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At this moment, a tremendous storm raged within the Spirit Emperor's heart.
"This Su Yu… His soul power hasn't even reached its peak yet!"
After having spied on the Douluo Continent for countless years, the Abyss had come to understand a fair amount about the continent's cultivation system.
For Soul Masters, level 99 marked the peak of cultivation. Beyond that lay a bottleneck that could not be broken through on the Douluo Continent. To surpass it required the aid of a divine position. Even after breaking through, according to the laws of the Divine Realm, one could not remain on the Douluo Continent for long.
However, the aura of Su Yu's soul power was indistinguishable from that of an Ultimate Douluo. Moreover, Su Yu possessed dual soul cores formed from the complementary forces of yin and yang. Not only did his soul core's aura rival that of an Ultimate Douluo, it might even surpass it.
As a result, many Abyssal Emperors believed Su Yu to be an Ultimate Douluo.
But under the Spirit Emperor's divine-level spiritual scan, he immediately realized that Su Yu's soul power had not yet reached the peak of what was possible on the Douluo Continent.
"His soul power is still increasing!"
A trace of fear flickered in the Spirit Emperor's eyes.
The strength Su Yu currently displayed already exceeded the bounds of most Ultimate Douluo—it was almost unbelievable. And yet now, he discovered that Su Yu had only recently become a Titled Douluo?
Terrifying.
Precisely because he sensed the threat Su Yu posed, the Spirit Emperor made his decision in an instant:
He must be killed at all costs!
Su Yu was a major threat to the Abyss.
Before even reaching the level of an Ultimate Douluo, he had already become a quasi-divine powerhouse—and among quasi-divine powerhouses, he was of the monstrous variety. If he were to reach the level of an Ultimate Douluo, what sort of terrifying existence would he become?
Moreover, the Abyss had some understanding of the bottleneck human Soul Masters faced when attempting to break through to the Ultimate Douluo level. Even Zhongli Wu's breakthrough had been subtly influenced by them from the shadows.
But Su Yu's situation was different. It seemed he still needed to condense another soul core.
A third soul core.
"A tri-core Soul Master? The first in Douluo Continent's history?"
Damn it!
How had the Abyss ended up encountering such a case? And at the worst possible time—just as they launched their invasion of the Douluo Continent, Su Yu had already begun to grow into a formidable force.
Boom!
The Spirit Emperor's spiritual power erupted.
Although this energy body had suffered some damage from the earlier explosion of the ninth-level fixed soul-guided shell—resulting in the four emperors who descended through these vessels being unable to display their full power—among them, the Spirit Emperor was affected the least.
The Blazing Emperor also wasn't severely impacted. While their overall energy had diminished, the divine power and divine-level spiritual force possessed by both the Spirit and Blazing Emperors had been preserved.
Under such overwhelming qualitative pressure, their outbursts of strength far exceeded that of ordinary Ultimate Douluo.
Yet Su Yu showed no fear in the face of the Spirit Emperor's eruption.
A sword appeared in his hand—
The God-Slaying Sword.
This sword had formed after Su Yu absorbed a mutated Sword Grass. It was refined from the energy of an unformed soul bone and possessed effects similar to that of an external soul bone.
As Su Yu's power continued to grow and his fourth soul ring was continuously upgraded, this God-Slaying Sword—originally transformed from the Sword Grass tied to his fourth soul ring—had also risen to an extraordinary level.
In fact, during the creation of his battle armor, Su Yu had subtly integrated structural elements that allowed it to merge with his major soul weapons.
Soul weapons—this was the name Su Yu gave to weapons crafted from soul bone energy, functioning similarly to external soul bones.
Soul weapons could resonate with battle armor, much like Huo Yuhao's twin wings, which were external soul bones. Su Yu never figured out where Huo Yuhao had obtained them, but upon returning from Dragon Valley, Huo Yuhao had already integrated the wings into his primary battle armor.
If soul bones could be integrated, then soul weapons naturally could too.
However, Su Yu's current integration of soul weapons with his super battle armor was still in its early stages.
He intended to attempt a complete fusion only once he began forging his ultimate battle armor.
Sword in hand, Su Yu slashed outward with a terrifying burst of sword aura.
A rune suddenly appeared between heaven and earth.
Sword!
