Boom!
Endless pressure radiated out, blanketing heaven and earth, unmatched in all the world, seizing the soul.
A pitch-black claw emerged, boundless and endless, as though it transcended all rules and laws. It could twist everything, destroy everything. Vast beyond compare and carrying unimaginable power, it pressed directly down toward the Netherworld below.
In an instant, every living being within the Netherworld began to tremble.
One after another, their souls fell into disorder. They shuddered as if they were about to shatter apart.
This was an unimaginable pressure.
Countless people cried out in terror.
Lu Chen, standing atop the Divine Mountain, was also startled. He instinctively gripped the two command tokens.
He could not stop it!
The moment he saw that pitch-black claw, he knew that he could not block it on his own.
This was power that completely surpassed divinities.
This was a king among divinities!
Divinities, True Gods, Divine Kings, Divine Emperors, and rulers.
Beneath the stars, these five kinds of beings stood at the pinnacle.
Among them, rulers stood high above all. Their aura and life were both infinitely close to nothingness. No one knew how many years it had been since one had appeared, and whether such people even existed in the entire starry sky was still uncertain.
Thus, on the surface, Divine Emperors were the strongest.
But Divine Emperors needed to remain stationed in sacred lands all year round and almost never traveled outside.
Those who traveled outside most often were Divine Kings.
The appearance of a Divine King meant invincible battle power!
The terrifying claw blotted out the sky and covered the sun. It was not merely targeting the Divine Mountain, but the entire Netherworld. It wanted to destroy every restriction within the Netherworld.
Layer upon layer of restrictions throughout the Netherworld were immediately activated.
Streams of light rose up, covered in endless runes, producing crashing sounds as they surged toward the enormous black palm.
Everyone within the Netherworld felt their hearts quake in fear, as though destruction hung over their heads.
On the contrary.
The survivors who had escaped from Lu Chen earlier and hidden in every direction around the Divine Mountain all cheered at this moment, crying out excitedly.
"Divine King Old Ancestor has taken action!"
"Wonderful! With the Old Ancestor acting, no one can stop him!"
"Old Ancestor, please quickly tear open this world's restrictions!"
Bang bang bang bang...
Blossoms of light exploded one after another in the skies above the Netherworld.
They were all ripples released as layer after layer of restrictions were forcibly ground away.
Every wisp of ripples was like a vast ocean.
Whether they were the survivors hiding on the Divine Mountain or the other descenders above the Netherworld, all of them were thrilled beyond measure at this moment.
As they watched the sky-covering claw erase restrictions all the way down and continue reaching toward the lower realms, the pressure on Lu Chen also reached its limit. Without hesitation, he activated the two command tokens in his hands almost simultaneously.
"Gatekeeper, help me quickly!"
He silently called out in his heart, sending over a thread of spiritual fluctuation.
Sssht!
The next moment.
The space above his head silently split open, revealing two pitch-black holes.
Bursts of terrifyingly cold and sinister aura spread out from within those holes.
Then endless light erupted directly from the two holes, bursting forth like a tidal wave—mighty and vast, carrying two entirely different auras and colors.
Boom!
Countless surging, majestic streams of energy crashed fiercely toward the high heavens.
From afar, they looked like two different volcanoes.
The powerful and terrifying energy lights all slammed viciously into that enormous pitch-black palm, causing the entire black claw to shake violently as the light on its surface blurred.
One stream of energy was shattered on the spot by the black claw.
But the other stream was boundless, terrifying and unfathomable. Not only was it not shattered when it struck the black claw, it became even more horrifying. Like blazing divine fire, unstoppable, it directly set the pitch-black claw ablaze.
The terrifying sight made the powerful outsiders and the other survivors atop the Divine Mountain cry out in alarm.
"Divine King Old Ancestor is injured!"
"That's impossible!"
"What power does the Netherworld still possess that can block Divine King Old Ancestor?"
No one dared believe what they had witnessed.
Divine Kings were immortal through a thousand calamities and indestructible through ten thousand tribulations. Who could injure them?
Not to mention this fallen world—even a top-tier planet might not be able to accomplish it after exhausting all its power.
Boom!
The blazing black claw suddenly withdrew, shrinking back above the Netherworld along with great swaths of divine fire. The scorching heat filled everyone with terror, and they hurriedly fled.
Such heat was simply unprecedented. Even demigods could not withstand it.
"Little fellow, Hell's Second Layer cannot block a Divine King. You should let that old monster from the third layer stop him instead. He accepted your benefits, so he cannot take them for nothing."
An aged voice emerged from one of the black holes.
It was the gatekeeper of the second layer.
Then that black hole slowly closed and vanished once more.
Only one black hole remained floating above Lu Chen's head, expanding and contracting unpredictably, mysterious and unfathomable.
Bursts of destructive aura emanated from within.
It was the power of the third layer.
Lu Chen raised his head and glanced at it, quietly letting out a sigh of relief.
He was fortunate—fortunate that he had spared no expense to seek out the gatekeeper of the third layer earlier.
Otherwise, his fate at this very moment would have been unimaginable.
"What was that? A demon king?"
Lu Chen muttered inwardly.
That black claw from earlier was definitely not human.
