The original Dreamspace.
Cao Dezhi's consciousness was very clear.
At this moment, he suppressed his shock and looked towards the battlefield.
"This Zhang Huanyun has been cowering and guarding for his entire life, but now he has finally burst forth."
In this original Dreamspace, it did not affect Cao Dezhi's ability to observe the outside world at all.
Although he didn't have Xu Yuan's skill of multitasking, his mastery of heaven and earth energies had already reached an extremely high level. Even with his consciousness deeply immersed in this illusory space, as long as he wasn't trapped, he could still perceive everything happening around him.
"This is how it should be; continuing to endure would make breakthrough impossible."
Cao Dezhi did not rush to leave the state of the Seven Forbidden Techniques.
The transformation occurring within the original Dreamspace gave him a unique feeling—whether it was the abnormalities on Douluo Star or the secrets of the Abyss side.
"The strength of the Abyss exceeds imagination."
Cao Dezhi felt a heavy burden in his heart.
Through the deep control he had maintained earlier, he glimpsed the internal situation of the Abyss after the spread of its laws.
This was a perception from a unique perspective.
At this moment, he felt as if he had become one with the laws, peering into the Abyss.
Endless Abyss energy was made up of countless Abyss creatures.
Among them were one hundred and eight light points, representing the emperors of the one hundred and eight layers. Each emperor was like a shining star, illuminating the entire Abyss and serving as its core.
At least they were the cores corresponding to their respective layers. The reason they emitted light was because they represented a layer of the Abyss, not their power.
In fact, among the one hundred and eight light points, there were obvious differences in strength.
Cao Dezhi could sense the disparity in aura that matched his previous understanding of the one hundred and eight emperors.
"The first thirty-six layers—if compared to Title Douluo, then according to the ratio of aura strength, the middle thirty-six layers would be Super Douluo, and the last thirty-six layers are all above Limit Douluo!"
Cao Dezhi's tone was heavy.
The emperors in the last thirty-six layers possessed the strength comparable to Limit Douluo, especially the last eighteen layers where all the emperors reached the quasi-deity level!
Cao Dezhi was confident that he could suppress any emperor from the fourth layer onwards.
However, he dared not claim he could withstand the emperors of the second and third layers.
Cao Dezhi knew their information.
The second layer housed the Spirit Emperor of the Abyss, the Monarch of Abyssal Spirit Dragons, whose spiritual power had reached the Divine Origin Realm. The third layer housed the Ardent Monarch, whose strength had evolved into godly power.
The one hundred and eight layers of the Abyss each had distinct gaps between them.
From Title Douluo to quasi-deity, and even to partially transformed divine beings, there were quite clear divisions.
A single rank also had different intensities divided into three, six, nine levels, progressively advancing.
However, the change from the second layer to the first layer was something Cao Dezhi could never believe.
The terror of that aura made his scalp tingle.
"This is absolutely not an ordinary deity!"
Cao Dezhi instinctively concluded that the Abyssal Sage King was at the divine level, unlike the Spirit Emperor or Ardent Monarch who merely had parts of their powers evolved to the divine level.
"If divinity also has distinctions, then this Abyssal Sage King is at least two or three ranks higher than a newly ascended hundred-level deity!"
Not only that, Cao Dezhi also sensed another terrifying destructive aura, which was even more frightening than the Abyssal Sage King.
"Hmm?"
Cao Dezhi's expression changed drastically, and he quickly tried to exit the state of the Seven Forbidden Techniques.
Boom!
A grand consciousness descended, shattering Cao Dezhi's mental sea into pieces.
However, since it was separated by two planes, and Cao Dezhi's spiritual force had extended over using a trick, this impact only occurred once.
But just once was enough to make Cao Dezhi feel as if his mental sea was about to split open.
Cao Dezhi's face turned pale.
The fear in his eyes did not dissipate.
In the past, the Abyssal Sage King was difficult to resist with just one hand.
However, Cao Dezhi was confident that he could hold out against him to some extent, thanks to the separation of two planes. At least resisting that one hand wouldn't be a problem.
But what he witnessed today made Cao Dezhi doubt himself.
Was it really something he could withstand?
"This Abyssal Sage King has never fully attacked the seal from beginning to end."
Even though he always acted as if he was going all out to break the seal, couldn't that just be a series of taunts?
