Jing Shaoyu speared two Black Emperors to death with a single thrust, boosting his comrades' morale to its peak.
The frontline mecha warriors and long-range attackers at the rear didn't show it as obviously, as they needed to hold their positions. But the Battle Armor warriors who charged into the Abyssal army's formation and engaged in close combat were utterly outrageous.
Each of them erupted with combat power one, two, or even three times beyond their actual cultivation level, rampaging freely through the dense hordes of Abyssal creatures. It took four or five Ba Ans working together just to barely halt their advance. Their auras pulsed with frenzied excitement.
The reason for this was simple: the three auras Jing Shaoyu had cast upon them, combined with the support from Hong Fei and An Ya—both Titled Douluo-level supporters—had completely eliminated the Battle Armor warriors' concerns about casualties.
Seriously, with three support-type Titled Douluo standing by their side, even a one-ring Soul Master would dare to challenge a Soul King or Soul Emperor.
Thus, the tide of this battle was already clear. Unless the Abyss Plane deployed more high-level powerhouses, this assault would end in failure once again—with losses far exceeding previous attacks. After slaying the two Black Emperors, Jing Shaoyu didn't stop. He continued his assault on the remaining Black Emperors and Fiend Succubi lurking in the rear.
The Black Emperors and Fiend Succubi didn't retreat, as they hadn't received orders to do so. They could only rely on their numerical advantage to stall Jing Shaoyu.
But they were merely buying time—they would all die in the end.
Perhaps Jing Shaoyu's actions had angered some Abyssal Dominator hiding behind the Abyssal army. In any case, after he impaled another Fiend Succubus, a sudden mutation occurred.
"ROAR—"
A deafening roar that could Shake Heaven and Earth erupted from the direction of the Abyss Passage, resounding across the entire battlefield. A surge of grayish-white energy abruptly manifested, intercepting the relentless barrage of Soul Guidance Cannon Shells, rays, and lasers. Then, a beam of grayish-white light shot forth—its target unmistakably Jing Shaoyu.
What was that?
Long Yuxue, who had just slain an Abyssal creature with great effort, froze in place, staring blankly at the scene. Just a single glance from afar made her feel as though her consciousness had slowed, her blood nearly freezing in her veins. The terrifying pressure caused her expression to twist in horror.
She saw a single finger emerge from the massive Abyss Passage—its diameter alone exceeded ten meters, and its length was impossible to gauge. Though the finger appeared thick and massive, it somehow gave the illusion of being slender and elegant, with its translucent white nail resembling the delicate finger of a beautiful woman.
Yet Long Yuxue knew with absolute certainty that this finger was lethally deadly. Just the aura clinging to it rendered her, a Soul King, completely immobile. Her heart leaped into her throat as she watched Jing Shaoyu face that finger head-on.
"Hmph!" Jing Shaoyu merely snorted coldly.
A faint glow ignited along the Doomsday Divine Spear as a radiant white light enveloped his body. His Three-Word Battle Armor instantly encased him, and his aura surged dramatically. Then, he raised his spear and thrust with all his might at the colossal finger looming before him.
A blazing and fierce spear radiance erupted from the Doomsday Divine Spear, clashing directly against the massive finger's nail. In an instant, a dazzling brilliance illuminated the entire battlefield as if splitting heaven and earth, while a terrifying shockwave instantly flattened everything within hundreds of meters, creating a horrifying vacuum zone.
Fortunately, there were no Blood God Legion warriors around Jing Shaoyu—he had charged too far ahead. As for the Abyssal creatures in this area? Well, they were mere cannon fodder the enemy themselves didn't care about. Why should he bother?
The attack from the massive finger was intercepted by Jing Shaoyu, and its owner seemed deeply dissatisfied. The finger slowly curled before violently flicking, unleashing an even more terrifying gray-white light toward Jing Shaoyu, radiating dense Destruction Energy.
Jing Shaoyu showed no fear. His first Soul Ring lit up behind him as he traced a circle in front of him with the Doomsday Divine Spear. A profound purple energy erupted simultaneously from his body and the spear, converging like a violet fountain within that circle to meet the attack of the massive finger.
First Soul Skill—Spear of Destruction!
Two vastly different yet equally lethal Destruction Energies collided, producing an earth-shaking explosion. The nearest warriors felt as if a giant hammer had struck their chests, leaving them breathless as they staggered back to recover.
The purple Destruction Energy grew fiercer in the clash, condensing into an enormous phantom of the Doomsday Divine Spear that suddenly pierced through the gray-white Destruction Energy and stabbed deep into the massive finger. The finger trembled violently before swiftly retracting.
Long Yuxue, witnessing this scene, remained pale-faced but her eyes shone with excitement as she cheered, "Glory to His Eternity!"
"Glory to His Eternity!" Her cry instantly resonated with the other warriors, and the battlefield erupted in a thunderous wave of cheers.
