Chapter 117 Secrets of the Immortal Realm, The Chaotic Calamity Approaches

Mystic Water Immortal collapsed on the Star-Gazing Platform, kowtowing like a pestle, his forehead bleeding profusely as he didn't even dare to breathe deeply.

The gruesome sight of Ling Aotian having his bloodline drained and turning into a withered old man was still fresh in his mind, and now he desperately wanted to spill everything he knew, just praying to be left with an intact corpse.

"Your Majesty, spare me! I will confess everything! The Immortal Realm is currently a mess, divided among the seven great dynasties, and none of them bow to the others!"

Mystic Water Immortal's voice trembled like chaff in a sieve. "The Central Dynasty is the absolute boss, occupying half of the Immortal Realm's territory. The emperor is just a figurehead; the one who truly calls the shots is Crown Prince Ling Chen!"

Li Tieniu approached, carrying his giant axe, his face full of disdain. "Crown Prince Ling Chen? Is that the coward hiding behind the scenes who sent you all here to die? Is he actually strong?"

"Strong! He's incredibly strong!" Mystic Water Immortal nodded hurriedly. "He is the most formidable Son of Destiny in the history of the Immortal Realm. He was born with the Innate Chaos Sacred Body; when he was born, hundreds of immortals paid homage, and the Heavenly Dao descended nine-colored auspicious clouds!"

"He broke through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm at five hundred years old. Now, at only eight hundred, he is already in the mid-stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm! With eight great Enforcement Envoys, thirty-six Golden Immortal retainers, and a million Black-Armored Immortal Soldiers under his command, no one in the entire Immortal Realm dares to challenge him!"

"He is notoriously petty. Anyone who dares to compete with him for destiny will see their entire clan wiped out. Three years ago, an ascender from a small plane broke through to the Golden Immortal realm as soon as he arrived in the Immortal Realm, but that very night, he had people destroy the ascender's soul, leaving nothing behind. He has long declared that all outsider Sons of Destiny are to be executed without exception!"

"The other six dynasties each have their own specialties: the Eastern Azure Dragon Dynasty is full of beast-taming fanatics, with everyone owning an ancient ferocious beast, and when they fight, a pack of beasts charges forward. The Western White Tiger Dynasty is a family of artifact refiners, and eighty percent of the Immortal Realm's artifacts come from their hands. The Southern Vermilion Bird Dynasty's alchemy is unparalleled; a single Nine-Turn Golden Pill can be exchanged for an entire city. The Northern Black Tortoise Dynasty is the best at turtling; their imperial city walls cannot be broken even by a Great Luo Golden Immortal. Then there are the Ancient Demon Race and the Chaos Demon Race, who have been locked in a death struggle with the Central Dynasty for ten thousand years, with neither side able to do anything to the other."

Just as Mystic Water Immortal was speaking with spittle flying, the sky suddenly split open with a blinding golden fissure, and a beam of immortal light slammed directly into the center of the Star-Gazing Platform.

A young man dressed in a white immortal robe embroidered with a nine-clawed golden dragon, holding a horsetail whisk, slowly descended while stepping on seven-colored auspicious clouds. Following behind him were four immortal children holding jade swords, all with their noses in the air, acting so arrogant they were practically floating into outer space.

"Audacious Emperor Cao Xukun! How dare you execute an envoy of the Immortal Realm and blaspheme the majesty of the Central Dynasty!" The man's voice was as shrill as a duck's, and he pointed at Emperor Cao Xukun, roaring sternly. "I am the head disciple of His Highness the Crown Prince, the orthodox Son of Destiny of the Immortal Realm, Ling Yu! By the order of His Highness the Crown Prince, I have come to bestow upon you the punishment of death by slow slicing!"

"Immediately cripple your own cultivation and kneel on the ground to kowtow one hundred times, and I might spare the lives of your mortal subjects! If you dare to say even half a word of refusal, I will summon the Nine Heavens Annihilation Divine Thunder to turn the entire mortal realm into scorched earth and ensure you never reincarnate for eternity!"

The four immortal children also shrieked at the top of their lungs: "Immortal Master Ling Yu is invincible! Emperor Cao Xukun, hurry up and die!"

With immortal light swirling and auspicious clouds dancing, anyone who didn't know better would have thought the Immortal Emperor had come for a low-profile visit.

Below, the commoners burst into laughter.

"Another attention seeker! Is the Immortal Realm wholesaling arrogant idiots?"

"The three Golden Immortals just now were instantly shredded into dust; does this little brat dare to come here to die too?"

"I bet two packs of spicy strips that he won't last two seconds!"

Li Tieniu laughed so hard he held his stomach. "Oh my god! This guy can brag even more than the last one, Ling Aotian! 'Summon the Annihilation Divine Thunder,' do you think you're the father of the Thunder God and Lightning Mother? I think your brain was kicked by a donkey, coming here just to seek attention!"

Ling Yu's face turned livid, and he shouted sternly, "Insolent! A mere mortal ant dares to disrespect this Immortal Master! Today, I will first execute you brute, then take the dog head of Emperor Cao Xukun!"

He waved his hand casually, and a beam of white immortal light shot straight toward Li Tieniu, moving as fast as lightning.

Emperor Cao Xukun didn't even lift an eyelid. With a casual wave, a surge of Chaos Spiritual Power blocked in front of Li Tieniu. The immortal light hit the spiritual power and instantly dissipated without a trace.

