Chapter 2162: Life and Death Encounter Part 3
As if responding to his command, the colossal Abyssal Beast, its mountainous form still carrying Yun Che within its monstrous maw, suddenly turn and rushed into the deeper abyss of fog sea.
With a speed that defied its massive size, it shot into the distance, tearing through the thick fog like a meteor crashing through the void.
!!!!!!!!!!
Dian Rahu's eyes flashed dangerously.
"After him!" The Divine Regent's voice was like a thunderous decree, his body bursting forward as his Divine Power surged in pursuit. The elder beside him did not hesitate, following at full speed, their figures piercing through the Abyssal Dust like streaks of light.
But—
"ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!"
A furious, earth-shattering roar tore through the battlefield.
Before the Divine Regent could advance even a breath further, a monstrous force erupted—
The Qilin God Abyssal Beast had moved!
It was like a living calamity, its colossal hooves pounding into the Abyssal Dust, sending shockwaves ripping through the land, forcing the suffocating gray-yellow fog back into the battlefield.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!!"
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!!"
The Abyss quaked as two divine techniques exploded forward, unleashed in unison by Dian Rahu and his accompanying elder.
A surge of pure annihilation crashed into the Qilin God Abyssal Beast, sending its immense frame hurtling backward, its massive body tearing through space like a star flung from its orbit!
The sheer force of their combined attacks was enough to break apart entire realms, even with their power suppressed by the Abyss. The Peak Divine Limited Realm Elder and the True God Dian Rahu together outmatched the beast in raw might, forcing it into retreat with a single decisive strike!
Yet—
Even as its massive body crashed into the distance, even as the force of their divine power ripped through its monstrous form, even as its abyssal frame momentarily faltered—
It did not fall.
It did not stop.
"ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!"
The Qilin God came to life once more, its bellowing roar splitting the skies, its body surging with a terrifying, unfathomable vitality that seemed to defy reason itself.
The Divine Regent's eyes narrowed.
He had expected the beast to be wounded, weakened, struggling.
Yet it charged forward once again—
As if their attack had done nothing at all.
"Dragon Lord, what are you doing?! Help us!"
The elder's voice roared through the battlefield, thick with frustration and urgency.
He didn't fear the Qilin God Abyssal Beast, not with his power and the Divine Regent's might combined—
But with the Dragon Lord added to their ranks, subduing the beast would have been trivial.
If not outright erasing it from existence.
Yet— The Dragon Lord had not moved.
He stood motionless, his golden dragon eyes locked onto the battlefield, his expression unreadable.
"Dragon Lord!"
The elder's tone sharpened, his patience wearing thin.
"We don't have time for this!"
Finally, the Dragon Lord nodded.
His body shifted, his muscles coiling like a drawn bow.
And then—
He moved.
The moment his figure shot forward, the world quaked beneath his might.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion of draconic power erupted from his body, the golden light of his aura clashing violently against the gray abyssal mist.
His presence was like a soaring sun, his dragon essence filling the sky, his overwhelming power radiating outward in an unstoppable tide.
He was a being infinitely close to the level of a True God.
His dragon claw stretched outward, divine energy coiling around it like the breath of the heavens themselves, his entire form radiating with the terrifying might of an unstoppable force.
And then—
He struck.
But— Not at the Qilin God Abyssal Beast.
Not at the monstrous enemy, not at the creature that was threatening to consume everything.
Instead—
His clawed hand tore through space—
—directly toward the Divine Regent and his elder!
"WHAT?!"
The elder barely had time to register the betrayal, his mind shattering in disbelief as the golden claw descended upon them like divine judgment.
The Divine Regent, focused entirely on the Qilin God, only realized the attack too late.
A storm of golden power erupted between them.
The battlefield, which had already been on the brink of collapse, exploded in sheer chaos.
The Dragon Lord had turned.
And his attack was aimed not at the enemy—
But at his own allies.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!"
The very air cracked apart, the force of the impact sending tremors through the Abyss, shaking the ground like an earth-shattering calamity.
"UGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
The Divine Regent and his elder—two of the strongest beings in the Abyss—were completely caught off guard.
They had prepared for an onslaught from the Qilin God Abyssal Beast.
They had braced themselves for another trick from the Fog Monarch.
But never in their worst imaginations did they expect the Dragon Lord himself to strike them down!
