Chapter 434: Battle Dragon Emperor, Thunderbolt Guardian

When morning came, his aura surged as the Tianyuan Stones in Chen Chu's hand turned into dust. His cultivation had smoothly broken through to the middle stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm.

The sudden powerful increase in pressure compressed the surrounding air. It then exploded, sending a ring of white winds blasting across a ten-meter radius.

The commotion from the breakthrough startled An Fuqing, who was sitting cross-legged in the distance. Opening her eyes, which were still filled with circulating sword will, she looked at Chen Chu with a hint of surprise.

"Middle stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm!"

Chen Chu slowly opened his eyes as well, revealing a faint yet fierce draconic power. He then nodded slightly. "Yes, I’ve broken through."

"So powerful!" An Fuqing exclaimed.

She had learned earlier that Chen Chu broke through to the Seventh Heavenly Realm on June 1st. In less than half a month, he had advanced to the middle stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm.

The terrifying speed of his progress despite being this far into his cultivation put even An Fuqing under great pressure.

Due to her ability to enter an epiphany state at any time, her cultivation speed was ten or even twenty times faster than other cultivators, and when encountering bottlenecks, she could simply cut through them with her sword will.

Nevertheless, she still couldn’t imagine breaking through a minor realm within half a month of reaching the Seventh Heavenly Realm.

Chen Chu looked at the transparent page in front of him.

[Arts]

- War God Body: Halberd(Seventh Stage, Battle Phantom 30%)

When manifested, it gathers transcendent energy, providing a fourteenfold true dragon power amplification and stronger thunderbolt and golden flames elemental enhancements. It also gives the user a sevenfold strength boost; a sevenfold defense boost; and a threefold speed boost.

Chen Chu’s Battle Phantom had reached 30% materialization, and after breaking through to the middle stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm, the boost that his rune ability provided to all aspects of his power had risen significantly.

At his current strength, every little improvement was astonishing, let alone a twofold amplification.

Soon, the hatch of a mech in the distance opened. Gabriella, wearing white silk pajamas, crawled out and yawned lazily. "Good morning, you two."

Chen Chu was bewildered. She’s

wearing pajamas in a place like this? How can she be so careless?

Remembering the delicate pastries that she had pulled from her Sumeru Bracelet yesterday, Chen Chu couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't here to explore the ruins; she was more like a noble girl out on a picnic.

Fortunately, no other strange events happened after that.

The three ate Gabriella's pastries for breakfast. Afterward, Gabrielle returned to her mech and changed into a blue mechanic outfit.

"I'm not entering the ruins today; I'm planning to upgrade my mech and break through to the Seventh Heavenly Realm."

An Fuqing, who had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, curiously asked, "Upgrade the mech? How does that work?"

Gabriella adjusted the blue cap on her head. "The breakthrough process for mech warriors is actually quite similar to yours. The concept of cores is the same, but our True Martial Phantom is inscribed onto the mechs in an array.

“Normally, the sections can be detached and reassembled. Each breakthrough allows us to upgrade the mech by adding new weapons and modules.

"However, everyone's capacity is different. Their mech and the cultivation art they practice also vary. The final limit on the weapons and abilities that can be equipped depends on our individual potential."

Thanks to Gabrielle’s explanation, An Fuqing gained a bit of understanding regarding the breakthroughs of mechs.

She turned to Chen Chu. "I’ve had enough Purple Spirit points for quite some time now, so I just plan to spend the day exploring a radius of three hundred kilometers to see if I can gain anything. If I don't, I’ll go into seclusion to cultivate until the path to divinity appears."

"I plan to hunt down more contaminated monsters to sharpen my combat skills,” Chen Chu replied.

However, neither An Fuqing nor Gabriella fully believed him. After all, he planned to kill another one or two thousand high-level or even advanced monsters in a day.

Once the two had left, Gabriella released eight-armed robots, two engineering robots, and many large weapon parts from the dozens of subspace bracelets on her right arm.

Cultivating as a mech martial artist and breaking through to the Seventh Heavenly Realm was an act of transcendence. Under the connection between heaven and earth, the incomplete ability runes in the materials smelted from colossal beast bones would be activated.

These abilities were already determined when the mech was smelted, forming part of a large array puzzle. During the breakthrough to the Seventh Heavenly Realm, they would come together as a whole.

Before entering the ruins, Gabriella had completed the design of the True Martial Array, which included the mech and weapon modules. Hence, they had reached their limits. All she lacked was a lava core to power the Eternal Power Reactor for the breakthrough.

It was already their fifth day of exploring the ruins. Just like Gabriella and Chen Chu, many others had also made great progress.

Xia Youhui had finally excavated a massive Dragon Turtle statue while carrying a broken stone stele on his back. It was over two hundred meters long, a hundred meters wide, and a hundred meters tall.

