Chapter 4614: Burning Incense

A blade slashed straight at Hong Xia.

Lu Yin abruptly teleported away with Ji.

Hong Xia dodged the black saber’s slash, only for the blade to suddenly appear from another direction because of Lu Yin's teleportation. There was no time to evade the strike, and Hong Xia was sliced open, his blood scattering across outer space.

Hong Xia turned back, but Lu Yin had already disappeared with Ji.

He teleported again and again, and slashes flew out again and again. Sharp attacks struck again and again.

At this moment, Hong Xia was simply unable to block Ji's slashes. Sooner or later, he would be cut apart. Countless bloody wounds covered Hong Xia's body, and his clothes were already dyed red. When had he ever been reduced to such a wretched state?

His eyes were completely bloodshot, and his rising bloodlust shook the cosmos. He had nearly reached the step of resonating with a third cosmic law, only for these humans to plot against him again and again, dragging him down each time. And now, they were even determined to kill him.

Why? All he wanted was to live. Was it just because he was human?

Why? Hong Xia roared as he took a primal talisman out of his cosmic ring and released the sourcebox array.

Lu Yin immediately teleported away with Ji. That was a Grand Clarity array. He had almost forgotten that, when Hong Xia had participated in another one of Obscura’s wars in the past, he had once used a sourcebox array to such success that he had terrified an enemy without ever even directly attacking.

As the sourcebox array was released, streaks of the sourceboxes’ danger field shot through the void and filled the surroundings. The array was quickly established, and it looked like a blooming lotus, constantly shifting as lockbreaking means were applied.

Ji released another slash.

This sourcebox array was defensive in nature, possessing almost no offensive power at all. This meant that Hong Xia was stalling for time.

Lu Yin dared to attack the man at this specific moment precisely because Obscura was at war with the Death Megaverse. If Hong Xia wanted to stall for time, it meant that he was not waiting for Obscura. The man still had another hidden card.

They had to break this array as quickly as possible.

Old Man Hehe's purple sword rain fell, striking the sourcebox array, only to be completely blocked.

Ji's slash was also blocked.

Lu Yin's awareness returned to his divine energy clone. Tri-colored divine energy surged from the clone, forming a long beam that blasted straight ahead.

At the moment, Hong Xia was inside the sourcebox array, and he was repeatedly striking his own forehead. He looked like a madman.

Seeing this made Lu Yin uneasy. He stared at Hong Xia's forehead. Was it possible that one of the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow’s eyes was about to emerge? But Hong Xia was not a member of the Heaven's Sight Clan, so even if he had absorbed one of the Divine Crow's eyes, it should not have produced a third eye.

Second Furball had once said that Hong Xia had used the Divine Crow's innate gift to launch a sneak attack on Qiu Huang. The man was definitely able to use that innate gift, so why had he still not used it even at this point?

Also, if this had no connection to the Divine Crow's innate gift, then why was he striking his own forehead?

Suddenly, Lu Yin thought of Wang Wen. He thought of the people who had been controlled by Wang Wen, whose foreheads had been implanted with the characters of "Slave" and "Heaven."

What could that have to do with Hong Xia?

When it came to the forehead, the one who had left the deepest impression on Lu Yin was Wang Wen.

"Break this sourcebox array as quickly as possible!" Lu Yin shouted.

Ji sheathed his saber and stood amid the stars. He raised his left hand and placed it over his face. Dark power rapidly gathered, fusing into his face until it formed a mask. At the same time, the entire cosmos dimmed, growing darker and darker. Overhead, Lu Yin saw a nearly identical mask fit itself over the Aevum Inch, as if it were treating the Aevum Inch as though it were a second Ji.

"Everything will eventually move toward death," Ji recited as his deep voice echoed out. He slowly raised his curved black saber, creating countless images in its wake. Darkness continued to gather upon the blade, into the Aevum Inch, and behind him, where a towering figure had appeared.

