"There's no rush to attack the Demon Plane. You've just finished a battle. Rest up first and digest your gains while you're at it."
Huo Yuhao said to the group, primarily addressing Gu Yuena and the Yuanen family.
Now that the Undead Plane had begun its ascension, it already possessed vital energy—breakthroughs and recovery were both possible.
Gu Yuena had absorbed a considerable amount of life energy and could take this opportunity to break through.
As for the Yuanen family, they had all expended significant energy in their rage-fueled demon slaughter.
Among them, Yuanen Yehui was in the roughest shape.
After all, she was the weakest. In a battlefield like this, she had no ability to protect herself. Fortunately, Yuanen Zhentian and the others looked out for her, and she was clever enough to position powerful undead between herself and danger when it arose. Otherwise, she might already be dead.
Still, witnessing a battlefield like this would certainly benefit her future growth.
Hearing Huo Yuhao's suggestion, Gu Yuena began cultivating right beside him. The Yuanen family, meanwhile, bowed solemnly to Huo Yuhao.
"Thank you, Lord, for helping Ye Hui resolve her martial soul issue and giving us a chance for revenge. When the time comes to attack the Demon Plane, we are willing to serve as the vanguard."
Huo Yuhao waved his hand. "It's a transaction. Ye Hui plays an important role in my plans. We each get what we need—no need for thanks."
He paused, glanced at Yuanen Yehui, then looked at Alba.
"Alba, can you elevate Yuanen Yehui's bloodline to the Royal Purple-Gold Bloodline?"
"I have enough power left. It can be done."
Alba never imagined that his first task after submitting to Huo Yuhao would be serving as a tool to elevate someone else's bloodline and trigger a secondary martial soul awakening.
But since it was Huo Yuhao's order, he naturally didn't dare object.
Upon hearing this, Yuanen Yehui instinctively wanted to refuse.
She had just witnessed the benefits of bloodline baptism. Setting aside the risk of being controlled by a Demon Lord, it was a huge boost to one's martial soul and strength. And since Alba was now under Huo Yuhao's command, he clearly wouldn't control her—the only drawback was eliminated. How could she accept such a gift for nothing?
"No need, I—"
"We're friends too. No need to be so polite."
Huo Yuhao cut her off, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather. "You want to become stronger too, don't you? This is Alba's ability. You have the chance to gain this enhancement—don't let it go to waste."
Friends, huh?
Yuanen Yehui inexplicitly remembered her first encounter with Huo Yuhao, and how Nanaly had disguised herself as her, only for both of them to be captured by an evil soul master alongside Huo Yuhao. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Thinking back now, that evil soul master had been incredibly unlucky—capturing Huo Yuhao, Gu Yuena, and Nanaly all at once. Just thinking about it was amusing.
"Thank you."
This time, Yuanen Yehui didn't refuse. With the thought of repaying the favor in the future, she accepted the offer and went aside to undergo the bloodline baptism.
Watching them, Huo Yuhao said to Snow Empress, "After we return, have Ye Weiyang come over too, for a secondary martial soul awakening."
Earlier, he'd been so focused on scheming against the Holy Spirit Cult and attacking the Demon Plane that he'd forgotten the Demon Lords were top-tier tools for triggering secondary awakenings of the Fallen Angel martial soul.
With such talent available, it was only right to make full use of it.
Snow Empress nodded with a smile.
From now on, Fallen Angel martial soul wielders associated with the Spirit Transmission Tower would be fortunate indeed.
After Alba completed the bloodline baptism, Huo Yuhao said, "As a Demon Lord, you're certainly familiar with the Demon Plane. First, tell me about the situation there, especially how you manage to plant seeds in other planes. Tell me everything in detail."
Being only a quasi-divine yet able to pinpoint the Douluo Continent across space and plant Fallen Angel martial infinite soul seeds there—Huo Yuhao was quite interested in how these Demon Lords accomplished it.
Ordinary quasi-divines didn't have that ability.
Hearing this, Alba's expression soured.
His first task after submission was being a bloodline enhancement tool. His second was being a planetary traitor, providing intelligence and acting as a guide. Having submitted only recently, Alba could already clearly feel that his days as a sovereign were behind him.
But the thought of returning to the Demon Plane and taking revenge on that old fox Wu Liao overpowered the last shred of his pride.
He took a deep breath and spoke honestly. "Master, the Demon Plane has five Demon Lords in total. Wu Liao is one of them. As for my territory..."
He began laying out all his cards. He detailed the territorial distribution and military sterngth of each Demon Lord, even dishing on which Lord had recently clashed with whom, who was in seclusion, and who was expanding.
Finally, after some hesitation, he spoke up. "As for planting seeds... that's an ability only Demon Lords possess—or rather, an ability granted by the plane itself. The reason we Demon Lords hold supreme status in the Demon Plane is partly due to our strength, but also partly due to the plane's support."
A glint of sharpness flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes.
