Chapter 2161: Life and Death Encounter Part 2
"Where is Meng Jianyuan?"
Dian Rahu's voice was calm, but the weight behind it was crushing.
His Divine pressure bore down on Xia Qingyue's soul, forcing her knees to buckle, her body trembling violently under the force.
Blood spilled from her lips, staining the ground beneath her.
Yet—
Even as pain wracked her body, even as her very soul screamed under the pressure—
She refused to answer.
Silence.
A deadly, suffocating silence.
Dian Jiuzhi's gaze darkened.
His fists clenched.
And then—
His voice rang out coldly.
"Father, seeing as she refuses to answer… it must mean she's truly on the Fog Monarch's side."
His words sent a shockwave through the gathered forces.
"That means… the Fog Monarch is an outsider too!"
!!!!
The moment those words left his lips, a tremor ran through everyone present.
A realization that sent cold chills down their spines.
Xia Qingyue's body trembled even more.
And that was all they needed.
That small reaction.
That faint hesitation.
It was proof enough.
"I knew it!" Dian Jiuzhi's voice was triumphant, his fists clenching tightly.
To him, there was no longer any doubt.
This Qingyue in front of him—
She was an outsider.
She was connected to the Fog Monarch.
And that meant—
She was an enemy.
His gaze turned cold, his expression filled with disdain.
"Since you refuse to speak, there's no need to be polite."
His hand lifted, profound energy surging around his palm.
A strike filled with contempt—
Aimed straight for the injured Xia Qingyue.
But just as his palm was about to connect—
The air exploded.
A thick, suffocating cloud of Abyssal Dust suddenly formed in an instant!
A swirling tempest of gray-yellow chaos engulfed the land that already filled with Abyss Dust, shrouding everything in absolute darkness as the Abyss Dust was so concentrated.
Dian Jiuzhi's eyes widened in shock!
The sudden eruption of Abyssal Dust wasn't natural!
Someone—
Had summoned it!
The Sky Split Apart
—
High above the Endless Fog Sea, amidst the swirling Abyssal Dust, a pair of eyes opened.
—
They weren't ordinary eyes.
They weren't human.
They weren't alive—
And yet, the moment they appeared—
The world trembled.
—
A chilling, indescribable presence crashed down on the battlefield like an unstoppable tide.
The already thick Abyssal Dust suddenly surged, growing even more dense, consuming all light, turning the entire region into a world of absolute darkness.
—
"FOG MONARCH!"
Dian Jiuzhi's voice rang out like a sharp blade cutting through the chaos.
His eyes locked onto the massive, floating pair of eyes in the sky—
A sight that instantly sent chills through even the most hardened warriors present.
—
Yet, standing amidst the growing storm, the Divine Regent—Dian Rahu—remained unmoved.
—
He did not react with fear.
Nor did he react with shock.
Instead—
He looked at the eyes in the sky with nothing but amusement.
—
As one of the True Gods, as the strongest True God among all the Divine Kingdoms, he had immediately scanned the eyes the moment they appeared.
His Divine Sense pierced through the layers upon layers of Abyssal Dust.
He searched for a physical body, for a core, for any sign of a living entity.
Yet—
He found nothing.
—
Aside from the unnaturally thick Abyssal Dust, there was no flesh.
No form.
No presence.
—
"Hmph… amusing."
Dian Rahu's lips curled into a slight smirk.
—
"This thing really is nothing more than Abyssal Dust given shape."
—
If the Fog Monarch were truly as powerful as the rumors claimed—
If he was truly some godlike existence that ruled the Endless Fog Sea—
Then why had he not shown himself after the invasion of the Pure Land?
Why had he hidden like a coward?
Why had he not dared to face the Gods head-on?
—
To Dian Rahu—
This so-called Fog Monarch was nothing more than an illusion, a trick.
—
And if it wasn't an illusion—
Then this creature was afraid.
—
Afraid to truly step forward.
Afraid to face him.
Afraid—
Because it knew that against a True God… it would be erased.
"Fog Monarch! Where is Meng Jianyuan?!"
The dragons and the people of the Boundless Divine Kingdom shouted in unison.
With Divine Regent Dian Rahu present, they had no fear.
—
Yet—
The pair of abyssal eyes floating in the sky remained silent.
—
They simply watched.
Unblinking.
Unmoving.
Cold. Distant. Unfathomable.
—
There was no Divine Pressure.
No burst of power.
No hostility.
—
It was as if this so-called Fog Monarch was simply observing them.
As if they were beneath its notice.
—
Dian Rahu's gaze darkened, his patience thinning.
A mortal trick.
That's all it was.
