A total of ninety-nine lord-grade fortress ships sailed through the sky like a patch of heavy clouds. Their shadows replaced the crimson pall that the Blood Sea had cast over the land and draped pure darkness over the province.

Everyone’s hearts sank. They’d all witnessed the power of a lord-grade fortress ship with their own eyes, and the crystal cannons it came with were a shared nightmare of all immortals in the world.

Such cannons had once claimed crippled origin dao immortals!

Some immortals turned and fled as soon as they caught sight of the fortress ships. There were already two connate-grade treasures exerting dominance from the sky, the fortress ships were the last straw.

Dusk Province was an invincible bastion!

……

“Don’t panic!” roared an elite of the Exalted Immortal Sect. “The crystal cannons and the lord-grade fortress ships are powerful, but they aren’t impossible to deal with. Charge into the cities of Dusk, I don’t believe that Lu Yun and Qing Yu will risk destroying their own cities!”

As he spoke, he turned into a flash of golden light and streaked toward one of the big cities.

Bam!

Dazzling golden light surged from the city in reaction. A vast, powerful formation lit up as the three hundred and sixty-five cities were connected to one another. The dao immortal of the Exalted Immortal Sect was thrown back.

In the air, the crippled origin dao immortals had given up on the two connate-grade treasures.

The Pelagic Orb had become one with Situ Zong, never to be separated. He was the treasure, and the treasure was him. Its overwhelming water-attribute energy stumped even the crippled origin dao immortals.

Granted a short reprieve, Qing Taxian resonated his Arcane Golden Orb with the Pelagic Orb, creating two intertwining barriers of light in the air to form an invincible iron wall.

The presence of the connate-grade treasures exuded a fatal attraction. Those who refused to give up and began their attempts anew were shattered by the barriers. Meanwhile, the crippled origin dao immortals had shifted their focus to the ninety-nine fortress ships.

They’d manifested the giant hands with the world’s energy, so the hands weren’t part of their bodies. Their destruction wouldn’t harm the immortals at all. In other words, the hands were their combat arts.

White beams of light arced across the sky from the crystal cannons on the fortress ships, crushing the great hands.

Kyaaa!!

A piercing avian shriek rang through the sky. A giant golden bird descended from heaven with a tremendous aura, claws gold and sharp like blades.

“The Great Peng!” Empress Myrtlestar frowned, standing beside Qing Yu. “That kind of divine bird went extinct a hundred thousand years ago.”

She had trouble believing what she was seeing. There had been records of the divine bird in the Primordial Era, and the Great Peng Method left by the bird had been passed down by certain factions—the Exalted Immortal Sect being one such example.

However, Empress Myrtlestar had never dreamed of seeing the divine bird itself—existing only in primordial myths—descending upon the world of immortals.

Descending with tremendous presence, the Great Peng grabbed one of the fortress ships and punctured its defenses with terrifyingly sharp claws.

Crackle!

One of the lord-grade fortress ships that had taken the world by storm was torn to pieces.

“Kill!” Invigorated, the immortals of the Exalted Immortal Sect swiftly assembled into battle formations and projected another Great Peng. Theirs was merely the manifestation of a battle formation, though, and a pale imitation of the authentic beast.

Wham!!

The Pelagic Orb bore down with great connate power, the great waves it brought about in the air forming a standalone world—the Pelagic Realm.

Under its might, the Great Peng Formation collapsed and fell apart. Many members of the Exalted Immortal Sect supporting it were killed. At the same time, the main canons of the fortress ships roared to life. Dozens of thick beams of white light scored a direct hit on the Great Peng.

However, the divine bird blocked the shots with flares of radiance from its glowing golden feathers!

The countermove shocked onlookers. The main cannons of the fortress ships could annihilate even crippled origin dao immortals, but now they failed to shake even the fluff off the bird’s feathers!

The Great Peng mounted a berserk charge into the formation of fortress ships and tore through more than a dozen ships, but then suddenly flew away like it’d been startled and made for the two connate-grade treasures in the air.

Here came the Divine Glory.

The Black Emperor was already charged, and the Formation Orb of Yin and Yang embedded in it glowed black and white. Panicked, the bird grabbed the connate-grade treasures with its sharp talons.

“If you dare activate the Formation Orb and that crystal cannon, I’ll raze Dusk Province to the ground even if I have to detonate myself!”

Neither Qing Taxian nor Situ Zong could defy the divine bird. The bird could break them as easily as it would two eggs. Clenching the connate-grade treasures, it looked piercingly at Qing Yu. It could tell that the horrifying fortress ship was under the unusually stunning girl’s control.

Although the fortress ship was powerful enough to threaten the bird, the bird was no helpless prey and could still detonate itself before its death. The resulting fallout would be enough to destroy Dusk Province and even neighboring provinces.

“Kekeke—” Suddenly, a peel of grating laughter rang out. A pitch-black iron rod fell from the sky and slammed into the Great Peng’s back.

Wham!

The giant bird with a wingspan of three thousand meters was shoved into the ground, and the two orbs fell into a furry hand.

Scarlet Ape had finally made its move. Now three thousand meters tall, it stepped on the bird with one foot, grasping its giant iron rod with the other. Its fiery eyes landed on Qing Yu with a vicious glint of mirth.

Silence descended over the land. Scarlet Ape was the center of everything in the area. Even the Blood Sea and the monsters within paled in comparison to its presence.

“You!” It pointed at Empress Myrtlestar. “Dare you fight me?”

It hadn’t recovered its full strength when Empress Myrtlestar drove it away in the North Sea dragon nest. Seeing her again made it itch for a rematch.

“Kyaa!!” The Great Peng beat its wings frantically beneath Scarlet Ape’s foot.

The bird was the guardian divine beast of the Exalted Immortal Sect, residing within a secret ruin left behind by the ancient Exalted Divines. It harbored a complete immortal dao within it. It was noble, mighty, and sacrosanct! However, Scarlet Ape was too strong for it to break free.

Scarlet Ape bared its teeth at Empress Myrtlestar, its urge to fight soaring. It could sense the unique demeanor she held herself with.

Boom!!

Suddenly, an ancient red tree blazing with fire fell from the sky and slammed into Scarlet Ape. Caught off guard, it quickly jumped out of the way.

The tree disappeared in the blink of an eye, seemingly nothing but an illusion. Seizing the opportunity, the Great Peng took flight and hovered beneath the Blood Sea, staring coldly at Scarlet Ape. It was a flawless origin dao immortal, born to dominate over all others as a top powerhouse of the world.

However, it’d first been deterred by Divine Glory, then stomped into the ground by a scarlet ape! The humiliation drove it to near madness.

Scarlet Ape didn’t spare it a single glance.