Chapter 109 What is he afraid of?

Golden Law chains, like living snakes, layered upon one another and interlaced, tightly sealing off all of the Divine Lord's paths of retreat.

The surrounding Star Domains, spanning billions of miles, were dyed into a golden ocean.

The Divine Lord had just turned around, his foot hanging in mid-air as he was about to step into a void crack.

His pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints.

The gravity of the surrounding space skyrocketed ten million-fold, crushing him as if he were mired in a swamp.

He slowly turned around.

At the end of his vision, the golden ocean was split down the middle.

A burly figure stepped out from the light.

Divine Venerable Lietian wore dark golden heavy armor; with every step he took, the galaxy wailed beneath his feet.

Long golden hair flew wildly in the Law storm; there was no emotion in his eyes, only Killing Intent and arrogance.

The Divine Venerable's pressure bore down completely.

The rules of this world instantly changed masters.

Before this power, the Divine Lord's Origin Divine Domain was like a paper lantern. The phantom of a grey Dark Moon around him trembled violently, cracks splitting across its surface.

Sweat slid from the Divine Lord's forehead and fell into the Void Realm, evaporating instantly.

He forcefully suppressed his churning blood and Qi, cupping his fists before his chest.

"Divine Venerable Lietian."

"This seat is under orders from Xuantian Hall to pursue a Sect traitor. If there has been any disturbance, it was truly not my intention to offend the Dragon Domain."

"No intention to offend?"

Divine Venerable Lietian stopped in his tracks, his golden eyes narrowing slightly.

Then, he threw back his head and laughed wildly.

"Hahahaha—"

The laughter stopped abruptly. Killing Intent was bared in Divine Venerable Lietian's eyes.

"First, you used a world-breaking shuttle to forcibly tear through the obscuring Law of my Ancestral Dragon Array, turning everything upside down!"

"Then, you ran to the neighboring Snake God Domain and traded blows with that Old Poisonous Snake. The aftershocks shattered three hundred Star Domains on the periphery of my Dragon Domain!"

"Now, you are even hovering above the core realm of my Dragon Domain, scanning wantonly with your Divine Sense, treating my territory like your own back garden!"

With every sentence Divine Venerable Lietian spoke, the Law chains in the void tightened a bit more.

"Every single one of these actions—which one of them isn't stripping away the Face of my Dragon Clan and throwing it on the ground to be trampled?!"

"And now, with a flippant 'no intention to offend,' you think you can just pat your robes and leave?"

Divine Venerable Lietian raised his right hand, the Origin power that could tear through the Dao condensing at his fingertips.

"This Venerable will give you three breaths of time."

"Within three breaths, if you can provide an explanation that satisfies this Venerable—"

"This Venerable will leave you an intact corpse. Otherwise, I will extract your Divine Soul and refine it for ten Epochs!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the back of the Divine Lord's robes was soaked through.

Rumors outside said that the Dragon Clan's Divine Venerable Lietian was violent and bloodthirsty, never listening to reason. Seeing him today, he was indeed a hundred times worse.

The Divine Lord knew clearly in his heart that he had lost twenty percent of his Origin; if they fought here, he wouldn't even have a chance to escape. He feared he would fall in this Lower-tier Realm today.

At this life-or-death moment, his mind raced.

Explain? Beg for mercy? Fight for his life?

None of them would work.

The disparity in strength was too great.

Suddenly, his peripheral vision swept over the Small World below, which was covered by the Ancestral Dragon Array.

A scene he had witnessed during his Divine Sense sweep flashed through his mind.

That white-robed youth sitting by the cliff of the low peak drinking tea. That terrifying existence who was surrounded by the Imperial Preceptor's Dao Rhyme and had the entire Dragon Clan kneeling. Right! The intelligence on the Myriad Races Geniuses said that he was a Divine Emperor!

A Divine Emperor.

If that existence were to act, let alone Divine Venerable Lietian, even if the Dragon Ancestor himself crawled out of the Chaos, he would have to kneel and kowtow.

