Chapter 259: I Am No Longer Who I Once Was

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Boom!

A barrage of sword light streaked across the sky, crashing into the darkened region ahead.

A towering figure burst forth from the black domain, enveloped in a protective layer formed by condensed abyssal energy.

Countless sword lights rained down, piercing through the dark barrier and continuing toward deeper layers.

Space warped, and the sword lights were suddenly impeded, gradually losing much of their power within the abyssal region.

A massive spirit dragon's true body materialized out of thin air, shattering the incoming sword light with overwhelming force.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three ninth-grade fixed-installed soul-guided artillery shells followed in rapid succession, dropping straight into the core of the abyssal region.

"Damn human soul masters!"

The Flame Emperor charged out, joining the Demon Emperor in unleashing a powerful defense. Together, they forcibly withstood the impact of the three ninth-grade artillery blasts, both seething with rage.

"It seems Su Yu still possesses a method to detect spatial fluctuations."

The Spirit Emperor's expression was grim as his divine-level spiritual power swept across the surroundings, attempting to locate any of Su Yu's surveillance points.

Yet, he found nothing.

"You've already sealed off the space with spiritual power," the Transformation Emperor said. "The Scythe Emperor even personally suppressed spatial fluctuations. Not to mention, this entire region has been transformed by the Holy Sovereign's power, altered by our abyssal invasion. All detectable fluctuations have essentially been eliminated. How could he have received such precise intel?"

The Wisdom Emperor raised a hand and said, "Even though we've taken so many precautions, the fact that the other side could launch such an accurate and immediate strike the moment we acted proves one thing—they must have known."

He looked up at the terrifying vortex hovering in the sky.

The other emperors also turned to stare at the vortex.

"The Spirit Emperor's spiritual power has reached the Divine Origin Realm. No matter how extraordinary those people on Douluo Continent are, they couldn't possibly hide from a full-power scan like that."

The Flame Emperor spoke up, "So, you're saying Su Yu detected the fluctuations through the formation linked to the spatial passage?"

"To be exact, it's probably the divine artifact he fused into the formation," the Wisdom Emperor replied.

The remaining seven emperors fell silent.

None of them questioned this possibility.

After all, the abilities of divine artifacts were often bizarre and unpredictable. As long as a particular power could be imbued into a divine artifact, its effects could reach a level that defied common sense.

Indeed, the Reincarnation Scroll Su Yu had integrated into the spatial passage was seen by the abyssal powers as a divine artifact.

After all, considering the existence of rare devouring-type artifacts, another divine artifact on Douluo Continent wasn't out of the question.

Across the universe, divine artifacts came in many forms.

Typically, a divine artifact possessed its own unique traits. Within its specialized domain, its power could rival that of gods. Even if its wielder wasn't a god, they could temporarily wield god-like strength in that specific field—sometimes even surpassing gods who specialized in it.

That was the nature of divine artifacts.

Among them, devouring-type artifacts were exceptionally rare.

Though they certainly existed, it was extraordinarily difficult to create one that could erase the will of an energy's original owner, instantly absorb that energy into the wielder's power, and allow the user to fully digest it with almost no side effects.

The Silver Dragon Spear and Golden Dragon Spear, for example, only had such unique effects because they were forged from the Dragon God's rib bones. Their devouring powers were immensely potent, far beyond what typical devouring-type divine artifacts could achieve—capable of easily absorbing and refining energy from the divine-level abyssal plane.

The Reincarnation Scroll.

"We've already tried," said the Transformation Emperor. "Even the Holy Sovereign once stated that the formation and the scroll have fully merged with the spatial passage. They've become one. If we attempt to separate them, the spatial passage itself will collapse."

"But if we don't remove the scroll, then every time we try to open a new passage, Su Yu will be able to sense it instantly.

Even though we've transformed this entire region, this is still Douluo Continent's territory. If they detect our actions the moment they begin, there's no way we'll succeed in creating a new spatial passage in an instant!"

If the Reincarnation Scroll isn't removed, they'll never be able to open another stable passage. But without a new passage, they can't afford to lose the current one. Which means the scroll can't be removed.

A complete stalemate.

A full month had passed since the spatial passage was first established, the vortex formed, and the first great battle broke out.

The Eight Emperors had used their authority within the abyssal domain to fully recover from their previous injuries as much as possible.

They had already attempted it three times.

