Chapter 869: The End of a Battle (I)

A faint black mist spread across the land, heavy with the scent of blood. Every living creature trembled and wept. More than ten million high-level transcendent beings had fallen, including over a dozen demon kings.

The air reeked of blood, and a suffocating aura of death covered the entire plane. Yet, looking at the countless severed limbs and shattered remains, neither humans or Heavenly Feathered warriors showed a trace of mercy. Their eyes remained cold.

He who killed must be prepared to be killed. Once you stepped onto the battlefield, you had to be ready to die. Besides, these true demons were bloodthirsty and brutal. Over the years, who knew how many lives had been claimed by their hands.

"We... won!" High in the sky, a Ninth Heavenly Realm warrior of the Heavenly Feathered Race flapped his glowing wings in stunned excitement as he looked down upon the scene.

In the hundred years since his birth, he had fought in hundreds of battles, large and small. He had risen from a low-level warrior to the Ninth Heavenly Realm, witnessing firsthand the slow decline of the Heavenly Feathered Race. Although they had scored a few victories over the years, most of the time they were retreating in defeat.

However, today's battle, in which more than ten million elite purgatory demons were slain, seventeen demon kings were killed, and two great demon kings were sealed, was a historic triumph. In the entire history of the war, such a victory had only happened twice.

Those two times, two demon gods had also fallen, but the Heavenly Feathered Race had paid a steep price, losing two divine kings in turn. Both sides had suffered devastating losses.

At that moment, across the battlefield that stretched tens of thousands of kilometers, countless Heavenly Feathered warriors trembled with emotion. Some of the female warriors even broke down in tears.

They had been oppressed for far too long. Their strongest warriors were constantly held back, surrounded, attacked, and outnumbered by demon kings and great demon kings. Every outbreak of war brought heavy losses. Even mythical-level beings had fallen. That suffocating despair had clogged the morale of countless members of the Heavenly Feathered Race, festering into self-doubt that slowed their cultivation progress.

Beneath the golden sky, Chen Chu gazed coldly downward. The overbearing and oppressive aura around him gradually receded, and the flames and thunderbolts that had been raging around him dispersed.

Suddenly, the space in front of Chen Chu twisted, and with the dissipating light and shadow, the true form of Anstira emerged, wearing ornate white battle armor. Standing at 1.8 meters tall, her slender and graceful figure was only slightly shorter than Chen Chu’s. Behind her, three pairs of radiant white light wings fluttered gently, her entire being glowing with a white radiance from within. A white halo above her head, like a divine crown, made her already stunning face appear utterly flawless.

Though this Heavenly Feathered Race woman was undeniably beautiful, what truly surprised Chen Chu was the youthful life fluctuations emanating from her. After every living being was born, the fluctuations of their life force gradually changed with age, forming life rings. Powerful cultivators could even see through a person's exact age at a glance.

However, after reaching the mythical level, these life rings become obscure, only detectable through active revelation or specialized tests. Still, the life aura of someone who had lived for a thousand years was very different from that of someone only a few decades old; a younger individual's energy felt much more vibrant.

She's a peerless genius of the Heavenly Feathered Race,

Chen Chu thought to himself.

"I, Anstira, Chief God of the Heavenly Feathered Race, thank you for your assistance. Without your intervention, this plane might have already fallen under the Purgatory Empire’s relentless assault."

"There’s no need for such formality," Chen Chu replied. "Since we are allies, it is only right that we stand together in defense." After a brief pause, he continued to introduce himself. "I am Chen Chu, from the human race's East Xia Empire."

Chen Chu.

Anstira silently repeated the name in her mind. However, since the two weren’t familiar with each other, after offering a brief greeting, Anstira flew down to oversee the post-battle recovery efforts, organizing the treatment of the wounded and the repair of the fortress.

Watching the "angel" depart, Chen Chu turned toward the edge of the plane. Over twenty thousand kilometers away, a dark-golden monster over nine hundred meters tall had arrived before the two great demon kings that had been sealed.

