Chapter 521: Waiting To Confront A Traitor

As Jin Chengmin disappeared into the trees, a patch of darkness between the trees a kilometer away slowly dispersed, revealing Chen Chu and Qingqiu Minghui.

As he watched Jin Chengmin vanish into the distance, Qingqiu Minghui’s eyes flashed with intense killing intent. "Brother Chu, why didn’t you take him down?"

Chen Chu narrowed his eyes slightly. "It would tip off the enemy."

Jin Chengmin was indeed cautious. The decayed forest he was in had a special field that could contain the demonic qi from the stone disk, preventing it from leaking out.

However, this time, Chen Chu caught on to him.

Chen Chu's extraordinary physique wasn't the only reason behind his combat prowess. His hearing, sense of smell, and vision had all become incredibly sharp through training and cultivation. After breaking through ten thousand strength and obtaining Dragon attributes, his senses had even started to seem somewhat supernatural, capable of picking up even the faintest sounds.

Hence, even though he was a kilometer away, he could clearly hear the conversation between Jin Chengmin and the shadowy figure.

Moreover, with these powers, Chen Chu could also hear the countless roars, growls, crawling sounds, and even the breaths of various mutated beasts within a radius of ten kilometers, which made his head throb.

There was no helping it—a lot was going around at the moment.

Chen Chu relaxed and exhaled lightly. "Let’s go, Brother Qingqiu. Let’s find a place with a signal and call for backup. After all, we’ll be dealing with a demon king."

As he spoke, Chen Chu slowly placed his palm on the ground and made the air below vibrate slightly.

Beneath the branches where they stood was a colossal beast forty meters long and over twenty meters tall. It was covered in gray scales and resembled a giant elephant.

It looked up at them with terror in its eyes.

Bang!

Chen Chu instantly obliterated the massive beast using the power of heaven and earth. It didn’t even have time to let out a roar. Its head just caved in and exploded.

Blood, flesh, and fragments of a white substance[1] scattered across a hundred-meter radius.

Boom!

The colossal beast collapsed, the impact shaking the surrounding trees and making the ground tremble.

As the beast fell, Chen Chu and his companion disappeared from the area. They reappeared shortly on a small hillside not far from the mines.

The smartwatch on Qingqiu Minghui’s wrist flashed. "Got a signal here."

Smartwatches couldn’t be used for communication here. Hence, he pulled out a palm-sized golden device that resembled a phone from his storage space and called Chen Wang. This device was essentially the mythical version of a mobile phone.

A golden light flashed on the device, and a projection of the silver-haired young man appeared in front of them. He looked a bit serious.

“Minghui. Is something wrong?”

Qingqiu Minghui nodded solemnly. "King Chen, Deputy Chief Jin Chengmin of the Tianlan Mines is a traitor. Brother Chen and I witnessed him contacting the Purgatory Demon Clan firsthand."

The silver-haired youth’s gaze sharpened. "So Chen Chu's position has been compromised."

"Yes."

The young man turned to Chen Chu. "What do you think?"

Chen Chu smiled. "The Purgatory Demon Clan told Jin Chengmin to meet them in three hours and serve as their guide. It seems an important figure will be coming here soon."

His eyes turned cold. "When the time comes, we’ll turn the tables and eliminate them all.”

The enemy was likely going to send a demon king to assassinate him, but it didn’t matter. He had killed mythical-level creatures before and even wiped out an entire ordinary civilization.

The truth was, Chen Chu could have taken down Jin Chengmin earlier and set up an ambush at the rendezvous point.

However, the demon king could send subordinates to contact Jin Chengmin first. If so, then the demons would sense that something was wrong and choose not to show up.

To Chen Chu, this was an opportunity to bait and kill a demon king. If successful, he could earn astonishing merit points, which would allow him to exchange them for high-level Life Crystals worth over fifty thousand attribute points.

Exchanging merit points for Life Crystals would also allow the Federation to access the resources in the Expansion Division. If there weren’t enough Life Crystals in stock, the Federation would even dispatch powerful fighters to hunt them for him.

This was a demon king after all. Killing one and searching its remains could yield an even greater harvest. To Chen Chu, this demon king was practically a moving sack of wealth.

The silver-haired youth mused slightly, then looked at Qingqiu Minghui. "Three hours should be enough time for us to set things up, but this may be a bit risky for you guys."

Demon kings, who were as powerful as kings, could instantly kill Seventh or Eighth Heavenly Realm cultivators. Chen Chu was an exception, however. After all, he possessed a trump card—a forbidden weapon.

Qingqiu Minghui’s eyes gleamed with ferocity. "If we were afraid of danger, we wouldn’t have joined the Expansion Division. This is a chance to ambush a demon king. We won't miss it."

The silver-haired youth nodded solemnly. "If that’s the case..."

The three briefly discussed the upcoming situation. Chen Wang then hung up the call. Using his king-level access, he contacted the headquarters of the Expansion Division.

