Chapter 1143: Chen Chu Exposed, Golden Gates Descend! (II)

Chen Chu, who was just preparing to rush toward the bell, stopped at once. Across the battlefield, other powerhouses, including the Shadow War God Race, stirred with excitement. With Chen Chu and Nuliel shielding them, they had already gathered countless natural treasures and believed their part in this battle was over. Now, however, the chaotic divine object was about to choose its own master.

Hope ignited in every heart. All eyes turned toward the chaos, because when a chaotic treasure chose, it judged only talent and compatibility, not cultivation. That meant anyone present could be chosen. Once acknowledged by the treasure, the new wielder could instantly unleash the treasure’s full might. With this bell, even an ancient-titan-level divine king could, for a brief moment, display power on par with a primordial star.

However, this power also came at a great price. Using the chaotic treasure to cross major realms meant that they could drain their power completely with just one strike, leaving them unable to fight again.

Huuummm!

Before countless watching eyes, the Chaotic Bronze Bell burst with divine light. Visions of flowers, birds, fish, and insects danced across the void. Then, suddenly, the bell flew straight toward Chen Chu.

Seeing this, Nuliel and the Heavenly Silver-Winged Ant’s expressions both changed drastically.

"This treasure belongs to the worthy. Take this attack!"

"Agreed. The treasure’s master must be decided through battle!"

They struck together. Their overwhelming power blasted apart the chaos, hurling a world-destroying force straight at Chen Chu.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A black blade ripped through golden-white and purple-gray lightning and hacked down on the Heaven-Piercing Stele. The impact made the stele quake, and massive cracks appeared on its surface.

The gap was simply too great between a top-grade world-level weapon and a world-creation-level divine weapon. Even with two supreme principles reinforcing it, Chen Chu’s stele still cracked under the strike.

Behind Chen Chu, another pair of arms shot outward, and their fists locked into seals. They smashed into a pair of silver palms that tore through the void from the side.

Boom!

Black light burst out, detonating chaotic shockwaves across a billion kilometers. The blast flung every nearby figure away like leaves in a storm.

Chen Chu’s true form stood unmatched, but the Silver-Winged Ant was just as powerful, as tough as a primordial star. When the two clashed with raw strength, they were evenly matched.

Such powerful true forms...

Nuliel’s eyes widened as it watched the towering, three-faced, ten-armed Chen Chu stand firm against the Silver-Winged Ant. The sheer force of Chen Chu’s true form left it shaken.

Despite his strength, Chen Chu had to take a step back under the joint assault. Suddenly, a colossal projection of an ant’s leg, tens of millions of kilometers long, swept across the void. It smashed through the azure glow rising from the bell, ripping through spacetime and crashing into the bell itself.

Dong!

The bell's deep toll thundered again across the Heavenly Pool forbidden Zone. The azure glow disappeared, cutting short its attempt to choose a master, and the bell shot into the depths of chaos in a streak of light.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three terrifying auras shot after it, racing through the void at impossible speed. Chen Chu strode across a transparent river of light with the stele in one hand. His other weapons, such as the World-Ending Sun and the True Demon God Seals, erupted around him one after another. His other four arms blurred as he threw fist seals by the millions each second, every strike tearing the heavens apart.

Around him, black saber lights poured down like a galactic river, cutting apart everything in their path. Silver flared, shaking the chaos and destroying everything with absolute power. In their relentless chase, the three clashed again and again. Whoever managed to edge closer to the bell was immediately attacked by the other two. The chase fell into a deadlock as they kept each other behind the bell.

Their shockwaves destroyed everything nearby. Worlds broke apart one after another, spacetime buckled. The entire forbidden zone trembled from their battle. The commotion drew Floretia’s attention. As a semi-primordial being, its strength rivaled that of a primordial star. In moments, it crossed half of the forbidden zone, then suddenly stopped.

Its eyes lit up with delight as it spotted the streak of azure brilliance tearing through the chaos. "The chaotic treasure!"

