Chapter 963: Immortal Oblivion, Don't You Dare Try to Deceive Me!

"Earth Calamity."

With a mere thought from Great Venerable Yinglong, three celestial stars plunged from the lightning tribulation, hurtling toward the avatar of the Central Heavenly Emperor.

These were no ordinary lightning tribulations, but condensed stars manifested through the Dao Fruit of Tribulation.

The original size of a single star was so immense it would have monopolized the entire space; now compressed, three stars could strike the Emperor's avatar simultaneously, possessing staggering density, peerless hardness, and power exceeding their original forms.

Had it been the Demon-Slaying Divine Lord fighting fiercely in the outside world, a single falling star would have shattered his Vajra body, to say nothing of three.

A cluster of black vortices materialized around the Emperor's avatar; as the three stars crashed and exploded upon impact, the entire pocket world within the ancient ring trembled violently, yet the black vortices gouged a hole clean through the stars, and the Central Heavenly Emperor emerged from the gap entirely unscathed.

Yet Great Venerable Yinglong had nonetheless discerned the nature of the Central Heavenly Emperor’s Dao Fruit.

"As expected, it is a Dao Fruit of the devouring type."

Had it been a Dao Fruit of displacement or space, it would not have merely hollowed out the stars, but caused them to vanish into thin air.

Displacing an entire star was far easier than displacing only a part of it.

"Immortal Venerable, how is it?" The voice of Lord Ghostly Ghost suddenly echoed from the Emperor's avatar, dripping with mockery and derision.

Had he not known the Emperor’s Dao Fruit could devour all manner of heavenly tribulations, Lord Ghostly Ghost would never have possessed such confidence.

"Utterly tedious. When the Qilin withstands my heavenly tribulations, he only grows stronger; what does a mere devouring amount to?" Great Venerable Yinglong remarked coldly, remaining entirely unmoved.

"I hope you can still say that before you die, Immortal Venerable."

Calamities of fire, water, and wind—the three disasters endowed with the power to end worlds—descended in succession, interspersed with various lightning tribulations, all of which were devoured by the Emperor's avatar.

"You dare approach me?" Great Venerable Yinglong extended a draconic claw, lunging toward the Emperor's avatar.

Bereft of a physical body, this was a pure soul attack; Lord Ghostly Ghost, hiding within the Emperor's avatar, could absolutely never withstand such a blow.

Compared to the tangled struggle between Dao Fruits, directly attacking Lord Ghostly Ghost's soul was far more expedient.

Yet the moment the dragon claw touched the Emperor's avatar, a vortex manifested beside it once more, instantly devouring the claw whole!

The Devouring Dao Fruit had directly consumed a soul!

Judging by the way the Devouring Dao Fruit had functioned moments before, its devouring speed should not have been this fast; a portion of the soul should have managed to strike Lord Ghostly Ghost.

Unless the current Devouring Dao Fruit consumed souls at a faster rate than physical matter!

"Immortal Venerable, why don't you guess why my Master's avatar chose to devour me?" Lord Ghostly Ghost's sneering voice echoed from the Emperor's avatar once again.

During the Great Gan era, Lord Ghostly Ghost's divine duty was to manage ghosts, ensuring their orderly demise so they would not affect the mortal realm; this meant that while his nascent Dao Fruit belonged to the lineage of soul Dao Fruits, it did not deal with souls in a general sense, but specialized in capturing and consuming them.

After the Devouring Dao Fruit consumed Lord Ghostly Ghost, it enhanced the speed at which it devoured souls.

Great Venerable Yinglong could not employ soul attacks at all!

Draconic roars echoed through the sky as the clash between Great Venerable Yinglong and the Emperor's avatar grew increasingly terrifying and their auras more harrowing; the Emperor's avatar fought with mounting ferocity, while Great Venerable Yinglong began to show signs of exhaustion, appearing on the verge of defeat at any moment.

"Immortal Venerable, it seems your prowess is not as terrifying as the legends claim," Lord Ghostly Ghost laughed uproariously, looking down upon Great Venerable Yinglong with disdain; there was no greater pleasure than suppressing and even slaying a grand figure of antiquity.

"With only this much capability, you are nothing special!"

"Is it that you are too weak, or that my Master's avatar is too strong?"

"The victor takes all, so I shall claim the Dao Fruit of Tribulation!"

Just as Lord Ghostly Ghost believed the battle was decided, Great Venerable Yinglong, whose massive form filled the sky, suddenly began to contract inward, finally shrinking into a man who looked like an emperor yet also resembled an ethereal, transcendent immortal, two entirely different auras blending seamlessly upon him.

