Deprivation

A palace nestled within a valley. Outside his residence, Immortal Venerable Black Leaf leisurely basked in the sunlight, tending to his flowers and plants. Although the power of the Lord of Yuanxi was peerlessly invincible, capable of outright suppressing the operation of the Three Thousand Grand Daos across the entire Ancient Immortal Realm, this was ultimately not His home territory. Over millions of years, He had seized control of the Immortal Realm, but beyond it lay an even vaster, more magnificent cosmic expanse. The energy level of this cosmic space was not high, and the number of powerhouses within it fell far short of the Immortal Realm. Yet... That was only because of the Gate of the Immortal Realm and the cultivation hierarchy of True Immortals, Immortal Venerables, and Immortal Kings, combined with millions—nearly ten million—years of propaganda from the Hunyuan Realm, which had led Dao Integration Dao Lords to willingly enter the Immortal Realm to be hunted down and culled, thereby eroding the Ancient Immortal Realm's resistance. In truth... Judging by area alone, the starry cosmos was countless times vaster than the Immortal Realm. Such a colossal expanse was bound to tie up an enormous portion of the Lord of Yuanxi's computing power. In particular, when the Lord of Yuanxi first ventured into the starry cosmos, He inevitably met with comprehensive obstruction from the rules of the Ancient Immortal Realm's Three Thousand Grand Daos, forcing Him to mobilize massive computational capacity to contend against them. With more computing power diverted to the starry cosmos, the amount remaining in the Immortal Realm naturally diminished. The Lord of Yuanxi's monitoring and observation of the Immortal Realm would no longer be as prompt or thorough. If someone chose such a critical moment to mobilize tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of immortal spirits to simultaneously activate their clearance and borrow computing power from the Lord of Yuanxi, it would inevitably cause phenomena akin to "lag" across certain regions. If even the Lord of Yuanxi was "lagging," He would naturally be unable to monitor any surrounding changes. During such intervals, even if an immortal spirit was slain by a stronger entity, there would be no way to petition the Lord of Yuanxi for justice. And inconveniently enough... The shares of the Ancient Immortal Realm were limited. To acquire enough shares to empower oneself and elevate one's clearance level, the best method was to plunder them from others. Relying solely on working for the major conglomerates to earn immortal coins, how many shares could one ever hope to exchange for? Because he recognized this, Immortal Venerable Black Leaf had been acting with extraordinary caution throughout this period. He had not stepped foot outside his small valley for a full century. Keeping company with flora day in and day out was a rare chance to enjoy the peace and tranquility of pastoral life amidst the cutthroat, hypercompetitive environment of the Ancient Immortal Realm. Yet at that very moment, he suddenly felt the surrounding void congeal. "Not good!" Already on high alert because the Lord of Yuanxi had stepped outside the Immortal Realm to permeate the starry cosmos, he detected the anomaly immediately and rapidly circulated the Grand Dao of Time within his body. Yet the moment it began to churn, he discovered to his horror that the void meant to carry and manifest the Grand Dao of Time seemed to no longer exist. Without the Grand Dao of the Void serving as a carrier, other Daos could not manifest in the world. Even so, the Grand Dao of Time was a Supreme Grand Dao on par with the Grand Dao of the Void; even if the surrounding void was thoroughly suppressed, it should not have been rendered entirely incapable of displaying any mystical phenomenon. There was only one possible explanation for such overwhelming, near-absolute suppression! "An Immortal King!" Despair instantly gripped Immortal Venerable Black Leaf. The one striking at him was actually a Time Immortal King?! Since when had an Immortal King emerged in the Dao of Time?! And what was worse... It was not just a Time Immortal King! From the total lockdown of the Grand Dao of the Void, it was easy to deduce that a Void Immortal King was taking part in the attack as well! Two Immortal Kings joining forces against a petty Immortal Venerable like him?! "Show