On the crude stone throne, the colossal Mountain Giant lowered its head, gazing at the abyssal demon beneath with flickering demonic eyes. Its voice was deep and icy.

"Joining forces is not urgent. When you come again, bring some sincerity before we speak further."

Bang!With a casual grip in the void, Boroedo instantly shattered the abyssal demon's true form. Its body burst apart, flesh and blood scattering across the ground.

At the moment of its destruction, a will steeped in darkness and malice surged skyward, only to vanish into the depths of the void.

Once that possessing will disappeared, Boroedo turned to the shadowed region, staring at the writhing remains.

"Mbolak, why did you make me kill it?"

The shadows writhed, condensing into a grotesque two-hundred-meter figure that slowly emerged from the dark of the underground palace. Its voice was chilling. "Of course, to see its true depth. After all, whether it truly was the Ancient Demon or some sealed existence hidden deep within the world, we cannot trust its one-sided words."

As Mbolak spoke, the hollow black pupils in its eyes faded away. "Did you not notice? That thread of will which escaped felt strange. While it did carry a true-spirit-level pressure, and the darkness of an abyssal creature, it still gave me a bizarre feeling. The abyssal aura was... too pure."

"You're right. I hadn't noticed until you said it."

Boroedo paused, thoughtful. "Its will was saturated with abyssal aura, as though it were a genuine abyssal being."

Yet as agents of the abyssal will, they knew very well that the abyssal great demons, though able to draw upon the supreme planes and tear into other worlds, were not true abyssal creatures themselves. Their demonic qi should not have been so pure.

Which meant the one called Celos was not an abyssal great demon at all, but a genuine abyssal demon.

Perhaps even the sealed existence itself, trying to use their shared fate as so-called evil gods to lure them deeper underground to break the seal.

"Find a way to send word to Chu Batian, who has already infiltrated. See if he can uncover any intelligence on the Ancient Demon or Celos. Let's test the waters."

Boroedo nodded slowly.

They knew the abyssal demon had concealed something, perhaps even schemed against them.

Yet if Chu Batian too failed and was suppressed, then joining forces with this sealed abyssal demon might serve as a way out.

While the two evil gods sent word deep within the underground palace, Chen Chu had already reached the ninetieth level of the maze.

Here the floor was a vast plane. The sky was dim and deathly still, the earth cracked and littered with endless white bones, not a trace of life to be seen.

On the cliffside of a towering mountain peak, fierce winds roared, whipping at Chen Chu's and Amitya's sleeves until they snapped loudly in the gusts.

Because of the hurried journey, Amitya wore a red-and-white gown that clung tightly to her figure in the storm, revealing her alluring curves.

With her serene bearing and delicate features, her beauty was oddly magnified in the oppressive darkness of this land. A beauty that stirred a primal urge to tear and ravage. The demons hovering tens of kilometers away above the mountain castle burned with desire as they stared.

A hundred-meter-tall demon king stood there, with curling horns, cloven hooves, a tail, and tattered wings stretching from its back. It ruled this level of the maze.

Every ten levels of the underground maze housed a boss, each one stronger the deeper one went.

This horned demon king, evolved from the maze's creatures, emanated pressure equivalent to the beginning stage of the mythical level. Every breath it drew resonated with the power of this maze level, pressing down with suffocating force.

Its lips curled into a twisted grin as it looked at Chen Chu and Amitya. "So many years, and at last, more adventurers have reached this far."

"Come, human heroes, strike me with your weak and laughable attacks. Entertain me. You have but one chance. Once you fail, my counter will rip your limbs apart, twist your heads from your necks, and hang them to dry for a thousand years."

As soon as the Demon King finished speaking, Chen Chu sensed the power shrouding both them and the monster.

If they struck first and failed to kill it instantly, that same binding force, akin to a spoken curse, would trigger, and the grisly fate the demon king described would befall them.

A strange and terrifying skill. Against it, ordinary heroes or even Valkyries in transformation state could not hope to survive. No wonder no one had reached this depth of the maze for years.

Deep in thought, Chen Chu clenched his fist, flexing his wrist. At once, a force that shook the world surged through him. His vitality spread outward, and the aura he radiated made the entire layer tremble.

Boom! Boom! Boom!Mountains around them crumbled to dust. For hundreds of kilometers, the land rose and fell like a heaving sea, clouds of dust rolling into the air.

The sheer might shocked the horned demon king.

Boom!

Chen Chu threw a single punch. The space ahead shattered, the unmatched force exploding forth, carving a passage thousands of kilometers long and dozens wide through the void.

The shockwave blasted outward in blinding white waves, hurricanes sweeping the land with the roar of mountains collapsing and seas surging.

The demon king, along with its castle and mountain, was annihilated, nothing left but powder.

Even though she had seen it many times already, Amitya's heart still shook violently at the sight. Her eyes shone with excitement as she looked at the tall figure before her.

S-So strong!

A demon king as powerful as a first Valkyrie form[1], obliterated with a single punch, not even bones remaining.

For the first time, the purple-haired girl felt what true demon-god-level power was like, and her legs nearly gave out beneath her.

Chen Chu glanced back at Amitya, whose eyes still shone with excitement, and he couldn't help but shake his head. It was only a demon king at the mythical level, hardly worth getting worked up about.

If not for the contract's restriction and the principles that sealed his strength, limiting his physical power to no more than the mythical level, then forget the maze; just now that single punch could have pierced even the crystal wall of the world.

Chen Chu's eyes flickered.It's here.

Whoosh!Above his and the purple-haired girl's heads, a vast surge of heavenly gift power manifested, pouring ceaselessly into their bodies.