Their bodies were flung through the air like shattered meteors, their divine energy scattering chaotically as they hurtled backward, unable to stop their momentum.
And then—
BOOM!
They slammed into the ground, their impact shattering the very floor beneath them, thick cracks splintering out like spiderwebs as clouds of Abyssal Dust erupted into the sky.
Blood splattered across the fractured earth.
The Divine Regent, despite his True God might, was forced to kneel on one knee, his hand pressing against the cracked surface, his breath momentarily faltering.
Because the attack—
Had made him bleed.
It was not because the Dragon Lord was stronger than him.
No, by all means, as a True God, he far surpassed the Dragon Lord in raw power.
But—
He had been diverting the majority of his strength into suppressing the Abyssal Dust, ensuring that it didn't consume everything around them.
He had been entirely focused on the Qilin God Abyssal Beast.
And the sudden, unexpected betrayal had allowed the Dragon Lord's strike to tear through his defenses.
Even a god could bleed when struck with such perfectly timed treachery.
The elder of the Boundless Divine Kingdom fared no better.
His entire body convulsed, his blood churning violently, his chest heaving as fresh crimson poured from his lips.
Though he was at the same level as the Dragon Lord, he was still a human.
His physique was weaker, his endurance lesser, and being struck off guard by someone even slightly stronger than him had left severe internal injuries.
His vision blurred, his knees buckling beneath him, his very core screaming in agony.
And then—
"YOU!!!!!!!!!"
The Divine Regent's voice roared like thunder, shaking the battlefield as his eyes burned with absolute hatred.
His gaze locked onto the Dragon Lord, filled with wrath and disbelief, his very presence boiling with murderous intent.
With a single motion, he wiped the blood from his lips, his body trembling with uncontainable fury.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!!!"
His voice echoed through the skies, a demand filled with pure rage, his golden aura surging as the space around him warped under his fury.
He glared at the Dragon Lord—
A glare filled with betrayal, confusion, and the promise of absolute retribution.
And yet—
The Dragon Lord remained silent.
His expression was calm.
His golden draconic eyes held no hesitation, no regret.
Because deep inside, he already knew the truth.
He had no choice.
No matter how much hatred was directed at him.
No matter how much shame burned in his soul.
The Slave Seal in his body had already decided his fate.
And now—
There was no turning back.
"Heh…" A deep, mocking chuckle rumbled from the Dragon Lord's throat, his expression twisting into something between scorn and defiance. His golden eyes gleamed with an unreadable light as he hovered midair, his aura boiling with wild, unrestrained power.
"Did you truly think you were a match for my Lord—His Majesty, the Fog Monarch?!"
His voice boomed like a dragon's roar, shaking the skies as he shot forward, landing gracefully beside the Qilin God Abyssal Beast.
The massive beast let out a furious bellow, its monstrous form trembling with suppressed savagery—
Yet, it did not attack him.
That alone was enough. The message was clear. The Dragon Lord had chosen his side.
"You—!!!"
The injured elder of the Boundless Divine Kingdom staggered forward, his body still wracked with pain, his voice filled with unbridled rage.
"How dare you betray the Abyssal Monarch!"
His words tore through the battlefield, but the Dragon Lord merely laughed.
A cruel, booming laughter that echoed through the suffocating gray fog.
But—
Deep inside, he was screaming.
"The entire dragon clan will be condemned to hell because of your actions!" The elder snarled, his finger thrust toward the traitorous Dragon Lord with sheer, unrelenting fury.
He wasn't wrong.
Even if the rest of the Dragon Clan had nothing to do with this, even if they had remained loyal to the Abyssal Monarch, it wouldn't matter.
Because their Lord had fallen.
Because their greatest pillar had crumbled.
Because no power in this world could absolve them from the crime of treason.
His words were a sentence of death upon every last dragon.
And yet—
"Hahaha! Of course!" The Dragon Lord sneered, throwing his arms wide in mock acceptance. "If you have the ability, you're welcome to try!"
His voice was filled with arrogance, with confidence, with madness—
But only he knew the truth.
Only he understood the sheer terror suffocating his soul.
Every word he spoke was a lie soaked in blood.
His entire being trembled with horror, his soul quaking beneath the weight of an inescapable fate.
He was completely and utterly fucked.
There was no saving him now.
Even if the Fog Monarch won today— Even if the Abyssal Monarch never found out the truth— Even if he somehow survived this battle—
There was no escaping the consequences. His fate was already sealed.