High in the sky, those cold, soul-seizing eyes were like enormous planets, looking down upon the Netherworld below. The terrifying pressure was like mountains roaring and seas howling, making souls tremble.
"Interesting. I actually sensed the aura of hell again. Back then, it was forcibly flattened, and all the criminals from the eighteen layers escaped. Who rebuilt hell here?"
A cold and terrifying voice rang out above the Netherworld.
The entire Netherworld trembled and shook.
"What is the point of playing ghosts and gods here? If you truly have the ability, then you should rush out of this world and restore your former glory, rather than hiding in this world and building a broken hell!"
The cold and terrifying voice sounded once again.
Those enormous eyes instantly became even sharper and more intimidating, golden and brilliant like burning suns, lighting up half the Netherworld.
Many souls collapsed to the ground in terror, discovering that their soul bodies were about to dissipate.
"Let me see your true face!"
Boom!
A blinding ball of fire suddenly rose in the sky above the Netherworld, blazing fiercely and nearly submerging the entire Netherworld. The Netherworld, which had already had half of it illuminated, now became almost completely radiant.
Under this endless divine fire, the Netherworld seemed to hold no secrets any longer.
Everything would be left with nowhere to hide.
The terrifying pressure made the survivors on the Divine Mountain tremble as well.
Bearing immense pressure, they were incomparably excited.
Divine King Old Ancestor had not been injured!
He still possessed battle power that defied the heavens.
Whoosh!
Terrifying flames surged in from outside the Netherworld, blanketing heaven and earth and sweeping across all directions. They were about to pierce through the entire Netherworld and destroy every restriction here.
The black hole above Lu Chen's head bore the brunt of it, becoming the primary target of the attack.
Blazing golden flames rushed directly toward that black hole, intending to fill it up and burn it to pieces.
An incomparably powerful suction force suddenly erupted from the black hole, as though it connected to an unknown space, or as though a terrifying beast were swallowing oceans and drinking rivers.
All the golden flames thundered as they rapidly poured inside.
In the blink of an eye.
Every flame vanished completely.
The entire world turned pitch-black once more.
The black hole overhead made gurgling sounds, as though it were boiling.
Then the divine fire that had just been swallowed erupted again, charging wildly into the outer realm at an even faster and more terrifying speed, blasting toward those enormous eyes.
The enormous eyes abruptly closed and disappeared.
Even so, the terrifying divine fire still struck fiercely, collapsing and exploding a stretch of space behind the eyeballs. Deafening thunderous sounds rang out, affecting countless miles.
"Burp!"
A belch suddenly came from the black hole, followed by familiar words.
"I'm full. I can't eat anymore."
It was unmistakably the little pig's voice.
Lu Chen suddenly felt something. He focused his gaze beyond the realm once more.
Rumble!
Great waves of terrifying aura descended from above the Netherworld, accompanied by deep, muffled roars. The golden eyes that had just vanished appeared once again.
This time, it was not only those eyes that appeared, but its entire body.
It was a colossal bird covered entirely in black, so huge that it blotted out the sky and covered the sun, spanning more than half the Netherworld.
It was simply too enormous.
So enormous that it seemed boundless.
So enormous that it could crush everything.
It would not have been an exaggeration to call it hundreds of millions or even billions of miles long.
At this moment, its aura was disordered, its feathers withered, and its soul power in chaos. Divine fire still burned in many places across its body.
It had clearly been injured.
"Is this a Divine King?"
A shiver ran through Lu Chen's heart, and he felt his own insignificance.
Such a creature was too terrifying.
All techniques and restrictions seemed utterly insignificant before it.
He needed to add points!
He needed to grow stronger!
He needed to add points until he could slay Divine Kings and cleave everything apart with a single sword.
The helplessness of today could never be allowed to appear again!
He would crush everything with overwhelming force! He would blast everything apart!
"Good, good, good. I ultimately underestimated you. Since you dared hide here and build hell, you must be plotting something. Do you think blocking me is enough? I am merely the vanguard!"
The enormous black bird stared downward with an icy tone. "You blocked me, but stronger kings will come afterward. No matter what you are plotting here, it will all come to nothing. We were able to crush you back then, and we can crush you again now!"
Its Killing Intent was heavy, and its gaze was cold.
It opened its mouth and spat out. With a whoosh, countless heads appeared before it.
Large and small, in all manner of shapes, they were piled together like a mountain of heads and had been refined into a unique magical treasure.
"Do you recognize these heads?"
The giant bird revealed a cruel smile. "They were all ancient sages of this world. Back then, I hunted them down and slaughtered them. One by one, they wailed miserably, and in the end, I collected their heads and refined them into a magical treasure. If you have the ability, then destroy the skulls of these ancient sages of yours as well!"
Boom!
It activated the mountain of heads, releasing a terrifying aura as it descended from the sky and continued crashing toward the Netherworld below.
An aged sigh came from the dark black hole.
"Little fellow, do you see now? This is how the weak have no dignity. Even after death, they will still be humiliated. What can be done? I can only help you resolve this once, but if other Divine Kings appear afterward, I will not be able to stop them. So in the end, you still have to rely on yourself."
The sigh of the third-layer gatekeeper echoed in Lu Chen's mind.
Then Lu Chen saw countless chains clattering as they shot directly toward the outer realm.
Before you continue