Chapter 458: Who Stands at the Peak of the Path's End, the Ruins' Conclusion

Standing over ten meters from the imperial gate, Chen Chu felt an almost soul-crushing pressure, yet a smile crept onto his face.

Under the seemingly endless, overwhelming force, his soul continued to compress. Coupled with the cultivation of the Taixu Nether Light Scripture, his progress had reached an astonishing pace.

It felt as though cultivating here for a single day would be equivalent to several years in the outside world. Of course, he didn’t have the luxury of spending an entire day cultivating here, but even an hour would suffice.

As he walked forward, enduring the intense pressure for hours, Chen Chu realized that his Taixu Nether Light Scripture had nearly reached the point of breaking through the first stage.

At that thought, he came to a sudden halt.

"No, it still won’t work."

On the ancient, desolate land, Bardas, in his full beastly form, gazed at the surrounding world with impatience and frustration in his eyes.

His internal clock told him that the path to divinity was about to close. Yet, whenever he focused on the world projections around him, an endless stream of profound information surged toward him, making his head spin, as if it were about to explode.

In such a state, it was impossible for him to calm his mind and comprehend anything. This was the main reason Bardas’s progress had been so slow—his comprehension talent, typical of mutated beasts with simple minds, was lacking.

In contrast to Bardas, Ji Wuji was far superior in this aspect.

On the desolate land beside the colossal bones of a great beast, Ji Wuji sat cross-legged. Behind him, a forty-meter-long white divine dragon coiled slowly, emanating waves of dragon-shaped energy.

With each ripple, Ji Wuji’s thought processes and understanding rose to a higher level, increasing his comprehension of the world and martial arts by several times.

This was the true martial attribute he had acquired when he broke through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm. The Dragon Pattern Enhancement allowed him to elevate his comprehension by one level at the cost of his spiritual energy.

This was one of the reasons Ji Wuji’s talent was so formidable. However, upon reaching the path of heavenly kings, the enhancement was no longer sufficient to ensure rapid progress. As he delved deeper into the world’s mysteries, the mental strain only grew heavier.

On the blackened earth, a shattered mech stood tall, its red eyes flashing as they crazily scanned the surrounding world’s projections.

[Warning: Current computational capacity has exceeded its limit. Further increases will cause irreversible mental damage to the pilot.]

Inside the cockpit, Gabriella had her eyes closed, her consciousness linked with the supercomputer of the Black Demon White King Mech, furiously processing and deciphering the world projection's information.

Around her, countless streams of data cascaded like waterfalls across the display screens, red warning signs flashing urgently. However, she paid them no mind. She continued pushing the computational frequency higher, desperate to analyze and understand more of the world’s secrets.

She knew how rare this opportunity was. Even if she couldn’t complete the path of heavenly kings, the knowledge she gained would be the foundation for her ascent to the throne.

Though she followed the path of mech martial arts, the destination was the same. If she could perfect her mech’s energy field into a self-contained "world," its defensive capabilities would reach an unparalleled level.

In a poisonous swamp, Bredos stood at the center of the world projection, sighing softly. "Analyzing a colossal beast or a demon race, sure, but analyzing the world itself? That’s just too much.

"Time’s running out. Forget it, I’ll activate the eye. One hour should be enough."

With that, Bredos pulled open his shirt, revealing a muscular chest and a fist-sized, eerie white eye. The sclera and pupil were both pale white, resembling a ghostly eye from the underworld.

As the eye emerged, Bredos’s own eyes slowly closed, and a pair of pupils appeared in the pale eye on his chest, reflecting the surrounding world.

Instantly, Bredos’s speed increased dramatically.

"I am thunder, and thunder is me. All beings are formless, and so is the world. Thunderbolt is shapeless..."

Within the thunderbolt world projection, Li Daoyi’s mind echoed with the overarching summary of the Thunder Prison true form, while fragments of innate laws flashed like lightning within his body.

Boom!

Li Daoyi suddenly exploded into countless bolts of purple lightning, spreading out and merging with the surrounding thunderbolt world projection. At that moment, he became one with the world.

Outside, Li Daoyi, whose pace had slowed, suddenly sped up again, now closely following behind An Fuqing, who had already advanced nearly five thousand meters.

Compared to the struggles of the others, An Fuqing felt completely at ease, immersing herself in the understanding of the world.

In a micro-world where countless broken and shattered swords were buried, An Fuqing sat cross-legged. Four flying swords hovered around her, transforming into massive sword qi that suspended in all directions and formed a sword array.

As she continued to contemplate, the sword array around her gradually evolved to become sharper and more complete, giving the illusion of an entire world of swords.

