Chapter 236: Abyssal Anomaly
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Su Yu and Jing Hongchen spent a long time discussing post-war reconstruction.
Back to the main topic.
Looking at the names on the list, Su Yu said to Jing Hongchen, "Hall Master, among these students, those who haven't yet broken through to Soul King should hold off for now. Advise them not to rush; they should stay at the Soul Ancestor level for a while."
"Hmm?"
Jing Hongchen was puzzled. He didn't understand what Su Yu was trying to do, but he also knew Su Yu wouldn't make such a request without a reason.
"Is there some kind of special training method involved?"
Su Yu shook his head.
"It's not a technique—just an opportunity that can only be obtained below the Soul King level. That's why I want them to hold back on breaking through."
Jing Hongchen was even more confused after hearing Su Yu's explanation.
Honestly, in all his years, this was the first time he had heard of an opportunity that was restricted by level.
He could understand if higher levels yielded diminishing returns—like with immortal herbs, where the effects on a Titled Douluo at rank 94 would be much weaker compared to a young Soul Elder at around rank 30.
But an opportunity that only those below Soul King could obtain?
Am I really that uninformed?
Seeing Jing Hongchen's confusion, Su Yu gave him a simple explanation.
"It's a separate space. Due to its spatial stability, only soul masters below the Soul King level can enter."
In reality, higher-level soul masters could enter, but the required level of control over one's power was extremely precise—something most soul masters lacked.
The Dragon Valley clearly operated under its own set of rules. Saying that the spatial stability restricted entry was just a surface-level explanation—the real reason was that Dragon Valley itself enforced this limitation.
Once inside, all soul power was completely suppressed, and martial souls couldn't be released. This was a restriction imposed by Dragon Valley's inherent power.
Clearly, if it could suppress soul power so thoroughly, it wasn't a matter of not being able to accommodate Soul Kings.
Rather, soul masters above the Soul King level would be repelled by Dragon Valley, lost within the spatial passageway before they could even enter.
As for the passage's entry limit, Su Yu suspected it was also a deliberate mechanism of Dragon Valley.
It had simply set a restriction at the very entrance, barring anyone above the Soul King level from entering.
After listening to Su Yu's explanation, Jing Hongchen nodded thoughtfully.
"I see," he said. "Once they reach the upper ranks of Soul Ancestor, I'll have them prepare to enter this space you mentioned."
"By the way, Hall Master, make sure they focus on strengthening their physical martial techniques."
Su Yu's soul spirit cultivation system followed a path that fused soul masters with their martial souls. Both the new soul ring system and cultivation techniques were designed with this integration in mind.
Through this training, soul masters naturally tempered their bodies, and over time, some students had even developed martial techniques akin to soul skills—combat techniques that relied purely on physical prowess.
Essentially, these techniques were modern extensions of traditional swordplay, blade arts, and fist techniques. They had always existed, but now, under this system, they had gained newfound brilliance.
"This is a method of qi and blood cultivation. Combined with the bone pattern system, it allows for a relatively easy entry into the path of qi and blood refinement. If they have the energy for it, encourage them to cultivate qi and blood techniques alongside their soul power.
"In Dragon Valley, soul masters are not only restricted to Soul King level and below, but their martial souls and soul power are also suppressed. Once inside, they can only rely on spiritual power, qi and blood, or purely physical combat."
"Spiritual power is also suppressed within Dragon Valley, but qi and blood techniques remain unaffected. Therefore, the best way to maximize their gains is to use qi and blood techniques in conjunction with martial skills. Of course, they shouldn't devote too much energy to this—just enough to strengthen themselves in those areas."
At that moment, Jing Hongchen received a message and relayed it to Su Yu.
"Xiao Yu, I just received word—you and Yuhao can resume your mission, but you must be on standby for the next six months."
Su Yu immediately understood. So Xu Tiannan has messed things up.
"It seems our dear emperor failed to bring back the two Ultimate Douluos from the Holy Spirit Cult, huh?"
Jing Hongchen nodded with a wry smile.
The emperor had screwed up.
He probably still believed his grand plan was perfectly intact and that this was just a minor setback.
Yeah, right.
This was the Holy Spirit Cult—a group of evil soul masters.