"You aren't qualified to act arrogant in front of me." Emperor Cao Xukun's tone was flat but carried a bone-chilling coldness. "The people Crown Prince Ling Chen sends are more useless than the last; it seems he doesn't have any real ability either."

"How dare you insult His Highness the Crown Prince! You are courting death!" Ling Yu was furious and abruptly raised his horsetail whisk. "Today I will let you witness the true strength of an Immortal Realm Son of Destiny! Nine Dragons Protect the Body, Ten Thousand Swords Pierce the Heart!"

In an instant, countless golden sword auras surged from the void, forming an airtight sword net that slammed toward Emperor Cao Xukun. Behind him, nine miniature golden dragon phantoms appeared, emitting shrill, juvenile dragon roars.

"Flashy and useless."

Emperor Cao Xukun spat out those four words indifferently, slowly raised a finger, and tapped it lightly.

"Snap—!"

All the sword auras instantly turned to dust, and the nine miniature golden dragons emitted a mournful cry before vanishing into smoke. The horsetail whisk in Ling Yu's hand snapped in two, and he spat out a large mouthful of golden immortal blood, flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily beside Mystic Water Immortal.

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!" Ling Yu's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief. "I am the orthodox Son of Destiny of the Immortal Realm! I have the protection of the Crown Prince's golden dragon! How could I possibly lose to a native of the mortal realm like you!"

"Son of Destiny?" Emperor Cao Xukun sneered and walked slowly to him. "There have been at least eighty, if not a hundred, Sons of Destiny who have died at my hands. A piece of trash like you isn't even worth the effort to fill the gaps between my teeth."

He flicked his fingertip, and a surge of spiritual power shot into the center of Ling Yu's brow. Ling Yu didn't even have time to scream before he turned into a wisp of blue smoke, leaving not even his soul behind.

The four immortal children were terrified out of their wits and turned to run, but Emperor Cao Xukun casually froze them in place.

"Go back and tell Crown Prince Ling Chen to wash his neck and wait. The day I ascend to the Immortal Realm will be the day his Central Dynasty falls."

As soon as he finished speaking, the four immortal children instantly turned into dust.

Mystic Water Immortal was so scared he lost control of his bowels, collapsing on the ground and twitching all over. "Immor... Your Majesty, spare me! I really don't know anything else! I'm just a small lackey running errands, please spare my dog life!"

"You know enough already." Emperor Cao Xukun said indifferently, flicking his fingertip, and Mystic Water Immortal instantly lost his breath. After dealing with these clowns, he looked up at the sky, his expression finally turning grave.

The sky had completely turned the color of chaos, with countless black and gray chaotic air currents rolling and roaring within the clouds, emitting a thunderous boom as if countless giant beasts were howling inside. The entire mortal realm was trembling violently; distant mountain ranges were collapsing one after another, rivers were flowing backward, and the earth was cracking into bottomless ravines, truly a scene of the apocalypse.

"Oh my god! What kind of monster is this? It's too terrifying!" Li Tieniu gripped his giant axe, his face turning pale. "It's more terrifying than the previous eight heavenly tribulations combined! If this strikes down, the entire mortal realm will be razed to the ground!"

Crown Prince Cao Hao also frowned, stepping forward. "Father, this is the legendary Ninth-Level Chaos Tribulation! The world-destroying tribulation that only the ancient emperors could trigger! It is said that once it falls, it can destroy the soul of even a Great Luo Golden Immortal! You must be careful!"

The commoners below were also terrified and knelt on the ground, kowtowing toward the Star-Gazing Platform in prayer. "Emperor Xuan, please protect us! You must survive the tribulation!"

"We believe in Your Majesty! Your Majesty will definitely succeed!"

Emperor Cao Xukun took a deep breath, his eyes as firm as iron, without a trace of fear. He spread his arms, and a ten-thousand-foot golden light erupted from his body, illuminating the entire chaotic sky.

"A mere Chaos Tribulation wants to stop me, Emperor Cao Xukun?"

"In the name of the ruler of the mortal realm, I summon the ten-thousand-mile dragon vein of the Great Xuan Dynasty!"

In an instant, a deafening dragon roar came from beneath the city of Luoyang, and a ten-thousand-foot-long golden dragon burst from the ground, circling above Emperor Cao Xukun's head. Its scales shimmered with brilliant golden light, radiating a majestic imperial aura, protecting the entire Divine Capital beneath it.

"Summon the destiny of my nine offspring and merge it with my own!"

Nine beams of light of different colors representing destiny shot into the sky from the imperial palace—gold, purple, cyan, silver... they intertwined into a massive seven-colored ribbon of light, flowing continuously into Emperor Cao Xukun's body. Crown Prince Cao Hao's imperial destiny, Cao Xuanhuang's Xuanhuang destiny, Prince Cao Feng's phoenix destiny—the power of all his offspring converged upon him, forming an indestructible seven-colored shield.

"Come! Let me see just how capable this Chaos Tribulation really is!"

Emperor Cao Xukun's voice rang throughout the entire mortal realm, his black dragon robe flapping violently in the gale, his aura looking down upon the world.

Within the chaotic clouds, a bolt of Chaos Divine Thunder, thicker than a mountain range and carrying an aura of absolute destruction, slowly condensed and slammed down toward Emperor Cao Xukun!