Chapter 36: Triggering the Divine Calamity

The news of Qu Yi attacking the Mu Feng Alliance, driving back its leader Ji Qiong, and capturing eight powerful Tian Hun Xian warriors from the alliance spread like wildfire.
In an instant, over ten million cultivators trapped in the Godly Realm of the Meteoric Domain heard this astonishing news, and they grew even more in awe of Qu Yi. Moreover, due to Qu Yi’s attack, the ten million survivors who had made it through the battles believed the news he spread—that he would help them escape the Godly Realm of the Meteoric Domain.
Only those with the cultivation level of Tian Hun Xian could pass through the exit passages, a fact that had long puzzled the cultivators. But Qu Yi’s actions now convinced everyone of this truth.
As a result, these over ten million cultivators became even more careful in protecting their identity cards. Those who hadn’t gathered enough identity cards yet resolved to obtain ten at any cost, even if it meant trading all their treasures.
The cultivators who already had enough identity cards were focused not only on avoiding ambushes but also on the reward Qu Yi had offered: information about the whereabouts of the Dragon Emperor and the Phoenix would earn them a divine artifact.
The allure of divine artifacts was enough to tempt many cultivators to take risks.
Naturally, the behavior of these tens of millions of survivors was quickly noticed by the powerful warriors of the Nine Alliances. These warriors were hiding on various border planets, waiting for the exit passages in the Godly Realm of the Meteoric Domain to appear so they could escape.
However, the tens of millions of cultivators searching for the Dragon Emperor and the Phoenix on various planets was bad news for the warriors of the Nine Alliances. If any cultivator mistook them for the Dragon Emperor and reported them to Qu Yi, Qu Yi would surely recognize their identities and capture them.
To avoid alerting them, the warriors of the Nine Alliances had no choice but to fly deeper into the Godly Realm of the Meteoric Domain, temporarily leaving the border planets to evade the cultivators’ searches.
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The Dragon Emperor and the Phoenix, along with their subordinates, remained deep within the Godly Realm of the Meteoric Domain.
Especially after hearing the three pieces of news announced by Qu Yi, they realized even more clearly that Qu Yi would not let them go. Thus, they stayed on one planet for now, not returning to the border planets of the realm.
At that moment, the Dragon Emperor and the Phoenix sat atop a mountain peak.

Both of them appeared somewhat haggard, clearly having been under pressure from Qu Yi and thus in a poor mood the whole time.
“Fire Phoenix, we underestimated Qu Yi’s strength and cunning, which led to our current situation. Things will surely be difficult for us from now on; Qu Yi won’t let us go,” said the Dragon Emperor with a furious expression.
Since Qu Yi had declared in front of cultivators from all three realms that he intended to capture the Dragon Emperor and Fire Phoenix, he certainly wouldn’t give up. He would keep pursuing them until he killed them both.
Fire Phoenix, who was usually noble and composed, now had a furious look on her face. After hearing the Dragon Emperor’s words, she managed to steady her emotions after some effort.
“Dragon Emperor, since Qu Yi has decided to deal with us, we definitely can’t leave the Divine Realm of Ruin. Even if an exit appears, I think Qu Yi will be waiting there for us and surely attack us,” Fire Phoenix said calmly.
There was only one exit, and with the Dragon Emperor and Fire Phoenix’s cunning, they could easily guess how Qu Yi would wait for them to arrive.
The Dragon Emperor glanced indifferently at the over fifty powerful members of the Golden Dragon Alliance standing below the peak, then showed a look of pity. These were all strong members of the dragon race, and if they died, the dragon race would face a very tragic future in the World of Demons.
“It’s a pity, it’s hateful. I shouldn’t have tried to contact Qu Yi in the first place. If I hadn’t plotted against him, at least I wouldn’t be targeted by him now, nor would my entire dragon race be at risk,” the Dragon Emperor said in a sorrowful voice, filled with endless regret.
Although Qu Yi only sent messages targeting cultivators from the Nine Alliances and hadn’t said he would deal with those from the Golden Dragon Alliance and Fire Phoenix Alliance, the Dragon Emperor knew well that the other cultivators of the Golden Dragon Alliance would be safe. But those at the level of Heavenly Soul Demons and Heavenly Soul Spirits from these two alliances would surely be dealt with by Qu Yi. After all, Qu Yi certainly wouldn’t want the strong members of these two alliances to retaliate against him in the future, so he would definitely try to eliminate them.
Fire Phoenix closed her eyes in pain. She also understood that those powerful demons from her Fire Phoenix Alliance wouldn’t be able to escape Qu Yi’s destruction.
“Never mind. We can’t even save ourselves, let alone protect them. Fire Phoenix, we only have one hope left—trigger a divine calamity. Let’s ascend to the divine realm first, and then, once there, we’ll kill Qu Yi to avenge this.” The Dragon Emperor suddenly spoke with gleaming eyes and a fierce expression.
The Dragon Emperor and Fire Phoenix had long mastered the complete laws of metal and fire, and their soul realms had reached perfection, allowing them to summon divine calamities at any time.

Hearing the Dragon Emperor’s words, the Fire Phoenix looked somewhat surprised before nodding in agreement.
“I understand what you mean. Instead of wasting time here uselessly with Qu Yi, it’s better to head to the Divine Realm first and gather our forces there, so we can deal with Qu Yi directly once we’re in the Divine Realm. Alright, I agree with your plan,” said the Fire Phoenix as she slowly stood up, speaking firmly.