Could it be possible to probe anything?
The Abyss.
In the endless darkness, a pair of eyes opened, and a sudden roar obliterated a rat spying on the Abyss.
That pair of terrifying eyes revealed a thoughtful expression.
"Such an immature brat actually managed to spy to this extent. What happened on the other side of the passage?"
The Abyssal Sage King was omnipotent within the Abyss. He was everywhere. As his thoughts arrived, the scene near the Abyss Passage immediately appeared before his eyes.
It was an enormous illusory space. On the other side of the illusory space, a faint shadow flashed by.
That was Douluo Planet!
The Abyssal Sage King was very certain of this.
This piece of juicy meat had been floating in front of him for six thousand years, and he would never forget it.
But now, the form of this juicy meat had changed.
It was a giant hammer, with layers of blood-red patterns spreading across its black surface.
"A hammer..."
His gaze shifted to the battlefield, looking at the heavily damaged Abyss army. The Abyssal Sage King showed no pity at all.
After all, death meant rebirth. After some time, they could be reborn again.
Even if one of the emperors died, as long as their essence was not lost, they could return soon. Ordinary Abyss creatures would become entirely new life forms, but the total amount of life remained unchanged. What difference did it make to the Abyssal Sage King?
"Using Abyss energy to absorb external stellar energy?" The Abyssal Sage King's perception was extraordinarily acute.
In his awakened state, his mental intention could even extend along with the laws of the Abyss.
When he discovered the rat Cao Dezhi, he wasn't even fully awake.
But when he saw the faint shadow of that hammer, he became fully alert.
At this moment, his perception was at its peak.
Because of Cao Dezhi, the Abyssal Sage King even directly sensed that illusory space without needing the part of Abyss energy within the original Dreamspace as a medium. He also sensed the energy conversion inside it.
"A praying mantis trying to stop a chariot."
Taking another deep look at the battlefield, the Abyssal Sage King closed his eyes.
His mind was filled with that black hammer.
Xu Yuan was unaware of what had just transpired.
He was currently staring at the spot in mid-air where the mirror light had exploded.
The roar of Ba Emperor had not ceased.
Clearly, the Ba Emperor had endured.
Zhang Huanyun's face turned pale.
This time, he hadn't received replenishment.
As the brilliance of the energy explosion faded, Ba Emperor's figure was revealed.
Compared to Zhang Huanyun, who was only pale, Ba Emperor was much worse off. Not a single part of his body was intact, and at least half of his body had been vaporized.
Nevertheless, Ba Emperor still possessed tenacious vitality. Dense Abyss energy swirled around his body, continuously mending his injuries.
Zhang Huanyun's expression was grave.
"Even if the Abyss Monarchs die, as long as we crush most of their bodies and disperse them into energy, can't we devour them?"
Or was Ba Emperor special?
While pausing to observe the battle, Xu Yuan did not stop driving the Great Devouring Heaven and Earth Technique, constantly absorbing stellar energy.
The battle had lasted for half an hour. Xu Yuan's soul power hadn't decreased at all but instead kept rising. By now, it had reached level sixty-nine.
Half an hour later, the number of Abyss creatures killed by Xu Yuan had already reached fifty of the same level, even far exceeding that.
The number of leader-class Abyss creatures he killed, equivalent to the Soul Douluo level, had reached double digits!
However, this was war, and he was constantly under immense consumption. This needed to be replenished with stellar energy quickly; otherwise, if his state dropped too much and an accident occurred, he wouldn't have time to resist.
Xu Yuan didn't rush to take action again.
The Abyss Monarchs started to appear. If he continued to act recklessly, he might be targeted.
However, even if he didn't act, it was already too late.
He had long been targeted.
On the other side of the Abyss Passage, the Six-Claw Demon Monarch had already charged out, with a clear target.
The original Dreamspace was impacted, and Xu Yuan's perception became blurry.
An instinctive sense of crisis exploded instantly, prompting Xu Yuan to fully activate the Heaven and Earth Imitation Technique.
Swoosh!
A sharp claw slashed down fiercely, tearing a gash in Xu Yuan's blood manifestation.
Then another claw appeared.
Six claws consecutively tore apart Xu Yuan's blood manifestation, even leaving a huge crack on the mech inside.
As Xu Yuan rapidly retreated, he saw the true form of the thing attacking him.
