Chapter 990: Colossal Beast Unification, Demon God’s Return (II)

Meanwhile, in the underground research facility, where Chen Chu was waiting for Luo Fei to finish her breakthrough, his wrist suddenly lit up and a cold electronic voice rang out. [Communication request received from Heavenly King Jiuyou. Do you wish to connect?]

Heavenly King Jiuyou.

Chen Chu paused for a brief moment, then chose to accept.

Immediately, the smart watch emitted Jiuyou’s voice. "Chen Chu, we’ve discovered signs of the Giant God Gai while interrogating those demon cultists. Do you want to come take a look?"

Chen Chu narrowed his eyes slightly. "The Giant God Gai? One moment."

Turning his head, he looked toward Luo Wuming. "Uncle Luo, there’s something going on with the Federation. I need to head over. If Luo Fei needs help with anything afterward, please remind her to come find me."

Without waiting for Luo Wuming to reply, Chen Chu’s figure flickered and entered the elevator.

Watching the heavy elevator doors slowly close in the distance, Luo Wuming's gaze was full of emotion. Who would have thought that just a few months ago, when this young man bid farewell to Luo Fei, he had only just broken through to the Seventh Heavenly Realm? Now, in the blink of an eye, he had become the Divine Might Heavenly King, a name that shook the entire world. Such a freakish talent defied explanation.

***

In East Xia, within the research facility where Yan Ruoyi had once slumbered, the wide white lab now held the rigid form of a Northern Region man lying on the test platform. Heavenly King Jiuyou, clad in a white lab coat, held his palm up. Suspended above it hovered a faint black glowing sphere, within which fragments of a soul floated silently.

As Chen Chu stepped through the warped space and appeared, Jiuyou smiled faintly. "You’re here, Chen Chu."

Chen Chu gave a slight nod and got straight to the point. "Sir, wasn’t the last report saying that Gai was trapped in some ancient ruin? Have you found where he is now?"

Jiuyou nodded. "I’ve got a rough idea of where he’s being held. This cultist from the Giant Cult may not be powerful, but his faith in Gai is absolute. That kind of devotion allows him to spiritually call out to Gai across the void. When a sliver of Gai’s will descended through that faith to issue a command, the sheer power of it left behind some traces."

At this, Jiuyou gave a small smile. "Gai probably never imagined that I could use the lingering traces within this cultist’s soul fragments to reverse-locate his approximate position."

Chen Chu offered sincere praise. "Your mastery over the law of soul is truly impressive."

Although Jiuyou made it sound easy, as someone who also dealt with the law of soul, Chen Chu understood just how difficult it truly was. Some aspects had even gone beyond the soul’s domain.

Jiuyou smiled and shook his head. "No need for praise. Honestly, Gai was just unlucky. The reason I could determine his location is because I’ve been to that ruin before. However, at the time, I lacked a key item, so I only explored the outer perimeter. I couldn’t enter the core of the site. The reason I called you is that, if I recall correctly, you’re the one who killed the Blood God Akunus. Did you happen to obtain a stone slab from him?"

"A stone slab... I think there was something like that," Chen Chu said, thinking for a moment. He then extended his spiritual sense into his storage bracelet and quickly found the incomplete slab tucked into a corner.

Seeing the gray slab appear in Chen Chu’s hand, covered in what looked like incomprehensible carved runes, Jiuyou nodded. "That’s the one. So Akunus really did have a piece too. Last year, during the Kyrola operation, we launched a large-scale purge against the demon cults. Among those captured were the high priests of both the Blood Cult and the Giant Cult. While soul-searching them, I glimpsed fragments of memory showing them once following Gai and Akunus to explore that ruin. Combined with the recent intel that Gai is now trapped inside it, and the clues I’ve gathered, I concluded the other slab must have been with Akunus. Gai has already entered the ruin and used some opportunity there to break through to the heavenly king level. I intend to deal with him personally."

At that, Jiuyou’s gaze turned cold. "These past few years, many of our Federation’s geniuses who entered the mythical world have been assassinated by the demon cults. These people, once fellow humans, understand us all too well. Their hatred for the Federation runs deep. Leaving them alive is a persistent threat."

Chen Chu said, "The war with the Purgatory Demon Clan is approaching, and we can’t afford loose ends. But, Jiuyou, let me be the one to handle it. I said before, the next time I met Gai, I’d kill him."

Back when Chen Chu broke through to the Ninth Heavenly Realm in the Black Forbidden Zone, he had encountered Ji Wuji and others, who were being hunted by the Giant Cult. After saving them, Gai had tried to spy on him.

At the time, Chen Chu had engaged him with the Void Death Pupils across a great distance, exchanging a blow that ended in a draw. He had also declared then that he would kill him the next time they met.

Now, his cultivation had reached the peak of the heavenly king level and he was on the verge of entering the supreme level. Returning to the mythical world this time would also mark his breakthrough. It would soon be time to launch a counterattack against the Purgatory empires.

Although he remained wary of the slumbering Purgatory Primordial Ancestor, caution didn’t mean fear. The best time to strike was now, while the ancestor still slept and the demon gods of the other empires had yet to assemble. If he could eliminate several demon gods and demon kings, the high-end forces of the Purgatory Demon Clan would be weakened.

Jiuyou thought for a moment. "It's fine... if you go too."

With Chen Chu’s current strength, suppressing a newly advanced heavenly-king-level being like Gai would be effortless. It was also a chance to bring closure to his long-standing entanglement with the demon cults.

