When Lu Jingming imagined the future where he might successfully capture the Herta, his mood brightened instantly. He waved at the Herta with a beaming smile and then turned to leave the laboratory.
After the laboratory door slowly closed and Lu Jingming's figure completely vanished, the Herta slowly raised her hand and gently touched her lips. "A strange feeling?" she murmured. She shook her head slightly, as if trying to dispel this inexplicable feeling and not think about the anomaly she had just experienced. Then, she casually tossed the Plague Gem in her hand, turned, walked over to the Herta Mirror, and tossed the Plague Gem into it.
In the Phoenix Valley of the Divine Realm, there was a lava lake. A slightly gaunt, handsome, red-haired young man was sitting quietly above the lava lake. A melancholic aura surrounded him as he stared blankly at the sky, as if lost in deep thought, reminiscing about an unforgettable past.
"Fourth Brother is still the same. I wonder how many years it's been since he left this lava lake?"
Not far away, a young woman with long pink hair and a handsome young man were looking at the melancholic Phoenix God, Ma Hongjun. The young woman sighed helplessly.
"Fatty, sigh!" The Food God, Oscar, also sighed helplessly.
Compared to Ma Hongjun, he considered himself much luckier. Although he was also a Tier-2 God and couldn't bring his family with him to the Divine Realm, at least Ning Rongrong could ascend with him. He didn't have to go through the heartbreaking pain of being separated from his loved one like Ma Hongjun.
Ma Hongjun originally had the chance to inherit the Fire God's position, a Tier-1 God. However, due to his own laziness, he failed to do so and had to settle for the Phoenix God's position, a Tier-2 God. This one-tier difference brought about a world of difference. Ma Hongjun was not qualified to bring people with him to the Divine Realm. Not only could Flander, who had raised him, not accompany him, but his beloved Bai Chenxiang was also left behind on the Douluo Continent to face a lonely old age.
While Oscar and the others couldn't fully empathize with this pain, they could imagine the torment in Ma Hongjun's heart. So, ever since he ascended to the Divine Realm, Ma Hongjun had been hiding in the lava lake of the Phoenix Valley, practicing frantically, trying to numb himself and escape the pain. But occasionally, he would, like now, involuntarily fall into his own world, trapped in past memories and unable to break free.
In the Divine Realm, there were many excellent goddesses. With Ma Hongjun's conditions, and with his many siblings, especially a God King brother, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find a goddess to be with if he wanted to. However, ever since he ascended to the Divine Realm, Ma Hongjun had confined himself to the lava lake and had not left it. In the Divine Realm, apart from his old friends, he had almost no social life.
"Let's go. Fatty in this state probably won't pay attention to us." The Food God, Oscar, shook his head helplessly. They had originally wanted to invite Ma Hongjun out to get together and reminisce, but it seemed they had made a wasted trip.
A hint of sadness flashed in Ning Rongrong's eyes. She, too, had experienced the pain of separation. Her father and two grandfathers had all passed away. Seeing Ma Hongjun's current state, she couldn't help but think of her past self. But she was luckier than Ma Hongjun. At least she had people to accompany her, while Ma Hongjun was always alone, struggling in his pain.
Oscar and Ning Rongrong turned to leave. They didn't notice a red gem quietly falling into the lava lake. Ma Hongjun, who was immersed in his memories, also didn't notice this anomaly. At this moment, because he was deeply trapped in his painful past, his perception of the outside world was completely sealed off. He didn't even notice Ning Rongrong and Oscar's arrival and departure.
For this reason, he didn't notice that the purple Honkai energy was gradually melting into the lava lake, perfectly fusing with the fire-elemental spiritual energy in the lake. It then quietly entered his body through his breathing and was instinctively absorbed and refined by him.
After an unknown amount of time, Ma Hongjun finally recovered from the waves of his longing. His thoughts began to drift uncontrollably.
"I wish Third Brother had brought Chenxiang with him to the Divine Realm. He inherited the position of God King and clearly had the authority to do so!"
As soon as this thought flashed in his mind, Ma Hongjun was startled. He quickly shook his head forcefully, trying to shake the thought out. Because he knew that the reason he couldn't bring Bai Chenxiang was his own lack of strength, not Tang San's fault. As an Enforcer God, Tang San had already violated some rules of the Divine Realm by helping the Shrek Seven Devils ascend to godhood. The God of Destruction was resentful of Tang San because of this and had constantly targeted him, which showed that Tang San also had his own difficulties. After all, Tang San couldn't even bring his own teacher, Yu Xiaogang, to the Divine Realm, so how could he demand that he bring Bai Chenxiang?
