Chapter 935: No Way Out

Meteors streaked across the sky, stained with blood. Planets in this region were engulfed, and life-bearing worlds were torn apart, easily annihilated by a colossal hand.

This was the habitat of the Fire Ape race, an advanced planet with a Level 7 evolutionary civilization. Over ten billion Fire Apes perished, their blood splattering across the starry sky.

In this same region, there were also two human planets, both vibrant and verdant, with rich spiritual energy on their surfaces. These were advanced planets with Level 6 evolutionary civilizations, but now they too disintegrated, and tens of billions of people died unnatural deaths.

The moment the great catastrophe struck, famous mountains and rivers fractured like ceramics, then exploded.

Within some renowned evolutionary sects, many cultivators ascended into the sky. Yet, they could not change their fate; like dumplings, they plummeted from the sky in bloody heaps, perishing one after another under the immeasurable energy pressure from beyond the domain.

The entire firmament was dyed with blood!

The colossal hand, in particular, became even more terrifying as it descended and drew closer. From a great distance, mountains and rivers were already crumbling.

All living beings on the ground, whether humans or cultivators from other races, turned into wisps of blood mist. As for ordinary people, they couldn't even utter a sound before disappearing from the ground, leaving only crimson stains as they were compressed into blood pulp by the energy.

The end of the world!

This starry sky dimmed; even the sun exploded, let alone anything else. Jiang Zhou had merely dispatched a clone and brought down a single hand, yet it rendered this habitable region a bloody mess. The starry sky was pierced through by his palm, leaving nothing behind.

"Chu Feng!"

From the depths of the distant universe, the Black Ox, Yellow Ox, Ouyang Feng, and others cried out. This was an experience a hundred times more terrifying than a nightmare: they witnessed the starry sky erupt in bloody light, countless vengeful spirits wailing throughout the heavens and earth.

With a gentle sweep of that colossal hand, all — the blood, the persistent thoughts of tens of billions of beings — vanished into thin air. In the face of absolute power, all resentment and humiliation seemed so futile. Jiang Zhou's single strike had claimed countless lives. Tens of billions of humans were slain, and the Fire Ape race was annihilated, leaving behind desolation.

"Beast!" an elder angrily denounced.

But what could be done?

Jiang Zhou stood calmly in the void, his face expressionless, as if he had just performed a trivial act. He was sensing, searching for special items. He was confident that no living creature in this "pond universe" could have survived his palm strike; all would have been annihilated.

In fact, a moment ago, two ancient saints of the Fire Ape race shot into the sky, and four sub-saints of the human race struggled to ascend. But all of them plummeted back down. These powerful beings were too weak before him.

Jiang Zhou's eyes flickered, then burst forth with piercing beams of light. His heavenly eye unleashed terrifying runes, searching for Chu Feng's remains after his death. In fact, while delivering this strike, he also unleashed his most powerful divine sense, hoping to detect the reaction of the supreme treasure and investigate further.

"Chu Feng, brother, is this your desolate end? Jiang Zhou, you bastard, you cold-blooded animal worse than a dog, I'll break into the Yang Realm sooner or later!"

The Black Ox and the others trembled, their eyes bloodshot, finding it hard to accept this cruel reality. With just one palm, that part of the starry sky was pierced through, and Chu Feng was deduced to be there. Such an ending caused them immense grief.

The Netherworld Universe fell into a deathly silence. Cultivators of all races felt chilled to the bone, their souls seemingly frozen, as if they had fallen into the ice cellars of hell. On this day, people felt profoundly cold. Even some hot-blooded youths clutched their heads, squatting on the ground, on the verge of collapse. This truly shattered people's beliefs, and some wept silently.

Some grieved for Chu Feng, but more mourned the cruel reality of their situation, seeing no glimmer of hope. This day was too dark. It was tragic that merely a handful of people from the Yang Realm could suppress this starry sky into utter darkness.

"Chu Feng is dead?!"

