Divine Emperor of Death

Davis received the fifth heavenly strike without warning, and his figure was sent flying by the impact as he dug into the ground. A dust cloud burst out and shrouded the space as blackish-red lightning crackled within ever so lightly.

But quickly, a dirtied black-robed figure shot above, returning to its previous position.

"Ahahah! I received it without becoming injured, you stupid dragon!"

Davis cackled with delight.

Just in time, he had created a triple-layered defense with reincarnation sea at the top, heavenly flames at the center, and an earthen wall at the lowest above his head.

With its prowess at Level Three Immortal Stage, the annihilative heavenly lightning dragon crashed down like a meteor. The resulting explosion shook his innards, but it was unable to get past his defenses as the reincarnation energy sought to destroy its Will, heavenly flames incinerating its body while the earth energy, although weaker, managed to hold the line.

Only he had been sent flying by the impact due to the defenses adopted at the last moment.

However, he didn't regret yelling at the heavens.

After all, he was doing this to boost his own Will. There was nothing he could do about it because this annihilative heavenly lightning dragon was just too constricting, causing him to become claustrophobic as though visualizing that there was no way out other than death.

Nonetheless, the result was that it allowed him to refortify his Will. His eyes flashed with incomparable sharpness as heavenly lightning, and heavenly flames surged from his body, turning into numerous spears as they gathered around him.

Reincarnation energy spread from his palms and encased the air while his chaotic energy swelled within him as they stuck to his flesh, ready to receive the sixth heavenly strike.

Outside the secret realm…

*Whoosh!~* *Whoosh!~* *Whoosh!~*

Countless figures kept appearing around the Void Dust Secret Realm.

They ranged from Immortals to Immortal Kings, even Late Immortal Kings like Patriarchs of major powers. From the youthful-looking ones to the bearded or bald elders, they possessed grim yet interesting expressions on their faces.

However, they didn't dare enter the ninety-thousand-kilometer range of the Annilihative Immortal Tribulation like everyone else.

"Everyone, welcome to my Zyrus Family Prefecture."

A black-robed man with a radiant smile stepped up and clasped hands with the distant figures. Although they were thousands of kilometers apart, their gazes still transcended space, falling on the speaker's silhouette. They recognized him to be the Zyrus Family's Patriarch.

He was with an entourage of Immortal Kings and Immortals, just like them.

"Well, well… to think an Anarchic Divergent would appear in your impoverished Prefecture. I wonder how calamitous that person could be. Who do you think it is, Zyrus Family Patriarch?"

A mocking voice echoed across the region, loud and clear, not at all afraid.

"Lumin Family Patriarch, I suggest that you watch your words. One should know that not all Anarchic Divergents are calamitous in nature. The heavens only isolate them because they are a danger to the world in some way, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they would tread on that path. Isn't that why cultivation exists, to go against one's fate?"

"What a good speech, Zyrus Family Patriarch. If I were the slightest bit immature, perhaps, I would truly believe your speech and let go of that Anarchic Divergent who might turn out to be your next Young Master Candidate, Klein Zyrus, no?"

"…"

The Zyrus Family Patriarch's expression fell, "So what if it is one of our people, and what if it is not? Regardless, as the head of this Prefecture, I will take responsibility for whatever pops out of here. What gives you the right to intervene?"

"Hmph!"

The Lumen Family Patriarch simply harrumphed, not bothering to reply, nor did he leave.

Like him, the others stayed silent as well. Most of them came from the surrounding Prefectures and individual powers. Many kept appearing without a stop, forming significant traffic of Immortal Kings in the Zyrus Family Prefecture.

Their numbers reached thirty but didn't stop and only kept increasing as each second passed.

They appeared to be intrigued, simply looking at the distant Heavenly Laws fluctuating in the distance as they remained reverent. According to their calculations, the immortal tribulation should be halfway done, so since it hadn't dispersed, they were surprised as that meant that the tribulation-taker hadn't died.

They didn't expect this to happen as there were many Anarchic Divergents appearing in the overview of history but most did not end up surviving their Immortal Tribulations.

The Zyrus Family's Patriarch also had the same doubt, wondering if Klein Zyrus would survive the tribulation.

After all, it was said that an Annilihative Immortal Tribulation increases the prowess of the tribulation by only two as opposed to the Destructive Immortal Tribulation that raises the prowess by one. However, they knew it couldn't be underestimated just because of that, as the heavenly will behind these destructive and annihilative strikes was far more damaging to the body and soul than they could imagine, especially the latter.

Once struck and stung, it would literally become over for them.

So for the tribulation-taker to survive this long, they wondered just who it was while the Zyrus Family Patriarch wished for Klein Zyrus to survive.

'However… this aura… isn't this just too strong…?'

The longer they looked, the heavier their hearts became.

What kind of mortal could pass such an immortal tribulation? They didn't know nor felt that it was possible, occasionally looking away as they didn't want to be corrupted by its annihilative aura.

*Bang!~*

Dark clouds rumbled inside the Void Dust Secret Realm as a little girl witnessed the terrific might of the heavens and the young man that went against it each time it sent him a punitive lightning strike. Although her figure was curled, guarded by a motherly figure, her starry violet eyes couldn't help but shine at this moment.

She was moved, wanting to become like him and conquer her fear of the heavens.

*Ripp!~*

Flames surged, and lightning cackled, incinerating the outermost layer of space in its path. A burst of ascending heavenly firestorm spears pierced through an eight-meter tall heavenly dragon descending with a world-ending pressure.

Its head was burst apart like a balloon, and a shockwave of reincarnation energy dispersed the blackish-red lightning body that sought to destroy Davis even in death.

*Gasp~*

Davis couldn't help but keep taking deep breaths as his energy levels were down thirty percent in all three cultivation systems. In half a minute, he had unleashed incomparably powerful attacks. From the fifth strike onwards, his energy consumption kept drastically increasing for him in order to defend or counterattack.

He could no longer afford to use individual energies like death, life, heavenly lightning, or heavenly flames but had to unleash reincarnation and a combination of heavenly lightning and flames to defeat the seventh and eighth heavenly strikes.

Moreover, he was also refining the four strands of annihilative heavenly lighting into wisps, further expending his soul force. Consequently, the exhaustion was also at an all-time high.

Moreover, the eighth strike was especially at the peak of the Level Three Immortal Stage, almost nine levels higher than his cultivation base.

Then wouldn't the next attack be truly nine levels higher…?

Davis's heart couldn't help but shake as he looked at the dark skies. Watching the dark clouds rumble in a low roar, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on. It was different from the time it simply yelled at him.

As he watched the blackish-red lightning gather at the center, his pupils couldn't help but abruptly dilate.

Because… it was not the only blackish-red lightning that was forming. There were eleven others forming by its side. The arcs of annihilative heavenly lightning kept changing forms, taking shape into something. The centermost one became a dragon, as Davis expected.

However, the other annihilative heavenly lightning arcs took shape into an intimidating rat, a dauntless ox, a fearless tiger, a triumphant rabbit, a slithering snake, a noble kirin, a lofty turtle, a nine-headed hydra, a majestic phoenix, an ominous wolf, and a sacred fox.

Each of these manifestations was overbearing, but they also had some kind of uniqueness seeping out of them, causing Davis's heart to skip a beat as he could sense an extraordinary amount of pressure from them as they had their gazes locked on him. His lips couldn't help but twitch while he took a step back.

"Paragon Magical Beasts…?"