Apocalypse Cheater-Chapter 269: The Immortals

[: 3rd POV :]

The swirling light of the dimensional gate collapsed with a pulse of silence, and the survivors emerged into their native realm.

They returned to a world unlike the fragile one they had just fled.

It was a cultivation world, vast and rich in spiritual abundance.

The air here was dense with spiritual qi, each breath filled with the essence of heaven and earth.

Majestic mountains pierced the skies, their peaks hidden behind swirling mists.

Ancient forests stretched endlessly across the land, their trees towering like titans, leaves shimmering with latent energy.

Spiritual plants bloomed in secluded valleys, glowing softly with mystic radiance.

Some have matured for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years, pulsing with wisdom older than many clans.

Deep in the oceans and at the hearts of forbidden lands, intelligent beasts slumbered—creatures born of heaven's will, capable of speech, cultivation, and destruction.

Some had witnessed the rise and fall of empires.

Others chose to guide young cultivators or guard sacred relics.

This world was as beautiful as it was cruel.

It was a world where the strong ascended toward immortality and the weak perished chasing it.

But none of that splendour could cleanse the humiliation etched into the faces of those who returned.

The Immortal, torn and beaten, his once immaculate divine robes bloodstained and burned, flew in silence.

The Senior, pale and trembling, supported one of the unconscious cultivators.

None of them spoke as they soared toward their destination.

Above the clouds, isolated from mortal comprehension, Heaven's Palace floated in the sky, a majestic island suspended in the heavens.

Carved from jade that was nourished by divine veins of qi, it pulsed with pure spiritual energy.

The landmass hung silently above the world like a silent god watching all below.

Massive golden halls lined its surface, each constructed from materials that defied natural understanding.

Stones harvested from fallen stars, trees whose wood refused to burn, and crystals that echoed ancient truths.

At the heart of the island stood the Temple of Heaven, crowned by the Eternal Flame that never ceased burning.

This was the seat of power.

This was where the ruling Immortals of the Alliance convened, those few beings who dictated the laws of cultivation across countless worlds, both mortal and divine.

The Immortal limped toward the palace gates.

Guards, themselves beings of extreme cultivation, gasped upon seeing him.

One rushed forward. "Lord Xian Wu! You're wounded!"

Xian Wu, the immortal who had battled Daniel, waved him off. "Summon the Grand Council. Now."

The urgency in his voice shattered the air like a command from the heavens.

The guards obeyed without question, vanishing in streaks of light.

Behind him, the Senior and the other cultivators bowed respectfully at the base of Heaven's Palace, unworthy to step onto the sacred grounds.

They dared not follow him further.

Even the Senior, once prideful and full of authority, now felt more like a child than a warrior.

As Xian Wu stepped inside the palace's main corridor, ornate and vast, filled with statues of past immortal heroes and sacred beasts, he clenched his fists.

The memory of Daniel's power was burned into him.

Not the pain of the wounds but the helplessness.

The fear.

A transcendent being who had no right to exist on a backwater planet.

A man who crushed an immortal with unknown strength.

A being who twisted reality and devoured heavenly law like mere food.

It defied logic.

"I underestimated you," Xian Wu whispered to himself as he reached the inner sanctum, where the Council would soon gather.

"And now... the heavens themselves will turn their gaze to your world."

Moments later, at the very core of Heaven's Palace, twelve thrones encircled a divine table carved from the Heartstone of Creation, a relic said to predate even the oldest realms.

The air here was so heavy with law and divine intent that lesser immortals could not breathe within its boundaries without disintegrating.

One by one, twelve figures took their seats.

Each radiated a terrifying presence, different yet equally absolute.

One was cloaked in lightning, his skin flickering with thunderous sparks.

Another shimmered like a reflection of the cosmos, stars orbiting his form.

One sat surrounded by blooming lotuses, each petal singing a hymn of serenity and another was draped in chains, eyes glowing with the cold of order.

These were the Twelve Immortal Lords, the apex of the Immortal World.

And today, their serenity had been shattered.

At the foot of the table, Xian Wu, one of their own, stood with one arm still burned and limp.

The golden glow of his divine body was fractured, and blood, both red and gold, still clung to parts of his robes.

His once proud presence was dimmed and muted.

"You requested an emergency convening," rumbled Lord Tian Lei, the Storm Immortal King, sparks leaping from his silver beard.

"And you arrive... in this state?"

"Speak," said Lady Xuanyin, her eyes half-lidded, though her voice carried enough weight to bend space.

"What happened on that lesser world?"

