The branches and leaves were torn apart. The Immortal Lord had underestimated the three weapons targeting them. The two steel forks were wielded by Old Fourth and Old Fifth, both of whom were Immortal Seven-Treasure Anuras. Each one of them was roughly as strong as Mister Mu. As for the long spear, that was Awecloud, wielded by Greater Sancte Awe Gate. She even used Cloud Manifest, which she had once used to fight evenly against Lan Meng.

With the three striking as one, not even the Immortal Lord could easily block the attacks.

The Immortal Lord was startled, as more new opponents had appeared. Lu Yin had taken Jiang Feng, Mister Mu, and Little Eighteen back, only to return with Old Fourth, Old Fifth, and Awe Gate.

That strange bird had not joined forces with the Immortal Lord. If it was around, it would have taken action long ago.

After tearing through the leaves, the two steel forks continued on towards the Immortal Lord, only to be shaken back by the swaying green light. Awecloud thrust forward, skimming the green stalk and ripping another section off.

Lu Yin abruptly appeared as his body withered with his scythe in hand before he charged straight at the Immortal Lord. Barging through the green radiance caused his body to constantly be restored to normal, only for it to wither and recover again and again. Aberrant slashed down, surging Activeness flooding forward. The Immortal Lord released their One Breath Art in an even more impressive torrent of Lifeforce than before. Within the Green Stalk Realm, the Lifeforce poured out from each and every one of the illusory green stalks.

Activeness met Lifeforce, and Lu Yin was forced to retreat several steps, unable to persist. His Activeness was greatly inferior to the Immortal Lord’s Lifeforce, and this alone made it clear that the Immortal being who had left behind the remnants that had become Aberrant had been vastly inferior to the Immortal Lord.

Still, there was one detail that caught Lu Yin by surprise: the Immortal Lord had yet to reveal a second cosmic law.

Logically, any being capable of facing Green Lotus or causing him to be wary should have resonated with two cosmic laws. Even Ancestor Shan had given an impressive assessment of the Immortal Lord’s strength.

The Immortal Lord had the strength to face the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ Old First directly. Their earlier techniques had revealed that the Immortal was far from weak, so why had they not resonated with two cosmic laws?

In this sort of battle, the difference between resonating with one or two cosmic laws could be felt.

The Lifeforce was so overwhelming that Lu Yin could not even breathe. It flooded his body, resulting in him withering and recovering in an endless cycle. Ultimately, he gathered enough power that it had to be violently released. Using Willforce, he threw a palm strike forward, shattering the Green Stalk Realm inch by inch as it closed in on the Immortal Lord.

The Immortal Lord was absolutely astonished; how could a mere Aberrant possess such power?

There was no time to think any further. If you want to die, I’ll help you!

With that, all across the cosmos, illusory green stalks sprouted, one after another. Lifeforce poured into the closest images, which caused them to wither, bit by bit. This was reverse growth. Lifeforce should have caused the green stalks to flourish, but it made them wither instead, similar to how the Immortal Lord had used Lifeforce to cause their enemies to burst apart and die.

Lu Yin had encountered such bizarre, self-contradictory methods more than once in the past. That was why he knew that, the more that something defied intuition, the harder it was to deal with.

Teleport. His body vanished, and he directly appeared in front of the Immortal Lord and thrust a palm forward. No matter what power you might have, if you can’t release it in time, even the strongest power is useless!

But suddenly, there was a surging palpitation in his heart. Lu Yin stared straight ahead. He did not know if it was an illusion, but he saw the green stalk smile. More green energy shot out of the illusory green stalks, creating a shroud that enveloped the surroundings. The Immortal Lord had severed this region from the rest of the cosmos.

Lu Yin had been outplayed. The Immortal Lord had the means to prevent teleportation, much like Uncle Jiang’s Everything Begins From Nothing.

Lu Yin shifted his palm strike so that he shattered the void and instantly vanished again. The Immortal Lord did not move from where they stood. They had never intended to actually trap Lu Yin, just consume one of his attacks. If Lu Yin had insisted on finishing his attack, he would have been forced to accept one from the Immortal Lord as well, and Lu Yin did not know if he was capable of withstanding such a blow.

The power that he had painstakingly build up with Extremes Must Be Reversed had been wasted at the very last moment.

Not only had he failed to injure the Immortal Lord, but Lu Yin had also given the Immortal Lord a chance to unleash their own attack.

