Chapter 304 - 209: Book of the Dead (2)

Zhou Chen’s tone was exceptionally calm. "And like I said, I’m not gay."

"AHH!"

After falling from the wall, the Spirit of the End collapsed on the ground, shrieking in agony. A power that he found utterly sickening was being injected into his vessel.

It was like a single rat dropping had fallen into a delicious, thick soup.

From within the profane darkness of destruction and the End, the power known as the Creation of All Things erupted. It brought with it vigorous life and vibrant Life Force, acting like a potent poison that caused the Spirit of the End’s aura to rapidly weaken and fade.

’The effect is surprisingly good.’ Zhou Chen was a little surprised. It seemed the power of "life" was an effective counter to the Spirit of the End.

He tightened his grip on the gigantified Hammer of Forging as the Essence in his body surged wildly. The Hammer’s flames grew an even more dazzling crimson, and the surrounding temperature skyrocketed.

Like a Sun emitting infinite heat, or an ever-burning Divine Furnace, it illuminated the entire grand hall, as well as the terrified face of the Spirit of the End.

Zhou Chen looked down with indifference as the hammer of termination descended with the force of a mountain. The brutal impact stirred up a mighty hurricane, making the high tower tremble violently. The Spirit of the End’s vessel shattered, its fragments shooting out in all directions, only to be completely vaporized by the intense heat.

The Darkness surged, and a thick, jet-black Ancient Book slowly floated into the air.

’So this is the Forbidden Ancient Book?’ Zhou Chen paused for a moment, then prepared to deal with it. ’This thing is definitely bad news.’

But immediately after, the black Abyssal Evil Book shot toward him with a WHOOSH, moving at incredible speed. Fortunately, Zhou Chen was prepared and swung his hammer at it.

However, it was just a bubble-like Illusion that dissipated into nothingness when struck.

Taking advantage of the illusion—a Blinding Technique—the real Abyssal Evil Book flew in swiftly from the other side and rushed into Zhou Chen’s body.

’Even a book can be this treacherous!’ Zhou Chen cursed inwardly.

In his Spiritual World, the Forbidden Ancient Book was Floating in the sky, its pages turning on their own without any wind.

An icy torrent of Darkness spewed from its flipping pages, sweeping through the Spiritual World. The despair and agony of tens of thousands of the dead spread wantonly. Abyssal Contamination began to rapidly corrode his Soul, dragging Zhou Chen into the suffocating Abyss.

"Hahahaha... I’ve finally succeeded!"

The Spirit of the End’s ecstatic voice echoed as his figure appeared above the Sea of Silver. He had deliberately let himself be killed just to wait for Zhou Chen to lower his guard, then use the Blinding Technique to strike at his very core!

"The Authority, the Soul of Defiance—they’re all mine! MINE!"

The Spirit of the End’s laughter resounded throughout the Spiritual World as he loudly proclaimed, "The true End will descend this night! I shall bring utter destruction and bid all of creation to welcome eternal silence!"

As an Evil Spirit whose mission from birth was to destroy the World, he had been waiting for this day since the moment of his creation.

—To possess a Soul and truly become the "Spirit of the End"!

He had already mostly succeeded. All that was left was to completely occupy this Soul and take over this physical body!

The Spirit of the End began to frantically corrode Zhou Chen’s Soul. To his delight, he discovered that Zhou Chen seemed to have no ability to resist, allowing the Abyssal Power to eat away at him.

He was ecstatic. He would not only obtain a radiant Soul of Defiance but also a supreme Authority, which he could then combine with the calamitous power generated by the destruction of spacetime... Just thinking about it made the Spirit of the End tremble with excitement, nearly dancing with joy!

"My long-cherished wish is finally coming true!"

Once the corrosion of the Soul exceeded fifty percent, the Spirit of the End completely relaxed. A strong sense of satisfaction from a wish fulfilled washed over him, and he burst out laughing. "Zhou Chen, thank you for this delightful surprise!"

"Mm, thank you for the surprise you’ve brought me, too."

In the grand hall, Zhou Chen, who was shrouded in an aura of Darkness, grinned.

The Spirit of the End’s expression froze. ’How can Zhou Chen still be so... at ease?’

"Did you really think I couldn’t handle a mere fifty percent damage to my Soul?"

Along with Zhou Chen’s mocking laughter, an unstoppable Mysterious Power erupted. It turned his Soul into a battlefield and launched a ferocious counterattack against the Abyssal corrosion.

