Chapter 1091: Devouring a Planet, The Detached World (I)

Boom!

In the void of the pitch-black chaotic heavens, space within a diameter of tens of thousands of kilometers shattered like an invisible pane of glass. The explosion swept across a hundred thousand kilometers, stirring up a storm of space that surged outward like a black tsunami.

Within the raging spatial storm, a colossal black-and-red beast burst forth as a streak of light. Its wings spread wide enough to blot out the heavens as it crashed through everything in its path. Soon after, a turbid mass of air, spanning tens of thousands of kilometers and resembling a vast whirlpool, dispersed.

Here, outside the chaotic heavens where broken space held no complete form, where time itself warped and countless black voids gaped open, the Dragon Emperor’s speed shifted unpredictably. Sometimes it flashed tens of millions of kilometers in an instant. Other times, even when it streaked across the void for half an hour as a beam of black-red light, it advanced no more than a few hundred thousand kilometers.

Following the Little Purple Dragon’s bloodline resonance, the Dragon Emperor of the End flew toward the distant group of primordial colossal beasts while feasting upon the mangled carcass of a gigantic gray spiked dragon.

Boom!

Under the jagged fangs, the beast’s sharp bone spikes shattered, its scales splintered, and bursts of energy roared like nuclear explosions. Its muscle fibers, fused with principles, were unnaturally tough, tearing apart with a shrill, piercing screech that made both the Silver Colossal Dragon and the Purple Dragon’s scalps prickle.

Whenever its flesh was rent, the principle-infused meat erupted with dazzling gray radiance and exploded even more violently in the Dragon Emperor’s maw, yet all of it was chewed to pieces and swallowed.

As it devoured one true spirit after another, the biological energy within their flesh, rich in principle particles, transformed inside it. The Dragon Emperor’s true form swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye: ten meters, a hundred, a thousand...

By the time it had consumed most of the five-hundred-kilometer-long beast, its body had already expanded to 203,000 meters. By rough measure, finishing this beginning-stage true spirit allowed it to grow around five thousand meters in length.

Sensing the surge of power within, the Dragon Emperor slowly nodded.

Not bad. A few dozen more true spirits should be enough to push me into the middle stage.

Compared to the true-spirit-level colossal beasts of the mythical world, the beasts here in the chaotic void carried even more concentrated energy, their bodies saturated by the turbid qi they swallowed.

If only it could devour a primordial colossal beast, one that had just broken into that realm, its cultivation would leap directly into the middle stage of the true spirit level in a single breath. However, that was only wishful thinking for now. Primordial colossal beasts were terrifyingly powerful. Even the weakest among them, newly advanced, were beyond the Dragon Emperor’s current ability to kill.

Defeating and driving away such a creature was one thing. Slaying it was another matter entirely.

As the Dragon Emperor pondered, the Silver Dragon stretched its head over its broad shoulder, curious.

Ao Tian, what does the flesh of a true spirit taste like?

The Dragon Emperor turned slightly, its monstrous maw glowing with golden firelight as it rumbled,

Want to try?

The Silver Dragon’s golden-silver eyes blinked like two dazzling gems. It said nothing, but its intent was obvious.

Boom! Boom!

The Dragon Emperor raked its claws across the beast’s carcass, tearing away a chunk of flesh hundreds of meters long, and offered it to the Silver Dragon.

Ao Tian, you’re the best!

The Silver Dragon cheered, opening its mouth with an exhale of silver-blue frost to bite down eagerly.

However, the moment it sank its teeth into the meat, it let out a panicked roar. Frosty breath erupted from its mouth and swept across thousands of kilometers in a fan-shaped blast.

The chunk of flesh was caught within the storm, frozen into an iceberg hundreds of kilometers across by the Silver Dragon’s Absolute Cold Principle. However, within that frozen mass, faint golden-gray power spread, dissolving the surrounding ice crystals and corroding space itself, until the area became a forbidden zone thousands of kilometers wide.