Although Ma Hongjun was rational and believed that everything was his own fault, the thought that had just popped up was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples in his heart.
At this moment, the Plague Gem that had fallen into the lava lake had completely transformed into purple Honkai energy, mixed with the spiritual energy, and was continuously absorbed by Ma Hongjun.
Using her special ability of "Universal Mirror" to observe parallel worlds, the Herta watched the entire process of the Plague Gem fusing with Ma Hongjun's body. A satisfied smile gradually appeared on her face.
As the Phoenix God, Ma Hongjun was a fire-attributed deity, which was a perfect match for the Plague Gem's attributes. Furthermore, there was a huge flaw in his heart. It wouldn't be long before a Herrscher personality would be born.
In this way, a powerful Herrscher of Fire was about to be born in the Divine Realm. Although Ma Hongjun was currently only a Tier-2 God, he had been practicing frantically in the lava lake all these years. Although his god rank hadn't improved, his strength had already reached the level of a Tier-1 God. Once Ma Hongjun, with his Tier-1 God-level strength, became a Herrscher and gained the authority to control molecular motion, he would very likely break through the seemingly insurmountable chasm and possess the terrifying strength of a God King.
Moreover, Herrscher transformation was usually accompanied by the birth of a Herrscher weapon. At that time, Ma Hongjun's strength would undoubtedly leap to the pinnacle of the Divine Realm.
And this was the "great gift" that Lu Jingming had meticulously prepared for Tang San.
Lu Jingming would naturally not be so foolish as to fund his enemy. But would a transformed Ma Hongjun still be able to maintain his original self? The answer was clearly no. So, a transformed Ma Hongjun in the Divine Realm would inevitably clash violently with the Divine Realm.
Even if he were eventually suppressed by the Divine Realm, Lu Jingming's goal would have been achieved. One day in the Divine Realm was a year in the lower realm, and suppressing a God King-level powerhouse was by no means an easy task. Although the Divine Realm had five God Kings, the Sea God Tang San, the God of Evil Ji Dong, and the Goddess of Goodness Lie Yan were all newly ascended God Kings. In terms of strength and foundation, they were still slightly inferior to the veteran God of Destruction and Goddess of Life.
And because of Ma Hongjun's identity, it was likely that the Sea God Tang San and his good friends, the God of Evil Ji Dong and the Goddess of Goodness Lie Yan, would be the ones to take action. The God of Destruction would most likely watch from the sidelines, and the Goddess of Life would be even less likely to intervene.
By the time the Divine Realm successfully suppressed the Herrscher of Fire, Lu Jingming's plans in the lower realm would have likely been completed, and the general situation would have been decided. At that time, Tang San would have very little time left to react.
Furthermore, the Herta would shield the Divine Realm's observation of the Douluo Continent. For a period of time, the Divine Realm's monitoring of the Douluo Continent would have a long blank period.
This "show" in the Divine Realm was quietly brewing, and Lu Jingming was not in a hurry to plant the second World Tree. Before that, he thought it was necessary to improve the overall strength of the two Douluo Continents. After all, some of the filthy powers were too strong now, such as the filthy spot that was based on his Sea Abyss City. He might be able to come up with a solution to one or two of these filthy spots, or ask Jingliu to clean them up.
But he was very clear that the more powerhouses there were on the Douluo Continent, the better it was for him. After all, the stronger the life forms on the planet, the faster the planet would evolve, which would undoubtedly help him condense his godhood faster.
Based on this, he was preparing to hold a grand competition centered around the Simulated Universe. As for the specific plans for the competition, he already had a clear idea.
Using the competition prizes to indirectly improve the strength of some powerhouses on the Douluo Continent and have them work for him—that was Lu Jingming's goal. A 100,000-year soul bone, a 100,000-year stigma, or even an increase in soul ring age, all of these could create a powerhouse. For example, if the Sword Douluo obtained a 100,000-year soul bone or a 100,000-year stigma, his strength would undergo a world-shaking change, and he could help Lu Jingming clean up more filthy spots. After all, his own strengthening could also accelerate the evolution of the planet. It was a win-win situation, and Lu Jingming felt that this was a profitable deal.
For the current Sea Abyss City, 100,000-year soul bones and 100,000-year stigmata were all renewable resources. Taking some out was nothing. And holding a competition could also pass some of the boring time he had ahead.
The Simulated Universe created an extremely realistic virtual world. Its charm not only attracted Soul Masters to fight in it, to practice and develop their own soul skills, but also attracted many nobles and merchants who were not Soul Masters. In this virtual world, they could enjoy all kinds of high-end delicacies that were hard to taste in the real world and admire the beautiful and dreamlike scenery.