The light on the office wall flickered, revealing an elderly man with a rugged face. Sitting weakly behind a desk, he looked at the silver-haired youth.

"Chen Wang, why are you contacting me via this special line? Is something wrong on your end?"

Chen Wang nodded. "Yes, we’ve got a bit of a situation. Chu Batian has just arrived at the Seventh Legion, yet his location has already been leaked. The Purgatory Clan’s assassination unit is now targeting him."

The elderly man frowned. "Are there that many traitors within the human race?"

"That’s not it. This traitor was simply unlucky enough to get caught."

A hint of delight then appeared in Chen Wang's eyes as he continued, "Third Chairman, I don’t know if you’ve already reviewed Chu Batian's file, but that young man has cultivated the Insightful Eye and Insightful Blade to unprecedented levels.

"He can keenly perceive subtle emotional fluctuations, which is how he immediately noticed something odd about the deputy chief of the Tianlan Mines.

"The deputy chief did well hiding his true intentions. Two years ago, a member of an expansion team was suspiciously killed while out in the field. He was probably the one who leaked the information that caused the death of our member.

"I investigated that incident for six months but found no irregularities in anyone's behavior or cultivation progress. Jin Chengmin was one of our suspects, though.

"Now, he's arranged to meet with the Purgatory Demon Clan in three hours. They’ll probably send a demon king to assassinate Chen Chu."

To ensure absolute secrecy, after the information about Chen Chu’s path to becoming a god was sealed, only Xie Chen, Ji Yongning, Heavenly King Youming, and the three chairmen were informed.

Though also a king, Cheng Wang's knowledge on the matter was also limited. He only knew that Chen Chu had extraordinary talent and the potential to be a king.

The Purgatory Clan’s knowledge was equally limited. Hence, Chen Wang didn't anticipate that they would actually send two demon kings this time.

The elderly man showed a trace of admiration. "It seems that young man is truly a child of intertwined fate. He has barely entered the mythical world, yet he's already drawn the attention of a demon king."

He then turned serious. "I’ll coordinate things shortly and have Mu Jun and Hong Zhantian come to support you as soon as possible."

Right now, the human race was stretched thin, especially its kings, who were stationed in key positions. Such moves required careful coordination to avoid creating vulnerabilities.

However, three kings mobilized should be enough to surround and kill a demon king.

***

"So we're the bait."

Under the night sky, Chen Chu, Qingqiu Minghui, Lan Caiwei, and the others stood on a mountain ridge thousands of meters tall, looking down at the vast forest below with serious expressions.

"This mission is dangerous. You and the others should withdraw, Captain Lan. Let me and Chen Chu handle the situation here," Qingqiu Minghui urged.

Lan Caiwei frowned. "Minghui, do you think we're afraid to die?"

"This is a hunt for a demon king; how could I miss it?" Liang Ge excitedly added.

As part of the Expansion Division, Lan Caiwei and the others were not only full of adventure but were also accustomed to traveling alongside danger. Every mission into the mythical world was a journey that flirted with death.

Meng Shishi, who had been silent, calmly said, "Vice Captain, tell us what we should do next. We’re all in this together; none of us will leave at a critical moment like this."

Wen Jiayuan nodded. "Exactly.”

The determination on his teammates' faces made Qingqiu Minghui smile bitterly and stop trying to dissuade them. He already knew this would happen anyway.

"Well, our next task is simple. We'll just keep locating the colossal beasts in the mountains and wait for our enemies to come to us," Chen Chu interjected.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

In the bright moonlight, strange, enormous mutated beasts moved through the dense forest. Silhouettes also swiftly darted over the trees, some a hundred to several hundred meters tall.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Cultivators in the Seventh Heavenly Realm had condensed their True Martial Phantom, resonating with heaven and earth. Hence, while they weren't able to fly, they could briefly glide by harnessing the power of heaven and earth.

Using their movement arts and the treetops for leverage, the six quickly covered dozens of kilometers and found colossal beasts in the middle of the mountains.

A wide river surged through a valley with two ten-thousand-meter peaks on each side. Large mutated fish occasionally leaped out, sending splashes everywhere.

Twelve giant creatures roamed in the valley, which was several kilometers wide. Some were about forty meters tall, while the largest reached about a hundred and ten meters. They resembled colossal beings forged from gray stone.

The beasts seemed to be searching for something. They let out low growls as they moved and snapped trees with a single blow, making them seem highly agitated.

Looking at the group of colossal beasts, Lan Caiwei’s expression turned serious. "Three level 8 colossal beasts. Each of us will take one. Shishi, you handle the level 7 beasts and assist us as soon as you’re done."

Meng Shishi, the smallest member of the team, nodded. "Understood.”

Having worked together for many years, they had developed seamless coordination and were highly experienced in fighting groups of colossal beasts like this.

However, just before they could strike the beasts, Chen Chu calmly said, "Wait, let me handle this."

1. The author doesn't specify what these white substances are. Perhaps it's fat from the creature. ☜