Chapter 961: Massacre

Everyone near the bizarre mist—save for Li Yuqing—fell victim to the petrifying silver radiance emanating from the Pearl of Fate, including Long Di, who had left the Nether Abyss.

Fate energy spread across the bizarre mist like a thin silken veil, stretching across billions of li in the blink of an eye.

High above, Pang Jian's face was ashen.

Father...

He had finally glimpsed his father through the Illusory Void Realm after so many years apart, only to watch him and the Void Temple explode into dust.

A wrenching pain swelled within him, so fierce it made breathing unbearable.

He can be revived. He has to be! Dong Tianze could be brought back. So could the black turtle and the Black Dragon King. If they can, then so can he!

Pang Jian forced down his grief and steadied his heart.

He could not afford to lose himself at this critical time. He had to survive this perilous battle if he wanted to seek a way to bring his father back and keep those dear to him from dying.

Yi Hao, the Sovereign of Fate!

Pang Jian etched his name deep in his heart.

All the goodwill he once held for Yi Hao, for his kindness toward Li Yuqing and his lack of prejudice against the human race, had been swept away. It did not matter whether he had acted out of necessity or was forced into it. He could only ever be an enemy to Pang Jian from this point forward.

Fate. The mysterious and terrifying fate. Yi Hao!

Unleashing his divine sense, Pang Jian searched intently for Yi Hao, ready to clash with the Sovereign of Fate himself.

At that moment, he noticed the Divine Persona in his physical body quivering slightly under the silver radiance of the Pearl of Fate. That silver radiance seemed capable of seizing it, reshaping it at will, or even shattering it outright.

The path to godhood through forging a Divine Persona. The supreme will that reigns above the bizarre mist. Silver radiance.

Thoughts raced through Pang Jian's mind as he frantically racked his brains for a way to counter it.

The Pearl of Fate suddenly shot free from Li Yuqing and hovered over the bizarre mist, gazing down like a silver, all-seeing eye. Its radiance sank into the bizarre mist, piercing through the barriers and reaching deep into one abyss after another.

As if compelled, many Gods abandoned their respective abysses in unison. They stepped into the starry skies and placed themselves beneath the pearl's radiance.

Their Divine Personas and bodies dissolved into streams of light before flowing into the Pearl of Fate.

Even those as formidable as the golden elephant, the Vermilion Bird, and Long Di could not withstand the corrosion of this fate energy. It was as if an unseen hand had seized the Heavenly Daos interwoven with their Divine Personas and the crystal bloodline chains etched in the hearts of the Fey Gods, wrenching them all toward the Pearl of Fate.

The colossal golden elephant burst into a storm of golden fragments, which then further disintegrated into radiant dust. Every last mote was drawn into the Pearl of Fate.

The Vermilion Bird rose in a desperate retreat, summoning a sea of fire to resist the invasion of fate energy, but to no avail. It too exploded into streams of blood-tinged flame that vanished into the Pearl of Fate.

Long Di was no exception. His Divine Persona and body unraveled into ghostly blue light that the Pearl of Fate swallowed whole.

Those compelled to leave their abysses fared no better. One by one, they burst apart, becoming a scatter of luminous particles drawn into the Pearl of Fate.

Most of the Gods slain were Nether Gods. They had previously remained hidden deep within the Nether Abyss, but were drawn out by the pearl, perishing alongside their leader, Long Di.

Only the True Gods of the human race remained untouched, though still petrified like living stone.

The two Sovereigns, Fu Ya and Luo Hongyan, had used the Hall of Gods to attack the Abyss, launching their campaign against the bizarre mist.

The powerhouses of the other abysses had stayed hidden, gazing skyward as mere spectators. They had been safe. Fu Ya and Luo Hongyan had been powerless to reach into the abysses to harm them.

However, the Pearl of Fate had unexpectedly drawn them out from their abysses before slaughtering one after another. Yi Hao had accomplished what Fu Ya and Luo Hongyan could not, and all without ever setting foot in the Primordial Chaos Starry Region.

All he had needed was Li Yuqing's Pearl of Fate.

Meanwhile, in the Abyss, the black turtle, Yuan Qi, the Black Dragon King, and the Ice Armor Eel Dragon had gathered beneath the barrier. They could feel the tightening bind of fate compelling them skyward against their will.

They yearned to break through the barrier of the Abyss and bask in the fate energy as Long Di and the others had, even despite knowing they would perish.

Suddenly, a surge of will from Pang Jian crossed the barrier and poured into their bodies, wrapping around their Divine Personas like an immovable anchor in the sea. This grounding force helped them resist the shackles of fate.

Thus, these Fey Gods, reborn through the Gate of the Abyss and deeply bound to Pang Jian, retreated from the barrier. They sank deeper into the Abyss, refusing to be uprooted.

Only the Rock Bear, not revived through the Gate of the Abyss, shot out from the Sacred Soul Continent like a meteor in reverse, smashing straight through the barrier of the Abyss. The instant he broke through, his body and soul exploded, just like the others before him.

"Bai Zi!" Xing Huan cried desperately.

Like the Rock Bear, the World God of the Nether Abyss had also lost control of her body and was likewise headed for the barrier of the Abyss.

An endless golden radiance bloomed within the barrier. The Dao Source of Metal in the Seventh World leaped into action once again, flooding the barrier with the most indomitable essence of metal, severing the infiltration of the fate energy.

Bai Zi's tall figure slammed hard into the golden barrier. Dizzy and reeling, she finally regained her senses.

Paling in horror, she gasped in quick breaths, trying to quell her fright. "What a terrifying cage of fate!"

"The foreign race powerhouses in the Fifth World!" shouted the black turtle.

Foreign race elites like Yu Xin and Xuan Ying had also been rising skyward, only halting once the golden radiance shielded the barrier.

A long azure dragon coiled and twisted within the Thunder Pool at the heart of the vast Divine Court of Thunder. Dao Seals of the Dao of Lightning flickered into existence, only to shatter again and again.

Before Pang Jian's intervention, he had relied on the Divine Court of Thunder and his Dao of Lightning to withstand the invasion of fate energy.

"Those who did not ascend through a Divine Persona, and those without bloodlines of the foreign races, can escape Yi Hao's fetters of fate," the Primordial Demon observed aloud, strangely unaffected by the pull of fate energy.

Only the Fey Gods, the foreign races in the Fifth World, and figures like the Duke of Thunder or Bai Zi were vulnerable to the pull of fate energy.

The exception was Xing Huan, but his survival came down to the simple fact that he was a member of the Star Race. Yi Hao's fate energy had clearly spared him.