Moreover, the Simulated Universe had become a stage for comparison. All kinds of high-end fashion and dazzling titles made the gatherings of the nobles and merchants in the Simulated Universe feel like a grand display of wealth. Not only that, the Simulated Universe had also successively launched many entertainment functions. These unprecedented forms of entertainment were a breath of fresh air for the people of the Douluo Continent, and they even included virtual games. Many wealthy and idle merchants and nobles became addicted to these virtual games. After all, in real life, even if they had a lot of money, they still had to humble themselves in front of people with higher titles and dared not easily show off their wealth in front of Soul Masters. They had to be cautious and not be too conspicuous.
But in the world of virtual games, the situation was completely different. In the Simulated Universe, they could buy a virtual identity with money and not have to worry about offending others in the game. Even a powerful Soul Master might not be their match if they hadn't spent money in the game. This gave these people, who were not Soul Masters in reality, a true sense of pride.
In this situation, the Simulated Universe brought in a very considerable amount of money for Sea Abyss City. Lu Jingming introduced almost all kinds of games from his previous life into it. For the people of the Douluo Continent, who had a relative lack of entertainment, it was hard to resist this temptation, and they willingly spent money.
It could be said that Lu Jingming's move was a good deed in a way. Since the Simulated Universe had so many entertainment options, those bored nobles no longer took pleasure in bullying commoners, and the atmosphere on the Douluo Continent seemed to have quietly changed because of it. After all, the nobles had previously bullied commoners mostly because they were idle and wanted to have some fun. Now that they had more fun entertainment options, they naturally didn't need to risk getting into trouble with a righteous Soul Master by bullying ordinary commoners.
In this way, the work of the Shrek Supervisory Team became much easier. In the past, they often traveled all over the continent to find nobles who oppressed commoners. Now, they only needed to focus on evil Soul Masters. The number of cases of noble wrongdoing had clearly decreased.
According to Lu Jingming, many bad behaviors are often caused by people being too idle. As long as these people are given something to do, who would have the time to do something as disgraceful as bullying the weak? Of course, there were some perverts who took pleasure in bullying the weak, but they were the minority. When other nobles were also reining in their behavior, these degenerates would be more easily exposed, making it easier for those with good intentions to deal with them.
At this moment, Xiao Xiao and Ma Xiaotao of Shrek Academy were playing a fighting game called "The King of Fighters." Xiao Xiao was controlling Athena Asamiya, while Ma Xiaotao was controlling Mai Shiranui. Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming, and others were watching with great interest. Soon, with her own strength and faster neural reaction speed, Ma Xiaotao used a series of combos to successfully defeat Xiao Xiao's Athena Asamiya, ending the wonderful game match.
"Oh yeah!" Ma Xiaotao excitedly clenched her fist. She felt even happier winning in the game than winning a Soul Fighting match in reality. She finally understood why the students at the academy, both from the inner and outer courts, would always agree to enter the Simulated Universe to play games after their training. If her good friend Wu Ming hadn't introduced her to it, she would probably still be burying her head in training and would never have discovered how fun the Simulated Universe was.
Xiao Xiao was a little depressed. She loved games and was quite skilled at them. In the outer court, her friends rarely beat her in games. However, against her seniors this time, she kept losing and hadn't won a single match. Even Han Ruoruo, who was new to the game, also beat Xiao Xiao with her powerful physical quality and neural reaction speed at the Soul Douluo level.
Feeling a little down after losing the game, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but miss Wang Dong, who had left Shrek Academy and returned to the Clear Sky Sect to look for Huo Yuhao. Ever since Huo Yuhao was abandoned by the academy and taken away by the Snow Empress, Wang Dong had angrily left Shrek Academy. Jiang Nannan also rarely stayed at the academy and was often at the Jade Terrace. Xu Sanshi had a girlfriend to accompany, Beibei left the academy to look for Tang Ya, who had also left, and He Caitou returned to the Soul Tool Department to continue participating in the so-called "Extreme Individual Plan."
It could be said that the Shrek Seven Devils provisional team was now an empty name. Among the previous official members, Ling Luochen and Dai Yueheng had graduated, and the physically disabled Chen Zifeng and Gongyang Mo had also left Shrek Academy in disappointment. Now, only Ma Xiaotao and Xixi were left at Shrek Academy.
Although Xiao Xiao had become the disciple of the current Sea God Pavilion Master Xuanzi, and her twin martial spirits talent was highly valued by the academy, she still often missed Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and the others. Although Xiao Xiao was deeply disappointed with what Shrek Academy had done, she was different from Wang Dong.
