Chapter 246: So This Is the True Nature of the Will of the World!

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It had to be said—the Demon Empress had quite the ideal plan.

She intended to use the Abyss to probe the strength and weaknesses of the God Realm. If something truly had gone wrong within the God Realm, then she could achieve her own goals during this Abyssal invasion.

And if the God Realm intervened during the invasion, she would withdraw immediately.

At the same time, she had already demanded significant benefits from the Abyss up front. That way, even if she failed to achieve her ultimate objective, she wouldn't come away empty-handed.

After all, her chances of escape weren't guaranteed. She needed a certain degree of incentive to carry out her plan. Besides, by receiving those benefits in advance and boosting her own strength, she increased her chances of successfully escaping.

Unfortunately, she didn't realize that everything—her identity, her existence, and even her collaboration with the Abyss—had already been deduced by Su Yu.

"Why is the Abyss in such a hurry?"

The Demon Empress felt that something was off.

Back when the Abyss first contacted her, she had also been puzzled. But after digging through her long memories, she recalled what the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King once said and came to understand the true nature of the Abyss.

That's when she formulated her plan.

Yet even without much urging on her part, the Abyss acted decisively. As soon as it confirmed that the God Realm had indeed severed its connection to the Douluo Continent, it immediately began to close in and quickly established a passage.

Now, the Abyss was even willing to pay a heavy price to speed up the process of opening the portal.

"There must be a special reason behind the Abyss's urgency."

There was something—or someone—on Douluo that was attracting the Abyss.

Or perhaps someone was backing the Abyss from the shadows, someone strong enough to interfere even if the God Realm got involved later?

The Demon Empress considered all these possibilities, but none of them quite made sense.

Star Dou Forest.

Huo Yuhao's figure appeared at the forest's edge.

Whether it was the baptism of war or something else, Huo Yuhao now seemed more mature than before. He carried himself with a steady calm, giving off a reliable aura. His presence had lost much of its youthful sharpness and instead gained a subtle restraint.

However, beneath that restrained aura, a more terrifying edge than ever before was clearly hidden.

Huo Yuhao entered the Star Dou Forest and proceeded without any obstacles, heading directly toward the Lake of Life.

Having previously visited the Lake of Life once with Su Yu, he was now very familiar with the route. Even though he had already seen it once, the moment he laid eyes on the Lake of Life again and felt the overwhelming vitality radiating from it, he couldn't help but be in awe.

Aside from Su Yu, he had never experienced such an immense surge of life energy.

"I wonder how incredible it would feel to cultivate within this Lake of Life."

Since Su Yu had taken the Blade of Vitality, Huo Yuhao had never had the chance to train while being immersed in the lake's energy.

Hm?

Huo Yuhao suddenly looked puzzled as he turned his gaze toward a stunningly beautiful woman with long silver hair.

"When did such a fearsome beast appear?" He mentally ran through every powerful beast he remembered from the depths of the Star Dou Forest, but couldn't match her to any of them.

However, one possibility crossed his mind—

Could this be a divine beast in human form?

Huo Yuhao had seen the Auspicious Beast before.

However, just as the thought crossed his mind, he caught sight of the Auspicious Beast lying on the small island at the center of the Lake of Life.

So then—who was this silver-haired woman?

"It's you?"

Di Tian recognized Huo Yuhao and appeared confused by his arrival.

"Senior Di Tian, I'm Huo Yuhao. I came along with Brother Yu during the last discussion about the soul spirit cultivation system."

"Yes, I remember."

"This time, I'm here on Snow Empress's behalf," Huo Yuhao said with a serious expression, then began relaying the information passed to him by Snow Empress. "According to her perception, the vitality across the Extreme North has now risen to a whole new level in both density and quality. Spatial fluctuations are also growing increasingly intense. It seems the Abyss is forcibly injecting the energy of their plane into the Douluo Plane, while also accelerating the establishment of the portal."

"What?" Di Tian's expression changed slightly.

He turned to look at Gu Yuena, who stood nearby.

"My Lord?"

Gu Yuena fell silent for a moment, then asked Huo Yuhao for more details.

Huo Yuhao repeated all the intelligence Snow Empress had transmitted through the soul communicator. For the other questions Gu Yuena raised, he could only express helplessness.

That said, he was very curious about Gu Yuena's identity.

Di Tian actually called this silver-haired woman 'My Lord'?

Good grief.

Huo Yuhao couldn't have imagined it before—Di Tian, the so-called Beast God, would actually refer to someone else as "My Lord," and not just anyone, but an astonishingly beautiful woman.

