Chapter 326: The God-Slayer Chu Batian, The World is Shocked, The Demon King Returns (I)

Under the full-force attack of two peak Seventh Heavenly Realm powerhouses, the outskirts of the city were blasted into a crater over forty meters in diameter. Within a radius of over a hundred meters, the soil had been uprooted, revealing sharp rifts, with broken trees and shattered roads scattered throughout.

This was the destructive power of an advanced cultivator in the Seventh Heavenly Realm, akin to a fast-moving, single-target missile launcher. The power of those in the Eighth and Ninth Heavenly Realms was even more terrifying.

This wasn’t even mentioning the king-level beings, comparable to deities. Even a mere soul avatar, possessing a middle-stage Sixth Heavenly Realm demon cultist, had forced Chen Chu to unleash his full strength.

Today's battle had caught everyone off guard, whether it was the Demon King Kaotoros, the Blood God Akunus, the Federation's military, or even Chen Chu himself.

After annihilating the Demon God Cultist who was serving as the "eye,” Chen Chu had aimed to see if he could find any trace of Kaotoros.

Unexpectedly, the demon king had harbored murderous intent toward him, leading Chen Chu to Miamir City upon sensing that he had separated from his team.

According to the information Kaotoros had obtained from Akunus, Chen Chu was at the beginning stage of the Sixth Heavenly Realm, with combat power at the beginning stage of the Seventh. He had been confident that he could finish off such a small fry within a breath, mere seconds.

On top of his normal combat power at the middle-stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm, the dark demonic eyes that consumed divine soul power to directly attack the soul could easily crush an ordinary beginning-stage Seventh Heavenly Realm cultivator.

Kaotoros still knew his precarious situation, however. As soon as his presence was exposed, he would be besieged by human experts. The complex urban terrain of Miamir City, however, would provide the best cover for him to escape.

Once he broke any pursuer’s line of sight, he could change his identity and aura with his king-level abilities, making him impossible to find in a city of over a million people.

Chen Chu had been fully aware of this, which was why he had kept a distance of a hundred meters, not daring to let the demon king out of his sight despite any threats.

As for the ordinary people who died along the way, Chen Chu could only say they were unlucky. Facing an entity like Kaotoros, even he couldn't spare a thought for those ordinary people; all he had been able to do was restrain himself until they left the city.

Unfortunately, when the two had reached the city outskirts, Akunus had suddenly appeared and drew away the Eighth Heavenly Realm expert, and Kaotoros couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

If not for Chen Chu possessing the Blade of Void rune and a powerful soul, he would have been gravely injured or even killed by that strike from the dark demonic eyes.

The subsequent battle had been straightforward. It didn’t take Kaotoros long to realize that Chen Chu possessed advanced combat power and a soul ten times as strong as a typical Sixth Heavenly Realm cultivator, despite his youth.

As a result, an intense desire to kill the human arose, so strong that the soul avatar was determined to eliminate him, even if it disintegrated as well.

With the Eighth Heavenly Realm expert on the way, the battle had to be swift and decisive. Thus, he started with his ultimate move, entering a state where his will fully possessed the body, prepared to either succeed or perish.

However, for advanced experts, starting a fight with such a big move was akin to courting death. If the opponent wasn’t defeated in that explosive moment, there would be no energy left over to defend against the counterattack.

The outcome was inevitable. After such extreme explosive force, Kaorotos was unable to escape once Chen Chu revealed his final form.

The final desperate strike, a testament to its stubbornness as a demon king, expended what remained of its divine soul power; as a result, Kaotoros’ will dissipated, and the body of the cultist he had possessed shattered.

Similarly, it wouldn’t have been feasible for Chen Chu to unleash all of his power upon meeting. Had he started in his Divine Might Dragon Emperor state, displaying an aura comparable to the peak of the Seventh Heavenly Realm, Kaotoros would have immediately fled.

Once he was able to use his secret art, he would have disappeared among the human population once more and never gone near Yan Ruoyi again.

It was definitely a good idea that he hadn’t done that. Chen Chu's face was pale, his aura weak, and the golden flames around him had dissipated. Maintaining the Divine Might Dragon Emperor state for just one minute left him feeling as if he had fought for ten days and nights.

This exhaustion, however, stemmed from the spiritual level. With his current physical strength, simply burning his vitality could last over half an hour, but the true power infused with willpower was a different story.

No wonder the attribute page had a special note warning about that. Chen Chu estimated that he could maintain the Divine Might Dragon Emperor state for a maximum of three minutes before needing to stop. Beyond five minutes, his willpower would be exhausted, causing significant damage to his spiritual will.

This was a means of ultimate explosive power, to be used either to determine victory or to escape. Compared to that, the Tyrant Elephant and Dragon Emperor states could be sustained longer, but they wouldn’t have been enough to defeat Kaotoros.

As Chen Chu rested, he looked at the dry and cracked figure standing over two meters tall, blade still in hand. It showed no signs of life, but still stood upright, and a faint doubt flickered in his eyes.

From their encounter in the city center, to their chase through half the city into the outskirts, to the end of the battle, no more than four minutes had passed. It was a demon king... and it really died just like that?

