Chapter 411: Principles of the Ruins, Doomsday Land (I)

When Li Hao suddenly shouted, the entire crowd fell silent. Over a thousand top-level geniuses turned their astonished gazes toward Chen Chu. Even Bardas from North Lin and Gabriella from West Meng looked over with expressions of surprise. After all, such an achievement was indeed remarkable.

Chen Chu, on the other hand, was a bit suspicious. He couldn’t help but feel that this guy had intentionally shouted so loudly, given his past behavior.

When Chen Chu had reached the Fourth Heavenly Realm and killed the Blood Armored Beast King, a creature with late-stage level 5 combat strength, word of his achievement had spread throughout the Nantian base not long after his return.

The speed at which the news spread made him suspect that someone was trying to stir up trouble for him.

"It's really you, Chen Chu," Lin Xue said with a faint, bitter smile.

Earlier, when she heard Li Daoyi addressing someone as "Brother Chu," she had subconsciously thought of Chen Chu, but she hadn't dared to be sure or believe it.

After all, creating a secret scripture in just two months and breaking through from the beginning stage of the Sixth Heavenly Realm to the Seventh was beyond exaggerated—it had set a new record in human cultivation history.

Lin Mei also smiled bitterly. "As expected, still the same monster."

Facing the astonished gazes of the crowd, Chen Chu smiled and said, "You don't need to look at me like that. For us, cultivating is a long journey; I'm just moving a bit faster for now.

"Who knows, maybe I'll get stuck at the Ninth Heavenly Realm for years, even decades, and you might surpass me by then."

That made sense.

Hearing Chen Chu's words, the geniuses from North Lin and West Meng nodded slightly. The path of cultivation was about perseverance; only by taking one step at a time could one reach the summit.

For them, as long as they kept working hard, they were confident they could break through to the higher realms. The Eighth Heavenly Realm was within reach, and even the Ninth wasn't out of the question.

Therefore, there was no need to rush. Winning or losing at this stage didn't mean much.

At the same time, their impression of Chen Chu improved. Although his talent was astonishing, he seemed humble and gentle, without any arrogance.

Those from the Military Secret Martial Arts Academy in particular glanced at Ji Wuji and then at Chen Chu, shaking their heads with a sigh. The difference was too great.

Meanwhile, Xia Youhui, Li Hao, and the Lin sisters couldn't help but scoff internally.

Just moving a bit faster for now? Yeah, right.

In just half a year, Chen Chu had surpassed them by two major realms with his "ordinary" talent, and they were among the top-level geniuses of prestigious schools. Those like Lu Haitao, whose talent was initially on par with Chen Chu's, couldn't even see his taillights now.

Standing before Chen Chu, Xia Youhui beamed with pride and said, "No wonder you're Ah Chu. You always manage to astonish everyone, even shocking those foreigners."

"Honestly, I didn't intend to shock anyone," Chen Chu replied, glancing at Li Daoyi with some exasperation. This guy must have exaggerated his achievements earlier; otherwise, the reaction wouldn't have been so strong.

Now that his identity was exposed, though, so be it. In the human world, there was no point in hiding anything. Even with a different face, people were going to recognize him the second he brought out his battle phantom and weapon.

If it weren't for the battlefield being isolated from the outside world, Xia Youhui and the others would have recognized him long ago—his weapon was practically his calling card.

When Zhang Qiong suggested that he continue using the name "Chu Batian" after entering the mythical world, it was merely to confuse the demon cults and the Purgatory Clan.

Since they were cut off from contact or unfamiliar with the human world, it would buy him at least six months. For a genius like him, that was enough time for earth-shattering changes. By the time the other races realized who he was, he could already be at the Ninth Heavenly Realm.

Of course, that was the perspective of high-ranking individuals like Ling Yi. In Chen Chu's view, in six months, he very well could have already ascended to the rank of king.

After all, once this ruin exploration ended, he would be close to breaking through to the Eighth Heavenly Realm. Entering the mythical world afterward would likely accelerate his growth even further.

Li Daoyi chuckled and said, "Brother Chu, you can't blame me for this. That guy was showing off right in front of me, so I had to bring you up to put him in his place. Come on, let me introduce you to some of the geniuses here."

As he spoke, Li Daoyi nudged Xia Youhui aside and enthusiastically draped his arm over Chen Chu's shoulder, pointing toward a burly young man in white robes in the distance.

"That guy over there is Ji Wuji, the number one show-off. He's clearly a bandit, yet he constantly fantasizes about being a refined scholar.

"And over there is Gabriella from the Holy Academy in West Meng. Pretty, isn't she? Want to go over and add her as a friend?

"Oh, and that one over there is..."