In a near instant, it reclaimed ten percent of the territory, beating back the corrosive power like a routed dog in steady retreat.

The Spirit of the End was utterly stunned. His expression immediately turned fierce and savage as an even more majestic torrent of Darkness erupted, accelerating the force of the corrosion.

In the grand hall, due to the corrosion of his Soul, Zhou Chen’s physical body had also undergone a degree of mutation.

One of his eyes was evil, frenzied, and violent, filled with all the world’s malice, while the other was bright and calm, full of human reason. His hair had turned into an eerie, pale flame that burned fiercely, filled with a cold and deathly aura. Ancient, fiery patterns like flowing lava appeared on his skin, with viscous, fiery fluid constantly dripping down. Transparent tentacles extended from his back, writhing chaotically, the demonic nature on full display...

But as he continuously reclaimed his Soul and dispelled the contamination within, these mutations rapidly disappeared, and his body gradually returned to normal.

"You... How is this possible..." The Spirit of the End couldn’t understand how Zhou Chen was doing it. This sudden burst of Power was so immense!

Within the Spiritual World, a projection of Zhou Chen’s will appeared.

He was shrouded in a layer of white mist, his aura mysterious, ancient, and powerful, like one of the Gods seated high in the heavens, gazing down indifferently upon the mortal world.

The Spirit of the End’s face filled with horror. ’What the fuck... What the actual fuck...’

’Why is he so strong?!’

"I forgot to tell you."

Zhou Chen raised his hand, aiming his five fingers at the Spirit of the End, and informed him coldly:

"I have more than one Authority."

With that, his five fingers snapped shut. The majestic mist pressed in from all directions, instantly crushing the Spirit of the End’s figure and completely annihilating the consciousness within.

"I wish to free and purify the Undead imprisoned in the book," Zhou Chen said softly.

The next second, a brilliant radiance descended from the sky, like Holy Light from Heaven, illuminating the black Ancient Book. An immense number of Soul fragments flew out from it like a storm, finding Purification in the warm light. They gradually evaporated and disappeared, allowing the tens of thousands of tormented soul remnants to finally find peaceful rest.

Because they were mindless Soul fragments, Zhou Chen didn’t receive any wish value for freeing and purifying them.

But that was fine. The Spirit of the End had provided plenty just now.

From the moment the Forbidden Ancient Book flew into his body and attempted to possess him, Zhou Chen had a bold plan.

—Fleece the Spirit of the End!

The higher the tier of the existence, the more wish value they provided. The Forbidden Ancient Book was of a very High Tier, capable of even blocking the Wish Bottle’s divination. As its incarnation, the Spirit of the End was naturally the same.

Obviously, he had guessed right. The Spirit of the End’s earlier ecstatic expression was proof. So, he had simply let go and allowed the Spirit of the End to corrode his Soul, helping it fulfill its wish. In any case, he had enough Power to cover the risk, and if worst came to worst, he still had the Life-saving Talisman from Lin Yun.

Who would have thought the Spirit of the End would pop the champagne at halftime, assuming its success was inevitable, and thereby providing Zhou Chen with a huge amount of wish value.

This made Zhou Chen grin from ear to ear. He decisively counterattacked and gave the Spirit of the End a quick, clean end.

"And now, it’s your turn."

Zhou Chen looked at the Forbidden Ancient Book in the sky, which was still spewing a torrent of Darkness.

"Close."

With a single thought, the majestic white mist formed a pair of giant hands that forcibly closed the Forbidden Ancient Book, cutting off the torrent of Darkness.

But the thing was extremely stubborn. It struggled violently, trying to open itself again. Viscous Abyssal Essence oozed from its black cover. The book’s jacket squirmed, and a bloody eyeball opened right in the center, turning to look at Zhou Chen.

That gaze contained a massive amount of negative power: evil, blasphemy, madness, death, calamity, resentment, chaos... just like the very essence of the Abyss.

Zhou Chen’s expression grew slightly solemn. ’This damn book might be even harder to deal with than the Spirit of the End.’

But the next second, the bloody eyeball on the cover slowly closed. It stopped overflowing with Abyssal Essence and ceased its resistance, becoming as silent and still as a dead object.

Savage, winding, scarlet characters emerged on the book’s cover, forming a forbidden title that looked as if it were written by a demon.

—The Book of the Dead!