Xian Wu's jaw tightened. He looked up, locking eyes with each of his fellow council members.

"I was defeated."

The hall stilled.

Not a sound. Not a breath. Not even the low hum of circulating qi dared to move.

Then came laughter.

From Lord Bai Shen, the youngest and most arrogant among them.

His spear floated lazily behind him.

"Defeated? You? By what? A planet spirit? A Divine Being? A Tribulation Being?"

Xian Wu's voice was steel. "I was defeated… by a mortal."

The table shook. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

A flicker of divine pressure erupted as several of the council members leaned forward.

"Mortal?" asked Lord Jin Hai, the Poison Calamity.

"That world was classified as low-tier, unguarded and unworthy of divine attention. What mortal there could even survive your presence, much less wound you?"

Xian Wu's burned hand lifted slowly, trembling.

"He didn't just wound me''

''He dismantled me''

''He crushed every attack I hurled at him. He resisted judgment, divine law, and my ultimate arts''

''His power…"

He paused. "Was not that of a mortal."

Disbelief hung in the air.

Lord Bai Shen sneered again. "Are you saying you lost because the opponent 'cheated' the heavens?"

"No," Xian Wu replied, his tone ice. "I lost because he was stronger than me"

The council sat in heavy silence.

Even Lord Qing Mu, the oldest among them, whose gaze had seen the rise of empires and the death of stars, narrowed his eyes.

"Describe him," he commanded.

Xian Wu closed his eyes, recalling the moment.

"He was… human in appearance. Young. Barely in his thirties"

"But his essence—it wasn't mortal. He possessed strength that rivalled calamity-class beasts. He wielded abilities I have never seen before. He could alter perception… bend reality. He even—"

He swallowed.

"—transformed into a creature I had only heard of in ancient forbidden texts''

''I don't know what kind of beasts it was, but it reminded me of Fenrir. And he wielded skills unlike anything in our records."

"What kind of skills?" Lady Xuanyin asked softly.

"I was bound by chains that stripped my power to nothing," he said.

"He healed from wounds no immortal could survive. He shattered my strongest defence with a single strike"

"And his howl—his howl tore apart the very laws of nature. Even now, my ears echo with it."

He stepped forward, his eyes hardened with humiliation and awe.

"I do not know what he is. But he is not normal. That world is not what we thought."

Silence again.

This time, no one mocked. No one scoffed.

They could see the truth in his wounds.

The weight behind his words. **Xian Wu**, one of their strongest warriors, had been thoroughly defeated—and not through trickery, but raw, undeniable might.

"…This changes things," muttered Lord Jin Hai.

"A being that can defeat an immortal—and yet, he resides in a not worth mentioning realm?"

"Could he be an exile?" Lord Tian Lei asked. "A fallen ancient? Hero? Descendant of Elia? Monarch Knights? Constellation Guardians? Order of Rebellions? Or something... new?"

Lady Xuanyin pondered aloud.

"Some forbidden bloodline awakening?"

"No matter what he is," Qing Mu said, rising slowly, "one truth remains. He is dangerous."

The other eleven nodded.

"And he let me live," Xian Wu said, finally.

All heads turned to him again.

"He told me to return. To tell you. To *warn* you."

A heavy pause.

"He has no fear of us," he said bitterly. "He let me walk away to deliver that message."

Lord Bai Shen slammed a fist on the table. "Arrogant—!"

"Smart," Lord Qing Mu interrupted. "He knows we will come. And he welcomes it."

The room dimmed. The divine torches flickered with unease.

Lady Xuanyin leaned forward. "Then what do we do?"

"Investigate," said Jin Hai. "Send 'Zeros' if we have to, to learn his origins and weakness, and prepare

"Prepare," added Tian Lei. "In case war is inevitable."

"We may need all the forces of the immortal worlds." said Bai Shen

Lord Qing Mu raised a single hand, silencing the room.

"Let us observe, for now and we shall go with Lord Jin Hais suggestion"

"We are not yet certain of his nature, nor his limits. But let us make this clear, should he ever step beyond that planet… he will not be allowed to roam freely."

He turned to Xian Wu.

"You did well to survive. Rest and recover. We will convene again when more information is gathered."

Xian Wu bowed his head, his pride still aching. "Yes, Lord Qing Mu."

As he turned and limped from the hall, the Twelve sat in grim silence.

For the first time in eons, they had been shaken.

And in the far distance, in a world they deemed irrelevant, a new threat had emerged—one that defied every law they had ever known.

A mortal who could make immortals bleed.