Chapter 1134: Intimidating All Sides, The Arrival of a Peak Civilization (II)

Watching Chen Chu from the 9,998th step, Shi Feirou’s smile grew even more brilliant.

You will become a supreme star, shining eternally and revered by billions.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The divine might Chen Chu displayed caused the Shadow War God Race, who had stood against the humans, to tremble. Shrouded in black divine light, they retreated one hundred thousand kilometers. With the human semi-primordial city lord now seated, and no peer of equal level present, the Shadow War Gods dared not provoke him.

Seeing this, the five other top-level civilizations’ strongest also withdrew, leaving the forbidden zone’s entrance tens of thousands of kilometers behind. The tens of thousands of other alien races naturally dared not linger, scattering into streaks of divine light.

The sight greatly stirred the three hundred thousand Black-Armored Imperial Guards. One after another, they shouted, "City Lord Divine Might, invincible of this era, before whom all races retreat, humanity shall endure forever!"

Their cries of invincibility and boundless fervor surged through heaven and earth, making even Chen Chu’s blood faintly boil with heat.

Is this the purpose of existing as the strongest of your race?

Chen Chu thought.

To intimidate all directions, to cut down thorns and open the way, to lead your people toward the future!

Sitting high upon the throne of the divine palace, Chen Chu’s gaze swept indifferently over all, especially upon the thousands of War God vanguard troops. Yet in the end, he did not act.

Just as Shi Feirou had said, he was now the overlord of a human divine region. He needed to maintain a proper prestige. Such insignificant beings were unworthy of a deliberate strike; if they were to be slain, it would only happen incidentally, amid his battle with their true-spirit-level leaders.

Chen Chu withdrew his gaze and looked toward the woman standing with hands clasped behind her back, long skirt billowing. He asked with some curiosity, "Feirou, how many supreme treasures do you still have?"

"How many..." Shi Feirou thought for a moment. "Among offensive ones, there’s the top-level Azure Plume Sword of Disillusionment, the Five-Color Phoenix Banner, and the Nine-Skies Luminous Mirror Tower. For support, there’s the Primordial Origin Sky-Tower Sword, the Sun-Moon Lightning-Reversing Chains..."

As Shi Feirou tallied them, names spilled out one after another—ordinary, high-level, and even top-level supreme treasures. From the time she had found the ancient divine region and been accepted as the True Radiant Sky Emperor’s disciple until now, over ten thousand years had passed. She had spent nearly all that time on the Ancient Battlefield. Sometimes she had held the line in a sector; other times she had roamed the deep starry void, exploring hidden realms and forbidden zones, or clashed with powerhouses of other civilizations. Thus she had accumulated vast "wealth."

Of course, every chaotic supreme treasure from the Ancient Battlefield had its use. Their unique powers had many times helped Shi Feirou slay formidable foes or withdraw safely. The only treasure she had never found a use for was the Divine Firmament Palace.

When Shi Feirou finished, even Chen Chu couldn’t help feeling a little taken aback. He was astonished both by the extent of her accumulation, and by the sheer number of treasures that the Ancient Battlefield held.

If Shi Feirou, who was only at the late stage of the true spirit level, already possessed so many treasures, what about those at the primordial level? They would surely have even more numerous chaotic supreme treasures, right? Such treasures were true chaotic divine weapons on par with world-creation-level divine weapons. They were weapons owned by primordial powerhouses that allowed them to unleash even greater might. Many chaotic supreme treasures infused with chaotic power were unimaginably powerful.

At that thought, Chen Chu suddenly understood why the primordial colossal beasts and the alien civilizations remained so clearly divided. Mythical colossal beasts were like state enterprises with staffing and mega-projects, and so they disdained contact with those civilizations, likely not wanting those alien civilizations to compete for their "contracts."

As for the colossal beasts venturing deep into chaos to retrieve fragments and bring them back to the mythical world, Chen Chu didn’t believe that alien true emperors, or stronger beings still, remained unaware. It was simply that the Ancient Battlefield exerted a greater pull on alien civilizations, humans included.

Compared to the uncertain rewards of eternal qi, the Ancient Battlefield’s myriad natural treasures, chaotic divine objects, and chaotic supreme treasures were clearly better suited to them. Likewise, most chaotic supreme treasures were of little use to colossal beasts; hence, primordial beasts rarely appeared on the Ancient Battlefield.

The chaotic divine object had yet to emerge, and the powerhouses of other civilizations had not yet arrived. Unwilling to waste time, Chen Chu lowered his gaze. In his hand, a hundred-meter altar of dark blue, condensed from countless intricate runes appeared, slowly rising.