It was a six-clawed bat.
Unlike those he had encountered before, this six-clawed bat was larger by a full circle, yet it didn't give off a bloated feeling. Instead, it emanated even more formidable power fluctuations.
From afar, this six-clawed bat felt like a sword ready to strike at any moment. Once targeted, Xu Yuan felt as if he was prey.
"Six-Claw Demon Emperor, the emperor of the sixtieth layer of the Abyss, king of the six-clawed bats race, comparable to a Super Douluo of the agile attack system!"
"Evil creature, don't even think of surrendering!"
Zhang Huanyun also noticed this and shouted loudly.
Behind him, the round mirror flashed with a brilliant light.
The brilliance cut down like a crescent-shaped blade.
The Six-Claw Demon Emperor swiftly dodged to the side, but under the illumination of the mirror, the crescent-shaped blade firmly locked onto it.
Realizing it couldn't dodge, the Six-Claw Demon Emperor waved a claw and collided with the blade.
Zhang Huanyun sneered coldly. The round mirror behind him quickly expanded, covering the entire sky. His pale face instantly turned ruddy.
"Ninth soul skill, Mirror Light Annihilation!"
This time, the round mirror covering the entire sky was above everyone's heads.
From top to bottom, a dazzling beam of light descended.
Even Ba Emperor's massive body couldn't block this mirror light.
Zhang Huanyun's freshly ruddy face turned ghastly white again, devoid of any color. The sunken eyeballs and the suddenly aged appearance were shocking.
In an instant, he looked like someone whose body was utterly drained.
However, the results of this mirror light were tremendous.
Just as Zhang Huanyun felt his body empty and on the verge of collapse, waves of energy rushed into his body.
Silently, a bottleneck shattered.
"Hahahaha!"
Zhang Huanyun's laughter echoed across the battlefield.
In the sky above the battlefield, that round mirror seemed to transform into a full moon.
The bright mirror hung high.
Moonlight poured down, landing on Zhang Huanyun's head. A hazy halo spread throughout the battlefield.
Promotion to the limit!
After unbridled shooting numerous times and exhausting his body to the extreme, Zhang Huanyun broke through.
It was understandable.
According to Xu Yuan's understanding, Zhang Huanyun, like Cao Dezhi, had been striving in the Blood God Legion for sixty years.
He was deeply loved by the Blood God Legion soldiers and held unparalleled prestige within the legion.
However, in terms of overall strategy, he had to consider the bigger picture, unlike Cao Dezhi, who could be more whimsical.
It proved that Zhang Huanyun's strategies allowed the Blood God Legion to achieve maximum success with minimal cost repeatedly, helping the legion survive crises time and again.
However, this also affected Zhang Huanyun's mindset.
Even from some objective records of Zhang Huanyun's deeds that Xu Yuan saw, he could sense Zhang Huanyun's indecisiveness and forbearance.
Even if these objective records were rendered by Zhang Huanyun's loyal subordinates and exaggerated his achievements, it wasn't hard to sense from the events' beginnings and ends that every decision Zhang Huanyun made wasn't satisfying.
For the sake of the greater good, he had endured too much.
Once released, the joy in his heart need not be said more.
From this perspective, it was reasonable for him to break through his bottleneck at this moment.
"Again!"
Zhang Huanyun looked toward the entrance of the Abyss Passage, his gaze intense, seemingly waiting for more Abyss creatures to arrive.
However, it seemed as if all the Abyss creatures had been exterminated by him, and there were no longer dense, endless hordes. Instead, as the war continued, they became fewer and fewer.
Two severely wounded Abyss Emperors quickly retreated to the rear of the Abyss Passage.
They were leaving?
Zhang Huanyun was filled with suspicion.
The energy intensity of this Abyss Tide eruption had definitely reached level four.
But why was it so abnormal?
What was the Abyss planning?
Or did they sense the different state on our side and couldn't decide, preparing to investigate further before resuming the fight?
Though dissatisfied, Zhang Huanyun also couldn't chase into the Abyss Passage.
During the Abyss Tide, the Abyssal Sage King might take action. At his newly broken-through Limit Douluo level, he couldn't withstand the Abyssal Sage King.
Moreover, Xu Yuan's transmitted message also robbed him of his greatest confidence.
"Commander, it seems something has happened to Blood One."
