Chapter 771: The Severely Wounded Primordial Ancestor and the Expansion Roster (II)

Within Chen Chu's perception, a twisted demonic rune of the character "Seal" slowly rotated at the center of his brow, suppressing the Hell's Eye embedded within the Face of the Demon God.

Yet beneath the rune, a faint redness had begun to seep through, as the contract power contained within the Hell's Eye began to erode it. At this rate, the seal would likely be destroyed in just over a month.

The Primordial Ancestor of the Purgatory Clan was, after all, only at the true ancient spirit level, whereas the Supreme Hell, spanning countless worlds and countless timelines, was an existence utterly beyond comparison.

Rather, it was the sealing of the Space-Time Summoning Secret Art and the planar world that posed greater trouble for Chen Chu.

Looks like I’ll have to trouble the First Councilor to help erase the seals when I return,

Chen Chu thought weakly.

Only an equivalent force of principles could undo a seal formed from the power of principles.

Although these four seals originated from a true-ancient-spirit-level existence, they were merely four strands of principle power. With the First Councilor’s strength, erasing them shouldn’t be a problem, though the cost would be considerable, and it would take some time.

***

As Chen Chu floated amid the chaotic currents of time and space, silently waiting for the Silver Time Butterfly to make its move...

Above the Sky Battlefield, at an altitude of ten thousand kilometers, three phantoms appeared.

By now, half a day had passed since the end of the great battle at the front lines. Across the vast battlefield, countless soldiers from both sides were busy cleaning up the aftermath.

Qian Tian looked in the direction of the Purgatory Clan’s base and slowly said, "I sensed Chen Chu use the Luotian Divine Shadow Talisman earlier, but he still hasn’t returned. When I refined it, I had set the teleportation point to here, at the Sky Base."

The Celestial King’s expression darkened. "Considering how strong Chen Chu is, he must have encountered at minimum an awakened peak great demon king, maybe even a demon-god-level opponent, for him to be forced to use a forbidden weapon to teleport.

"But before he set off, didn’t we agree that he would only harass the Purgatory Clan’s rear forces and withdraw once the front lines received reports of the enemy legions retreating?"

Heavenly King Zhenwu smiled wryly. "He clearly deviated from our plan. He must have either failed to retreat in time, or something unexpected had happened midway.

"Earlier, when the enemy legions began to retreat and the three demon gods tore through the battlefield with their principle power, we engaged them for another half a day.

"It took nearly a full day for our spies to send word to Chen Chu and for him to use the talisman. That should have been enough time for him to withdraw."

Zhenwu paused, and all three men smiled wryly.

It was obvious that Chen Chu had acted against the original plan. However, considering he was a peerless genius who stood above his generation, it was only natural that he had his own ideas. It was also possible that some unforeseen event had forced him to change course.

"Still, while he hasn't directly teleported back, his soul's aura remains stable, so there shouldn’t be any major problems."

Behind Zhenwu stood the towering True Martial Stele, emanating an aura that suppressed time and space. Within it, a thread of soul aura rotated slowly.

As the owner of that thread, if Chen Chu were to perish, the aura would immediately dissipate with him.

Qian Tian nodded slowly. "Now that the battle has ended, it’s time to discuss the situation with the Heavenly Feathered Race and select the roster for the expansion support."

Hearing this, Zhenwu’s brow furrowed slightly. "The Clan’s reaction has been rather fierce during this battle. If I leave, will the pressure here become too much?"

Qian Tian answered calmly, "Don’t worry. This battlefield can only hold so much, and I have already refined half of this world. Within these principles, I can withstand two demon gods of the same tier.

"Plus, with the Celestial King’s support and the ability to summon the Primordial King at any time from the rear, even if those empires threw their full might at us, they wouldn't be able to quickly break through."

As he spoke, the three looked into the distance. Far across the horizon, above the Purgatory Clan’s base, two demon-god-level beings stood tall, their gazes crossing the void to clash with theirs.

Between them stretched the Sky Battlefield—over ten thousand kilometers wide, thirty thousand kilometers long, irregularly shaped, and shrouded completely in invisible principle power. The battlefield had been divided neatly down the middle.

These principles were connected to the forbidden zones on either side. On one side, Qian Tian commanded the principles covering humanity’s half of the battlefield; on the other, an equally powerful demon god controlled the opposing principles. At every moment, the two sides clashed, grinding against one another.