He could only watch as the illusory green stalks withered completely before blooming again. An indescribable power surged toward the Immortal Lord, merging into their body.

The Immortal Lord’s aura surged. Unlike before, at this moment, they gave the impression of standing between life and death.

Lu Yin instantly vanished. The Immortal Lord’s green stalk swayed, and some unseen power caused the void to melt away until it disappeared.

After seeing that Lu Yin had escaped, the green stalk lunged in a specific direction. The Immortal Lord had no determination to finish the battle, even after using so much power.

"The power of life and death? No wonder... Your true body is that green stalk itself." Green Lotus had appeared. Endless karma surged out. Thousand Faces of Karma: Karmic Heavenwheel.

Karma formed arm after arm, each one attacking with a world-ending finger.

The Immortal Lord retaliated with their own power at that same moment, completely unafraid of the Karmic Heavenwheel.

Boom!

The cosmos twisted, and spatial fractures spiderwebbed out. The void itself seemed to stream past like flowing water.

Lu Yin watched from far, far away. The Immortal Lord had directly blocked Green Lotus’s Karmic Heavenwheel, the same attack that had heavily wounded Lan Meng and once pierced a hole in one of Obscura’s floating coffins.

Seeing the green stalk sway and strike again, Lu Yin let out a breath. Perhaps the Immortal Lord had never imagined that they would be besieged by so many Immortal powerhouses.

With Luo Chan, the Immortal Lord had always been the one to besiege others, but at this moment, the situation had reversed.

Illusory green stalks spread out, constantly releasing the power of life and death in the Immortal Lord’s direction. With Green Lotus as their opponent, the Immortal Lord became proactive. A second Karmic Heavenwheel appeared. The sky fell, and reality shattered. For both Lu Yin and the distant cosmos itself, the clash in the distance felt like a cataclysm.

Lu Yin’s own body withered as he instantly appeared behind the Immortal Lord. At this moment, the Immortal Lord had been shrouded in some invisible power. It was the same force that they had used against the Karmic Heavenwheel. Despite seeing Lu Yin appear, the Immortal Lord did not care about him at all, confident that Lu Yin could not break through their defenses.

Aligning with the cosmic law of Life allowed for self-growth. Not only could the green stalk grow itself, but it could also produce endless Nests, each of which could spawn a unique Verdant Sage. Those bugs could then merge the powers of an entire megaverse into the Immortal Lord’s own strength. That was the Immortal Lord’s power.

And yet, that was not the end. By resonating with the cosmic law of Life, the Immortal Lord could also perceive Death. Through the Green Stalk Realm, life and death alternated and were released in turn. This was the Immortal Lord’s true method of wielding cosmic law. Using the green stalk as a vessel, the alternating powers of life and death reached a level equivalent to two cosmic laws.

This was the Immortal Lord’s true strength.

At this moment, Lu Yin could not shake them at all.

Lu Yin had not expected that, even though the Immortal Lord had not yet resonated with two cosmic laws, they could forcibly unleash the power of an Immortal with two cosmic laws by relying on a single law, using themself as a vessel, and turning their unique world into a source.

Fortunately, Lu Yin had always regarded the Immortal Lord as an Immortal who had resonated with two cosmic laws, just like the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ Old First. The Immortal Lord had never been underestimated.

Throughout the siege, even a single slightest mistake would have allowed the Immortal Lord to escape. Even without Luo Chan, the Aevum Inch was so vast that, as soon as the Immortal Lord was able to open up some distance, Lu Yin would find it hard to know which way to search.

Ancestor Lu Yuan could not possibly detect the Immortal Lord when they were concealing their power, and neither could Yan Ruyu.

The Immortal Lord was indeed strong, but once their strength was seen through, everything would be over.

The repeated attacks earlier in the battle had been conducted to reveal the Immortal Lord’s secrets, and they had finally succeeded.

Boom!

There was another tremendous blast as a third Karmic Heavenwheel collided with the Immortal Lord’s power of life and death. The Immortal Lord and Green Lotus both retreated, though the Immortal Lord retreated a ways further than Green Lotus. Also, the Immortal Lord happened to retreat precisely to where Lu Yin was standing.

