Chapter 663: A Glimpse from Time, the Kunpeng Colossal Beast (I)

Inside the seclusion chamber, as Chen Chu continued cultivating with closed eyes, a black rune resembling an eye suddenly surfaced on his forehead, emitting a faint glow.

In an instant, Chen Chu’s eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of golden-black vertical pupils that seemed capable of shrouding the sky in darkness.

Under the gaze of the Void Death Eyes, the world faded into monochrome, revealing the essence of all things. Deep within the white and black expanse, a vague phantom coiled at the horizon.

The indistinct figure was enveloped by a hazy, translucent glow. In the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed in this time and space.

A time-based entity!

The golden-black vertical pupils in Chen Chu’s eyes gradually faded, leaving behind a solemn expression.

This time-based entity was powerful. It didn’t exist in the present, nor did it belong to the past, but rather stood at an unknown point in time, silently observing him as if he were prey.

Though it had only glanced at him, Chen Chu’s Insightful Eye had given him an overwhelming sense of danger. Even at his current peak explosive power, which could rival the peak of the mythical level, he had the distinct feeling that he was no match for this time-based entity.

Titan-level!

However, who was the real prey here was still uncertain. Excitement flashed in Chen Chu’s eyes—this time-based entity was immensely strong, meaning it possessed formidable mastery over the power of time.

If he could summon the Destructive Dragon Emperor and have it devour this creature, the power it would gain would be even greater. With its current overall strength, combined with time manipulation, it would reach a level so overwhelming that its enemies would despair.

But the time-based entity was cautious. It had merely observed Chen Chu before vanishing, lurking in the shadows without launching an attack.

Chen Chu waited a while longer. Only after confirming through his spiritual premonition that the entity had departed did he close his eyes again, albeit with a hint of regret.

***

Roar!

A deafening roar erupted in the rift world. A black-and-red colossal beast, stretching over 1,360 meters in length and standing over 400 meters tall at the shoulder, raised its head and howled at the sky. Its black mane flared wildly, exuding an aura of unparalleled ferocity and terror.

Before this monstrous creature lay a golden skeletal frame, over two thousand meters long, like a massive golden mountain radiating an overwhelming presence. The divine resonance of the law of gold lingered upon it.

As a titan-level beast that had fully integrated a complete law, even in death, its flesh and bones retained remnants of its power. Combined with its immense biological energy, its remains were equivalent to a collection of top-level divine items.

This was precisely why the Dragon Emperor had distributed the four top-level divine fruits to its subordinates earlier.

Even so, after devouring the golden Dapeng, the Dragon Emperor's size had only increased by a little over three hundred meters, its level rising from the middle stage of the mythical level to the late stage, nearing the peak.

There was no helping it—the Dragon Emperor's body was simply too powerful.

Its density was dozens of times greater than that of other colossal beasts of the same level. Moreover, it had undergone tempering through eight high-level laws and a heavenly-tier transformation, making its very essence comparable to that of a titan beast.

Thus, every meter of growth required an astronomical amount of biological energy. The fact that it had managed to grow over three hundred meters in a single day after consuming a titan beast was already an astonishing feat.

Nearby, Qiongqi, which was recovering from its injuries, stared wide-eyed at the significantly larger Dragon Emperor as if it had seen a ghost.

Its energy conversion efficiency and growth rate are simply unbelievable.

Whoosh!

The Dragon Emperor exhaled, sending waves of scorching air rippling outward. Feeling the surge of newfound power coursing through its body, its lips curled into a savage grin.

With its increased size, not only had its physical strength been greatly enhanced, but all eight of its high-level laws had simultaneously progressed to the intermediate stage. The most powerful ones—destruction, Vajra, and Chaotic Dark Force—had even neared the advanced stage.

For an ordinary cultivator, even one with exceptional talent, comprehending a single law to the intermediate stage after breaking into the King realm would take years, if not decades.

After briefly acclimating to its newfound power, the Dragon Emperor shifted its focus forward.

Floating before it was a vat-sized mass of golden blood, shimmering brilliantly with divine resonance flowing through it, and emanating a fierce aura that shook the heavens.

This was the essence extracted from the golden Dapeng’s flesh, roughly one-fifth of its entire body’s essence.

The only reason the Dragon Emperor hadn’t extracted more was because it needed to consume the remaining flesh. Extracting too much essence would cause a drastic drop in the meat’s energy value.

Roar!

With a deep, rumbling growl, the Dragon Emperor—its form resembling a small mountain—suddenly moved. Every step it took caused the ground to shatter within a radius of several hundred meters, leaving claw marks embedded dozens of meters deep.

And this was despite being surrounded by a domain force field. Otherwise, given its current weight and density, it would have immediately sunk into the ground.

Sweeping up a whirlwind of force, the Dragon Emperor soon reached its destination. The Single-Horned Kun, which lay in slumber, was absorbing the energy of a Red-Patterned Divine Fruit.

Boom!

With a single strike from the Dragon Emperor, the Kun, now reaching three hundred meters in length and faintly exuding the aura of laws, was blasted a hundred meters into the ground.

The sheer explosive impact sent waves of shattered rock and earth rolling like a turbulent sea, churning up thick clouds of dust over a range of several kilometers.

Stunned from the sudden attack, the Kun remained dazed for a moment before flaring its fins and soaring into the sky amid the swirling debris. It glanced at the massive black-and-red colossal beast with a hint of grievance.