Standing at the edge of the large pit, the dirt-covered man looked at the colossal statue in bewilderment. He couldn’t seem to figure out anything from it.

Resting his left hand on a shovel, Xia Youhui scratched the back of his head. "No way, am I really this unlucky? I dug such a huge pit but found nothing?"

...

Under the dim sky, Chen Chu rushed into the ruins at supersonic speed, stopping only after passing the four-hundred-kilometer mark.

Looking into the distance, he found a five-meter-tall humanoid monster sitting cross-legged on a hundred-meter-high hillside. Surrounded by thick purple-black mist, it had armor on and a battle sword in its hand.

Upon seeing Chen Chu, the peak level 7 void monster did not roar and charge like other monsters. Instead, it quietly observed him.

In its dark red eyes was a mixture of brutality and a sharp, cold edge that resembled a calm and powerful swordsman who had cultivated his skills to perfection.

However, a monster was still a monster. As its violent hatred for living beings overcame its instincts as a swordsman, it gradually emitted a peak level 7 aura.

Chen Chu narrowed his eyes at the monster, acknowledging its immense power. Although it was still at the peak of level 7, it already possessed the combat power of an early level 8 monster. He had to take it seriously.

Roaring, the monster stood up and sent a terrifying surge of sword will skyward. The rusty battle sword in its hand hummed and vibrated.

Chen Chu's eyes turned black and gold, and his pupils turned into slits. Around the pupil’s edges, five circles of black rune chains slowly rotated, emanating a terrifying aura that filled all beings with dread.

Within a fifteen-meter radius around the void monster, the space cracked like a mirror and then shattered with a bang, instantly annihilating the monster.

With the fivefold amplification, the power of the Double Void Pupils had become even more terrifying. Even though it just released a fraction of the void energy, it still instantly killed the powerful monster.

Chen Chu had reached a point where he could make enemies explode with a mere glance.

After covering another hundred kilometers, he suddenly stopped. In the distance, a figure surrounded by thunderbolts stood on a mountain, waiting for him.

"I knew I’d see you from this mountain, Brother Chu."

Chen Chu flashed forward and appeared in front of Li Daoyi, giving him a curious look. "Brother Li, do you need something?"

"I found the residence of the Thunderbolt Monarch," Li Daoyi said with a hint of excitement.

Chen Chu raised an eyebrow. "Thunderbolt Monarch?"

"The Thunderbolt Monarch was one of the strongest powerhouses of an ancient civilization. I spent several days here searching before I finally found the entrance to one of its residences."

"Go on."

"I can't defeat the guardian puppet at the gate," Li Daoyi admitted.

I see.

Li Daoyi, who had suddenly become so loyal that he waited here for him, was actually just stuck outside, unable to enter.

"How strong is the puppet?" Chen Chu asked.

"Late stage of the Eighth Heavenly Realm."

"What? Late stage of the Eighth Heavenly Realm? Are you sure I can handle it?"

After breaking through to the middle stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm, Chen Chu estimated that without the Double Void Pupils or the Battle Dragon Emperor form, his combat power was barely at the middle stage of the Eighth Heavenly Realm.

He could fight some monsters at the middle stage of the Eighth Heavenly Realm, but to kill them, he’d still need to use his trump cards.

As one advanced to higher stages, the gap between each minor realm became more immense. Chen Chu felt that even if he entered the Dragon Emperor form, all he could do was contend with a late-stage Eighth Heavenly Realm opponent at best.

"I believe in your strength, Brother Chu. You can do it. We can at least try, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll just leave,” Li Daoyi confidently said.

"Even just trying might get us killed.."

The puppet was at the late stage of the Eighth Heavenly Realm, not the Seventh. A single mistake could reduce him to nothing. He didn’t want to take the risk.

"Brother Chu, the guardian puppet is different from most monsters. If you retreat outside its defense range, it’ll stop chasing you,” Li Daoyi urged. "The residence is well-preserved. I’m certain there are thunderbolt law fragments inside. The Thunderbolt Monarch’s inheritance might even be in there.

"An inheritance from one of the thirty-six monarchs! Each of those monarchs is comparable to a heavenly king—no, perhaps they’re even stronger. Brother Chu, aren’t you tempted?"

The thunderbolt law fragments, which matched his True Martial Phantom, and the possibility of finding the Thunderbolt Monarch’s inheritance finally changed Chen Chu’s mind.

With a serious expression, he said, "Let's do it."

Swish! Swish!

In the desolate, barren mountain range, Li Daoyi transformed into lightning, keeping up at supersonic speed with Chen Chu as they flew side by side, crossing mountain after mountain.

As an Innate thunderbolt Awakener, Li Daoyi was also extremely fast. When he broke through to the Seventh Heavenly Realm, his normal movement reached supersonic levels. Fully unleashing his Thunderbolt Movement made him even faster.

Led by Li Daoyi, the two traveled over a hundred kilometers in just over ten minutes. Eventually, they reached the peak of a mountain in the middle of the range.

