Chapter 962: Losing Control of Divine Personas

All was silent above the bizarre mist.

Yi Hao's fate energy had forcibly halted the battle between Luo Hongyan and Pang Lin. Light and darkness no longer rippled in terrifying waves, and the shattered space around Tian Yu hung frozen in place.

The two Pang Jians, hovering above and below the God King's skull, said nothing. The True Gods, still petrified like stone, could not move in the slightest. Only the Pearl of Fate spun in place, steadily releasing its fate energy.

The sheer power that the Sovereign of Fate wielded was plain for all to see.

When Yi Hao avoided conflict, he held back completely, but when he struck, it was with absolute dominance. He slaughtered with abandon, caring not whether his victims were Fey Gods from the starry skies or Gods from the bizarre mist.

"I knew you would come sooner or later," the Black Empyrean Phoenix muttered, cold eyes fixed on the spinning Pearl of Fate.

Brother, guard yourself against losing control of your Divine Persona,

Pang Lin warned, voice echoing in the minds of both Pang Jians.

My Divine Persona?

Pang Jian replied, his expression stern.

That will can taint even the Divine Persona of a Sovereign. I once suffered a grave loss because of it. We'll both need to be on our utmost guard. I suggest...

Pang Lin continued to advise him.

At that moment, Yi Hao quietly stepped out from the Pearl of Fate. A silver halo encircled him, and he clutched a heavy ancient tome in his hands.

Like in the Void Temple, his arrival came without warning, silent and without fanfare.

When he appeared, the entire Primordial Chaos Starry Region seemed to transform into his divine domain. Pang Jian, Luo Hongyan, and Pang Lin all sensed the sudden but profound shift in the laws of the starry region.

Fate energy carried invisible arcs of Dao-infused lightning across the starry region, embedding them into the stars and the thin veil of energies, rewriting the laws that governed them.

"Forgive me." Yi Hao sighed. Staring at the ever-thickening tome in his hands, he said wearily, "Fu Ya, Tian Yu, Luo Hongyan. You've all chosen a path that defies it. You all fail to realize that it, like fate itself, is nearly impossible to resist."

Shaking his head, Yi Hao shifted his gaze away from the tome and fixed it upon Tian Yu and Luo Hongyan.

"Fu Ya sought to decipher the many Heavenly Daos with her Dao of Wisdom and bind her manifestations using the Hall of Gods in pursuit of becoming a stronger God King.

"In the end, her goal was the same. She sought to break free from its shackles, to escape its control. Tian Yu, Luo Hongyan. At your core, your pursuit is no different from Fu Ya's. How could any of you hope to earn its true recognition?

"But I'm different. The further I pursued the Dao of Fate, the more I realized it was impossible to defy it. So I chose submission—submission to fate and to it. I willingly embraced the fate of being completely under its control."

At his words, the Pearl of Fate transformed into a radiant silver eye.

In the depths of the eye, endless Daos manifested as shadowy lightning. Projections of countless divine beings took shape. Fu Ya, the golden elephant, the Vermilion Bird, and other high-ranking Gods could be seen within.

A terrifying force that tugged at Divine Personas surged from the silver eye, sweeping across the entire Primordial Chaos Starry Region. Yi Hao had wholly claimed the starry region. His Dao permeated every corner of it, leaving no escape.

Tian Yu's expression shifted as he felt his Divine Persona slipping out of control. The massive multifaceted crystal that lay deep in his sea of consciousness abruptly manifested between his brows, straining to tear free from his body.

Luo Hongyan, the Black Empyrean Phoenix, and Pang Jian's physical body all sensed the impending danger. Their Divine Personas were slipping beyond their control, drawn toward that radiant silver eye.

Yi Hao is the one who truly embodies its will!

Pang Jian realized, face paling.

Those ascended through forging a Divine Persona would inevitably fall under the sway of that supreme will. This was the reason the golden elephant, the Vermilion Bird, and Long Di had all perished.

Even Sovereigns were not exempt. Their Divine Personas could still be corrupted and wrested from their control.

Unlike the high-ranking, mid-ranking, and low-ranking Gods, however, a Sovereign could at least resist, clinging to their Divine Persona through sheer will and power. The rest had no such privilege.

"Yi Hao! What are you doing?!" Tian Yu pressed both hands to his forehead, fingers clamping down on the crystalline edges of his Divine Persona in a futile attempt at forcing it to stay in his body.

"Only those who yield can survive. Those who fight it have no right to continue existing in this grand event."

Yi Hao lifted his head. The stars on his broad forehead flared to life, and the boundless fate energy from the silver halo encircling him poured into that gleaming eye.

Brilliant silvery light burst forth. Gravitational waves pulled directly at Tian Yu!

The act stunned all. No one had expected Yi Hao to target Tian Yu upon descending into the starry region. By all reason, Yi Hao was supposed to be on the same side as Tian Yu, Fu Ya, and Luo Hongyan.

Tian Yu's crystalline Divine Persona pierced through his clasped palms, flying straight toward the ancient tome in Yi Hao's hand.

It vanished into the tome, and the Sovereign of Space exploded with a muffled boom. Streams of light poured into the tome like a meteor shower, becoming the future cornerstones for Yi Hao's plan to rebuild the Hall of Gods.

"This grand event is unlike any before it," Yi Hao said in a detached tone. "Even the Gods and Sovereigns of our starry skies will not be spared. I told you this. Only those who submit will live. Those who defy are fated to die."

Yi Hao's words were as detached as his expression. He seemed stripped of all mortal sentiment, apathetic and singular in his purpose.

His attention then shifted to Pang Jian's physical body.

"Pang Jian."

An overwhelming force gripped the golden, glacier-like Divine Persona in Pang Jian's sea of consciousness.

The gravitational pull emanating from the silver eye surged even more violently. Tian Yu's death had only fed its oppressive might. Every Sovereign or God that fell only seemed to make it more powerful.

Pang Jian's multicolored Immortal Divine Soul rushed into Pang Jian's physical body, manifesting within his sea of consciousness.

It sat atop his massive golden Divine Persona, pressing down upon it with its will, resisting the dreadful pull of the silver eye.

At the same time, it also dragged the wondrous phenomena of the Primordial Chaos Starry Region into his sea of consciousness. The sun, stars, and moon appeared in the boundless expanse above.

Pang Jian's crystalline golden Divine Persona shot off strange radiance. Arcs of Dao-infused lightning tried to tear Pang Jian's Divine Persona free from his sea of consciousness, but Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul forced it back down.

Pang Jian was locked in a duel between his physical body and his Immortal Divine Soul.

"If you advanced to the Exalted God Realm first, perhaps you could've suppressed your Divine Persona," Yi Hao said dispassionately.

Losing interest in the struggle between the two Pang Jians, he turned his attention to the God King's skull.

Han Yi, Ying Yue, and Mu Duo trembled uncontrollably in the Ruin Realm. The five Great Demon Gods in the shroud of demonic energy above were likewise gripped with dread.

They, too, had ascended through forging a Divine Persona and bore the bloodlines of the foreign races, making them equally subject to Yi Hao's fate energy.

The only reason they had not perished when fate energy swept through the starry region was because they were in the Ruin Realm.