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Thunder Fiery, why did you hit me?!

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The Dragon Emperor let out a low growl.

Roar! I didn’t hit you, I was just waking you up.

Waking me up?

The Kun cast a doubtful glance at the kilometer-wide crater beneath it and the shattered terrain spanning several thousand meters.

Are you sure you weren’t trying to kill me with that strike?

The Dragon Emperor rumbled.

Roar! This is a portion of the beast’s essence. I’ll help you activate your bloodline in a moment. Let’s see if you can absorb part of its power and evolve.

As an emperor-level colossal beast, it possessed a natural ability to trigger the bloodline potential of its subordinates, allowing for a bloodline purification process—the very reason why the Kun and other colossal beasts had the potential to evolve into king-level creatures.

Otherwise, without access to law-level resources that perfectly aligned with their attributes, they would have no chance of advancing their bloodlines from lord-level to king.

Now that the Dragon Emperor had ascended to a heavenly-tier lifeform, this ability had grown even stronger. It could now even aid its subordinates in fusing with foreign bloodlines to achieve evolution—a power akin to creation itself.

This realization made the Dragon Emperor appreciate the true potential of the Little Purple Dragon’s creation ability even more.

However, the Dragon Emperor was certain that the Purple Dragon was not a true heavenly-tier lifeform. Its life stage was most likely pseudo-heavenly-tier, similar to the Dragon Emperor before its own evolution.

Following the natural pattern of mythical colossal beasts, whose offspring typically inherited a lower tier bloodline, it was highly likely that the Purple Dragon’s parents had been heavenly-tier beings.

However, if they couldn’t even protect their offspring’s egg, instead allowing it to nearly perish due to the loss of life essence, then the Dragon Emperor suspected that the Purple Dragon’s parents had most likely died.

The idea that heavenly-tier beings were immortal was only true under normal circumstances. If they encountered an opponent of overwhelming strength, their very existence could be erased from the source.

This was why, even though the Dragon Emperor had now become a heavenly-tier lifeform at the late stage of the mythical level, it remained highly cautious, never daring to be reckless.

Of course, the Dragon Emperor’s ability to help its subordinates fuse with colossal beasts' essences and purify their bloodlines came with strict limitations—the essence must be highly compatible with the recipient's existing bloodline.

For example, the Kun and the Dapeng. In mythical legends, the Kun and Dapeng were inseparable. However, the Single-Horned Kun had only awakened the Kun bloodline, without any trace of the Dapeng. If it could successfully fuse with a Dapeng bloodline, it would undoubtedly undergo a major evolution.

This was why the Dragon Emperor planned to have Zhulong return and bring back other colossal beasts like the Deep Sea Dragon Turtle.

Compared to empowering the mythical colossal beasts it had subdued later, the Dragon Emperor placed more trust in the subordinates who had fought alongside it from the very beginning—their loyalty was unquestionable.

Such as the Blue Giant Crab; if the Dragon Emperor gave the command, it would charge into battle against dozens of level 8 colossal beasts without hesitation.

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Fuse with this beast’s essence?!

Gazing at the floating golden blood, the Kun’s eyes gleamed with excitement. It didn’t even consider whether the fusion would succeed or fail; as long as Thunder Fiery said it would work, then it was certain.

With that thought, the Kun opened its nearly hundred-meter-wide maw, resembling a black hole, and swallowed the Dapeng’s essence in one gulp.

Boom!

The essence, infused with the Dapeng’s bloodline factor and the law of gold, erupted inside its body, releasing an overwhelming surge of energy.

Countless golden blades of light continuously pierced the Kun’s incredibly tough flesh—normally impervious to missiles—forcing a pained howl out of it.

Roar!

As the Kun writhed in the air from the agony, the Dragon Emperor let out a roar that shook space itself. Azure mystic runes flickered on its right claw, as it slammed down on the Kun’s head.

Boom!

The impact shattered the air, cracking space itself. The Kun was immediately pinned to the ground, unable to move. It could only thrash its tail and fins wildly, causing the earth to fracture under the force.

The heavenly-tier life aura brimming in the Dragon Emperor’s claw erupted, instantly triggering the Kun’s latent bloodline.

Boom!

A torrent of ancestral power exploded within the Kun, surging like an unstoppable flood. The golden essence was carried through its entire body, seeping deep into its cells and genetic sequence chains.

Woooo!

Its consciousness trembled. In that moment, it seemed to hear a deep, ancient whale-like horn resounding across the heavens.

In a hazy vision, it saw an enormous being—one that seemed both Kun and Dapeng—stretching across the sky. Its colossal form was boundless, and a single flap of its vast wings shrouded the world in darkness like an endless sky of clouds.

As it gazed upon this majestic primordial beast, waves of vast and ancient knowledge poured into the Kun’s consciousness, making its head spin. Unable to endure the immense influx of information, it instinctively let out a resounding horn-like sound, echoing across the world.

Woooo!

Boom!

A brilliant explosion of black-and-white light erupted from the Kun, interwoven with streaks of golden radiance. Its aura seemed to explode, completely stepping into the quasi-mythical level.

The entire rift world trembled slightly under the immense pressure of its transformation. Its transcendent energy surged chaotically, converging upon the Kun and forming dense white clouds that coiled around its massive form.