The Blazing Emperor. The ruler of the Abyss Plane's third layer. No one in the Blood God Legion could be unfamiliar with that name.
He was the most powerful Abyss Emperor the Douluo Federation had ever faced.
A peak expert wielding divine power, not far from true godhood.
If not for Emperor Tian's intervention six thousand years ago to stop him, the Federation would have paid an unimaginable price.
At least in Emotionless Douluo's view, if only the Blood God Legion's Four-Word Battle Armor Masters had to face the Blazing Emperor, the only solution would be his martial soul fusion skill with Romantic Douluo. Otherwise, the four of them together couldn't hold him.
"The Blazing Emperor, of all people..." Zhang Huanyun couldn't help frowning.
He'd expected to catch a big fish, but not the Abyss's third-ranked existence.
At the Abyss Passage entrance, a figure slowly coalesced within the blood-colored pillar of light.
It was a tall figure clad in blue-purple armor. The armor's surface rippled with a dark luster, as if forged from solidified Abyss energy, each plate faintly pulsing with dark red patterns.
Beneath the helmet, there was no face—only a dense, impenetrable darkness, save for a pair of eyes flowing with purple radiance, coldly fixed on the Blood God Legion's defenses.
Those eyes held no emotion, yet every who met them felt an involuntary chill.
As the Title-level Abyss creatures completed their sacrifice and large numbers of Abyss creatures died, the Blazing Emperor's form rapidly solidified within the pillar, transitioning from projection to true body in just a few breaths.
In that instant, an overwhelming aura swept across the field like a tsunami, crushing the soldiers on the Blood God Legion's defenses, making it hard to breathe—as if facing a true deity.
By Douluo Continent standards, the Blazing Emperor's divine power placed him at Level 100. But his spiritual power hadn't transformed into true divine consciousness, so he wasn't a true deity.
Yet his divine-power-based aura was indistinguishable from a true god's, making every soldier on the defense feel the absolute suppression of hierarchy.
"So this is the Blazing Emperor?" a resting Blood God Legion soldier couldn't help swallowing. "This is the enemy our predecessors faced six thousand years ago?"
"They say Lord Emperor Tian was seriously injured fighting him back then, before defeating him and forcing him back to the Abyss."
Another veteran soldier replied grimly, his gaze locked on the figure. "Now seeing him in person, he truly is a being touching the divine level."
"Wait, look behind him—more Abyss armies and Emperors are coming through!"
Their gazes shifted past the Blazing Emperor. The blood-colored pillar at the passage entrance hadn't faded, and more Abyss creatures surged out like a tide. Behind them, several massive figures were coalescing, each radiating an aura no weaker than the previous three Abyss Emperors—some even stronger.
Seeing this, many Blood God Legion personnel unaware of today's trap felt their hearts sink.
Led by the Blazing Emperor, with Abyss forces far surpassing a level-three tide—was the Abyss trying to replicate the invasion war of six thousand years today?
Were they, the Blood God Legion, supposed to single-handedly face enemies that had required hundreds of thousands of Federation elite troops six thousand years ago?
Even Zhang Huanyun's expression grew grave at this thought.
Or rather, once the Blazing Emperor appeared, he lost that relaxed sense of security.
When he saw that the Blazing Emperor's gaze wasn't on them but on the Abyss Passage seal, he grew alert and quickly ordered: "Old Cao, immediately activate the Blood God Grand Array to stabilize the seal. We can't let the Blazing Emperor destroy it and turn this into a repeat of six thousand years ago. This isn't the time for a final battle!"
The Blood God Grand Array was a formation developed by past experts to seal the Abyss Passage. It could mobilize various plane forces and leverage the Douluo Plane's natural rejection of the Abyss to seal the passage.
They hadn't activated it earlier because the big fish hadn't taken the bait. Now that the Blazing Emperor had appeared, they couldn't hold back any longer. Otherwise, if he completely broke the seal, the situation could spiral out of control.
Emotionless Douluo understood the gravity. "Once the Blood God Grand Array is active, the Blood God Camp can't assist in combat. The rest is up to you."
