In the Sea of Chaos, six figures who radiated the pressure of the Fourth Primordial Heaven stood motionless. Misty forces cloaked and obscured the heavens around them, their auras withdrawn; no one could see clearly who faced them or which race they had come from. A tense atmosphere hung between the six. Five of the figures quietly watched the one who had spoken first.

Suddenly, one of the five broke into a booming laugh. The white brilliance that had shrouded it dispersed, revealing a body ten thousand kilometers tall. Its form, as if forged from obsidian, loomed like a divine mountain, and four pairs of narrow white eyes burned with black flames.

At the sight of those blazing cruciform pupils, an alien powerhouse said with a note of surprise, "Alquest, it's you."

The other three alien powerhouses looked surprised as well. No one had expected that the first to show such overt hostility toward the human race during this meeting would not be the Shadow War God Race, the faction with the deepest hatred of humans. So that meant...

Under the stares of the four alien powerhouses, the being that had spoken first let a thin chill cross its gaze. The black mist that cloaked it slowly dispersed. It had been aligned with Alquest; once its concealment fell away, its identity could no longer be hidden.

What silenced the disguised figures anew, however, was that this figure was not the expected Purple-Maned King Hou, the one they anticipated to be hostile to humans, but an Eternal Heavenly God of the neutral Eternal Golden Race.

In its true form, which rose to a height of one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers, golden flames danced and burned the chaos. The light repelled the chaotic currents for billions of kilometers, carving out a pure golden world.

Standing within that golden world, the Seventh Eternal Heavenly God Sigmund slowly said in an icy voice, "Alquest and I have both revealed our true forms. Should you not also declare your identities? Your presence here implies an internal communication of will among your races, so there's no need for further concealment."

At its words, one of the alien powerhouses answered in a hoarse, deep voice, "You're right, Sigmund. But until we confirm that Chu Batian is truly Heng, and until we have killed him if he is, none of us will show our faces."

The other three nodded slightly. Though they said nothing more, their attitude was clear. Silence returned to the scene. Sigmund and Alquest exchanged a glance and couldn't help frowning. They hadn't expected these parties and the civilizations behind them to be so cautious.

What these alien races feared was not human retaliation, nor merely the chance of killing the wrong man if Chu Batian was not Heng. What frightened them was the possibility that Chu Batian really was Heng.

The first human powerhouse, who had disappeared for ten thousand years. At the true emperor level, he had clashed with a Sixth-Primordial-Heaven being. Upon first reaching the Sixth Primordial Heaven, he then slayed another primordial being of the same realm.

If that person truly had returned as the Seventh-Primordial-Heaven Heng, then failing to kill him during his recovery would invite dreadful revenge. With that human's monstrous combat power, he could single-handedly annihilate an entire peak civilization once he fully recovered. Unless neighboring peak races united, no one could stop him.

No civilization wished to see an invincible sovereign arise again on the Ancient Battlefield and forever subordinate all other races beneath humanity. That was why they were taking the risk now.

After a moment, the golden dragon-man standing within the golden brilliance continued in a cold voice, "This is the proof you demand. It will show that the human in question is indeed Heng."

Sigmund opened a palm the size of thousands of kilometers. In its hand a golden world slowly unfolded. Within it, time flowed and reflected a towering gray arena, as well as two silhouettes radiating the aura of peak titans.

They were the images from the past battle between Chen Chu and Nashigas of the Eternal Golden Race. Behind Chen Chu, who had displayed his eight-armed True Demon God Form, space had fractured into countless shards like frozen glass. Each shard held a fragmentary, incomplete scene: One showed Chen Chu campaigning against the Purgatory Demon Clan, another displayed him standing with his hands behind his back, looming over the land.

Those fragments formed a circle, at the center of which rotated a still gray orb of light. That was the remnant primordial principle, the blank seed, that Chen Chu had acquired at the end of his path to divinity, a legacy left by Heng.

Behind the orb stood a vague, towering silhouette, its left hand on its back and its right hand forming a seal. Though only a phantom, the moment each of the four figures glimpsed that indistinct form, each felt an invisible domination sweep across heaven and earth, an ageless, invincible pressure that stunned them. They couldn't help but exclaim.

"Heng!"