Having burned a million attribute points for epiphany, Chen Chu had nearly completed his version-2.0 deduction of the space-time summoning altar. The next step was to condense and rebuild the altar’s runes.

The advanced summoning altar would not only be able to withstand the descent of the Dragon Emperor upon breaking through to the primordial level, but also enable reverse summoning. When needed, Chen Chu could traverse vast stretches of space-time and fight alongside the Dragon Emperor against any foe.

Although the Dragon Emperor had taken the lead in breaking through to the primordial level, with the appearance of origin points, Chen Chu’s cultivation would soon catch up to his colossal beast avatar. By then, whether in his main or colossal beast body, his battle power would be overwhelming. Together, they would be able to range unchallenged through chaos.

However, before Chen Chu completed even a tenth of the altar’s structure, a razor-edged aura descended from the depths of the cosmos. Behind the Shadow War God Race, the starry sky split in two, forming a pitch-black abyss stretching a million kilometers. From the darkness strode forth a figure tens of thousands of meters tall, its body like black-gold alloy, and a saber borne on its back.

Boom!

The heavens shuddered and chaos roared. That figure seemed to stand at the center of the universe. The instant it arrived, invisible force suppressed the entire sky. In everyone’s eyes, only that supremely noble form remained.

Beneath the throne, Shi Feirou’s expression tightened. "Brother Chen, be careful. That is Nuliel, the Shadow Clan’s Supreme Warden. Its cultivation has already brushed the primordial. Its saber will communed with the divine, and it wields the world-creation-level divine weapon, the Shadow God-Slaying Saber. Its strength surpasses that of many primordial-star-level beings."

"A semi-primordial being with limit-breaking battle power, huh?" Chen Chu said as he slowly raised his head. His gaze turned cold as it fell on the colossal figure more than a hundred thousand kilometers away. Because of his duel with one in the Ancient Arena and the enmity with humanity, Chen Chu felt no goodwill toward this race.

Likewise, the semi-primordial being of the Shadow Race bristled with hostility toward Chen Chu. Its low, icy voice rolled through the stars. "I hear you are the new City Lord of the Chaotic Imperial City. Take a strike from me first, and let us see whether you are qualified to sit there."

Boom!

An overwhelming saber will pierced the heavens, transforming into a million-kilometer sweep of black saber light that tore the sky and shredded space-time. Beneath the invisible edge, hundreds of alien mythical powerhouses hundreds of thousands of kilometers away let out wretched cries as their true forms exploded into drifting blood mist.

"Careful!"

"Dodge!"

The other civilizations’ powerhouses shouted in horror. Power erupted from within them, radiant brilliance rising to block the murderous edge flooding the heavens.

Seated high on the throne of the divine palace, Chen Chu watched the saber light split principles and tear through space-time, nearly cleaving the universe in two. His eyes remained indifferent. "You? You’re not even qualified to make me stand."

As he spoke, within a world where time itself had nearly come to a halt, he slowly clenched his right fist. Black, golden-white, blood-red, and purple-gray lightning danced across his knuckles. Four supreme principles gathered, two of them faint yet already tinged with primordial qi. In an instant, a world-shaking power erupted from Chen Chu, enough to make the heavens tremble.

Boom!

The entire world fell into darkness. Only the black fist imprint, wreathed in four-colored lightning and blotting out heaven and earth, clashed against the black saber light. For an instant, the two held in fragile balance, until the saber light shattered under that tyrannical and peerless force.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Black radiance erupted as lightning danced across the heavens. Millions of kilometers of starry sky dissolved into chaos under the force of the strike. In that moment, every being felt their minds tremble. Heaven and earth turned deaf, and in their eyes remained only the apocalyptic tide of darkness. The powerhouses of the alien civilizations turned pale with shock, unleashing their secret arts and life-saving techniques as they desperately fled into the depths of the void below.

Fortunately, the cosmic void had neither sky nor ground. Anywhere could serve as a path of escape. Thanks to Chen Chu’s earlier descent, which had driven those alien powerhouses hundreds of thousands, even millions of kilometers back, most had already been forced far outside the radius of destruction when this clash erupted. Only those mythical-level aliens who lacked the protection of true spirits or ancient-titan-level divine kings, as well as a few chief gods, were reduced to ash.

Such was the Ancient Battlefield. The weak, whether alien or civilization, lacked even the right to spectate the battles of the mighty.

Amid the raging tides of chaotic shockwaves, the towering figure of Nuliel stared coldly across the void at the imperial-robed figure more than a hundred thousand kilometers away. Its voice was icy. "Impressive strength. No wonder you were made City Lord."

