Chapter 504: Chen Chu: "That Thunder Fiery Beast is incredibly powerful; I must meet it."

Beneath the whirlpool in the deep sea.

Clutching a five-meter-wide Dark Molten Divine Fruit in its claws, the Silver Colossal Dragon watched the Thunder Fiery Dragon Emperor tear through the scales with a strange expression.

Ao Tian, what are you doing?

The Thunder Fiery Dragon Emperor growled nonchalantly.

These scales are too thick; biting them dulls my fangs.

You’re actually worried about that?

Perplexed, the Silver Colossal Dragon glanced at the Dragon Emperor’s razor-sharp fangs, which had torn through countless colossal beasts.

Amid its confusion, the Silver Colossal Dragon swallowed the Dark Molten Divine Fruit in one gulp. A surge of ferocious energy exploded within it right after, enveloping it in a blazing red flame tens of meters high.

As the Single-Horned Kun and others devoured the blood and flesh of the Sword Dragon Colossal Beast, the Silver Colossal Dragon began to absorb the energy of the divine fruit. Meanwhile, the Dragon Emperor continued tearing off the beast’s scales.

Soon, it had created a mountain-like mound of black scales. Only then did the Dragon Emperor finally sink its fangs in.

Boom!

With terrifying bite force, it tore off a large chunk of the mythical colossal beast’s tough, dense muscles, producing a deep rumbling sound.

Compared to quasi-mythical colossal beasts, the flesh of a mythical colossal beast, tempered by the laws, contained far more formidable energy and was just as challenging to digest.

For ordinary level 9 beasts, even biting such a robust creature was impossible; they simply weren’t on the same level. The manner of “one creature died, another thrived” did not exist.

Normally, a deceased mythical creature would either be consumed by another at the same level or have its flesh’s embedded laws dissipate over time, returning to nature.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the Dragon Emperor chewed and swallowed, a terrifying burst of biological energy erupted within it, causing it to expand and grow visibly with each bite.

295, 297—its size gradually reached the three-hundred-meter limit of transcendent beings.

Unlike Zhulong or the Nine-Headed Serpent, a typical level 9 transcendent being’s size cap was three hundred meters, even at the peak of level 9.

After all, the peak of level 9 only brushed against the laws; it did not transition to a new life stage, causing its growth to be restricted. Even the Dragon Emperor had been bound by this limit before, like when it was capped at thirty meters at level 6 and sixty meters at level 7.

This time, however, upon reaching three hundred meters, the Dragon Emperor’s growth continued; it broke through the limit, gradually reaching 301 meters.

Boom!

In that instant, the Dragon Emperor’s aura surged wildly, the intense pressure making the seafloor whirlpool tremble. Even the colossal beasts in the distance, like the Single-Horned Kun, turned to watch.

The Silver Colossal Dragon, which had just fallen asleep after eating the divine fruit, was also startled awake.

Boom!

In the distance, a red spatial passage trembled as if sensing the Dragon Emperor’s skyrocketing aura. In response, a terrifying creature on the other side rammed against the passage.

Having broken through to the peak of level 9, the Dragon Emperor cast a cold glance at the vibrating passage’s vortex.

Next time, I’ll tear you apart.

It then withdrew its gaze, lowered its head, and continued devouring its meal.

After reaching the level 9 peak, it no longer needed to comprehend the laws; its abilities that had undergone divine transformation had begun a spontaneous metamorphosis, touching a terrifying power hidden in the depths of the world.

It was the power of destruction.

As the destruction laws resonated with its abilities and merged into its body, the Dragon Emperor’s flesh, blood, and bones underwent a rapid transformation, becoming immensely stronger.

Meanwhile, on its attribute page, the evolution points for its avatar finally reached thirty thousand, enabling it to initiate a fifth evolution at any moment. Right now, it could even invoke its ancient aura and reach the mythical level in a single leap.

However, the Dragon Emperor could sense that the energy within it was insufficient; the reserves still fell short. If it attempted to evolve forcibly now, it could end up in prolonged slumber.

Hence, it continued to eat.

As it devoured more flesh from the mythical colossal beast, breaking the limits of life itself, its form continued to grow gradually, and its aura grew increasingly more powerful.

The indescribable aura of dread made even Zhulong leave the core area and retreat into the sea.

***

Meanwhile, at the front base.

Under the cover of night, as the Dragon Emperor broke through to the level 9 peak, an explosive aura surged from Chen Chu, who had been in seclusion the entire day.

Boom!

The sheer force of his aura caused the ground to tremble and fierce winds to howl around him, awakening everyone in the small town.

"He’s truly remarkable. That genius created four worlds upon reaching the Eighth Heavenly Realm and even summoned an ancient divine vision."