And all he could do now—
Was play his role until the bitter end.
"Good... good... GOOOOD! VERY GOOD!"
Dian Rahu's voice boomed like rolling thunder, his laughter twisted with mockery and seething rage as he wiped the blood from the corner of his lips.
His golden eyes burned with divine fire, flickering with an intensity that made the very air tremble.
And then—
Silence.
In that chilling stillness, his divine senses stretched outward one last time—
He could no longer sense his son. He could no longer sense the elders who had fled to safety. They were gone.
Completely out of his range.
And with that realization— Dian Rahu smiled.
A slow, terrifying, knowing smile that sent a paralyzing chill down the Dragon Lord's spine.
"Finally..."
Dian Rahu slowly rose from the crater where he had fallen, his body straightening, his form looming over the battlefield like an awakened god.
He rolled his shoulders, his crimson-stained robes fluttering with raw power, and as he exhaled—
The sky cracked apart.
"I don't have to hold back anymore."
The moment he spoke, a sensation far worse than death itself surged through the Dragon Lord's soul.
His entire being quaked.
His instincts screamed.
His breath halted.
Because—
This was not the same battle anymore.
The moment Dian Jiuzhi and the others left the battlefield, there was no longer a need to restrain his power.
And that meant—
The Divine Regent was now about to fight at his full strength.
The Dragon Lord's body went rigid, his golden eyes widening in horror as a terrifying sense of impending doom crept up his spine like a thousand icy blades.
Even though his words and actions were controlled—
Even though every movement he made was dictated by the will of Yun Che in the far distance—
Even Yun Che himself, despite being so far away, despite being hundreds of thousands of miles deep into the Endless Fog—
Could feel the sheer suffocating terror radiating from Dian Rahu's rising power.
Yun Che's chest tightened. A deep, primal fear slithered into his soul.
His body, still trapped in the massive abyssal beast's maw, was being carried further and further away into the depths of the Endless Fog—
And yet— Even now— Even with such an unfathomable distance between them— He could still feel it. That unbearable cold.
That terrifying, paralyzing sensation that sent shivers through his very existence.
"Mokai."
Dian Rahu's voice was eerily calm as he turned to his injured elder.
"Go and retrieve Meng Jianyuan."
His golden eyes flickered with murderous intent as his aura slowly began to boil over.
"Leave everything here to me."
The injured elder, Mokai, gritted his teeth and bowed.
"Yes, Divine Regent."
There was no hesitation.
No questions.
No argument.
The weight in Dian Rahu's voice left no room for doubt.
Mokai immediately turned to leave, preparing to tear through the battlefield and chase after Yun Che's escaping form—
But then—
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!!!"
A deafening roar exploded from the Dragon Lord, shaking the very air as he and the Qilin God Abyssal Beast surged forward at once, their monstrous forms launching straight toward Mokai to stop him.
BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!
The earth shattered beneath their charge, their combined might turning the battlefield into a storm of pure destruction. Yun Che, from his distant location, felt his heart seize as he continued to be carried deeper and deeper into the Abyss—
And yet—
Despite being so far away, despite having already crossed hundreds of thousands of miles.
He could still feel it.
That chilling pressure.
That terrifying, deathly stillness that gripped his soul.
Dian Rahu was truly about to unleash his full power.
The colossal beast that carried Yun Che suddenly surged forward, its movement accelerating at an unfathomable speed, obeying the silent command of its master.
And then— A golden radiance erupted in the far distance—
A light so blinding that it illuminated the hundreds of thousands of kilometers deep within the Endless Fog Sea, its brilliance piercing through the infinite abyss of gray and yellow mist like a divine decree of annihilation.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!"
The world itself convulsed.
The entire Fog Sea quaked and howled, the sheer force of the explosion ripping through existence itself.
The golden light did not merely spread—
It devoured.
It annihilated.
It transformed everything in its reach into a boundless pit of golden destruction.
"UGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
"ROARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!"
The Dragon Lord's massive body was hurled like a broken ragdoll, his golden scales splitting apart as blood spewed from his mouth.
The Qilin God Abyssal Beast, a being that had stood at the pinnacle of the Endless Fog Sea, let out a mournful, thunderous roar as its massive form was flung into the distance, its body rupturing under the unstoppable force.