Sensing the three overwhelming auras closing in from behind, Floretia dove straight for the bronze bell.

Boom!

A massive palm covered in golden scales spread across the heavens. Blazing light poured from it, suppressing spacetime and sealing the bell along with everything within a million kilometers. Inside that golden world, the bell erupted with power.

Dong!

Its tangible sound waves carried a monstrous vibration, shaking the entire world billions of times in an instant and shattering the golden world apart. Even as the bell resisted Floretia's suppression, however, repeated clashes against the primordial-level force dimmed the glow on its bronze surface.

Seeing that the treasure was about to slip from its grasp, Floretia let out a piercing roar as it prepared to strike. "Where do you think you’re going?"

Before it could do anything, however, three massive attacks crashed down on it: a black saber light that stretched tens of millions of kilometers, a silver distortion of spacetime twisted into the massive claw of a Silver-Winged Ant, and a black fist wrapped in four kinds of lightning.

Boom!

The combined strike of three primordial star-level powers blasted through the golden world around Floretia. Blood burst from its mouth as it was hurled back.

"How dare you!" Floretia’s furious roar split the chaos. Golden flames engulfed its body, releasing a scorching, domineering power that crushed both spacetime and chaos. Behind it, nine blazing halos spun to life, each one linked to an entire world.

Boom!

A golden phantom of a dragon-man five hundred thousand meters tall roared to the heavens. Its six arms brandished a massive spear, a black wheel, a white flame, and a rainbow-colored parasol, exuding an aura surpassing that of an ordinary primordial-level being.

Floretia had already reached the semi-primordial level, and its explosive strength placed it on par with an ordinary primordial star. With a world-creation-level weapon in its grasp, its power rose even higher, ranking among the strongest of the stars.

Though Floretia’s power was overwhelming, so were Chen Chu and the others. The four collided, and their clash plunged the battlefield into a chaotic storm.

During their battle, what disturbed the other three most was Chen Chu. Floretia, Nuliel, and the Silver-Winged Ant all carried world-creation-level weapons or had reforged their true forms with countless treasures to reach the primordial level. Chen Chu, on the surface, seemed poorly equipped.

Aside from the True Demon God Seals, his only weapon was a top-grade world-level black stone stele. However, with his two complete supreme principles and the overwhelming might of his true form, he fought on equal ground with three guardians who all held world-creation-level weapons. His power was so unreal that none of the three believed Chen Chu truly lacked a world-creation-level divine weapon.

The shockwaves of their clash hurled the Chaotic Bronze Bell billions of kilometers away, and suddenly the battlefield shifted. Another Silver-Winged Ant, Dalimos, appeared, with an aura at the late stage of the true spirit level. The newly appeared Silver-Winged Ant held a black mirror in its hand. A single beam of light shot out from it, wrapping the bell. In silence, the treasure was dragged away and vanished.

The sudden turn of events stunned everyone.

"

Hahahaha...

Well done, Dalimos!" Darius roared with laughter, as if everything had gone exactly as planned. The moment Dalimos used its special treasure to seize the bell, Darius’s body swelled with power.

Boom!

A surge of boundless power erupted, and silver radiance blazed forth. Within the chaotic void, a colossal silver ant appeared, stretching hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Its body gleamed as though forged from pure silver, and every armor-like "scale" was etched with countless runes that wove together into an unbreakable barrier that soon enveloped Darius like a fortress. Standing before its three opponents, it screeched, "Dalimos, take the treasure and leave! I will hold them off."

Clutching its black mirror, Dalimos nodded. Then it took out a white pearl covered in flames and flicked it.

Huuummm!

The pearl vibrated, unleashing a powerful suction that pulled Dalimos into it. A moment later, the pearl shattered, dissolving into motes of light that vanished in the chaos. Just like that, Dalimos was gone. No aura, no trace, no mark was left behind. It was as if it had never been there at all.