However, since Di Tian addressed her that way, Huo Yuhao didn't simply assume she was human. He understood very clearly that for someone to be referred to like that by Di Tian, she had to be a soul beast—and one far more powerful than Di Tian himself!

That realization sent a jolt through Huo Yuhao's heart.

Up until now, he hadn't been able to clearly sense Gu Yuena's aura at all.

It was as if he had completely overlooked her presence.

Not in the sense of not seeing her—but more like, even though he knew she was there, it was incredibly difficult to focus his attention on her.

In his spiritual sea, Skydream Iceworm and the other soul spirits trembled in fear, as if facing an overwhelmingly terrifying presence.

"Such terrifying bloodline suppression."

Even as spiritual remnants, they could still feel the deep, soul-level oppression she exuded.

"I never thought the little worm that ran away back then would end up with you." Gu Yuena's words were a bombshell.

She showed no hostility—only mild surprise that Skydream Iceworm was in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.

Huo Yuhao, however, was stunned by what she said.

"Don't worry. If he had the ability to escape on his own, then that was his skill at work." Gu Yuena didn't dwell much on Skydream Iceworm's existence. She merely mentioned it casually, then began to examine Huo Yuhao more closely.

"Although Di Tian and the others captured that worm and forcibly devoured his life force, it seems it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for him."

"He's not a worm—his name is Skydream Iceworm," Huo Yuhao corrected firmly.

Whether Gu Yuena heard him or not was unclear.

"Ling'er, come here." She waved to the Auspicious Beast lying on the island at the center of the Lake of Life.

Ling'er?

Huo Yuhao silently repeated the name in his mind. "So that's the Auspicious Beast's name?"

It sounded like a girl's name.

Upon hearing Gu Yuena's summons, the Auspicious Beast immediately dashed across the lake and arrived at the shore, coming to stand beside her. She stared intently at Huo Yuhao.

"As expected. Ling'er, you and he are tied by fate," Gu Yuena said calmly.

"Fate?" Huo Yuhao's expression changed slightly.

Because of Su Yu, he had a basic understanding of the power of fate. Now, hearing Gu Yuena say that his fate was tied to the Auspicious Beast, he was suddenly struck with a sense of foreboding.

From what Su Yu had told him, the ties of fate were not always a good thing.

"Huh?" The Auspicious Beast let out a crisp sound, clearly just as puzzled.

"Huo Yuhao is likely the Child of Fate," Gu Yuena thought to herself. "He was able to obtain the Skydream Iceworm, and his talent is impressive. With his rapid growth and his previous connection to Snow Empress, he certainly fits the profile of the Child of Fate."

However, what puzzled her was, if Huo Yuhao was the Child of Fate, then what did that make Su Yu?

Gu Yuena spoke to the Auspicious Beast. "This is the soul master who carried your fate force when you were manipulated."

"What?" Both Huo Yuhao and the Auspicious Beast were stunned.

"What did you say?" Huo Yuhao suddenly turned to face Gu Yuena, his soul power fluctuating unpredictably.

"Manipulated?"

"Your fate was once guided by someone, which tightly bound your destiny to the Auspicious Beast. If you died, the Auspicious Beast would die as well, and her fate force would be stolen." Gu Yuena spoke plainly, showing no concern about sharing this information. "Fortunately, that divine manipulation was interrupted by Su Yu, which indirectly saved the Auspicious Beast's life."

"Stealing fate force?" Huo Yuhao's expression shifted.

He understood the significance of the Auspicious Beast to the soul beasts. If the Auspicious Beast died because of him, it could send the entire soul beast race into madness. He couldn't imagine how many lives would be lost as a result.

The idea that someone would go so far with such a plot left him stunned.

At the moment he heard about the manipulation, Huo Yuhao initially thought Gu Yuena was trying to sow discord between him and Su Yu. But when he noticed that she had used the term "divine" in reference to the manipulator, he dismissed that thought.

Huo Yuhao's mind immediately focused on the identity of this "divine being" she mentioned.

"I don't know the current state of the God Realm, so I can't say which god was behind your manipulation," Gu Yuena said. "However, anyone capable of doing such a thing wouldn't be an ordinary god. It would have to be a god-king, at least, someone who controls the God Realm's core. Only such a being could guide fate and silently alter the destiny of—" Gu Yuena glanced at Huo Yuhao. "—someone with immense potential like you."