This scene resembled the Abyssal Battlefield, where the Celestial King and Deorus had also stood locked in constant confrontation.

As the one who had refined this world’s principles, Qian Tian possessed enough strength to tear apart and upheave the land across a span of over ten thousand kilometers in a single explosive outburst. It was equivalent to ripping the Blue Planet itself in half.

It wasn’t just this battlefield. Behind the human frontlines, the heavens and earth were also suffused with three great principle forces, the entire territory blanketed by the influence of the supreme councilors.

This was why no demon gods dared to infiltrate the human's territory. If one did attempt it, they would instantly be suppressed by the combined might of the three supreme beings. Moreover, with the principles refined into the heavens and earth, the speed of reinforcement was incredibly fast.

Even though the distance between the Expansion Division and the frontline battlefield was thirty to forty thousand kilometers, they could swiftly summon reinforcements through the principles, making this relatively small territory impregnable.

Of course, this method had both advantages and disadvantages. One major drawback was that they couldn’t casually leave their posts.

"By the way, Bredos mentioned earlier that he has successfully infiltrated the upper ranks of the Assassination Division. He’s now been sent back for further training to purify his bloodline and break through to the Ninth Heavenly Realm.

"I’ll have him probe for news about Chen Chu’s situation..."

***

Deep within the chaotic currents of time and space, after sensing Chen Chu’s aura growing increasingly weak, the time-based creature finally couldn’t resist any longer.

Boom!

The chaotic currents trembled. From within the transparent river of time, a silver butterfly with a wingspan of over three thousand meters descended, the countless golden light particles surrounding it making it look dazzling and majestic.

Time power emanated invisibly from its body, suppressing everything. Even the violent chaos of space-time gradually calmed, forming a stable region spanning ten kilometers. Chen Chu just so happened to float near the edge of this stabilized area.

With a gleam of excitement in its gaze, the Silver Time Butterfly’s enormous compound eyes locked onto him, specifically the transparent markings entwined around the left side of his body.

The butterfly’s massive silver wings trembled slightly. In the blink of an eye, it appeared above Chen Chu like a colossal silver mountain pressing down with overwhelming force.

Its enormous, menacing mouth opened slightly, resembling a black hole several hundred meters wide. It unleashed a suction force that instantly enveloped Chen Chu.

Boom!

Seemingly capable of swallowing the heavens and earth, it caused fragments of space-time around the two to erupt into colorful whirlwinds, with Chen Chu caught within.

Yet, just a split second before the Time Butterfly was about to swallow Chen Chu whole, an overwhelming, desperate battle will pierced through the heavens and earth, and his aura skyrocketed.

Boom!

Blood-colored light erupted from Chen Chu. His domain unfolded, dyeing a radius of several dozen kilometers a deep crimson.

Within the blood-red expanse of the domain, Chen Chu slowly rose to his feet. Though still extremely weak, he exuded an illusion of unstoppable power thanks to the passive ability of the Hellblood Battle Will—the Desperate Invincibility. He even appeared stronger than at his peak.

Whenever he was severely injured in battle and his vitality plummeted drastically, the invincible will would activate. The heavier the injuries and the greater the vitality loss, the stronger the battle will became.

Chen Chu almost couldn't breathe anymore. His true form's vitality was depleted, and his life force nearly extinguished. Under such circumstances, the reverse amplification effect reached an unimaginable degree.

The ferocious aura shook the currents of time and space, even making the middle-stage titan-level Time Butterfly feel a deep, instinctive danger.

Hum!

The Time Butterfly emitted a cry of shock and fury. Its wings vibrated, and the golden light particles surrounding it flared brightly as it attempted to invoke time power to escape.

At that critical instant, however, a golden battle order appeared in Chen Chu’s hand, radiating dazzling light.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The golden battle order split into seven, each descending from the sky and transforming into a towering phantom over ten thousand meters tall. A mighty force permeated the surroundings, sealing all directions.

The suppression of the principle power that the ancient human powerhouses had left behind instantly destroyed the butterfly's power, including the golden particles swirling around it.

In a flash, the butterfly’s aura plummeted from peak titan level to that of an ordinary titan.

Within the blood sea of his domain, Chen Chu stood clutching his halberd. Although his body remained frail, his aura was terrifying, and his bloodshot eyes brimmed with madness and brutality.