Chapter 443: Demon God Battle Body, Path to Divinity Summoned

The explosion of the ten suns, which amplified transcendent energy several dozen times, caused an instant burst of destructive power that surpassed the limits of a level 8 monster, obliterating everything in its path.

Eventually, the blast subsided, revealing a massive crater that was three hundred meters in diameter. Its power exceeded even the attack that had decimated the Thunderbolt Battle Puppet just a few days prior.

The surface within a few hundred meters around the crater had been scraped several meters deep. The soil and rocks had all been scorched into black lava, radiating outward in waves from the bottom of the crater, its intense heat turning the ground into crystalline glass.

Chen Chu stood amid it all, leaning on his halberd. Madness and a fierce desire for destruction and slaughter filled his bloodshot eyes.

Despite his severe injuries, the Invincible Battle Will he radiated had nearly materialized and wrapped around him, causing the void to tremble.

However, he appeared somewhat battered. His golden-red battle armor had long been shattered, and his clothes had been torn. He only had half a pair of trousers left, leaving large patches of charred skin exposed.

His most frightening injury was a half-meter-long gash diagonally across his chest. It was so deep that his internal organs were almost visible, making the wound look even more gruesome and horrifying.

Even Chen Chu did not expect to be this gravely wounded.

However, these wounds were healing so fast that it was visible to the naked eye. The charred skin was shedding, and even the gash on his chest was rapidly being repaired with new flesh and blood.

Before long, Chen Chu's wounds and skin had completely healed.

With over six thousand points in physique, Chen Chu now possessed formidable resistance, endurance, and regenerative capabilities.

However, due to his cautious nature, the enemies and dangers that he had encountered in the past had always been within his control. Hence, he had never gotten the chance to use his recovery abilities to their fullest until now.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

This was also why he had previously discarded the regeneration ability from the War God Body. Since his life force alone was already comparable to it, doubling up on that power was no longer necessary.

Huff!

As his external wounds healed, Chen Chu gazed ahead with blood-red eyes.

All that remained of the alien monster was the scorched skeleton a hundred meters in front of him. It was still standing tall, exuding a powerful and oppressive aura.

It was incredibly strong.

Even with only its basic combat instincts remaining, it still possessed the power of a peak Eighth Heavenly Realm entity. If it hadn't been contaminated and eroded, its strength could have challenged Ninth Heavenly Realm cultivators.

Its power served as evidence that it was one of the elite warriors of its race, which explained how it had earned a place in the Vengeance Expeditionary Corps.

Chen Chu was quite fortunate to be able to kill a monster of this caliber.

At the very last moment, when the energy of the Battle Demon Dragon had been depleted, he relied on its "immortality,” believing it would self-destruct and blow him and itself to pieces.

Otherwise, his only options would have been to unleash a thunderbolt law fragment or activate the Double Void Pupils. After all, his goal wasn’t to die but to push his battle will to the advanced stage. If things had gone south, he would have given up on the opportunity without second thoughts.

Even without the advanced battle will, his cultivation was still formidable—invincible among those of the same stage.

In the end, he managed to meet his own expectations in this fight. In a struggle to the death against the peak monster, his spirit, qi, and essence transcended, allowing him to finally touch the threshold of advanced battle will.

Even though he had slaughtered over ten thousand high-level contaminated monsters since entering the relic, only this final fight managed to give him a glimpse of the advanced battle will.

Compared to An Fuqing, who only needed to cultivate in peace and meditate for a little over a month to improve her four sword wills, Chen Chu seemed somewhat lacking.

In truth, however, she was the only one in this world who could so effortlessly enter a state of epiphany whenever she pleased. Her terrifying talent for comprehension was something even Chen Chu couldn’t help but envy.

Roar!

A violent roar echoed from above. At the same time, fierce winds howled and black clouds dispersed.

A middle-stage level 8 contaminated colossal beast, over ninety meters long and with a wingspan of a hundred and fifty meters, appeared in the sky.

The beast resembled a black eagle with iron-like feathers and fearsome bone spikes. As soon as it appeared, the countless bone spikes on its body began to emit a dark glow.

Seeking death.

Chen Chu thought as he raised his head. Black-gold vertical pupils appeared in his blood-red eyes, surrounded by chains of light formed using fifteen layers of void runes.

His ice-cold gaze, reminiscent of a void capable of devouring everything, abruptly froze the space around the level 8 colossal beast.

Boom!

Consuming fifty percent of his void energy, the crushing strike was amplified by fifteenfold. It shattered the space within a radius of over a hundred meters around the colossal beast. At the same time, long, pitch-black rifts spread, vaguely forming the shape of a gigantic eye.

