My son is about to break through.

"This is the power of the Immortal level, truly incomparable to the Heavenly Venerable level!"

Gu Qingfeng steadied himself, and instead of showing fear, a smile slowly appeared on his face.

The smile was faint at first, then gradually expanded, and finally turned into a soft laugh, which was particularly clear in the deadly and oppressive void, even somewhat audacious.

Immortal Celestial Venerable!

These four simple words were like a towering mountain and an endless deep sea weighing on his heart.

Despite the deterrent effect of the immortal beings of the human race, the immortals of the evil god race are mostly hesitant to act rashly, lest they trigger a full-scale war at the immortal level.

but--

External deterrence ultimately relies on the power of others.

The feeling of entrusting one's life and safety to the intimidation and judgment of others was always a thorn in the side for Gu Qingfeng, who was used to controlling his own destiny and pursuing absolute power.

This is why he is so eager to advance the power of the underworld to the third stage.

Ultimately, Gu Qingfeng wanted to have his own safety under his control to the greatest extent possible.

This time, facing the illusory god directly and clashing with his attack head-on, although it was clear from the scene that he was at a disadvantage.

But in Gu Qingfeng's own view, he had already won.

The most crucial point is...

In that clash of palms just now, he did not use any of the power of the Yellow Springs.

He relied entirely on his own solid cultivation foundation to withstand the attack from the Void God Lord, which contained the immortal Dao essence.

This fact is of great significance!
When Gu Qingfeng suppressed six ancient gods, including the God Lord of Heavenly Punishment and the God Lord of Myriad Calamities, and displayed overwhelming strength, he had already vaguely touched that boundary deep in his heart. Perhaps his overall combat power had reached the threshold of immortality.

But that was ultimately just a feeling based on a comparison of battle records, a vague speculation about the limits of one's own strength.

Without truly engaging with immortal beings, without that feeling, there's always a veil separating us, making it impossible to be certain.

And now.

The direct confrontation with the Void God Lord, that real palm strike, completely dispelled all his doubts.

"With the cultivation of the Ninth Tribulation, you withstood an Immortal's attack without being defeated... Gu Qingfeng, your foundation is stronger and more profound than any Heavenly Venerable I have ever seen or heard of in the Endless Immortal Realm!"

Throughout history, all those so-called prodigies and geniuses who have been celebrated for countless ages would pale in comparison to you.

The figure of the Void God Lord, shrouded in a hazy mist, was not angered by Gu Qingfeng's smile. Instead, he spoke in an even colder and more indifferent tone, as if stating an objective fact.

His voice came through the mist, carrying a strange echo, as if from a different dimension of time and space, resounding directly into the depths of the listener's soul.

When the Void God looked at Gu Qingfeng again, the initial look of disdain and indifference was gone. Instead, there was an extremely strong, almost tangible, chilling killing intent.

The killing intent was so intense that the temperature of the surrounding void seemed to plummet to absolute zero, and even the chaotic energy was frozen into fine ice crystals.

"I admit that I miscalculated and underestimated my opponent."

The voice of the Void God Lord paused, seemingly carrying a faint, almost imperceptible hint of regret.

"I should have disregarded everything and taken action back then to nip you in the bud!"

That way, we wouldn't be in this mess today, and you wouldn't have had the opportunity to grow to this point!

No matter how talented and promising a Celestial Venerable may be, in the eyes of immortal beings, he is ultimately just a potential stock, a seedling that needs time to grow, and whose growth process is full of variables and may die at any time.

As long as immortality is not achieved, the threat is limited, and life and death are controllable to a certain extent.

However, when a Celestial Venerable not only reaches an unprecedented height below the level of Immortality, but also wields a power comparable to the level of Immortality, the nature of the situation is completely different.

What truly shakes the heart of the Void God Lord now is...

He was shocked to discover that Gu Qingfeng had just struck him with his palm without even using the power of the Yellow Springs. Gu Qingfeng had simply relied on his own cultivation and the Great Dao to withstand his attack!
what does this mean?
This means that Gu Qingfeng himself has, to some extent, achieved a level of combat strength comparable to that of an immortal.

Such a monster is simply unheard of and unseen.

It has completely surpassed the comprehension limits of the Celestial Venerable realm held by the Void God Lord, and perhaps even all immortal beings.

Such monsters must not be allowed to live!
We absolutely cannot allow it to continue growing!
Otherwise, it will surely become a major threat to the evil god clan in the future, or even a nightmare!

At this moment, the last trace of hesitation in the heart of the Void God Lord, which existed due to his concern for the immortality of the human race, was completely crushed.

Instead, there was an absolute determination to eliminate Gu Qingfeng at all costs.

Even if it might anger the Heavenly Emperor Ziwei, even if it might trigger a full-scale conflict between the human race and the evil god race at the immortal level, he would not hesitate.

