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The existence of the strange objects was very special. The effects they possessed were no less than that of divine artifacts, but their abilities didn't directly boost strength significantly—they could only convert energy.
Moreover, according to Long Yueyue, these strange objects could only function within the Netherworld and were considered part of it.
The types of energy they could convert depended on how many kinds of energy the Netherworld had absorbed and digested so far. Up to now, the Netherworld had digested three types of energy: the natural energy of Douluo Star, Abyss energy, and stellar power. The easily refined stellar energy converted by new soul-guiding weapons was also included.
Aside from that, other energies couldn't be converted yet.
Shrek Academy had conducted research as well, attempting to transport some demon energy from the Demon Plane for conversion. So far, demon energy could be converted into the aforementioned three types of energy, but the reverse—using those three types to produce demon energy—was impossible.
These were typical functional divine artifacts, albeit in large quantities; over a hundred had already appeared.
Their function was quite singular, but they played a significant role in nurturing younger generations.
Initially, the Abyss's understanding of these strange objects was limited to this extent.
However, as Gu Yue's research unfolded, the Abyss went berserk.
Danger and opportunity always coexisted.
Now, the Abyss finally saw the risks behind the layer of fortune tied to the celestial phenomena.
This kind of risk—having its foundation poached—was something the Abyssal Sage King was unwilling to accept.
He organized large-scale attacks.
For an entire month, extreme emperors attacked daily, taking advantage of their ability to resurrect. The Abyss emperors fought fiercely, even to the death, causing the Extreme Douluos who once could suppress them one-on-one to now fall behind in individual combat.
For a time, the situation reversed completely, with the gap in individual strength between both sides entirely overturned.
In one month, the Abyss sent out all its extreme emperors in rotation. On the fifth day, Meihuang, who had died in battle, reappeared two days later. Apart from Meihuang, five other resurrected emperors returned.
This put immense pressure on Douluo's side.
After all, the five deceased emperors had been killed at great cost.
However, in just one month, the Abyss managed to resurrect them!
"Elder Long, I want to go into the Netherworld first to get a feel for it. What about the strange objects? How many does our Shrek control?"
"So far, more than 150 strange objects have appeared. Of those, 90 are on our side, and out of these 90, Shrek possesses 20."
Only 20 for Shrek?
Xu Yuan frowned, puzzled by the proportion.
"There aren't many people in our Shrek," Elder Long sighed, correcting Xu Yuan's perception. "Although after us old folks, the inner court students have joined in one after another, how many people do we really have in Shrek? But let me tell you, the current number of active personnel in the Blood God Legion has exceeded 500,000."
"Five hundred thousand?"
Xu Yuan was shocked.
He remembered that before he left, despite continuous losses and the influx of new recruits, the number of active personnel in the legion stabilized at around 50,000.
Just two years later, the number reached 500,000?
Ten times increase?
Long Yueyue still wore a bitter smile.
Shrek had long since mobilized almost all inner court students to join, yet even so, their proportion in the Blood God Legion wasn't large. They relied on quality rather than quantity to hold important positions.
However, as time passed, while Shrek's numbers remained constant, the total active personnel kept rising, causing Shrek's proportion to decline.
"The nature of the Netherworld has changed completely. Previously hesitant companies and sects under the Federation's call are now fully committing their soul masters to this cause because it's widely recognized as the future cradle of strong individuals."
Although Shrek still held a pivotal position in top-tier combat strength, its decisive influence in the lower and middle tiers was much smaller.
"The strange objects are meant to be used. Supplying basic energy for a 500,000-strong army alone consumed over 40 pieces. Another 30-plus were allocated to the training rooms built by the legion itself. Our Shrek being able to mobilize 20 is actually quite substantial."
There was overlap among the different uses of the strange objects mentioned by Elder Long. Out of the 20 pieces Shrek could mobilize, seven were allocated to inner court students, providing them with ample energy for cultivation. Several Extreme Douluos each had two pieces, used for operating the training rooms in their respective cities.
Shrek alone possessing 20 pieces and providing the best cultivation environment for its students was already the best among many factions.
"Are there any temporarily unused strange objects?"
Long Yueyue nodded.
