Chapter 953: Disrupted Fate

Although the Sovereign of Fate, Yi Hao, was born of the Star Race, he rarely involved himself in the affairs of his kin. He resided within the Temple of Fate, granting his favor only to those who pursued the Dao of Fate, regardless of their race or origins.

Yi Hao stood apart from the Outer Gods, uninterested in the struggles of the other three Sovereigns, and never vying for followers in the Hall of Gods.

Little was truly known about this Sovereign of Fate. He remained a mystery to all, including the other three Sovereigns, but they always treated him with respect.

This was the reason no Outer Gods had dared to attack Li Yuqing in the bizarre mist once it became known that she had won his favor.

Even Luo Hongyan and Fu Ya restrained their subordinates, opening the way for her to return to the Abyss unimpeded.

For Luo Hongyan to bring up Yi Hao, the Sovereign of Fate, at this time, was clearly a bad omen.

Pang Jian immediately noticed the subtle shift in both Fu Ya's and Tian Yu's expressions. It was as though they had found an unshakable pillar, a stabilizing force in the chaos.

Yi Hao...

A shadow of unease flickered across Pang Jian's mind, and his gaze instinctively shifted toward Li Yuqing.

"Will he come as well?" he quietly asked.

Li Yuqing's composure wavered. Almost reflexively, she took out the Pearl of Fate and attempted to reach Yi Hao.

"No. There's no response. I can't sense him at all." She shook her head in quiet frustration. "I have no idea where he is. He's only ever taught me some divine techniques, never speaking of anything else."

"Can you still glimpse into the future?" Lin Baixiang asked gravely.

"I could try." The nourishment of the World Tree had restored Li Yuqing's vitality, allowing her to peer into the future once more.

Channeling the mysteries of fate, she allowed the Pearl of Fate in her hand to amplify her vision, seeking a glimpse of what lay ahead. Invisible threads of fate quietly unfurled from within her, flowing toward the depths of her divine soul.

Suddenly, a veil of gray-white mist poured from the Pearl of Fate and blanketed her sea of consciousness.

The vision into the future became shrouded in this haze, obscuring it from view.

"No, I can't see anything!" Li Yuqing's voice trembled with alarm.

The elusive Sovereign of Fate had intervened, clouding the threads of what was to come and keeping them beyond her reach.

"Other matters don't concern him," Fu Ya murmured, a new steadiness settling over her heart, "but when it comes to a battle between the two supreme wills, even he cannot stand idle."

Her lips curved in the faintest of smiles. Not even the destruction of the Hall of Gods could shake her composure anymore.

"I may not be close with Yi Hao, but I know that the will of the starry skies would never allow a Sovereign born of its will to defy it at this critical time." Fu Ya glared at the Black Empyrean Phoenix. "And that includes you!"

Pang Jian's brow knitted deeply.

Elusive fate...Yi Hao.

When Li Yuqing had tried to look into the future, he felt an unseen presence fix its gaze on this battlefield. It reminded him of when he had previously glimpsed the silvery eye in the Fallen God Ruins.

That eye had represented the supreme will of the starry skies—a convergence of its Heavenly Dao!

Something had disrupted Li Yuqing's attempt to foresee the future, but Pang Jian could not be certain if it was the handiwork of the Sovereign of Fate or a ripple of disorder from that supreme will itself.

Yi Hao's ties to that will could be closer than imagined!

Pang Jian's mind raced. The Sovereign of Fate could be an even greater threat than previously anticipated. Hastily unfurling his divine sense, he tried to trace the source of Yi Hao's projected divine power.

His will swept across the starry region, weaving between the stars and the nine blazing suns before flowing into the bodies of Fey Gods and True Gods. He even scanned the World Tree, Pang Ling.

Every being in this starry region, alive or dead, could be a vessel for the Sovereign of Fate's divine power.

The golden elephant and Vermilion Bird of the Fey Race both grew alert, their eyes flaring with strange light. "Who's watching me?"

"Let him!" the Black Empyrean Phoenix ordered, voice cutting through the starry region like a whip.

All the Fey Gods obediently allowed Pang Jian's divine sense to scour their bodies and souls. Lin Baixiang and Pang Ling, upon hearing the Black Empyrean Phoenix's command, also dropped all defenses, allowing Pang Jian's divine sense to flow unhindered between living beings and inanimate objects alike.

Nothing...

Pang Jian's expression grew darker.

"Brother, we have to hurry." Pang Lin's human body was perched on the Black Empyrean Phoenix's massive head, like a grain of rice on a vast continent.

Her human body and her Black Empyrean Phoenix's body appeared as though as one, as if a long-lost part had finally been restored.

A tide of darkness surged outward like a vast sea, with the Spear of Ruin and the Eye of Destruction disappearing into it.

"Annihilate. Destroy."

The Black Empyrean Phoenix's voice rang out from the churning darkness.

The darkness swallowed Luo Hongyan and the massive sphere of light that surrounded her. That sphere of light was like a lone boat adrift in an abyssal sea, battered by the raging tide of shadow. Its radiance flickered erratically, as if on the verge of being snuffed out.

"Freeze."

High above the darkness, the Illusory Void Realm flared, projecting the space around Tian Yu and locking it in place.

Boundless darkness poured into the frozen space, engulfing Tian Yu and preventing him from slipping away.

I'll hold off on these two. You kill Fu Ya,

Pang Lin said softly, voice projecting directly into the minds of the two Pang Jians.

Yi Hao could appear at any time. Brother, be wary of your Divine Persona being tainted. Keep your guard up!

Back when I was besieged, the supreme will of the starry skies warped my Divine Persona, throwing my thoughts into chaos. Its interference left my divine power shackled.

The absolute darkness, reminiscent of the time before the dawn of creation, continued to spread outward with the intent to devour all.

"Fall, all of you, into the bizarre mist!" the Black Empyrean Phoenix commanded.

The high-ranking Fey Gods and the True Gods of the human race, originally intending to join the fight, froze at its words.

Its darkness was indiscriminate and would erase everything in the vicinity. Only beings with enough power—a Sovereign or a Rank Thirteen Aberrant Spirit—could withstand the wave of darkness and be qualified to partake in a battle of this scale.

The Illusory Void Realm flipped, inverting space and shifting the starry region in the process, disorienting the Fey Gods and True Gods. When they came to their senses, they found themselves hovering right above the bizarre mist.

A single step downward would return them to its depths—a place of comparative safety.

***

"Sunblaze!"

The God King's skull erupted with boundless radiance like a blazing sun. With the Hall of Gods destroyed, it turned its sights to Fu Ya.

The starry region known as the Primordial Chaos Starry Region resonated with Pang Jian, allowing him to twist its laws to aid the God King's skull in its assault.

Distance seemed not to exist at all for the skull, and it appeared right before Fu Ya in the blink of an eye.

He's a Sovereign who's harmonizing with the starry region and wielding Yan Hao's skull...

Fu Ya felt an immense pressure crash over her.

Glancing at the spreading darkness, she saw that the light shrouding Luo Hongyan was rapidly contracting, retreating into her body.

"Hm?" Surprise flickered across Fu Ya's eyes.