"Is this your true form, Immortal Venerable? Did you shrink yourself just to make it easier to flee—"

Lord Ghostly Ghost continued to scoff, paying it no mind, but before he could finish, Immortal Yingtian vanished and reappeared directly before the Emperor's avatar with unimaginable speed, seizing the avatar by the throat.

"You... you have a physical body!" Lord Ghostly Ghost stared at the true Immortal Yingtian in utter disbelief, his overbearing tone instantly vanishing.

Immortal Yingtian looked coldly at Lord Ghostly Ghost hiding within the avatar and said calmly, "Fool. Knowing that I am the Ancestor of Artifact Refining, did it never occur to you that I could forge a body out of immortal gold?"

Though he spoke thus, in reality he had only forged a portion of an immortal gold body, leaving many parts without physical form.

Yet it was more than enough to deal with the Emperor's avatar.

"Had I not worried that unleashing a more powerful heavenly tribulation would shatter this pocket world and draw the Immortal of Annihilation, how could the Devouring Dao Fruit of a mere avatar ever consume my tribulation?"

"Remember, this is the tribulation of arrogance and pride."

"You... you cannot kill me! Killing me means making an enemy of our Great Gan, and my Master will never forgive you!" Lord Ghostly Ghost panicked, realizing he had vastly underestimated the terror of Immortal Yingtian.

This was not an existence he could hope to scheme against!

"Be gone." With a sudden exertion of Immortal Yingtian's right hand, a lightning tribulation condensed to the absolute limit erupted in his palm; the Emperor's avatar instantly tore asunder into fragments, leaving Lord Ghostly Ghost unable to even utter a scream.

...

"Strange. The third intruder held a token inscribed with 'Yingtian' and was preparing to attack young Jinghong when he was suddenly sucked into the ancient ring."

Lu Yang's heart stirred. "Could it be that there are clues regarding Senior Immortal Yingtian inside the ancient ring?"

"Moreover, isn't there the soul of a certain senior inside it? Could that senior be in danger?"

"Little Yang, go over and see what is happening."

Lu Yang hurried to Sister Jinghong's side; having heard her master's warning, Sister Jinghong realized a great battle was unfolding within the ancient ring and was frightened out of her wits, unable to even speak clearly.

After all, unlike Lu Yang, she had never witnessed an immortal battle from such close proximity.

"Fairy, this..."

"Simple. This fairy will pull both of you inside."

Without another word, the Immortal Fairy pulled both Lu Yang and Jinghong into the pocket world of the ancient ring.

The pocket world within the ancient ring was utterly devastated, bearing the clear marks of a devastating battle; sensing something, Lu Yang and the Immortal Fairy looked up at the sky simultaneously.

In the heavens above, the Emperor's avatar was gradually turning to ash in Immortal Yingtian's grasp, scattering with the wind.

"Immortal Yingtian!" The Immortal Fairy pointed at Immortal Yingtian and laughed in pleasant surprise, delighted to finally encounter a living one.

Lu Yang had not expected Immortal Yingtian to be here either; he had assumed there would be nothing more than some clues left behind.

"More reinforcements!" Sensing someone entering the ancient ring, Immortal Yingtian assumed they were reinforcements from the Great Gan Dynasty.

He looked down and saw the Immortal Fairy, his heart sinking; as expected, he had drawn the very enemy he wished to avoid. "Immortal of Annihilation!"

The Immortal Fairy flew excitedly into the air and waved at Immortal Yingtian. "What Immortal of Annihilation? It's me, Immortal."

Yet Immortal Yingtian disbelieved her entirely, shouting harshly, "What Immortal? Annihilation, you underestimate me too much! Deceiving me once was bad enough, but do you think you can deceive me a second time!"

He had refrained from using his full strength for fear that the pocket world could not endure it and would attract the Immortal of Annihilation; now that the enemy was here, he had no further reservations.

The pocket world overflowed with the power of heavenly tribulations as boundless, terrifying tribulations manifested.

"Why don't you believe me? Oh, right, I'll detonate myself for you."

Seeing that Immortal Yingtian did not believe her, the Immortal Fairy had a sudden flash of inspiration and prepared to detonate herself on the spot to prove her identity.

Immortal Yingtian's expression shifted drastically; this self-detonation did not seem feigned. Hastily withdrawing the power of the tribulations, he cried out, "Wait! I... wait, no, I believe—"

Boom!