Mythical Era: My Evolution into a Celestial Beast

Chapter 162: Ghostly Wails and Godly Roars, Tang Sanzang Reincarnated

With Chen Chu's confirmation, the Martial Will imprint of the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd exploded in his mind, accompanied by a vast influx of information.

Simultaneously, a sharp and heavy force surged into existence within him, operating on routes distinct from those of the high-level Dragon Elephant Tyrant Body.

In contrast to the Insightful Blade, which focused solely on the upper body and arms, the operational routes opened up by the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd almost encompassed Chen Chu's entire physique.

Some of these routes coincided with those of the Insightful Blade, enabling the force to continuously absorb the sharp qi from the meridians associated with the saber art. With each circulation of this force, its strength intensified.

Concurrently, subtle changes manifested in Chen Chu's arms, rendering them considerably stronger and rougher, akin to those of an expert who had wielded a heavy halberd for years.

Gradually, a fierce and domineering aura permeated Chen Chu's being. With the halberd held diagonally in his hand, and standing atop a giant rock, he resembled an unmatched general.

Not enough. Chen Chu suddenly opened his eyes, his thoughts resounding within his mind.

Continue to consume attribute points to enhance the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd to the intermediate level.

Mastering the beginning level of the halberd art signified Chen Chu's proficiency with its basic moves. However, reaching the intermediate level represented a deeper understanding of the art’s essence.

As Chen Chu's mental voice faded, 80 attribute points instantly disappeared on the page, accompanied by a surge of profound comprehension from his heart.

Simultaneously, the true power circulating within him suddenly shook, laboriously carving out two special operational routes within his body that intricately navigated numerous fine and obscure blood vessels and meridians.

As these two special operational routes fully formed, vitality surged on Chen Chu's chest, back, and arms, faintly revealing red traces, reminiscent of a divine map.

Boom!

The rocks beneath Chen Chu's feet shattered as he soared hundreds of meters high, akin to a cannonball.

In his hand, the black and red halberd radiated a sinister aura that extended over a meter. With the dazzling display of black and red light, there was an alarming sensation, as if the very heavens and earth were undergoing a terrifying transformation.

Wail!

Accompanied by a chilling and terrifying ghostly cry, a terrifying aura exploded from Chen Chu's body. Waves of black and red qi enveloped an area of over ten meters, making him resemble an evil deity descending from the heavens.

Boom!

With a terrifying strike, a massive boulder several meters high and weighing hundreds of tons erupted in a thunderous explosion.

Countless stone fragments flew like cannonballs in all directions, scattering across an area of a hundred meters and creating a cacophony as they landed, while billowing dust and smoke filled the air.

Amid the swirling dust and smoke, a black and red halberd aura soared into the sky, resembling a ten-meter-long heavy halberd sweeping across the desolate lands, then transformed into a black and red ring of light three meters high.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ring of light exploded, shattering all of the falling stones in its path into powder with its sharp swirling halberd aura.

After rushing out for over ten meters, the tyrannical black and red true power exploded with a thunderous roar, dispersing the surrounding dust and revealing Chen Chu's figure.

Black and red true power flowed around him, as he held the heavy halberd diagonally behind him. His terrifying aura contained the ferocity and brutality of colossal beasts, as well as the dominance of the Dragon Elephant, appearing extremely fearsome.

In front of him, the dozen-meter-high rocky hill had been razed to the ground, and sharp rifts, half a meter wide and over ten meters long, extended in all directions.

From a distance, it looked as if a weeping ghostly face had appeared on the ground.

Ghostly wails and Godly roars! Dominating the Eight Desolations!

These were the two major killer moves of the combat skill’s intermediate level. The former exhibited terrifying power in a single burst, while the latter swept through crowds to cause bloodshed in all directions.

When executing the Ghostly Wails technique, the true power within Chen Chu must first operate along the special routes of the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd, akin to a unique form of energy storage and attribute conversion.

Upon converging into the halberd, the true power's might would surge several times over, becoming exceedingly sharp.

Coupled with Chen Chu's terrifying physical strength and the explosive nature of the Dragon Elephant Tyrant Body, the combined force was potent enough to demolish a four- or five-story building with a single blow, completely shattering it into fragments.

The Dominating the Eight Desolations move operated similarly, but along another special route, transforming Chen Chu's internal true power into a sharp and swirling force that swept in a circular motion.

Chen Chu pondered. My current combat prowess should be at least in the later stages of the Fifth Heavenly Realm.

When he had broken through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm with the Dragon Elephant Tyrant Body, his physical strength had fully unleashed under his true power attribute, reaching at least the beginning stage of the Fifth Realm.