"However, the connection between you and the Auspicious Beast hasn't disappeared." Gu Yuena frowned slightly.

After cautioning both Huo Yuhao and the Auspicious Beast about the ongoing fate connection, Gu Yuena no longer pursued the matter.

The Auspicious Beast had already grasped the power of fate, and the severity of the situation had been addressed. If anything went wrong now, Gu Yuena would have no further words to say.

"We now understand the purpose of your visit. I'll go with Di Tian." Gu Yuena said.

Huo Yuhao let out a sigh of relief.

Although he still didn't know Gu Yuena's true identity, after their conversation, he was certain of one thing—Gu Yuena was incredibly powerful. She was strong enough to make him entertain the completely unimaginable thought.

Could Gu Yuena be a god?

A divine beast!

Even though he knew the existence of gods was highly unreliable and that soul beasts could not become gods, Huo Yuhao couldn't shake the thought. It was a testament to the mystery Gu Yuena represented in his mind.

Of course, part of the reason for this thought was that Huo Yuhao had studied the gods, taken the Life God's trial, and even had some experiences with the Fire God deep in the Endless Volcano. Gu Yuena's presence certainly gave off many divine traits.

After arranging matters with Di Tian regarding the Star Dou Forest, Gu Yuena followed Huo Yuhao toward the Extreme North.

---

Meanwhile, in Sun-Moon:

Jing Hongchen and Kong Deming also received Snow Empress's message.

"Old Kong, how should we respond?"

"Where is the war at this point?"

"Only Star Luo City and a few surrounding cities are left."

Listening to the report from Jing Hongchen, Kong Deming nodded repeatedly.

The efficiency of the current strategy was thanks to the accumulated efforts of the ancestors of the Sun and Moon Empire.

"The Star Luo Empire has already reached the point of stubborn resistance, and they can't hold on much longer. We can't wait for their defeat any longer. Now, within the Sun and Moon Empire's territory, we are starting to implement the Federal Assembly system. We're dividing regions and selecting representatives. We aim to stabilize the system first.

We'll finish this within a month, then we'll recruit soul masters to prepare for the upcoming interplanar war in the Extreme North."

The Abyss is so aggressive, consuming energy to enhance its forces and urgently establishing the passage. It won't adopt a conservative strategy for its initial assault.

Once the passage is fully established, the Abyss's offensive will undoubtedly become incredibly intense.

"The production of standard battle armor cannot be stopped either. We must form a battle armor division before the war. They will be the main force in the upcoming conflict against the Abyss."

Aside from the high-level battlefields, the battle armor division will bear the majority of the pressure in the mid-to-low-level battlefields.

"Understood," Jing Hongchen nodded. "Old Kong, how much further do you have before your breakthrough?"

"I've already broken through."

"What?" Jing Hongchen was stunned.

He had thought Kong Deming hadn't yet completed the condensation of the virtual soul core.

"Old Kong, your battle armor isn't for condensing a third soul core, is it?" Jing Hongchen asked, surprised.

The virtual soul core technology had just been developed, and Kong Deming had never claimed to have completed the condensation of his virtual soul core. Yet now, he had already condensed his second soul core, leading Jing Hongchen to make this assumption.

Kong Deming nodded, not denying Jing Hongchen's guess.

"Hiss~~" Jing Hongchen gasped in disbelief.

"So this is the gap?"

Jing Hongchen had thought that after overcoming the bottleneck in soul power cultivation, he was catching up with Kong Deming, even in the progress of their respective battle armor developments.

But it turned out their synchrony was of a different kind.

While Kong Deming was attempting to use the virtual soul core to condense a third soul core, Jing Hongchen was using the virtual soul core technology to prepare to condense his second soul core.

Kong Deming had already broken through to Super Douluo long before Su Yu obtained the Immortal Grass. Using multiple 100,000-year-old soul rings, he had early on accumulated his soul power to level 97.

Then, after Su Yu obtained the Immortal Grass, Kong Deming was given two Immortal Grass variants that suited him perfectly, allowing him to undergo a tremendous transformation.

Given such conditions, it was no surprise that Kong Deming had reached level 99.

From the beginning, the virtual soul core was meant to assist him in condensing a third soul core.

Now that Kong Deming had already reached level 99, and with the virtual soul core nearly ready to condense, Jing Hongchen felt immense pressure.

"Old Kong, I'll retreat into closed-door cultivation."

Jing Hongchen decided to enter seclusion.

In this month of seclusion, he needed to break through to level 98 and condense the virtual soul core successfully.