Jing Shaoyu watched the retreating finger, silently regulating his breathing while contemplating its owner.
From their brief exchange, Jing Shaoyu could confirm that the finger's owner wielded power at least equivalent to a Limit Douluo—likely one of the Abyssal Monarchs from the first thirty-six layers, or possibly even an Abyssal Emperor from the top ten layers.
According to intelligence gathered by the Blood God Legion over the years, the Abyss consisted of one hundred and eight layers, each ruled by an Abyss Lord. The Abyssal Dominators from the 108th to the 73rd layers generally possessed cultivation around Rank 94, while those from the 72nd to the 37th layers were typically Super Douluos. From the 36th layer onward, every Abyss Lord wielded the power of a Limit Douluo.
Based on conservative estimates by Zhang Huanyun and Xue Yi, the Abyss Lords of the top ten layers were undoubtedly all Quasi-Gods!
"Brother Jing." Xue Jiu and Blood Eight arrived swiftly, positioning themselves beside Jing Shaoyu. Sensing the overwhelming aura earlier, they had rushed over—only to witness Jing Shaoyu repelling the massive finger. Xue Jiu couldn't help but admire, "The owner of that finger was likely a Limit Douluo. You're truly incredible! I'm impressed!"
"Mostly due to the advantage of terrain," Jing Shaoyu replied modestly. "That Abyssal Monarch couldn't descend in person, and the Abyssal Energy it could mobilize was limited. That's why I managed to repel it."
"That's still impressive!" Xue Jiu said. "If it were me, I probably wouldn't have handled it as effortlessly as you did. You didn't even take a single step back!"
"Let's save the small talk for later," Blood Eight interrupted their exchange, turning to Jing Shaoyu. "Eternal, you should go rest for now. Xue Jiu and I can handle things here. I suspect the Abyss forces are about to retreat—there shouldn't be any more surprises."
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm still in good condition. No need to rest just yet," Jing Shaoyu replied with a smile. He wanted to absorb and refine more Abyss energy—how could he leave now?
"Alright, I won't insist," Blood Eight said, a trace of helplessness flashing across her face, mixed with admiration. Over the past three months, their interactions with Jing Shaoyu had been limited, but both she and Xue Jiu clearly understood they were no match for him.
As Blood Eight had predicted, with the failure of the colossal finger attack, this Abyss Tide was nearing its end. The number of Abyss creatures emerging from the passages dwindled, and some even showed signs of retreating back into the Abyss.
"Old Ma, since when has your Ironblood Regiment been this fierce?" The reinforcements who had arrived to relieve them were stunned, finding no opportunity to even engage in battle. Watching the Ironblood Regiment soldiers already preparing to clean up the battlefield, their commander immediately sought out Ma Shan. "You actually repelled an Abyss Tide on your own? Impressive!"
"Ha!" Ma Shan waved his hands dismissively, though his expression was a mix of pride and reverence. "While our Ironblood warriors are indeed fearless, the real credit goes to Eternal Douluo, His Eminence. If not for him and his Soul Spirit, our regiment would've suffered heavy losses this time."
Every time he recalled the dozen or so Black Emperors and Fiend Succubi that had appeared on the battlefield, Ma Shan shuddered. Had those creatures breached their formation, the Ironblood Regiment would've faced devastating casualties. The position might have held, but the cost would've been immense.
Thank you, Eternal Eminence! Ma Shan silently prayed in his heart.
"What happened? Tell us the details!" Several regimental commanders and deputies crowded around Ma Shan, eyes gleaming with curiosity.
This Abyss Tide had ended in less than three hours—shorter than even some first-level tides. Of course, the duration wasn't the primary measure of an Abyss Tide's intensity, so this briefest third-level Tide would merely become fodder for post-battle chatter among the soldiers.
After the battle, Jing Shaoyu met with Xue Yi at the Blood God Battalion.
"You've caused quite a stir!" Xue Yi remarked, a satisfied smile playing on his lips as he saw Jing Shaoyu. "To provoke an Abyssal Monarch into attacking you personally—well done. You've got some of your teacher's old flair."
Hearing this, Jing Shaoyu immediately asked, "Did my teacher also draw the attention of an Abyssal Monarch back then?"
"No," Xue Yi replied, his expression turning peculiar as memories surfaced in his eyes. "He ventured deep into the Abyss, slaying nine of the former thirty-six Abyssal Monarchs, until the Abyss Lord of the third layer finally intervened. Yet, he still managed to retreat unscathed—and that was shortly after he'd just broken through to the Limit Douluo realm."
"Hmm..." Jing Shaoyu didn't know how to respond for a moment, except to think that this was so typical of Yun Ming. But then, he realized a despairing fact. "You said nine of the thirty-six Abyssal Monarchs from the front layers were slain by my teacher, yet now, all thirty-six layers still have their full complement of monarchs. This..."