The world fractured, space shattered, and within the roaring chaos of absolute devastation—
Everything was sent flying.
Whether it was the Dragon Lord, the Qilin God, the beasts, the ghosts, even nearby cultivators— None were spared.
Some were instantly obliterated. Others were torn apart. And those lucky enough to survive— Were left vomiting blood, their bodies broken beyond recognition.
And then—
From far, far away—
From hundreds of thousands of miles away—
"UGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
Yun Che vomited blood.
His body shuddered violently as he and the beast that had swallowed him were both thrown across the abyss, their forms violently tumbling through the void, completely helpless before the unstoppable force.
His mind reeled, his vision blurred, and in that instant—
An undeniable truth carved itself into the depths of his soul.
HE HAD UNDERESTIMATED THE POWER OF A TRUE GOD.
And not just any True God.
The Strongest True God in All of the Divine Kingdoms!
His entire body trembled, not from fear—
But from the sheer, uncontrollable impact of reality.
Even now, even as he was being hurled away into the depths of the Endless Fog Sea, his soul was still reeling from the overwhelming presence of Dian Rahu's full power.
This— Was a cataclysm.
The destructive might of a True God, fully unleashed— A power that could wipe out entire realms. A force that could rewrite the very laws of existence. Even from the vast distance between them— Even though he was being carried further and further away—
The golden light of destruction still burned in his vision.
------
Even as the golden explosion of divine might tore through the Endless Fog, the Dragon Lord and the Qilin God Abyssal Beast—beings of unparalleled physical resilience—remained alive. Their bodies bore grave wounds, their blood soaked the abyss, but they had survived.
Why?
Because that explosion was not an attack.
It was merely the release of a True God's full power.
Just that alone had been enough to cripple the battlefield, hurl countless beings into the abyss, and render even their indomitable forms bloodied and broken.
And yet—
The true horror had yet to come.
"BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!"
A second golden radiance streaked through the abyss like a meteor.
A figure, bathed in divine light, tore through the darkness like a god descending upon a mortal battlefield.
It was Dian Mokai.
The Grand Elder of the Boundless Divine Kingdom.
A Peak Divine Limited Realm existence—one step away from True Godhood itself.
His speed was monstrous, his aura overwhelming, and despite the thick suppression of the Endless Fog, he moved like an unstoppable force, his golden streak of light rapidly closing in on Yun Che's retreating figure.
He was just as fast—
If not faster— Than the colossal beast carrying Yun Che away.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!"
The Dragon Lord roared, his injuries ignored as his monstrous draconic power surged once more.
The Qilin God, half of its body barely reformed, let out an earth-shattering bellow of fury, its crimson abyssal energy swirling violently as it launched itself after the retreating elder.
But before they could even get close—
A golden figure materialized before them.
Faster than thought. Faster than reaction.
"Immortal Annihilation Palm!"
A golden palm print—vast enough to blot out the sky—materialized in an instant. A force so devastating that before it even made contact—
Crack.
The sound of shattering bones echoed. The Dragon Lord's body convulsed.
His bones—his unbreakable, indomitable DRAGON BONES—
Cracked.
Before the attack had even touched him.
The Abyssal Qilin, a monstrosity born of destruction itself, a creature that should not even possess the concept of a "body"—
The dust, was instantly annihilated.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!"
The impact arrived.
The Dragon Lord and the Qilin God Abyssal Beast were launched through the abyss, their bodies torn asunder, their blood scattering like golden rain, their forms crashing into the crumbling remnants of the battlefield like dying stars.
And yet— The Qilin was no longer whole. Half of its body was gone. Obliterated.
Its roar of agony shook the heavens, its fragmented existence struggling desperately to reform—
But even its near-indestructible form, woven of pure Abyssal Dust, could not immediately mend itself after such an attack.
And as for the Dragon Lord—
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
His roar of pain thundered through the abyss, his golden scales splintering, his bones pulverized, his massive form barely clinging to consciousness.
He could still move. He could still fight. But the truth was undeniable. He had never been a match for a True God. Not before. Not now. Not even close.
And yet—
Through his broken body, through his pain-riddled consciousness—
His mind was not on himself.
It was on Yun Che.
Because now, there was no one left to stop Dian Mokai.
No one left to block his pursuit. And Yun Che, even though he was far, far away now, even though he was still being carried into the deepest depths of the Endless Fog—
Was no longer safe.