An insurmountable chasm lay between a half-immortal and a true immortal. It manifested not only in the perfection of the Dao fruit; an immortal physique or an immortal soul—possessing either one alone was enough to crush a half-immortal.
"Get off me!" Pinned beneath the dragon claw and unable to break free, Lord Shanhe burned his essence blood and bellowed, executing the Law Phenomenon of Heaven and Earth. "I make my wish here: let the three mountains unite as one!"
The three peaks of Mount Penglai merged into a pitch-black immortal mountain possessing restrictive power. Anyone who approached this dark mountain would be unable to cast spells or divine abilities, and their physical body would be severely weakened.
A youthful divine being shouldering the pitch-black immortal mountain stood tall between heaven and earth. The East Sea was fully two hundred thousand meters deep, yet this youthful divine being planted his feet upon the seabed while his head broke above the water's surface.
This was the appearance of Lord Shanhe in his youth.
Space collapsed around his dharma body so that the waters of the East Sea could not even approach, creating a vacuum where everything was devoured. Ao Ling sneered, her gaze contemptuous. Before the youthful divine being, she was as tiny as a speck of dust, yet the aura she emanated far surpassed his.
Ao Ling charged forward with her dragon horns. Once she drew near the youthful divine being, his rudimentary Dao fruit could not even devour her dragon scales. The youthful divine being hoisted the pitch-black immortal mountain, lowering his head to smash it down toward the terrifying black dragon.
Ao Ling was unmoved. As easily as piercing a sheet of window paper, she punctured straight through the immortal mountain, drilled into the youthful divine being's forehead, burst out from the back of his head, and pierced through his spiritual platform!
"Pfft—!"
With the technique unleashed at the cost of burning essence blood broken, Lord Shanhe and Daoist Sanshan suffered severe backlash, spewing mouthfuls of blood as their auras plummeted rapidly.
The onlookers had never expected this turn of events. The Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor, who had seemingly been at a total disadvantage, turned defeat into victory in an instant, effortlessly suppressing two half-immortals. This was a downright crushing victory! The majestic black dragon returned in triumph, like a sovereign who had achieved total conquest over foreign races, her boundless momentum taking the world's breath away.
Fighting one against two and capturing two half-immortals alive—no one had anticipated such an outcome!
Meanwhile, the duel between Lu Yang and Young Cult Master Lu reached its end, concluding in a draw.
"See? This Immortal said Little Ling would win," Immortal Fairy smiled smugly. After all, Ao Ling was her non-registered disciple.
"Congratulations to Senior Ao Ling on her magnificent victory!" The crowd of the East Sea bowed in unison, practically shouting at the top of their lungs, making the surface of the sea tremble.
Unlike their previous kowtows borne of seniority and legend, this time they bowed in genuine awe after witnessing Ao Ling's battle. The Dragon Clan was the most thrilled. Their Ancient Ancestor had displayed godlike might, showing an invincible demeanor, making them feel pride from the depths of their hearts. Dragon claws pinned down the bodies of the two half-immortals, cold dragon eyes glaring fixedly at them.
"Dodge, quickly!" Immortal Fairy suddenly sent a voice transmission to Ao Ling.
A sudden crisis struck. Ao Ling felt her hair stand on end, as if plunging into an ice cellar, sensing that some immense horror had descended. Without even sparing a thought for Lord Shanhe and Daoist Sanshan, she hurriedly shifted away!
A saber light bearing the aura of finality and death descended from the sky. Without even letting out a scream, Lord Shanhe and Daoist Sanshan were cleaved in two by this abrupt blade light. Both physical bodies and souls turned into nothingness, leaving behind not a trace in the world!
Ao Ling drew a sharp breath of cold air. If she hadn't dodged, she would have been critically wounded even if she survived!
"I truly did not expect that you could evade a casual strike from this seat."
A deep, resonant voice echoed between heaven and earth. Its aura was oppressive and heavy, as though the world had reached its very end.
Whether Sea Race or human race, their spiritual platforms felt coated in a layer of ash, suffocating them under immense pressure.
Even the battle among the three half-immortals just now hadn't given them such a feeling. No, there was simply no comparison between the two!
A hazy gray figure ripped across the sky and appeared above the East Sea. The stench of death permeated every inch of space, and under the influence of this aura, the waters of the East Sea even froze into solid ice.
The figure was shrouded in thick mist, making his features indistinct.
An immortal!
The people of the East Sea never dreamed that an immortal would suddenly appear on the scene, and that he would harbor murderous intent toward Ao Ling.
"I thought your soul had shattered and you had long since perished, yet to think you were still alive. No matter. If this seat could kill you once, I can kill you a second time."
