In a primeval forest made up of towering trees hundreds to thousands of meters tall, two faint black shadows flitted like lightning through the dim branches. Suddenly, they halted mid-air, abruptly raising their heads to look toward the distant sky on their left.

There, a colossal golden-black halberd, tens of thousands of meters long, pierced through the clouds. Coiling around it were countless golden sequence chains of flame laws, exuding a world-destroying aura.

Its target was the dark demonic-qi-shrouded mountain range below, stretching for several thousand kilometers. Gales howled around the mountains, forming pitch-black tornadoes that reached from the earth to the heavens. Crimson lightning crackled densely through the storm, radiating a perilous aura that would make even mythical beings tremble.

Relying on this stormy forbidden zone, three legions of the Purgatory Clan had garrisoned the entrance, engaging in fierce combat with two legions of the Heavenly Feathered Race. From above, golden battleships unleashed brilliant giant arrows, each blast violently shaking the dark barrier shielding the Purgatory forces.

Down below, across the lower skies and the earth, over a hundred thousand Heavenly Feathered warriors, bearing golden and silver light wings, charged fearlessly into battle against the demonized aliens and demons. Meanwhile, a demon king and a Heavenly Feathered god were locked in a tense aerial standoff, their gazes cold and unyielding.

However, the roar of battle across the land suddenly vanished. Everyone froze in shock, raising their heads toward the halberd light descending from the sky. Though it seemed slow, it moved too fast for their minds to even register.

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, the golden-black halberd light obliterated the demon king, then continued unabated through the storm clouds, striking diagonally behind the Purgatory army more than two hundred kilometers away.

Boom!

A dazzling golden flame erupted, followed by an earth-shattering explosion. A devastating wave of power fanned forward in a wide arc. The entire mountain range was consumed by endless golden flames, erupting into rivers of molten lava that annihilated everything.

A golden ring of fire expanded outward, melting everything within a thousand-kilometer radius. All of it, including the demons, were instantly incinerated into ash before they could even react.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Scorching shockwaves swept across heaven and earth, lifting clouds of dust and sending countless Heavenly Feathered warriors flying, including the god who had just been facing off against the demon king.

All this, even after Chen Chu had deliberately controlled the direction of the halberd's explosive force. Had he not, the Heavenly Feathered Race would have suffered far more than being blown away.

However, no one knew this. Those who had been swept away over a thousand kilometers barely stabilized themselves midair. They could only catch a glimpse of a towering figure wielding a halberd flickering across the sky.

Not until the near-undetectable yet paralyzing aura above the heavens faded did Guludeen and Brooks finally breathe a sigh of relief from over a thousand kilometers away.

After settling its nerves, the fork-horned demon muttered in awe, "Brooks, that human just now was terrifying. He felt even stronger than the great demon kings!"

Gazing at the lava sea flowing below, where mountains and the forbidden zone had utterly vanished, Brooks nodded solemnly. "Powerful indeed. To destroy a standard forbidden zone with a single strike... That's power on the level of a demon god."

The ability to reshape the terrain and natural environment in a single blow had already surpassed the two demons' understanding.

Guludeen gasped. "A demon god's strength... No wonder Great Demon King Barus fell so suddenly earlier. He must have encountered that human."

"It was likely him," Brooks said slowly, recalling the blazing blood moon in the sky earlier, as well as the law-infused aura that had dispersed with Barus' fall the moment the moon shattered.

"There are so many human powerhouses at the demon god level..." Guludeen said hoarsely. As a noble among the demonized alien races, Guludeen had once felt thrilled when choosing to undergo demonization. In its heart, the Purgatory Clan was invincible.

Over the years, following the Purgatory Empire's legions, it had taken part in many wars that wiped out ordinary alien civilizations. Wherever the Purgatory army went, all resistance collapsed. No civilization had been able to stop their advance, not even powerful colossal beasts guarding forbidden zones.

Like many other demonized aliens, Guludeen had developed a fanatical belief in the Purgatory Demon Clan, yet this battle had shattered that belief completely. Both empires had assembled their finest forces—over a billion elite soldiers, dozens of demon kings and great demon kings, and eight demon gods had descended.

Unexpectedly, however, the human alliance proved even stronger. In the initial outbreak of the fighting, the Purgatory side was swiftly defeated, and demon gods fell one after another.

The Purgatory army immediately lost the will to fight. As the human alliance's hidden mythical powerhouses emerged, their numbers even surpassed the Purgatory empires' demon kings and great demon kings.

As a result, before the next clash could fully erupt, the Purgatory legions had already collapsed, fleeing in all directions as the alliance forces pursued them. Even Brooks and his team, stationed away from the main battlefield, had chosen to scatter and escape at the first opportunity.

This sudden shift left Guludeen, who had only just taken up the position of Intelligence Division side hall master, struggling to adapt. It also shattered the unwavering belief it had always held in the Purgatory Demon Clan's invincibility, leaving its future shrouded in darkness.

Seeing Guludeen beside him staring blankly, as if its whole existence had lost direction, Brooks offered some comfort. "Don't lose heart, Guludeen. Though the number of supreme powerhouses among the humans this time caught us off guard, our Purgatory Clan is far stronger than them. Don't forget, only two Purgatory empires are currently battling the humans. In comparison, the demon race still has six even greater empires. Whether it's demon kings, great demon kings, or demon gods, they outnumber the humans by far, and there is still the Primordial Ancestor, whose strength shakes the heavens and earth."

Brooks' words rekindled the fork-horned demon's spirit. Seeing this, Brooks continued seriously, "We must leave here quickly and return to the empire. Right now, the human powerhouses are all focused on pursuing our demon kings and great demon kings. They won't pay much attention to us, but once the war ends, the humans will definitely begin purging the newly claimed territories. Every hidden demon will be hunted down."