The Divine Lord's eyes flickered, his thoughts moving like lightning.

He quietly cast his gaze downward, a hint of a desperate scheme hidden in the depths of his eyes.

At this moment,

In the core realm of the Ancestral Dragon Great World, the Small World of Longyuan Hall.

The sky outside had turned into an Asura Field of interlaced gold and grey. The violent Law turbulence made the entire Small World teeter on the brink of collapse.

But on that secluded low peak, the breeze remained gentle.

A faint light appeared in Lin Qingyue's eyes as she keenly caught the Divine Lord's gaze directed toward them.

She didn't turn her head; her cold voice reached the ears of the person beside her via Divine Sense transmission.

"It seems someone is about to be schemed against."

Gu Heng only took a leisurely sip from his teacup upon hearing this.

"Oh? Is that so?"

He chuckled, neither confirming nor denying it.

At the foot of the mountain,

On the square, the Five Great Dragon Emperors and tens of thousands of Dragon Clan elites were all prostrate on the ground.

The Divine Venerable's pressure left them without even the strength to raise their heads, but their Divine Senses were fixed on the movements in the sky.

When they noticed the Divine Lord's gaze directed toward the peak where Gu Heng was, Black Dragon Immortal Emperor's heart suddenly tightened.

"What does that bastard Surnamed Xuan want to do?!"

Black Dragon Immortal Emperor roared in his heart, "Does he want to direct Divine Venerable Lietian's wrath toward Senior? He's looking for death himself, but does he want to drag our entire Dragon Domain down with him?!"

Above the heavens of the Ancestral Dragon Great World.

Divine Venerable Lietian's cold voice echoed like a death knell.

"One breath."

"Two breaths."

"This Venerable said I would give you three breaths. Where is your explanation?"

The Divine Lord's Face was as pale as paper; under the pressure of death, his mind became surprisingly clear.

He knew explaining was useless, as was begging for mercy. Someone like God-Venerable Lietian didn't want an explanation; he wanted to crush Xuantian Hall's Face to establish his authority.

Thus, instead of retreating, he advanced. No longer offering any further explanation, he straightened his back and asked in return, "Divine Venerable Lietian, are you certain you want to strike against this seat here?"

Divine Venerable Lietian's brow arched slightly, a hint of impatience flashing in his golden eyes.

"You think these few words of nonsense can stop this Venerable from killing you?"

The Divine Lord took a deep breath, his remaining Divine Power surging wildly as he spoke with certainty, "This seat advises the Divine Venerable to think twice. In this place, there is a mysterious existence presiding."

"That person's Dao Rhyme is likely related to the Imperial Preceptor of my Human Race Divine Court."

The Divine Lord did not say specifically who it was, nor did he point out that Gu Heng was on the low peak below.

He was clever. The more vague the description, the more it would provoke the other party's wariness.

"If Divine Venerable Lietian insists on acting, this seat will accompany you to the end."

The Divine Lord slightly raised his chin, feigning a look of having nothing to fear. "But to indiscriminately kill a Human Race Divine Lord under the nose of a Human Race Imperial Preceptor... the consequences are likely not something you or I can bear."

After saying this, the Divine Lord secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He thought that by bringing up the titles of Imperial Preceptor and Divine Emperor, no matter how arrogant Divine Venerable Lietian was, he would at least hesitate. Even if he just sent out a wisp of Divine Sense to investigate, as long as God-Venerable Lietian investigated, he would surely disturb the one below, and then he would have a chance to escape.

Divine Venerable Lietian indeed fell silent for a moment.

The boiling golden Laws in the sky stagnated for half a breath.

Just when the Divine Lord thought his scheme had succeeded.

Divine Venerable Lietian laughed.

"Imperial Preceptor? Human Race Divine Emperor? In my Dragon Domain?"

Divine Venerable Lietian's laughter suddenly stopped. "To stall for time, you've even fabricated such an absurd excuse as a Divine Emperor."

