The calm surface of the sea erupted into crashing waves as the vortex exploded. From within, the gray passage linked to the chaos-level treasure shone with multicolored light that pierced through spacetime. A vast and invisible force spread outward, shaking the entire ocean world.

Above the stormy waters, human cultivators hovered in every direction. Their faces were filled with excitement, and their eyes burned with desire. "The treasure is about to emerge!"

Above them, inside the towering divine palace, Chen Chu stood with an aura that dwarfed everyone present. He rose to his feet, his eyes locked on the turbulent passage below. The treasure's emergence would unleash a storm across the world.

Chen Chu's voice rumbled through the air. "Soldiers of the Imperial City, hear me. Activate the Sky and Earth Sealing Formation[1] and secure spacetime around the passage."

"Yes, sir!"

Six ancient-titan-level experts and more than thirty titan-level heavenly kings of the Imperial City answered in unison. Each held a golden or black banner, stretching over a hundred meters long. They spread out across tens of thousands of kilometers around the vortex, and their principles flowed into the gold banners representing "sky-sealing," and the black banners representing "earth-sealing." In an instant, the banners swelled to an enormous size.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The banners anchored deep into the void, releasing golden threads of principle that wove across heaven and earth. They merged with the black barrier covering the ocean, sealing off the sky and earth.

At the same time, in several other surrounding worlds, cultivators peered across dimensions with perception techniques, looking at the vortex passage, and anticipating the collapse of the world that held the treasure.

On the other side of spacetime, in a world filled with rolling lava, the massive giants who looked like they were formed from obsidian looked toward the depths of the fiery abyss. Their expressions lit up with excitement.

Radiating late-stage true-spirit aura, an alien from the Shadow War God Race let out a thunderous laugh. "Hahaha!We were right! This is where the treasure will emerge."

Nuliel, who had recently battled Chen Chu, also smiled. "It seems that the Shadow War God Clan is favored by fate," it said with a deep, booming voice. "This time, both the treasure and its resources will be ours. The others will never make it in time."

According to the scout's report, the three emergence points were far apart. Even a semi-primordial being moving at full speed would need two-star quarters—one hour in Blue Planet time—to cross from one to the other. However, that was all they knew. The humans and the Eternal Golden Divine Race heavily guarded their territories, and these scouts couldn't gather more information.

Just as the giants celebrated, the fiery abyss trembled and endless lava spewed outward. Then, a massive force erupted. At the same time, where Chen Chu was, a massive force also erupted from the gray passage. Through the shattered barrier of the world, a gray, misty sphere of light could be seen cracking apart like an egg.

Boom!

The ocean detonated, and the world barrier crumbled. A quintillion tons of seawater was mixed with a destructive force, forming an apocalyptic tsunami that engulfed everything. This blast pierced through spacetime, and spewed out a turbid, chaotic current, which started to scatter streams of light infused with the aura of principles in different directions.

"Trap everything from the sky to the earth!"

The ancient powerhouse leading the formation cried out. He formed seals with both hands and struck the golden banner before him. In an instant, a vast golden web of principle light wove together and formed a barrier. Though powerful shockwaves would surge through it, the barrier only shuddered.

When the divine objects wrapped in the radiance of laws struck the web of light, they became tangled like insects in a cobweb. As they were sealed by the principles, they began to reveal their true form.

There was a blood-colored orchid that was over a hundred meters tall, and had roots that coiled like a dragon's claw. There was also a pearl covered in ice crystals, and within it glimmered a world of endless snow and frozen skies...

While the human powerhouses struck, standing firm amid the chaotic currents of space-time to seize those divine artifacts, Chen Chu stood still before his throne. Golden white-lightning flickered in his eyes as he activated his perception to peer through spacetime, landing on the other side of the shattered world.

There, he saw Nuliel of the Shadow War God Race, who was also looking back at Chen Chu's side with a grave expression. Nuliel was also surrounded by roaring chaotic shockwaves while the other Shadow War Gods frantically collected the divine objects that scattered about. Neither had expected that, on opposite ends of the treasure's emergence, there would be a true-spirit-level being waiting for them.

"It seems that today you and I must fight a battle of life and death to decide the ownership of this treasure." Nuliel said, its deep voice cutting through the chaos. As it spoke, it focused its gaze toward the center of the exploding chaotic world. There, a massive bronze bell stood. This mysterious and magical bell was a thousand meters tall, and had carvings of birds, flowers, fish, insects, and a starry sky on it.

As the aura from Nuliel's gaze permeated the bell's surroundings, the raging shockwaves around it, powerful enough to tear apart divine kings, slowly subsided. From afar, it looked like a turbid mirror.

Heaven and chaos suppression! This object has the power of suppression. With just a quick look, Nuliel had already discerned the bell's power. However, before it could act, the bell started trembling.

