Chapter 1104: Two True Names? (I)

On the Chaotic Continent, as the Dragon Emperor of the End was still talking with the three Divine Void Dragons, nineteen true-spirit-level True Void Dragons converged from every direction.

Earlier in the battle, more than a hundred thousand ancient-level true dragons had fallen. Their massive true forms collapsed, crumbling into mountains, rivers, and forests that merged back into the land. In that same moment, the sky lit up with hundreds of thousands of true dragons in every color.[1]

Most of them stretched one to four kilometers long, each radiating a mythical-level aura. A smaller number grew past five kilometers, their strength reaching the titan level. The ancient true dragons were far larger, measuring dozens of kilometers in length, with the greatest approaching a hundred kilometers. Furthermore, their forms closely resembled the Divine Void Dragons. Their white and red scales were already shifting, deepening into shades of purple.

Roar! Roar!

Majestic dragon cries shook the heavens and the earth. After more than an hour, the True Void Dragons arrived. Crossing the vast continent had taken time, and the stability of heaven and earth had prevented them from being able to use any abilities to speed up their travel, forcing them to rely solely on ordinary flight.

As the nineteen Void Dragons drew near, they caught sight of Zijun, who was coiled high in the sky. Its eyes widened in disbelief as it stared at the Dragon Emperor, who was just nearly two thousand kilometers long, devouring the torn corpse of the primordial Nightmare Yu.

Even torn in half, the Yu's body still spanned over thirty thousand kilometers. If the Dragon Emperor had stayed in its ordinary form, which was only three hundred and sixty kilometers long, the task of chewing through it would have taken unimaginable time. Even if it swallowed the torn chunks whole, the process would still take a long time.

What left Zijun truly shaken wasn’t the Dragon Emperor’s gigantification ability itself, but the sheer speed of growth that came with each mouthful. With every bite, the Dragon Emperor grew larger.

By now, it had gnawed through only part of one leg, yet its body had already expanded from 1,700 kilometers to 1,900. Excluding the effects of gigantification, that meant the Dragon Emperor had grown nearly 20 kilometers in just a single star-quarter.

For colossal beasts, body size was the measure of strength and cultivation. In that short span of time, the Dragon Emperor’s cultivation had risen by an entire tier. What took it moments would have cost other true-spirit-level beasts decades, centuries, or even millennia.

However, not every colossal beast could grow without limit. Once they reached a certain level, most mythical creatures hit a wall. Their power stagnated, locked in place by the boundaries of their innate talent and the length of their lifespan.

Whether human or beast, geniuses were always rare. It was no wonder Zijun was shaken. Its shock mirrored the Silver Colossal Dragon’s and the Golden-Blue Colossal Dragon’s reactions the first time they had witnessed such a sight. The conversion of energy and speed of growth were beyond anything they could comprehend.

This king of the Dragon Palace is truly terrifying.

Solemnity filled its gaze, a trace of awe for a colossal beast that was still only at the middle stage of the true spirit level lingering beneath.

At that moment, the True Void Dragons drew nearer. They hovered in the air and rumbled low growls of respect.

Greetings, Palace Master Zijun.

At the same time, their eyes turned toward Zijun's right claw, which stretched ten thousand kilometers. Endless purple mist had gathered, within which coiled a Little Purple Dragon, over six kilometers long. Its eyes remained closed as it absorbed the primordial energy flowing in from every direction, and its face carried a strangely humanlike expression of contentment.

Zijun let out a soft growl, its powerful will reverberating in the True Void Dragons’ ears.

Quiet. Do not disturb Its Highness Ao Yiyi's sleep.

Zijun drew in the void currents with greater force, refining them into pure primordial energy. The purple mist thickened at once, surging like storm clouds until it swallowed the Purple Dragon whole.

Eeyayaya!

The Purple Dragon let out a tender cry of comfort. Though it had already grown to the late stage of the titan level and was a colossal beast of considerable size, it was still only a few months old, in essence still just an infant.

As for the Dragon Emperor, Zijun could tell from its life aura that it was very young. However, because it couldn’t see the Dragon Emperor’s hidden life-engraving wheel, it didn’t realize that the Dragon Emperor was actually less than two years old.

Your Highness Ao Yiyi!

The True Void Dragons all widened their eyes, staring in astonishment at the seemingly small Purple Dragon. For Zijun, a primordial-level dragon, to address the young one as "Your Highness,” did it mean that this infant was a descendant of their mightiest dragon, Emperor Ziyan?

Just then, one True Void Dragon, more than eight hundred thousand meters long, froze. Its eyes widened as it turned toward the distant Dragon Emperor, still feeding in its Dark-Red Endbringer Form.

Zhongyuan, did you see that? That colossal beast is bigger than it was a moment ago!

The dragon called Zhongyuan, a late-stage true-spirit-level dragon over seven hundred thousand meters long, growled back in disbelief,

It’s not just that it looks bigger. It really has grown. No... it’s still growing!

Creatures of the true spirit level possessed perfect memory. When the True Void Dragons flew over, they only gave the Dragon Emperor a passing glance before saluting Zijun, yet remembered its exact size clearly. However, within just a span of a few moments, the red colossal beast had grown visibly larger. Even as they spoke, the Dragon Emperor’s body continued to expand. With every massive bite it took, its size increased. The True Void Dragons stood frozen in horror, stunned by what was happening in front of them.

At that moment, Zijun’s will reverberated around them, deep and commanding.