After agreeing on their plan, the two immediately entered the starry sky. Each of them produced an item, then released their soul energies completely.
The Dragon Emperor held a circular disc, which turned out to be a divine artifact. It seemed the Dragon Emperor had used this artifact to suppress his soul energy, allowing him to remain in the Fiend Realm.
The Fire Phoenix held a red bead, also a divine artifact. She had used this bead to suppress her soul energy, preventing a divine calamity from occurring.

By bringing out the divine artifacts from their soul spaces, both released their soul energies, which were immediately detected by the laws of the universe. Soon, a powerful energy fluctuation emerged in the starry sky. Two areas of clouds appeared in what was originally a void and silent expanse.
One golden cloud represented the Dragon Emperor, while the other red cloud represented the Fire Phoenix. These were two types of calamity clouds.

The Dragon Emperor took out a divine artifact— the Dragon Stealing Claw. The Fire Phoenix also took out a divine artifact, shaped like a pill bottle, entirely red in color, called the Fire Gathering Bottle.

There were three strokes of divine calamity lightning: the Human Punishment Lightning, the Earth Punishment Lightning, and the Heaven Punishment Lightning. In other words, these three strokes of lightning corresponded to the three layers of the Soul Flower: the Human Soul Layer, the Earth Soul Layer, and the Heaven Soul Layer.

The two calamity cloud layers in the starry sky formed rapidly, each spanning hundreds of thousands of miles wide. The clouds churned as if countless ancient beasts were active within them, with immense pressure from the universe enveloping that area of the starry sky.

The Dragon Emperor and the Fire Phoenix exchanged glances and nodded at each other, ready to face the impending lightning strikes.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The two calamity clouds emitted tremendous noises that shook the starry sky. The surrounding planets seemed to vibrate and shift from their original positions.
The golden lightning was a hundred meters wide and rushed straight down toward the Dragon Emperor. The red lightning was also a hundred meters wide and fell vertically toward the Fire Phoenix.

The Dragon Emperor remained calm and composed. Holding the Dragon Stealing Claw, he swiftly swung it upward, and a golden spirit entity immediately appeared to confront the surging thunderstorms. One by one, the golden spirit entities were shattered by the thunder, but the fierce will within them vanished, leaving only thunder that emitted a gentle aura. The Dragon Emperor no longer resisted this “filtered” thunder; instead, he gladly welcomed it into his mind, as if it were a nourishment for his Soul Flower.

The Phoenix did the same. After using the Fire Gathering Vessel to absorb the fierce aura from the thunder, it also accepted the “filtered” thunder willingly.

The first human punishment thunder passed.

Before long, the second earth punishment thunder was also formed and swiftly descended.

This time, the thunder carried even more immense energy, spanning 500 meters in width. Its fierce aura moved at lightning speed, wave after wave, seemingly endless. With such power, even a planet would be shattered to pieces.

Both the Dragon Emperor and the Phoenix remained calm, confident in their own strength.

The Dragon Stealing Claw kept swinging, and the golden spirit entities were continuously generated to confront the fierce aura of the thunder waves, constantly purging the dangerous elements within them.

The Fire Gathering Vessel was placed atop the Phoenix’s head, expanding to 100 meters in size, ready to withstand the descending thunder. All the fierce auras were absorbed by the vessel, leaving only the gentle thunder to enter the Phoenix’s mind.

The second earth punishment thunder passed.

Without pause, the two thunder clouds gathered in the sky shrank by half, meaning the final heavenly punishment thunder would be even more powerful. Even more terrifyingly, the two thunder clouds suddenly contracted rapidly, shrinking to an area of just a kilometer in size. The clouds churned, and thunder flashed endlessly within them, exuding terrifying power.

The Dragon Emperor and the Phoenix looked at the thunder clouds above them with a hint of concern. Then, in perfect coordination, they reverted to their beast forms.

The five-clawed golden dragon, stretching a thousand miles long, coiled up and roared at the thunder clouds above. The flame phoenix, also a thousand miles long, resembled a blazing flame in the sky, casting illusions by burning the entire starry expanse.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The two thunder clouds rushed downward at lightning speed. Gathering all their energy, they descended at an invincible, fierce momentum, heading straight for the five-clawed golden dragon and the flame phoenix.

Roar!

The Dragon Emperor roared and suddenly threw out the Dragon Stealing Claw, charging straight at the thunderstorm. The moment it touched the thunderstorm, the Dragon Stealing Claw exploded violently, releasing countless amounts of gold energy that surged into the storm clouds like thousands of swords, splitting them into dozens of pieces that scattered in all directions. The thunderstorms that continued to fall were now less than one-tenth of their original size. At this moment, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon soared into the sky, using its powerful body to withstand the onslaught of the thunderstorms.
Clang!
The Phoenix cried excitedly and quickly threw out the Fire Gathering Vial. The moment it touched the thunderstorm, the vial also exploded violently, with countless amounts of fire energy spreading in all directions, splitting the thunderstorms into more than a dozen pieces. The thunderstorms that continued to fall toward the Phoenix were now only one-tenth of their original intensity.