Each time they tried to establish a new passage and link with the Abyss, once the two nodes resonated, they would be met with obstruction from Douluo Continent's side.

"Bee Emperor, what's the status of your scouting efforts?"

The Bee Emperor could create explosive bees and send them charging to the front lines.

Not only could these be used as a means to fight against Douluo Continent, but they also served as tools for gathering intelligence.

Under the guise of bombing human soul masters and soul beasts, the Bee Emperor was actually investigating whether Douluo Continent had fully encircled this region.

Sigh. The Bee Emperor let out a breath and said, "The number of human soul masters is limited. The environment in the Extreme North is extremely harsh. Even if they have a large military presence stationed outside the Extreme North, they can't survive within it. However, native soul beasts do live here, and those soul beasts, working in coordination with the human soul masters, have indeed surrounded our current core zone."

Further north of the Extreme North lies the ocean, but even the areas just north of the core zone were already blocked off by soul beasts, effectively trapping the Abyss within this limited space.

In the past, no matter how much the soul masters of Douluo Continent hunted soul beasts, the Extreme North remained a sanctuary—a paradise for its native soul beasts.

However, the Abyss's invasion directly took over the core region of the Extreme North, disrupting the lives of the soul beasts there.

Under Snow Emperor's command, the soul beasts of the Extreme North had erected a formidable defense line, and the Bee Emperor's explosive bees failed to break through.

"At the moment, it seems our only option is to try establishing a spatial passage somewhere else on Douluo Continent," the Wisdom Emperor suggested.

He wasn't really speaking to the other seven emperors—but rather offering this suggestion to the Abyssal Holy Sovereign.

After all, the one who truly held decision-making authority was the Abyssal Holy Sovereign. Only he could make such a plan happen.

The eight emperors were currently trapped. If the plan involved opening a spatial passage in another region, none of them would be able to assist.

Of course, there was some use for them—such as drawing attention from the strong fighters of Douluo Continent.

"Didn't we previously have contact with Douluo Continent? Wasn't it through the Deep Sea Demon Whale King that we managed to connect with the Demon Emperor? Although the coordinates we calculated for the Demon Whale King's location may not have been entirely accurate, they should be enough to help us pinpoint a spot within Douluo Continent's oceans."

The Wisdom Emperor continued, "Based on the intelligence we've gathered, the oceans of Douluo Continent cover an extremely vast area. If we could open a passage deep within the sea, then Su Yu would absolutely be unable to detect it immediately. In fact, even if we fully form a spatial vortex, he might not be able to sense it at all."

"…"

As the Wisdom Emperor laid out his analysis, the other emperors began to consider its feasibility.

More importantly, far away in the Abyss, the Abyssal Holy Sovereign was also weighing the proposal.

He found the Wisdom Emperor's suggestion quite reasonable.

However—

"The sea soul beasts of the deep ocean are also formidable."

The benefit was that while the sea soul beasts were numerous and powerful—no weaker than top experts on the Douluo mainland—they lacked unified coordination.

"All eight of the great emperors being stationed in the Extreme North… that was a misstep."

In the top ten layers of the Abyss, apart from the first layer—the home of the Abyssal Holy Sovereign and the realm's ruler—and the tenth layer, where the Sky Ox Emperor resides as the Holy Sovereign's mount, the remaining eight emperors were all trapped in the Extreme North.

Though they had helped pave the way for the Abyss's invasion of Douluo Continent, they had ultimately fallen into a deadlock—contained by Douluo Continent through unconventional tactics.

Now they were stuck—unable to advance or retreat.

Thus, breaking the current stalemate had become the top priority.

"However, even without the Spirit Emperor and the Fiery Emperor, the strength of the Abyss alone is more than enough to establish a solid foothold in the ocean depths, and from there, invade Douluo Continent."

No matter how many powerful beings existed within the deep sea, could they possibly rival the Abyss?

The Abyss had 108 layers, and at least eighteen quasi-god-level powerhouses. Now, only eight of them were trapped. On top of that, there were also eighteen emperor-level beings at the Extreme Douluo tier. Though they were somewhat weaker, on Douluo Continent, such strength was still formidable.

"Su Yu…"

A sense of summoning stirred within Su Yu's mind.

"Plane Will?" Su Yu followed the pull, entering the Will Space.

He was secretly surprised. The Plane Will seemed to have become increasingly sentient. Not only could it now actively lure the Abyss to devour itself and attempt to cooperate with Su Yu in counter-devouring the Abyss—it could even summon Su Yu directly.