"That's precisely what makes the Abyss so terrifying!" Xue Yi sighed, his voice slightly somber. "In less than a century, they can cultivate nine new Limit Douluos. Meanwhile, on our Douluo Continent, producing even a single Super Douluo in a hundred years would already be an exceptionally rare genius.
Such a comparison is truly despair-inducing!"
Jing Shaoyu fell silent, understanding Xue Yi's sentiment. Indeed, someone like Yun Ming, who reached Limit Douluo at thirty-five, might not appear even once in several millennia.
"In a sense, the Abyss Plane is a complete living entity. Abyssal energy is like the blood of this organism, with Abyssal creatures constantly perishing and regenerating within its flow—its mass is eternal.
Though Yun Ming slew nine Abyssal Monarchs, he couldn't eradicate them completely. Their energy was reclaimed by the Abyss Plane, then redistributed to create new monarchs, repeating the cycle endlessly," Xue Yi explained. "To destroy the Abyss, we must break this energy cycle and reduce the total amount of Abyssal energy."
Xue Yi hadn't spent decades in the Blood God Legion for nothing. He had keenly deduced the Abyss Plane's operational laws and identified the method to annihilate it.
"Indeed," Jing Shaoyu nodded, his gaze calm as he met Xue Yi's fiery, unwavering eyes. He realized Xue Yi must have discovered something.
"I owe you an apology. I didn't mean to follow you," Xue Yi sighed. "Your teacher entrusted you to me, and I couldn't let anything happen to you under my watch. That's why I trailed behind you when you entered the Abyss."
"I understand," Jing Shaoyu nodded. From his first venture into an S-rank Abyss Passage, he had sensed someone following him. But since he detected no hostility, he hadn't dwelled on it. Later, after completing his rotation, that presence had rarely appeared again.
"I don't care why your Martial Soul can devour the Abyss Plane's energy. I only hope you'll protect yourself. You may be Douluo Continent's hope for counterattacking the Abyss!" Xue Yi placed a hand on Jing Shaoyu's shoulder, his tone earnest.
"Don't worry—no one values their life more than I do," Jing Shaoyu smiled. "Haven't you noticed? I'm already Rank 92. All thanks to the Abyss. Faced with such a treasure, I'd hate to die too soon!"
"Good, good, good!" Xue Yi burst into laughter, clapping Jing Shaoyu's shoulder, clearly in high spirits.
After leaving the Blood God Battalion, Jing Shaoyu returned straight to his dorm. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he began refining the energy he had absorbed that day.
A single Abyss Tide had allowed him to absorb more energy than the total amount he'd consumed in the previous three months combined. Though it was a pity it didn't help his Soul Power break through to the next level, Jing Shaoyu was still quite satisfied. He mused that if such Abyss Tides occurred daily, his cultivation would surely skyrocket like a rocket.
Of course, this was merely wishful thinking. Not only would daily Abyss Tides impose unbearable burdens and pressure on the Blood God Legion, but the Abyss Plane itself couldn't sustain such frequency. After each Abyss Tide, both the Blood God Legion and the Abyss Plane needed time to recuperate.
While Jing Shaoyu was refining the Abyss energy, deep within one of the Abyss Plane's layers...
A woman clad in a grayish-white robe sat solemnly upon her throne. Her eyes were ash-gray, her hair pale as death, and her entire being exuded an indescribable aura of lifelessness that made anyone who glimpsed her feel profoundly unsettled. Though her appearance was indistinguishable from a human's, she was anything but human.
The Enchantress Emperor! Ruler of the Abyss's eighteenth layer!
She was the mastermind behind this Abyss Tide—the owner of that colossal finger that had attacked Jing Shaoyu.
Floating in the air before her was an ethereal figure, also taking the form of a human woman. This woman possessed breathtaking beauty and seemed even more human-like than the Enchantress Emperor in demeanor. Yet her form betrayed her true nature—a pair of jet-black wings sprouted from her back, her raven hair coiled into an elaborate disk at the back of her head, and her pitch-black eyes glinted with cold light.
"...This offensive has disappointed me greatly!" the woman spoke, her voice icy.
"I didn't expect that human to be so troublesome either!" The Enchantress Emperor's eyes flashed with irritation. She hadn't anticipated being hindered by an ant at the lord-level, but facing the woman's reproach, she dared not show any discontent and hurried to explain.
"And this is your excuse for costing me seven of my kin?" The woman's gaze grew even colder as she snapped.
"Your Majesty Hei Di, I lost eight of my own people too!" the Enchantress Emperor argued. "Moreover, I sensed traces of that human named Yun Ming in that boy!"
A flicker of fear passed through her eyes.
"Hmph!" Hei Di's expression darkened. "That human Yun Ming may be strong, but the children of the Abyss are undying and indestructible. Endless time will eventually claim him, while we endure eternally. Do you understand?"
"Yes," the Enchantress Emperor replied immediately.
The Abyss is eternal, its rulers deathless—this was the greatest confidence of the Abyss Lords!
(End of Chapter)