Chapter 5985 The Life and Death Battle Begins
BOOM!
Jagged stone thorns erupted from the ground, blasting through the forest and reducing ancient trees to splinters. A phantom-like figure flitted through the air, narrowly dodging each strike.
Suddenly, a spear of violet light condensed in the air and plunged into the ground.
The earth detonated. From beneath, a creature resembling a cross between a hedgehog and a pangolin appeared forth, its skull impaled. It died instantly.
Long Chen didn’t even know how many demonic beasts he had slain by now. At first, they had been easy to kill, but the deeper he went, the stronger and stranger they became. Now, these creatures possessed a wide array of deadly attacks.
For example, the last beast had been practically invisible. Its aura was completely concealed as it launched stone spikes from beneath the ground. A weaker cultivator would’ve died without even realizing what killed them.
Just as Long Chen killed it, a vine suddenly shot out of the ground and wrapped around his waist.
Without hesitation, Long Chen grabbed the vine barehanded, ignoring the toxic barbs piercing his skin, and yanked hard.
The earth once more exploded, and a spherical monster came flying out. It looked like some kind of root ball.
With a flick of his wrist, a violet sword manifested in Long Chen’s other hand. One clean slash bisected the creature, spraying milky-white fluid in all directions. A foul, nauseating stench filled the air.
Long Chen’s expression changed, and he hastily flung it away. This kind of mutant species wasn’t valuable to him, and its body liquid was extremely corrosive.
Long Chen grabbed the previous corpse and tossed it into the primal chaos space. If it were corroded, it would lose its value.
Then, Long Chen continued hunting the demonic beasts. Though they were growing fiercer, Long Chen sensed something off. Their power didn’t fully match their terrifying auras. These creatures had clearly weakened after being sealed away for too long. Their core energy was deteriorating. Had they been sealed a few decades longer, they might’ve lost the ability to fight altogether.
He relentlessly cleared out the beasts in the outer ring. By now, the primal chaos space was piled high with tens of thousands of demonic beast corpses.
The black soil was devouring them as quickly as it could, but its digestion couldn’t keep up with Long Chen’s slaughter.
Long Chen pushed aside the devil corpses, letting the black soil focus on the demonic beast corpses. Meanwhile, he noticed the cocoon surrounding Lei Linger tremble violently—it was clearly on the verge of hatching.
After making a few final sweeps without sensing any new demonic beasts, Long Chen knew he had cleared the area.
Looking at the mountains of corpses in the primal chaos space, and the cocoon that looked ready to burst at any moment, Long Chen smiled.
This should be more than enough for Lei Linger to break out. I can’t wait to see how powerful she becomes.
After completing this, Long Chen slowly walked toward the central minor world. He could already sense someone waiting for him there.
Life End Stage—a massive, square martial platform—was enclosed in a translucent barrier. This was the final trial by fire.
The Fiend Devil Swamp was a test of courage, forcing cultivators to confront their nightmares.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Demon Forest was a test of power. Each demonic beast had a unique combat style that demanded strength and adaptability. In such a chaotic battlefield, it was difficult to survive without immense power.
Now, this final barrier tested the soul and the will.
According to ancient records, stepping into this barrier meant entering an illusion realm that targeted a person’s heart, exploiting their innermost weaknesses. Without immense spiritual strength and a tenacious will, there was no guarantee of waking up.
Back in the primal chaos era, there were methods to forcefully awaken those trapped within the illusion. But those techniques had long been lost. Forcibly awakening someone from this state would either turn them into an idiot or damage their soul permanently.
Fortunately, the Life End Stage had been inactive for ages, and the barrier had weakened. While it would still be deadly to most experts, it shouldn’t be anything difficult for a Spirit Awakener.
When Long Chen reached the edge of the barrier, he saw nothing inside. It appeared completely empty. But he had been warned before—what he saw wasn’t necessarily the truth.
Without hesitation, Long Chen stepped into the barrier.
Buzz.
Long Chen felt a powerful law surrounding him. Then the scene in front of him twisted, and he was pulled into a different world.
He snorted coldly. His pupils turned pitch-black as the Purgatory Eyes activated.
The illusion crumbled instantly.
The strange pressure vanished without resistance. As the force disappeared, Long Chen calmly deactivated the Purgatory Eyes and took another step.
The world shifted again. Now, he stood fully within the barrier. The empty martial platform he had seen from the outside was gone, replaced by a desolate wasteland.
Across the field, hundreds of demonic beasts crouched in formation. Above them hovered Bi Xingyao, staring down coldly.
However, now, his icy gaze was filled with shock. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
Even those watching from outside the barrier were stunned. The Life End Stage’s illusion realm was known for its viciousness—even Bi Xingyao had taken an incense stick’s time to break free.
On the other hand, Long Chen didn’t seem affected at all, as if the barrier didn’t exist. If they hadn’t seen Long Chen briefly tremble as he passed through, they would’ve thought the barrier had lost its power entirely.
Bi Xingyao’s shock quickly turned to envy... and then killing intent.
He cannot be allowed to live. He has to die now!
Though not the strongest in terms of raw combat power, Bi Xingyao prided himself on his Spiritual Strength among all the Spirit Awakeners. That was his domain.
Even with his powerful soul, it had taken him some time to break the illusion. Yet, Long Chen had basically ignored it.
That sense of loss enraged Bi Xingyao.
Suddenly, the demonic beasts roared in unison and surrounded Long Chen in a semicircle. They all opened their mouths, and spheres of light appeared before them.
Outside the barrier, countless experts cried out in shock as they saw the spheres.