With a single slash, Ji's blade, the Aevum Inch's blade, and the blade of the towering figure all struck the sourcebox array. It shattered with a thunderous crash.

Hong Xia was horrified. The immense force blasted him away, and countless bleeding wounds ripped open across his body. His blood was scattered throughout the area, painting the darkness red.

Lu Yin seized the opening to release another beam of tri-color divine energy. It slammed into Hong Xia and pierced through him, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Ji raised his saber again. When this blade fell, it would all be over.

"I'll do it." Lu Yin rushed forward, intending to use his tri-color divine energy to end Hong Xia's life. After all, Ji was an Immortal. If he dealt the killing blow, the increase in his karmic chain would greatly restrict him.

***

At this same time, far, far away, within the deep darkness of the Death Megaverse, someone appeared. Ba Se's power pierced the darkness, splitting it open as though it were about to illuminate the entire Death Megaverse.

"Death Overlord, do you dare to reveal yourself and fight?" Ba Se roared.

The Death Megaverse remained silent.

Ba Se lightly tapped the void, and streaks of divine energy like burning flames appeared within the Death Megaverse.

From the depths, pitch-black creatures drifted out, speaking in the deepest possible voices. "Obscura’s Ba Se."

Ba Se looked at the creatures. "Are you all that remains under the Death Overlord's command? It would be better to ask the Death Overlord to come out and fight in person."

"What do you think you are, daring to challenge the Death Overlord?"

"I also want to contend for a Primacy Path."

"You believe yourself worthy?" The pitch-black beings blasted Stillness out. Instantly, the entire Death Megaverse was thrown into chaos, with endless Stillness pressing down from every direction. At the same time, the Nethersea boiled. An invisible suction force drew the Nethersea out, transforming it into a maelstrom that surged towards the Death Megaverse.

Ba Se attacked fiercely, and eight flames of divine energy shot into the sky, transforming into towering trees. The surge of divine energy forced the Stillness back as it bloomed in the Death Megaverse.

As Stillness and divine energy clashed, another figure stepped out behind Ba Se.

"Obscura’s White?" The creatures shrouded within the pitch-black energy were all astonished.

"No, that is the color of Life," another of the black creatures observed.

Behind Ba Se, the white figure faced the Death Megaverse as a whole and slowly bowed. Before them, a stick of incense appeared and was lit. "By the will of Life, I burn incense for the Death Overlord."

The incense was lit, and smoke rose straight up.

At this moment, it was as though countless gazes fell upon that smoke as it rose upwards, its direction never fluctuating in the slightest.

The white figure spoke in a gentle voice, "Since the incense has been lit, you must not let it go out, Death Overlord."

The pitch-black currents in the Death Megaverse suddenly retreated.

The silence was eerie.

***

Far away, Lu Yin's tri-color divine energy covered the region as it pressed down upon Hong Xia. Countless people throughout the years had wanted to kill this man with their own hands.

Ji did not withdraw his saber, and his slash continued towards Hong Xia even as Lu Yin attacked.

How many people had Hong Xia killed in the Trio, Crimson Starshade, and during the distant Nine Ramparts era? For the sake of his own survival, he had betrayed the entire human civilization, yet he dared to claim that he had helped Crimson Starshade to endure. He had never believed that anything he did was wrong, which was the most terrifying aspect to the man.

He had even used the lives of the countless people in the entire Crimson Starshade Megaverse to threaten Jiu Wen to remain within the Blood Tower.

Hong Xia's eyes were blood-red, and blood was still dripping from them. He watched Lu Yin’s attack blast towards him, and he simply struck his forehead with even greater force. Come, come! Come quickly...

With a bang, the tri-color divine energy pierced through Hong Xia's body yet again. At the very last moment, the man managed to shift aside so that the beam merely hit his shoulder. Otherwise, the attack would have shattered his body.

Ji's slash swept in from the side, tearing Hong Xia open yet again, but the man had still managed to avoid a fatal blow.

