Chapter 297: Unexpected

Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:

patreon.com/ZeroMoney

I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated. 

******

The Abyss Lord paid no attention to Lie Huang's nonsense.

"Why do you think I fled immediately?"

Since everything appeared to be part of a scheme, the Abyss Lord naturally began to suspect the will of the plane that had initially lured him.

The Douluo Continent had clearly birthed its own will, but whether that will had truly manifested as a sentient entity remained uncertain.

If the other party had indeed become the true master of the plane, then engaging in battle within the Douluo Continent would be far too disadvantageous for the Abyss Lord.

While the Abyss Lord could temporarily empower Lie Huang and the others, if the will of the Douluo plane were truly enraged, it could also risk destabilizing the plane to empower its own strong beings.

Moreover, within the Douluo Continent, the Abyss Lord would be unable to bestow blessings upon Lie Huang and the other two.

In the abyss, while the Abyss Lord had contingency plans in place, he still hoped to withdraw from the battlefield smoothly.

After all, even with thorough preparation to deal with Su Yu, it would still come at a heavy cost.

Of course, if he could seize the proto-divine position Su Yu possessed during this process, it wouldn't be a loss. On the contrary, it could be an opportunity for rebirth.

Though the abyss suffered unprecedented losses, if the Abyss Lord were to obtain the proto-divine position and ascend to a higher tier, he could trigger the abyss's transformation and once again surpass its former peak.

Such a scenario would be quite ideal.

Thus, overall, the Abyss Lord sought to avoid conflict—yet held a sliver of expectation.

Douluo Continent

Su Yu did not persist in stabilizing the portal.

The abyss on the other side had already begun to shift. If he kept maintaining the connection, it would only drain his strength to build an increasingly long passage—tedious and inefficient.

By using the power of space, he had already sensed the general dimensional location of the abyss.

With time and space forces swirling around him, Su Yu was prepared to travel there personally and seize the abyss.

"You two, come with me."

Su Yu enveloped the Elven Queen and the Spirit Dragon of Fate in time and space energy.

The three figures vanished instantly, chasing toward the dimensional energy layer where the abyss resided.

Back at the Far North, Su Yu left behind a rune.

It was a symbol representing the Authority of Wisdom.

Abyss

Rumble—!

The entire abyss quaked.

The Abyss Lord's expression shifted slightly. As he merged into the abyss, he sensed the source of the disturbance. He "looked" toward Su Yu and the two others outside the abyss, his expression darkening.

"Su Yu?"

He had actually followed them here.

However, rather than entering through a spatial passage, he had used a special method to arrive at the outer boundary of the abyss.

This was something the Abyss Lord had not anticipated.

Above Su Yu's head floated a rune of reincarnation, cycling the power of life and death around his body and forming a unique domain.

"Su Yu, I didn't expect Douluo Continent to be hiding two more god-level powerhouses," the Abyss Lord's divine sense manifested outside the abyss, his voice solemn.

He looked at the Elven Queen and the Spirit Dragon of Fate and directly recognized their identities.

"You two... are from the Elf Tribe and the Spirit Dragon clan?" The Abyss Lord frowned, surprised that the elves had actually produced a god-level being.

The emergence of a god-level elf also meant that the Elven Star had likely been promoted to a god-level planet.

His heart sank.

Although this didn't greatly impact the current battle within the abyss, the Elven Star's ascension would severely obstruct their broader plans.

A god-level planet near the Douluo God Realm's territory, allied with Douluo Star—

That alone posed a substantial threat.

A god-level planet is a cradle for divine beings.

It lowers the difficulty for native cultivators to break through to the divine level, since such planets can produce divine tribulations on their own—far weaker than the ones generated by the universe.

If conflict truly broke out and dragged on over time, the hindrance posed by a single god-level planet would only grow more severe.

Even if beings at the super-divine level and above could create god-level planets through modification, the cost was high. Thus, there were only a limited number of such planets in the Crimson Domain and the Extreme Evil Divine Domain.

In plane-scale conflicts, god-level beings form the backbone, while super-divine, main divine, and even demi-god-king or god-king levels serve as the apex power.

A god-level planet undeniably influences the outcome of war.

Especially one like the Elven Star—

A planet filled with the densest life energy, rare across the entire universe.

In fact, even before its breakthrough to god-level, the Elven Star already surpassed some god-level planets in terms of life energy density.

Now that it had undergone its advancement—

Even if it was merely a "simple" breakthrough, it would still far exceed ordinary god-level planets.

And the Elven Star's breakthrough could never be just a simple one.

Many major powers across the universe had once predicted that once the Elven Star broke through, it would rapidly evolve into a life planet capable of supporting true gods—even super-god-level beings.

To be able to support such power meant it could also nurture and give birth to powerhouses of that caliber.

It also meant its capacity to produce god-level beings was significantly enhanced.