Bong!

Sound waves from the chime of the bell pierced through the entire Heavenly Pool Forbidden Zone, reverberating across that layer of starry sky in the chaotic cosmos. Instantly, countless figures from the Chaotic Imperial City, peak-level aliens, and even others from mighty civilizations all turned their heads toward the cosmic expanse in shock. The sound made them all tremble with fear.

Someone stammered, "Th-this pressure... it's the phenomenon of a chaos-level treasure's emergence!"

At the same time, in another spacetime within the Heavenly Pool Forbidden Zone, Floretia of the Eternal Golden Divine Race suddenly turned its head toward where the Shadow War God Race was.

"Where we are isn't the treasure's emergence point. This pressure... it's a chaos-level treasure. It's actually a chaos-level treasure! There's no time now, I'll head over first," Floretia growled. "You guys arrange your formation and follow me after."

Then, it quickly transformed into a ten-thousand-meter tall dragon-man form and rushed toward Nuliel's location.

At the same time, powerhouses from other civilizations also felt the emergence of the chaos-level treasure. They displayed their divine and racial abilities, and rushed toward the regions held either by the human race or the Shadow War God Race, whichever was closest to them.

However, while they rushed out, some smarter ones chose to stay back instead. Carrying a totem pole, Simonas had already walked out of the forbidden zone's entrance. It radiated the aura of a being at the middle stage of the true spirit level. Behind him were the followers he had gathered over the past two days.

Sensing the emergence, a peak-stage ancient-titan-level totem giant turned back. Its expression trembled with excitement, crying out, "My lord, Simonas, it's a chaos-level treasure!"

"A chaos-level supreme treasure..."

The other giants stirred with excitement as well, and some even glanced back toward the forbidden zone. However, Simonas' expression became stern as he barked, "Forget about the treasure. We leave at once!"

"But..." A giant at the beginning stage of the true spirit level hesitated.

Simonas turned back angrily. Its eyes blazed with killing intent. "How dare you defy me," it snapped. "With the emergence of this treasure, there's going to be a huge battle. We don't even possess primordial-level combat strength, so there's no way we can contend with the four peak races. If we go for the treasure, we'll die."

Simonas' words shook the giants, replacing the greediness in their minds with fear. If it had only been a top-level treasure, the situation would be very different. Those kinds of treasures were valuable, but no peak-level civilization would risk dying over them. Whoever managed to claim one would simply be considered lucky.

After all, there were still diplomatic ties between civilizations, and they cared about their reputation. They wouldn't stain it by slaughtering their rivals over something that didn't truly tip the balance of power. If they missed their chance, they could tell themselves the opportunity simply wasn't meant for them. The loss was regrettable, but never unbearable.

However, chaos-level treasures were another matter entirely. They could directly raise a primordial cultivator's strength, as they carried within them a complete principle of chaos. Anyone able to comprehend it would be able to push their cultivation to heights otherwise unreachable.

That was why no one could afford to sit still this time. Everyone knew what was coming: The Heavenly Pool Forbidden Zone was about to ignite into a war capable of tearing the world apart.

"My apologies, everyone. We'll be leaving now." Simonas forced a stiff smile at Shi Feirou, who stood near the entrance with Shi Hong and the others at her side, then quickly led its team away. As it turned to leave, it caught a glance of the Black-Armored Imperial Guards lined up behind Shi Feirou. The corner of its eye twitched at the sight.

After Shi Feirou's command to regroup, the million-strong Imperial Guards had already stood in formation outside the entrance. They loomed like a dark colossal beast, radiating a suffocating killing intent.

As a prodigy of a top-level civilization, Simonas naturally was no stranger to the human race's Black-Armored Imperial Guards. They were a nightmare legion capable of cutting down gods and clashing directly with semi-primordial powerhouses. If led by a peak- or late-stage true spirit-level cultivator, they could even stand against civilization guardians.

So the humans had already been prepared,Simonas thought, a chill running down its spine.

As the totem giants faded from sight, Shi Hong's eyes flashed cold. "Palace Master Shi, should we stop them?"

Shi Feirou shook her head. "No. A chaos-level treasure is impossible to hide. Whether they leave or not makes no difference. Our mission is to stop any further non-human powerhouses from leaving the forbidden zone. We hold the line until Brother Chen returns or the treasure's ownership is settled."

As she spoke, she reached into the void and drew out a longsword. Its blade shimmered, transparent and feather-like. An unseen force spread outward, distorting the starry sky into ripples and making it look like an illusion. Within the distorted sky, ten blazing suns appeared. The radiance from them flared so bright it pained the eyes.

1. The name for this formation in Chinese is 天罗地网 and is supposed to describe an inescapable net that seals both sky and earth. In idiomatic Chinese, it means an all-encompassing net that leaves no room for escape. ☜

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