If things were already deviating from his plan, this was just the beginning of the disaster.
"It doesn't matter. Strength is the foundation of everything. Once I break through to Titled Douluo, the Holy Spirit Cult won't be able to cause much trouble. Besides, Xiao Feng is still growing—by the time he's ready, the Holy Spirit Cult will serve as his trial."
Jing Hongchen looked at him in exasperation.
Seriously? You're training a disciple, and you're just casually throwing an entire evil organization at him as a test?
Meanwhile, Su Yu looked completely unfazed.
"The Holy Spirit Cult won't be able to stir up much trouble. The only real concern is that the evil soul masters must have gained significant benefits from this war. No matter what, we need to force them back."
Total annihilation was impossible.
After all, the Holy Spirit Cult wasn't just an organization—it was a consequence of the existence of evil soul masters.
As long as there were evil soul masters in Douluo Continent, as long as the source of their power wasn't cut off, they would continue forming new iterations of the Holy Spirit Cult.
The only way to truly eliminate the threat was to sever the foundation of evil soul masters.
In other words, to restrict or penalize the forbidden techniques that allowed evil soul masters to rapidly increase their strength.
However, this was a matter of fundamental rules—something Su Yu had no idea how to establish at his current level. He wasn't even sure where to start.
"A unified nation, strict internal control, and foundational education from an early age—these are all necessary."
The fall of a soul master into darkness was a multi-faceted process.
It wasn't just about gaining power through corruption—it was also about the flaws in their ideology.
"And what about that girl with the Angel Martial Soul? Has she still not been found?"
Previously, Su Yu had asked Jing Hongchen to search for a girl with an Angel Martial Soul, but there had been no updates.
Taking the opportunity, he asked for an update.
"You mean the girl with the Angel Martial Soul? There is such a person, but despite our efforts, the Sun-Moon Hall's investigations led to nothing. In fact, for nearly two years now, there has been no trace of her information at all."
Su Yu narrowed his eyes slightly.
Did something happen to her?
Forget it. If she can't be found, then so be it.
He had no personal connection to the Angel lineage. The only reason he had been searching for the girl with the Angel Martial Soul was to have someone assist Bai Feng in establishing the rules against evil soul masters.
One less person wouldn't make much of a difference.
"If she's nowhere to be found, then let's just leave it at that."
As Su Yu spoke, he suddenly sensed a strange fluctuation.
"Hmm?"
Jing Hongchen noticed Su Yu activating the power of fate for a deduction and chose not to interrupt.
Those close to Su Yu knew that he had gained control over fate's power and could use it to foresee certain events.
The fluctuation Su Yu sensed came from the Extreme North.
By analyzing the disturbance through fate's power, Su Yu received a message from the Snow Empress.
"Anomalous spatial fluctuations? Even the Snow Empress herself has sensed the instability?" Su Yu's expression darkened slightly.
What's going on?
According to the Snow Empress, none of the soul tools designed to detect spatial anomalies had registered anything unusual before—but now, everything had changed in an instant.
It was as if the Abyss had suddenly collided with the Douluo Continent.
"Hall Master, I have something urgent to attend to. I'll be leaving Sun-Moon for a while." Su Yu briefly explained the situation to Jing Hongchen before departing.
Extreme North
By the time Su Yu arrived, five days had already passed.
Even now, the spatial fluctuations in the Extreme North remained highly abnormal.
Of course, only those with great strength could perceive these disturbances. Experts who had reached the pinnacle of power often began to understand spatial forces, and only those with a certain level of mastery could detect such anomalies.
Su Yu and the Snow Empress were among them.
The Titan Snow Demon King, relying on its primal instincts, sensed that something extraordinary had happened. It had even sought out the Snow Empress to inquire about the situation.
Beyond that, while the rest of the soul beasts in the Extreme North seemed to have a faint sense of impending crisis, it wasn't strong enough to significantly affect them.
As Su Yu entered the core region of the Extreme North, he quickly found the Snow Empress.
"You've arrived. You must have sensed it too—the spatial fluctuations are highly irregular," the Snow Empress said upon seeing him.
Su Yu nodded, focusing intently on the spatial disturbances around them.