Seeing the bell disappear with Dalimos billions of kilometers away, far beyond their sensing range, Nuliel and Floretia seethed with fury. Even Chen Chu’s face hardened as he roared, "Blast it apart!"

"Kill!" The theft of the supreme treasure filled Nuliel with extreme rage. With that Heavenly Ant's cultivation at the late stage of the true spirit level, it needed only a little time to refine the chaotic bronze bell. Once the refinement began, even catching up would be useless. Not even they could wrestle the treasure away from two beings with primordial-star-level strength.

Boom!

Black flames erupted from Nuliel’s body, burning through the void. That abyssal aura poured into the Shadow God-Slaying Saber in its hands, sharpening the blade until even distant onlookers felt their hearts tremble.

Floretia also unleashed its power. It spat a mouthful of pure golden blood onto its spear, and the weapon's tip flared with blinding light. The spear radiated an aura so dreadful that it sent chills down everyone's spine.

Chen Chu pulled his arms apart. Between his hands, a halberd formed from principles, over a million meters long and woven with golden-white and purple-gray lightning, appeared. As soon as Chen Chu gripped the halberd, a sharp aura erupted from him, carrying the power to split heaven and earth anew.

Roar!

Facing this combined onslaught, Darius bellowed. Its horns clashed against Nuliel’s saber strike, while its abdomen flashed with a silver radiance to block Floretia’s spear. At the same time, Darius swung four of its arms. They tore through space as they swung from four directions toward Chen Chu and his thunderous halberd.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Principle light shook the forbidden zone. Shockwaves rippled out, blasting apart countless worlds. The sheer pressure left the alien powerhouses who had not yet fled frozen in terror.

The explosion shattered one of Darius's horns, punched a massive hole through its chest, and tore off two of its eight legs. Still, it loomed in the void, yelling out, "I'm your opponent today! Come, show me the best you've got!"

Though its defenses had been broken and its body severely wounded, its battle will only grew fiercer. Silver light coursed across its body, knitting its injuries in an instant.

This made Nuliel and Floretia even angrier, and their killing intent burned even hotter than before. Against an opponent of the same level who fought with such reckless resolve, even they couldn’t push it aside quickly. If Darius stalled them for just one star-quarter, or half an hour, Dalimos would be able to make it out of the forbidden zone with the Chaotic Bronze Bell.

Chen Chu’s voice rumbled low. "You two, the chaotic treasure is beyond reach. Our only option is to take something from this Ant."

"Kill it!" Nuliel’s eyes flashed as killing will surged like a storm.

"Kill!"

Nuliel and Floretia ignited their origins, burning it without regard for consequences. Along with Chen Chu, they unleashed a strike that drowned Darius.

All three of them fought with pure killing intent. Even if they couldn’t destroy it completely, and even if the battle drained them to the edge of collapse, they would make this Silver-Winged Ant pay an unbearable price and ensure it never stepped into the primordial realm.

The clash escalated into a bloody slaughter as Darius's roars echoed across the starry sky of the forbidden zone. Soon, its massive body was covered in wounds. Its supposedly indestructible body was covered in cracks, its aura weak, and the battle will in its eyes dimmed.

Knowing it was near its limit, Darius muttered to itself, "I guess it's about time to leave."

Just as Darius prepared to withdraw and Nuliel and Floretia’s killing intent reached its peak, everyone suddenly froze and turned to Chen Chu. In the heat of the battle, Chen Chu had fought with such determination that a wisp of his suppressed aura slipped out.

"Middle stage of the true spirit level?"

"How's that possible?"

The three looked at Chen Chu as a faint middle-stage true-spirit level aura pulsed from him. Their hands trembled, unable to accept what they sensed.

"Ah, I guess I got exposed." Chen Chu smiled. "Seems I'll have to blast you all apart. Feirou should already have the bell by now, anyway."

As he spoke, ten golden gates rose behind him, each one bound with chains shaped like dark-purple dragons.