"It's terrifying; ever since his breakthrough yesterday, his strength has been increasing at a frightening pace. It’s as if he has no bottlenecks."

"This talent..."

Those recovering in town gazed in awe, shock, and envy. Chen Chu’s recent performance had left them numb with amazement.

"Incredible."

Awakened, An Fuqing sighed softly, then closed her eyes again, entering a state of epiphany as the sword qi surrounding her grew subtly more complete.

Having comprehended the origin of the sword world in its entirety, An Fuqing progressed rapidly in developing her secret scripture, often entering states of epiphany at will.

Inside his room, as the Dragon Emperor began its physical metamorphosis, Chen Chu’s aura gradually subsided.

However, the repeated explosions of his aura had already destroyed the sofa, floor, and foundation beneath him, forming a ten-meter-deep pit.

Despite the destruction, however, he was still holding back his aura. At its full strength, it could have obliterated the entire building.

Sensing the terrifying power that had surged within him over the past two days, Chen Chu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the translucent status page before him.

Physique(Dragon): 1.4314 [A special life form that has broken through the transcendent limit; the body has transformed into a long-lived species under dragon attributes]

Strength(Dragon): 1.5218

Agility(Dragon): 1.1542

Spirit: 12,378

After reaching the late stage of level 9 earlier in the morning, his physique and strength surged by more than three thousand points. However, advancing to the peak of level 9 only brought an increase of under two thousand.

This was because quasi-mythical-level beings don’t evolve in a straightforward growth pattern; instead, the Dragon Emperor’s body and talents had undergone a stage-level metamorphosis. Hence, the feedback that Chen Chu received was not as massive as expected.

Even so, the continued enhancements to his foundational physical strength over the past two days had caused his power to skyrocket multiple times, making him even more fearsome.

The upcoming fifth evolution would bring even more astonishing feedback.

After all, it represented a growth from a transcendent being to a mythical-level creature.

Feeling the evolutionary energy flowing through the soul passage and gradually fortifying his body, Chen Chu pondered the Dragon Emperor’s fifth evolution.

To date, the Dragon Emperor had devoured hundreds of colossal beasts above level 7, but none of their abilities had impressed him as suitable targets.

Most of these beasts had water-related abilities, followed by ice-related ones and physical enhancement. Very few had illusion-based talents, let alone conceptual ones.

According to the avatar's evolution path, the sixth evolution would likely allow it to transcend into an ancient titan, a being above principles.

For that reason, the fifth evolution breakthrough into the mythical level was crucial; it would greatly impact its power for a long time.

Originally, Chen Chu’s top choices were abilities related to time, space, or causality.

However, after his battle with the Black Abyss King, he abandoned those options.

Currently, the Dragon Emperor had maxed out Strength, Defense, Agility, and Regeneration for close-range combat. It also had the transcendent elements of Golden Flames, Thunderbolt, and Death Toxin.

In terms of burst power, it had Gigantification, which could fuse other abilities, making it perfect in nearly every aspect. Multiple abilities in time or space would only slightly enhance its power.

Yet, in this world, no lifeform was perfect. Countless creatures possessed all kinds of terrifying abilities and laws, each countering the other.

For the Dragon Emperor, which followed the path of pure destruction, it needed a power immune to all interference.

It would require an ability to resist the suppression of special laws like time, space, thoughts, and soul-burning—something that would allow it to obliterate anything with absolute destructive power.

He also had to resolve the issue of the Dragon Emperor’s pseudo-heavenly-tier life aura.

He hadn’t anticipated that his recent battle against the mythical colossal beast would attract an ancient creature due to the life aura emitted by the Dragon Emperor.

Through successive enhancements to its innate abilities, the Dragon Emperor’s avatar had undergone life metamorphoses, reaching a terrifying level of existence that stirred even the predatory urges of colossal beasts of higher stages.

At the time, the vague reference by that ancient creature to "Heaven"—if not the literal sky—was clearly hinting at the Dragon Emperor’s pseudo-heavenly-tier imperial life form.

Were it not for the barrier of the world passage, escaping that ancient creature would have been troublesome. It could have even pursued him relentlessly.

Now, although the passage was blocked, there were still three more passages in the deep sea that connected to the mythical world. However, who could guarantee that there weren't other ancient creatures near those passages?

If the Dragon Emperor continued to grow and evolve, releasing its aura once more, it might attract an even stronger creature.

Thus, the source of this problem had to be addressed, perhaps by masking or altering the Dragon Emperor’s life aura to avoid drawing the attention of such terrifying beings.

While Chen Chu was contemplating the evolution of the Dragon Emperor, a message came through from Base One.