If Cao Dezhi had an issue, forcing the matter further, in case the Abyssal Sage King really took action, the Blood God Legion wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Zhang Huanyun's expression changed, and he descended beside Xu Yuan, urgently asking,
"What happened to him?"
During normal battles, he hadn't seen Cao Dezhi at all and had no idea where Cao Dezhi was now. He could only ask Xu Yuan for more specific details.
Xu Yuan shook his head and said, "I don't know either. I just felt his spiritual power weaken suddenly. I have a spiritual-type soul skill connected to him, allowing me to sense his mental state."
Xu Yuan wasn't prepared to reveal anything about the original Dreamspace to Zhang Huanyun.
Blood One could tolerate him deducting the Blood God Legion's stellar energy, but Zhang Huanyun might not be able to bear it.
Although he didn't get exact news, knowing that Cao Dezhi's spiritual power had weakened and he was suspected to be gravely injured, Zhang Huanyun didn't dare to advance rashly either.
He stayed vigilant, preventing the Abyss from launching a surprise counterattack.
Time passed.
After another five hours, the battle finally came to a complete halt.
On the battlefield, Blood God Legion soldiers lay sprawled on the ground without any regard for their image, gasping for fresh air.
Many people had died in this war.
Yet many were also forged.
In one great battle, breaking through one level of soul power was common. Some soul masters even broke through two levels consecutively—those who were originally at a critical point broke through one level due to the battle stimulation, then absorbed large amounts of stellar energy to break through another level.
There were even greater gains: soul masters on the verge of a whole ten-level bottleneck broke through to the next title in one great battle.
With the war over, the settlement phase began.
Xu Yuan used his spiritual power to sense the existence of the original Dreamspace and sighed in relief.
Although it had been impacted, it hadn't collapsed, and there was still enough stellar energy inside.
War was ultimately not cultivation. Xu Yuan barely had time to devour the converted stellar energy from the Abyss creatures he killed, let alone have the energy to devour the accumulated stellar energy in the original Dreamspace.
This stellar energy was part of the stellar energy during the conversion process of the new type soul-guided weapons.
"This energy should be enough to boost my level by three to five levels."
Before the Six-Claw Demon Emperor struck, he had already broken through to level sixty-nine. During the five-hour concluding phase, he hunted many Abyss creatures, devoured vast amounts of stellar energy, and successfully advanced to level seventy.
Now, he could ascend to the seventh ring Soul Saint anytime.
However, the seventh soul ring was crucial, and Xu Yuan didn't rush to obtain it.
Blood God Legion Command Center.
Only Zhang Huanyun and Cao Dezhi were in the room.
"The Abyss is far more terrifying than we imagined." Cao Dezhi chose not to tell Zhang Huanyun what he had seen today.
Zhang Huanyun was just a newly ascended Limit Douluo weakling. Knowing the strength of the Abyssal Sage King might cause him to collapse.
Cao Dezhi, on the other hand, was fine. Confident that he could break through to the divine level anytime, and even, if not for the plane's limitations, believed he could progress further. Though wary of the Abyssal Sage King, he was also motivated by the challenge posed by him.
"This Abyss Tide was too strange. Only two emperors appeared, and none of the emperors within the eighteenth layer took action." Zhang Huanyun frowned, feeling that the retreat of Abyss creatures in the later stages of the battle was unusual.
"To be precise, none of the emperors within the thirty-sixth layer took action," Cao Dezhi corrected.
The two emperors that appeared—one was Ba Emperor, an emperor of the fiftieth layer of the Abyss. Converted to human soul masters, he was approximately equivalent to a ninety-seven-level Super Douluo. However, with his tenacious vitality, he withstood a powerful attack from Zhang Huanyun, a ninety-eight-level soul master wearing four-word Battle Armor.
The other was the emperor of the sixtieth layer of the Abyss, the Six-Claw Demon Emperor. After ambushing Xu Yuan, he was heavily injured by Zhang Huanyun's consecutive attacks twice and then withdrew along with Ba Emperor back to the Abyss.
"If I am not mistaken, this should be related to the Abyssal Sage King," Cao Dezhi said solemnly.
"Were you injured by the Abyssal Sage King?" Zhang Huanyun's gaze flickered.
"You could say that."
Cao Dezhi recalled the scene at that time, and a hint of fear flashed in his eyes.
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