After devouring seventeen demon kings and more than six million true demons and demonized aliens, Mech No.1 was cloaked in an almost liquid-like blood-colored light that shone across a range of over a thousand kilometers. Its aura had become utterly terrifying, its eyes glowed with piercing blueish-white light, and it looked even more like a demon than the two great demon kings.

Without a word, No.1 opened its mouth and lunged directly at the Six-Horned Great Demon King.

"No!" The great demon king trembled with fear at the sight of the lunging monster. It would rather self-destruct than be devoured. Unfortunately, the suppressive projection of Chen Chu’s halberd, infused with five high-level laws including death and the soul, kept it completely sealed. It couldn’t mobilize a trace of its divine soul power or the origin of its laws. "

Aaaargh!

"

With a massive bite, No.1 tore the Six-Horned Great Demon King in half.

Boom!

In that instant, its aura surged dramatically. After consuming the flesh and blood of numerous transcendent beings, including more than twenty transcendent demon kings, No.1’s aura finally began to reach the king-level. However, just like Chen Chu, for an off-the-charts existence like No.1, realm and aura were merely a reference. They didn’t fully reflect its actual combat strength.

No.1’s berserk mode, as well as its primordial mode, where its armor restraints were fully released, would cause its power to skyrocket to horrifying levels. Back on the Sky Battlefield, it erupted into its primordial mode, it could go head-to-head with two beginning-stage great demon kings.

Now, it was far more terrifying than ever before.

Chen Chu wasn’t surprised by the scene before him. No.1’s devouring of flesh, blood, and souls to grow stronger was actually more like a process of healing from injuries. He only hoped Luo Fei could withstand the violent surge of power No.1 was experiencing. Otherwise, he would have no choice but to cut it down.

As Chen Chu's gaze stretched across more than twenty thousand kilometers, watching No.1’s increasingly terrifying aura with a thoughtful expression, the dark-golden monster suddenly turned its head, seemingly sensing the killing intent emanating from Chen Chu. Fixing its own gaze on the black-haired young man in the distance, No.1 let out an incredibly ferocious roar, its blueish-white eyes glowing ever more intensely.

In response to the threat, Chen Chu’s expression turned cold. His deep voice echoed through the air. "Don’t forget. I was the one who gave you nearly all those demon kings you devoured. If you can’t be grateful, fine. But don't you dare threaten me, or you'll get a taste of my halberd."

The black-and-gold Eight Desolations Creation Halberd appeared silently in his hand. Instantly, an oppressive aura spread outward, warping the surrounding space.

However, the bio-mech had only primal instincts, and responded only to killing intent. Whether it sensed the faint heavenly-tier dragon aura within Chen Chu, or simply didn’t want to offend its "provider," the dark-golden monster merely let out a low growl before turning back to continue devouring the great demon kings’ flesh.

Seeing this, Chen Chu narrowed his eyes slightly, then put the halberd away.

While the battlefield cleanup continued on the Thirteenth Plane, the wars on the other four planes had long since ended. However, most of the Heavenly Feathered warriors remained unaware of what had truly transpired. They didn’t understand why the Purgatory true demons, who had clearly held the upper hand, suddenly retreated.

On the ninth plane, in a dark, desolate, almost apocalyptic world, a five-meter-tall Purgatory true demon god stood atop a mountain, looking down with a cold, indifferent gaze.

With the armies on the four planes withdrawn, the forces stationed on the ninth plane had settled in, their military camps stretching across thousands of kilometers. The concentrated demonic qi they exuded blotted out the sky.

Now, however, restlessness was spreading among the Purgatory true demons and demonized aliens. Rumors circulated from camp to camp.

Some claimed that the Heavenly Feathered Race had received aid from a powerful civilization. Others said the Grand Marshal, Cortes, who had just emerged from seclusion, refused to help during the battle, resulting in the deaths of ten million elite troops and more than a dozen demon kings.