The green stalk shook, and the power of life and death swept through the area. It did not matter if Lu Yin was present or not. If the human dared to directly take the Immortal Lord’s attack, Lu Yin would surely die—the Immortal Lord was utterly convinced of that. However, the sight of a gigantic Seven-Treasure Anura sent dread flooding through their entire body.

Old First’s lips peeled back. The void sank under the pressure of endless Gravity.

The entirety of the green stalk was crushed down. Old First flipped his hands over and slammed them down.

At the same time, Green Lotus unleashed a fourth Karmic Heavenwheel.

The Immortal Lord let out a wretched cry. They had believed that Green Lotus’s involvement was the full force of the ambush. The appearance of Old First was a complete and total surprise.

They had felt the massive toad’s aura before; this was the Seven-Treasure Anura beneath the lake in the seven-colored land, the same one who had forced Lu Yin to fight the Aberrant toad. This was an existence that even the Immortal Lord was afraid of.

Had the Seven-Treasure Anuras submitted to this human civilization? After all, that toad with the name of Little Eighteen had joined in on the very first attack.

No matter how the Immortal Lord’s mind spun, they could not make sense of the situation.

No matter how strong their power was, when faced with attacks from both Old First and Green Lotus, the Immortal Lord was utterly overwhelmed.

Endless cracks ran along the green stalk. The Green Stalk Realm shattered. Branches and leaves kept falling away. The power of life and death was ground to nothing. The Immortal Lord had nothing that they could use to fight back.

Lu Yin suddenly vanished, only to reappear with Mister Mu. The older man raised a hand, and his mirebound artifact cauldron descended from high above. It merged with the man’s cosmic law: Dominion.

Once calm returned to the region, all that could be seen was a green stalk crushed beneath a cauldron. To either side stood the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ Old First and Green Lotus. From a distance, Old Fourth, Old Fifth, and Awe Gate kept watch. Lu Yin stood in front of the green stalk, staring at it calmly.

Was he happy? After all, the Immortal Lord had been suppressed.

Not really. Unless one was an ultimate powerhouse like Ancestor Shan or could escape with an ability like teleportation, any who faced such a siege would have no choice but to die in frustration.

This siege had also shown Lu Yin the human civilization’s shortcomings.

The number of Immortals in their civilization could be deceptive. In reality, if they had to face an absolute powerhouse, humanity could only rely on Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

They could not count on Old First. The toad might be willing to take action on behalf of the human civilization once, twice, or even three times, but not too many times. After all, Old First had his own karmic chain to worry about.

Their human civilization still needed foundational powerhouses.

Mister Mu had only just broken through to the Immortal realm. Uncle Jiang had not yet overcome the hidden danger of his Dukkha. As for Awe Gate, cultivating the Nirvana Tree Path had allowed her to use Seed Transfusion with Mi Jin’s spirit seed, but that had only elevated her strength to roughly being equal to Blood Tower’s. All of them were still at least one step short.

This was not even mentioning Ku Deng, Master Qing Cao, or Kang Tian.

"Send them back," Mister Mu stated. Their human civilization needed to remain on guard to the strange bird’s attacks.

Lu Yin immediately teleported, delivering almost everyone back to the human megaverses. In the end, only he, Mister Mu, and Old First remained.

Beneath the cauldron, the green stalk was less than half the size that it had been before the battle. Cracks riddled its surface, and its green radiance flickered between bright and dim. Clearly, the Immortal Lord had been severely wounded.

Lu Yin had not expected the green stalk to be the Immortal Lord’s true body. The Immortal Lord had always appeared with their true body, but humanity simply had not realized that fact.

"Let’s talk again, Immortal Lord." Lu Yin’s voice was calm as he stared at the green stalk.

Green light gathered on the surface of the green stalk, and they stared at Lu Yin like eyes.

The two stared at each other. The Immortal Lord spoke, their voice weak. "I didn’t expect the Seven-Treasure Anuras to also be used by your human civilization. If not for those anuras, you would not have been able to catch me."

Lu Yin nodded. "You’re right. If not for Old First here, we would not have been able to bear the price needed to deal with you. However, if not for Old First, I would have never considered going after you.

"From the moment I decided to target you, this outcome was already fated."

The Immortal Lord bitterly replied, "I should have killed you long ago."

Lu Yin smiled. "Saying such things now is pointless. Capturing you has already confirmed some of my suspicions, and it also seems that you are not the one who led that strange bird to our human civilization."