422: Chapter 422 Lu Sheng's Choice

A shallow scorch mark appeared on Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's left shoulder.

It didn't hurt, but it annoyed him greatly.

His right shoulder had been injured by a trap, and his left shoulder had been hit by a sneak attack.

The dignified Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate, at the Peak Spirit Saint realm, was wounded on both shoulders.

"Anti-Rule Turret." Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's voice turned cold. "This thing was dismantled from Earth."

Qing Ming Protector had already locked onto the direction of the artillery fire.

"Heavenly Venerate, there is a craft twenty thousand miles away. It's not large. Its energy signal is weak—Spirit Venerable Realm Early Stage."

Spirit Venerable Realm Early Stage.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate sneered. "Lu Sheng sent someone at the Spirit Venerable Early Stage to provide cover for him? Is this the only talent he has under his command?"

"Should your subordinate go and deal with it?"

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate thought for a moment. "Go. Come back quickly."

Qing Ming Protector nodded, his emerald-green figure flashing as he flew toward the direction twenty thousand miles away.

Lu Sheng saw this scene through a perception anchor.

"Luo Tianfei, notify Dao Yi to retreat immediately. Qing Ming Protector is heading his way."

"Notified. Dao Yi is turning around and evacuating at full speed."

"Qing Ming's speed?"

"Full speed of a Mid Spirit Saint. The top speed of Dao Yi's craft is less than half that of a Mid Spirit Saint."

He couldn't escape.

Lu Sheng's expression darkened.

Dao Yi's craft was too slow. It was only a matter of time before Qing Ming Protector caught up to him.

Once caught—Spirit Venerable Early Stage against Mid Spirit Saint—the outcome was obvious.

"Damn it."

Lu Sheng grit his teeth.

He was faced with two choices.

First, ignore Dao Yi and remain in the Old God Abyss to contend with Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate.

Second, go save Dao Yi and abandon the Old God Abyss.

If it were the Lu Sheng from three months ago, he would have chosen the first without hesitation.

Dao Yi was a tool. If a tool broke, he could find another. The Old God Abyss was his granary, the Foundation for his future Breakthrough to Peak Spirit Saint or even the Spirit Immortal Realm.

But now—

"That idiot."

Lu Sheng remembered the words Dao Yi had shouted in the plaza.

"My Lord, you must come back alive."

His face had been written with tension and fear, yet he had accepted the mission to fly a ship to the Old God Abyss to deliver the cannon without a word.

He knew clearly that there was a Peak Spirit Saint monster there. He knew clearly that going there as a Spirit Venerable Early Stage was suicide.

But he still went.

Because his Lord needed him to go.

"I fucking owe you."

Lu Sheng cursed.

Then he made his choice.

His dragon wings unfurled, and his figure rushed out from behind the wreckage, pursuing the direction where Qing Ming Protector had gone.

"Luo Tianfei, Qing Ming Protector's position!"

"He has deviated twelve thousand miles from the core area of the Old God Abyss and is accelerating."

Lu Sheng flew at full speed. The speed of a Late Spirit Saint was a notch faster than a Mid Spirit Saint.

He could catch up to Qing Ming.

But he also exposed his back to Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate stood outside the spherical space, watching the direction Lu Sheng had rushed toward.

His expression was complex.

"To save a Spirit Venerable Early Stage... he abandoned the Old God Abyss?"

He shook his head.

"Young people."

He did not pursue Lu Sheng.

He turned to face the gap in the spherical space and stepped inside.

Inside the spherical space.

Pitch-black space. Extremely thin spirit source molecules.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate suspended in the air, his gaze looking forward.

In the distance—

A massive dark-gold sphere floated quietly.

Even with Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's six hundred years of experience, his breath hitched for a moment when he saw that star-sized remains.

"This is..."

His voice echoed in the empty spherical space.

"Spirit Immortal Realm? No... this isn't the Spirit Immortal Realm."

He flew closer. His Law perception spread out, carefully sensing the Law fluctuations remaining in those remains.

A moment later, his pupils constricted violently.

"Spirit Emperor."

His voice was trembling.

"This is the remains of a Spirit Emperor Realm!"

Spirit Emperor Realm.

Unifying all the elemental Laws one has mastered, condensing the elemental Origin; one becomes the Incarnation of the elemental Laws.

In the entire known Universe, Spirit Emperor Realm existences—only exist in ancient legends.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate had lived for six hundred years and Cultivated for six hundred years, walking all the way from the Spirit Apprentice realm to the Peak Spirit Saint.

Peak Spirit Saint was still one step away from the Spirit Immortal Realm. And above the Spirit Immortal Realm—there was still the Spirit Emperor Realm.

That was a height he didn't even dare to dream of.

And now, the remains of a Spirit Emperor Realm lay before him.

"No wonder..." Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate muttered to himself. "No wonder that kid's strength improved so quickly. From Spirit Venerable Peak to Mid Spirit Saint, and then to Late Spirit Saint. He has been eating the Origin within these remains."