***

While Chen Chu was in pursuit of the demon king’s avatar, seventy kilometers away, a middle-aged man with tiger stripes on his face maintained a cold expression, moving slowly but with a palpable sense of oppression.

A surge of evil, bloody aura exploded from another direction, causing a terrifying blood sea phenomenon in the sky.

“Akunus.”

Boom!

With a low roar, the air exploded, and the middle-aged man instantly transformed into a white streak of light shooting across the sky.

His abnormal movement immediately caught the attention of the base behind him. A voice came through his earpiece. “General Rake, you’ve deviated from the tracking direction.”

The middle-aged man responded, “I sensed Akunus’ aura in another direction.”

“Akunus, such a coincidence?”

The voice in the earpiece, belonging to the middle-aged man with straight eyebrows, replied sternly. “Ignore Akunus. It’s likely trying to lure you away. Continue tracking Kaotoros. Chu Batian is more important. If he can hold it off for a few minutes, we can take it down.”

“Got it.” General Rake hesitated slightly, then turned toward Miamir City again.

The blood god’s aura in the distance continued to tempt him, but he no longer paid attention to it.

That delay was still enough. Just as he turned around, his earpiece came to life again. “Chu Batian and Kaotoros have already engaged at the edge of the city. Provide support immediately.”

Boom!

Rake’s white light flashed brightly as he nearly flew, shooting forward with sonic booms resonating around him. At more than twice the speed of sound, he crossed nearly a hundred kilometers in three minutes.

As he rushed into Miamir City, a blood moon fell from the sky, causing even him to pause in shock.

“A king has fallen? How is that possible!”

Swoosh!

The middle-aged man quickly passed through Miamir City and appeared outside, his gaze sweeping over the weakened Chen Chu before settling on Kaotoros's corpse.

“Is it dead?”

Chen Chu nodded slowly. “Yes, it’s dead, and a phenomenon marking the fall of a king has appeared.”

King-level entities controlled laws and had condensed divine and demonic domains. When one died, the world itself would respond with signs related to the fallen king.

Even though it was just a soul fragment, such phenomena still manifested when the king's soul avatar disintegrated.

However, both Chen Chu and Rake felt something was off.

This king’s avatar had died too... easily.

Yet, the phenomenon of a king’s fall couldn't be faked.

"It's dead!"

At the base behind them, many were stunned when Rake confirmed Kaotoros's fall.

Rake’s voice came through the headset, saying, “Yes, it’s dead.

“Kaotoros discovered Chu Batian's potential was comparable to an Innate Awakener and wanted to kill him. It looks like he forcibly merged with his demonic avatar to raise his strength to the near peak of the Seventh Heavenly Realm.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“He was only able to maintain it for about a minute before Chu Batian killed him. His soul has disintegrated, and Chu Batian... is unharmed, though his aura is somewhat weak.”

The entire base fell silent.

A senior colonel couldn't help but remark, “Chu Batian's cultivation status was updated just a few days ago to the middle stage of the Sixth Heavenly Realm, yet he now has strength in the peak of the Seventh?”

Previously, when Chen Chu was at the beginning stage of the Sixth Heavenly Realm and his combat strength was estimated to be between the beginning and middle stages of the Seventh, he was already considered a prodigious talent.

Now, his actual combat strength had reached the peak of the Seventh Heavenly Realm, crossing five minor realms. It was hard to imagine how he had achieved this.

Anyone who could cultivate to the Sixth Heavenly Realm was a genius, having cultivated high-level arts to their sixth stage, mastered combat skills, and several secret arts. Cultivation level was one thing, but combat strength was another.

When Chen Chu erupted with the strength of the late stage or even the peak of the Seventh Heavenly Realm, it indicated that some aspect of his true power had reached that level.

A staff officer then commented, “Since the Third Heavenly Realm, Chu Batian’s physical body has been extremely formidable, and he has cultivated low-level arts to the level of True Martial Spirit.

“On East Xia’s southern battlefield, his cultivation was only at the late stage of the Fifth Heavenly Realm, yet he had already mastered high-level arts to an exceptional degree and achieved an advanced Battle Body.

“It seems he has awakened some kind of innate physical strength and has an extraordinary ability to comprehend arts, which is likely the reason for his unparalleled combat strength. East Xia has produced a monster this time.”

“Yes.” The high-ranking officers at the military base couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

“I suggest recalling Chu Batian and sending someone else in his place. With his level of talent, he is bound to ascend to the throne within five years and could even become a Heavenly King.”

“Agreed. Compared to Yan Ruoyi, Chu Batian is more crucial to the Federation. Since his strength has been revealed, the Purgatory Demon Clan will undoubtedly attempt to kill him.”

“Agreed.”

“I concur.”

The middle-aged man with straight eyebrows, who had remained silent, finally spoke. “Chu Batian’s importance is undeniable. I will submit the reassignment proposal to headquarters.”

After speaking, the hawk-eyed middle-aged man squinted slightly and looked toward the direction of North Lin, his eyes filled with contemplation.