Chapter 631: Enhancement of the Soul, the Return of Zuo Jing

On the desolate land, a colossal black stone gate, towering ten thousand meters high, stood imposingly. Ancient and mysterious runes were engraved on the gate's surface, radiating a profound aura.

Chen Chu and his friends stood beneath the massive stone gate, appearing as insignificant as ants in comparison.

The terrain surrounding the gate was undulating, with weathered rocky hills standing tall. Among them, over a dozen enormous gray stone statues loomed in the distance, their heads shrouded in mist. They bore some resemblance to the alien races that made up the Alliance of Gods, exuding a sense of majesty and ferocity.

However, several hundred kilometers beyond, the land suddenly fractured, collapsing into a chaotic landscape of shattered earth and crumbling mountains, with countless massive meteorites floating in the void.

This was not the aftermath of spatial collapse, but rather a vast cosmic vacuum devoid of anything. The land they stood upon, spanning a thousand kilometers in radius, was merely an island floating within it.

Countless years ago, a cataclysmic battle had erupted here, shattering the very world itself.

Sensing the chaotic laws of nature and the violent energy permeating the air, Chen Chu spoke with a solemn expression. "Everyone, be careful. There’s something off about this ruin."

"Mhmm." Hong Zhen and the others nodded slightly.

A young man with a third eye on his forehead slowly said, "Everyone, our goal in exploring the Gulado Ruin is to seek resources and inheritances, not to engage in unnecessary combat.

"These ruins are vast beyond measure, once the remnants of a shattered internal world. I propose that we each choose a direction to explore separately, without interfering with one another. What do you think?"

As he spoke, the young man from the Divine Three-Eyed Clan turned his gaze toward the human delegation, his eyes locking onto Chen Chu. Apart from him, none of the others were deemed worthy of attention by this peak Ninth Heavenly Realm expert.

Chen Chu nodded slowly. "Agreed. Our Divine Region will take that direction." He pointed toward the left rear, even though that area was densely filled with floating meteorites.

In addition, there were three intact statues in each direction. An Fuqing had previously mentioned that she had obtained her Soul Crystals from within these statues.

However, the one she had shattered back then had been much smaller, only a few hundred meters tall.

With Ji Wuji and An Fuqing both at the Eighth Heavenly Realm, and Li Hao, who had entered at the peak of the Sixth, the humans secured a major direction of exploration.

The young man of the Divine Three-Eyed Clan nodded in agreement. "Very well."

Ignoring the various factions of alien races dividing their own exploration routes and regions, Chen Chu turned to Xia Zuo and the others. "Shall we split up or move in small teams of two or three?"

Hong Zhen said in a deep voice, "Exploring ruins depends largely on luck. Moving together would be a waste of time; it’s better if we split up."

"I have no objections."

"Alright, let's do it."

After a brief discussion, the eight members of Chen Chu’s group transformed into streaks of light, soaring into the sky. The alien races also dispersed in all directions.

No one knew how long the ruin would remain open, so they had to make the most of their time exploring. If they wished to leave voluntarily, they simply needed to return to the black stone gate and activate the iron token in their hands to be pulled out by that powerful force.

Whoosh!

A thousand meters high in the sky, Chen Chu advanced steadily, covering a kilometer with each step. Not far from him, An Fuqing streaked through the sky in a dazzling azure sword light a hundred meters long, resembling a brilliant ribbon stretching across the heavens and earth.

Under the gleam of the sword light, they swiftly traversed over two hundred kilometers, arriving near a massive stone statue over a thousand meters tall. The statue depicted an alien race with a tiger-faced human body, adorned with white stripes.

An Fuqing halted, her gaze grave as she examined the statue. "Chen Chu, these statues lack long-range attack capabilities, but their physical strength is significant. They’re also nearly immune to energy attacks."

"Immune to energy attacks?" Chen Chu was visibly surprised.

An Fuqing nodded. "Yes, it appears to be related to the special runes carved on their bodies."

Staring at the colossal statue, Chen Chu found it strangely familiar, reminiscent of the statues he had encountered on his way to the Seventh Legion's outpost; especially those runes etched onto its surface, which seemed crude and randomly drawn, yet bore a striking resemblance to the ones he had seen before.

Boom!

Suddenly, An Fuqing’s overwhelming sword will pierced through the clouds. The black sword behind her emitted a surge of radiant sword light, expanding to over two hundred meters in length before soaring skyward.

The black sword qi, imbued with spatial tearing properties, ripped through the atmosphere, leaving a deep, pitch-black scar in the air as it shot forth.

The runes on the statue’s surface suddenly ignited with a radiant glow upon sensing the energy fluctuations.

Boom!

The massive stone statue stirred to life, its mountainous arm sweeping forward with massive force and unleashing a tidal wave of shockwaves as it aimed to strike the incoming sword qi.