Endless sword aura surged within that rune, as if it were stirring some hidden power from the heavens themselves. The sword energy was unimaginably sharp.
A spiritual barrier materialized before the Spirit Emperor as the energy of the world surged around him.
The sword aura clashed with the barrier—
Boom!
Su Yu's expression remained unchanged as he observed the strain on the Spirit Emperor's face, quietly estimating the latter's current strength.
"Their power isn't at its peak. In a direct battle, I can suppress them. But based on my calculations, if this Spirit Emperor were at full strength, he might be able to stand toe-to-toe with me."
Su Yu sighed inwardly.
"As expected, my power still isn't enough."
He could only fight evenly with the Spirit Emperor at most.
And the Spirit Emperor's full strength was likely only at the level of a Divine Official, possibly equivalent to a third-tier god—but no higher.
What Su Yu referred to here was a true god-level being, not just someone with comparable strength.
"It probably isn't a true third-tier god. In the Divine Realm, all third-tier gods have definitely surpassed the bottleneck of level 99. A Divine Official might have simply advanced by borrowing the power of their divine position, without actually breaking that threshold. After all, 'Divine Official' is just a title."
Even though the title contained the word "god," it clearly wasn't on par with an actual deity. This led Su Yu to believe that a Divine Official was something distinctly lesser.
When "god" appears as a prefix or a suffix—or is part of a title—each variation carries its own unique meaning. These terms aren't used lightly or without purpose.
"Damn it—such terrifying power!"
The Spirit Emperor felt a stinging sensation from Su Yu's razor-sharp sword aura. His spiritual sense trembled under the assault.
Such a sharp sword aura—such a powerful strike!
To think Su Yu possessed such a strong offensive technique.
Up to now, Su Yu had mostly displayed other types of abilities; rarely had he shown an attack of such lethal sharpness.
"Fight!"
Runes appeared one after another around Su Yu's body.
A vast number of runes activated, empowering him.
Su Yu's runes were multifaceted—some even with multiple layers of meaning. Their applications were incredibly diverse. For instance, "凝" (Condense) and "聚" (Gather) had been refined by Su Yu to apply across multiple domains.
They could be used for cultivation or combat alike.
The sword aura became more focused, rapidly gathering strength.
Strength!
Speed!
Defense!
These core battle runes, rarely invoked in the past, now burst forth with radiant brilliance.
Boom!
The world's energy stirred violently around Su Yu.
Nine soul rings rose around his body, one by one. Among them, the fourth—deep red in color—emitted a blood-hued glow.
Between heaven and earth, even the laws of nature seemed to be drawn toward him, concentrating around his blade.
A heaven-shaking slash!
Wielding the God-Slaying Sword, Su Yu unleashed a mighty strike.
The Spirit Emperor's expression changed slightly.
That immense sword aura locked onto him completely. The sword intent, infused with the will of heaven and earth, surged forward as if it could crush all resistance.
The Spirit Emperor's body rapidly expanded. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a Deep Abyss Spirit Dragon about fifteen meters long. As he completed his transformation, the abyssal energy in the air went wild, madly rushing toward him.
"Spirit Dragon True Form!"
The Spirit Emperor let out a low roar. Now in his dragon form, he channeled the surrounding abyssal energy, merging it with his divine-level spiritual power and releasing it in a devastating breath attack.
Boom!
The rune for "空" (Void) shimmered—Su Yu instantly vanished. When he reappeared, he was already behind the Deep Abyss Spirit Dragon, striking again with his sword.
His gaze was cold and unwavering, fixed on the Spirit Emperor.
From his blade burst wave after wave of astonishing sword aura, drawing upon the surrounding laws of the world, fusing into sword qi and sword intent. Its power was absolutely terrifying.
As a barrage of sword aura descended, even the Spirit Emperor found it extremely difficult to contend with
A thunderous roar erupted from the second layer of the Abyss. The plane's core trembled, and a surge of power crossed the void, instantly reinforcing the Spirit Emperor. His spiritual power soared to a whole new level.
Third-tier Divine Origin Realm!
A spiritual realm comparable to that of a third-tier god.
"Roar!"
The Deep Abyss Spirit Dragon suddenly whipped its massive body, vast energy converging around its dragon form. Its spiritual power layered into barrier after barrier, sweeping away the incoming sword aura with ease.
"Abyssal Whisper!"