Because the Void God Lord was absolutely certain that the harm of allowing Gu Qingfeng to continue to grow would far outweigh any possible cost at present.

"Three hundred billion years..."

"The voice of the Void God Lord became even colder, as if it contained eternal ice."

"In the endless immortal realm, countless top celestial beings have wasted countless years, yet they still find it difficult to truly take that final step and glimpse the path to immortality."

I originally thought that no matter how extraordinary your talent was, how far could you grow in just 30 billion years?
At most, it's just going a little further in the path of near-immortality.

"But now it seems that I was wrong, terribly wrong!"
"You've reached this level in just tens of millions of years. If you were truly allowed to cultivate peacefully for 30 billion years, the threat you would pose to our Evil God race would undoubtedly reach an unimaginable level."

He seemed to be asking himself a question, or perhaps explaining a terrifying truth to Gu Qingfeng and the unseen spectators.

"Therefore, Gu Qingfeng, you are doomed to die today!"
Even if the Heavenly Emperor Ziwei is enraged and descends personally, I will still kill you here first!

The words fell.

Without another word, the Void God Lord, his killing intent resolute, immediately took a step forward.

This step, seemingly simple, seemed to have stepped on the pulse of chaos, causing the void above the entire Xuan Tian Immortal Dynasty territory to tremble violently.

Immediately afterwards, he struck out with his palm!
This palm strike was completely different from the previous probing attack.

With a single palm strike, all paths fall silent!
A dark, eerie mist surged wildly, coalescing into countless twisted, wailing faces that coiled between his fingers.

Before the palm strike even arrived, a terrifying pressure, several times stronger than before, descended like billions of chaotic divine mountains stacked upon each other, completely solidifying and sealing off the billions of miles of void where Gu Qingfeng was located.

Space became as hard as divine iron, the flow of time was forcibly distorted and slowed down, and even the operation of the Great Dao Laws was greatly interfered with and suppressed.

Gu Qingfeng suddenly felt a heaviness all over his body, as if he were carrying countless worlds on his back, or as if he had sunk into the deepest and stickiest swamp. Every move he made required dozens or even hundreds of times more strength than usual.

That terrifying power, capable of overturning the universe and obliterating everything, had already locked onto all his vital energy, leaving him with no way to avoid it or retreat.

This palm strike was far more powerful than the previous one.

If it were someone like the Heavenly Punishment God Lord here, they would probably be able to annihilate them completely, leaving them no chance to even struggle.

This is the terror of true immortality when it gets serious!
however.

Faced with this attack that could drive any half-step immortal to despair, Gu Qingfeng's eyes flashed with a hint of solemnity, but he showed no panic or fear whatsoever.

Facing the terrifyingly large, descending palm, he not only refrained from countering, but instead unleashed the power of the Netherworld Dao to its fullest extent. A dense, almost tangible black Dao aura burned like flames on his body, instantly creating a violent clash and friction with the surrounding void, which was frozen by the pressure of immortality!

"break!"

Gu Qingfeng shattered the void before him with a single punch, then took a step and vanished.

"Trying to leave? Stay here!"

Seeing that Gu Qingfeng was retreating without a fight and attempting to escape, the Void God Lord's eyes flashed with cold light.

How could he allow this major threat to escape so easily?

Now that we've already torn off all pretenses and started fighting, there's absolutely no reason for us to give up halfway!
He snorted coldly, and the giant palm that was pressing down suddenly accelerated, its five fingers slightly bent, as if it wanted to grab that void along with Gu Qingfeng in its palm like it was grabbing an insect.

At the same time, an even more bizarre Daoist aura, like an invisible spider web, instantly spread out, attempting to lock onto Gu Qingfeng's escape trajectory and origin.

however.

Just a moment before the giant hand closed and the spider web enveloped it—

"Buzz!"

Gu Qingfeng's illusory figure, along with the Yellow Spring vortex beneath his feet, shattered and vanished like a reflection in water broken by a pebble, turning into countless tiny specks of light that disappeared without a trace.

Each point of light seemed both real and illusory, carrying a trace of Gu Qingfeng's aura, yet all appeared to be nothing more than a mere illusion.

When the powerful restraint and Daoist tracing of the Void God came into contact with these black specks of light, it felt as if it had nowhere to apply its strength and could not distinguish between truth and falsehood, as if it were trying to grasp quicksand or smoke.

"Hmph! You think you can fool my discerning eyes with such a petty trick?"

The voice of the illusory deity was cold, but he remained calm.

His eyes churned violently with gray mist, shooting out two eerie beams of light that seemed to see through all appearances and point directly to the essence of things, quickly sweeping across the billions of black light spots.

"Got you!"

Almost the instant after Gu Qingfeng's figure disappeared, the Void God Lord locked onto one of the seemingly inconspicuous black light spots.