"If there truly were a Divine Emperor here, would he sit by and watch you talk nonsense? Would he allow my Dragon Domain to be turned upside down by you and remain indifferent?!"

He took a step forward, crossing through space directly to arrive ten zhang in front of the Divine Lord.

The Divine Venerable's pressure bore down like a hundred thousand mountains.

Crack—

The bones in the Divine Lord's knees made a cracking sound, and his entire body was pressed flat against the void.

"This lie of yours couldn't even fool a three-year-old child."

Divine Venerable Lietian looked down at him from above, his eyes like he was looking at a corpse. "Do you take this Venerable for a fool?"

The Divine Lord's back was completely soaked.

He was wrong.

He thought God-Venerable Lietian would at least verify it, even if just with a glance of Divine Sense. But he had underestimated the arrogance in Divine Venerable Lietian's bones and overestimated his own confidence.

In God-Venerable Lietian's view, how could a Lower-tier Realm like the Dragon Domain hide a Divine Emperor? It was simply nonsense.

He actually wasn't sure at all if the white-robed youth below would act to protect him; he just felt it was a chance to escape.

Only when God-Venerable Lietian's words crashed down did he realize in terror that his petty cleverness was utterly useless in the Face of this absolute arrogance!

"Since you cannot provide an explanation, then die!"

Divine Venerable Lietian's Killing Intent surged, and his right hand slapped down violently.

The sky-filling golden chains instantly tightened, intending to crush the Divine Lord along with his Origin Divine Domain.

The shadow of death completely enveloped him.

A hint of madness flashed in the Divine Lord's eyes; he had no choice, and his internal Origin Essence Blood began to boil.

At this critical juncture.

Above the Ancestral Dragon Great World,

Deep within the infinite Star Domains.

Another Divine Venerable's grand power fell from beyond the Nine Heavens.

Accompanying the descent of this power was a sneer that drifted from afar.

"As a Dragon Clan Divine Venerable, bullying a junior and even blocking the entrance with shouts of killing..."

"God-Venerable Lietian, have these billions of years of your life been lived in vain, like a dog's?"

The moment the voice fell.

Divine Venerable Lietian abruptly withdrew his hand, a cold light flashing in his eyes. He then slowly turned around to look in the direction the voice had come from.

Above the Ancestral Dragon Great World,

A second Divine Venerable's pressure spread out like a blood-colored tide.

The Star Domains for billions of miles around, which had originally been occupied by God-Venerable Lietian's golden light, were now forcibly torn in half.

The sky was dyed a heavy dark red, so red it was almost black. A chilling, murderous Aura pressed down on the Dragon Domain's firmament, causing it to collapse continuously.

Beneath the wailing of the heavens,

a figure slowly stepped out from the dark red halo.

The newcomer wore heavy, dark red armor. His Face was as cold and hard as if carved with a knife and axe, and between his brows lurked an Evil Qi that seemed to have crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he casually stood still in the Void Realm.

The Divine Court.

Divine Marshal Pojun.

Divine Venerable Lietian's eyes narrowed slightly, a glimmer of wariness flashing in his golden pupils.

"Pojun?"

"Instead of staying in your Divine Court camp, what are you doing coming to my Dragon Domain's territory?"

Divine Marshal Pojun did not answer immediately.

He simply swept his eyes calmly over the Divine Lord, then slowly turned toward the aggressive God-Venerable Lietian and shook his head gently.

"By order of Her Majesty, I am inspecting the Lower Realm."

"And incidentally... to see if anyone is bold enough to use a pretext to make a scene and use my Human Race as an excuse to commit acts of overstepping here."

"Overstepping?"

Divine Venerable Lietian laughed out of extreme anger and snorted coldly. "This dog from Xuantian Hall first used a world-breaking shuttle to smash the gates of my Dragon Domain! As a Divine Venerable of the Dragon Clan, it is only natural for me to settle the score with him!"

He pointed a finger at Pojun. "The hand of your Divine Court is reaching a bit too far! Do you really think my Dragon Clan is a soft persimmon that can be easily squeezed?!"