The plane's support? The Demon Plane's Plane Lord?
Listening carefully to Alba's explanation, Huo Yuhao gradually understood the principle behind the Demon Lords' ability to plant Fallen Angel martial soul seeds.
First, it was important to clarify that the Demon Plane wasn't a particularly powerful plane—only a mid-level plane, about one-tenth the size of the Douluo Continent, which was a high-level plane. Moreover, the Demon Plane's Plane Lord, like the Douluo Continent's Plane Lord in the past, lacked consciousness and wasn't as powerful.
To use an analogy: the Douluo Continent's Plane Lord was a second-class deity in the mortal world, while the Demon Plane's Plane Lord was a third-class deity.
This allowed quasi-divine Demon Lords to faintly touch upon the plane's consciousness. Though this wasn't enough for a Demon Lord to become the Plane Lord or Life Core, through one Demon Lord's exploration, they discovered they could leverage the Plane Lord's instinct to grow, gaining the plane's assistance to launch invasive seeds toward other planes.
After the first Demon Lord successfully borrowed the plane's power to send seeds out and plunder life energy from other planes, the Demon Plane realized this benefited its own ascension and became increasingly cooperative, even offering proactive assistance.
When the other Demon Lords learned of this, they followed suit, copying the method to pursue higher realms.
"This is how Demon Lords can plant seeds in other planes and launch invasions."
Alba said in a low voice. "Without the Demon Plane's support, we couldn't do what only deities should be able to do. The Demon Plane needs life energy, and we need it too—it's a win-win."
Having said that, he paused, stole a glance at Huo Yuhao, and added another line.
"And as the plundered life energy increases, we've become beings akin to Sons of Destiny within the Demon Plane, blessed with fortune's protection."
His intention in saying this was to remind Huo Yuhao that hunting Demon Lords in the Demon Plane would be very troublesome, preparing them mentally.
After all, the Demon Lords had fought among themselves over the years, but they'd discovered that the Demon Plane always helped the weaker side. With nothing left to fight over, they'd turned their attention outward.
If external invaders attacked the Demon Lords, things would certainly go poorly.
But thinking that deities were present, Alba felt he was worrying unnecessarily, so he only mentioned it briefly.
Huo Yuhao initially frowned upon hearing that Demon Lords had fortune's protection, but then decided it wasn't a problem.
Though five Sons of Destiny in one plane sounded absurd, upon reflection it made sense.
After all, these Demon Lords had brought benefits to the Demon Plane, hadn't they?
Though they harmed other planes and occasionally kicked iron plates like this one, leading to their own demise, the life energy they plundered was certainly beneficial to the Demon Plane. From the perspective of a plane unaware of the larger stakes, such beings naturally deserved to be Sons of Destiny.
Even Huo Yuhao himself, regarding the Douluo Plane, could only say he'd "defended the territory." He hadn't yet "expanded the borders," which made him feel somewhat guilty.
A ruler's achievements could be measured by whether the territory had expanded during their reign—that was the most intuitive indicator of merit.
Holding onto what was already there ultimately couldn't compare to making the pie bigger.
He'd defended the Douluo Plane but hadn't made it larger, richer, or stronger. Compared to these Demon Lords, he, as a Son of Destiny, seemed inadequate.
Unfortunately, the Demon Plane involved many complexities—clearly, the Douluo Plane couldn't be alerted. The Douluo Plane wouldn't benefit from this; they'd have to wait until conquering the Abyss.
Thinking this, Huo Yuhao looked at Alba and nodded in satisfaction. "Good. The intelligence you've provided is very useful. Prepare yourself and open the Demon Gate. Once I occupy the Demon Plane, you may become the Lord ruling there in my stead."
Alba: "..."
Why did that sound so familiar?
That was his own line from before!
The roles had reversed in just a few moments.
Alba felt a surge of melancholy, but could only steel himself and bow. "Your servant obeys. However, Master, maintaining the planar passage and performing the bloodline baptism have already consumed much of my reserves. I had planned to absorb sufficient life energy on the other side before opening the return passage."
"Now that I've gained nothing, I can't open the passage on my own—I'll need your power. But if the Demon Plane senses the power of someone from another plane, it will certainly resist."
What he really meant was: could he be allowed to absorb some life energy?
Catching the implication, Huo Yuhao said flatly, "No matter. If it resists, we'll break through it."
Alba shuddered. "Yes!"
Demon Plane.
The sky here was eternally dark red, like solidified blood. Dark elements were so dense they nearly condensed into a solid state, flowing slowly through the air. This was the demons' home turf—here, their combat power doubled, as if they were fish in water.
The land could hardly be called barren, just unsuitable for human survival. Dark purple moss covered the rocks, and occasionally a few low-level plants that could absorb dark elements poked through the cracks.
Alba's fortress sat atop an extinct volcano in the southeast of the plane. The black stone buildings were rough and towering, the city walls embedded with plundered trophies—weapons, armor, and banners from other planes, gleaming coldly under the dark red sky.