—
With a wave of his hand, a force capable of annihilating worlds surged into the sky.
The very fabric of space collapsed, turning the area into a destructive vacuum of nothingness.
—
The moment it made contact—
The Abyssal Eyes… disappeared.
Vanished into nothing.
—
"Is that all?"
Dian Rahu's voice was laced with disappointment.
His expression betrayed no concern, only disinterest.
—
Now, he was certain.
The Fog Monarch was just an illusion.
A cheap trick meant to intimidate the weak.
—
But then—
The Abyss churned.
The thick gray-yellow fog twisted once more, swirling into a violent vortex.
And in the vast sky above them—
The Eyes reappeared.
Unscathed.
Unshaken.
As if nothing had happened.
Dian Rahu's brows furrowed.
Suddenly, Dian Rahu's Divine Sense erupted.
A True God's power rippled through the Endless Fog Sea, shaking the entire region for ten of thousands of miles.
The Abyssal Dust, thick and suffocating, was forcefully scattered apart!
"ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!"
"ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!"
A chorus of furious, nightmarish roars thundered across the battlefield as hundreds of thousands of Abyssal Beasts and Abyssal Ghosts were dragged into the open!
They had been lurking, hidden within the dust, but now—
They were laid bare under the might of a True God!
Even though the Divine Kingdoms lacked the ability to control the Abyssal Dust, they could forcefully disperse it.
For centuries, they had used Divine Treasures infused with their Divine Power to purge the dust from their lands.
But this place—
The Abyssal Dust in the Endless Fog Sea was far thicker, far more concentrated than anywhere else.
To clear even a ten thousands miles of it required immense Divine Power.
And yet—
The moment the dust was pushed away…
A deafening bestial roar erupted across the battlefield!
From within the now-cleared space, a horde of monstrosities emerged—
Hundreds of thousands of creatures made entirely of Abyssal Dust surged forward, rushing at them like an unstoppable tide of destruction!
"Jiuzhi, everyone, stay behind me."
Dian Rahu's voice was calm, but absolute.
The moment he spoke, his son, Dian Jiuzhi, and the other cultivators immediately fell back.
The dragons—after dragging Xia Qingyue toward them—also stood behind the Divine Regent.
They could have fled to the outer edges of the Endless Fog Sea—
But now—
The Fog Monarch had chosen to reveal his power.
He had sent his army.
And because of that—
Dian Rahu chose to stay.
Because this meant one thing.
The true Fog Monarch had to be nearby.
The Divine Regent refused to believe that the pair of floating abyssal eyes in the sky was the true body of the Fog Monarch.
He was certain that the real enemy was close.
"Annihilation Palm!"
A golden aura surged from Dian Rahu's palm, a colossal projection of Divine Power expanding outward.
"BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!"
The tremendous force tore through the battlefield!
Everything in its path—
Beast or ghost, it didn't matter—
All were instantly reduced to nothingness.
The moment the palm passed, all that remained was pure destruction.
Yet—
Even as many fell, the Abyssal Beasts surged forward relentlessly.
Their numbers were endless.
Their roars shook the heavens, their hungry eyes burning with mindless destruction.
Most of them were in the Divine Extinction Realm, their raw strength capable of shaking the battlefield.
A handful among them were even more terrifying—
Divine Limited Realm Abyssal Beasts.
If this battle had taken place anywhere else in the Abyss, even the weakest of Dian Rahu's attacks would have reduced them to dust a thousand times over.
But here—
In the Endless Fog Sea—
Where the very air was saturated with Abyssal Dust, these monsters were different.
They were not truly alive.
They were not made of flesh and blood.
They were formed from destruction itself.
And so—
Even when their bodies were torn apart—
They reformed.
"ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!"
An endless tide of monstrosities surged toward them, unrelenting, undying.
But—
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!"
Another palm of destruction descended—
A True God's might crashing down like judgment itself!
The Abyssal Beasts screamed—
Their bodies torn apart, shattered into nothingness!
But Dian Rahu did not falter.
He was a God.
He feared nothing.
Even here—
Even in this cursed sea of Abyssal Dust—
Where his power was constantly being suppressed—
Where he had to use an absurd amount of energy just to keep the Abyssal Dust from consuming them all—
He was still stronger.
Far stronger.
And none of these monsters could contend against him.
"Puke!"
Yun Che's body lurched forward, his vision blurring as he coughed up another mouthful of thick, crimson blood.
His hands trembled, his breath was ragged, and his entire body burned with pain.
He had already lost count of how many times he had spat blood.
But he had no choice.
Every time the Abyssal Beasts and Ghosts were annihilated by the Divine Regent's terrifying power, he was forced to bring them back—
Again and again.