It had fully developed the spiritual awareness that an independent consciousness should possess.

If it weren't for Tang Hao attempting possession, the transformation into a true spirit body might have already happened naturally.

But the Plane Will was helpless.

For the past month, Su Yu had basically been trying to find a loophole—prying into its very essence.

He was the Plane Will. He was the origin of Douluo Continent.

Su Yu, in developing a cultivation technique that could devour foreign energies, had eventually set his sights on the very source of Douluo Continent itself—seeking to use the technique to tap into the world's origin power, thereby enabling the devouring of Abyssal energy.

But to the Plane Will, this was no different than someone trying to dig a hole in its body.

It was… uncomfortable.

Especially because Su Yu had been doing it persistently.

Annoyed, it had finally decided to summon Su Yu and negotiate.

The Plane Will's thoughts condensed into messages within Su Yu's mind, and he quickly understood why he had been summoned.

His expression turned a little awkward.

But he soon regained composure.

"I didn't do anything wrong, did I? It's all for your sake, isn't it?"

"You want to use my power to devour Abyssal energy?"

"No, no, no—not your power," Su Yu shook his head. "The world's power."

This was something that needed to be clarified.

Even if the Plane Will eventually took full form, it still didn't represent the entire world. It merely controlled the plane and could mobilize its power.

However, it didn't understand the inner workings of many of the world's forces.

Just like a human, who may not always be able to coordinate their own limbs, or understand the structure of their own muscles and cells—even a sentient Plane Will couldn't fully comprehend all the forces that made up the world.

As for the true laws of the plane itself, the Plane Will had no authority to directly manipulate them either.

That's why Su Yu had never intended for the Plane Will to actively cooperate with him from the start.

"This world has its true source laws—just like how objects fall due to gravity, or how different types of elemental energy have distinct properties. As long as the flow of soul power follows those fundamental laws, it can produce corresponding effects."

Devouring.

Su Yu had studied soul power pathways related to devouring. But using that alone to refine Abyssal energy was still too difficult.

So he needed assistance.

Just like how a support-type soul master could enhance another's strength or defense through auxiliary soul skills, soul power could also be circulated in a way that served as support.

By using auxiliary circulation methods to empower devouring-type abilities.

And this support needed to be overwhelmingly strong.

On Douluo Continent, the strongest force naturally lay in the origin of the plane—in the source of the laws.

"Some soul skills can consistently apply effects based on percentages—that's the most perfect application of the laws. The soul rings that grant those skills are the best bridges for soul masters to communicate with the rules of the world."

What Su Yu wanted now was to create that kind of soul skill from scratch. And not only that—he wanted it to be refined and simple enough for ordinary soul masters to learn, so that they too could refine Abyssal energy.

"With the soul master population as a vast base for absorbing and devouring Abyssal energy, Douluo Continent will grow stronger faster—certainly faster than if it all depended on just me, Yi Lao, and Gu Yuena."

What Su Yu didn't say aloud was this: the Abyssal energy devoured by the three of them didn't necessarily belong to Douluo Continent in the end.

When soul masters die, their energy naturally returns to the world.

But Su Yu, Gu Yuena, and Electrolux? When they eventually left, they might very well take all of that energy with them.

Therefore, it was only if the ordinary soul masters absorbed that energy that it could truly be said to belong to the Douluo plane.

"Besides, in the future, I plan to further develop this technique—not just to devour Abyssal energy, but also to absorb energy from the universe itself. Even the power of stars."

Douluo Continent couldn't support the birth of a god—because all power came from Douluo alone.

But what if a soul master cultivated using the power of stars?

What if a soul master trained in outer space?

By absorbing energy from the universe and breaking through on their own, they could later return to Douluo Continent. And when they eventually passed away, all that accumulated power would be given back to the world.

That was how a true cultivation system should function.

Douluo Continent was still incomplete.

After hearing all this, the Plane Will did not respond, nor did it stop Su Yu from continuing to develop the technique.

And with no further resistance from the Plane Will, Su Yu finally managed to smoothly connect with the origin of the plane.

"As expected... I'm no longer the person I once was." Su Yu smiled.

He was no longer just a seeker, trying to find harmony with the world and understand its patterns.

"I can now rely on my own power to communicate with the level of the laws—to reach out and touch the very source of the plane."

(End of Chapter)