That is the King of the Dragon Palace, Ao Batian. You have all seen it with your own eyes. Without its aid, even if we had managed to repel the Nightmare Yu, the cost would have been unbearable. And now, this King of the Dragon Palace has brought back Ao Yiyi, restoring hope to our race. In its presence, every true dragon must show the utmost respect, as you would toward me or toward Zihuang.

Yes, Palace Master Zijun!

The True Void Dragons bowed their heads in reverence. Yet their eyes never left the Dragon Emperor, whose body swelled larger with each bite of flesh.

The Dragon Emperor ignored their stares. Its growth was impossible to hide; if it wanted to keep a low profile, it could have stored the meat away and waited until the others had left before feeding again, but that would have been pointless.

After all, among the countless colossal beasts, there had to be others with extraordinary gifts. Any creature that managed to reach the true-spirit-level carried multiple top-tier talents, with their bloodlines no less than the emperor level. For primordial-level colossal beasts, their abilities were monstrous by default. Without such strength, they could never have become the very sources of the universe’s laws.

***

As the Dragon Emperor’s body expanded and its power surged, a black battleship bound for the human divine region came to a halt far away. On the battleship, endless golden clouds rolled and churned, spreading oppressive might across a million kilometers.

The aura of principle pouring out stirred the transcendent energies of heaven and earth for tens of millions of kilometers, drawing them in with a roar like vast rivers of color crashing together. The sight resembled the phenomenon that had marked the Dragon Emperor’s awakening, but what was happening was different.

Inside the battleship, everyone froze where they stood, staring upward in horror at the vast transformation overtaking the skies.

Layer upon layer of cloud, each tens of thousands of kilometers thick, boiled with golden-white lightning. Bolts leapt, converged, and fused into the blurred silhouette of a gigantic three-faced, ten-armed figure.

The instant that phantom appeared, a domineering force pressed down on the world. The heavens and earth trembled for tens of millions of kilometers, and the atmosphere detonated, unleashing shockwaves that rolled outward like tsunamis.

Within that range, every colossal beast, alien, and special lifeform, as well as all aboard the battleship, felt their bodies sink under the crushing weight. Those below the mythical level collapsed to their knees by instinct. Even those above it bent at the waist, as though compelled to greet the birth of a being far beyond compare.

"So fast... in just half a month, he has completed the disintegration of his true form, merged with the principles of heaven and earth, and been acknowledged by them to recondense an emperor's true form."

On the rooftop of the grand hall, the Primordial King and Zhenwu stood side by side. They held their breath, tension and excitement flickering in their eyes as they stared at the figure in the sky that grew clearer with each passing moment. At last, the Human Federation was about to witness the birth of its first civilization emperor. Once Chen Chu succeeded in condensing his true name,[2] he would step fully into the true-spirit level.

Suddenly, however, the thick layers of cloud shuddered violently. From high above, faint strands of black chaotic mist gathered and blanketed heaven and earth. A cold, majestic aura of primordial world creation spread outward at once. Within the rolling chaotic mist, another figure began to form, one that also had three faces and ten arms. The pressure blanketing the world instantly multiplied tenfold.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Mountains crumbled. Oceans roared. Rivers flowed backward. Every living being was pinned down by the expanding might of heaven and earth. Even mythical- and king-level experts dropped to one knee. Apart from powerhouses such as Zhenwu, no one could stay standing.

Chen Chu himself was no exception. Though he had reformed his true-spirit true form and sent his consciousness deep into the origin of the mythical world, he too was shaken. Within his perception, two forces bound tightly to him were condensing at the same time.

The sensation wasn’t new. He had once felt it when the Dragon Emperor bloodline advanced and transformed it into a heavenly-tier colossal beast. It was the same process: the condensation of a true spirit.

But why are there two true names?

As Chen Chu stood bewildered, the two strands of his soul essence merged with the origin principles. Deep within the mythical world, two characters gradually appeared:

Heaven

and

Emperor

.

The character

Heaven

floated outward, while the character

Emperor

rested within it. The moment the two true names overlapped, Chen Chu’s consciousness shook. Principles surged into him in an endless tide, drowning his mind in their weight. At the same time, the massive true form in the clouds merged with the figure shaped from supreme principles.

Boom!

Radiant light blazed. Out of it stepped a majestic being with three faces and ten arms, towering ten thousand kilometers high. The black Imperial Crown of the Twenty-Four Heavens gleamed on its head, and its body was draped in an black imperial robe traced with gold. At its feet coiled a transparent river of time and space, winding outward before disappearing into the void.

The heavens resonated with a low hum. Within the void, the sound of principles rang clear and radiant, and traces of heaven and earth revealed themselves for all to see. That force drew the power of heaven and earth from tens of millions of kilometers away, condensing it into golden lotuses that rained down from the skies. At the same time, boundless azure radiance flooded the land like an endless ocean.

Together, the golden lotuses and azure radiance lifted Chen Chu high. In that moment, he strode the currents of time itself, like a supreme Heavenly Emperor descending from eternity, solemn and divine beyond compare.

The sight was magnificent, the very image of a true emperor.

1. It seems like when the true forms of these ancient-level true dragons fell during battle, their essence did not vanish. It's likely the author is trying to say that while their bodies dissolved into their land, their spirit returned to the heavens and manifested as new dragons. The author didn't explain explicitly, but based on the story, this seems like what he was trying to convey. ☜

2. In xianxia context, it often refers to a fundamental mark of existence that anchors a being in the cosmos. By condensing a true name, the cultivator's identity becomes recognized by the universe. Forming a true name is a power anchor that binds them to universal principles, allowing them to endure longer and harder to erase. ☜