With that, Cao Dezhi rose into the air and shouted to the Blood God Camp members: "Blood God Camp, prepare the Blood God Grand Array!"
The eight Blood Gods steeled themselves and answered in unison.
Zhang Huanyun didn't dare delay. He waved both hands, and nine beams of golden light shot from his palms, striking the cave walls around the passage exit. The golden light traced nine brilliant arcs through the air, precisely embedding into the walls.
The moment the nine tokens sank into the rock, the entire Abyss Passage trembled violently. From the tokens, golden patterns spread like vines, racing deep into the passage. Wherever they passed, the faltering seal regained support.
The rumbling within the passage continued, but now it was noticeably more stable.
Nine circular platforms slowly emerged from the walls, their surfaces inscribed with formations matching the tokens, radiating soft yet resilient golden light.
The nine Blood Gods each leaped onto a platform and sat cross-legged.
"With my blood as the guide!"
Emotionless Douluo shouted. Blood mist burst from his pores, merging into the platform beneath him. The other eight did the same, chanting incantations. Nine blood mists descended, and golden runes ignited, illuminating the passage's depths—black mist churned, dark purple light surged upward, but the formation held it down.
"Primordial spirits, heed my call! Douluo's soul, forge the foundation!" Emotionless Douluo proclaimed, golden light shooting skyward from his seat.
Blood Two: "Spirit of Water, heed my call! Douluo's soul, forge the foundation."
Blood Three: "Spirit of Fire..."
Blood Nine: "Spirit of Space, heed my call! Douluo's soul, forge the foundation."
The golden patterns inscribed on the sealing formation flared brilliantly. The spatial rift that had been tearing open below suddenly halted—not only did it stop expanding, but it even began to heal.
The Blazing Emperor, who had been about to destroy the seal, frowned in displeasure.
"You think you can stop me from opening the Abyss Passage?"
He snorted, his form transforming into a purple streak as he charged straight for the Blood God Grand Array's core—where Emotionless Douluo was guiding the primordial spirits. Though the array's core comprised nine people, Emotionless Douluo was clearly the linchpin. If he fell, the entire array would collapse.
"Stop him!" Zhang Huanyun shouted.
The Blood God Legion's soul tool batteries opened fire simultaneously. Tens of thousands of searing beams and shells cut through the night, weaving an impenetrable web of fire. Among them were proton beams and the even more powerful heavy ion rays—capable of instantly killing Super Douluo and heavily wounding Limit Douluo if they hit.
But this defense line, sufficient to threaten a quasi-divine, had no effect on the Blazing Emperor.
As his divine power surged, a small world coalesced around him, and he became its absolute master.
Every attack—soul tool beams, proton rays, heavy ion rays—once they entered his small world's range, was forcibly suppressed, deflected, and annihilated by his divine power, unable to harm him.
This was the power of divine power: simulating an independent small world within a certain range, with the caster as its sole sovereign.
Previously, Yun Ming and others had briefly wielded divine power, but their application was less mature than the Blazing Emperor's, so they hadn't displayed this ability.
Now that the Blazing Emperor had revealed it, Zhang Huanyun's heart sank.
It was clear that brute force was better for breaking through the Blazing Emperor's simulated small world. Proton and heavy ion rays excelled at penetrating defenses and detonating internally—powerful in their own right, but their raw magnitude wasn't as great as high-level fixed-type shells, making them less effective here.
Realizing that ranged soul tools couldn't stop the Blazing Emperor, Zhang Huanyun took a deep breath. His Four-Word Battle Armor materialized, and the next moment, he shot into the sky as a silver-blue streak, his mirror behind him firing beams of silver light.
"Space, Lock!"
Midair, Zhang Huanyun pressed his hands together.
The space within a hundred zhang of the Blazing Emperor suddenly solidified like amber. Layer upon layer of silver fissures emerged from the void, interweaving into a massive net of confinement, attempting to trap his small world along with him.
At the same instant, two figures shot out from either side.
On the left, Romantic Douluo Zang Xin's form flickered, his Romantic Sword gleaming. His third spirit ring blazed.
Third Spirit Ability—Regret: magnifying the enemy's most painful regrets a hundredfold, tormenting their mind.