In just a split second, countless thoughts surged through the Abyss Lord's mind.

But in the next moment, he cast all those thoughts aside.

None of that mattered until he got through the immediate crisis at hand.

"Just as expected… the abyss has reinforcements," Su Yu murmured, his gaze rippling.

Through the power of fate, he had already sensed three other powerful presences hidden within the abyss.

Destined to become enemies—fated even for a life-and-death battle—this kind of intertwined fate made Su Yu's divinations far easier to perform.

Especially when the other side had no means of concealing their fate-based fluctuations.

"Your Majesty, let me empower you!" Su Yu said.

Within the domain of Life and Death Reincarnation, the power of life and death circulated in harmony and smoothly merged into the bodies of the Elven Queen and the Spirit Dragon of Fate.

Their life force was rapidly transformed into a power fused with the essence of life and death.

"What is this…?"

Feeling their strength surge dramatically, the Elven Queen and the Spirit Dragon of Fate were both shocked.

They felt that their current power was several times stronger than it had been without Su Yu's blessing.

No—using "multiples" wasn't even an accurate way to describe the difference anymore.

True God-level?

No… the Elven Queen sensed she now possessed strength on par with the Super-God level!

Hiss—!

Su Yu actually possessed such a method?

And he wasn't even the master of a plane!

The Abyss Lord found this completely absurd.

At first, he had assumed Su Yu had merely brought along two burdens—who would've thought he could instantly elevate two god-level beings to super-god-level power?

How was this any different from being a plane's master?

But Su Yu wasn't one.

Even if he was, he wasn't currently within any plane. Right now, Su Yu existed in the deep void of an energy dimension.

The Abyss Lord felt that something was surpassing his comprehension.

As a being who ruled the abyss, he had seen and experienced countless things.

Thanks to his status as the master of an energy plane, he had lived for an exceptionally long time.

Precisely because of this, his knowledge of the universe was at the very top.

Yet today, right from the outset, Su Yu had shown him something he simply couldn't understand.

But Su Yu had no interest in explaining anything to the stunned Abyss Lord.

Seeing that the Abyss Lord still refused to emerge from within the abyss, Su Yu immediately activated his domain power and condensed a massive millstone.

This millstone was huge—

Yet in comparison to the vast reservoir of life-and-death energy used to forge it, it seemed small.

The millstone looked as though it might even materialize into tangible form.

It hurtled toward the abyss at great speed.

The Abyss Lord's face changed drastically.

He instantly mobilized the abyss, pulling it back as fast as possible.

But Su Yu had already locked on to him, making it impossible to evade the millstone's pursuit. In fact, it was drawing ever closer.

Left with no choice, the Abyss Lord finally made a move.

A massive black hand materialized, attempting to block the incoming millstone.

Yet the giant hand was utterly ineffective.

In front of the millstone, it failed to offer even the slightest resistance. The rotating force of life and death ground away everything in its path.

"Damn it!"

The Abyss Lord's expression turned grim, his heart heavy.

He finally understood.

Now he knew why Su Yu was so much stronger than his peers—

Why, despite emanating the same level of aura, he could absolutely crush others at his level through sheer mastery of technique.

"His power touches upon the very essence of existence!"

What the Abyss Lord referred to as "essence" was, in fact, the laws—the very rules of existence.

But it was precisely because of this that the Abyss Lord became even more determined to fight Su Yu, to kill him here and now.

Otherwise, even if the abyss managed to escape, once Su Yu broke through to the god level, he would at least become a Tier-One God—possibly even approach the level of a Divine King, thanks to his command of powers touching the very fabric of existence.

Stronger than the so-called half-step Divine Kings of the universe.

In fact, because Su Yu's power was so close to the laws themselves, he might even be capable of rivaling actual Divine Kings of the Divine Realm.

This would allow him to bridge the massive gap between the Divine Realm and the outside universe—a feat almost unheard of.

This meant Su Yu's strength could no longer be measured in terms of raw energy levels or intensity.

Because he wielded law-based power, his true combat strength should be evaluated as if he had already transcended an entire major tier.

At present, Su Yu was only a Tier-Two God, equivalent to a High God in universal terms.

Yet his real power already matched that of a half-step Divine King—that is, a Tier-One God.

The Abyss Lord felt the full weight of this dilemma.

All these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

Meanwhile, the pitch-black hand he had conjured was effortlessly ground away by Su Yu's Millstone of Life and Death.

Left with no choice, the Abyss Lord burst out from the abyss, wielding the Heaven-Saint Abysscleaver Halberd, slashing down upon the millstone.

A blinding black light cut through the void, slicing the massive millstone clean in two.

The Heaven-Saint Abysscleaver Halberd—

A weapon that ignored all forms of defense, capable of even cleaving through offensive power.

