Divine Might Like Prison, One Tree Cannot Hold Up the Forest

The darkness before dawn was at its deepest, and its quietest. Yet that silence did not last long.

Just as a pale strip of light appeared on the horizon, while most people were still lost in exhausted sleep or had only begun their morning training, two terrifying pressures beyond words descended without warning like falling stars, instantly engulfing the entire Heavenly Phoenix City!

This was not the Soul Power oppression of a Titled Douluo, but an even higher form of absolute suppression that seemed to originate from the very source of life itself! The air froze. The howling wind fell silent. Even the radiance of the "Nine Heavens Phoenix Flame Formation" atop the city walls, which never ceased day or night, flickered violently under that pressure, dimming and brightening as it let out a mournful groan beneath the strain.

"Thud!" "Thud!"

Throughout the city, countless soul masters below the rank of Soul Emperor and ordinary citizens alike could not even react before their legs gave out beneath this heavenly pressure. They collapsed to the ground, faces deathly pale and bodies trembling, finding even breathing unbearably difficult. Soul Sages and Soul Douluos could barely remain standing, but their bones creaked throughout their bodies, their Soul Power circulation slowed, and their faces were filled with shock and despair.

God Rank! Only God Rank experts could possess such world-shaking might!

"Enemy attack—God Rank!" A shriek, so sharp it had gone out of tune, rang out from the city walls, only to be swiftly crushed beneath the boundless pressure.

Almost the instant those two pressures appeared, Dongyue Qingcang, who had been standing guard beside the communication formation, changed expression drastically. Without hesitation, he crushed a translucent jade pendant within which moonlight seemed to flow! This was the Dongyue Clan's most urgent distress signal, directly linked to their ancestor in secluded cultivation deep within Heavenly Heart City!

Ancestor! They're here! Dongyue Qingcang screamed inwardly.

The next moment, an aged, indifferent voice containing supreme authority thundered through the depths of every soul:

"Members of the Li Family, reinforcements of the Dongyue Family, listen well! I am Qiu Qianchen. I shall give you one final chance! Open the city gates immediately, kneel and surrender, and seal your own Soul Power. Perhaps I may show mercy and execute only the chief culprits, Li Yunming and Li Yuanhui! Otherwise..."

The voice paused slightly, then turned piercingly cold, carrying an intent to destroy all things:

"When the city falls, not even chickens and dogs shall be spared. Your souls shall be utterly destroyed!"

The Qiu Family's ancestor, Qiu Qianchen! As expected, he had ignored that ancient pact and acted personally!

At the same time, another, even more sinister divine sense swept across the city, carrying the stench of endless poisonous miasma and decay. A hoarse voice, like ten-thousand-year-old black ice grinding together, sounded out. "Brother Qiu is still too merciful. In my view, those who stubbornly refuse should all be refined into poison puppets. That is the proper course." It was none other than the ancestor of Five Poisons Valley, Xie Miaojiang!

Under the pressure of these two God Rank beings, the soul masters of the Li Family and Dongyue Family seemed as insignificant and helpless as a lone boat amid a raging storm. Figures shot into the sky from all over the city—Li Yuanhui, Dongyue Qingxuan, Su Qingyin, Dongyue Qing... Every expert at or above the rank of Titled Douluo had appeared, with only Li Yunming absent. But no one had the leisure to concern themselves with that now. They all hovered in midair, resisting that invisible divine might.

However, the gap in momentum between the two sides was simply too great. The combined presence of dozens of experts from the Li Family and Dongyue Family was like the glow of fireflies before the brilliant moon when compared to those two divine auras, which shone like blazing suns. They were suppressed to the point that they could barely raise their heads. Quite a few weaker Titled Douluos had already gone pale, their bodies trembling slightly. Under the omnipresent lock of divine sense, even mobilizing their Soul Power felt incomparably difficult.

"Hmph!" Qiu Qianchen snorted coldly, the sound striking everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.

"Looks like you have chosen the path of death!"

Before his words had faded, the pressure enveloping the city suddenly intensified severalfold! It was no longer mere intimidation, but carried tangible murderous intent, like invisible mountains crushing fiercely down upon Li Yuanhui and the others in the sky! Space twisted with a sound of unbearable strain. Everyone felt as though the Soul Power around them was about to be scattered, while their internal organs seemed ready to shift out of place. Blood had already seeped from the lips of several weaker Titled Douluos!

Just as everyone was about to suffer grave injuries beneath that divine might!

"Qiu Qianchen! Xie Miaojiang! How dare you?!"

At that critical moment, a clear and furious howl came from afar, seeming to pierce through space as it instantly resounded between heaven and earth! A stream of moon-white light shot in from the horizon at a speed beyond the fourth dimension, like a sword of dawn tearing through the darkness, and came to a steady halt above the Li Family's formation.