"It really is him!"

"He didn't perish at that abyss. He really returns!"

Shaken by the revelation, the mists around them trembled. Their auras wavered, and a flash of overwhelming pressure passed through them.

"Now you are certain," Sigmund said with a faint smile.

Earlier, it had risked injury to intrude into the Ancient Arena's time and had managed to snatch a thread of Chen Chu's aura from that particular time point. Using that aura, the Golden Race had expended massive resources, the kind that would pain even a true emperor, to covertly commission a strong force to trace the past.

That backward trace had not only spanned time, but had involved elements of fate. It had revealed many traces of Chen Chu's past existence. Most crucially, it had confirmed the presence of Heng's traces on him. The other Eternal Heavenly Gods were shaken by that information; Sigmund had indeed guessed correctly.

Only then had the Golden Race and the Shadow War God Race secretly coordinated and spread word among neighboring civilizations. They had even used planted agents within other peak civilizations to relay the intelligence and arrange this meeting.

What the Eternal Golden Race and the Shadow War Gods had not expected was the Purple-Maned King Hou Race's refusal to join the alliance. They hadn't sent representatives to this meeting, and when both Alquest and another Eternal God descended into Purple-Maned Hou territory, they returned empty-handed.

The bounty across that distant Great Thousand World had been posted jointly by the Shadow War Gods and the Eternal Golden Race.

One of the figures exhaled, conjuring an extinction hurricane. Its voice carried both dread and killing intent. "This Chu Batian must die."

Another, surrounded by black mist, nodded. "From the fate fragments, he seems to be in some reincarnation state, or he is a coordinate drawing his true form back. If we eliminate him, then even if we cannot completely destroy Heng, we will prevent his return from that abyss."

It turned toward the obsidian-mountain giant. "Alquest, what is your plan?"

Alquest's eyes burned with flame; its cruciform pupils glinted coldly. "Simple. First we lure that human out into the first layer of the chaotic cosmos. That part of the plan is already underway. When the moment comes, we will draw Chu Batian out. At that time, every race must dispatch at least one true emperor or even stronger, to descend simultaneously like thunderbolts and strike him down quickly enough that the humans have no time to react. If our operation leaks, all participating powers must simultaneously prevent the six human true emperors from rescuing him."

This plan was indeed simple, yet executing it was exceedingly difficult. For instance, how could they lure out Chen Chu, who was currently in seclusion within the Chaotic Imperial City, and how could they draw him out of that layer of the chaotic cosmos?

Aside from that, the number of true-emperor-level powerhouses among the surrounding peak civilizations was fixed, and most of them were already confronting one another deep within the Ancient Battlefield. If six true emperors were to move their true forms and converge in one direction, it would immediately trigger the humans' vigilance and expose their plan to ambush Chu Batian.

By then, if other alien powerhouses moved to block the human true emperors, their identities would be instantly exposed. In that case, all their current efforts to conceal their auras and hide their true forms would become a joke. The figures couldn't help but hesitate, their eyes flickering.

This was an inescapable open scheme.

One alien powerhouse voiced a question. "Why must we wait until Chu Batian leaves the Chaotic Imperial City? Can we not curse and kill him now? I remember that the first domain lord of the Shadow War God Race excels in nightmare curses and causality, and it possesses unparalleled cultivation that stepped into the Sixth Primordial Heaven a thousand years ago. There should be no problem cursing Chu Batian, who is currently only semi-primordial. Of course, with Chu Batian's foundation as a part of Heng, the curse will consume tremendous power. But in that regard, we will not be stingy and are willing to share the burden."

"This proposal is good. It's safe and efficient. Humanity would have no way to defend."

"My race's treasury has recently obtained a chaos treasure that contains the power to amplify curse-type strength. I am willing to offer it."

Even now, these figures still didn't wish to expose themselves or the races behind them.

Alquest's black flames flickered in its eyes as it indifferently said, "We have long considered this approach and even attempted it, but unfortunately, it failed."

The Eternal Golden Race and the Shadow War Gods had thought of this option the moment Chen Chu's identity was confirmed. At that time, the Shadow War God's first domain lord had taken action, using the Purple Qi Mirror, a chaotic treasure forged over hundreds of thousands of years, to illuminate the heavens and pierce through time and space, attempting to lock onto Chen Chu's true name through that strand of aura.