In the central hall of the base building, the projection of a middle-aged man with a scholarly demeanor, in his thirties, appeared and politely addressed Xie Chen, who sat behind his desk.

"Brother Xie, sorry to bother you."

Xie Chen looked up and smiled warmly. "Little Wang, what brings you here?"

The middle-aged man, Wang Zhen, gave a wry smile. "There’s been a change in the deep sea. A new mythical-level colossal beast has appeared, and we might need your presence to keep it in check."

"The deep sea? Isn’t that your territory?" Xie Chen asked, a bit surprised.

Wang Zhen sighed. "I’ve only just broken through to the king level a few years ago. I doubt my strength can keep that mutated creature under control."

"The mythical colossal beast is that powerful?" Xie Chen’s brows furrowed slightly.

Wang Zhen nodded, a look of amazement in his eyes. “Yes. Technically, it’s a level 9 transcendent colossal beast, but its battle power is far beyond that. Earlier, it defeated a quasi-mythical-level colossal beast at the beginning stage of level 9.

"Now, it reached the late stage of level 9, and without advancing to mythical status, it managed to kill the mythical creature that occupied the opposite side of Passage Three.

"That creature was registered to be at the middle stage of mythical level, yet it was killed by a late-stage level 9 transcendent colossal beast."

Xie Chen’s expression grew serious. "How fearsome."

For a late-stage level 9 creature to counter a middle-stage mythical creature was an astonishing leap in strength, even more so than a beginning-stage level 8 cutting down a middle-stage level 9. Moreover, this time, it was done by a colossal beast.

Xie Chen hadn’t expected that in just a few years, such a fearsome creature would emerge in the outside world.

"Little Wang, send me the detailed report."

As the guardian of Base One, Xie Chen generally refrained from intervening in external matters unless his direct involvement was required—just like in this case.

Base One was the core defense of the Celestial Think Tank. Hence, its guardian forces were at the king level, at the very least. His one or two-day absence wouldn’t pose any issues.

He had even less to worry about concerning the security on the opposite side of the passage. After all, more powerful protectors were stationed there.

...

The next morning.

Chen Chu slowly opened his eyes, a faint reflection of a three-faced, six-armed figure visible in his gaze. The six arms of his War God Body cradled the phantom of a grand world.

From his seclusion starting yesterday afternoon through the night, he not only perfected the previous three moves in his epiphany state but also created the fourth move of the Seven Demon-Slaying Slashes.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Grand Burial!

Despite his epiphany being interrupted several times and his full attention focused on the Dragon Emperor’s battle with the mythical colossal beast and the ancient creature, he still managed to complete it.

For now, however, he had to set aside refining his combat skills. The matter involving the Dragon Emperor took precedence.

He had to go to Base One to connect with the core of the Celestial Think Tank and search the Federation’s database for information on all high-level mutated creatures.

Particularly, he wanted to study recent research on mutated marine creatures.

Whoosh!

In the morning sunlight, a figure streaked swiftly across the ground, appearing a kilometer away in the blink of an eye. Soon, Chen Chu arrived at Base One.

Spotting Xie Chen emerging from the central base building, Chen Chu paused and greeted him politely, "Good morning, Lord Xie."

Slightly surprised, Xie Chen nodded with a slight smile. "Morning, Little Chen. Do you have business here today?"

"Yes, I plan to connect to the core of the Celestial Think Tank to look up some information."

"I see. Well, you’re just in time. I was about to head out on a mission to the deep sea to confront a mythical-level colossal beast. Are you interested in seeing it for yourself?"

Chen Chu’s gaze sharpened. "A newly ascended mythical colossal beast in the deep sea?"

Xie Chen nodded. "That’s right. It’s a formidable mutated creature, code-named Thunder Fiery..."

With an increasingly strange look, Chen Chu listened as Xie Chen recounted the information he’d reviewed the previous evening.

Chen Chu looked genuinely astonished. "It grew from level 7 to late-stage level 9 in a few months by fighting middle-stage mythical colossal beasts? That’s terrifying."

Xie Chen nodded in agreement. "This mutated creature has practically shattered decades of human understanding of the ocean. Its potential is far beyond anyone’s imagination.

"That’s why I have to assess it myself and see if it can communicate. If it shows no hostility toward humanity, we’ll establish a non-aggression pact and go our separate ways However, if it displays strong hostility toward our people, then it will have to be dealt with."

A cold gleam appeared in Xie Chen’s eyes.

As the king overseeing Passage One, Xie Chen’s cultivation had reached the late stage of the king level. Moreover, he had a weapon of immense power.

"Lord Xie, please let me accompany you. I want to see this horrifying mutated creature with my own eyes,” Chen Chu quickly decided.