Behind Chen Chu, Xia Youhui was bewildered.

What's going on? Why does this guy seem to have a closer relationship with Ah Chu than I do?

With Li Daoyi's introductions, Chen Chu gained a general impression of the famous geniuses present, including some from abroad.

After that, they waited.

The top-level geniuses from the three major empires of the Federation and over ten other countries stood at the edge of the earth's fault line, each one staring in shock at the void ahead.

A massive landmass covered everything in its path as it hurtled toward them, so close now that it almost blocked out the sky.

Even Chen Chu couldn't help but catch his breath at the sight. Compared to this landmass' thousands of kilometers in diameter, the colossal beasts, ranging from hundreds to thousands of meters in size, were utterly insignificant.

If not for the void barrier, the sheer mass of the ancient ruins would have caused a world-ending catastrophe on the Blue Planet just from its gravitational field alone.

It would be as if the moon approached the atmosphere—the pull and collapse of gravity, the oceans rising into the sky, volcanic eruptions, and tectonic shifts.

Xia Youhui swallowed hard. "Ah Chu, do you think we'll be crushed to death?"

Chen Chu shook his head slightly. "...Don't worry, if it was going to crash into us, it would have happened decades ago."

The ruin’s landmass was still an hour away from contact. As he watched it approach the void’s boundary, Chen Chu's consciousness sank into the World of Water and Fire.

Beside the ice crystal platform, the Thunder Fiery Dragon Emperor gazed at the spine of a Six-Armed Demonic Ape.

As expected, comprehending an ability rune from the remains of a colossal beast is too difficult.

A day had passed, and the Thunder Emperor had observed many incomplete rune traces on this spine, all related to the Demonic Ape’s various abilities.

However, not only was it trying to do this with incomplete rune sequence chains, but it was also necessary to discern which sequences were related to the Gigantification ability, then combine and refine them into an ability rune.

The amount of work required was immense. It estimated that it would take at least several months to complete under normal circumstances, but time was precisely what it lacked.

So, in the end, it would have to resort to unconventional means.

With this thought, a transparent screen appeared simultaneously in the perspectives of both the Thunder Emperor and Chen Chu. Their gaze fell on the data at the bottom.

[Evolution Points: 28020/30000

Over three months had passed since the Thunder Emperor's last evolution. During this time, it had consumed over twenty level 8 colossal beasts, more than a hundred level 7 beasts, and two level 9 beasts.

The level 9 beasts it hunted later had been shared with the Single-Horned Kun and others, to help them evolve and purify their bloodlines.

Under normal circumstances, it should have accumulated 30,000 evolution points long ago, but that was assuming the Thunder Emperor's body size didn't grow and remained at several dozen meters.

Back when it was at level 7, about one-tenth of the biological energy it consumed was converted into evolution points, and they quickly accumulated to over 10,000.

However, after breaking through to level 8 and growing to over sixty meters, the accumulation slowed dramatically, with most of the biological energy instead being converted into growth energy.

By the time it reached level 9, the energy required to grow just one meter became even greater, as it wasn't just the tail lengthening, but the entire body enlarging.

At over 150 meters now, each meter of growth required almost as much energy as it did to grow 10 meters back when it was a mere 30 meters at level 7.

Moreover, due to its higher body density and increased strength, the biological energy from a level 8 colossal beast now only allowed it to grow a few centimeters. Only the biological energy and life factors from other level 9 beasts could significantly accelerate its growth.

The problem was that such beasts were rare, even in an ocean teeming with mutated creatures. It had only found five within a few thousand kilometers of the Dragon Palace, and killing these level 9 beasts had even attracted the attention of a mythical colossal beast.

So, the Thunder Emperor planned to hunt a large number of level 7 and 8 colossal beasts, aiming to reach the middle stage of level 9 while collecting crystals to enhance one of its abilities beyond top-level.

By then, even if that mythical colossal beast appeared, it would be able to advance or retreat with ease.

Next, the plan was to sustain battle through battle, systematically eliminating the level 9 colossal beasts and quasi-mythical colossal beasts surrounding the Black Abyss King’s territory, then finally taking it down.

As this thought crossed its mind, a cold glint flashed in the Thunder Emperor’s golden vertical pupils.

Before all of that, however, it still needed to further enhance and fortify its strength, and master the Demonic Ape’s Gigantification ability rune to push its physical power to the limit.

Consume 1,000 attribute points to activate the Thunder Fiery Dragon Emperor’s epiphany state.

Chen Chu’s thought echoed in his mind as 1,000 attribute points instantly disappeared, transforming into a special energy that passed through the soul passage and enveloped the Thunder Emperor.