Facing God-Venerable Lietian's fury, Divine Marshal Pojun didn't even blink.

He turned his head, glanced once more at the wretched Divine Lord, and his voice suddenly dropped.

"He is a registered Divine Lord of my Human Race's Xuantian Hall and a subject of the Human Race's Divine Court, not a vassal that your Dragon Domain can kill at will."

"If you overstep and kill him here, you will be publicly trampling on the ceasefire agreement signed between the Dragon Clan and my Human Race back then."

Divine Marshal Pojun moved half a step forward. "God-Venerable Lietian, are you sure you want to bear the blame for actively instigating an all-out war between our two races?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere between heaven and earth instantly dropped to the freezing point.

The muscles on Divine Venerable Lietian's Face twitched violently.

Tyranny flickered in his eyes, and his teeth chattered with a grinding sound.

In normal times, with his temper, he would have thrown a punch long ago, wishing he could split this arrogant fellow, Pojun, in half along with the other.

But he couldn't.

The words the Ancestor had spoken in the Chaos Main Hall immediately surfaced in his mind—'The Empress's state is unclear; now is not the time for an all-out war.'

If he really sought a moment's satisfaction and forcibly killed a Human Race Divine Lord in front of Divine Marshal Pojun, the Divine Court would surely use it as a pretext to tear up the agreement and march their armies in. The grand plan the Ancestor had laid out for the opening of the Divine Treasury must not be ruined by his momentary impulse.

God-Venerable Lietian's hands clenched and unclenched, the surrounding space being crushed to pieces by his grip.

But to just let him go like this?

Where would he, Divine Venerable Lietian, put his Face?

The Ancestral Dragon Array had been smashed to bits like rotten bricks, and he had descended with thunderous wrath, only for someone to say a few light words and have him watch the culprit walk away grandly?

If word got out, how would the Three Thousand Great Worlds look at him? Would he still be able to be the Dragon Clan's God of War?

God-Venerable Lietian took a deep breath of cold air, forcibly suppressing his surging Killing Intent.

"Fine. Today, I will give you, Pojun, some Face and not kill him."

Hearing this, the Divine Lord's nerves, which had been stretched to the limit, suddenly relaxed.

"But—"

Divine Venerable Lietian's tone suddenly shifted. "He smashed my Dragon Domain's array and disturbed my Dragon Clan's peace. This debt cannot be settled just like that!

"Have him hand over that world-breaking shuttle as compensation for my Dragon Domain's losses. Otherwise, even if I have to risk tearing up the agreement, I will never let him leave today!"

After hearing this, Divine Marshal Pojun did not respond.

He turned his head and looked at the Divine Lord trapped within the remaining golden chains.

The Divine Lord's Face was now as pale as paper, his divine robes were tattered, and he was covered in blood, looking more wretched than a roadside beggar.

Pojun looked at him, his eyes devoid of sympathy, showing only a faint scrutiny.

Divine Marshal Pojun was silent for a moment.

He was inspecting the Lower Realm by order of the Empress, intended to deter the Dragon Clan and maintain order, not to clean up the mess for these fools from Xuantian Hall.

The mess Xuantian Hall had caused themselves naturally required a price to be paid.

Divine Venerable Lietian had already taken a step back, changing from 'demanding a life' to 'demanding an item.' This compromise was already generous enough.

Thus, Divine Marshal Pojun clasped his hands behind his back again, looked at the void ahead, and calmly uttered a single word.

"Agreed."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Divine Lord's entire body shuddered.

He knew he no longer had any room to bargain. Although Divine Marshal Pojun had saved his life, he would never help him keep his Sect's Magic Treasure.

More importantly...

The Divine Lord's peripheral vision once again darted toward that low peak of the Small World's Longyuan Hall within the Ancestral Dragon Great World below.

That terrifying White-robed God Emperor was still down there drinking tea.

As long as he stayed here for one more second, there was a greater risk of being targeted by that living ancestor. No matter how precious the world-breaking shuttle was, it couldn't compare to his life!