Now, two days later, his Strength attribute had surged by 300 points, surpassing 1,000 total, with his basic arm strength reaching a level of approximately twenty-five tons. Combined with the intermediate level of the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd art, his strength was now maximized, rendering each strike unparalleled in sharpness and ferocity.

Thus, Chen Chu estimated his combat prowess to be in the middle stage or higher of the Fifth Heavenly Realm.

However, he couldn't be entirely certain at present, as he hadn't actually fought against cultivators of the Fifth Heavenly Realm yet, and didn't know how much his true power would change after breaking through to that realm.

This comparison was also against ordinary Fifth Heavenly Realm cultivators, not the geniuses. After all, if he could cultivate high-level martial arts and combat skills, those geniuses could do the same, especially the students in their second or third year who have had a longer time to cultivate.

In the mutated beast battlefield, their contribution point acquisition speed would be faster, and perhaps each of them had cultivated several secret arts, pushing certain aspects to their limits. With the blessing of transcendent weapons or even transcendent battle armor, their combat prowess would surpass their Realm as well.

Of course, this referred to the geniuses specifically; not all second or third-year cultivators were this strong. Just like in his year, most of them had average talent and were still struggling in the First Heavenly Realm.

Lost in thought, Chen Chu's domineering aura exploded, instantly transforming into a burst of black and red light.

In his hand, the halberd emitted a black and red aura, continuously slashing, stabbing, cleaving, and sweeping.

Each strike carried terrifying power, as the black and red light roared down onto the mountain rocks, causing explosions, shattering the earth, and leaving behind trenches. For a moment, the entire valley trembled with thunderous vibrations; countless rocks exploded, trees snapped, and the air was filled with splintered stones and dust.

After breaking through to the Fourth Heavenly Realm and experiencing a substantial increase in attributes, Chen Chu's combat power could be described as explosively growing.

It wasn't until half an hour later, when the valley had become almost devoid of rocks and trees due to the relentless onslaught, that Chen Chu finally exhaled a long breath.

The feeling of releasing power so recklessly was exhilarating. Chen Chu's thoughts shifted, summoning the attribute page.

His gaze swept over the 67 remaining attribute points and the achieved mastery in the Eight Desolations Purgatory Halberd, contemplating for a moment.

He decided to forgo spending 50 points to strengthen the Hidden Divinity secret art, opting to save them for later to craft extraordinary weapons.

Simultaneously, he didn't spend any attribute points to enhance the durability or sharpness of the Eight Desolations Halberd, as it was unnecessary.

When he went to the mutated beast battlefield later, he planned to merge the halberd with the saber, so it could receive the enchanted properties of the saber when exchanging for transcendent materials to craft transcendent weapons.

This way, he could save 20 attribute points.

***

In the afternoon, the sunlight was bright and beautiful.

Beneath the depths of the ocean, nearly a kilometer down, a Dragon Turtle, measuring thirty-seven meters in length with limbs going up to a height of twenty meters, was on the move. Every step it took stirred up large amounts of mud and sand.

Beside it, a twenty-five-meter-long Thunder Fiery Colossal Beast swam leisurely.

Compared to the Thunder Beast’s terrifying speed of three to four hundred kilometers per hour, this turtle, with its slow pace of just a few meters per step, moved like an old man strolling leisurely. It had only covered a distance of a little over two hundred kilometers in half a day.

Not only was it slow, but it also rambled on incessantly, just like Tang Sanzang[1] reincarnated, constantly muttering under its breath.

Roar! Roar! Thunder Fiery, why, you called thunder, fiery, why not thunder water?

Roar! Roar! By the way, what are, thunder, fiery? What, significance?

Roar! Why, you, so much stronger than me, when we’re both, draconic beasts?

Roar! Roar! I, much bigger than you.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, the Thunder Beast roared impatiently. Roar! Can you stop talking nonsense and just lead the way properly?

The Dragon Turtle turned its head, looking curious. Roar! Thunder Fiery, what is, nonsense?

For the Dragon Turtle, which had no concept of human language, many of the special terms the Thunder Beast frequently used piqued its curiosity.

Ah... The Thunder Beast felt a surge of blood rushing to its throat, its claws trembling as it forcibly suppressed the urge to burst out in a frenzy, letting out a low growl.

Roar! Nonsense means not to keep jabbering incessantly, and also, could you move faster... No, I mean, could you start swimming for me?

Roar! You're underwater now, not on land. Isn't it boring to crawl slowly?

The Dragon Turtle felt somewhat aggrieved after being scolded by the Thunder Beast. Didn’t I just ask what ‘nonsense’ meant? And what does ‘jabbering incessantly’ mean?

Then the Dragon Turtle growled softly. Roar! Can't swim, afraid!

