a third party. For a moment, Gu Longyu fell into a dilemma. Should he continue or retreat?

It took only a split second for Gu Longyu to make his decision. He was the Dragon Emperor, and he would not retreat!

Despite his determination, the longer the battle dragged on, the more Gu Longyu felt something like an invisible net closing in on him. He released his immortal sense and saber intent, but he could not detect anything—no ambushes, not even a single living thing in the destruction left in the wake of his and Yinian’s battle.

Yinian retreated a thousand kilometers and brandished his sword. A powerful force gathered in his blade. Gu Longyu felt grave danger from it. If he were struck, he would be severely injured—but only if Yinian could successfully gather energy for his technique.

In reality, both he and Yinian possessed such powerful methods, but they required a considerable amount of time to charge—one to a few seconds. That might sound short, but in a battle between true immortals, it might as well be years, much less a battle between two immortal sovereign-level cultivators.

Each time one of them attempted such an action, the other would immediately stop them. In the worst cases, even beginning such a move would leave them open to retaliation. And Yinian left too large an opening for Gu Longyu to miss.

Gu Longyu appeared in front of Yinian, saber poised to cleave.

At that moment, he saw the emotions in Yinian’s eyes—anger, unwillingness, and… acceptance?

He didn’t think Yinian was giving up. If anything, he saw a deeper sense of pity in Yinian’s eyes. Of course, this pity wasn’t directed at him, but at Yinian himself.

Then he vanished.

It was an abrupt disappearance, and Gu Longyu was caught off guard. Still, his blade did not hesitate, and it continued, leaving behind a beautiful yet destructive arc.

He hit nothing.

Gu Longyu frowned. He couldn’t sense Yinian’s presence at all. Although Yinian was exceptionally proficient in concealment and movement techniques, Gu Longyu could sense him later through the Law of Five Phases. Unless Yinian mastered an equally powerful law, he should not have been able to escape his senses so easily anymore.

His mind raced, running through many possibilities. Assassination technique? Escape?

He leaned more toward the former. Yinian showed no signs of retreating. It felt as though the latter wanted to fight a war of attrition—one which Gu Longyu was happy to oblige. Thanks to the Law of Five Phases, his recovery was incredible, even in outer space. It would have been a different story had it been in the Vast Void he remembered.

Gu Longyu waited, but he did not wait for Yinian’s sneak attack. Instead, he noticed a shining star.

When he noticed it, the star was shining radiantly, as if it had gone supernova. Then it was too late.

Before Gu Longyu knew it, light filled his vision—not just his vision, but his entire body. The star was an ultra-long beam that struck him from an impossible distance. He wasn’t the only one, as members of the Death Defier Alliance all suffered the same fate.

Gu Longyu roared as he felt the invasion of death. His compatriots fell victim to the attack, while he stubbornly resisted.

It was nothing like Gu Longyu had ever experienced. It was as if the world itself wanted him dead, and not in a metaphorical sense. Every cell in his body was losing vitality, as though it had reached the end of its lifespan—something impossible for an immortal unless their willpower waned.

Even his very soul seemed to dissipate, as if it could not handle the passage of time. Once more, Gu Longyu felt the hand of death.

Through sheer willpower, Gu Longyu held on. When the light vanished, his golden scales lost their luster. Seconds later, the scales disappeared, revealing a wrinkled old man with decrepit white hair.

“Damn it!” Gu Longyu roared. He immediately retreated and hid on the second planet. If he encountered Yinian in such a state, he would definitely die. Not only that, but his ascension to the Origin Immortal Realm was delayed because of this.

That being said, Gu Longyu was certain that the attack had come from the Goddess of Death. The direction was Planet Heavensong. From such a distance, not even an immortal sovereign could launch such an attack.

As for why Gu Longyu did not think it was some divine artifact or similar weapon, it was because he felt a cold will full of murderous intent directed at him. Gu Longyu knew a weapon could not possess such murderous will. The only explanation was that a divinity had attacked him.

Far from showing fear, a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes. So what if it’s a divinity? I’ll drag you down and make you nourishment for my growth!

Although he harbored such ambitions, Gu Longyu knew it was more important to recuperate first. Because of the possibility of Yinian’s attack, he was exceptionally careful.

While recovering, Gu Longyu pondered the mystery of Yinian’s disappearance. His first thought was of the suspected mobile immortal grotto. However, there was a major problem. While immortal grottos possessed concealment capabilities, his understanding surpassed that of the average immortal sovereign, making it impossible to hide the existence of an immortal grotto from him.

Unless… it wasn’t an immortal grotto!

Gu Longyu had long heard legends of divine worlds. Unlike immortal grottoes, these miniature worlds were truly independent. Even if you hurled them into the Vast Void for a million years, they would still stand tall.

Did Yinian have access to a divine grotto?

Or was the divine grotto related to the Temple of Death? If that was the case, the mystery troubling him could be resolved. It had always puzzled him why he and Yinian had appeared in the Death Goddess Planetary Alliance, even though the other ascenders all arrived when they reached the Path-Finding Immortal Realm. They hadn’t come because of ascension laws, but because their battles drew the attention of the Goddess of Death. More specifically, it should have been the divine grotto in Yinian’s possession! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

It was likely that the divine grotto contained a divine-level inheritance!

Gu Longyu had heard rumors that there wasn’t only one divinity behind the Temple of Death, but two. However, he had dismissed them before. Now, he had to lend more credence to that theory. Of course, Gu Longyu did not think the second divinity was still alive. Otherwise, there would only be one publicly worshipped goddess.

In the middle of his recovery, the Death Defier Alliance contacted him. Gu Longyu did not reunite with them—who knew whether Yinian would suddenly appear and attack him? Still, that did not prevent him from informing them of his findings.

His report cast a somber mood over the Death Defier Alliance. Not only was there the troublesome Yinian, but now the theory that the Temple of Death was headed by a divinity had all but been confirmed. The news was undoubtedly explosive, and it was already too late to back out.

Unknown to Gu Longyu, the Death Defier Alliance decided to slay the Goddess of Death, and their scheme centered on Yinian. The only times the goddess had taken action in recent years were when she appointed Yinian as the Holy Son, and once again when he was in danger against Gu Longyu. With this information, they intended to lure her out.

When Gu Longyu fully healed and reached the Origin Immortal Realm, he learned of the imminent commencement of this scheme.