Compared to beings like the Snow Empress, who had reached a level of strength where they naturally began to grasp spatial forces, Su Yu's mastery came from actively studying and analyzing space itself.
In other words, his understanding of spatial power was even deeper.
As he carefully examined the abnormalities, he soon pinpointed the issue.
"If my judgment is correct," Su Yu said, his eyes narrowing, "the Abyss has finally made its move. They must have suddenly committed to their plan, rapidly approaching the Douluo Continent—and they've already begun preparations to establish a passage between the two worlds."
The will of the plane was being restrained by Tang Hao's interference. It could only respond instinctively in resistance, but that alone wouldn't be enough to stop the Abyss from taking advantage of the situation, pinpointing its location, and establishing a passage.
"The key issue is that someone is interfering with the spatial fluctuations. Otherwise, by tracing the distortions, we would be able to locate the exact node where the Abyss is connecting to our world," Su Yu said, his expression turning serious.
If someone had the capability to disrupt spatial fluctuations to this extent, then the answer was obvious—it had to be someone on the Douluo Continent.
And among those with both the motive and the ability to accomplish this, only the Holy Spirit Cult fit the bill.
"Just earlier, I was discussing with the Hall Master whether we should hold off on dealing with the Holy Spirit Cult and leave it to Xiaofeng to handle in the future. But now… we can't afford to wait any longer."
In Su Yu's memory, the original timeline saw the Holy Spirit Cult working with the Abyss ten thousand years later, leading to the Abyss gradually consuming the Douluo Continent.
Had it not been for external interventions, the entire Douluo Continent would have been completely devoured.
As for Tang Hao, the so-called master of the plane, his so-called preparations were nothing more than a stroke of luck.
The Golden Dragon King being sealed inside a child, surviving, and then growing into a powerhouse? That was pure dumb luck—happening to nurture a genius by sheer coincidence.
Most of the time, such things would end in failure.
Without Tang Wulin, without him serving as an anchor to pull Tang San's divine consciousness into the mortal realm, even if the Abyssal Sage King had descended into the Douluo Continent, Tang Hao alone wouldn't have been able to defeat him.
After all, the Sage King embodied the full power of the Abyss, wielded the strength of a first-tier god, and even possessed a super divine weapon. Having drained the Douluo Continent's energy for thousands of years, he would be impossible to eliminate outright—even by the master of the plane himself.
This alone showed just how insane the Holy Spirit Cult's actions truly were.
What shocked Su Yu was that, in this era, the Holy Spirit Cult had already managed to establish contact with the Abyss.
"Could this be my fault?" he muttered to himself. "Because I severed the connection between the Divine Realm and the current Douluo Continent, the Abyss became even more fixated on invading? With the gap between worlds reduced, did that make it easier for them to establish ties with people inside Douluo?"
And if someone was acting as the bridge between them, Su Yu had a strong suspicion about who it was—the Demon Emperor.
"How did they even communicate with her? What could possibly convince her to invite disaster upon herself like this?"
Su Yu couldn't understand her reasoning.
To be honest, even in the original timeline, he had never fully grasped why the Demon Emperor had chosen to bring the Abyss into the Douluo Continent.
To achieve godhood?
That seemed unlikely.
First, she wasn't an Abyssal lifeform. Second, she was only at the rank of an Ultimate Douluo. If she entered the Abyss, she wouldn't even rank among their top ten powerhouses.
So what made her so certain that she could continue to cultivate in the Abyss, gain the Abyssal Sage King's favor, and successfully break through to godhood?
"Did she really act out of sheer hatred? Did she just want to see the Douluo Continent destroyed?"
Su Yu's face was filled with disbelief.
If that were truly the case, then she was utterly insane.
He wasn't entirely sure about the Demon Emperor's true goal. His memory of the original story was hazy at best, but he did recall that she met a miserable end—nothing more than a pathetic pawn, a clown who got outplayed and ultimately reduced to nothing but a vessel for the Abyssal Sage King's descent.
"So, is there really nothing we can do?"
The Snow Empress finally spoke, her brows furrowed with concern. A hint of worry flickered across her face.
The Abyss was poised to descend directly into the depths of the Extreme North. If it suffered the initial impact, the Extreme North would be the first to fall.
"For now, we wait. This kind of concealment can't last forever," Su Yu replied.
