Chapter 552: Sea of Black Sky Guns!

The sky returned to a tranquil azure, and Li Xueru stood quietly on the clouds, with the slowly rotating Shenlong Tower behind him, standing like a guardian deity.

"Demon Emperor, Jiang Yi…" he muttered softly, his eyes flickering with complex light.

"Both have displayed astonishing power," he clenched his fists, feeling an unprecedented urgency.

As a Divine-level Strongman of level 95, Li Xueru has always been regarded as the pinnacle of the Human Race, unmatched by anyone.

Above him, only the enigmatic Fan Emperor of the Dragon Clan Academy can match him.

For a long time he has basked in invincible glory and radiance, almost forgetting the possibility of failure.

However, everything today completely overturned his perception.

The Demon Emperor, with only an illusory shadow—those two fingers that seemed like water without a source—easily defeated him, displaying unfathomable power.

And Jiang Yi, the legendary figure, even before fully reviving, wielded only a Demon‑slaying Sword to, from a thousand li away, slay the Enchantress Demon King's Divine-level Clone and shatter the Demon Emperor's illusory shadow completely.

At that moment, Li Xueru deeply felt his many shortcomings.

He knew it was not merely a gap in strength, but a contest of mindset, wisdom, and will.

He needed to re‑examine himself, continuously cultivate and temper, to face the harsher challenges ahead.

Whether the Demon Emperor or Jiang Yi, they each possess power beyond reach.

The fighting spirit Li Xueru had never ignited before was fully kindled at this moment.

He clenched his fists, uttered no words, and silently vowed in his heart.

He, Li Xueru, has never bowed his head before anyone.

Since there are shortcomings, he will chase with all his might.

At this moment, his fighting spirit burned like raging fire, as if returning to his youthful, passionate days.

He firmly believes no obstacle in the world can block his forward steps.

Jiang Chen had just finished a challenge in an Instance.

In less than three days, his level had already surged to Level 58.

Such a leveling speed is unimaginable for ordinary professionals.

As long as he has enough cooldown counts, he can almost level up in two days.

However, unfortunately, the four Advanced Cooldown Talismans he carries, originally granting 200 cooldown uses, now have fewer than 30 left.

That is no longer enough to support his rise to Level 59.

"Once the cooldown uses of this Cooldown Talisman are exhausted, I'll go back to see the teacher to replenish energy, then return and grind for two more days; I should then smoothly reach Level 60."

"By then, I will have mastered some new skills."

"I really look forward to what the Level 60 skill will be like."

Jiang Chen, with a hint of anticipation, stepped into the Instance again.

His instance‑running interval remained consistently steady, once every half hour.

Although the process was somewhat tedious, each time he saw his Experience Value rise, Jiang Chen felt immense satisfaction.

However, when he completed the Instance again, a strong scent of blood suddenly hit his nose.

The sky darkened at an unknown moment, and terrified screams rang in his ears.

A gigantic gun‑shaped shadow suddenly descended from the sky, smashing toward him fiercely.

Jiang Chen's reaction was already swift, but the gun shadow's speed was faster; he had no time to react before being hurled away.

The snow in front of the Instance entrance was blown apart by the massive impact, revealing the frozen ground beneath.

His Bone Armor exploded in an instant, utterly unable to withstand the Divine-level power attack.

Meanwhile, in his Summon Queue, the Undead Legion also suffered injuries and fell to the ground.

"This is a Divine-level attack!"

"I sense the Abyss's aura; the Demon King has arrived!"

Jiang Chen's mind raced, instantly identifying the divine source of the attack.

He was still tumbling through the air, while the second wave of attacks surged like a sudden storm.

In this hair‑breadth moment, a blaze of light erupted around Jiang Chen, and the Undead Legion instantly deployed in full, like a force poised to strike.

The Lich General's Legion Healing Technique flickered continuously on the battlefield, supplying the Undead Legion with a steady flow of vitality.

The second gun shadow hit Jiang Chen with pinpoint accuracy, but its speed was so great he could barely dodge.

The massive damage instantly transferred to the Undead Legion; thanks to the Lich General's timely healing, the legion barely endured this fierce assault.

Subsequently, the Undead Legion quickly dispersed to avoid the opponent's area attacks.

Immediately after, the third gun shadow fell like lightning, its speed a few points faster than the first two.

The three consecutive gun‑shadow attacks were completed in less than half a second.

The opponent's attack speed was so rapid that Jiang Chen was shocked.

Had his reaction not been timely, he would likely have died on the spot.

Compared with the Snow God of the Heavenly Mountains he previously faced, Jiang Chen was even more certain that the Demon King he now encountered was far stronger.

His peripheral vision caught the scene at the Instance Entrance, where Human Race corpses littered the ground in utter ruin.

A massive Barrier enveloped the entire sky and earth, as if forming a pitch‑black Abyss World.

Seeing the bodies of his compatriots, Jiang Chen's fury ignited instantly, and a murderous intent swept over him like a raging storm.

Finally, in the brief gap as the third gun shadow fell, he saw the enemy's true form.

A colossal Demon King, ten meters tall, stood there, its massive wings spreading to block the sky, spanning over thirty meters in diameter.

It wielded a gigantic fire gun ablaze with Abyssal Fire; it was this gun that fired the lethal gun shadows.

Jiang Chen instantly recognized the opponent as the Black Sky Demon King, a renowned powerhouse among the many Demon Kings of the Abyss.

