Chapter 2010: Phantom

While the Thunder Beast King moved toward Gongsun Wuji, the Bladeist charged forward.

As the most aggressive fighter among those present, he was the first overlord to launch an attack against Venerable Tianyang while the latter’s power was still surging violently.

A sharp bone spear appeared in the Bladeist’s hand.

In terms of quality, it had already reached the level of a world-class secret treasure.

What was truly astonishing was that the spear had not been forged through any special refining technique. It had formed naturally from bones “shed” by the Bladeist’s own body.

The same was true of the enormous crescent-shaped blades protruding from the Thunder Beast King. If removed, each one could be considered a world-class secret treasure in its own right.

The fact that their bodies had evolved to such an incredible degree showed just how terrifying the Insectoids’ passive evolution truly was.

Among the Insectoids, this Bladeist was the strongest fighter, second only to the Empress of Blades herself.

Under Her Majesty’s command, these creatures knew only how to advance. Retreat was not a word in their dictionaries.

The Bladeist’s ferocious momentum startled even Venerable Tianyang, who was in the middle of unleashing his final burst of power.

As an overlord who had roamed the Astral Realm for countless years, Venerable Tianyang could not understand the fanatical loyalty and devotion the Insectoids showed toward their empress. Most other powerful beings probably could not understand it either.

While the Bladeist charged forward at his target, the Dawn Emperor quickly recovered from his initial surprise.

Running away had never been Gongsun Wuji’s nature.

Since Venerable Tianyang had abandoned all restraint and launched a desperate final attack, Gongsun Wuji could only entertain him!

That was the choice most powerhouses of the Martial Civilization would have made.

The martial spirit within them had long shaped their every word, action, and decision.

Betrayal, cowardice, and retreat were things most martial warriors despised.

The history of the Astral Realm often seemed to move in cycles.

Events that had taken place tens of thousands of years ago would eventually repeat themselves in another form.

This time, however, Gongsun Wuji did not draw the Son of Heaven Sword and attempt to trade injury for injury. Instead, he raised the Heirloom Seal!

Having the courage to face an enemy’s final desperate attack was admirable, but trading wounds with someone who was already certain to die was not bravery.

It was stupidity.

As a national treasure, the Heirloom Seal’s main functions were to suppress heretical forces and store Dragon Qi.

Faced with Venerable Tianyang’s frenzied counterattack, Gongsun Wuji’s decision to use the Heirloom Seal was undoubtedly the wisest choice.

The square seal hovered above his palm, radiating dazzling golden light.

At that moment, even the Dawn Empire’s legions fighting across Divine Descendants World felt their empire’s fortune stir.

A resounding dragon roar echoed through the heavens as powerful law fluctuations surged from the Heirloom Seal.

Even at this critical moment, the Holy Dragon King had chosen to stand beside its master.

It manifested its lawful form and coiled around the enormous phantom of the Heirloom Seal summoned by Gongsun Wuji.

In terms of defensive power, the Holy Dragon King was slightly inferior to the Thunder Beast King.

However, the prestige of dragonkin throughout the Astral Realm was something ordinary creatures could never hope to match.

The towering phantoms of the Holy Dragon King and the Heirloom Seal bore down on Venerable Tianyang together as the Bladeist thrust his razor-sharp spear straight toward his brow.

For a brief moment, Venerable Tianyang felt as though he were the one facing his opponents’ desperate final attack rather than the other way around!

RUMBLE!

A terrifying clash of overlord power erupted beyond the plane, sending wave after wave of violent law fluctuations sweeping through the surrounding space.

The entire Divine Descendants World seemed to tremble.

Far below, Sein could faintly feel the ground shaking beneath his feet.

Massive avalanches thundered down the mountains while enormous tsunamis rose across the oceans and crashed against the continents.

Fortunately, this upheaval had taken place outside the plane.

Had such a complex collision of laws and immense power erupted within Divine Descendants World itself, Sein would have fled as far from the battlefield’s center as possible.

No... when an overlord fell, no corner of the world could remain unaffected.

Because the clash had occurred beyond the plane, its impact on Divine Descendants World was greatly weakened by the time it reached Sein.

It caused him no real harm, but still, he could not help marveling at the terrifying might of an overlord’s final burst of power.

Sein unconsciously lowered the magic scepter in his hand, bringing the spell he had been chanting to an abrupt halt.

Fermera and the others were more than capable of dealing with the opponent before them. At that moment, Sein was far more interested in the battle between the overlords.

The Faceless Mask pushed its detection abilities to the limit as it gathered information from the battlefield beyond the plane.

Then, without warning, a peculiar burst of law fluctuation caught Sein’s attention.

“Huh? Something seems to have appeared,” Sein mumbled in surprise.

However, the first to discover the source of the strange fluctuations was Liese, the Empress of Blades.

The moment those unusual law fluctuations emerged from the clash between Venerable Tianyang, Gongsun Wuji, and the others, she temporarily turned her attention away from the opponent before her.

“Keep an eye on him. Do not let him escape.”

Standing atop Fermont’s enormous head, the Empress of Blades issued the order to watch over Marduk.

She then spread her bone wings and vanished from the plane in a flash.

A new enemy had appeared—one that required her immediate attention.

Few knew that the Empress of Blades possessed exceptional mastery over spatial techniques.

For the time being, even her own older sister and younger brother remained unaware of this ability.

It was a skill she had acquired while exploring the Astral Realm after leading the Insectoids away from the Magus Civilization many years ago.

After teleporting beyond the plane, the Empress of Blades flew straight toward the battlefield where Venerable Tianyang, Gongsun Wuji, and the others had clashed.

By the time she arrived, the two parties had already separated.

Gongsun Wuji and the other overlords stared warily at a phantom figure before them.

Behind that figure stood Venerable Tianyang, who was already on the verge of death.

Surprisingly, he was still alive. Overlord-level beings truly possessed terrifying vitality.

Then again, this might also mean that Venerable Tianyang had not consumed too much of his Omnipotent Soul over the years.[1]

After appearing beside Gongsun Wuji and the others, the Empress of Blades folded her bone wings behind her and stared calmly at the phantom before them.

“I didn’t expect the combined power unleashed by Gongsun Wuji and the others to tear through the barriers surrounding this starfield and allow you to track us down...”

Everything they could observe pointed to the same conclusion—the phantom before them was a Rank Eight being!

Even among Rank Eight beings, he ranked among the strongest.

Gongsun Wuji and the others had been fighting fiercely only moments earlier, yet the aura radiating from the phantom immediately put them on guard.

This was especially true for Gongsun Wuji, who had sustained the most injuries during the clash.

“...Venerable Weiwu,” the Empress of Blades said, revealing the phantom’s identity.

1. Author’s Note: The Magus Civilization remained unaware that Myriad Manifestations World had already made preliminary progress in developing methods to restore Omnipotent Soul. ☜