The spatial rifts within the eye tore the level 8 contaminated colossal beast into countless pieces. Mixed with foul black blood, the pieces rained down onto the ground with loud thuds.

On the chunks of the monster's flesh, purple-black mist gathered and surged toward Chen Chu, merging with the swirling Purple Spirit around him.

After instantly killing the level 8 contaminated colossal beast, he focused on his battle will, which was on the verge of breaking through.

His desire for slaughter, violence, and destruction filled his heart. Soon, these emotions overflowed, turning his will into a vortex that devoured the massive amounts of blood aura around him.

When the Hellblood Battle Will broke through, the swirling purple-black murderous aura around Chen Chu gradually merged with the hellish phenomenon.

He continued to absorb Purple Spirit, which contained vitality equivalent to that of millions of people. Eventually, a red glow flickered on his forehead; the Blood Sea Purgatory rune had begun to evolve and ascend.

***

Just as Chen Chu was breaking through, a white band of light spanning several dozen kilometers slowly emerged in the sky above the center of the continent, drawn by some kind of power.

Xie Chen sighed. “I knew it. That guy’s frenzied slaughter has caused the path to divinity to appear several days earlier than predicted."

It was hard to say whether this was a blessing or a curse.

Everyone had less time to explore the relic now. Many would miss out on opportunities they could have otherwise found.

On the other hand, Chen Chu’s killing spree drastically decreased the danger within a thousand kilometers of the Oasis. Noticing this, many ventured deeper into the ruins to search for relics. Since there were fewer monsters, most managed to find something of value.

"I didn’t expect him to possess such powerful eye abilities. He seemed to have killed the Dark Purgatory Race creature back then using this very move,” Ji Yongning commented.

"That’s to be expected. Unlike regular geniuses, freaks like him have surpassed normal standards. Hence, most of them have powerful trump cards that they gained through good fortune,” Xie Chen replied. He then reached out and tapped the Eye of the Sky, causing the sub-eye devices on everyone's wrists to light up.

"Attention, everyone. We have accumulated enough Purple Spirit points to open the path to divinity. We expect it to fully descend by tomorrow morning."

"The entry point is at the main peak of the Wangtian Mountain Range, which is in the center of the Oasis. Anyone with a Purple Spirit value of over a thousand points can step onto the divine path and enter the origin space."

Xie Chen’s announcement caused excitement, eagerness, and astonishment to fill everyone’s expressions.

They were excited to finally traverse the path that would grant them access to vast amounts of origin power. However, they were also astonished by the total Purple Spirit value required.

That monster gathered most of the points, didn’t he?

***

In the ruins, Lin Mei stood atop a collapsed building, holding a blue-violet feather in her hand. "Luckily, I managed to gain something,” she remarked with relief.

Nearby, Bardas, who had transformed into a giant white tiger, stood in front of the corpse of a contaminated colossal beast. With a hint of regret, he said, "Over fifty thousand Purple Spirit points. I wonder how much origin power I can gain."

While the people in the ruins were calculating how much origin power they could obtain from entering the path to divinity, in the Oasis, Lin Xue, cloaked in red flames; Lin Yu, surrounded by a blue aura; and Xia Youhui, sitting cross-legged atop a giant statue’s head; focused their gazes on the path that stretched infinite distances past the sky.

Hundreds of meters deep within an underground rift, Li Hao leaned against a rock.

“The path to divinity has finally appeared,” he said weakly.

He had just fought a battle to the death against a late-stage level 6 contaminated mutated beast. It tore his muscles and critically injured him. Although he had killed it, he had been sent flying into and was now stuck in this hundreds-of-meters-deep underground rift.

But this was exactly what he had hoped for. Only by reaching the brink of death could he repeatedly break the shackles of his genes.

This time, however, he had been smarter. When he found the powerful contaminated mutated beast, he killed several contaminated monsters within a ten-kilometer radius before facing it. Hence, he had effectively avoided the possibility of another monster killing him while he was near death.

After recovering a little, Li Hao looked toward the dark area ahead. A hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.

In the darkness ahead stood a menacing three-meter-tall bronze statue. It had horns like a demon, and its head emitted a strange red glow.

The red light came from the fresh blood that Li Hao had spilled when he tumbled down.

As it absorbed his blood, the statue’s eyes gradually turned red, radiating a destructive intent like that of an ancient evil god.

After battling and searching through the ruins for so long, Li Hao had finally made a discovery.

***

Beneath the crater left by the meteor, the writhing and swirling purple-black murderous aura gradually dissipated, leaving only a dark red hell covering a radius of a hundred fifty meters.

Purple-black clouds churned above it, and a sea of blood raged below it. Countless void monsters and contaminated colossal beasts struggled and howled in agony within, creating a terrifying sight.