"Before calling you back, we set aside one strange object. Follow me first."
Twin Dragon City.
It resembled the cities on Douluo Continent, except that in Twin Dragon City—or any city within the Netherworld—the living environment was monotonous. Everything in the city was related to military affairs, with only some entertainment facilities added later to allow soldiers to relax.
Upon entering the Netherworld, Xu Yuan felt a stir in his dream space.
He lifted the restrictions, allowing Rex's divine consciousness to manifest.
Long Yueyue didn't expect a divine consciousness to suddenly rush out from Xu Yuan.
"Divine consciousness? Who are you?" Long Yueyue glanced at Xu Yuan first, then turned to question Rex.
Her tone wasn't overly hostile, just filled with curiosity.
"Elder Long, he's a magician from another plane, brought back by Na'er."
"Your plane is indeed unique." Rex's emotions were slightly excited at this moment.
"It's the celestial phenomenon, and it's miraculously become part of your plane."
From his tone, it wasn't hard to hear his inner shock.
"What did you say earlier about the strange objects? Can I take a look?"
Xu Yuan hadn't received the strange object yet, but Rex directly addressed Long Yueyue.
Long Yueyue cast a questioning glance at Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan nodded.
Let him see.
As for surface-level cognition of the strange objects, this guy might provide more information.
As for deeper principles, that wasn't something that could be discerned in a short time.
Long Yueyue said nothing further and led the two and one divine consciousness to a tall building.
She took Xu Yuan and the others to the basement of the building.
The basement was vast, with nothing but massive pillars supporting the structure above. There were no decorative fixtures, only a huge plaza.
Around the plaza, complex arrays glowed with flowing energy, illuminating the basement.
In the center, a large meteorite was placed.
Without Long Yueyue needing to say anything, Xu Yuan confirmed that this meteorite was the so-called strange object.
"According to our understanding, the strange objects should be born from the Netherworld, existing in an energy state. Though indistinguishable from physical objects, if taken out of the Netherworld, they will vanish into thin air."
As Long Yueyue spoke, Xu Yuan stepped forward, approaching the strange object.
"This is…" Rex hadn't found relevant vocabulary either.
However, his perception was deep. After seeing the strange object and touching it briefly, he grasped some of its characteristics.
"These are condensed forces of heaven and earth. It seems to be a node of energy operation within this small world, the Netherworld."
"A node of energy operation?" Xu Yuan looked puzzled.
Could the nodes of energy operation within a plane be such solidified objects?
It sounded somewhat unreliable.
"Though difficult to understand, the facts seem to be like this. These strange objects carry the energy operations of the Netherworld but don't participate in them themselves. They appear to be symbolic."
"Do you know about the God Realm? In the God Realm, there are divine positions. Inheriting a divine position can make one a god, granting immortality. Divine positions and the God Realm are akin to the relationship between these strange objects and the Netherworld. The foundation of the God Realm consists of various rule sources condensed into authorities, which mutually construct the basic laws of the God Realm. Each corresponding authority has a corresponding divine position. Similarly, important nodes of energy operation in the Netherworld also have corresponding entities. Strange objects are born this way. If I'm not mistaken, the place where these strange objects are conceived belongs to the energy operation nodes of the Netherworld. If a strange object dissipates, it might re-condense at the corresponding location after some time."
Long Yueyue's eyes brightened slightly upon hearing Rex's explanation.
This was a very plausible hypothesis.
If this hypothesis could be verified, there might be a new approach to competing for strange objects in the future.
If I can't have it, neither can you.
After the destruction of a strange object, secretly returning to its conception site to wait for its rebirth.
Of course, the premise was verifying this hypothesis, and the rebirth time of the strange objects must be reasonable.
"What is the significance of these strange objects?" Na'er asked, puzzled.
Xu Yuan explained to Na'er, "Isn't the function of the strange objects to convert energy? This utilizes the inherent laws of the Netherworld. If possible, leveraging the power of the strange objects at their conception sites might yield additional benefits."
"That's right. Since the strange objects are conceived at energy nodes, they should have meaning for the energy nodes too." Rex agreed.
He didn't continue dwelling on the functions of the strange objects.
