Strength

The reversal between hunter and prey happened so swiftly that even the Destruction God Venerable was unable to react in time. Only when the Void God Venerable was likewise crushed and slain like dry weeds, leaving only four of the six God Venerables alive, did this leader of the God Race's Dao Integration experts finally realize the peril of their situation. "Yaoguang... how could he be this strong?!" The Destruction God Venerable was thoroughly shaken. "It is suppression within the Path of the Void!" The Slaughter God Venerable beside him fell silent for a brief moment before speaking rapidly. "Yaoguang's mastery over the power of the void vastly surpasses that of other Void Dao Lords. Therefore, whenever other Void Dao Lords face him, they are inherently suppressed, which allows him to defeat them with far greater ease!" Having said that, he reached a firm conclusion: "This brat Yaoguang must possess an extraordinarily deep comprehension of the Path of the Void! Otherwise, he could never achieve something like this!" Hearing this, the Destruction God Venerable's expression shifted slightly. "No matter what, notify the other Dao Lords of the Void Path and have them rush here at full speed. We have paid such a tremendous price; how could we possibly return empty-handed?" the God Venerable growled. The Slaughter God Venerable nodded and was just about to take action. At that moment, however, the Thunder God Venerable suddenly spoke up. "What are these? They seem capable of obscuring my perception!" The Slaughter God Venerable and the Destruction God Venerable looked around, only to discover that at some point, a patch of gray fog had appeared within this vast, empty expanse of starry sky. The gray fog billowed outward, shrouding several million li of the cosmos. Its range was not particularly large—to them, it seemed like something they could step across in a single stride. Yet it possessed the effect of interfering with perception, causing the four God Venerables' sense of each other to become indistinct. "This is a trick deployed by Yaoguang and Penglai!" "Regardless of what trick it is, break it first!" "What use is a few million li of gray fog? Is this child's play?" Even as the Destruction God Venerable spoke, he instantly unleashed a large-scale destructive Dao art—the Annihilation Aurora! A burst of utterly magnificent radiance erupted from his hand and spread out, shining with a brightness countless times greater than any star, illuminating tens of millions and hundreds of millions of li around them. At the same time, with devastating force, it annihilated all matter and energy within this region. However, almost the instant he cast the Annihilation Aurora, he keenly sensed a terrifying force hurtling toward him at incredible speed, carrying destructive power. This forced him to concentrate the might of the Annihilation Aurora to intercept it. Upon intercepting it... He was astonished to discover that the one attacking him was actually the Thunder God Venerable. Meanwhile, the Thunder God Venerable similarly realized that the person striking at him was the Destruction God Venerable. Both had clearly intended to destroy this fog-covered area, yet in the end, their Dao arts had turned upon an ally standing right beside them. Still, sufficient trust existed among the God Venerables of the God Race that they did not turn against each other over this. Instead, they quickly understood what was happening. "This gray fog not only interferes with our perception, but it even warps our judgment!" "Is this the power of the Grand Dao of Illusion?!" As the divine minds of the two God Venerables intertwined, the powers of the Grand Dao of Origin and the Grand Dao of the Void surged forth simultaneously. At this point, they could no longer afford to converse and simultaneously unleashed their respective methods to strike back. What they did not know, however, was that the forces of the Grand Dao of Origin and the Grand Dao of the Void they were counterattacking seemed to have been cloaked in a layer of disguise as well. Or rather, their souls had already been deceived, making it exceedingly difficult for them to accurately discern what kind of Dao power was assailing them, let alone which opponent it came from. Thus, in the eyes of Yaoguang and Dao Lord Penglai, the four God Venerables were fighting entirely for themselves. Every single one of them had become an enemy to the others. Had Yaoguang and Dao Lord Penglai not been interfering, the four of them would have been able to calm down quickly and assess the situation. But Yaoguang and Penglai gave them no opportunity to evaluate the battlefield in peace. Amidst the chaotic clash of the four God Venerables' Dao arts, genuine attacks from Yaoguang and Dao Lord Penglai were woven in, blending truth and falsehood together. Unable to determine with certainty whether an attacker was a fellow God Venerable or Yaoguang and Penglai, they had no choice but to do everything in their power to block every Dao art coming their way, even knowing full well that their senses and judgment were compromised. "This is the power manifested by that supreme treasure of yours?!" Dao Lord Penglai was thoroughly astonished. Then, as if realizing something, she blurted out, "This level of might... a semi-immortal artifact?!" Yaoguang did not hide it either, nodding. "A semi-immortal artifact." "It really is a semi-immortal artifact?!" At those words, even though Dao Lord Penglai had long known that Yaoguang would sooner or later forge a semi-immortal artifact, her eyes still went wide. "Isn't it right before your eyes?" Yaoguang said. "A semi-immortal artifact of the Path of Souls. Unless one is a Dao Lord integrated with the Grand Dao of Souls, it is exceedingly difficult to see through its reality. Even if one has grasped the Grand Dao of Souls, at best they can only preserve themselves..." With that, his gaze settled on the Slaughter God Venerable. This God Venerable clearly retained sufficient clarity of mind, remaining unaffected by the Bahuang Heavenly Mirror. He was currently concealing himself, biding his time to find an opportunity to breach the heavenly realm manifested by this semi-immortal artifact. "Move him out. I'll handle him," Dao Lord