"Mental Intimidation!"
"Soul Screech!"
The Spirit Emperor, knowing where his strengths lay, didn't continue trading blows with Su Yu. Instead, he launched three consecutive spiritual attacks.
A terrifying wave of spiritual force exploded forth, carrying a paralyzing aura that caused a momentary daze in Su Yu's expression.
Even though he was aware of the Spirit Emperor's spiritual power and had taken precautions, Su Yu still faltered for just a split second.
There was no helping it—after all, the Spirit Emperor's spiritual might was overwhelming.
From the Spirit Emperor's mouth came a string of strange words. His voice carried an almost hypnotic power, drawing one's mind in uncontrollably.
Waves of spiritual force bombarded Su Yu, causing sharp stabs of pain in his sea of consciousness.
Su Yu snapped back to his senses, the "空" (Void) rune flickering as he instantly evaded the Spirit Dragon's sweeping tail.
His gaze toward the Spirit Emperor grew more cautious.
"Is this... a higher-tier Divine Origin Realm spiritual force?"
Su Yu speculated that the Spirit Emperor must have drawn upon his authority within the Abyss to enhance himself.
He sighed inwardly.
"So envious… to receive such a boost out of thin air."
"If I had such power, my combat strength would immediately rise another level."
But Su Yu didn't feel discouraged. He was currently refining his own Domain, which effectively functioned in the same way.
The Domain enhanced his own strength while suppressing his opponents—essentially mirroring the effect the Spirit Emperor had achieved by channeling the core of the Abyss's second layer.
The only difference was that many powerful beings could wield Domains...
But Su Yu's Domain enhancement was far more terrifying.
Meanwhile, Lie Emperor caught up with Electrolux, intercepting him to prevent him from going after the Bee Emperor.
The Bee Emperor released a swarm of explosive bees, instantly unleashing them toward the Battle Armor Corps.
This wave of explosive bees was different. Their wings glowed with unusually high energy, and the flames fueling their propulsion had burned for an extended period—long enough to carry them from the deepest regions of the Far North to the outer perimeter of the battlefield, where the Battle Armor Corps was stationed.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Defensive positions—now!"
Xuan Ziwen immediately enveloped the nearby battlefield with his spiritual power. Sensing the incoming swarm, he reacted at once. Unfortunately, the bees were moving far too fast.
This species was bred to exchange its life for an explosion—it wasn't easy to stop them.
Even with Xuan Ziwen's interception, he was only able to neutralize about one-fifth of the swarm.
There were simply too many of them, and he couldn't keep up.
The Battle Armor Corps suffered major losses—dozens were affected by the blast.
Among them, only one died instantly—a Soul King who happened to be directly hit by a Soul Saint-level explosive bee. Worse, three other Soul Emperor-level bees detonated around him. His luck was catastrophically bad.
Aside from that, the rest of the Battle Armor Masters didn't die on the spot...
But this was war. In the midst of a large-scale battle, getting severely injured by the explosive bees left them vulnerable—giving the enemy just the opening they needed.
Each Battle Armor Master was already dealing with the pressure of fighting at least five abyssal creatures of the same level.
After this explosion, the opposing side seized the opportunity and launched a coordinated assault.
Even though Su Yu's Life Domain continuously covered the battlefield, he had still been momentarily affected by the Spirit Emperor's successive three-pronged spiritual attack.
As a result of this wave alone, thirteen Battle Armor Masters died.
Bloodshot veins surfaced in Xuan Ziwen's eyes as he stared at the Bee Emperor, who was still charging toward the Battle Armor Corps, filled with unspeakable hatred.
These Battle Armor Masters had been personally selected by Jing Hongchen, but it was Xuan Ziwen who had trained them and helped them master their armor.
Although it couldn't be called a true master-disciple relationship, it was still a student-teacher bond—albeit one more akin to that of a lecturer and their pupils, rather than a true master passing on their craft. It wasn't a relationship of inheritance, but it was still relatively close.
The death of thirteen people hit Xuan Ziwen hard, his heart heavy with grief.
Boom!
Xuan Ziwen surged forward.
"I'll go intercept her!"
Now, Xuan Ziwen possessed the strength of a Super Douluo.
"Xuan Ziwen, you deal with that ugly monster!" Jing Hongchen shouted, doing his best to support Xuan Ziwen as he flew toward the Bee Emperor.