The hazy gray figure spoke with flat indifference, as if discussing an utterly trivial matter, casually deciding the life and death of a half-immortal.
Lu Yang's hair stood on end. This hazy gray figure was the very immortal who had battled Immortal Kirin back then and shattered Ao Ling's soul!
It was even him who had deliberately erased the existence of the Xinhuo Dynasty!
"Oh, right. There is also you. You know this seat's identity, so you must die as well." The hazy gray figure glanced toward Lu Yang out of the corner of his eye and flicked a finger, shooting out a streak of black lightning.
Lu Yang was completely dumbfounded. *Who even are you? What did I do that supposedly gives away your identity?!*
"How dare you!" Daoist Lord Hanhai was incensed. Stepping in front of Lu Yang, he utilized his rudimentary Spatial Dao fruit to divert the black lightning away.
"Cough—"
The energy contained within this black lightning was too terrifying; even space was affected. Daoist Lord Hanhai was only barely able to divert the attack, and forcibly driving his rudimentary Dao fruit caused him to cough up a mouthful of stagnant blood.
The corner of Daoist Lord Hanhai's eye twitched. Recalling his high-spirited arrogance when he first arrived at the East Sea, he wanted to slap himself across the face twice.
*That's what you get for boasting you'd protect this brat Lu Yang!*
A battle between half-immortals was fine—it was within his capabilities. But why out of nowhere did an immortal jump out? Who the hell could protect anyone against that?!
The hazy gray figure hadn't expected Daoist Lord Hanhai to divert his strike. He was slightly surprised, but quickly realized why.
"So it is a rudimentary Spatial Dao fruit. Somewhat interesting. Unfortunately, it is merely somewhat interesting. A mortal after all cannot defy the decree of an immortal."
The hazy gray figure was equally indifferent to Daoist Lord Hanhai's action.
"Patriarch, are you all right?" Lu Yang asked cautiously.
Daoist Lord Hanhai rolled his eyes. "Not so good."
"However, since I said I would protect you, I will definitely protect you!"
Lu Yang was thoroughly astounded. He hadn't expected that even in such a situation, Patriarch would still claim he could protect him. What level of trump card could this possibly be?
Daoist Lord Hanhai quietly slipped his hand into his robes and crushed a talisman.
A spatial passage opened, and an elegant, slender figure stepped out. Her expression was calm, devoid of joy or sorrow, as if even if the heavens were to collapse, nothing could shake her Dao heart.
Everyone held their breath, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
That elegant figure had displayed terrifying divine might in Chunjiang City and had not hidden her appearance. Every high-ranking cultivator possessed a portrait of her.
The elegant figure looked around, her gaze sweeping past Lu Yang, Young Cult Master Lu, Daoist Lord Hanhai, and Ao Ling, before finally lifting her head to fix her gaze upon the hazy gray figure in the sky.
The hazy gray figure frowned. He rarely paid attention to matters of the outside world and had never seen this woman.
Yet, sensing her unhurried, composed demeanor and her aura concealed to the point of resembling an ordinary mortal, he knew that she, like himself, was an immortal.
*It appears she is a later-generation immortal.*
*Nothing to fear.*
Whoever he wished to kill, no one could stop him!
Ignoring Yun Zhi, the hazy gray immortal drove his Extinction Dao fruit and unleashed a bolt of Extinction Immortal Lightning as thick as a water bucket, blasting toward Lu Yang and Young Cult Master Lu.
Yun Zhi took a light, graceful step and reached out a fair, jade-like hand, exposing a pale stretch of wrist. Without even looking, she casually caught the Extinction Immortal Lightning as if completely oblivious to its intent of extinction, and with a flick of her hand, hurled the Extinction Immortal Lightning right back at the hazy gray immortal!
An immortal naturally would not be harmed by his own attack, but when he caught the immortal lightning with full confidence, a muffled grunt escaped his throat.
To his shock, through sheer carelessness, he had been injured by Yun Zhi!
He sensed that mixed into the returned immortal lightning was another force entirely.
How many hundreds of thousands of years had it been since he was last injured?
"Who are you?!" The hazy gray immortal no longer looked down on Yun Zhi, now treating her with gravity as an immortal of his own standing.
"Cult Master of the Heavenly Court Cult, Yun Mengmeng," Yun Zhi introduced herself calmly.
Daoist Lord Hanhai quietly sighed in relief. Fortunately, before departing, Yun Zhi hadn't felt completely at ease and had left him a spatial talisman, telling him that if anything went wrong, he should crush the talisman and she would rush over immediately.
"Hm?"
The hazy gray immortal was utterly bewildered. Since when had a Heavenly Court Cult popped up?
Chapter 874