Wang Dong had the powerful Clear Sky Sect as his background, but if she left Shrek Academy, her parents would not agree. After all, at the academy, she was the disciple of the Sea God Pavilion Master and enjoyed special cultivation resources. Once she left the academy, she would just be an ordinary Soul King with twin martial spirits.
Moreover, Shrek Academy was also doing its best to cultivate her. After all, the academy was in a difficult situation and desperately hoped that the new generation of students could grow up quickly. Without Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao also integrated into a new group. Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and others, as well as her inner court senior Ma Xiaotao, all got along very well with her.
Although Wang Dong had left Shrek Academy, Xiao Xiao could still occasionally meet Wang Dong through the Simulated Universe. However, Wang Dong was always in a bad mood. It was clear that he still hadn't found Huo Yuhao, and the result was the same even after using the resources of the Clear Sky Sect. Xiao Xiao was also worried about Huo Yuhao's safety, but she was powerless. After all, she was just a Soul King and didn't have any effective methods.
At this moment, Xiao Xiao, who was sitting on the side with her chin propped up, watching Ma Xiaotao and Wu Ming's match, suddenly noticed a red dot light up in the upper right corner of her vision. That was the location of the mailbox. It was usually invisible and would only give a notification when it received mail. Xiao Xiao was curious and wondered who would send her an email.
However, when she clicked on the email, her pupils shrank, because it was an official announcement from the Simulated Universe. "Sister Xiaotao, check your mail!" Xiao Xiao immediately shouted in surprise.
"Huh? Battle Royale Tournament? What's that?" Ma Xiaotao, Han Ruoruo, and the others heard her shout and immediately put down their games. They clicked on their mailboxes with confusion and also saw the official announcement.
"To all esteemed Simulated Universe users, the Simulated Universe will be holding a Battle Royale Tournament on June 10th. The rules, qualifications, and rewards are as follows…!"
"June 10th? Isn't that next month? What's going on? 100,000-year soul bone! What is that guy doing? Is he crazy?" Ma Xiaotao's expression was one of shock after reading the email.
Regardless of what kind of competition this Battle Royale Tournament was, the rewards alone were enough to deeply shock her. The champion's reward was a 100,000-year soul bone and a 100,000-year stigma. The top three places also had generous rewards of 10,000-year soul bones and stigmata, or Tier-8 and Tier-9 soul tools. It could be said that even Shrek Academy would be pained to offer such rewards.
However, this was just the reward for a virtual competition held by the Simulated Universe. Such exaggerated rewards were enough to make the entire Soul Master world on the continent go wild. Even Titled Douluos would probably be tempted.
Ma Xiaotao knew very well that the official management of the Simulated Universe was backed by Sea Abyss City, and the owner of the Simulated Universe was Lu Jingming. That's why she found Lu Jingming's move so unbelievable.
"The qualification requires participants to be under twenty years old and in a team of seven. The maximum number of teams is one hundred. Xiaotao, we must notify the academy immediately and have them form a few teams to sign up for the competition." Han Ruoruo said decisively after reading the email.
No matter what Lu Jingming's purpose was for holding this competition, Shrek Academy absolutely could not miss this opportunity. The rewards were simply too tempting.
"With the age and team number restrictions, I think the champion's reward is probably just for show. Who could possibly beat the team from St. Freya Academy?" Wu Ming crossed her arms and curled her lips in disdain. With the age limit of under twenty, she, Han Ruoruo, and Ma Xiaotao couldn't participate.
And for a team of seven under twenty, she couldn't imagine any team that could pose a threat to those seven super-strong monsters from St. Freya Academy. So she felt that the eye-watering champion's reward for the Simulated Universe Battle Royale Tournament was probably just a gimmick to attract attention, and in the end, it would most likely fall into the hands of St. Freya Academy.
"Even if we don't get the champion, the rewards for second and third place are also valuable. We have no reason to give up." Han Ruoruo had a different opinion.
After all, in addition to the champion's reward, the prizes for second and third place were also precious, and their value was no less than the champion's reward of previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competitions. So she believed that Sea Abyss City was very sincere in holding this competition, and this Battle Royale Tournament also sounded very interesting.
She thought that besides Shrek Academy, the other major Soul Master academies and even the major sects would actively participate. After all, this Battle Royale Tournament didn't limit participation to only Soul Master academies. This meant that the intensity of this competition would far exceed that of previous Soul Master competitions. After all, the strength of the major sects was not weaker than that of the Soul Master academies, and in some aspects, it was even stronger.