Perhaps it was fate. Chen Chu’s very nature seemed to counter both Akunus and Gai. He had taken part in the suppression of Kyrola, as well. Later, he swept through the southern battlefield, wiping out invading cultists, and was heavily involved in the evil god avatar incident.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

After entering the mythical world, he had coincidentally slain Akunus, who had been severely wounded and weakened. Then, upon reaching the king level, he destroyed the Demon Cult Alliance. Now, only the Giant God Gai remained. Once he was eliminated, the karmic ties between Chen Chu and the cults would be more or less completely severed.

***

On the Heavenly Feathered Battlefield, across from the forbidden zone formed by shattered spacetime spanning millions of kilometers, endless demonic qi surged and churned, coalescing into sky-piercing chains that stretched into the void.

Beneath one of these pillars of dark demonic qi, each tens of thousands of meters thick, stood the true form of the demon god Livedes. Towering over ten thousand meters tall, it radiated immense pressure.

Surrounding Livedes in the roiling waves of darkness stood one middle-stage titan-level great demon king and three demon kings, all respectfully at attention.

Livedes slowly said, "How long has it been since Tyretis and the others fell into the Dark-Red World?"

The great demon king respectfully responded, "My lord Livedes, it has been nearly a full day-cycle since His Majesty fell into the Dark-Red World. There has been no sign of return yet."

"No. They are already on their way back," Livedes said calmly, lifting its gaze toward the colossal pillars of demonic qi piercing into the void. Its expression remained unreadable.

Within Livedes’ will, which had merged with the demonic qi, it sensed several terrifying auras speeding toward them from the distant edge of perception. The great demon king and the three demon kings nearby were too weak to sense anything yet.

It didn't take long. Just as the great demon king looked confused by Livedes’ words, the demonic qi in the area suddenly began to tremble. The invisible force saturating the air started to intensify.

"It’s His Majesty... it’s His Majesty’s aura!" the great demon king exclaimed, its voice full of excitement. The three demon kings also grew visibly stirred.

As the sovereign of this land, Tyretis’ will acted as the fundamental law governing the domain. All of the surging demonic qi was, in essence, an extension of its being.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The colossal pillars of demonic qi connecting deep into the void began to quake violently. The oppressive might filling the heavens and earth grew even greater, and it wasn’t just one presence.

Roar!

A violent roar resounded across heaven and earth. In the depths of the warped void, a towering demon god figure tens of thousands of meters tall slowly emerged, radiating a dreadful pressure that neared the peak of the ancient titan level.

Behind this demon god, endless dark-red light surged and condensed into a vast crimson cloud layer. Upon it stood tens of millions of elite troops from the Purgatory legions, their demonic qi soaring skyward, along with more than twenty demon kings and several great demon kings.

At Livedes’ feet, one of the demon kings exclaimed in excitement, "It’s His Majesty, the demon god of the Belvetan Empire! They’re safe, they’ve returned!"

Following the appearance of the Belvetan Empire’s ruler, other demon gods began to appear behind it. One, then another, then a third...

Within the principle domains behind each of these demon gods were either some of the Purgatory legions or one or two demon kings.

Finally, when a colossal figure towering a full hundred thousand meters appeared, exuding an almost true-spirit-level pressure, even Livedes couldn’t help but grow solemn and envious. "Tyretis... Has it fully refined the Heavenly Feathered Race’s foundation?"

The Purgatory empires had been waging brutal conquest, invading other alien civilizations in order to plunder their foundations and integrate them to accelerate cultivation.

Already at the peak of the demon god level, Tyretis had led the obliteration of the Heavenly Feathered Race’s homeland. In refining the foundation of such a mighty race and civilization, it had reaped astonishing gains. Now, even the unmanifested pressure radiating from it made Livedes' heart tremble. Tyretis had grown too powerful.

Livedes could sense that Tyretis had likely reached the very limits of the demon god level, just one step away from crossing into the level of the Primordial Ancestor, and could potentially become the second Primordial Ancestor of the Purgatory Demon Clan.

However, that final step was unimaginably difficult. Perhaps even hopeless, for the Purgatory Clan already had a Primordial Ancestor.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As seven demon gods, billions of Purgatory soldiers, and a vast number of demon kings and great demon kings returned, the entire region trembled violently. The overwhelming pressure of the demon gods saturated the world.

Among the seven demon gods, Tyretis and two other empire rulers had already recovered from their wounds. Their auras were now even stronger than before. The other four included three whose injuries had also healed, while the last one appeared unfamiliar, radiating the aura of a beginning-stage ancient titan.

In this recent great war, three demon gods of the Purgatory empires had fallen. One was slain by Chen Chu, another by Divine King Shariel, and only one by the Divine King of Light after Tyretis and others joined forces to resist.

At the same time, a pinnacle great demon king from the Purgatory Demon Clan had taken this opportunity to break through and ascend to the demon god level. If the one currently deep within the Dark-Red World, Zuo Mo, was also counted, that made two.

Towering a hundred thousand meters tall, surrounded by boundless demonic qi, Tyretis looked down slightly. Like a demon god who could destroy the world, it turned its cold voice toward Livedes. "Livedes, why aren’t you at the Ancestral Court? What are you doing here?"

A trace of unease flashed in Livedes’ eyes, but it replied slowly and calmly, "I came because far to the east, a rising civilization is emerging, one that poses a threat to our Purgatory Demon Clan. There are also signs related to the primordial origin."

Boom!