Aside from cracked rocks, only a ten-meter-high stele was on the summit. Lightning patterns swirled around the stele, which had barely visible ancient characters on it that read “Azure Thunder Residence.”

"The residence is located in a stable micro-world, which is why it’s so well-preserved. However, it requires the power of Innate Thunderbolts to open,” Li Daoyi explained as he placed his hand on the stele and purple thunderbolts leaped from his fingers.

As the thunderbolts were absorbed, the lightning patterns on the surface of the stele shimmered. A silver-blue bolt of lightning exploded from the top, striking the void at one side.

Slowly, a rift opened in the void and formed a three-meter-tall, two-meter-wide "door" before them.

Beyond the door was a vast square, hundreds of meters in diameter, at the end of which stood a solemn architectural complex. The sky of the micro-world flickered with lightning, and claps of thunderous echoed nonstop.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Li Daoyi led Chen Chu through the gate.

"Brother Chu, that stairway marks the puppet's alert zone. Once you step on it, the puppet will attack. If we retreat past the stairs, it will stop."

Although eager to enter the residence, Li Daoyi still issued a warning. "That battle puppet is very fast. If things get rough, we should run."

Chen Chu nodded. "I know."

He looked at the six-meter-tall figure in the distance. The battle puppet was covered in blue-purple armor and wielded a gigantic battle axe.

Since it hadn’t been activated yet, it just looked like a statue standing silently in front of the gate.

With heavy combat boots on, Chen Chu gripped his halberd and slowly walked toward the square. A terrifying force began to awaken within him, transforming into brilliant golden flames and bursting forth from his body.

Boom!

Behind Chen Chu, a towering, thirty-meter-tall figure appeared, causing the dense transcendent energy within a radius of hundreds of meters to surge violently. The energy gathered and turned into a swirling white mist.

The True Martial Phantom seemed almost tangible, resembling a giant with three faces and six arms. It was clad in black and red scale armor, and behind it, four glowing rings, each several meters in diameter, slowly rotated.

Its faces, identical to Chen Chu's, bore a cold expression. Between their brows was a black mark that looked like a combination of a blade and an eye, exuding an aura of sacred majesty.

"Middle stage of the Seventh Heavenly Realm?!" Li Daoyi exclaimed in shock.

Hum!

The moment Chen Chu stepped onto the square’s stairs, the battle puppet's eyes lit up. An explosion of endless lightning erupted from it, followed by an earth-shattering surge of aura.

Boom!

Blinding lightning illuminated the sky, slithering like dragons. In the blink of an eye, the puppet reached Chen Chu. It wrapped its battle axe in silver-blue lightning and swung it down at an indescribable speed.

The terrifying blow tore open the space beneath the ax's blade, forming a black rift that radiated a horrifying aura of destruction.

In response, thunderbolts and flames erupted from Chen Chu as he swung his halberd, its blade clashing against the axe.

Boom!

Everything happened so fast that Li Daoyi barely registered it. The ground within a hundred-meter radius shattered, and the iron-hard rocks exploded into pieces. A violent, destructive shockwave coursed outward, annihilating everything in its path.

In the distance, Li Daoyi trembled in fear. Terrified, he covered himself with a barrage of thunderbolts, shielding himself from the devastating shockwave and the debris it carried.

Bang!

The ground beside Li Daoyi burst open, forming a large pit over ten meters in diameter. At the bottom of the pit stood Chen Chu, gripping his halberd.

After blasting Chen Chu off the stairs with a single blow, the puppet flickered with electricity before it returned to its original position.

Still trembling, Chen Chu looked up in amazement. "So strong."

The puppet moved over six times faster than the speed of sound, and it could create destructive explosions in an instant; it was so powerful that the attack it launched nearly injured Chen Chu.

Chen Chu’s blood began to boil, and a fierce battle will surged in his eyes. A blood-colored rune emerged at the center of his brow, emitting an endless glow.

Boom!

His battle will erupted, demanding the slaughter and annihilation of all. Blood-colored light exploded from Chen Chu, turning everything within a fifty-meter radius into a hellish sea of blood. Golden flames then burst from within him, causing him to grow rapidly—no, causing his Dragon Blood Battle Armor to expand.

The twisted runes on the surface of the armor glowed blood-red as it merged with the battle phantom. Once it fully fused with the True Martial Phantom, an indescribably terrifying aura exploded forth.

Boom!

Amid the seemingly eternal gold-red flames, an eighty-meter-tall giant clad in gold-red armor appeared.

Thick lightning serpents coiled around it, and golden flames, burning at over ten thousand degrees Celsius, roared. It held a halberd, standing like a true god who had descended to earth.

The overwhelming might of the Battle Dragon Emperor made the entire micro-world tremble.

As the thunder in the sky roared and exploded without end, Li Daoyi's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Holy...!"