However, compared to the swift sword qi, the statue's movement appeared sluggish. As the two forces collided, the sword qi veered and slashed across the statue's arm.

Boom!

Despite the formidable power of the sword qi, capable of creating rifts in the mythical world's spaces, it merely carved a fifty-meter-long, several-meter-deep gash into the statue’s rocky arm.

In that instant, an explosive counterforce erupted from the statue, shattering the razor-sharp sword qi and scattering its remnants into the air.

Woooo!

The stone statue emitted a deep, vibrating sound akin to a steam whistle. A surge of energy, comparable to the Ninth Heavenly Realm, erupted from within, as its massive arms swept forward, sending shockwaves crashing toward An Fuqing and Chen Chu.

As the colossal palms swung down, the mysterious runes entwining its arms lit up, generating an immense pressure that enveloped the area within several hundred meters around them.

Under the force that seemed to condense the air into solid form, both of them felt a heavy burden pressing down, making movement difficult.

Just as An Fuqing was about to unleash an even sharper sword will, attempting to slice through the oppressive steel-like air, Chen Chu said calmly, "Let me handle this."

With a slight movement...

Boom!

The solidified air around him shattered, creating transparent rifts that spread outward. By then, Chen Chu had already appeared several hundred meters away.

In his hands, the fearsome Eight Desolations Heavenly Halberd emerged, exuding an overwhelming aura of power.

Since the statues exhibited a high resistance to energy attacks, Chen Chu saw no need to waste his true power, opting instead to shatter it with sheer brute force.

Boom!

As the colossal stone hands clapped together, the sheer force compressed the air into a tangible form, releasing white high-pressure shockwaves through the gaps in its fingers.

Only then did Chen Chu, appearing minuscule compared to the towering statue, react. His halberd pulsed with a crimson glow—a manifestation of the Blood Sea Purgatory, augmented by the forces of his four planar worlds.

Crack!

Under the effects of Infinite Pressure, the surface of the halberd formed a compressed pressure field, resembling a mountain reduced to a mere four meters in size. The weapon's overwhelming weight distorted the surrounding space.

Boom!

As Chen Chu swept the halberd horizontally at ten times the speed of sound, a black semicircle engulfing dozens of meters in radius spread out, shattering the very fabric of space in its wake.

The statue’s colossal palm exploded instantly, pulverized into countless fragments that shot outward over ten kilometers in all directions.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

At the same moment, An Fuqing unleashed four streaks of sword qi, each in black, red, azure, and gray, forming radiant ribbons around her.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The stone fragments, traveling at several times the speed of sound like cannonballs, were instantly shredded by the swirling sword qi, erupting into shockwaves that stirred up a howling wind.

This was the reality of high-level combat—without sufficient strength, even just approaching the battlefield would mean instant obliteration by the residual shockwaves.

Amid the raging shockwaves in the distance, Chen Chu’s figure flickered and appeared atop the stone statue’s head. His halberd, enveloped in a blood-red glow, descended with devastating force.

Boom!

At the moment the halberd struck, the runes covering the statue’s entire body flared up, instantly distributing the impact force evenly across its form.

Boom!

The massive statue trembled violently, causing the ground beneath it to shatter across a radius of several kilometers. Countless rocks and debris were sent skyward by the force of Chen Chu’s strike.

However, his physical strength was far too overwhelming. After just a brief stalemate, black rifts began to spread across the statue’s head.

Crack! Crack!

The cracks rapidly expanded, covering the entire upper half of the statue, tearing through the runes, and causing the cohesive energy within it to dissipate.

Boom!

The upper half of the statue exploded, scattering debris in all directions, while the lower half, resembling a mountain, collapsed with a thunderous crash, sending clouds of dust and wind surging into the sky.

Gazing at the collapsed "mountain" below, Chen Chu’s eyes locked onto a watermelon-sized, semi-transparent black crystal among the shattered debris of the statue’s head.

Whoosh!

In a flash, Chen Chu descended, picking up the Soul Crystal, and a translucent row of text appeared before his eyes.

[High-purity crystallized soul energy detected. Convert to soul points?]

A faint smile appeared on Chen Chu’s face as he stored the Soul Crystal. Since An Fuqing was present, now wasn’t the time to convert it directly.

Woooo!

The low hum of steam whistles echoed from various directions, signaling the activation of other statues. In the distance, Hong Zhen and Chen Shuang had locked onto two statues several kilometers away.

Unlike Chen Chu, who had shattered his statue with a single strike, their battle was far more intense. Powerful attacks bombarded the statues, sending fragments flying in all directions.

However, while Hong Zhen and Chen Shuang had the upper hand, the statues’ high resistance to energy attacks—resembling the Chaotic Black Patterns of the Dragon Emperor—meant that destroying them would take considerable time.

Chen Chu glanced at their battles but decided against interfering; after all, they were allies. Besides, he could faintly sense more statues floating in the distant void.