Aside from the Black Ox, Ouyang Feng, Yellow Ox, and others, many cultivators elsewhere finally realized the fierce intensity of the storm in this era of great change. In people's minds, Chu Feng was like an unkillable, tenacious being who had endured countless hardships and always survived. But now, he was utterly vulnerable before Jiang Zhou, the disparity too vast.

"Hmm?" Jiang Zhou searched, but found no special artifact left behind.

Rewind to a short while ago: Chu Feng, his heart burdened to the extreme, sensing impending doom, immediately conjured the stone box, drew himself into it, and hid inside. Inside the stone box, there was Qin Luoyin's corpse, and with himself, it could just barely accommodate them. Then, the moment the lid closed, the colossal hand struck, shattering the void. The stone box, without a ripple of energy, traced an inexplicable path, plunged into a crack in the starry sky, and vanished.

At that moment, Jiang Zhou's spiritual soul light surged, enveloping all things. His colossal hand restrained all matter, including anything within the void cracks. Heavenly artifact concealed itself?! Though inside the box, Chu Feng perceived the spatial shifts, feeling as if he were rapidly fleeing far away. His heart was far from calm. He had always known the stone box was extraordinary, and now it was continuously being proven even more remarkable than he had imagined. Ultimately, the stone box departed along the spatial crack, rushing into an unknown starfield, as if traveling through a wormhole.

Jiang Zhou knew nothing, sensed nothing. His powerful soul light, as formidable as it was, detected nothing. This surprised him. He searched this starry sky for a long time but found nothing.

At the edge of the chaos, Jiang Zhou's true body received feedback. His eyes gleamed with sharp light; he felt it was beyond his expectation, and he bowed his head to consult the old man seated on the futon.

"The heavenly artifact doesn't reveal itself, the supreme treasure conceals itself. That item slightly revived and was utilized by that Yin spirit," the old man on the vermilion ship explained, opening his eyes and deducing the situation. An object even a Heavenly Venerate yearned for naturally possessed terrifying and extraordinary qualities.

After receiving the hint, Jiang Zhou realized he had been careless. It would have been better if he had sealed off that void; by piercing it with his palm, the treasure might have used that force to escape.

"No matter," the old man said. "It hasn't truly revived, merely showed slight signs. Let's try another divination!"

The old man began immediately after speaking, but soon he coughed up large mouthfuls of blood. His body burned with divine radiance, rapidly shriveling in an instant. He fell backward onto the deck, his face ashen.

"Old Divine Master, what's wrong?" Jiang Zhou exclaimed in shock.

The old man was a peak Divine Master, superior even to the old weasel.

"This object is naturally formed, unfathomable. Forcibly divining it can be deadly!" the old man struggled to sit up, his mouth full of bloody froth, his heart still trembling with lingering fear. He spoke again: "Fortunately, you brought all the information about this Chu Feng, even his residual blood, his clothes, and hair. I will use him as the main subject for divination. Even if that supreme treasure obscures the heavenly secrets, I can still deduce a shred of truth. However, I will need Fellow Daoist Huang's assistance."

Upon hearing this, the old weasel immediately stood up. He was also an invited Divine Master, and while feeling a bit displeased, he also wanted to contribute and show respect to the Heavenly Venerate's disciple. The two joined forces. Before them, numerous tortoise shells glowed, then incinerated. Subsequently, both coughed up large mouthfuls of blood, becoming skin and bones in an instant.

This stunned everyone. Was seizing heavenly secrets so terrifying? It was even more perilous and frightening than a life-or-death battle!

"Pfft!" The old Divine Master fell backward, unconscious.

The weasel shrieked, also vomiting blood as it collapsed onto the deck, its eyes unfocused, its massive tail thrashing constantly. Everyone quickly rushed to their aid. After a moment of frantic effort, the two great Divine Masters finally recovered.