When this power merged into Amitya, it condensed in a particular place, becoming her accumulated potential for the next advancement. It was much like the life energy the Dragon Emperor had gathered with each evolution.

Yet as soon as the energy entered Chen Chu's body, it vanished in an instant, converted into origin points and stored away.

He glanced at his attribute page, where his origin points had risen from 9784 to 10,248, and a faint smile crossed his face. The harvest was about what he had expected.

Killing a mythical demonic being yielded thirty to forty origin points, which was several dozen times more than ordinary planar battles.

Today alone, by punching through ninety layers of the maze and slaughtering every creature in his path, he had accumulated more than ten thousand origin points, which was about one-fortieth of what was needed to condense the First Primordial Heaven.

And that was still only from a fraction of the maze's demonic beings.

"Let's go, Amitya. Time to return."

"...Chu, we're not going deeper?" Amitya blinked, surprised.

Chen Chu glanced at her lightly. "Go back and strengthen yourself first. You're too weak, and you limit how much of my power I can use. I may not even be able to crush the ninety-ninth level's demonic beings, let alone the evil gods sealed further below."

Amitya was his contract partner, the anchor that allowed him to remain within this world without being rejected by its principles.

So you're blaming me for being weak.Amitya stuck out her tongue playfully.

Of course, there was another reason. Chen Chu felt that the gains still weren't worth it.

Through today's test, he had confirmed that heavenly gift power was indeed origin, while also noticing a loophole in this world's power system.

According to the world's principles, Chen Chu was Amitya's contract partner.

Thus, all the demonic beings he killed were credited to her. When rewards were given, the "breach" appeared above her head, and the heavenly gift power that surged out split off a portion for him.

After hundreds of trials, Chen Chu had realized that this reward system was mechanical, without independent judgment.

Otherwise, it would have discovered his anomaly at once, that with the strength of a mere three-star Valkyrie, Amitya could never kill demon kings of nine stars or above.

So Chen Chu wanted to test something.

When Amitya awakened her Valkyrie power, he would unlock a little of his sealed strength, tamper with the contract, and swap their roles, making himself the principal partner.

He would also alter the ratio. For example, Chen Chu taking ninety-nine percent, Amitya taking one. That way, he could reap far more origin.

Amitya wouldn't lose out either. Without Chen Chu carrying her, she'd never even reach the maze's depths. Just by standing aside and cheering, she could gain enormous heavenly gift power.

When Chen Chu and Amitya stepped out of the stone gate, night had already fallen.

Yet around the World Tree, the square was even livelier. Merchants lined the plaza, hawking snacks, roasted meats, and beer from all across the world.

Adventurers returned from battle, weapons piled by their feet, gathering in groups to eat and drink heartily.

They shouted excitedly about which demonic beings they'd slain, what materials or energy crystals had dropped, or whose bad luck had led to a demonic spider piercing their chest and draining their blood.

Amitya clutched a bundle of green skewers in both hands, her lips oily as she mumbled, "Chu, these Rice-fruit skewers are good, aren't they?"

"Not bad." Chen Chu nodded, swallowing two skewers of the strange green meat in a single bite.

Surprisingly, the food that looked like something out of dark cuisine[2] was quite good. It was spicy and fragrant, with the aroma of dozens of fruits, even more flavorful than his own stone-grilled meat.

Then Amitya pointed toward a great bonfire in the distance, where a whole cow more than seven meters long was being roasted. "Rice-fruit skewers are only average here at the food court. That roast Five-Colored Cow is the real delicacy."

The purple-haired girl licked her lips. "Its meat is tender, and with the boss's secret seasonings, the flavor explodes on your tongue. And the cow's special milky fragrance... Once you taste it, it feels like returning to infancy, lying in your mother's arms, warm and content."

...What kind of flavor is that supposed to be?Even Chen Chu was left speechless this time.

The fruit-flavored barbecue I can still accept. But milky beef that makes you recall childhood? What nonsense.

And besides, with the maze full of demonic beings beneath their feet, these adventurers who had been fighting for their lives in the day now gathered here every night to feast and drink. The contrast was jarring.

Suddenly cheers erupted in the distance, and the purple-haired girl's eyes sparkled. "Chu, the Five-Colored Cow is ready! Let's hurry or there won't be any left."

"Fine, let's try it." Chen Chu shrugged.

Ever since taking Shi Feitong to see Zhang Xiaolan, he hadn't eaten much of anything. He was always cultivating or fighting.

Today, he could indulge a little, and sample some otherworld cuisine.

Of course, Chen Chu would never admit he was curious about the so-called Five-Colored Cow.A single bite can make one recall the milk of childhood? Absurd...

Five hours later, under the purple-haired girl's lead, Chen Chu had eaten nearly everything the square had to offer.

By the time they left from the other end, Amitya's belly had rounded by several centimeters, looking almost like she was two months pregnant, her face glowing with satisfaction.

But the indulgence was only a pause. Now that they were fed and rested, it was time to get back to serious business.

Soon, Chen Chu and Amitya returned to the Valkyrie Academy.

Because the campus was vast, every student had her own two-story residence, styled like a medieval western villa.

"Chu, I'll need your help in a bit."

Inside the room, Amitya looked at Chen Chu. "For us students of the Illusory God Division, during the three-star awakening, we must fuse part of our illusory beast's power to enter Valkyrie form."

"No problem." Chen Chu nodded.

It was just right. With Amitya fusing a trace of his own power, it would make things easier for him to manipulate.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the purple-haired girl slipped off her gown, revealing the smooth, pale skin of her back...

1. Valkyries can undergo a few transformations. More will be explained in later chapters. ☜

2. The term refers to a culinary style or bad-tasting food that is considered weird or unpleasant. ☜

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