Of course, with her current cultivation level, she had not yet reached the point of manifesting a world through swords alone.

Time passed, and the sky gradually darkened. The entire sky over the continent turned black at a speed visible to the naked eye, as the void was about to descend.

Under the intense impact of the void, the path to divinity, formed by white clouds, began to tremble.

At the same time, an invisible force enveloped Xia Youhui, Lin Xue, and the others on the mountain peak, instantly ejecting them from the continent due to the rejection by the principles.

Meanwhile, the six people contemplating their micro-worlds on the path were abruptly awakened, as the world projections surrounding them began to dissipate.

World origins appeared above each of their heads—one origin for one person, two for another, two people with three, and finally, one person each with four and five world origins slowly manifesting.

As soon as one origin merged into his body, Bardas vanished instantly.

Ji Wuji looked at the three world origins descending upon him and smiled. "Three origins... I have come quite far on this trial. I must be among the top three."

Since he hadn’t seen the others after entering the trial, Ji Wuji had no idea about the progress of Li Daoyi and the others. However, based on his own judgment, his performance on the path to divinity should place him second or third, at the very least.

Why not first? That was obviously because of Chen Chu. Although he prided himself on having unparalleled talent, after being repeatedly overshadowed, Ji Wuji figured it was time to be a little more humble.

As the invisible force enveloped him, Ji Wuji knew he was about to leave. A calm smile appeared on his face as he stood with his hands behind his back, preparing to meet the others’ astonished gazes.

In her mech, feeling a bit weak and with her left arm severed, Gabriella smiled. "Two origins... Plus the ten I already had. That should be enough."

"Three origins, not bad. I’ve resolved the issue with the king’s origin in one go," Bredos said with a satisfied smile before disappearing.

"Has time run out?" The endless lightning gathered once again, reforming into the figure of Li Daoyi, who gazed regretfully toward the palace in the thunderbolt storm on the horizon.

Within that palace lay the inheritance of the Thunderbolt Monarch, but to claim it, one needed to complete the path of heavenly kings and defeat the level 9 Thunderbolt Colossal Beast guarding the palace.

Unfortunately, even though he was an Innate Awakener, Li Daoyi still fell short.

As the four world origins merged into his body, the invisible force of teleportation enveloped Li Daoyi as well.

However, just as he was about to be transported out, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from the palace amid the storm, and the principle power briefly paused.

In the next moment, a golden bolt of lightning shot across the heavens, instantly piercing into Li Daoyi’s body.

His expression shifted from surprise to disappointment. The lightning wasn’t the inheritance of the Thunderbolt Monarch, but rather another form of thunderbolt origin.

Even so, with this golden thunderbolt origin, when he ascended to the rank of king, he would be able to break free from the limitations of an Innate Awakener. It wasn’t a wasted journey after all.

***

At the edge of the void fault, the sudden appearance of over eight hundred people stirred up a lively commotion.

"Huh? Is it nighttime outside too? Is it synced with the ruins?" someone wondered, glancing curiously at the surrounding darkness.

"Let’s not talk about that. Let’s discuss something else, like how I passed the path of the pinnacle and obtained a world origin."

"Stop bragging! I didn’t even qualify for the path to divinity."

Xia Youhui sidled up to Li Hao with a grin. "Li Hao, not bad! You made it over a thousand meters on the path of kings."

Before Li Hao could respond modestly, Xia Youhui puffed out his chest with a smug expression. "But you’re still no match for me, because I definitely have the aura of a king."

Even Li Hao couldn’t help but curse. "Damn it! You didn’t even make it onto the path to divinity! Where’s this confidence of yours about becoming a king coming from?"

"Because I’ve got some powerful backers," Xia Youhui replied matter-of-factly. "Before entering the ruins, my brother told me he’s heading to some mythological relic. He should break through to the Ninth Heavenly Realm soon.

"You’ve got to understand, my brother isn’t even twenty yet. Isn’t it terrifying? A Ninth Heavenly Realm expert under twenty years old!

"And besides my brother, my best friend Chen Chu is even more of a monster. Haha... When the time comes, I’ll have my brother on my left and Ah Chu on my right. With these two strong backers, of course I’ll become a king!"

Seeing Xia Youhui’s smug expression, everyone from the southern battlefield was a little stunned.

They hadn’t expected that this unassuming guy had such a monstrous older brother. A Ninth Heavenly Realm expert under the age of twenty—this kind of genius had a good chance of becoming a king within ten years.

Shu Nuo murmured in surprise, "A Ninth Heavenly Realm expert under twenty, with the surname Xia... Could this guy's brother be Xia Bawang, who suppressed the southern battlefield a few years ago for half a year?"