Thinking of this, the Divine Lord did not hesitate.

Enduring the intense pain of his Divine Soul tearing, he instantly severed the Origin connection between himself and the world-breaking shuttle.

"Puff!"

As he spat out a mouthful of blood, the Divine Lord's Aura instantly withered significantly.

With the Divine Soul mark removed, the Divine-Grade Magic Treasure, which had originally flowed with a mysterious luster and could calculate the coordinates of myriad worlds, quickly dimmed.

In the blink of an eye, it regressed into a gray, ancient shuttle, floating quietly in the Void Realm.

Seeing this, Divine Venerable Lietian snorted coldly and grabbed at it from a distance.

The world-breaking shuttle turned into a streak of light and fell into his palm.

He weighed it in his hand, felt the power of the Law contained within, and casually tossed it into his storage space.

Having taken the item, Divine Venerable Lietian's gaze fell back on the Divine Lord, a contemptuous smile curling his lips.

"The item is received. Now, take your people and get out."

The Divine Lord felt as if he had been granted a great pardon.

He breathed a sigh of relief, bowed deeply toward Divine Marshal Pojun, then turned around, tore open the void, and prepared to step in.

Seeing the matter resolved, Divine Marshal Pojun did not wish to stay any longer.

He took a long look at God-Venerable Lietian, scanned the Dragon Domain's firmament once more, and prepared to vanish into the void.

On the firmament,

the myriad phenomena in the sky finally subsided.

At this moment, Divine Venerable Lietian stood alone in the lonely Void Realm.

He lowered his head,

glanced at the slowly closing cracks of the Ancestral Dragon Array below and the Dragon Clan elites kneeling on the ground, a flash of disgust appearing in his eyes.

"A bunch of useless trash, can't even guard their own front gate."

He cursed under his breath, in a foul mood. Although he had gained a Divine Artifact for free, this grievance hadn't been fully vented.

He turned, preparing to tear open a passage to return to the Dragon God Domain to report.

However.

Just as he lifted his foot, his steps suddenly paused.

Divine Venerable Lietian stood in place, his brow suddenly furrowing.

Something was wrong.

The performance of that Human Race Divine Lord was far too abnormal.

He was, after all, the overlord of a Star Domain, driven into a dead end. Even if he knew he was no match, normally he should have fought back desperately, if only for show. But that fellow's final struggle was actually just a few words of bravado?

And also.

When he handed over the world-breaking shuttle, he had severed the Divine Soul mark far too decisively.

It was so decisive that it was as if... as if he had already prepared to pay his way out of trouble and couldn't wait to throw away this hot potato!

Divine Venerable Lietian's golden pupils flickered frantically.

What was he afraid of?

With Divine Marshal Pojun protecting him, he could have actually stalled for a while longer. But why did he run like a stray dog?

The trace of fear and relief in the depths of that Divine Lord's eyes before he fled was definitely not because of him.

If he were afraid of him, he wouldn't have had that look of liberation.

In God-Venerable Lietian's mind, a bolt of pale lightning flashed by.

He remembered the words the Divine Lord had blurted out earlier to threaten him—

"In this place, there is a mysterious existence. That Dao charm... I'm afraid it's related to the Imperial Preceptor."

At the time, he thought it was just a clumsy lie fabricated by the other party to save his life.

But what if... it wasn't a lie?

What if that Divine Lord, while using the world-breaking shuttle and Divine Sense to sweep through the Dragon Domain just now, really saw some hair-raisingly terrifying existence down there?

So, he was so scared that he didn't even want his Sect's Divine Artifact anymore and only wanted to escape this Star Domain at the fastest speed?!

Thinking of this,

Divine Venerable Lietian felt a chill rush straight to the back of his head.

He spun around abruptly.

Boom—

The Divine Venerable's pressure exploded in full force, instantly sealing off the space for hundreds of millions of miles around.

The two figures that were about to leave came to a halt.

Divine Venerable Lietian's thunderous roar suddenly exploded in the endless void.

"Wait!"