At this moment, in the square before the fortress, a massive three-headed dog watched the empty space where the Demon Gate had not reopened. Glancing at the demons around who, with Alba not returning, looked as though they'd lost their parents, a hint of gravity and relief flickered in his eyes.
He was Demon Lord Wu Liao, of the three-headed hellhound clan.
He was here because the seeds in Ye Hui and her daughter came from him. After passing the opportunity to Alba, he'd come to the other's territory to assist in opening the Demon Passage to the Douluo Continent.
The failed attack last time had taught him that the Douluo Continent wasn't an easy nut to crack. Giving the opportunity to Alba was a way to use him to probe the other side's true strength.
If Alba returned with great gains, and the Douluo Continent's enemies weren't as strong as feared, he'd join forces with the other Demon Lords to exploit it. If Alba died on the other side, that was that—they'd cut all ties and abandon any fantasies.
Now that Alba had gone to the Douluo Continent with no news and the Demon Gate had been closed, he'd clearly met with misfortune.
This made Wu Liao very glad.
Thankfully, he'd been clever and cautious. Otherwise, the one with no news now wouldn't have been Alba—it would have been him.
Wu Liao withdrew his gaze and looked at Alba's territory, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Alba might have died in another world. This fine territory, with no one to manage and guard it, would only become a fat sheep for other demons to fight over.
He, being a kind-hearted demon, would take over for Alba.
"Lord Alba was a hero who fought for the Demon Plane. With his fate unknown, to prevent this place from falling into other demon hands, a powerful demon is needed to manage it on his behalf."
Wu Liao led his subordinates into the sky, their momentum formidable. Looking down at Alba's forces and fortress, the middle head opened its mouth, its voice echoing under the dark red sky: "From today on, his territory will be temporarily taken over by me, and his people will be under my protection. Any objections?"
Wu Liao's subordinates shouted in unison: "The Lord is wise! The Lord is merciful!"
The voices echoed, shaking the fortress's stone walls.
Below, silence fell. The quasi-divine pressure silently enveloped the many demons, rendering them speechless.
Though Alba hadn't taken his entire army, he'd certainly taken the most elite. Among the remaining demons, there were few strong ones left to resist Wu Liao and his forces.
The demons are loyal to Alba understood this and could only stare at Wu Liao with bitter hearts.
At this point, how could they not see that Wu Liao had set up Alba? All that talk of great opportunities was lies—that Douluo plane was a trap. But what could they do about it?
Alba, who had entered the other world, was as good as dead in the demons' eyes.
Without Alba and his nine great demons, they weren't even worthy of grooming this "dog" Wu Liao.
Wu Liao looked down at the scene with satisfaction. He was about to speak when the sky suddenly darkened.
It wasn't clouds covering the moon. Something had covered the sky.
He looked up sharply, his pupils contracting. A massive gateway had burst open above Alba's fortress.
It was the Demon Gate!
"What the—" Wu Liao felt his mind go blank.
He'd waited so long. No news from Alba. The Demon Gate closed. He'd started taking over the territory. And now the gate opened?
This was clearly targeting him!
He instinctively stepped back half a step, all three heads turning toward the slowly expanding gate. His pupils contracted again. That wasn't the Demon Gate. At least, not the kind he knew.
The frame was purple-black—the power of the Demon Plane. But the light blooming from within was gray-white, carrying a bone-chilling deathly aura that didn't belong to the Demon Plane. The two forces clashed at the frame—purple-black shrinking desperately, gray-white expanding wildly, like two beasts tearing at each other.
The Demon Plane was resisting.
Wu Liao could feel the entire plane rejecting that gate. Dark elements surged toward it, trying to seal it shut.
But it couldn't hold.
The gray-white light grew stronger. The purple-black frame began to crack. An invisible force surged from behind the gate—cold, domineering, carrying an irresistible will—crushing the Demon Plane's resistance inch by inch.
Wu Liao's expression changed. This wasn't Alba returning. Something else was coming through!
"Close it!"
He poured all his power into closing the gate and roared, "Help me close it, now!"
His subordinates were momentarily stunned, then moved to help. But it was already too late.
BOOM!
The gate exploded.
The purple-black frame shattered completely. Gray-white light poured out like a tide, tearing a massive rift in the dark red sky. The Demon Plane let out a silent wail, mourning its failed resistance.
Three figures stepped through the gate, standing in midair.
The young man at the front wore billowing robes, a gray-gold pagoda hovering above his head, its nine-colored light cutting through the dark elements like swords. Flanking him, two women stood left and right—one clear and cold as snow, the other indifferent as water. The law power surrounding them made the entire sky tremble.
An overwhelming pressure descended like a mountain, making Wu Liao feel as if he were sitting on pins and needles. He stared in disbelief.
What kind of beings were these?
Could they be... legendary deities?!
***
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