Huo Yuhao wasn't sure if this guess was correct, but it was certainly possible that the Holy Spirit Cult had arrived shortly after Tang Wulin was placed in the Blood God Legion.
With that thought, Huo Yuhao took out his soul tool communicator and contacted the Blood God Legion, hoping to verify his speculation by learning about the recent situation there.
The call connected quickly, and Zhang Huanyun's steady, powerful voice came through: "Lord Huo Yuhao, what are your instructions?"
"You're too kind, Commander." Huo Yuhao got straight to the point. "How is Wu Lin doing over there? Has there been any abnormality at the Abyss Passage recently?"
Zhang Huanyun was silent for two seconds before speaking with some embarrassment: "Tang Wulin is doing well here. He just has to go train at the Abyss Passage every day and deal with many Abyss creatures. Of course, the Legion has given him generous treatment and protection."
He then explained their arrangements for Tang Wulin, leaving Huo Yuhao momentarily speechless.
So he'd become a tool.
To be fair, he'd considered this possibility.
After all, the Blood God Legion's reaction in the original story after learning Tang Wulin could handle the Abyss was what was actually strange.
A normal organization, upon discovering someone who could solve a major threat like the Abyss Plane, would at least protect them, help them grow quickly, and let them contribute fully to eliminating Abyss creatures.
But in the original, the Blood God Legion's attitude toward Tang Wulin—to put it nicely, it was training; to put it bluntly, it was neglect—as if they were completely unaware of the Golden Dragon Spear's strategic value.
Only before the final battle with the Abyss Plane did someone propose that several Limit Douluo should constantly guard Tang Wulin to protect him and let him kill as many Abyss creatures as possible. By then, Tang Wulin himself was already at the Limit level.
And before that? There was no real protection for Tang Wulin.
Weren't they worried that if something happened to him, no one could use the Golden Dragon Spear and the Abyss would be unstoppable?
What kind of operation was that?
Huo Yuhao shook his head at the thought. In comparison, the Blood God Legion in this world, though treating Tang Wulin as a "tool," at least provided protection and resources—in his view, that was the more normal development.
He imagined Wu Lin was enjoying it too. After all, getting to eat Abyss energy to his fill every day was greatly beneficial for cultivation.
After answering the first question, Zhang Huanyun continued, "As for the Abyss side—there's been some unusual activity recently."
"Unusual?" Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow.
"The number of Abyss creatures appearing in the Abyss Passage has dropped significantly, as if they're pulling back their forces." Zhang Huanyun's tone was low. "It seems the Abyss is trying to avoid confrontation. Of course, it's also possible they're regrouping for an attack. I've already ordered the Blood God Legion to reinforce its defenses."
It seemed highly likely that the Demon Emperor was indeed coming for the Abyss Passage.
Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes. "I've also received intelligence that the Holy Spirit Cult is making a move, sending people toward the Douluo Continent. Please be on high alert, Commander."
Zhang Huanyun's mind stirred, quickly grasping the implications. His tone grew solemn. "Understood. Thank you for the warning, Lord."
After finishing, Huo Yuhao ended the call.
The Demon Emperor's most likely target was the Abyss Passage, so he should set some traps.
Of course, he wouldn't ignore other possibilities either.
With ample combat power on their side, they could guard against everything.
Having so many experts at my disposal was liberating.
With that thought, Huo Yuhao began arranging personnel, finally setting his sights on the War Temple.
Speaking of the Demon Emperor, it was time to speak with the War Heaven Douluo—the Heaven Favored Douluo's disciple.
Blood God Legion.
Tang Wulin was somewhat helplessly suppressing his cultivation, leaving Xie Xie speechless.
"Why not just break through to Soul Sage? Why hold back?"
Recently, Tang Wulin's cultivation had skyrocketed like a soul tool rocket—from early Spirit Emperor to near Spirit Sage—so fast Xie Xie couldn't keep up, fulfilling his earlier prediction.
But then Tang Wulin's subsequent actions confused him.
He could already break through to Soul Sage, yet he started suppressing his cultivation.
"My recent improvement has been too fast. I need to consolidate my foundation. Besides, I think the seventh ring is the perfect time to contract the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Soul." Tang Wulin gave his reason.
For the Blue Silver Grass martial soul's true body ring, having it provided by the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Soul was the best choice in his eyes—it should give him significant benefits.
Besides, the Abyss Passage situation was abnormal lately. If the Abyss was planning to act, the timing wouldn't be far off.
If a Limit-level Abyss Emperor really made a move, then the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Soul was guaranteed—no rush on the breakthrough.