Right now, this was merely a collision between the two planes—it hadn't yet reached the stage where a true spatial passage was established. At this moment, only the connecting nodes of the two dimensions were clashing against each other.
For now, the spatial fluctuations could still be concealed.
But the moment the passage fully formed, the disturbances caused by spatial energy would become impossible to hide. At that point, Su Yu would be able to pinpoint the exact location of the space node.
"Perfect. I was just wondering how to lure the Holy Spirit Cult into one place for annihilation."
The whereabouts of the two Ultimate Douluo from the Holy Spirit Cult had always been elusive. Even with Su Yu's use of destiny power, their traces remained vague and difficult to predict.
At first, Su Yu had assumed that it was simply because their strength was too formidable, making fate's ripples harder to decipher.
"But now, it seems the Abyss is interfering as well."
If that was the case, then this was the perfect opportunity. The moment the spatial passage opened, they could surround the Extreme North and completely eliminate the Holy Spirit Cult's Ultimate Douluo.
"The problem is… this time, the enemy might not just be Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao. The Demon Emperor has to be included as well."
Su Yu always preferred to consider the most cautious approach.
If the Demon Emperor had truly established contact with the Abyss and planned to collaborate, then Su Yu's adversaries would include not only her but also the two Ultimate Douluo of the Holy Spirit Cult.
"To be even more cautious, I should assume the Abyss will provide some form of support. If they weren't offering her any benefits, the Demon Emperor wouldn't have taken such a risk."
At the very least, the Abyss must have given her an advance reward.
"Hmm…"
If he accounted for the most cautious scenario, the Demon Emperor might have a chance to break into the Pseudo-God level. Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui would likely gain a power boost as well.
"If I simply treat them all as Pseudo-Gods…"
Compared to normal Ultimate Douluo, even six of them combined might not be enough to take down three Pseudo-Gods.
Of course, Su Yu's side wasn't lacking in power either. Kong Deming now undoubtedly possessed Pseudo-God-level strength, while Jing Hongchen, though slightly weaker, was at least a Half-God.
As for Su Yu himself, he was somewhere between Half-God and Pseudo-God.
"I'll just consider myself a Half-God for now. Better to play it safe."
Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao's current strength wasn't enough to participate in a battle of this level. Otherwise, he could have counted as another powerhouse.
"Snow Empress is roughly at the Half-God level. Maybe I should call in Di Tian as well?"
Di Tian should be at Pseudo-God level, right?
"Perhaps I could also bring in Bear Lord. His offense and defense should qualify him as a near Half-God."
After some calculations, Su Yu realized that the forces he could gather might actually be enough to keep the three potential Pseudo-Gods of the Holy Spirit Cult contained.
"Still, just to be safe, I should expand the encirclement force as much as possible."
After all, when the Abyss truly descended, the forces that would enter the Douluo Continent remained uncertain.
"Judging by the intensity of the spatial fluctuations, it should take at least a year for the passage to fully form. That should be enough time."
Su Yu decided to push Huo Yuhao to accelerate his growth—maybe he could catch the tail end of this opportunity and reach the Ultimate Douluo level in time to be of use.
"One year… If I break through Rank 90, condense my ninth spirit ring, and complete the true nine-ring cycle—along with my Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core—I should definitely reach Pseudo-God level."
Su Yu had always been conservative when estimating his combat strength.
If even his most cautious assessment put him at Pseudo-God level, then in reality, he would be among the very strongest Pseudo-Gods.
With this level of power, even if the Demon Emperor, Ye Xishui, and Long Xiaoyao all managed to ascend to Pseudo-Gods, they would still be cornered in the depths of the Extreme North.
"Sigh… If possible, I really didn't want to clash with the Abyss this early."
Even though he had long set his sights on the Abyss and even harbored thoughts of consuming it in return, Su Yu was self-aware—he knew that right now, he wasn't yet strong enough to handle the Abyss's full descent.
His biggest headache remained the Abyss itself.
"A single dimensional passage shouldn't be capable of sending Pseudo-God-level entities through, right?"
If it could, then Su Yu would definitely need additional reinforcements.
"Sigh, better wrap this war up quickly. Time to mobilize the Soul Engineer Legion."
(End of Chapter)