Chapter 1117: The Rank of the Lord of Hell, Arrival at the Divine Regions (I)

In the chaotic void, endless blood-red and dark-red lights spread like two unimaginably vast and hideous mouths, slowly devouring the two halves of Labio. Chen Chu, whose true form towered over two hundred thousand meters tall like a divine mountain holding up the heavens, stood at the edge of the rift with halberd in hand, his body blazing with dazzling blood light.

All around him, black ash filled the sky, swirling with boundless despair and decay. These were the remnants of Abyssal Great Demons whose true forms had been shattered, their wills annihilated, and their vitality ground away by the Death Millstone, leaving their husks scattered across hundreds of thousands of kilometers. From afar, it resembled a dead realm of drifting cinders, making Chen Chu in his blood-colored, sinister battle armor appear all the more terrifying.

Looking at the streams of white energy condensing around him, Chen Chu murmured with a faint sigh, "This planar battle ended far faster than I expected."

In this war, he had slain eleven Abyssal Great Demons at the true spirit level, one ancient god, and over a billion subordinate creatures at level 2 and above. However, abyssal demonic creatures only yielded rewards when they were at sixth tier or higher. In the end, Chen Chu had gained over ninety thousand strands of origin, equivalent to killing seven true-spirit-level ancient gods.

Of course, this was a benefit unique to the planar battlefield. Rewards could be gained by slaying demonized beings that carried the planar power of an opposing supreme plane. Otherwise, even if Chen Chu slaughtered ten times as many true spirits or transcendent beings in the chaotic void, he wouldn’t obtain a single strand of world origin.

Feeling that origin merge into his body, Chen Chu lifted his gaze forward. Beyond the rift lay streams of destructive turbulence strong enough to grind true spirits into dust. The Abyssal Plane had already vanished.

Chen Chu was indeed curious about why An Fuqing and Zuo Mo were within the Abyssal Plane, and seemingly of high status there. However, with the gaze of that Abyssal Lord looming over everything, he dared not contact An Fuqing directly. There was no choice; on the planar battlefield, he represented the Supreme Hell. That was an unshakable position. He would have to wait for another opportunity to make contact in private.

As for An Fuqing and Zuo Mo joining the Supreme Abyss, Chen Chu felt little about it. In the past, the Human Federation’s enemies had been the Purgatory Demon Clan, its demon gods, and its Primordial Ancestor with an abyssal bloodline, not the Supreme Abyss itself. That feud had perished with the fall of the Primordial Ancestor, dissipating like smoke.

Even now, though Chen Chu had participated in this battlefield and slayed countless abyssal demons and creatures, tipping the balance in hell’s favor, once the planar battle ended and he returned, his so-called enmity with the Abyss would fade for the time being.

In the infinite worlds, the four supreme planes bore no hostility toward any single person or world. They simply moved by supreme principles, impartial and inexorable like the Heavenly Dao. The Lords of Hell and Abyssal Lords were nothing more than will-bearers of those planes.

As Chen Chu pondered over the gains from this battle, his eyes suddenly shifted. The world being devoured by Hell was unraveling. Rock, soil, rivers, trees, even space itself and the laws and principles of heaven and earth all dissolved, breaking down under the flood of blood-red light in a harrowing sight. The entire world was hollowing into nothingness, losing all color, collapsing from higher dimensions into lower ones, turning into a two-dimensional plane, then a single line...

At last, the entirety of Labio disappeared into the blood-red glow, and Chen Chu found himself once more within the towering scarlet demonic palace. Around him, the other Hell Apostles all reappeared, their followers and Hell Devil legions doing the same on the endless blood-soaked earth before the palace.

With a thought, Chen Chu released his Dark Star form. His body shrank, the crimson radiance faded, and he returned to the size of an ordinary human. He let out a faint breath, feeling a trace of weakness within.

Though he had broken through to the true spirit level, allowing his principle-condensed true form to ignore the consumption of the eighth Heavenly Gate, the ninth Gate’s Dark Star form still placed a heavy burden upon him. As for the tenth Gate’s Dark Star World-Ending Heavenly Dragon form, that was his true hidden trump card and not to be touched lightly.

