CHAPTER 1113: CHAPTER 836: CURTAIN FALLS

Outer region of the Ashen Star Domain.

A massive fleet had been pursuing those fleeing divine beings for a year, gradually slowing down.

The interference ahead on the Great Dao was increasingly strong, which was nothing for the Immortal Golden Immortals, but it had a considerable impact on the Golden Immortals piloting the warships.

At this moment, on the flagship of this massive fleet, a group of a dozen or so people gathered together.

This massive fleet belonged to the Fire Cloud Palace, led by Immortal Venerable Hong Luan, with others like Yan Xiang and Qin Yuyan among them.

Naturally, Wei Qingqing had also deployed her starship to join this fleet.

However, her status was somewhat lower compared to Yan Xiang and Qin Yuyan, and she couldn’t be as casual or close in the presence of Immortal Venerable Hong Luan.

Thus, she remained in the fleet to oversee the situation.

"We’re almost at the Heart of the Cosmic ahead, it should be about time."

Yan Xiang said, a bit wistfully: "In the past ten years, since we entered the Ashen Star Domain, we’ve barely rested, especially in the last three years, almost staying in the outer region of the Heart of the Cosmic... These divine beings sure know how to hide."

"But our war achievements are also quite remarkable."

Qin Yuyan said with a smile: "In these ten years, we’ve exterminated two Divine Emperors, twelve Divine Kings, broken the Divine Emperor’s divine body nine times, and the Divine King’s divine body forty-four times. The achievements, when distributed, could add several Immortal Artifacts to each of us."

"It’s a pity we couldn’t catch any Divine Emperor."

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan seemed a bit regretful: "These Divine Emperors are too instinctive; they escape at the first sign of danger and even deliberately exposed some locations of divine beings to mislead us."

The other Immortal Golden Immortals in the field nodded in agreement.

"I heard that Red Lotus Immortal Venerable from the Void Sword Sect was eyeing a Divine Emperor, wonder if it was successfully slain?"

An Immortal Golden Immortal spoke.

He was Xuanwu Daoist, a direct disciple of the Black Emperor, with a Thousand Epoch Cultivation and a promising genius to become an Immortal Venerable in the future.

"With Red Lotus’s nature, had they really killed a Divine Emperor, the whole world would have known; there’d be no silence until now, wouldn’t there?"

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan was apparently well-acquainted with this Immortal Venerable from the Void Sword Sect.

"A Divine Emperor isn’t so easy to kill. It’s said that Su Bai Immortal Venerable from the Light Council, in his haste, fell into a trap set by Divine Emperor Zhongnian, resulting in heavy losses with the entire fleet nearly wiped out. Only he, along with a dozen or so Honorable Daoists, managed to escape alive. Were it not for the timely rescue by No-Self Immortal Venerable nearby, those immortal disciples might have perished in that battle."

Another fairly young-looking man spoke.

His words involuntarily attracted the attention of everyone aboard the fleet.

If the top center of this flagship was Immortal Venerable Hong Luan.

Then the second center was none other than him.

The reason was nothing other than his name.

Luo Qianqiu!

The number one genius of the younger generation in Fire Cloud Palace.

With less than a million years in cultivation, his combat power was so strong that even Yan Xiang felt ashamed in comparison.

Among the Divine Kings slain by this fleet, one was killed by him alone, using an Immortal Artifact to trap and grind until he died over three years.

In other words, it took him only three years to accomplish alone the feat of killing a Divine King.

"Indeed, while the Divine Spirit System isn’t that strong in combat, their survival ability is extraordinary. As long as there’s the slightest slack, a gap, they can split off a will, transfer their main body, and escape without a trace."

The other Immortal Golden Immortals nodded in agreement.

Divine Emperor, Divine King, Divine King are hard to kill, which further underscores the rarity of Luo Qianqiu’s achievement in slaying a Divine King.

"Speaking of which, hasn’t that Immortal Venerable been found yet?"

At this time, Xuanwu Daoist suddenly spoke: "Forget about a top-tier Immortal Venerable, even an Honorable Daoist wouldn’t just pop out of nowhere, right? It’s been more than ten years, yet there’s no information about them, they’ve just vanished?"

"There’s speculation that the Immortal Venerable had some connection with the Divine Calamity known as Yuan Miao. Could it be that because of these rumors, they’ve simply decided not to show themselves?"

Yan Xiang speculated.