Penglai communicated with a thought. Sensing Dao Lord Penglai's confidence, Yaoguang did not refuse. The Grand Dao of the Void vibrated. The Slaughter God Venerable's body immediately tumbled out of the Bahuang Heavenly Mirror's domain, plummeting directly into the heart of the Sea of Origin conjured by Dao Lord Penglai. The moment he fell out of the gray fog, the God Venerable realized he had been exposed and targeted. "A semi-immortal artifact! This is a semi-immortal artifact!" the Slaughter God Venerable roared, attempting to send a transmission at the first opportunity. However, in order to prevent Yaoguang from transmitting messages to request aid from the Dao Lords of the Ten Immortal Sects, the battlefield they had chosen was already quite far from Beihai Star. At such a distance, communicating promptly with Beihai Star would only be possible if there were specialized transmission formations in place. But right now... Whether any message could be sent out was entirely up in the air. This was especially true with Dao Lord Penglai's Sea of Origin engulfing him completely, intercepting him with all her might. "End this quickly, lest those Dao Lords of the Void Path grow suspicious!" Yaoguang thought to himself. Compared to these members of the God Race, he preferred to deal with the Void Dao Lords. In his eyes, ten or even a dozen Void Dao Lords posed less of a threat than the six God Venerables before him—or even the remaining four! Receiving his message, Dao Lord Penglai intensified her onslaught. The Slaughter God Venerable was effectively the second-ranked figure in the God Race, and his combat power was far from weak. He was not someone Dao Lord Penglai could kill the moment she wanted to. If they truly wanted to decide the battle swiftly, everything still hinged on Yaoguang. Within the gray fog conjured by the Bahuang Heavenly Mirror, Yaoguang summoned the Endless Tower, layers of flowing light revolving around him. As the brilliant luster circulated, the void power on his body gradually swelled. The instant the two Void Dao Lords died, he had used his Immortal Venerable-level realm to rapidly increase his share of the Grand Dao of the Void. Although a tiny fraction of the share had been claimed by that vast force that seemed to uphold the rules of the world, his total share of the Grand Dao of the Void was already around 4.6 parts in ten thousand, if not five. Compared to most Void Dao Lords who possessed only one part—or at most two for a rare few—this granted him an overwhelming advantage. Coupled with the defensive supreme treasure on him that had already evolved into a semi-immortal artifact... He practically disregarded the attacks of the God Venerables, clashing head-on against their Dao arts. Under this reckless, fight-to-the-death tactic, how could the remaining three God Venerables, already fighting in isolation, possibly hold out?! In just a short moment, two of the God Venerables, including the Thunder God Venerable, were slain on the spot. For this, Yaoguang paid the price of taking nine Dao arts head-on. Fortunately, attacks of this caliber were not enough to shatter the Endless Tower. Just as Yaoguang wiped out these two God Venerables and prepared to tackle the toughest bone of all—the Destruction God Venerable—the specialized Dao artifact on him, a masterpiece combining formations and artifact crafting, rippled with rings of void ripples. Yaoguang raised a hand, and the Dao artifact floated into view. A single glance told him what was happening. "The Dao artifact has been actively triggered? In theory, the God Race on this end had to trigger it to form the teleportation array and bring over the Void Dao Lords on the other side. Yet they can actually remotely activate this Dao artifact from over there to form a reception array?" Thoughts raced through Yaoguang's mind. Those Void Dao Lords on the other end were so impatient to activate the array that they did not even hesitate to expose their contingency... He glanced in the direction of the deeper cosmos. Had those Void Dao Lords sensed the repeated clashes of the Grand Dao of the Void in this region and realized they were already fighting the God Race's six God Venerables? And in response... Not only were they not fleeing, but they actually wanted to intervene in the battlefield of their own accord?! "After the battle began, the God Race didn't activate the teleportation array to summon them. Could it be... they assumed the God Race wanted to take on Penglai and me alone, and terrified of missing out on the spoils, they impatiently activated the teleportation array themselves?" Good grief. These Dao Lords truly assumed the best of everything. Did it not cross their minds that the reason the God Race hadn't activated the array was because the God Venerable in charge of the artifact had died before he even had the chance to trigger it? Then again, thinking carefully... It was only natural. Who would believe that someone like the Xuhuang God Venerable, whose combat power was nearly on par with a renowned Dao Lord, would be utterly crushed and killed by him within just a few brief exchanges?! People tended to believe only what they wanted to believe. This was especially true for Dao Lords who possessed absolute confidence in themselves. Even if it was far from the truth. "Since you can't wait..." Yaoguang placed the specialized Dao artifact into the domain of the Bahuang Heavenly Mirror, letting the teleportation array upon it rapidly open. Meanwhile, he mobilized the vast and boundless power of the void, relying on his Immortal Venerable-level mastery over the void to forcefully coalesce an amplification array in this patch of space. With limited time, restricted conditions, and setting it up directly within the void, the formation's power tier was not particularly high, but it was still sufficient to boost Yaoguang's combat strength by ten to twenty percent. Buzz! Buzz! From activation to the full formation of the teleportation array, only a single breath had elapsed—swift by any standard. The instant the teleportation array coalesced, a Dao Lord immediately stepped out from within. It was none other than Dao Lord Hunxu! "Destruction, don't even think about monopolizing the secrets on Yaoguang's body!"