However, even after that Sixth-Primordial-Heaven powerhouse expended enormous energy to break through the True Reincarnation Emperor's shielding power, it discovered that there was yet another layer of hazy force concealing Chen Chu.

In that situation, one Fourth- and one Fifth-Primordial-Heaven War God joined in, burning a chaotic origin that even a primordial sovereign would find agonizing to part with, finally tearing open that shroud of concealment.

Then, to their shock, three true names appeared within the Purple Qi Mirror. Moreover, after multiple verifications by the mirror, the three true names—"Azure," "Heaven," and "Emperor"—were all equally genuine. Even when the trio burned a chaotic origin comparable to a chaos treasure, they still couldn't discern which was true and which was false.

Without being able to distinguish between the three true names, the mirror couldn't lock onto Chen Chu's essence, and thus the nightmare curse couldn't take effect. Faced with this situation, both races, having already consumed immense resources, refused to give up, and the strongest of the Shadow War Gods attempted to use the true name "Azure" for the curse.

The result was severe injury, a backlash from an overwhelming power that came from the depths of the mythical world, spanning immeasurable distance. Evidently, this was a safeguard left by Heng himself to prevent assassination through illusory or spiritual means.

Confronted with that outcome, the two races had no choice but to return to their initial plan: Wait for the Third-Primordial-Heaven bait that had accepted the bounty to lure Chen Chu out of the Chaotic Imperial City and into the first layer of the chaotic cosmos. Only then would they gather the forces of the various races and kill him head-on.

When Alquest finished speaking, the figures grew solemn. Their surprise turned to reluctant understanding. If Heng had planned his return in such a manner, how could he possibly have failed to prepare with his level of power?

"It seems we can only wait. However, there are still some details to discuss." The towering figures then continued to deliberate with Alquest and Sigmund for a long while. At last, under their watchful eyes, the figures silently dispersed into nothingness.

The ones summoned here were merely projections infused with their wills. They were principle bodies that possessed surface strength comparable to the primordial level, yet would dissipate at a touch without leaving a trace. Even with such caution, they had ultimately stepped into the plan laid before them.

Thinking of this, Alquest and Sigmund exchanged a look, faint satisfaction flickering in their eyes. With the pressure of Heng's return, an initial alliance among the peak civilizations had taken shape. Next, they only needed to push that alliance into open conflict with the humans, to drag those beings down completely.

Once the six peak civilizations united, they would be strong enough to severely wound humanity on the Ancient Battlefield, perhaps even destroy the six human divine regions. Even if they failed to kill Chu Batian and Heng truly returned, the combined might of six peak races would be enough to stand against him head-on, preventing humanity from dominating again.

"Let's go. Today's goal is achieved. Now we wait for that human to end his seclusion."

Boom!

The chaotic shockwaves roared as the two colossal figures slowly vanished into the turbid currents.

This meeting had been highly confidential, involving the true-emperor-level existences of various races. Although the six human regions sensed a hidden current stirring, they couldn't identify any concrete information.

Moreover, with recent rumors spreading through nearby civilizations about Chu Batian's monstrous talent, the intelligence divisions of the human divine regions mistakenly assumed the hidden unrest was linked to that news. As a result, they paid little attention to it. Or rather, even if they wished to, they couldn't pursue it. The level of those six alien existences was far beyond their reach.

Before long, the hidden current subsided as if nothing had happened, and everything returned to normal. Time flowed quietly in such an atmosphere. In the blink of an eye, Chen Chu had been in seclusion for two years. That amount of time passed quickly for mythical-level powerhouses, let alone the immortal primordial beings, for whom a brief slumber could last decades. Therefore, neither the golden-bearded man in the Chaotic Imperial City nor Sigmund and the others paid much attention.

Yet for the Black World, where time flowed dozens of times faster than in the mythical world, a hundred years had already passed.

A hundred years in seclusion for Chen Chu, who had needed only two years to reach the late stage of the true spirit level, was already long enough for his cultivation to reach an astonishing level.

In the Black World, within the World Tree whose branches suspended entire galaxies, a pair of terrifying eyes slowly opened.

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