"I'm curious about what core law this particular celestial phenomenon will conceive."
"Core law?" Xu Yuan was startled.
Rex glanced at Xu Yuan, somewhat surprised.
"You don't know?"
"No." Xu Yuan shook his head.
"I thought you understood the key aspects of the celestial phenomena given how skillfully you've explored and utilized them."
"We only learned from some channels that the celestial phenomena would give rise to considerable opportunities, so we've been waiting and vying for ownership of the celestial phenomena."
"Mm, that's correct." Rex nodded and said, "The so-called opportunity ultimately boils down to conceiving a unique law exclusive to this celestial phenomenon, the core law that supports it. This is the law evolved by the celestial phenomenon to exist in cosmic space, similar to the unique laws in plane development. For instance, your Douluo plane has special laws governing武魂 (martial souls). Everyone born on the Douluo plane can awaken their martial souls at age six. Similarly, the core law of the celestial phenomenon is unique."
"Of course, the essence of this so-called opportunity is the core law. In reality, it manifests in various forms—strange elements,神器 (divine artifacts), or even核心 (cores) of super divine artifacts. It might purely exist in the form of omnipresent laws."
Xu Yuan suddenly understood.
At the same time, he gained a rough idea of the Sacred Heart Plane.
This plane's influence in the universe was greater than he imagined.
After all, the nine dragon kings merely knew about the existence of opportunities but didn't know their essence.
No wonder the Sacred Heart Plane was a magic plane, summarizing the essence of things so accurately.
"The conception of strange objects at energy operation nodes is unique to your Netherworld—it's not the norm for celestial phenomena. So regarding core laws, I feel there will be some connection. Thus, if strange objects can be competed for, they must be pursued with full force."
Xu Yuan nodded.
That was natural.
"It seems studying the functions of strange objects is crucial for harvesting future opportunities."
"That's right."
Everyone present was stunned.
Even Rex was stunned.
Who was speaking?
Who said "That's right" at the end?
Xu Yuan heard a familiar voice and looked towards the surging energy. A figure condensed.
"Teacher." Na'er's delighted voice broke the silence.
Rex looked towards Yun Ming, his pupils contracting.
Yun Ming gently patted Na'er's head, sighed, and then looked towards Rex.
"Sir, your insight is excellent."
"Each has their strengths." Rex gave a slight bow.
Looking at Yun Ming's figure, he couldn't help but become serious.
Is this the teacher Xu Yuan mentioned?
Indeed powerful.
His control over this Netherworld undoubtedly surpassed that of any Plane Lord Rex had ever seen.
Of course, this was his own created miniature world—how could there be errors in control?
"Teacher, what did you mean earlier when you said 'That's right'?" Xu Yuan brought the topic back.
Yun Ming pointed to the meteorite in the center of the square. "This strange object should be related to the core law he mentioned. In my perception, the changes in the Netherworld focus on the conception of laws, likely related to the environment in which the celestial phenomena were born."
"Omnipresent laws?" Rex imperceptibly nodded.
"Opportunities in the form of laws?" Xu Yuan frowned.
How could one obtain such intangible opportunities without a concrete entity?
This was what troubled him.
But Yun Ming's words gave him direction.
"The condensation of strange objects is a characteristic of the Netherworld, but I also facilitated it. If I hadn't given it a push, the strange objects wouldn't have formed. Only the fluctuations of energy operation nodes at various locations would be distinct."
Long Yueyue listened and guessed that Yun Ming had been constantly monitoring the changes within the Netherworld.
Thus, the appearance of strange objects was the result of the traits of the celestial phenomena combined with Yun Ming's subjective promotion.
"And the ultimate core law that the Netherworld evolves, I estimate it will be related to energy conversion."
"You might think the opportunity of the core law is intangible, but I'll tell you, it's precisely this form that makes it more precious."
Yun Ming looked at Xu Yuan.
"Release your Jue."
Xu Yuan followed Yun Ming's instruction, letting Jue fly out from the Spirit Sea.
Yun Ming extended his hand, took Jue's body, glanced at it, and praised, "Jue's foundation is quite perfect, and it suits this core law better than my Atlas Divine Spear."
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