Chapter 963: Pressured into a God King

Strange new laws took shape in the Ruin Realm. Radiant fissures, laced with Dao-infused lightning, tore through the fabric of space as if trying to rip reality itself apart.

Faint yet oppressive fate energy emanated from the widening cracks, seeking to infiltrate the Ruin Realm and drag out the Divine Personas of those within.

"This is bad!" Fa Ji's face paled with dread. He wished he could return to the Abyss. It seemed to be the only place safe from Yi Hao's control at the moment.

"Pang Jian!" Luan Ji called desperately, believing that Pang Jian could sever Yi Hao's divine techniques and save them from the shattering of their Divine Personas with his divine power.

The Sovereign of Fate loomed even more fearsome after slaying Tian Yu.

In fact, the distortions in the Ruin Realm were the direct result of Tian Yu's fall. His dominion over the Dao of Space had been absorbed into Yi Hao's ancient tome, granting Yi Hao the means to breach the Ruin Realm.

However, Pang Jian was already occupied. His Immortal Divine Soul was locked in a desperate struggle against his own Divine Persona. He had no luxury to spare a single thought for others.

"The Ruin Realm is on the verge of falling. Yi Hao will likely subsume those within!" the Duke of Thunder exclaimed. A deep sense of helplessness welled up within him as he muttered, "The God of Fate is far more terrifying than the other three Sovereigns. In the past, he never revealed his full might, not because he couldn't, but because he didn't need to. Once he truly revealed his true strength..."

The Duke of Thunder frowned. Those inside the Ruin Realm would soon be reduced to fuel, thickening the pages of that ancient tome.

Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul, seated upon his golden Divine Persona, heard the grinding echo of the Heavenly Daos. He could sense the slow but inexorable strengthening of fate energy, straining to rend the Ruin Realm apart.

The World God Pendants!

His will surged through the twelve divine artifacts.

The divine artifacts surrounding the colossal skull swiftly passed through its boundary walls.

With the Dao Source of Metal empowering it through the twelve divine artifacts, the God King's skull transformed.

The skull lit up with dazzling golden light.

Even Tian Yu's Dao of Space could no longer breach its defenses.

The Great Demon Gods, seeing the brilliant golden light sealing the widening cracks and cutting off the infiltration of fate energy, realized that the Ruin Realm had become much like the Abyss, impenetrable to the Sovereign of Fate's influence.

"This is quite troublesome," Yi Hao mumbled bitterly.

The only force capable of piercing the Dao Source of Metal's defenses was the Dao Source of Soul in the Nether Abyss, which could pass through the physical and reach directly into the heart of the Ruin Realm.

Unfortunately for him, both the Soulstream of the Nether Abyss and the golden expanse at the bottom of the Abyss had long since allied with the will of the bizarre mist.

"If I can't break Pang Jian, and I can't breach the Ruin Realm, then..."

The silver eye under Yi Hao's control shifted its focus.

Its gaze swept over the beehive, then the Rank Thirteen World Tree, before darting between the Black Empyrean Phoenix and Pang Lin.

Finally, it settled on Luo Hongyan.

The Sovereign of Fate turned his attack on Luo Hongyan, intent on erasing the formidable Sovereign of Light.

Indignant anger flashed on Luo Hongyan's peerless face. "Why me? Yi Hao, the Black Empyrean Phoenix also refused to be bound. She's already forsaken the supreme will, so why me?"

"I simply believe you'll be easier to handle," Yi Hao said with disturbing sincerity. "The Black Empyrean Phoenix was stronger than you to begin with. After being reborn as a human, it has fused the Daos of Soul and Lightning. That makes the Black Empyrean Phoenix far more troublesome to deal with than you."

The silver eye flared. The halo encircling Yi Hao rotated. Silhouettes danced in the slender River of Fate within the halo, like fish gliding through water. Among them were not only myriad Gods, but also fallen Sovereigns.

"You think I'm weak? Weaker than her? Yi Hao, is this how you've always seen me?" A look of incredulity flickered across Luo Hongyan's face.

Then, unable to help herself, she laughed.

Her laughter was shrill and piercing, more harrowing than the cry of the Black Empyrean Phoenix. In her sea of consciousness, her Divine Personas squirmed, straining to break free and manifest between her brows.

Her six Divine Personas broke apart, only to snap back together almost instantly. This process was repeated many times—a tempering of the Heavenly Daos that unleashed waves of boundless divine aura with every cycle.

Sometimes it was the absolute stillness of death. Other times, a blazing inferno, bone-piercing frost, the abundant vitality, or the mysteries of darkness.

The five Heavenly Daos of Death, Fire, Cold, Life, and Darkness were reforged over and over again through the repeated destruction and reformation of her Divine Personas.

Dazzling light suddenly radiated from her crystalline feathers and the blood vessels beneath her skin.

Her Divine Personas became steady as bedrock, firmly anchored in her luminous sea of consciousness. As her heart crystallized, it underwent a staggering transformation.

"My heart is the Dao Source of Light. My Divine Persona is the ultimate expression of light, the absolute peak of this Heavenly Dao! It wasn't that I couldn't become a God King sooner, but that I simply chose not to."

Resplendent light poured from every inch of Luo Hongyan's body, corroding the darkness spreading from the Black Empyrean Phoenix and forcing the latter to retreat.

The Black Empyrean Phoenix, shrouded in endless darkness and armed with the Eye of Annihilation and the Spear of Ruin, hastily withdrew into the Illusory Void Realm, carrying Pang Lin with it.

"A God King!"

"Sovereign Luo is ascending as a God King!"

"The pressure from the Sovereign of Fate has forced her to advance!"