With the statue in their direction destroyed, Chen Chu and An Fuqing soon reached the edge of the void.

Looking at the sword-bearing girl beside him, Chen Chu reminded her, "An Fuqing, your sword qi is somewhat weaker against these statues. Be careful."

"Don’t worry, I know my limits. I won’t venture into the ruins beyond my capabilities." An Fuqing nodded before charging into the void, where transcendent energies swirled in chaotic currents.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

An Fuqing, looking like a streak of sword light, swept through the void like a dazzling ribbon over a hundred meters long. Her path obliterated countless meteors, each dozens to hundreds of meters wide, reducing them to dust.

As Chen Chu watched her disappear into the void, he turned and flew in another direction. With his formidable vision, he had already spotted a relatively intact structure two hundred kilometers away.

Boom!

With the Eight Desolations Heavenly Halberd wrapped in violet-red halberd light, flickering for hundreds of meters, a massive two-kilometer-wide chunk of debris exploded under its sweep. The resulting shockwave mixed with dust clouds and spread across dozens of kilometers.

Hovering in the void with halberd in hand, a faint smile appeared on his face. The feeling of destroying everything was exhilarating.

Who would have thought that just over half a year ago, he had merely been a low-level cultivator who could barely lift a few hundred kilograms with a swing of his arm, relying solely on brute strength in combat?

Now, he could soar through the skies and burrow into the earth, capable of obliterating mountains and shattering the land with a single strike.

After savoring the thrill, Chen Chu transformed into a streak of golden-purple light, flying toward his target. Maneuvering around the floating debris, he approached the ruins.

The site was a massive island floating in the void, spanning over twenty kilometers in diameter. In the center stood an ancient architectural complex covering several kilometers.

Most of the buildings had collapsed, leaving only remnants of walls and rubble. However, a towering white stone palace, over a thousand meters high, remained standing.

Time had worn down the palace's walls and the carvings on its stone pillars, leaving them faint and eroded. Only the Gulado runes still emitted traces of power fluctuations.

In front of the palace’s main gate, on a vast plaza, stood eight broken stone statues over five hundred meters tall, with missing arms and legs.

Boom!

Chen Chu descended from the sky at over ten times the speed of sound, landing with such force that the ground within dozens of meters cracked apart. Rocks shot out like shrapnel in all directions.

Hum!

Sensing an intruder, the runes on the eight dragon-headed humanoid statues flared to life, releasing energy fluctuations comparable to the Eighth Heavenly Realm.

Crack! Crack!

The eight damaged statues slowly turned their heads toward Chen Chu, emitting an invisible wave of killing intent that shook the air.

"Intruder... eliminate."

Before the statues could move, a three-hundred-meter-long golden halberd shot forth from the billowing dust, obliterating them one by one. Each statue shattered into countless fragments, unable to withstand Chen Chu's overwhelming force.

Amid the swirling dust, Chen Chu’s figure flickered several times as he swiftly collected eight fist-sized, translucent, black Soul Crystals. Finally, he landed atop the head of a shattered statue, several dozen meters high.

These statues were indeed highly resistant to external attacks augmented with transcendent energy, but their immunity had limits. Once that threshold was exceeded, they could still be destroyed.

These statues—hundreds of meters tall and capable of unleashing Eighth Heavenly Realm power—were nearly immune to energy attacks of the same level. Only physical force could effectively damage them.

On the other hand, the previous statue, over a thousand meters tall, had been immune to Ninth Heavenly Realm energy attacks, its combat power on par with that level. Furthermore, the Soul Crystal it had housed was significantly larger.

Holding the Soul Crystal, Chen Chu opted to convert it directly.

[You have converted eight Soul Crystals, gaining 72, 83... and 91 soul points.]

[You have converted one high-purity Soul Crystal, gaining 391 soul points.]

With the addition of the previous 97 points and the earlier level 9 Soul Crystal, his total soul points reached 1,143, meeting the requirement for advancing the Taixu Nether Light Scripture.

Even he couldn't help feeling excited by the speed of his progress. Glancing at the desolate palace ahead, which only had twelve barren stone pillars within its hollow interior, he sat cross-legged on a stone platform and issued a mental command.

Consume 1,000 soul points to enhance the Taixu Nether Light Scripture to the fourth stage.

Boom!

Instantly, a massive amount of energy converted from the soul points exploded within his body, surging into the depths of his being. There, a towering soul manifestation of himself, clad in black imperial robes, emerged.

Under the influence of the soul enhancement energy, the Taixu Scripture circulated at an astonishing speed. His soul manifestation's aura swelled, becoming increasingly oppressive as its form gradually expanded.

While Chen Chu advanced in his soul cultivation, other humans and aliens continued to explore the ruin, delving deeper into the void.

In the depths of the ruins' world was a young man in white robes who bore an uncanny resemblance to Zuo Jing from the southern battlefield.

He slowly opened his eyes.