mercy—" Immortal Venerable Black Leaf let out a desperate, unwilling cry, but in the next instant, without the slightest room to resist, he was pulverized into dust by the might of the Spacetime Collapse Art, perishing on the spot. Almost the very instant Yaoguang obliterated Immortal Venerable Black Leaf, a fluctuation of divine sense—seemingly filled with fury, yet unable to conceal an undercurrent of excitement—erupted like thunder across the void. "Immortal King Yuxiao! What brazen audacity! As a fellow immortal spirit of the Hunyuan Realm, how dare you rely on your level-eighteen clearance and the might of an Immortal King to strike down Immortal Venerable Black Leaf, a level-seventeen clearance holder?! You have violated the prohibition jointly established by the Great Supreme Wisdom Lord of Yuanxi and the Nine Great Sovereigns! You had best surrender without resistance right now so that I may take you to the Lord of Yuanxi for judgment! If you dare resist, do not blame me for showing no mercy!" Immortal King Tianyu! There was no need to guess the identity of the mind behind this divine sense; it was none other than Immortal King Tianyu. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. He had arrived on the scene long ago and detected Yaoguang, who had made no deliberate effort to disguise his aura. Tianyu had waited with immense patience until Yaoguang struck down Immortal Venerable Black Leaf before making his move. With evidence of Yaoguang killing Immortal Venerable Black Leaf in hand, even if he slaughtered Yaoguang on the spot, he could easily claim to the outside world that their cultivations were too evenly matched and that he had simply failed to pull his punch in time. When dealing with a criminal, after all, any means fell within acceptable bounds. Thus, bursting forth at this moment, he simultaneously mobilized nearly four thousand shares of the Grand Dao of the Void within his body, crashing down a Great Void Art that descended like the crushing manifestation of the Grand Dao of the Void itself. As a fellow Immortal King of the Grand Dao of the Void—and one who possessed a multi-fold advantage—unleashing the Great Void Art formed purely from the Grand Dao of the Void was the most optimal method of attack! And indeed, it truly was. Yaoguang clearly felt his control over the Grand Dao of the Void weaken dramatically as Immortal King Tianyu unleashed this Great Void Art. Just as he had once suppressed and slain Void Dao Lords by virtue of his higher realm and greater share count. Facing Immortal King Tianyu, who was likewise in the Immortal King realm, Yaoguang estimated he could barely muster seventy percent of his full strength. Under normal circumstances, he would likely be gravely wounded in a single clash. He might even be forced to exhaust his life-saving trump cards, or perhaps be killed on the spot. Unfortunately... Yaoguang's condition could hardly be described as normal. Though he appeared to be an ordinary Immortal King, he had long since attained the "Dao Master" level in the Dao of the Void. If he wished, he could easily suppress Immortal King Tianyu just as Tianyu was attempting to suppress him now. Except... "Strike!" Yaoguang's divine sense surged. Almost the very instant his divine sense rippled, Immortal King Xuanqing and the other executives of the Creation Group, concealed nearby, roared, "Tianyu, what do you think you are doing?! How dare you attack an Immortal King director of our Creation Group! Do you intend to spark an all-out war between our two conglomerates? Cease this instant and withdraw, or I will report you to the Lord of Yuanxi!" Amidst the stern roar, Xuanqing, Immortal King Alpha, Immortal King Huitian, Immortal King Nizhuan, and the other directors struck almost simultaneously, shifting from total stillness to explosive motion. They unleashed the powers of diverse Grand Daos with all their might, manifesting them in the void and turning the entire area into a tempestuous torrent of Great Daos. Furthermore, while Xuanqing's words appeared intended to intimidate Immortal King Tianyu into retreating, not a single one of the immortal arts they formed after stirring the tremors of the Daos held back in the slightest. The most powerful composite immortal arts and lethal immortal arts were unleashed by the eight Immortal Kings, generating an upheaval so immense that it directly induced violent celestial shifts. In