Boom!

The heavens and earth quaked. A giant more than eighty thousand meters tall crushed the ground beneath its feet and approached, waves of force surging like a tidal sea. Lowering its massive head, its eyes gleamed with curiosity and reverence. "Councilor Chu Batian, are all true spirits from the Eternal World so powerful?"

Chen Chu calmly answered, "The world I come from isn’t as crazy as you imagine. Among the true spirits there, I’m merely on the stronger side."

"I see." Boroedo exhaled in relief. "You startled me. I thought all beings of the Eternal World were this strong, slaughtering peers as easily as slaughtering Moro.[1] But you're indeed worthy of the Eternal World; you alone ensured that none of us fell or suffered grievous wounds in this battle."

"Indeed, this victory is thanks to Councilor Chu Batian. Because you suppressed every Abyssal Great Demon, we were able to deal with the ancient gods so easily." As they spoke, five of the thirteen Hell Apostles, each radiating late-stage true-spirit-level aura, stepped closer, their voices deferential and tinged with awe.

The planar battle was unimaginably brutal. Even true-spirit-level Hell Apostles couldn’t guarantee survival. Their opponents were equally powerful peers, sometimes even primordial lords, and Abyssal Great Demons whose strength rivaled their own. Any one of those beings could inflict grave wounds with a dying counterattack.

Surrounded by six Hell Apostles, Chen Chu shook his head. "You’re mistaken. This victory was owed to the Great Lord Alvaron. Without him, even if we had suppressed all of the Abyssal Demons, it would have been meaningless."

Here, within the Supreme Hell Plane itself, he naturally offered no stinginess with such words of praise toward Alvaron, the powerful master of this plane.

"

Hahaha!

Councilor Chu Batian, you are far too modest." Boroedo roared with laughter. "The Great Lord Alvaron indeed decided the outcome of this battlefield, but your contribution can’t be overlooked."

Boom!

The mountainous giant Boroedo suddenly felt the Caesar ancient god's massive head struggling violently in its grasp, a surge of divine soul will erupting in defiance.

Hmph!

The giant snorted coldly. Blood-like power erupted from its palm, brimming with immense might, and once again suppressed the head.

Blood streamed down from the giant, ape-like head several kilometers across. Its eyes glared with rage, yet were also filled with despair. The sight was grotesquely unsettling.

The Mountain Giant, still clutching the ancient god’s head, spoke in a voice that rumbled through the void. "Forgive me, Councilor Chu, for the unsightly display."

The others were not Chen Chu. For them, slaying and annihilating a peer at the same level was exceedingly difficult. Even the Hell Apostles who hadn’t yet come closer were busy suppressing and erasing the remains of elemental ancient gods.

Crack! Crack!

Soon, great fissures spread across the ancient god's head, its surface gradually turning to stone. When the final trace of its aura faded, the head had become a colossal boulder, which the Mountain Giant crushed effortlessly in one clawed hand.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Bang!

Shards of stone burst across the sky, smoke and dust billowing.

Hum!

With the death of the invading ancient god, strands of white energy rose around the giant. It was the world origin granted by Hell. In truth, this so-called reward was the ancient god’s power itself, transmuted into another form by the will of the supreme plane.

However, Chen Chu’s eyes narrowed slightly. He noticed that the giant’s reward contained only around six hundred strands of origin. In comparison, when he himself had slain a Caesar ancient god, he had received a thousand strands. The difference was nearly forty percent. Was it due to differing strength, or something else?

Chen Chu suddenly asked, "Boroedo, when you kill an Abyssal Great Demon on the battlefield, how many strands of world origin do you usually gain?"

The giant hesitated, then admitted with shame, "To tell the truth, though I have fought in many planar battles, I have never personally slain an Abyssal Demon."

Alright then...

Chen Chu paused, his attempt at probing cut short.

1. This is a creature comparable to dogs in Boroedo's world. ☜