Without hesitation, he took a step forward, his figure also becoming blurred, as if he had merged into some higher-dimensional spatial layer, relentlessly pursuing that locked aura!

"Whoosh-!"

"Whoosh-!"

Two figures, one in front of the other, instantly detached themselves from the core area of ​​the Xuan Tian Immortal Dynasty's territory and disappeared into the vast and boundless depths of chaos in a way that ordinary Celestial Venerables could not comprehend or even see.

They vanished incredibly quickly, leaving behind only a terrifying surge of energy that had not yet fully subsided, and the lingering, dense, and suffocating Daoist aura that even Celestial Venerables below the Seventh Tribulation felt upon approaching.

This void, which had just experienced the ascension of the Yellow Springs and the clash of the Immortals, was temporarily plunged into deathly silence.

Only the shattered spatial cracks, the withered traces of laws, and the faint ghostly and eerie aura remaining in the air silently recounted the breathtaking and historic scene that had just unfolded.

soon.

The news that the Void God Lord personally attacked and killed Gu Qingfeng, and that the two exchanged a palm strike before one pursued the other and the other fled into the Chaos, disappearing without a trace, was like igniting the strongest storm in the Chaos Sea, sweeping across the entire Endless Immortal Realm at an incredible speed.

Any organization with even a slightly better information network learned of this earth-shattering and terrifying news in a very short time.

Whether in the human realm or the territory of the evil gods, every cultivator who learned of this news felt a profound shock and disbelief.

An immortal taking action to personally hunt down a Celestial Venerable is an earth-shattering event that happens only once every eons!

Even more terrifying is that the Celestial Venerable who was being hunted was able to calmly retreat after taking a direct hit, prompting the Immortal to personally pursue him into the Chaos.

The information revealed behind this is truly astonishing.

Gu Qingfeng's strength has once again surpassed everyone's understanding of its limits.

……

Mysterious Celestial Realm.

Inside the celestial palace.

At this moment, the atmosphere inside the hall was so heavy it was almost palpable.

The remaining high-ranking officials gathered together, and all eyes were focused on the figure beside the emperor's throne, dressed in the crown prince's robes, with a young face but already possessing an imposing presence—Crown Prince Gu Yang.

Gu Yang sat upright on the throne of regent, his back straight as a pine tree, his face calm and serene.

He held a jade slip in his hand, which had just been sent through special channels and recorded the general scene and follow-up news of the battle in the chaotic void. His knuckles turned slightly white from the force, but his expression remained one of almost cold composure.

The immortal has made his move!

My father has disappeared without a trace!
These two pieces of news struck Gu Yang's heart like two bolts of lightning from the heavens.

Gu Qingfeng is not only their Immortal Emperor, but also the pillar supporting the entire Xuantian Immortal Dynasty.

If Gu Qingfeng really gets into trouble, then the Xuantian Immortal Dynasty will instantly fall from grace.

Externally, covetous forces will not let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The vast Immortal Dynasty, seemingly powerful, could in reality crumble overnight, never to recover!

As the Crown Prince regent, Gu Yang bears immense pressure, enough to crush anyone with a weak will in an instant.

But he can't collapse!
We must not act rashly!

Gu Yang knew very well that at this moment, countless eyes were watching the Xuan Tian Immortal Dynasty and him, the Crown Prince, both openly and secretly.

Any slight panic will be magnified infinitely, becoming a fatal loophole that undermines the morale of the Immortal Dynasty, incites internal turmoil, and lures in external invasion.

He must remain calm and demonstrate absolute confidence and control!

Taking a deep breath, Gu Yang gently placed the jade slip on the table in front of him, raised his head, and his gaze swept across every face in the hall that was filled with worry, fear, or confusion.

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable firmness and authority, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"By imperial decree: Utilize all the spies and informants of our Immortal Dynasty throughout the Chaos, at all costs, to investigate and gather all information regarding the whereabouts of Father Emperor and the Void God Lord."

Any clue, however slight, must be reported immediately with the highest level of confidentiality. There must be no error!

"I obey your orders!"

The high-ranking officials in charge of intelligence immediately bowed and accepted the order, their expressions solemn.

Gu Yang nodded slightly and continued, "In addition, order all border immortal realms and all important garrison towns to enter the highest state of combat readiness immediately!"
All defensive formations are activated, patrols are doubled, and all generals are prohibited from leaving their posts, ready to deal with any possible threat at any time!
Especially in areas bordering the territory of the evil god, we must be on high alert against any counterattack or new invasion by the evil god!

One command after another was issued from Gu Yang's mouth in an orderly manner.

He had a clear mind and made decisive decisions, as if he had already rehearsed the crisis response plan countless times in his mind.

That composed demeanor gradually influenced everyone in the hall, calming the initially somewhat uneasy atmosphere. (End of Chapter)