"How powerful! That supreme treasure is truly defying the heavens. Divining Chu Feng nearly caused this old man a disaster; it's terrifying. Chu Feng must have been covered by that mysterious artifact, which is why he was so difficult to divine. But we have a lead now." The old Divine Master spoke, revealing an approximate coordinate.

The weasel nodded, feeling a wave of lingering fear. The fact that their combined effort was still so perilous made it feel a sense of dread and helplessness; it truly didn't want to continue. "This location... it's ominous!"

The expressions of several individuals changed. Jiang Zhou, Xu Hong, and both Divine Masters looked troubled, because the location was not far from the Great Abyss, but rather in its vicinity.

At this moment, once Chu Feng felt calm, he immediately opened a crack in the stone box's lid. Upon seeing his location, he gasped, realizing that traversing the stellar rift had brought him here, to the Great Abyss. He quickly traversed the void, approaching the Great Abyss. In fact, he had already realized that no one in the Netherworld could contend with the invaders from the Yang Realm anymore. Perhaps this was the only place that made divine-level masters wary.

"How can I let you have your way? If absolutely necessary, I will throw the stone box into the Great Abyss!"

Chu Feng stood at the edge of the Great Abyss, feeling a terrifying suction force. If not for the stone box he held, he would have been swallowed directly. At the same time, this place contained powerful radioactive materials and terrifying energy! He re-entered the stone box. This area contained many stellar remnants, assimilated by the Great Abyss's energy, floating in the dark void, riddled with holes from the radiation. This place absorbed energy and also emitted terrifying radiation. Chu Feng hid here, ready to plunge into the Great Abyss at any moment if things went wrong, leaving nothing behind.

Almost instantly, Jiang Zhou arrived, moving with incredible speed. His colossal figure, far surpassing any celestial body, stood there. However, he dared not release divine-level energy, only using his Reflection-level clone.

"Chu Feng, you have a tenacious life, to have escaped all the way here," Jiang Zhou said. "But there will be no 'next time.' I will sweep through every inch of this void, one by one, and drag you out!"

Jiang Zhou was currently the focus of the entire world. Upon learning he had arrived outside the Great Abyss, people of all races were shocked: was Chu Feng, the Devil, not killed? The starry sky immediately filled with clamor. Some hot-blooded youths looked up again, now immensely eager, hoping Chu Feng could survive. This was their last hope for resistance!

"Live, you must live!"

Many murmured softly, filled with immense apprehension. This seemed to concern some deeply held belief in their hearts. Earlier, these people had despaired, believing there was no longer any hope for the Netherworld, their faith collapsing. But now, it was as if they grasped at a last straw. Although they still saw no dawn, they couldn't help but reach out to grasp it.

Jiang Zhou's soul light was too immense, sweeping across this region, reaching everywhere. No matter could hide from his soul's radiance; it covered every inch of space. Yet, he was surprised; he still hadn't found anything.

"The heavenly artifact is concealing itself to the extreme. My soul light should be close, yet it's still being obscured. In that case, I will personally sift through every single piece of matter!" Jiang Zhou smiled, not disappointed, but rather growing more interested. He raised his hand, and numerous broken stellar remnants rapidly flew into his colossal hand. He pulverized them one by one, searching meticulously, intent on scouring the entire area.

Chu Feng sighed softly. He knew he couldn't hide any longer; the search would soon reach him. In fact, that immense soul light just now had been too cautious, not daring to approach the edge of the pitch-black Great Abyss. Otherwise, the stone box might have already been discovered. However, Chu Feng knew that as time passed, Jiang Zhou would inevitably take risks, even daring to peer into the Great Abyss, and would certainly discover him.

Chu Feng placed the stone box into his embrace and walked directly to the edge of the Great Abyss, with more than half his body already within, ready to sink at any moment.

"Hm?!" Jiang Zhou turned his head. Although the distance was great, given his stature, he instantly sensed Chu Feng's life signs!

"Why stop hiding?" Jiang Zhou asked with a faint, yet cold, smile.