"The remains of a Spirit Emperor Realm—the Origin contained within is enough for ten Peak Spirit Saints to Breakthrough to the Spirit Immortal Realm."

"No. More than ten."

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's breathing became increasingly rapid.

His hands were trembling.

Six hundred years.

He had been stuck at the Peak Spirit Saint for a full six hundred years.

The seed of origin was his original hope. But compared to these Spirit Emperor remains—the seed of origin was simply child's play.

"This thing—"

Fires of madness burned in Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's eyes.

"—belongs to this seat."

On the outskirts of the Old God Abyss.

Lu Sheng caught up to Qing Ming Protector at full speed.

Qing Ming was pursuing Dao Yi's craft. The craft was fleeing desperately in front, but the speed gap was too large, and the distance between them was rapidly shrinking.

Lu Sheng approached Qing Ming from behind.

He made no sound.

His dragon wings folded, and his entire body's Law fluctuations dropped to the minimum.

When he closed in to a distance of five hundred meters—

Law Resonance!

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's Domain was no longer there. In the open space, without Domain suppression, Lu Sheng's Law Resonance could be performed normally.

A gray light sphere flew out from his palm.

Space folded—the light sphere disappeared for an instant—and then appeared three meters behind Qing Ming Protector.

Qing Ming Protector sensed danger. He turned abruptly, an emerald-green Law shield condensing in front of him.

Boom!

The gray light sphere slammed into the Law shield.

The shield shattered.

Qing Ming Protector's body was pushed back over a hundred meters by the blast's shockwave. A large gash was torn across the chest of his emerald-green robe, and there was a bleeding wound on his chest.

"You—!"

Qing Ming Protector stabilized himself and saw Lu Sheng.

His expression changed.

"Late Spirit Saint? When did you—"

When he had seen Lu Sheng before, Lu Sheng was still a Mid Spirit Saint.

Now he was a Late Spirit Saint.

Mid Spirit Saint and Late Spirit Saint—were completely different concepts.

Qing Ming Protector was a Mid Spirit Saint. Facing a Late Spirit Saint—

He was the inferior.

"Scram."

Lu Sheng's voice was ice-cold.

Qing Ming Protector looked at Lu Sheng's golden vertical pupils, making a judgment in his mind.

Fight? He couldn't win. The opponent was a Late Spirit Saint and had a killing move like Law Resonance. If he, a Mid Spirit Saint, fought head-on, his chances of winning were less than twenty percent.

Run? He could. But the Heavenly Venerate's order was to deal with that craft.

"Your Excellency Lu Sheng." Qing Ming Protector's tone changed, returning to the gentleness of their first meeting. "I have no intention of being Your Excellency's enemy. The Heavenly Venerate's order—"

"I said scram."

Lu Sheng didn't want to hear nonsense.

He condensed Law Resonance once again.

The moment Qing Ming Protector saw the second gray light sphere taking shape, he made a decision.

He turned and fled.

Fleeing toward the direction of Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate.

He fled without hesitation.

Lu Sheng did not pursue.

He flew to the side of Dao Yi's craft.

Inside the cockpit window, the two pale faces of Dao Yi and Zhou Lei were pressed against the glass.

"My Lord!" Dao Yi's voice came through the communicator, sounding tearful.

"Don't cry."

"Your subordinate isn't crying! It's just... just that dust got in my eyes!"

"Where would dust come from in space?"

Dao Yi was speechless.

Lu Sheng glanced toward the direction of the Old God Abyss.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate had already entered.

He had entered the spherical space.

"He saw those remains," Lu Sheng said in a low voice.

Dao Yi and Zhou Lei didn't know what he was talking about.

But Lu Sheng knew—the Old God Abyss could not be kept.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate had seen the remains of the Spirit Emperor Realm. He would never let go.

Even if Lu Sheng fought his way back now, as a Late Spirit Saint against a Peak Spirit Saint staying inside the spherical space—he had no chance.

The inside of the spherical space was Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate's home field. The Law concentration was extremely high, which was conducive for a Peak Spirit Saint to exert their full strength.

"The Old God Abyss... is gone."

Lu Sheng closed his eyes.

It felt as if a piece of his heart had been gouged out.

That was his granary. His trump card. The Foundation for his future Breakthrough to Peak Spirit Saint.

Gone.

"My Lord?" Dao Yi asked cautiously.

Lu Sheng opened his eyes.

There was no despair in his golden vertical pupils.

"Back to Earth."

"Then the Old God Abyss—"

"Forget it. Go back first."

Lu Sheng turned and flew toward Earth.

Dao Yi's craft followed behind.

During the flight, Lu Sheng kept thinking about one thing.

Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate had obtained the Spirit Emperor Realm remains.

If he devoured all the Origin within the remains—

A Peak Spirit Saint would Breakthrough to the Spirit Immortal Realm.

Or even higher.

By that time—

The landscape of the entire known Universe would be rewritten.

"I must be faster."

Lu Sheng clenched his fists.

He had to find another way to improve his strength before Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Venerate completely digested those remains.

Otherwise—

What awaited him would not be competition.

It would be an utter catastrophe.