Chapter 414: Heaven

When Shangguan Chen woke up again, he saw Su Mu.

"Hahaha... you think a mere Illusion Technique can stop me?" Shangguan Chen laughed madly.

"Primal Divine Magic!"

He instantly unleashed Primal Divine Magic. After a bitter struggle, he finally claimed Supreme Heaven!

Using Supreme Heaven, he obliterated Su Mu. Then he seized control of King Chi, forcing her to remove Scarlet Moon.

With two great Royal Power Artifacts in hand, Shangguan Chen felt invincible.

First, he sacrificed King Chi to heal his injuries, then he took control of the entire Chiyan Empire and sacrificed it all in exchange for power.

After ascending back to the Saint Grade, he became an invincible existence within the Divine Dream World. The entire world trembled beneath his feet.

Finally, he slaughtered the remaining Gold Kings, gathered all the Royal Power Artifacts, and opened the Land of Origin. There, he obtained the legacy of the gods and advanced to the Demigod Realm!

On this day, Shangguan Chen wore the pitch-black armor Yama of the Ten Halls. His left hand had been replaced by the Left Hand of God, and he wore Supreme Heaven on his ring finger. His right hand grasped the Sword of Royal Power. The blood-red cape Scarlet Moon draped from his shoulders, Starfall Heavenly Punishment was slung across his back, and the Red Lotus Heaven-Seizing Gourd hung at his waist.

His terrifying aura blotted out the sun. High-spirited and triumphant, he pointed his sword at the heavens!

A guiding holy light descended. Bathed in its glow, he slowly ascended.

After passing through layers of clouds and a sky full of stars, he finally reached Heaven.

"Hahaha... Heaven! I have..."

Suddenly, the smile froze on Shangguan Chen's face. "This... this is Heaven?"

A thick layer of blood mist shrouded the sky. The pitch-black earth was riddled with cracks, oozing a foul, dark slime from the fissures. Piles of white bones choked the dried-up riverbeds.

In the distance, the rolling mountain ranges bore a sinister blue-black hue. Hideous ravines scarred their slopes, as if they had been torn apart by some massive, evil force.

An aura of absolute desolation, ruin, and loneliness washed over him.

While Shangguan Chen was still reeling from this suffocating environment, towering gods peered out of the blood mist. Their eyes were filled with mockery and sadistic cruelty.

He even saw the Primal Angel, but it was not the holy being he had imagined. Its blood-stained wings were embedded with countless, densely packed eyeballs, and every single eye brimmed with absolute malice.

"Here comes another."

"It has been far too long since I tasted human flesh."

Suddenly, several massive hands that blotted out the sky descended, grabbing at Shangguan Chen.

"No!! This isn't real!" Shangguan Chen screamed in despair. The gods relentlessly tore at his body. He watched helplessly as they gnawed on his thighs and arms, then ripped out his heart...

Soon, his vision went dark as the Primal Angel opened its bloody maw and lunged for his head.

...

...

Su Mu watched Shangguan Chen, who was immersed in the Eternal Dream Prison. The man's expression shifted between sheer terror and vicious madness.

He smiled faintly.

This was the second core ability of the nightmare: Eternal Dream Prison!

An upgraded version of the Thousand Illusions of Fleeting Life, it forcibly dragged the target's consciousness into a world constructed by an Illusion Technique. Inside the dream prison, every sight and scene was molded by the caster's mental strength. It felt just like the real world, yet it was filled with endless tribulations.

Unlike the Thousand Illusions of Fleeting Life, the Eternal Dream Prison was custom-made. It tailored a tribulation specifically to the deepest fears and obsessions of the prisoner.

Time completely lost its meaning within the Eternal Dream Prison. Unless the caster voluntarily lifted the Illusion Technique, or the prisoner possessed extraordinary willpower to overcome their fears and let go of their obsessions, they would be trapped forever, enduring endless suffering and torture.

Overcoming fear might be possible, but letting go of an obsession... was incredibly difficult.

Take Shangguan Chen, for example. His obsession was to constantly grow stronger and then ascend to Heaven. For this, he was willing to sacrifice everything, including his dignity.

For him, breaking the Eternal Dream Prison required completely abandoning the thought of reaching Heaven. He would have to obediently find a quiet corner, become an ordinary mortal, and live out the rest of his life in peace.

To him, this would be worse than death.

Because he was the First Red King. He was the Primal Pope. He was a Saint Grade powerhouse... If he could truly bury his name and retire to the countryside, would he still be himself?

In a sense, this man was already dead.

"The match is decided," Su Mu said with a smile.

The moment Shangguan Chen entered the Eternal Dream Prison, his defeat was set in stone.

Looking at Shangguan Chen standing blankly with hollow eyes, Su Mu paid him no more mind. His own mental strength was almost completely drained.

The next moment, he waved his hand, and hundreds of dazzling treasures appeared before him.

"I wish to lift the seal on my body."

Hum!

Supreme Heaven emitted a dark gold light. The treasures before him vanished instantly. Then, the dark gold light blazed even brighter until it completely enveloped Su Mu.

Out of the void, the sound of invisible shackles shattering rang out.

His depleted mental strength was instantly restored. His deep eyes sparkled with a crystalline blue light, as if reflecting the sky above.

Feeling his brimming mental strength, Su Mu stroked Supreme Heaven on his hand and muttered, "From now on, nothing in this world can stop me."

Rumble!!

Unimaginably radiant holy light abruptly erupted from Shangguan Chen's body. The phantom of the Primal Angel rose from him once again.

"Mad King!!" Shangguan Chen roared at the sky, his expression savage. He had actually broken through the restraints of the Eternal Dream Prison. To be precise, it wasn't him, but the Primal Angel!

Something was very wrong with Shangguan Chen. His body was turning transparent at a visible rate, like a candle about to burn out.

Su Mu raised an eyebrow. Possessing the Pope's memories, he naturally saw exactly what Shangguan Chen had done.

The man had sacrificed his entire being to the Primal Angel in exchange for the power of a god.

Gods truly defied all reason.

But Su Mu remained calm. Even if Shangguan Chen sacrificed his half-crippled body in exchange for the Primal Angel's power, it still couldn't kill him. Su Mu was no longer the man he once was.

"Mad King, although I've lost to you once again, I won't let you live in peace even in death!" Shangguan Chen, now at the end of his rope, glared viciously at Su Mu.

Calm and composed, Su Mu casually brushed the dust off his clothes and said lightly, "You can try."

Shangguan Chen suddenly let out a malicious laugh. "I know I can't kill you. You want to save this fake world, right? Then I'll make you watch helplessly as this world is destroyed!

Great Primal Angel, let your power descend!!"

Shangguan Chen's figure disintegrated inch by inch until he completely faded into nothingness.

Meanwhile, the phantom of the Primal Angel flashed away, vanishing without a trace.