Xie Xie understood his reasoning and agreed that contracting the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Soul at the seventh ring was a good idea, but he couldn't help teasing Tang Wulin's "cultivation is too fast, need to consolidate" remark. "You devour energy and find it too fast. I cultivate miserably and find it too slow. Want to trade? I definitely wouldn't find it too fast."
Tang Wulin: "..."
He wasn't that ungrateful either.
He smiled helplessly. "You don't need to be so envious, Xie Xie. Devouring isn't the true path. As fast as this method appears, it has many hidden dangers. No matter how pure the energy the Golden Dragon Spear devours, it wasn't cultivated step by step by me."
"You're the last person who should say that." Xie Xie rolled his eyes. "And how is devouring not the true path? The spirit rings we obtain, the heavenly treasures we consume—strictly speaking, those are also devouring other beings' power. Where's the hidden danger?"
As he spoke, he stopped, frowning.
"The soul master system on the Douluo Continent seems inherently about devouring. Actually, even other cultivation systems can't escape it."
Tang Wulin was also startled. His smile faded, his expression turning serious as he pondered.
Hunting spirit beasts, obtaining spirit rings, absorbing spirit bones, consuming heavenly treasures—weren't those all taking other beings' power for oneself?
The soul master cultivation process was indeed a form of devouring. It was just that over millennia, this system had become so ingrained that it was taken for granted, and no one questioned its essence.
Oh no—was devouring truly the great path? Had Xie Xie discovered the world's truth?
"I feel like I've had an epiphany."
Xie Xie murmured. "Devouring truly is the great path."
Tang Wulin: "..."
Your reasoning is so sound, I have no retort.
After a moment, Xie Xie's eyes lit up as he looked at Tang Wulin.
"Wu Lin, lend me the Golden Dragon Spear for two days!"
"You can't use it."
"That hurts."
Xie Xie's expression froze as he sighed.
"The great path is right before me. I've glimpsed the door, yet I'm barred by conditions from entering. How tragic."
Tang Wulin: "...6."
"What are you two talking about?" Xu Xiaoyan poked her head through the door, her gaze bouncing between them.
She thought she'd heard something strange.
"Nothing. Xie Xie thinks he's uncovered the world's truth."
Tang Wulin said flatly, then looked at the entering Xu Xiaoyan, who pulled several military soul tool weapons from her storage device.
"Xiao Yan, what's this?"
"Equipment issued from above. They said the Abyss is pulling back forces, something might be up. From now on, we don't need to go into the Abyss Passage to kill creatures. Stay on standby and prepare to defend against an Abyss tide."
Hearing this, Xie Xie dropped his antics. He and Tang Wulin exchanged a look, both guessing what this meant.
"It seems your actions these past days really had an effect—even the Legion thinks the Abyss might be about to act."
Tang Wulin took a deep breath, his expression grave.
"Don't be careless. We'll likely face an Abyss tide beyond level three intensity. There could be hundreds of thousands of Abyss creatures, and with their characteristics, it's a disaster worse than historical beast tides."
Though they'd been active in the Abyss Passage, they'd never truly encountered that overwhelming tidal wave of military forces. Even when Abyss creatures developed killing intent toward him, they couldn't organize large-scale encirclements because they didn't know his exact location.
After all, with hundreds of small passages and thirty-six large passages, the routes were complex even for Abyss creatures.
But Tang Wulin never forgot this was a battlefield, not a one-on-one arena.
The Abyss tide's most terrifying aspect wasn't necessarily the Abyss experts, but the undying Abyss creatures themselves.
Abyss experts took time to revive after death, but ordinary Abyss creatures didn't need much.
Hundreds of thousands of fearless suicide troops were terrifying enough.
If those suicide troops could also keep reviving—that image sent a chill down Tang Wulin's spine.
Not everyone had the Golden Dragon Spear. On a real battlefield, no one had the luxury to capture Abyss creatures for him. Other soul masters and soul tools would kill Abyss creatures that might crawl back out of the passage to attack again before long.
When the Blood God Legion was first established, the main Abyss passage had already been sealed, and Super Douluo-level Abyss creatures couldn't get through—so why had the Legion still suffered 70% casualties?
Precisely because of the Abyss creatures' undying nature, every battle turned into a one-sided war of attrition.
People grew weary. Their spiritual energy ran out. Weapons and ammunition were depleted. But the Abyss creatures were not. When tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of Abyss creatures continuously poured out of the passage, thanks to their resurrection ability, even a Title Douluo could be overwhelmed.
This was a disaster worse than the beast tides from spirit beasts in Douluo's history.