As for these rumors...

A Immortal Venerable who had slain so many divine beings and had an unwavering position would collude with a Divine Calamity?

Could they really think the high ranks of the Human Clan are fools?

"Perhaps they just couldn’t be bothered to explain, for a top-tier Immortal Venerable, their actions hardly need to heed rumors or others’ opinions."

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan said, glancing forward: "However, now that all these divine beings have fled this star domain, this cosmic purge operation concludes in a somewhat imperfect manner."

After saying this, she felt a bit of regret: "According to our investigation, there were many divine beings planning to cause chaos in the Ashen Star Domain, Yanhuang Star Domain, and Taibai Star Domain during this time. We were all ready to capture them all in a big sweep, but now, they’ll run as far as they can."

"To wipe out hundreds of divine beings all at once is still very difficult, yet our fourteen fleets this time have exterminated over two hundred divine beings, including quite a few Divine Emperors and Divine Kings. The spoils are considerable."

Qin Yuyan immediately added.

Not setting the battlefield in the Yanhuang Star Domain is naturally for the best.

"That may be true, but the manpower and resources mobilized this time far exceeded the original plan, fourteen Immortal Venerables, including three top-tier Immortal Venerables."

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan said, adding: "If we include that mysterious Immortal Venerable, it would make four top-tier Immortal Venerables."

"Though some manpower and resources were wasted, mobilizing such a mighty force in such a short time serves to showcase our Human Clan’s might and dignity to all species."

Yan Xiang said with a smile.

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan nodded.

A total of fifteen Immortal Venerables!

This was no small number.

It must be known that those who could become Immortal Venerables were mostly ancient monsters having lived for over tens of millions of years, facing purges from the Daoist Ancestors.

Moreover, Immortal Venerables often cultivated two, three, or even five Great Daos, increasing their likelihood of being purged.

Under such circumstances, no matter how powerful the species, the number of Immortal Venerables wouldn’t be too many.

For groups like the Feather Spirit Clan, Void Crystal Race, and Dimensional Giant Beasts, with a few Great Powers in command, having a hundred Immortal Venerables would already be considered abundant talent.

"By the way, Yuyan, didn’t you say Gu Jinlai was training in the Ashen Star Domain? Has he had any dangerous encounters? As we’re about to return, shall we bring him back with us?"

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan inquired.

Evidently, she remembered vividly this individual Emperor Xi seemed to hold in high regard.

"He’s fine."

Qin Yuyan said with a smile, "During the most chaotic period ten years ago in the Ashen Star Domain, he once sent me a message claiming that his cultivation had broken through, and I shouldn’t worry... Now, I suppose he is continuing his cultivation, adapting to the changes and increase in his strength."

"A breakthrough in strength?"

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan was somewhat surprised, "Could it be that he has already completed the cultivation of all Immortal Techniques so soon?"

"He didn’t specify, and it wasn’t appropriate for me to ask in detail."

Qin Yuyan said, "After all, cultivation is a personal matter."

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan nodded and smiled, "I’m quite curious about what he means by a ’breakthrough in cultivation.’"

After speaking, she glanced at Luo Qianqiu, "Junior Brother Qianqiu, you must work hard, don’t let Changqing overtake you."

Luo Qianqiu slightly smiled at that, "Senior Sister comparing me to Gu Jinlai doesn’t hold much significance. After all, I’ve been cultivating for nearly a million years by now, while he is not even a thousand years old? If he’s to overtake... let’s talk about it in ten thousand years."

"You seem quite confident."

Immortal Venerable Hong Luan said, though she didn’t put much weight on the matter in her heart.

She also felt that even if Gu Jinlai wanted to compete with Luo Qianqiu, it would be at least ten thousand years in the future.

...

The atmosphere on the Fire Cloud Palace’s flagship was harmonious.

The Ten Thousand Gods Realm, however, was shrouded in a gloomy desolation.

The Nine Great God Emperors, leading many Divine Emperors and Divine Kings, invaded the Ashen Star Domain, suffering heavy losses due to the coordinated attacks by the three Overlord-level forces of the New Fire Star Sea. Not to mention, those Divine Spirits who took the bounty to pursue the Evil God Yuan Miao didn’t gain any advantage either.

Even though several God Emperors repeatedly warned that the combat power of Evil God Yuan Miao was not inferior to that of a Divine Emperor, many reckless Divine Kings and Divine Spirits formed teams, thinking they could defeat him with numbers, only to suffer heavy losses...

