Within the raging chaos of shattered spacetime, Ximen Jianfeng stood battered. Its robes were torn, its long hair hung in disarray, its aura flickered weakly, and even its starlight had dimmed. With two strikes from Chen Chu, this alien, who had barely become a primordial star when its power exploded, was left heavily wounded. This was even with Chen Chu holding back.

Even so, instead of harboring hatred, Ximen Jianfeng only stared at Chen Chu with fervor. "Your power is incredible, Divine Might City Lord. I admit defeat."

Behind Chen Chu, the phantom of the demon god towered high. From the throne platform, he said with calm authority, "To withstand two strikes from me, Excellency Jianfeng, you are not weak either."

Chen Chu had used only two casual attacks, never even stepping into the state of the True Demon God Form. However, this was enough to reveal Jianfeng's astonishing talent. With ability like this, this alien was destined to break through to the primordial level one day. When that happened, its power would be even more terrifying.

"How about it, still want to challenge me?" Chen Chu asked coldly.

Ximen Jianfeng steadied the raging starlight within its body and shook its head. "I am convinced of your strength. To fight again would only bring humiliation. And though I said earlier that I would test strength on equal footing, I broke my own word. I shattered my star seal and restored my late-stage true spirit cultivation. For that, I feel ashamed."

Saying this, Ximen Jianfeng's expression grew solemn, and it bowed deeply. "I thank you for holding back, and I am grateful for the lesson. From today's battle, I have gained much. Most of all, I realized my previous choice to seal my cultivation in hopes of building a deeper foundation was misguided."

Chen Chu's gaze lingered with admiration.What a fast learner. With talent like this, no wonder it was hailed as an Innate Demon God of its universe.

Just as Chen Chu was about to ask more questions about the Divine Star-Ringed Race, Ximen Jianfeng bowed again. "Divine Might City Lord, I will retreat into seclusion to digest what I have learned, and I will not compete for the divine object. When I return, I will visit the Chaotic Imperial City to pay my respects and present a token of thanks."

Chen Chu furrowed his brows. "Your Excellency Jianfeng, you are too polite. There is no need for gifts. What you gained from this fight came from your own talent, not from me."

"The Divine Star-Ring Race's rules are clear. Please do not refuse." With that, Ximen Jianfeng looked at Chen Chu one last time, then dispersed into a shower of starlight.

Chen Chu's gaze flickered as he watched the starlight fade, but he made no move to stop the alien. Ximen Jianfeng was strong. At Chen Chu's current level, defeating it was simple, but to kill it would require him to unleash the True Demon God Form, possibly even open several Heavenly Gates. However, before the chaos-level treasure was found, there was no reason to reveal that kind of power just to deal with a single alien from a top civilization.

Besides, Chen Chu was genuinely intrigued by Ximen Jianfeng's race. Their starry cosmos mirrored the structure of the Blue Planet's original universe, and their neutron-star weapon had sparked ideas. Of course, if they refused to behave and kept stirring trouble, he would crush them without hesitation and make a lesson out of them.

Suddenly, Chen Chu paused his thoughts and turned his head toward the depths of the spacetime turbulence. There, a thousand-meter-tall giant stood with a massive totem pole slung across its shoulder. It was Simonas of the Parti Totem Race, a so-called genius at the middle stage of the true spirit level who had cultivated for twenty thousand years.

Chen Chu flatly asked, "What is it? Do you want to challenge me too?'

The giant gripped its totem pole tight and shook its head. "Divine Might City Lord, you misunderstand. I was only passing through and couldn't help but be awed by your battle. I mean no harm. I will leave at once. In fact, I will withdraw from the human race's search territory entirely. I will not take part in the contest for the chaotic divine object."

Without another word, the giant, whose strength rivaled the peak of the true spirit level, turned and left. Its massive body thundered as it retreated, quickly vanishing into the turbulence. It had to warn others from its race to leave. They couldn't stay here; that human was too terrifying. With him present, there was no hope of seizing the chaotic divine object or even the companion treasures born from it.

That human had only revealed the surface of his strength in that battle. If he truly meant to kill, no one except the powerhouses of the three peak civilizations could survive more than a few blows.

"These top-level civilizations can't be underestimated," Chen Chu murmured, his eyes narrowing.

Even in that brief encounter, he had seen enough. These top-level civilizations possessed the formidable ability to pass powers down through the generations."power inheritance." They were cautious, shrewd, and quick to recognize danger. That made them far more difficult to deal with.

Standing within the chaotic shockwaves, Chen Chu waited. About an hour later, his eyes shifted toward the cluster of worlds. One of the decrees he had condensed had just shattered.

Boom!

Using that surge of principle power as a coordinate, he willed the Divine Firmament Palace forward. It plowed through the turbulence, breaking apart layer after layer of fragile world-barriers.

Charging unimpeded, Chen Chu plunged into the depths of the world cluster and struck a hidden world concealed within the murky currents.

***

The clear blue sea and sky stretched to the horizon, then suddenly split apart. A massive void tens of thousands of kilometers wide tore open with a thunderous blast. From the void, a ten-thousand-kilometer island emerged. Black mist surged like tides around it, cloaking the Firmament Palace that stood on its peak.