Atop a mountain of corpses at the center, Chen Chu stood with his halberd in hand. As the red light between his brows glowed brightly, a 20-meter-tall blood-colored shadow appeared behind him.

He had summoned the manifestation of his Hellblood Battle Will, which was now at the advanced stage. It represented the endless slaughter, savagery, and destruction festering in Chen Chu's heart.

As the demon god emerged, the entire hell roared and trembled, celebrating its arrival.

Whoosh!

With a thought from Chen Chu, the surrounding hellish scene converged toward the middle of his forehead, and the Demon God Phantom behind him slowly faded.

At the same time, the blood-red glow in Chen Chu’s eyes gradually receded, making his vision clearer. His black-and-white pupils were now as bright as stars yet also as deep and mysterious as a pristine sky.

Feeling the changes in his battle will, his gaze swept across the transparent screen before him, focusing on the transformation of Hellblood Battle Will and the runes below.

[Will]

Hellblood Battle Will(Advanced)

- A special power of battle will. Bathed in blood, it can manifest the demon god.

- When activated, it uses transcendent energy to create the Demon God Phantom out of slaughter and destruction.

- Grants a fivefold destructive power boost to all attacks.

- Slaughter Desire: During combat, the Demon God Phantom can absorb the blood aura of slain enemies, permanently enhancing its power. The more lives taken, the stronger the battle will becomes.

- Desperate Invincibility: When grievously injured in battle, resulting in a significant loss of vitality, activating Desperate Invincibility can cause the battle will to grow stronger as injuries worsen and more vitality is consumed.

- Demon God Possession: Manifested through willpower, the Demon God Phantom can gather and absorb the power of the heavens and earth, entering a demonic state that provides explosive temporary boosts to combat strength.

- Note: A layered enhancement is created when the Demon God Phantom merges with the True Martial Phantom. The enhancement evolves the fusion into the Demon God Battle Body, which significantly boosts all attributes.

[Runes]

Apocalypse Purgatory

- Covers a 150-meter radius in a hellish domain.

- When deployed, it interferes with reality, exerting spiritual pressure and void corrosion on enemies.

Summoning the Demon God

- A hellish force strengthens the Demon God Battle Body when manifested inside the Apocalypse Purgatory, imbuing each of its attacks with the power of an illusory hell.

The breakthrough increased his advanced battle will’s basic power by fivefold, which was just a standard boost for this stage. However, the passive trait Slaughter Desire permanently enhanced the Demon God Phantom by absorbing the blood aura from slain enemies. If so, then, the more Chen Chu killed, the stronger his battle will would grow.

He was thrilled.

Additionally, his battle will gained the Demon God Possession, a skill akin to Kaotoros' demonic phantom infusion.

When vast amounts of transcendent energy gathered within him, Chen Chu would gain a tremendous surge in power during his demonic state. However, it would put a significant burden on his body.

On the other hand, he could choose to merge the Demon God Phantom with the True Martial Phantom, though the amplification likely wouldn’t be as strong as in the demonic state.

Otherwise, the attribute page wouldn't have noted Demon God Possession as first and Demon God Battle Body as second.

In addition, Blood Sea Purgatory, influenced by the battle will and fused with purple-black murderous aura, had also advanced and transformed into the Apocalypse Purgatory.

Although its enemy suppression was weak since it was just an illusory domain, it still allowed Chen Chu to grasp the power of a domain before even reaching the Ninth Heavenly Realm.

This domain was different from the Thunder Fiery Dragon Emperor's Sky-Scorching Golden Flames and Destructive True Lightning, which formed a destructive domain. It belonged to a special domain that seemed to faintly communicate with a true hell dimension.

Overall, Chen Chu had gained a lot from the life-or-death battle.

"Tomorrow, the path to divinity will fully descend," Chen Chu muttered, glancing at the sky.

The night would fall in two or three hours, so he figured he still had time. After a brief rest, he charged out of the crater.

Boom!

After the path to divinity appeared, everyone would be expelled from the relic. His Double Void Pupils currently had over 15,000 passive energy. He was just six hundred kills short of reaching the sixteenfold amplification.

Whether to obtain the additional boost or simply to satisfy his obsessive nature, Chen Chu was determined to meet the quota before nightfall.

***

Meanwhile, deep under the sea, the World of Water and Fire suddenly began to tremble.

Roar!

Accompanied by the bellow of a dragon, a terrifying level 9 draconic power exploded. In an instant, the recently rebuilt ice crystal palace collapsed, and a surge of black energy shot into the sky.

A destructive storm, formed of shattered ice crystals and black gales, rapidly expanded, creating a seven-hundred-meter-wide tornado. It slammed into the boundary of the World of Water and Fire, unleashing an earth-shaking force.