Faced with this response, the Thunder Beast was left speechless, almost rolling its eyes in frustration. Unfortunately, its eyes were different from humans', making that gesture impossible for it.

The Thunder Beast had asked this question before, and the Dragon Turtle's answer had been that it felt unsafe when its limbs left the seabed. Only when its limbs were on the ground, crawling slowly, did it feel at ease, unafraid of attacks from other mutated creatures.

Therefore, no matter what it did, it ensured that its limbs remained on the ground so that its defensive ability could be maximized.

This was not just caution; it was an extreme fear of death, which was why it had buried itself in the hill after the Thunder Beast had injured it.

At that moment, curiosity flashed in the Dragon Turtle’s eyes. Roar! Thunder Fiery, what is land?

Roar!

Unable to tolerate it any longer, the Thunder Beast roared and slapped its massive shell directly, causing an explosion in the water accompanied by a circle of white shockwaves. The Dragon Turtle's body suddenly staggered, and its limbs sank several meters into the ground.

Roar! Shut up! Don't make a sound until we reach our destination.

The Thunder Beast’s eyes were filled with ferocity, and its entire body burst into flames with a fierce heat emanating from it.

Roar! I won't speak, I won't speak!

Feeling the killing intent emanating from the Thunder Beast, the Dragon Turtle shrank back, too frightened to anything more.

Suddenly, the Thunder Beast noticed their surroundings quieting down. All that remained was the pitch-black sea and silence, with only the disturbance of water currents caused by their movements.

Seeing this, the Thunder Beast exhaled a hot breath and, with a thought, extinguished the flames leaping from its body.

Down here, maintaining those flames was like a person walking naked in the icy wilderness; just as the surrounding cold would continuously sap the person’s body heat, constantly boiling the water around it consumed the Thunder Beast’s energy

On land, it would have been a different story, with ordinary creatures not even being able to approach it.

By now, they had reached a depth of over two thousand meters in the deep sea. The Thunder Beast occasionally felt some huge shadows flash by in the distance.

The creatures forming these shadows, which had lived in the pitch-black silence of the deep sea since birth, all had eerie and terrifying appearances, enough to instill fear in anyone who saw them. Only a few were relatively normal.

A mutated fish over four meters long, transparent all over with a faint glow emanating from its head, slowly swam by a few hundred meters away. Before it could swim far, a massive shadow flashed by and swallowed the glowing fish, plunging the surroundings into absolute darkness once again.

To glow in such a dark environment was asking to die. The Thunder Beast shook its head slightly, its tail swaying as it continued to swim forward.

The giant turtle, however, let out a slight growl. Roar! Thunder Fiery, just now, a very strong mutated creature passed by.

The incessant chatter along the way hadn’t been entirely without benefits; this fellow's expression was becoming increasingly smooth and coherent.

Roar! There was indeed one, but it wasn't very strong, so I couldn't be bothered. The Thunder Beast casually dismissed the concern.

The turtle's eyes showed admiration. Roar! As expected of you. I was startled just now.

It was just an ordinary level 5 mutated creature, and yet you, a level 7 dragon-type colossal beast, were startled. What are you so afraid of?

These complaints were only mental thoughts, not spoken out loud. The Thunder Beast knew that if it opened its mouth to speak again, this guy, who had finally quieted down, would start asking questions non-stop.

Unfortunately, the Thunder Beast had underestimated just how much of a chatterbox the Dragon Turtle was, as curiosity appeared in its eyes. Roar! Thunder Fiery, why aren't you talking anymore?

The Thunder Beast's claws clenched again in an instant, its strength gathering, and its eyes filled with killing intent.

This guy just won’t stop, could he not be a little quieter?

Just as the Thunder Beast was about to give it another scolding, it paused, its gaze sharpening when it suddenly felt the surrounding transcendent energy grow denser.

And as they continued to move, the concentration of transcendent energy almost doubled. Soon, a bright and luminous world appeared before its eyes.

In an underwater valley nearly three kilometers deep, colorful corals dotted the landscape, emitting a faint glow and adorning the pitch-black seabed like a crystal dragon palace[2].

This valley stretched for several kilometers, with the widest part reaching over a kilometer, covered with corals that ranged from small clusters to ones several meters high.

Many silver-colored small fish, the size of palms, swam among the corals, shimmering with silver light. It was a completely different world compared to the surrounding pitch-black silence.

Even the Thunder Beast was stunned by such a splendid sight. It had never expected such a place in the deep sea.

1. Tang Sanzang was the main character of the novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en. He was a young and naive monk on a pilgrimage to find a set of important Buddhist scriptures. ☜

2. This is a reference to the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea, also known as the Water-Crystal Palace. In Chinese mythology, it was the residence of Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea. ☜