Of course, these were the initial reports.

To date, the leading God Emperor of the Ten Thousand Gods Realm had already heard more than once that two or three Divine Emperors, leading dozens of Divine Kings, surrounded him but still allowed Yuan Miao to escape.

If the pursuit by those Divine Emperors and Divine Kings caused disarray in formation, he could even complete a counter-kill.

Now, even if it was hard to believe for these God Emperors, they couldn’t but face a terrifying fact.

Yuan Miao...

might have already grown to a level comparable to a God Emperor.

...

At this time, during a meeting with thousands of seats in the Ten Thousand Gods Realm.

A God Emperor was speaking, "A heretic god of this level... unless one of our God Emperors leads a Divine System into action, we are powerless to confront him, and if we do act with a Divine System, it might cause too much commotion, possibly incurring the united siege by the three Overlord-level forces of the New Fire Star Sea. This would result in even greater losses."

"Are we just going to watch this Evil God wander out of our Ten Thousand Gods Realm after annihilating so many Divine Spirits? In this way, how can the Ten Thousand Gods Realm continue to absorb Divine Spirits from all regions, and what credibility do we, God Emperors of the Supreme Council, have left?"

Divine Emperor Yongyang stood up to oppose.

"Absorbing Divine Spirits from all regions..."

A God Emperor’s eyes revealed a peculiar gaze, "In the past ten years, due to the Immortal Venerable leading a siege, Divine Spirits suffered heavy losses, and we thought there would be a significant reduction in the Ten Thousand Gods Realm. However, the actual result surprised us a bit."

He glanced at everyone present, "The number of Divine Spirits in the Ten Thousand Gods Realm has even slightly increased."

"Fear is the best tool to promote unity among Divine Spirits."

Another God Emperor spoke with a deep voice, "Previously, without such an institution as the Ten Thousand Gods Realm, Divine Spirits, even in fear, could only hide carefully, but now... with the Ten Thousand Gods Realm as a benchmark, the encirclement by the Human Clan will only force them to unite more around us, because they know that cultivators and Divine Spirits cannot coexist."

"So... shall we just let it go like that!?"

Divine Emperor Yongyang was somewhat unwilling.

Because of the Yuan Miao incident, he had lost several Divine Emperors under his command.

"Of course, we’re not letting it go, just temporarily slowing down the pursuit. Once the disturbance from the cultivators quiets down, we can concentrate our elite forces to annihilate this Evil God in one go."

A God Emperor said.

His words quickly received the backing of the other God Emperors.

In the end, one of the God Emperors persuasively said, "Yongyang, focus on the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture... the bigger picture..."

Divine Emperor Yongyang felt extremely aggrieved.

But when the God Emperors were unwilling to draw more attention from the cultivators due to the Yuan Miao affair, relying on him alone, once they encountered an Immortal Venerable...

Even though he was a God Emperor, he might not fare well.

For a moment, he could only sigh helplessly, "Then let’s wait until the matter settles down before fully hunting down Yuan Miao."

...

As the Supreme Council made its decision, the Ten Thousand Gods Realm gradually quieted down.

Gu Jinlai was the first to sense something unusual.

The Divine Spirits pursuing him had lessened.

After five years, nearly no Divine Spirits actively sought him anymore.

"So, has the Ten Thousand Gods Realm backed down?"

Gu Jinlai was astonished.

He had just displayed his Divine Emperor-level strength, and the Ten Thousand Gods Realm gave up pursuing him?

With so little courage, if the cultivators didn’t bully them, who would?

"It must be because the commotion caused by the siege of the three Overlord-level forces of the New Fire Star Sea scared them, so they temporarily stopped the pursuit."

Gu Jinlai speculated inwardly.

That works...

Currently, he couldn’t withstand the Divine System led by a God Emperor, so he might as well take this time to raise his Spiritual Realm to the Fifteenth Rank.

Once the Spirit reaches the Fifteenth Rank, he could use the Divine Origin Plate to act in the Ten Thousand Gods Realm.

"With over a decade’s accumulation, Qingguang is already substantial. Next, I’ll thoroughly comprehend the Innate Star River Map. If done smoothly, elevating the Spirit Level will still leave some reserves."

Gu Jinlai smiled slightly.

After working hard for over a decade, it was finally time to validate the harvest.