Su Yu gazed at the halberd, intrigued by the rules it seemed to carry that allowed such absolute effects.

"Perhaps… my 'Strength' rune can evolve further from this."

Across the deep-space battlefield, Su Yu and the Abyss Lord stood locked in a distant yet deadly standoff.

The Elven Queen and the Spirit Dragon of Fate could feel the pressure radiating from their clash, leaving their hearts shaken.

This was what true cosmic powerhouses looked like.

What made it all the more unbelievable was that Su Yu hadn't even broken through to godhood yet—and already, he possessed such terrifying strength.

Just then, three figures emerged from the abyss—the Flame Emperor and his companions.

All three were of High God level, equal to Tier-Two Gods.

Their presence instantly suppressed the Elven Queen and the Spirit Dragon of Fate.

However, Su Yu's domain spread outward, both empowering the Elven Queen and Spirit Dragon and suppressing the Flame Emperor's trio.

"Damn it! There's something wrong with his domain!"

It was no different from a personal realm, except that this domain could be carried around—a level of convenience even greater than a fixed plane.

Yet even so, the Flame Emperor's group still managed to suppress the Elven Queen.

They were seasoned masters of their own strength, while the Elven Queen and the Spirit Dragon of Fate had merely been temporarily elevated—their control over this newfound power remained limited.

"Hahaha! Su Yu, you're dead this time!"

The Abyss Lord let out a triumphant laugh, brandishing his halberd to sever the connection between Su Yu and his companions.

With a mighty slash, he aimed to cut through even Su Yu's domain itself.

Unfortunately for him, Su Yu's domain was self-constructed.

Even if sliced, it would instantly regenerate.

Seeing this, the Abyss Lord cast aside his astonishment and attacked Su Yu directly.

A rift in space—pitch-black and bottomless—was torn open by his halberd.

From it, the tip of the halberd emerged and shot forward like a bolt of death.

The Heaven-Saint Abysscleaver Halberd could even rend space itself, stabbing through dimensional boundaries to strike its target from afar.

But Su Yu remained calm and composed.

Sensing the subtle shifts in spatial energy, he had already predicted this move.

His figure blurred, becoming almost ethereal, as the halberd's tip passed right through where he had stood.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he reformed unscathed.

A ripple of time energy danced in the air—Su Yu had just slipped into another dimension to evade the attack.

This revealed the limit of the Abyss Lord's ability.

Perhaps the halberd was capable of attacking across dimensions.

But the Abyss Lord himself couldn't control it to that extent.

While dodging the strike, Su Yu summoned the God-Slaying Sword into his hand and immediately slashed out a beam of sword energy—

One infused with the purest essence of slaughter.

Within the sword energy surged a powerful anti-demonic will.

Su Yu had long since comprehended the Demon-Slaying Sword Intent from Bai Feng's Star Soul Sword, and had thoroughly integrated it into his own swordsmanship.

Now, guided by the fury of Asura Sword Qi and countless other sword techniques, he unleashed a slash that embodied the fusion of myriad powers—a strike that could cut through all things.

The Abyss Lord's expression shifted subtly.

This sword strike…

It felt as though it transcended space and time.

He sensed, with growing unease, that his Heaven-Saint Abysscleaver Halberd might not be able to sever this attack at all—just like earlier, when the halberd passed straight through Su Yu's body without hitting anything tangible.

For the first time, the Abyss Lord's expression turned truly grim.

He had anticipated that Su Yu might have allies.

He had even considered that Su Yu could burst forth with strength rivaling a Tier-One God.

But never had he imagined that his ultimate weapon, the very core of his strategy, the Heaven-Saint Abysscleaver Halberd, would be countered.

This halberd was his final card.

His greatest reliance.

With it, and the backing of planar power, the Abyss Lord had believed himself capable of fighting on par with Divine Kings.

But now… if the halberd's power was nullified, then he was merely a Tier-One God—dangerous, yes, but not overwhelmingly so.

His threat lay only in a weapon that Su Yu could now consistently evade, by slipping between dimensions with time energy.

"Abyss Lord," Su Yu said calmly, "to deal with you… I've gone to great lengths."

Then, once more, the Millstone of Life and Death materialized.

But this time, it was different.

The massive grinding wheel no longer rotated with only life and death energy. Now, it pulsed with the omnipresent flow of space and time, forming an axis that bent the very fabric of reality around it.

Douluo Continent.

Within the Wisdom Rune Su Yu had left behind, a mental projection began to emerge.

The three god-level powerhouses of the Elven Tribes, alongside Jing Hongchen and the others, had already annihilated the Five Abyssal Emperors and joined the battlefield below, slaughtering wave after wave of abyssal creatures.

At that moment, a surge of willpower swept across the plane.

"Begin by attempting to condense a God Position,"

came the voice of the Will of the Plane.

(End of Chapter)