At that moment, above Zuo Mo’s head, dark clouds began to swirl and condense into the face of a massive demon god. A thunderous, majestic voice echoed around him.

"Cortes... You humans truly are favored by the heavens. Your fate is overflowing with prosperity. And now, in just a short time, another powerful cultivator has emerged."

Though it stood outside the Eternal Realm, this great demon god had seen everything that occurred across the plane battlefields.

Aside from the two powerful human cultivators who had already been on the battlefield and had reached the late stage of the great demon king level, what impressed it most was the human wielding the halberd. His time-based divine ability especially allowed him to summon nine incarnations. It was truly astonishing.

As one of the most mysterious and profound powers, time-based abilities were extremely rare, even among demon gods. In the current Purgatory Clan, only Deorus had mastered a time-based divine ability, which was somewhat similar to that of the human. Instead of summoning nine incarnations from the past, it could condense two forms: a past self and a future self.

With the past self in existence, Deorus would become unkillable, and his future true form was even stronger than his current self. This was his ultimate trump card. Because of this time-based divine ability, even Tyretis, a senior great demon god, took a special interest in the rising star Deorus and made a point to remember his name.

Moreover, by fusing the power of his divine ability into his bloodline, Deorus had made it possible for his descendants to wield the power of time as well. Once they awakened their bloodline strength, they could summon either a past or future version of themselves in battle. When these bloodline descendants tapped into time-based powers, any backlash from drawing on past or future timelines was neutralized by the bloodline power they had inherited from Deorus.

"That human’s talent and strength are indeed impressive." In response to the great demon god Tyretis’s praise, Zuo Mo gave a slight nod.

More than a decade ago, when he left the human race, he had no memory of any such king-level figure within the Human Federation. Not even any the known peak Ninth Heavenly Realm cultivators, who had been on the verge of breaking through, matched this presence.

It was clear that this young man, who had exchanged blows with him from across a vast distance and withstood the power of his ancient eye, was a newly risen genius who had only recently reached this level of strength.

To have cultivated to the peak of the mythical level in such a short time, and to possess battle strength that crossed an entire major realm and nearly surpassed even peak great demon kings, was something he himself had not been able to achieve back then.

Zuo Mo suddenly said, "My Lord, since you're bringing this up, are you interested in that human?"

Above the sky, the massive face of the demon god gave a slight nod. "Correct. I find that human rather intriguing. You should find an opportunity to make contact with him. Tell that human that there is no future for the human race in the eastern expansion zone. Even if they manage to delay Deorus and the others for a while, it’s meaningless. Once we annihilate the Heavenly Feathered Race and finish consolidating our gains, we will march eastward. That is the will of the Primordial Ancestor. No demon may defy it; not even Cardeus, who is on the other front."

The will of the Primordial Ancestor...

Zuo Mo nodded. "Rest assured, My Lord. I’ll find a way to establish contact with him."

Unlike other demon gods, Tyretis, whose cultivation had already reached the peak of the great demon god level, enjoyed recruiting and nurturing geniuses from other races that caught his attention.

In truth, the number of pureblood true demons within the Purgatory Clan was extremely limited. After ages of constant war, their foundation had suffered severe losses that they couldn’t replenish through natural reproduction. As a result, they often demonized and absorbed populations from other races into their ranks. Those geniuses who gained Tyretis’s recognition all possessed terrifying potential, like Zuo Mo himself or the two demon gods from the Dark Morro Empire.

Moreover, Tyretis had no fear of betrayal from these geniuses. It never used any means of control over them. That was one of the main reasons Zuo Mo had been willing to join the Purgatory Clan back then.

Of course, nothing came without a price. Tyretis must have had its reasons for doing all this. However, Zuo Mo didn’t care what those reasons were. As long as he could ascend to the demon god level, even if Tyretis had some hidden schemes, he would have enough strength to resist.

If he could kill Xiao Tianyi, break through to the demon god level, and fully master the laws contained in the three ancient relics, then even Tyretis would be nothing to fear. He had full confidence he could walk away unscathed.