However, he could also see that this time it was not the Black Sky Demon King's true form, but a Clone.

Although it is only a clone, its strength is between Level 90 and Level 91, still a huge challenge for Jiang Chen.

Yet he has no intention of backing down.

"Just a clone, I can handle it in a single fight!" Jiang Chen thought silently.

At this moment, the Black Sky Demon King raised his fire gun again, the barrel pointing straight at Jiang Chen.

Another gunshadow whistled toward him; Jiang Chen let out a fierce roar, and the Primordial Rune on the back of his right hand flashed with dazzling light.

The "Gather Power" skill activated, instantly pushing his attributes to the limit.

Feeling the surging power within his body, Jiang Chen shivered.

His attributes broke through the limit once more.

Each attribute's ceiling rose from a fixed 1,000,000 points to an astonishing 1,500,000 points.

Recalling Antares's words, he understood the reason: the Divine Stone Instance had greatly strengthened his soul, making it more refined.

Though the changes to his flesh were slight, they were enough to break the attribute ceiling.

Above his left hand, flames leapt—that was his skill, Soul Burn.

The power of this skill depends not only on its own level but also heavily on Jiang Chen's Spiritual Power attribute.

Now, with a Spiritual Power of 1.5 million, the skill's damage is several times greater than before.

The Black Sky Demon King felt the sudden surge of power and let out a mournful wail; his previously fierce attack momentum was broken.

"Today I will take your life!" the Black Sky Demon King roared, his massive demonic body turning into a dark whirlwind that sped toward Jiang Chen like a meteor.

A flash of resolve crossed Jiang Chen's eyes; with a thought, the "Strong Soldier" skill on the back of his left hand erupted instantly.

Empowered by "Strong Soldier," Soul Burn's damage surged again, increasing by another 500 %.

A hotter spark flared on the Black Sky Demon King's forehead, instantly engulfing him in a sea of fire.

Black Qi swirled around the Black Sky Demon King, Abyssal Fire burned fiercely; he snarled to resist, only to find his soul wrapped in a layer of black qi, forming a protective shield.

Though this shield blocked most attacks, it did not completely isolate the power of Soul Burn.

Because he was a clone, not the true body, his soul power was relatively weak, and his defense could not withstand such a powerful Soul Attack.

Excruciating pain swept his body again, cutting off his snarling, and his once fierce attack became twisted by the pain.

Even a mighty Demon King finds it hard to endure soul pain.

Jiang Chen seized the brief opening and, without hesitation, unleashed other skills: Aging Curse and Toxic Star Explosion, both pouring down like a torrential rain.

At the same time, an Elemental Lich appeared beside him; amid flashes of lightning and thunder, the Undead Legion launched a fierce assault.

Among them, the strongest Skeleton Berserker swung a Giant Axe, leapt upward, and unleashed a powerful skill.

"Get out of the way! Black Sky Demon Gun!" the Black Sky Demon King shouted, swinging the huge fire gun blazing with Abyssal Fire, trying to block the tide‑like onslaught.

The Black Sky Demon Gun roared with savage force; as the black flame fire gun swung, countless black gunshadows flickered in the air.

The Dark World, previously shrouded by an Abyss Barrier, now grew deeper, as if even light were being devoured.

Tens of thousands of gunshadows glittered across the pitch‑black night sky like a meteor shower; the Skeleton Berserkers that had just charged were flung backward by the dense barrage.

The Elemental Lich's continuous explosions thundered, casting weak sparks of fire in the darkness.

Jiang Chen flipped his palm, red light flashing, and a Flame Lich wreathed in blazing fire materialized out of thin air.

The raging flames tangled with the Black Sky Demon King's black flames, reflecting a bizarre world.

The Flame Lich surged forward with scorching fire, as if to swallow the Demon King in a sea of flame.

Sensing the Divine Level flame on the Flame Lich, the Black Sky Demon King's gunshadow instantly changed direction, the dense gunshadows converging into a wall before the Flame Lich.

With a thunderous boom, the Flame Lich exploded under the gunshadow barrage, terrifying flames sweeping out and forcing the Black Sky Demon King to retreat repeatedly.

Jiang Chen felt a slight pain in his heart; many Skeleton Warriors also suffered heavy damage in the explosion.

The explosion's power was immense, exceeding the Skeleton Warriors' endurance limit.

At this moment, the Full‑Connection Talent also failed, making the loss irrecoverable.

Yet Jiang Chen understood that this was the inevitable sacrifice of battle.

Though the Black Sky Demon King was blown away, he was uninjured; he quickly steadied himself and charged at Jiang Chen again.

A flash of green light rose from Jiang Chen's palm, and a Toxic Lich appeared alongside.

It was created from the divine blood of the Toxic God, exuding a chilling toxic aura.

Sensing this toxic power, the Black Sky Demon King instantly altered his forward charge into a frantic retreat.

Simultaneously, he bellowed repeatedly, his voice shaking the heavens.

"Black Sky Gun Sea!"

With his roar, the entire barrier filled instantly with gunshadows, turning into a sea of guns.

The Black Fire Long Spear struck the Undead Legion repeatedly, while also bombarding the Toxic Lich.

Though the Toxic Lich was powerful, the dense gunshadow attack blew it apart after only a few hundred meters, exploding with a roar.

Jiang Chen's gaze turned cold; he knew the Black Sky Demon King had seen through his tactics.