The Abyss was now determined to gain an overwhelming advantage on the lower-tier battlefield. Only then could they stabilize the situation quickly.
Jing Hongchen flew toward the outer core area, with the Demon King and the Charm King also seizing the opportunity to head in that direction.
They all wanted to intervene in the low-tier battlefield.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A new batch of explosive bees was created by the Bee Emperor. However, this time, Jing Hongchen fired off dozens of ninth-tier Soul Engineer cannons.
In return, he could no longer defend himself against the attacks of the Demon King and the Charm King.
Ding!
A golden force field appeared around him, blocking the attacks of the Demon King and Charm King.
Invincible Shield.
But it was only a sixth-tier Invincible Shield. While it didn't fully block the attack, Jing Hongchen's Super Battle Armor provided an emergency Soul Engineer shield that helped block the remaining damage.
Even so, Jing Hongchen was injured. Thankfully, under the protection of Su Yu's Life Domain, he quickly recovered.
Boom!
Jing Hongchen shot forward, his twin wings and boosters activating, skyrocketing his speed as he broke free from the Demon King and Charm King.
Xuan Ziwen also swiftly moved, weaving between the two, positioning himself to intercept the Demon King and Charm King.
The Demon King and Charm King had already been severely wounded by Jing Hongchen. If they weren't so focused on intercepting the Bee Emperor, they might have fallen quickly.
Although Xuan Ziwen was only a Super Douluo, his current strength was enough to stop the weakened Demon King and Charm King.
The battlefield shifted rapidly.
The Bee Emperor posed an imminent threat to the Battle Armor Corps, and while Jing Hongchen found a way to support them, other powerful beings were also keeping an eye on the situation.
Toxin, released after Gu Yue's ambush on the Black Emperor, had wreaked havoc in the Abyssal army. Seeing the situation unfold, he quickly rushed to provide reinforcements.
The Abyssal army was vast, and the battle with the Battle Armor Corps was mostly confined to the frontlines. The forces were scattered, making the situation chaotic.
However, as the Abyssal army pressed forward toward the outer core area, Toxin was freed and intercepted them, cutting off part of the Abyssal creatures and trapping them between the deepest part of the core and the outer edges.
In other words, the Abyssal army fighting the Battle Armor Corps was only a fraction of the total force.
The Red Dust siblings had drawn in a group of Abyssal creatures, Toxin had isolated a part of the army, and only the remaining forces were the direct enemies of the Battle Armor Corps.
Now, with the Bee Emperor joining the fray, Toxin, tired of slaughtering ordinary Abyssal creatures, charged forward to engage.
The battlefield between Jing Hongchen, the Demon King, and the Charm King was steadily drifting toward the outer perimeter, nearing the location where Toxin was stationed.
Toxin intercepted the Bee Emperor in front of Jing Hongchen.
"You deal with those Abyssal creatures; leave this one to me!" Toxin said in a low voice.
His strength was greater, and he was more confident in handling the Bee Emperor.
Of course, a bigger reason was that he had grown weary of slaughtering the ordinary Abyssal creatures.
Jing Hongchen took a deep breath. Seeing the Abyssal creatures rushing toward the outer perimeter without Toxin to stop them, he didn't hesitate and charged forward.
The Bee Emperor's eyes blazed with fury.
"Arrogant Soul Masters, what do you think the great Bee Emperor is?!"
The Bee Emperor was enraged.
Did these two human Soul Masters really believe they could fight her, the Bee Emperor?
Hmph!
Two human Soul Masters, not even at the demigod level, were so arrogant!
As the battlefield raged on, Su Yu could feel it was time to end this first wave of war.
Though the fighting had been intense, from the moment the Abyssal passage opened to the current moment, it hadn't even been an hour.
In fact, it had been less than half an hour!
In this short time, the Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent had suffered significant losses, with fifty Battle Armor Masters falling—this, despite Su Yu's Life Domain constantly covering the battlefield.
The Abyss had already committed enough forces to meet Su Yu's expectations.
Of the ten highest-tier Abyssal rulers, excluding the Abyssal Sovereign and the Abyssal Saint King ranked tenth, the remaining eight emperors had already entered the Douluo Continent.
That was enough.
"It's time to end this battle." Su Yu thought quietly.
(End of Chapter)