High on the throne of the divine palace, Chen Chu’s gaze remained indifferent. His voice was calm. "To withstand one punch of mine, your strength isn’t bad."

Nuliel’s eyes narrowed, but it said no more. Its colossal frame turned and walked toward the rest of its brethren. Wherever it passed, space-time split open, leaving a rift like a frozen passage of time.

Apart from the true-spirit-level being, every Shadow powerhouse dropped to one knee. "Greetings, Ancient God Nuliel."

Nuliel gave a slight nod. Behind it, the void shattered, and endless black matter gushed forth, dyeing the heavens in darkness. It coalesced into the phantom of a colossal beast, sprawling across the starry sky a hundred thousand kilometers long. The Shadow powerhouses stood proudly on its back.

Watching the Shadow Race settle in silence, Shi Feirou’s face revealed wonder. "Big Brother Chen, you won just now, didn’t you?"

"Why do you say so?" Chen Chu didn’t answer directly.

Shi Feirou’s lips curved in a smile, her voice soft. "Because the Shadow War God Race loves battles. They fight the heavens and earth, and they bow to none. Every time that supreme ancient god encountered the Flamewheel Emperor, it would fight without restraint, sometimes even to the death. So if your strength had been lacking, it would never have stopped after a single strike. The opposite speaks for itself."

"I see." Chen Chu nodded. "Indeed, with that punch I forced it back several steps. I held the advantage. But that god's strength is formidable. The saber will on its body has been honed to an extreme. It’s sharp beyond compare. It can’t be underestimated."

Though Chen Chu was confident he could suppress even a primordial-star-level Shadow War God, he wouldn’t belittle such an opponent. A single exchange couldn’t reveal the other’s full strength.

While Chen Chu and Shi Feirou conversed, outside the Divine Firmament Palace where black mist rolled, Shi Hong and the imperial guard generals atop the colossal beast’s head stared wide-eyed with their hearts trembling in awe. "The City Lord is so strong!"

They, too, knew the Shadow War God Race well, so they understood exactly what Chen Chu’s punch signified. This new city lord seemed even stronger than the Flamewheel Emperor, subduing that Shadow War God with a single strike.

Just then, the starry depths quaked as two auras descended, each no weaker than the Shadow War God.

"Big Brother Chen, the semi-primordial powerhouses of the Eternal Golden Divine Race and the Heavenly Silver-Winged Ants have arrived," said Shi Feirou with a serious expression while looking to the left.

There, blazing golden brilliance spread, freezing the chaotic shockwaves left behind by Chen Chu’s clash with the Shadow War God. Millions of kilometers of turbulent chaos solidified, transforming into a golden world. Within it, a towering figure strode across time itself. Ten thousand meters tall, clad in golden war armor, its head resembled that of a colossal dragon, covered in fine, gleaming scales.

From its head, golden dragon horns jutted toward the heavens, and behind it streamed a flowing mane of golden fire tens of thousands of meters long, setting the world ablaze with domineering radiance.

This was the semi-primordial powerhouse of the Eternal Golden Divine Race. Behind it stood more than a hundred thousand ordinary powerhouses. They were called ordinary only because they lacked primordial bloodlines. Yet compared to those of other non-peak civilizations, these Golden Divine warriors were practically invincible at their level and possessed unmatched combat power.

Compared to that resplendent entrance, the Heavenly Silver-Winged Ants appeared plainer.

Amid silver motes shaped like crystalline hexagons, two figures emerged, each only ten meters tall. Their entire bodies gleamed silver, and a pair of metallic wings extended from their backs like sharpened blades. They looked like two human-shaped ants striding through the void.

One of them emanated a tyrannical power that almost filled the entire starry sky, causing even Chen Chu's eyes to narrow slightly.

This Silver-Winged Ant is strong.

At the same time, he noticed something. Most of the powerful races, in their bodily forms, bore some resemblance to humans—upright posture, two arms, two legs—as though following a shared evolutionary pattern. Or perhaps humanity, too, had simply followed that pattern, shedding hair, scales, tails, and horns along the path of evolution. That thought led Chen Chu to recall how, in the mythical worlds, most creatures in their late stages of evolution grew scales.

A bold conjecture flickered in his heart. Perhaps before the ancient civilizations, there might have been "humans," beings so strong that they had reached the eternal level or beyond. Their invisible emanations shaped all worlds, influencing the Sea of Chaos and the temporal abyss itself and guiding the evolution of life across existence.