Such was the terror of a true spirit. Even in decay, its flesh remained indestructible, the lingering principles altering the very environment around it.

When the Silver Dragon’s breath finally faded, it coughed out two more blasts of frost before gasping,

Ao Tian, that tastes horrible.

It’s not so bad. It carries energy five times richer than that of ordinary true spirits.

The Dragon Emperor bit down with a crunch, ripping away a slab of flesh ten thousand meters wide. Each chew sent out explosive roars that shattered the surrounding space in a brutally savage sight.

It wasn’t in any hurry, so it didn’t employ its Terminal Dark Devourer ability. Like snacking, it chewed its way through the beast’s remains. By the time it finished, its body had swollen to 204,000 meters, just as it had estimated.

With its size came a surge in power—draconic might, defense, innate abilities, even the very origin of principles within it, all rose together, making it even stronger. At the same time, Chen Chu also felt the feedback of its growth. His true form's strength rose by one point, his physique reaching 500.

On the top floor of Tongtian Pavilion, Shi Feitong felt the crushing weight of Chen Chu’s aura, so heavy it nearly collapsed the void around him, and was left stunned. “Big Brother Chen, your strength?”

Suppressing the boiling energy within him, Chen Chu shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just gained some insight from watching that primordial beast ascend. My strength rose a little.”

“As expected of Big Brother Chen,” Shi Feitong praised. To break through even at the peak of the ancient titan level merely by watching a primordial colossal beast ascend. Such talent was beyond words.

Chen Chu only smiled faintly at the praise. He was the Dragon Emperor, and the Dragon Emperor was him. The two existed as one, reinforcing each other. Without the colossal beast body endlessly transmitting evolutionary energy to strengthen his form and drive the growth of his soul, Chen Chu’s cultivation speed and battle strength would never have reached their current level.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Without the human body providing attribute points to enhance and elevate every innate ability to the level of divine transformation, the Dragon Emperor’s bloodline would never have reached the heavenly tier. That was to say nothing of possessing absolute invincibility against all peers, or retaining the ability to cross major realms in combat even after stepping into the true spirit level.

After this, the three beasts continued flying for half a day, traversing over a billion kilometers in a straight line through the perilous chaotic void, yet encountered neither beasts nor any other creatures.

As for natural treasures, they only discovered a single golden principle-level lotus. It had grown within a vortex ten thousand kilometers wide, formed from swirling chaotic currents, and contained a trace of pure, attribute-less chaotic energy.

It was given to the Purple Dragon, now at the middle stage of the titan level. In battle, the Purple Dragon’s strength offered little help to the Dragon Emperor, but the Principle of Creation it carried was a perfect support. When released, the Creation Origin within it could heal even the Dragon Emperor’s gravest wounds in an instant, nearly equivalent to a rebirth elixir that halted blood loss.

The Dragon Emperor’s eyes shifted over to the Silver Dragon as it let out a low growl.

Saixitia, from here on, you will lead the way.

Me?

The Silver Dragon, crouching on the Dragon Emperor’s shoulder, froze in surprise.

The Dragon Emperor slowly growed,

The chaotic heavens contain countless treasures, yet we’ve flown for so long without finding anything. Clearly, discovering such wonders requires some luck.

Just as the Dragon Emperor said, the outer chaotic heavens were indeed filled with resources. The problem lay in the vastness of the chaotic void, so immense it was beyond imagination.

The Silver Dragon’s eyes lit up.

Luck is what great Saixitia excels at. Leave it to me, Ao Tian.

Had the Dragon Emperor not mentioned it, the Silver Dragon would have nearly forgotten its talent for stumbling upon treasures. Since youth, its luck had always been exceptional. Every time it sneaked out, it would return with some valuable find.