The light faded, revealing an elderly man in a simple moon-white robe. His beard and hair were snow-white, yet his face was as rosy as an infant's. No powerful Soul Power fluctuations leaked from his body, but simply standing there quietly, he seemed to form a world of his own, forcefully blocking more than half of Qiu Qianchen and Xie Miaojiang's overwhelming divine might!

The newcomer was none other than the Dongyue Clan's ancestor—Dongyue Hong!

"Dongyue Hong! You finally decided to show yourself!" Qiu Qianchen's voice carried a trace of wariness, but even more of a savage expression that suggested he had expected this all along.

Xie Miaojiang's sinister divine sense also locked onto Dongyue Hong. "Old ghost Dongyue, do you think you alone can stop the two of us?"

Dongyue Hong's gaze flashed like lightning as it swept over Qiu Qianchen and Xie Miaojiang. His voice carried suppressed fury and righteous severity. "Qiu Qianchen! Xie Miaojiang! Have you two forgotten the pact from eight hundred years ago? God Rank beings were not to interfere in worldly disputes, much less directly attack forces below God Rank! By acting as you have today, are you openly tearing apart the pact and making enemies of every God Rank expert on the continent?!"

"The pact? Hahahaha!" Qiu Qianchen laughed wildly. "Dongyue Hong, have you lived so long that your brain has stiffened as well? That was nothing more than an empty document from centuries ago! Times have long changed. The strong devour the weak—that is the eternal truth! A pact? Who still remembers it? Who even cares?!"

Xie Miaojiang also chuckled darkly. "Old ghost Dongyue, stop trying to use the pact to pressure us. Today is the day your Dongyue Family and the Li Family perish! If you know what is good for you, get lost now. Perhaps you can still preserve a trace of your Dongyue Family's bloodline!"

Dongyue Hong's expression darkened. He knew that since they had dared to come, they had long since cast aside the so-called pact. He drew a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Since you two remain obstinate, then let us settle this with our hands! Let this old man see how much you have improved after all these centuries!"

As his words fell, the auras of the three God Rank experts erupted without restraint and collided thunderously!

A terrifying energy storm swept through the high heavens. The clouds in the sky were instantly cleared away, revealing the azure canopy beyond, which seemed to tremble. Below, Heavenly Phoenix City's defensive barrier rippled violently, as though it might shatter at any moment.

In this clash of pure, unadorned auras, the cultivation levels of all three were clearly exposed to the senses of every expert on both sides.

Qiu Qianchen was wreathed in black qi, like a demon god of the Nine Netherworlds. His aura was vast and violent—Level 104 Divine Official!

Behind Xie Miaojiang, an endless sea of poison seemed to rise and fall. His aura was cold and bizarre, surpassing Qiu Qianchen's—Level 107 Divine Official!

As for Dongyue Hong, his moon-white robe stirred without wind, while a faint vision of the sun and moon shining together appeared behind him. His aura was the most vast and profound—Level 109 Divine Official!

The levels were unmistakable!

Dongyue Hong possessed the highest cultivation, having reached Level 109. In a one-on-one battle, he feared neither Qiu Qianchen nor Xie Miaojiang, and he was even confident of defeating either one. But at this moment, he faced the combined forces of two Divine Officials!

The pressure created by Level 107 Xie Miaojiang joining forces with Level 104 Qiu Qianchen was far from as simple as one plus one equaling two. Though Dongyue Hong's aura remained steady, everyone could sense that beneath the joint oppression of those two divine mights, he was like a pillar standing firm in a raging current. Though unshaken, he had already been forced onto the defensive, a single tree unable to hold up the forest!

Dongyue Hong's expression was grave as he sighed inwardly. The situation he had feared most had still come to pass. He alone could not possibly block Qiu Qianchen and Xie Miaojiang at the same time. Once the true battle began, he could at most restrain one of them—and it would have to be the stronger Xie Miaojiang. Then who would stop the remaining Qiu Qianchen...?

Below, Li Yuanhui, Dongyue Qingxuan, and the others looked at the despairing disparity in levels high above, and their hearts sank to the bottom.

Could this truly be the end?

Just as the atmosphere of despair spread, Dongyue Hong's aged yet resolute voice rang out once more, like a great bell reverberating in every direction:

"Qiu Qianchen, Xie Miaojiang! You two have violated the pact and bullied the weak with your strength. Are you not afraid that the friends of Thunderstorm Sword Sect and Astral Sect will hold you accountable?!"

He was buying time, making one final attempt to use the names of the other two creators of the pact to make them wary.

However, Qiu Qianchen answered him only with even more arrogant laughter. "Thunderstorm? Astral? By the time they arrive, this place will already be scorched earth! Dongyue Hong, die!"

The great battle was on the verge of erupting! A clash between God Rank experts was about to unfold in bloody fashion above Heavenly Phoenix City!