the past, such intense Dao reverberations and celestial phenomena would have inevitably drawn the gaze of the Lord of Yuanxi. Yet before the eight Immortal Kings took action, they had already issued orders to every level-seventeen immortal spirit across the Creation Group. The entire Creation Group instantly submitted countless applications for computing power. With the Lord of Yuanxi having just extended His power beyond the Immortal Realm and locked in fierce conflict against the rules of the Three Thousand Grand Daos, this deliberate sabotage predictably caused the Lord of Yuanxi's computing power in the Immortal Realm to suffer from "lag," causing His surveillance over the realm to plummet. Immortal King Tianyu, having already unleashed his strike, detected this shift immediately. "Xuanqing!" The Immortal King's pupils shrank violently. Seeing Immortal King Xuanqing, Immortal King Nizhuan, Immortal King Huitian, Immortal King Alpha, and the other members of the Creation Group's board of directors suddenly reveal themselves, he realized what was happening in an instant. "This is a trap!" A trap designed specifically to hunt him, a Void Immortal King! The purpose... Was for Immortal King Yuxiao?! To let Immortal King Yuxiao claim the nearly four thousand Void shares upon his person?! Yet how could this be possible?! Since when had the Creation Group become so unified? To mobilize the entire board of directors just to aid Immortal King Yuxiao?! "Tianyu, watch out!" From far behind him came the alarmed shouts of the three Immortal Kings, including Longxiang and Wumu. They had realized the peril of the situation as well, but their distant position meant they could not arrive to assist him in time. In other words, Immortal King Tianyu had to withstand this barrage of focused fire entirely on his own. Although Immortal King Tianyu could not comprehend why the Creation Group's board of directors had suddenly become so united, his reaction was undeniably swift. "Did you truly think the eight of you joining hands would be enough to slay me in an instant?! Today, I will show you all what it means to be the foremost Immortal King of the Void!" Immortal King Tianyu's divine sense erupted. The structure of the composite immortal art originally aimed at Yaoguang shifted drastically. Centered on him, the Grand Dao of the Void shook madly, forming a zone of utter void around him where no Dao other than the Grand Dao of the Void could manifest! This was the supreme immortal art he had pioneered after his shares of the Grand Dao of the Void surpassed 3,334 and his personal realm in the Dao of the Void reached 50%—Absolute Nihility! Under this Absolute Nihility, the Grand Dao of the Void brought its properties as a Supreme Grand Dao into full fruition. Not a single Dao could encroach upon this absolute domain even in the slightest! Truly supreme, peerless, and unmatched! And indeed, when the composite immortal arts of the Immortal Kings slammed into this Absolute Nihility, they were like snow plunging into blazing fire, melting away instantly without shaking this supreme immortal art in the least. On the other side, Immortal King Longxiang was rushing over at full speed. Even if their group of Immortal Kings successfully regrouped, they might not necessarily overpower the nine Immortal Kings led by Immortal King Xuanqing, but at the very least... Protecting themselves and making a clean retreat would be well within their power. What a pity... If he missed this chance, who knew how long he would have to wait before another opportunity arose to kill Immortal King Yuxiao. Amidst these racing thoughts, his gaze involuntarily darted toward "Immortal King Yuxiao." To his surprise, he found that this Immortal King had also joined the assault against him. Heh. How utterly laughable! Under the absolute suppression of his own Grand Dao of the Void, how much power could Yuxiao's void immortal arts possibly muster? Yet almost the very instant this thought crossed his mind, Immortal King Tianyu suddenly felt an indescribable sense of emptiness wash over his heart, as though something profoundly precious had abruptly vanished. Immediately afterward, under the concentrated fire of the Creation Group's eight Immortal Kings, the immortal art Absolute Nihility rapidly disintegrated. "My void power?!" Immortal King Tianyu's mind shook violently! The void power he controlled... Had been stripped away?!