"Greetings, City Lord."

In the air, thirteen figures radiating the aura of titan-level heavenly kings, along with two ancient-titan-level powerhouses, hovered. As the palace emerged, all of them bowed toward it.

"There's no need for formality." Seated on the throne, Chen Chu looked down. Scattered below lay a chain of islands gleaming like pearls across the sea. At their center was a vast whirlpool, and at its heart was a gray, turbid world.

The chaotic divine object was still hidden. Without its power erupting to distort spacetime and mark its location, even Chen Chu couldn't sense where it was. He briefly considered forcing open the world to enter, but dismissed the thought quickly.

The chaotic object wasn't yet fully formed. If he broke into its nurturing world now, the collapse would damage its growth. The treasure's principles would be incomplete, and instead of a chaos-level treasure, it could degrade into something lesser. That loss would outweigh any gain.

As Chen Chu locked onto the world that hid the treasure's entrance, far away in another spacetime, the massive figure of the ancient god from the Shadow War God Race loomed over a blazing ocean of lava. The ground before it had collapsed into a vast abyss. Rivers of lava thundered downward, pouring endlessly into a gray, turbid world at the bottom.

Chen Chu withdrew his perception and looked at the cultivators hovering in the sky. "Notify the others. Center your preparations on this world's ocean. The treasure should surface within the next few days. I'm certain this is the emergence point, or at least one of the entrances that will lead us to it."

"Yes, City Lord."

From his throne, Chen Chu cast one last glance at the spinning vortex in the sea, then shifted his mind and connected to the Dragon Emperor of the End.

Fueled by eternal qi, the Dragon Emperor's body had already grown beyond 2.15 million meters and was still expanding at an unbelievable pace. Within its vast frame, an immense force was being suppressed. It was the power of a beast condensing its life-bound ability.

Typically, when a colossal beast ascended to the primordial level, only one of its innate abilities could transcend into divine transformation. That divine transformation ability would then serve as the core, with the other abilities as support, to forge an even stronger life-bound ability.

However, the Dragon Emperor possessed ten divine transformation abilities, so making a choice had become a trial of its own. When it first advanced to the true spirit level, the Dragon Emperor condensed a life-bound ability known as the Power of All Ends. It was built on the foundation of the Chaotic Tyrant Body, and supported by the Vajra Immortality, Dark-Red Destruction, Chaotic Force Field, and Power of Undying.

This extreme destructive force allowed the Dragon Emperor, even at the peak of the true spirit level, to suppress a Proth Beast that stood as a primordial overlord, which ranked among the stronger ones. By the Dragon Emperor's judgment, the beast's strength at that time had already brushed against the threshold of the Third Primordial Heaven, the level of a primordial monarch.

The sheer might of the Power of All Ends left both the Dragon Emperor and Chen Chu impressed, and all the more excited for a second life-bound ability.

Chen Chu's gaze moved across the ten phantom projections of the Dragon Emperor within its body, each shimmering in black, gold, blue, or violet. His eyes grew thoughtful. After pondering for a while, he settled on the golden phantom, marked with the ability rune of the True Indestructible Vajra.

In past battles with primordial-level beings, Chen Chu had noticed a flaw. The Dragon Emperor's defenses were overwhelming against opponents of the same level, but strikes from stronger opponents could still break through.

The Power of All Ends embodied pure destruction, an offensive ability centered on amplifying the power of attacks. If the Dragon Emperor's second life-bound ability was also offense-based, the gain would be limited. After all, the sudden amplification of power had its ceiling, limits set by the principles of chaos. It was the same reason a mythical-level cultivator couldn't simply stack an endless amount of heaven-defying abilities together and multiply their strength billions of times to fight on equal grounds with a primordial-level being.

There was also another problem. No one knew whether two offensive life-bound abilities could merge or erupt together. That uncertainty made defense the safer path, one that could be layered to the extreme. This idea wasn't without precedent. When the six-horned salamander evolved the first two times, it chose both strength and defense, which didn't conflict. If it worked the same way here, then both life-bound abilities could manifest together.

This was why Chen Chu chose defense. In his mind, this defense would go far beyond simple protection.

With the True Indestructible Vajra as the core, Chen Chu slowly merged the rune projections of True Undying, True Supernova Destruction, True Electromagnetic Tyrant, True Chaotic Domain, and True Eternal Darkness Devourer together using his will. Within the Dragon Emperor, strands of multicolored power began to surface. This was the creation power condensed with the core origin of the mythical world.

Roar!

A majestic, ferocious bellow tore through spacetime.

As the Dragon Emperor's second life-bound ability condensed, Chen Chu's aura grew stronger, even though he was far away in another spacetime. In the moment it took him to decide which ability to forge, three days had already passed.

In the sea below the Firmament Palace, the once-turbid vortex now beamed with a prismatic glow. A crushing aura, strong enough to suppress the heavens, spread outward. The fluctuations of power thundered across spacetime, making the entire world shake violently.

The chaotic divine object was about to emerge.

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