He was the only reason they still stood.
The only reason they hadn't been completely erased from existence.
But it was costing him.
With each revival, his profound energy was draining at an unbearable rate.
With each annihilation, it was like his very soul was being wrenched apart.
He couldn't keep this up.
He knew it. His body was at its limit. His strength was crumbling.
His vision grew darker, his thoughts slipping into a haze. One more time… Just one more time, and he wouldn't be able to bring them back again. And when that happened—
Everything would be over.
Suddenly, through the pain and exhaustion, a desperate thought flashed through his mind.
No… there's still a way. His fingers twitched, and with the last reserves of his will, he sent out a command.
A tremor shook the Abyss.
The earth rumbled, the dense fog swirled violently, and then—
A colossal Abyssal Beast emerged.
It was massive, its towering body blotting out the faint light that seeped through the thick fog.
The ground quaked beneath its enormous weight, and the air was filled with a suffocating pressure.
The moment it appeared— It lunged forward. And with a single, monstrous gulp—
It swallowed Yun Che whole.
Or at least, that's what it appeared to do.
At the very last second, Yun Che made sure that his upper body remained visible, his form deliberately left exposed between the beast's enormous jaws.
He needed them to see him.
He needed them to believe.
With a silent command, the beast turned.
Its massive frame moved slowly but deliberately, stepping forward into the open.
And then—
The moment Yun Che's form entered their visible line of sight—
Everything stopped.
The air went deathly silent.
The once raging battlefield fell still.
The Divine Regent and everyone froze.
Even the God who had been mercilessly obliterating everything in his path came to an abrupt halt.
All eyes were locked onto a single point.
A single, horrifying sight—
Meng Jianyuan.
Held within the maw of a monstrous Abyssal Beast. And in that instant—
The entire battlefield shifted.
Because now—
They could no longer attack.
The pair of abyssal eyes in the sky reformed once more, the swirling Abyssal Dust twisting and contorting, shifting its shape.
In an instant, a gaping mouth emerged beneath them, formed entirely from the gray-yellow dust, its shape vast and grotesque—a nightmarish visage of something not entirely human.
And then—
A voice echoed from the void.
"One more attack… and I'll crush this brat into a bloody paste."
The moment those words were spoken, a chill swept through the battlefield.
The voice was ancient, boundless, and filled with immeasurable weight—
It didn't simply speak; it seeped into their very souls.
It was as if the Endless Fog itself had spoken.
As if the Abyss itself had become sentient.
Dian Rahu's face darkened instantly.
His fingers twitched, his entire being brimming with suppressed fury.
"You!!!"
His mind was a storm of rage and frustration. He had been eradicating the beasts and ghosts without pause, each strike obliterating waves upon waves of them.
His insight told him everything— The attacks were growing weaker. The waves of monstrosities were thinning. The Fog Monarch's power was running dry.
He was on the verge of victory.
And yet—
At the very moment the battle was tipping in his favor—
This coward had chosen to play dirty. Using Meng Jianyuan as a bargaining chip!
This infuriated him.
The Fog Monarch—this so-called ruler of the Endless Fog—
Was nothing more than a scheming rat.
A pathetic, spineless coward who refused to fight face-to-face. His hands clenched tightly, his Divine Energy flaring uncontrollably. He wanted nothing more than to tear the sky apart. To erase this abomination from existence.
But— Even through his blinding rage, he stopped.
With a deep, shuddering breath, he forced himself to lower his hand.
Because regardless of his personal feelings—
Regardless of how worthless he now viewed Meng Jianyuan—
He was still under the Abyssal Monarch's orders. He couldn't let him die. Not yet. Not until they confirmed everything. Not until the truth of the Fog Monarch was fully uncovered.
His voice was cold, clipped, controlled.
"What do you want?"
His eyes narrowed, staring at the grotesque, shifting face in the sky.
His patience was thin.
His fury was vast.
And if this thing dared to waste his time—
He would personally ensure that there would be no corner of this Abyss left for it to hide.
"Return that little girl to me."
The ancient voice in the sky commanded.
The moment those words fell, a strange silence followed.
The Dragons, Dian Jiuzhi, and the warriors of the Boundless Divine Kingdom exchanged glances, their expressions shifting from confusion to something else entirely.
And then—
"Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!"
Laughter erupted like thunder, shaking the very air.
It was so boisterous, so unrestrained, that the battlefield itself trembled!
What a joke!
The absurdity was too much!
They had braced themselves for some grand demand, for terms of negotiation, for something truly threatening.
But this?
This was laughable.
