Chapter 417: Seizing Ability, Spiraling into Madness (I)

Although situated within the boundless void, the invisible force shrouding the Void Continent allowed it to still experience the cycle of day and night under the immense power of principles governing it.

As nightfall descended, the continent was engulfed in darkness. The void energy pervading the ruins grew even more ferocious.

This void energy was similar to transcendent energy, capable of altering the life forms it touched. However, compared to the gentle evolution induced by transcendent energy, void energy was far more invasive and chaotic, its mutations twisted and bizarre.

For this reason, many people retreated from the ruins before nightfall, returning to the Oasis to recuperate and cleanse themselves of the void energy they had been exposed to. Chen Chu was no exception.

Standing on a lush hillside, hundreds of meters high, Chen Chu gazed at the pitch-black landscape before him. Even with his night vision, the world appeared somewhat blurred, causing awe to appear in his eyes.

"So, this is the power of a force beyond the mythical world. Even though it’s been dead for countless years, the power of the principles it left behind still influences the operation of this continent."

As he spoke, Chen Chu exhaled, directing his attention inward. With a thought, he summoned his attribute page to review the day's gains.

[Ability: Double Void Pupils +1352]

This was the result of Chen Chu's efforts over the past half-day. He had traversed over three thousand kilometers, slaying more than a thousand Fifth Heavenly Realm monsters and over a hundred Sixth Heavenly Realm contaminated beasts.

It seemed like a small number, but it was actually quite significant, considering that those void monsters were scattered across the ruins, not lining themselves up for him to kill.

Chen Chu had made a straight run through the area, leaving no void monster he encountered alive. After each kill, he had to stop and wait for the Purple Spirit to condense, which was why it had taken him half a day to cover just over three thousand kilometers.

Over a thousand layers of void energy were condensing at the edge of his black-gold vertical pupils, forming a ring of slowly rotating black rune sequence chains that enhanced the power of his Double Void Pupils.

Although he hadn't tested it, Chen Chu could clearly sense that the Double Pupil had become significantly more powerful. A faint smile appeared on his face—he hadn't expected this expedition to yield such a harvest.

***

In a cave, the fire crackled as Lin Xue, clad in battle armor, took out some dried mutated beast meat, energy-infused mineral water, and a small iron pot from her Sumeru Bracelet to begin cooking.

Across from her, Lin Yu sat on a stone. Her smart watch, enhanced by the sub-eye, projected a chat page where many people were sharing their gains and information from the day. Each post was marked with the contributor's country and name.

[Yueshan] Jin Chengwu: The void monsters in the ruins are so strong. I only ventured about thirty kilometers today, and I almost died at the hands of one.

[East Xia] Xia Youhui: Haha, you're out of luck. Fortunately, I didn't enter the ruins. I chose to seek opportunities in the Oasis and got lucky, found an incomplete stele inscribed with runes.

[East Xia] Li Hao: Damn, Old Xia, you really found something good so quickly?

[Baihu] Tu Yaoyao: I also found something good, but I'm not telling you what it is.

[West Meng] Karls: I had good luck today too. After someone snatched my monster, I found a half-broken battle sword in the ruins that contained a special will for comprehension.

[West Meng] Thales: Huh! Bro, you also had your monster stolen? Was it that Chen Chu from East Xia?

[Gunado] Zhang Bai: I also encountered Chen Chu. That guy is a freak! In the blink of an eye, he blew up ten level 5 and 6 monsters with overwhelming power. But he didn’t steal my monster. In fact, if it wasn’t for him showing up, I’d already be dead at their hands.

[Rarludo] Kaart: Damn, he stole my monster too. Wait, aren't the areas we’re in supposed to be far apart...?

The chat page suddenly refreshed with a flood of messages, with many people talking about encountering, being rescued by, or having their monsters stolen by Chen Chu.

"Is that guy a monster himself? He circled the Oasis and slaughtered everything in his path, and despite consuming true power to go at supersonic speeds, he hasn't exhausted himself after half a day?"

"Strange. With his strength, shouldn’t he be venturing deeper into the ruins to kill higher-level monsters for greater gains?"

This question puzzled not only them, but also the two kings watching from outside the ruins.

Yongning Ji mused, "Old Xie, what do you think about showing the leaderboard to add some competitive spirit for these youngsters?"

"Good idea. Let's also release the data on the Purple Spirit conversion."

Xie Chen smiled and tapped a few times on the Eye of the Sky, granting all sub-eyes access to the leaderboard.

Everyone who was watching the chat immediately noticed the change on the projection page. Lin Yu's eyes lit up. "Sis, a leaderboard function just popped up!

"First place is Gabriella from West Meng. She's incredibly strong, she already has over 4,300 points of Purple Spirit in just half a day.

"Second place is Ji Wuji with more than 4,200 points, only a hundred points behind Gabriella. That's impressive.

"Third place is the Beast King Bardas, also with over 4,200 points. And surprisingly, fourth place is someone named Bredos. This person made it to fourth place without anyone noticing."

As Lin Yu scrolled further, she saw the name of the Innate Awakener Li Daoyi in fifth place, with more than 3,900 points of Purple Spirit. Continuing to scroll down, she found Chen Chu and was surprised. "Chen Chu is only thirty-fourth place with just over 2,800 points?"

"Thirty-fourth place?" Lin Xue was also taken aback.

Given Chen Chu's strength, they had expected him to be in the top five, if not the top three. They hadn't anticipated that he would rank outside the top thirty.

[West Meng] Karls: Hahaha... That Chen Chu from East Xia is only in thirty-something place with just over 2,000 points, even after stealing all of our kills.

Someone: That's expected. He's been killing level 5 void monsters. Those are only worth one or two points, so naturally, he can't compete with people like Gabriella, who are killing higher-level monsters.

Someone: But this guy is still a monster. Even with that, he's accumulated nearly 3,000 Purple Spirit points. He must have killed over a thousand void monsters today, right?

Gasp!

Everyone gasped at the sudden realization.

Yes, according to the data conversion table below the leaderboard, killing a beginning stage level 5 monster only earned 1 point, a middle stage earned 2 points, and a late stage earned 5 points.

Level 6 monsters were worth between 10 and 50 points, while level 7 monsters were worth 100 points for the beginning stage and 300 points for the late stage. The higher the level, the more Purple Spirit one could accumulate.

In other words, Chen Chu, himself a "monster," had to have slaughtered over a thousand level 5 and 6 void monsters today to accumulate so much Purple Spirit.

As people discussed this, Chen Chu, sitting cross-legged on the hillside, munched on dried high-grade mutated beast meat, smiling as he watched the chat.

Guess all you want.

Ten minutes later, after finishing his dinner, Chen Chu took a deep breath, gripped the Tianyuan Stones, drank a bottle of Spirit Liquid to restore his active spirit, and began cultivating.

Whoosh!

Transcendent energy within hundreds of meters was drawn toward Chen Chu, swirling around him and creating gusts of wind that made the surrounding vegetation sway.

As he entered a state of cultivation, Chen Chu's consciousness sank, directing part of his mind to the depths of the ocean.