Chapter 221: The Primary Divine Artifact

The power of the Primary God within Chen Xiao flowed out at an astonishing rate, to the point where it could no longer sustain the ice-blue flame. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he never expected such a turn of events. The ice-blue flame continued to devour the thunderstorms within the storm clouds. With each thunderstorm consumed, it turned into a faint trail that merged into the flame, making its power grow ever stronger.

Yet as the flame’s power increased, Chen Xiao no longer had enough “fuel” within him. The power emanating from his Primary God form was barely sufficient to meet the demand. Had it not been for the waves of chaotic energy transmitted by the Heavenly Map, Chen Xiao’s own body would likely have been burned to ashes. This was playing with fire and setting oneself on fire.

The divine artifact in his dantian was also completely burned up the moment it came into contact with the ice-blue flame. It did not merge with his body as he had imagined but instead turned into a void-like trail that merged into the flame. As the flame continued to devour the surrounding thunderstorms, its power grew even greater. By now, Chen Xiao had completely lost control over it.

The ice-blue flame even ignited the storm clouds themselves, and all the thunderstorms within them were utterly consumed. Chen Xiao’s face turned deathly pale. In his mental sea, the power of the Primary God form and that of the Heavenly Map had merged into one indistinguishable force. The power of the Primary God even began to transform into the ever-changing chaotic energy.

Boom…

A loud explosion rang out in Chen Xiao’s mind. The originally light-blue Primary God form now took on a chaotic color, seemingly containing all attributes. The Heavenly Map slowly floated below the Primary God form, emitting a chaotic glow that nourished it. In an instant, it seemed as though the level of the Primary God form had risen by one tier. It released an even greater amount of power to fuel the tiny ice-blue flame in his dantian, making the external flames even more fierce.

“Ah…”

Suddenly, Chen Xiao let out a pained cry. His body also began to burn. After consuming the storm clouds, the raging ice-blue flames surged toward his body. Every muscle and bone in his body started burning, transforming into those void-like trails that wandered through the universe.

Suddenly, gentle glows emerged from the Heavenly Map in his mental sea. These glows seemed to contain nine worlds, layered upon each other, protecting Chen Xiao’s soul and the Primary God form that had begun to merge with his domain. Although his body was burning, his soul remained unharmed. The ice-blue flames retreated upon encountering the illusions of those nine worlds and stopped attacking.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out in the void. Soon after, the sky cleared up, and all the strange phenomena disappeared.

“Did he fail?” Lou Yu was stunned by the empty sky. Subconsciously, he couldn’t believe Chen Xiao would die like this. Die from failing to overcome the tribulation? Just now, this guy had scared away a true god.

Xuanyuan Po also blinked his eyes. His mental energy was released, scanning the void in hopes of finding some clues.
“Is this your ally? If we ally with him and attend the Heaven and Earth Banquet, we’re likely to die without a trace.” Mo Changqi curled his lips, showing slight disdain. But now that Chen Xiao was dead, the blood oath they had made earlier was also void.
“He’s protected by a divine artifact; how could he die from lightning strikes…” Lou Yu shook his head. “The lightning strike just now, along with those strange changes, that terrifying ice-blue flame—no one knows where it came from. I’m afraid he died from those mutated lightning strikes.”
Xuanyuan Po nodded in agreement.
…
“Phew… What a close call. I almost burned myself out.”
Somewhere on the black giant ship, Chen Xiao’s body reappeared. But now, he had undergone tremendous changes. The power within him had completely transformed into chaotic energy, and his water-based divine essence had also been converted into chaotic energy.
In his dantian, that ice-blue flame had grown to the size of a fist, emitting a faint glow. Now, Chen Xiao could truly see what that ice-blue flame was.
It wasn’t a flame at all—it was made up of tiny, eerie trajectories that were constantly moving, as if conveying the fundamental truths of existence.
A faint blue light shone in Chen Xiao’s eyes. At this moment, it seemed he could see through the true nature of this giant ship.
Deep within the core of the ship, across countless layers of space, there was a black monstrous spirit. Its eyes emitted terrifying blood-red light, and in its hands was a black orb—the core of this black giant ship.
Clearly, this black monstrous spirit had taken control of the ship, but its power seemed insufficient to activate it, so it kept waiting.
Chen Xiao noticed that the souls of all the dead monstrous spirits and void gods were absorbed by the ship and sent into that black orb.
With each remaining soul entering the black orb, its size increased slightly.
“I wonder what my strength is now.”
Suddenly, Chen Xiao’s body changed. His entire being turned into a formless trajectory, merging into space.
Earlier, after being burned by the ice-blue flame, his entire body had seemed to turn into similar trajectories, but they weren’t real trajectories—just imitations.
His body moved along certain specific trajectories, seemingly existing within this space yet independent of it.
“Hm?”
At the core of the black giant ship, the black monstrous spirit raised its head abruptly, staring directly at the trajectory that Chen Xiao had taken.
“He can see me!”
Chen Xiao was shocked. The ice-blue flame in his dantian surged forth, completely covering his form.
The next moment, the black monstrous spirit withdrew its gaze.
“Was that just an illusion?” This black monstrous spirit had a very clear mind, unlike other monstrous spirits, which, though intelligent, were in a daze.

“I, with my Nine-layer Primordial Spirit God power, cannot even control this divine artifact ship. What level of divine artifact is it? Could it be a Primary Divine Artifact?” The black fiend murmured to itself. “Even divine artifacts that are superior to the Nine-layer Primordial Spirit God artifacts can be controlled by me… Yet in the face of this giant ship, I have no way at all to use even a fraction of my power.” Holding a black orb in his hand, the black fiend fell into deep thought. “Primary Divine Artifact… If only I could use a little of its power before my demise, but now my strength has been greatly diminished, leaving only the power of my Nine-layer Primordial Spirit…”