Even Dian Rahu, whose fury had been boiling moments before, let out a short, mocking chuckle.
But—
There was one among them who did not laugh.
The Dragon Lord.
His expression did not change.
His gaze did not waver.
Outwardly, he was calm—
But deep inside…
A wave of horror churned through his very soul.
He knew.
He understood what this meant.
And no matter how much he wanted to deny it, no matter how much he wanted to curse the heavens, there was nothing he could do.
The slave seal within his soul had already activated.
The moment the command had been given—
He was bound.
No matter how ridiculous.
No matter how dangerous.
No matter what it would cost.
He had to obey.
There was no escape.
------
"You won't?" The voice in the sky suddenly shifted. The amusement vanished. The mockery disappeared. And in its place—
Rage.
The sky quaked.
The swirling abyssal face contorted, its mouth stretching into a shape of pure fury.
"THEN YOU DIE!"
A deafening roar split the heavens.
And in that instant—
A new beast emerged.
Larger. Darker. More terrifying than anything before.
It descended like a falling star, its presence swallowing the battlefield in pure destruction! The Qilin God Abyssal Beast roar shake the heaven!
"ROARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!"
The entire Endless Fog trembled, the dense, suffocating Abyssal Dust churning like a furious storm as the monstrous roar split the sky. This was not just another Abyssal Beast—it was something far beyond the creatures that had come before. A being whose very presence warped reality, whose existence alone was a living nightmare.
Its form loomed like a collapsing mountain, its size eclipsing the very heavens, its body composed of pure Abyssal Dust that writhed and pulsed with raw, unrestrained destruction. Its aura alone was enough to send cracks rippling through the void. And yet, what made it truly terrifying was what it once was.
This was no ordinary Abyssal Beast.
A once-mighty lord of the second-strongest beast race in the Abyss, now nothing more than a twisted, corrupted husk, stripped of its divinity and turned into an Abyssal Beast—a monster that knew no restraint, no pain, no mercy. Its very presence was a nightmare given flesh, a being that had abandoned all will and reason for the sole purpose of devouring everything in its path.
—
And yet—
The Divine Regent merely narrowed his eyes.
He did not step back. He did not waver. He did not even raise his guard. Not because he was afraid— But because he was not afraid at all.
Dian Rahu was a True God, one of the strongest beings in the Abyss, and even in the Endless Fog, where his power was suppressed, where the Abyssal Dust clung to him like a living parasite trying to devour his very essence, he stood unwavering.
But that didn't mean he could be careless.
Because power alone was not the issue.
The shockwaves from his battle—
That was the real problem.
If he fought at full strength, the resulting aftermath would reduce everything around them to ruin. The unleashed force of his attacks, combined with the Qilin God Abyssal Beast's power, could shatter space itself.
And that—
Would obliterate the weaker cultivators in an instant.
His Divine Sense stretched outward.
His eyes flicked toward Dian Jiuzhi, whose aura flickered with faint tension, a stark reminder that—no matter how talented—he was still only at the Eighth Level of Divine Extinction. If he was caught in the aftershocks of this battle, even a fraction of power leaking out could crush him beyond saving.
There was no need to issue an order.
His elders already understood.
Without hesitation, the veteran powerhouses of the Boundless Divine Kingdom moved swiftly, pulling Dian Jiuzhi back, lifting him into the sky, and retreating to a safe distance without a single wasted movement.
And the dragons followed suit.
A silent transmission was sent out from the Dragon Lord, and his elders responded immediately. They surrounded Xia Qingyue, who was still bound and weakened, and with a swift, wordless motion, they took her and retreated toward the designated position their Lord had commanded.
One by one, the lesser cultivators left the battlefield. Until only three figures remained.
The Divine Regent, Dian Rahu.
The Dragon Lord.
And a single elder of the Boundless Divine Kingdom.
Silence.
A heavy, oppressive silence... Something was wrong.
Dian Rahu's eyes flickered with a rare trace of uncertainty.
The Fog Monarch had summoned the Abyssal Beast, but—
Why was it not attacking?
It simply stood there.
Waiting.
Its inhuman eyes locked onto them, unmoving.
And worse—
The Fog Monarch had let everyone else leave.
Dian Rahu's brows knitted together, his instincts screaming at him.
He could not shake the feeling that something was off.
But what? What was the true purpose of this battle? Why had the Fog Monarch revealed himself only to hold back?
His grip tightened.
He was about to find out.
"You wish to challenge this Monarch?!" The massive face of Abyssal Dust contorted in fury, its ancient voice roaring through the endless fog, shaking the very air with its boundless presence. "Then this Monarch shall grant you an audience!"