In the depths of the Chaotic Region, for instance, after traversing a destruction zone, it was the Silver Dragon’s guidance that led the Dragon Emperor and other colossal beasts to the time fish. The energy within them had allowed the Dragon Emperor to directly break through to the peak of the titan level.

Yet the Silver Dragon’s fortune always carried a peculiar twist. Every treasure it found was inevitably accompanied by danger; the greater the treasure, the more perilous the trial. Like that temporal true spirit which was harvesting the time fish. A single casual strike from it had blasted the Dragon Emperor away, leaving it injured.

Had it not lacked killing intent, even if the Dragon Emperor managed to escape, it would have lost its life. The Single-Horned Kunpeng, the Silver Dragon, and the Golden-Blue Colossal Dragon accompanying it would have certainly perished.

Thus it fulfilled the saying, "Fortune and misfortune are entwined." Compared to the Kunpeng, whose treasure-seeking talent could only sense fluctuations within tens of thousands of kilometers, the Silver Dragon’s role outside the chaotic heavens was far greater.

Here, the void was too vast. Sometimes, billions of kilometers held nothing at all. With no concept of up, down, or direction, waiting for the Kunpeng’s “scans” to finish could take ages.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Black destructive storms collided with strands of turbid qi drifting in the void, unleashing piercing detonations and waves of light, like a silver sword cleaving the world apart.

The chaotic heavens were indeed dangerous, but that mostly applied to the deeper void, far from the mythical world. Near the mythical world’s outskirts, the void could usually sustain mythical-level beings. With the Silver Dragon’s ancient-titan-level strength, survival was manageable if it exercised caution. Not to mention, it had the Dragon Emperor at its back.

In the chaotic void, the Silver Dragon flew ahead. It weaved through turbid rivers and across pitch-black voids, its course meandering away from any fixed path. In truth, they were only following a rough direction. Even the Purple Dragon had no idea how far they were from the primordial colossal beasts.

After the Silver Dragon had flown in a winding path for nearly ten million kilometers, the Dragon Emperor suddenly growled from behind.

Saixitia, stop.

Ao Tian, what is it?

The Silver Dragon halted in mid-air. There was confusion in its eyes as it turned back toward the black-and-red beast looming behind it, shrouded in rolling shockwaves.

The Dragon Emperor gazed at the turbid river ahead, which stretched for over a million kilometers in length and tens of thousands in width. Its voice rumbled.

What lies ahead may be too dangerous for you. Come onto my back.

Alright.

The Silver Dragon flapped its wings once and became a streak of silver light, landing on the Dragon Emperor’s shoulder with a crouch. Its two-thousand-meter tail hung behind, swaying gently.

Because the Silver Dragon still intended to cross the turbid river, the Dragon Emperor didn’t alter course, charging straight into it.

Boom!

The moment the Dragon Emperor plunged into the river, the surrounding space collapsed, forming a vast black vortex of destruction. The annihilating force within could shred even ancient colossal beasts. Even the Ancient Magma Dragon, at the peak of the ancient titan level, would be torn apart instantly if caught here.

From the river depths, a colossal, sinuous shadow over two thousand kilometers long rolled forth. It was a black dragon radiating the violent might of a late-stage true spirit.

Roar!

Its savage roar shook the void, erupting with endless black-and-red light that shattered the ten-thousand-kilometer-wide vortex in an instant.

Boom!

Space collapsed, time and space quaked. The violent clash fractured the turbid river, revealing at its heart a fearsome colossal beast, shrouded in black-and-red light. Its cold eyes locked onto the draconic shadow before it and the rift stretching a thousand kilometers long behind that beast.

Hidden beyond that true spirit lay a world sealed behind the turbid current. Not even the Dragon Emperor had been able to detect it, the river of chaotic qi perfectly concealing its presence. It had only faintly sensed something lurking within.

Now that this true-spirit-level dragon had revealed itself, what awaited it was death. Even so, its dark claws and black fangs exuded an aura faintly dangerous enough to make even the Dragon Emperor wary.