Guludeen nodded solemnly. "You're right, Brooks. We must escape back to the empire's rear lines as soon as possible."

It turned to leave, only to suddenly sense something, and turned in surprise to its companion. "Brooks, your aura... Are you about to break through to the demon king level?"

At this, Brooks showed a faint smile. "Earlier, I tried refining that drop of demon god's blood. Maybe it's because I have an ability for blood control, but the fusion process felt surprisingly smooth."

Guludeen looked at him with envy. "What a pity. I'm not good with bloodline or life-based abilities. Refining that blood might be beyond my reach."

When the two demons had been fleeing, they had stumbled upon two falling drops of demon god's blood, each the size of a water vat. Although not a demon god's essence, the blood still contained traces of the principle and power of a demon god's true form. As such, even without being true essence, it remained a tremendous boon to demons of the same origin if they could refine it.

For Brooks, who stood at the peak of the Ninth Demonic Mark and was half a step from the demon king level, it had originally been estimated that he would need several more months to break through.

However, with the help of the dark power within that blood, he had successfully tempered his own true form into that of a demon king. Now, as long as he entered seclusion, he could advance to the demon king level at any time.

"It's fine, Guludeen. I'm well-versed in biology and genetic evolution. Once we return, I'll study your body. I should be able to help you refine the blood," Brooks said calmly.

"Really, Brooks?" The fork-horned demon's face lit up with joy.

Brooks' eyes flashed slightly as he grinned wickedly. "Of course. We're brothers, aren't we? Helping you is helping myself."

"...Uh, Brooks, I'm a woman."

"That's not important. Once you break through to the demon king level, the two of us might be able to take control of the Assassination Division together, and become major figures within both empires. Of course, that's assuming the humans don't destroy us first."

***

Above the shattered sky, Chen Chu slowly retrieved the Eight Desolations Halberd.

Floating in the air was the mutilated corpse of a great demon king, blown apart into dozens of pieces, still burning with golden flames and wrapped in crackling purple lightning. A golden dragon phantom hovered over it, suppressing and erasing the remnants of the great demon king's divine soul and origin.

In the distance, a colossal golden dragon more than two thousand meters long coiled in the sky. A powerful heavenly-king-level aura radiated from its body, though said aura was now chaotic as it panted heavily.

Chen Chu looked at the golden dragon and calmly said, "I'll leave the rest here to you, sir."

Heavenly King Balong nodded. "Be careful, Chen Chu. These great demon kings are insidious and ruthless. I nearly fell for one of their traps just now."

After the brief exchange, Chen Chu soared into the skies, appearing ten thousand kilometers above. His golden-black vertical pupils opened as he looked down upon the world.

A blood-red sun hung low in the sky, bathing the entire world in crimson light. Amid swirling clouds and mist, it looked as if hell itself had descended, exuding a thick aura of foreboding. This scene bore some resemblance to the descent of the Blood Moon at night, yet one took place in daylight, the other in darkness, and the power they contained differed significantly.

The glow of the Blood Moon would drive all living beings into a bloodthirsty, frenzied state, filling them with an uncontrollable urge for slaughter and destruction. By contrast, the red sun hanging in the sky now only stirred restlessness and agitation in the heart. As this thought crossed his mind, Chen Chu's gaze shifted slightly.

Among the red forces he had encountered so far, there was the Supreme Hell and the Dark-Red World...

Chen Chu paused for a moment in thought, then focused himself again. Now was not the time to dwell on such matters. Sensing that his strength had recovered by twenty percent, he narrowed his eyes.

"It's time to catch up and take a look."

At this point, half a day had already passed since the Dragon Emperor's departure. With the aid of his Realm-Walking Divine Step, Chen Chu had traversed over 2.4 million kilometers.

Along the way, he had slain seven demon kings, two great demon kings, and wiped out more than twenty Purgatory legions and their vassal alien races. The battlefield stretched over a semicircle more than a million kilometers long and two million wide. The area he had flown through didn't even cover one percent.

Moreover, the energy fluctuations of king-level battles were too weak. Chen Chu couldn't detect them at all from tens of thousands of kilometers away, and had to rely on the Void Death Pupils to search through the void.

At present, the human race held a numerical advantage in high-end power. The remaining demon kings could be dealt with by the others, so he saw no reason to waste more time here.

Compared to this side, the battlefield where Qian Tian and the others were was far more important. With his current level of recovery, if he entered the Dark Star World-Ending form, he should be able to pin down a demon god.

He had considered summoning the Dragon Emperor again to charge into the Purgatory Empire's rear, but quickly gave up on the idea. The moment he tried to activate the Space-Time Summoning Secret Art, a deep strain surged through his body, as if it would collapse at any moment.

During the previous three days, with the aid of the Little Purple Dragon's power of creation, he had remained in a state of burning his life force. His life essence and body had repeatedly shattered and regenerated. Now, his body was nearing a certain limit.

If he pushed any further, even his life essence would collapse without the Little Purple Dragon's help. Even if he survived, his cultivation would regress severely, and his foundation would be damaged. This was also why he hadn't burned more life force to forcibly maintain the Dragon Emperor's presence and kill one or two more demon gods.

Clearly, exploiting a loophole to seemingly resolve time erosion didn't mean there were no consequences. The Space-Time Summoning Secret Art involved time, space, and even reversed causality itself. Some wounds were simply invisible.

Whoosh!

Chen Chu's figure turned into a golden-red streak of light and shot skyward like a blazing arc, racing swiftly toward the Purgatory rear.

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