Lu Yin raised both hands, and tri-color divine energy frantically condensed before shooting down again.

Hong Xia's blows had opened his forehead, which made Lu Yin even more desperate to kill him. This man was absolutely keeping something hidden.

Ji also attacked, but Hong Xia always managed to avoid a fatal blow at the very last moment. He had already given up on fighting Lu Yin and Ji, and he was instead focusing solely on staying alive.

His decision was no different from when he had knelt before humanity’s enemies during the war against the Nine Ramparts.

"Hong Xia, why don't you kneel to us? Kneel, and maybe I’ll let you go," Lu Yin taunted, upsetting the man’s Hong Xia's thoughts and stalling his efforts.

His eyes grew vicious, even as his mouth opened and he spat out more blood. Kneel? He had already knelt twice. He would not do so for a third time. No one was qualified to force him to kneel again.

The person he had knelt to the second time could be called the heavens. Even to him, she was the heavens. Only such a being deserved his kneeling. That noble and stunningly beautiful woman—aside from her, there was no other being who could force him to kneel.

"Hong Xia, kneel!" Lu Yin roared.

Hong Xia suddenly looked over at Old Man Hehe. Blood stained the man’s entire body, and it even dripped from his hair. He was on the verge of death. "Purple, don't tell me, do you not know the truth of the war against the Nine Ramparts?"

Old Man Hehe did not move and simply stared at Hong Xia.

Hong Xia roared, "Why didn't you help humanity back then? It was because you also knew that humanity was destined to lose! Humanity today is walking on the same path as the Nine Ramparts of old. If you truly want to help humanity, you should prevent another Nine Ramparts War from happening. Humanity might have had a chance to avoid the first one, but it can never hope to avoid the second."

"Hehe, I don't know what you're talking about."

Hong Xia raised his head and roared, "They have returned!"

Lu Yin stared at Hong Xia. They? Who?

Ji's movements suddenly slowed, and in the distance, Old Man Hehe's aura abruptly changed. It seemed that this "they" filled even that ancient being with fear.

"Purple, do not kill me! Allow humanity to avoid this calamity. At the very least, there will be some hope of surviving," Hong Xia threatened.

Lu Yin threw a palm strike, and his attack slammed right into Hong Xia's head, splitting open half of it while sending Hong Xia plummeting downward. "No matter what, you must die!"

What bigger picture? What planning before taking action? None of that could be more important than killing Hong Xia at this moment.

Lu Yin asked himself and knew that, most of the time, he considered the overall situation. There were times when he was forced to let certain enemies go free. However, there were also times when people needed hot blood.

This surge of hot blood did not belong to Lu Yin alone, but also to the countless people Hong Xia had killed. Perhaps in this battle, the losses would surpass what was gained, but so what? If a person lived forever while only calculating gains and losses, that in itself was a loss.

Some successes could not be obtained through wisdom alone. There were times when hot blood that could not be cooled and a heart full of boldness were needed.

Hong Xia's body plummeted. Tri-color divine energy and black Stillness fell across the cosmos, replacing everything that Hong Xia could see.

He was unwilling. Why should he die here? He had clearly witnessed that kind of existence. He had clearly knelt a second time. He had clearly been able to walk away, so why?

Reality merely required that some people die in exchange for others to survive. Was that not a worthwhile exchange? That was the true reasoning behind everything.

He was even more unwilling to die such a death at Lu Yin's hands. Within the Clear Sky Locked Earth Array, Hong Xia could not display even close to his full power. This was not the fate that he should be forced to accept.

Why has she still not appeared? Did she deceive me?

Impossible. She would not deceive me. She would not debase herself by deceiving me.

Come, come.

Come!

Amid his silent roars, a faint character appeared upon Hong Xia's broken forehead. It looked as if it was being watered by his blood, drop by drop falling onto it.

It was the character "Fate" (运). As the character appeared, the cosmos grew clear.