Zhang Tianlong nodded slightly. "That’s right, it’s Xia Bawang. But compared to his brother, Xia Youhui's talent is far inferior."

When Xia Youhui had first entered the southern battlefield, he had revealed his identity to some third-year seniors from Nantian, blending in with the older students to gather information.

Shu Nuo was taken aback, and commented, "He’s reached the Fifth Heavenly Realm in less than a year, and you call that slow? If he got any faster, he’d be another Sixth Heavenly Realm freak in the first year!"

Suddenly, someone from the North Lin camp shouted excitedly, "Bardas is out!"

Bardas, who had reverted to his human form and now resembled a burly young man, appeared on the North Lin side.

Then the ground shook as a towering, damaged mech, dozens of meters tall, crushed the earth beneath its feet and appeared before the crowd. Its severed left arm and scarred armor radiated an intense aura of destruction.

"Gabriella’s out too!"

Before the crowd could fully react, Ji Wuji, Bredos, and Li Daoyi appeared one after another, followed by An Fuqing, who was shrouded in sword will.

When the girl appeared, with her cyan battle armor, her long hair tied in a ponytail, and her coldly beautiful delicate features, the entire scene fell silent. Everyone couldn’t help but turn their gaze toward her.

Despite being only a Sixth Heavenly Realm freshman, her performance on the path of heavenly kings was the most astonishing. Even Li Daoyi, an Innate Awakener, had been overtaken by her.

While the others were shocked, Xia Youhui waved excitedly. "An Fuqing, over here!"

As An Fuqing approached, Lin Xue said regretfully, "It’s a shame. If there had been more time, you could’ve finished the path of heavenly kings, An Fuqing."

"Yeah, you were only six hundred meters away," Lin Yu added with a look of pity.

Faced with her classmates’ regrets, An Fuqing shook her head. "Even if I had more time, I couldn’t have passed that trial. At least not right now."

Everyone was momentarily stunned. Lin Xue asked in confusion, "Why not?"

From the outside, it seemed like An Fuqing had progressed faster and easier on the path of heavenly kings than on the path of kings. If given another hour, she might have completed it.

An Fuqing calmly explained, "Because my foundation isn’t strong enough."

Through her sword will, An Fuqing could vaguely sense the limits of her own soul. Even if she had fully comprehended the micro-world's projection, she still wouldn’t have been able to pass the trial.

Her soul's strength was about double that of others in the same realm. However, even with that, the laws she could bear would only amplify her strength to the peak of the Sixth Heavenly Realm, making it impossible to defeat the Guardian Sword Puppet.

There was no way around it. While the Sword Puppet’s power was sealed at the beginning stage of level 8, its body was made of materials comparable to level 9, and her Sixth Heavenly Realm strength wouldn't be able to break it.

Why isn't anyone asking me anything?

Meanwhile, Ji Wuji stood at the edge of the crowd, baffled. He felt bewildered as everyone’s attention seemed to be focused on the girl.

As for Li Daoyi, after coming out, he sat cross-legged, focused on refining another strand of Innate Thunderbolt within him.

At that moment, Xia Youhui looked around and asked curiously, "Where’s Ah Chu? Why hasn’t he come out yet?"

Lin Xue and the others also looked puzzled. Right, wasn’t the path to divinity supposed to be over?

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Look, in the Eye!"

Everyone instinctively looked up. In the Eye of the Sky, the white clouds had dispersed, revealing a massive black gate hovering in the void, with rings of white light emanating from its edges.

In front of the colossal black gate stood a small figure.

"It’s Chen Chu!"

"Why is he still in there?"

"No way, he actually reached the end of the path!"

The crowd erupted instantly. Even those who had emerged from the ruins, including Ji Wuji, widened their eyes in disbelief as they stared at the figure at the end of the path.

Especially Ji Wuji and the others who had walked the path of heavenly kings—they knew better than anyone how difficult it was.

Not only did one have to comprehend the world projection, but after completing the first step, one had to be able to bear the enhancement of the laws and defeat the guardian colossal beasts that were two major realms stronger.

And that wasn’t even considering the long and arduous fourth stage after the path of heavenly kings.

"How did he get there so fast?" Ji Wuji couldn’t help but ask.

A genius from the northern battlefield, who had exited early, tried to console him. "Old Ji, don’t get worked up. That guy’s a monster—don’t compare yourself to him.

"While you guys were still on the first trial, he had already crushed the path of kings and walked the path of heavenly kings in three hours to reach the fourth stage. He actually reached the end of the path a long time ago. He’s been standing there for over an hour."

"What the fu..."