Tang Wulin wouldn't underestimate such enemies.
Xu Xiaoyan also understood the gravity and nodded solemnly.
Xie Xie clicked his tongue. "This Abyss is like the 'fourth calamity' from stories. It's only because we have you, Wu Lin, and the Boss and the others. Otherwise, I don't know how we could ever win."
The enemy was a real-life fourth calamity—thankfully, they had countermeasures. Otherwise, just thinking about it was despairing.
Naturally, they weren't the only ones on standby. As orders filtered down, the entire Blood God Legion's atmosphere shifted.
But nothing happened for several days, leaving many puzzled.
"Has the Abyss gotten scared?"
"No way—we've only killed so many Abyss creatures. They're scared already?"
"Maybe. Before, we couldn't truly defeat them. Now that we have this ability and they know they can die, they might be afraid."
"Should we send someone to check the passage? Maybe the Abyss creatures have returned to normal?"
Just as someone suggested sending a reconnaissance team into the Abyss Passage, change came.
Deep within the passage, a black vortex silently appeared in a remote corner the sealing array couldn't detect.
Threads of black energy converged from all directions, slowly condensing in the darkness beyond the seal's monitoring. The vortex grew larger and larger, with purple lightning flickering inside.
Suddenly, a pitch-black hand slowly emerged from the vortex. Then, a dense Abyss energy fluctuation erupted like a geyser.
"Beep, beep, beep—"
A piercing alarm instantly blared through every corner of the Blood God Legion.
"Abyss Passage anomaly! All troops to battle stations!"
The voice from the loudspeaker was urgent yet forceful, carrying well-trained calmness—but it couldn't hide the pressing sense of an approaching storm.
At the Legion headquarters, Zhang Huanyun, upon hearing the sharp alarm from the Passage monitors, shot up from his seat.
He slammed his hand on the command console, his gaze locked on the holographic projection screen. At its center, the Abyss Passage's three-dimensional model was trembling violently, a mass of dark energy wildly expanding deep within—but with no other energy signatures nearby.
Zhang Huanyun frowned, turning to his adjutant. "Are there any Title Douluo-level energy signatures near the headquarters or the Abyss Passage?"
The adjutant shook his head. "No."
Zhang Huanyun's brow furrowed deeper.
"Not nearby? What's going on? Doesn't the Holy Spirit Cult need to be at the Abyss Passage to help the Abyss open a passage? Or do they have a way to infiltrate it silently?"
Considering these possibilities, cold sweat broke out on his back.
If so, it meant the Abyss had long been able to break the seal unnoticed—they'd just never done so.
Thankfully, this fishing operation had been conducted under their guidance. Otherwise, if it had happened while Blood God Legion soldiers were patrolling inside, they'd have been caught completely off guard, costing many lives.
After a moment of relief, Zhang Huanyun took a deep breath. Years of military service allowed him to suppress all emotion in an instant, and he gave orders in a low voice: "All units immediately move to designated positions. Patrols are to withdraw."
He issued his commands methodically, finally adding, "Contact Lord Huo Yuhao immediately and inform him of the situation. At the same time, dispatch all reconnaissance teams to search every inch of land within a hundred li of the headquarters. If any suspicious energy signatures are found, report immediately—do not act on your own!"
The adjutant recorded everything and relayed it swiftly.
At the same time, a violent rumble erupted from within the Abyss Passage, and a colossal shadow descended, blotting out the sky.
It was a hundred-meter-tall beast, its six claws gleaming coldly, its body covered in a hard black carapace. A dark red, lava-like liquid flowed across its surface, emitting a searing, putrid aura.
Abyss 97th layer Abyss Emperor—Six-Claw Demon Emperor!
Behind it, two more colossal beasts appeared.
To the left was a serpentine figure with three heads, each burning with eerie green flame eyes.
To the right was a moving mountain of bone spikes, its every step shaking the ground.
Abyss 107th layer Abyss Emperor—Three-Headed Demon Serpent!
Abyss 105th layer Abyss Emperor—Bone Mountain Demon Lord!
As the three Abyss Emperors descended, a swarm of Abyss creatures—four-clawed bats, six-clawed bats, Amba, and others—poured out en masse.
The main Abyss passage was nothing like the others. With just a crack in the seal, Abyss creatures gushed out like a geyser, forming an Abyss tide far beyond level three intensity.
But this wasn't enough for someone like the Blazing Emperor to pass through.
The Six-Claw Demon Emperor watched his kin surge toward the passage exit, then turned respectfully to the projection beside him.
"Lord Blazing Emperor, please wait. We'll soon expand the passage to allow you through."
***
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