On the right, Smiling Face Douluo Hu Jie excelled at close combat, but facing the Blazing Emperor, he didn't dare charge recklessly. Instead, he mobilized the world's energy to unleash a self-created technique.
"Smiling Face Universe!"
He thrust out his belly, and a round, golden ball of light shot from his round stomach. At the same time, he twisted his hips, and a denser energy wave exploded from behind. The two forces converged before him, forming a rotating yin-yang vortex of energy, carrying a devastating shockwave toward the Blazing Emperor.
Romantic Douluo's "Regret" technique was a spiritual skill. It struck first, causing the Blazing Emperor to pause momentarily as the memories of his defeat six thousand years ago—the pain and regret deep within—were magnified by the spirit ability.
But only for an instant. He quickly recovered.
The Blazing Emperor clenched his fist, and a will of rage exploded from his Sea of Spirit, forcibly expelling the regret. "You think you can shake my mind? You're not worthy!"
As he spoke, he swept his hand, and his vast divine power erupted. Zhang Huanyun's carefully laid spatial net shattered into countless silver fragments. Hu Jie's attack disintegrated under the divine power's impact, forcing him back several steps.
"Fireflies daring to compete with the moon?"
The Blazing Emperor stood tall, his gaze sweeping over them like a blade, his voice shaking the earth. "Send Emperor Tian!"
"Blazing Emperor! Blazing Emperor! Blazing Emperor!"
The Abyss creatures' cheers surged like a tide.
Zhang Huanyun's expression darkened.
In just seconds of exchange, the Blazing Emperor's strength was clear. Facing his arrogant words, Zhang Huanyun was speechless, his rage choking in his throat with no retort.
Just then, he saw thunderclouds gathering above the Blazing Emperor!
BOOM!
A massive seven-colored divine thunderbolt, carrying world-destroying force, descended without warning, striking straight at the Blazing Emperor's crown!
At this moment, watching from the Blood God Legion, Xie Xie had only one thought:
Don't be arrogant—arrogance gets you struck by lightning.
Seeing the thunderbolt approaching, the Blazing Emperor's expression sharpened. Without time to think, he raised his small world's power to block. The thunder and divine power collided midair, exploding in a brilliant seven-colored halo.
His small world trembled violently, torn open by the divine thunder. Residual lightning struck him squarely.
BOOM—
The Blazing Emperor was blasted back dozens of meters, the ground beneath him collapsing several feet. He crashed heavily, kneeling on one knee, his eyes filled with shock and fury.
Silence fell.
The Blood God Legion felt a surge of elation.
The Abyss creatures' cheers died in their throats. Those who had been screaming wildly now fell silent as cicadas in winter.
"Lord Blazing Emperor!" The Abyss Emperors near the passage cried out in alarm, rushing toward him.
"Who?!" the Blazing Emperor roared, looking up at the sky.
The thunderclouds slowly dispersed. In midair, a tall figure stood on the void, faint seven-colored lightning crackling around him.
Seeing the newcomer, Zhang Huanyun and Emotionless Douluo breathed sighs of relief.
"It's Lord Huo Yuhao!"
"That person?"
Xu Weitao's heart trembled as he saw Huo Yuhao, countless memories of him flooding his mind.
Though the Blood God Legion was relatively isolated from the outside world, they didn't completely ignore external news. Huo Yuhao's name was legendary to him.
With a single divine thunderbolt, he had sent the arrogant Blazing Emperor kneeling. Such strength was unimaginable without witnessing it firsthand.
Huo Yuhao stood in midair, looking down at the wounded Blazing Emperor.
"The effect's not bad."
Using his authority as the Undead Plane's Lord, he had mastered the seven-colored divine thunder, gaining another killing technique while improving his physical strength. This was the first test of the technique, and the results seemed satisfactory.
But his attention quickly shifted from the thunder itself to the Blazing Emperor.
"A big fish indeed. Unfortunately, like six thousand years ago, he didn't bring the Heavenly Saint Abyss Splitting Halberd."
In Huo Yuhao's mind, the Blazing Emperor with the Heavenly Saint Abyss Splitting Halberd would be the biggest prize.
Though divine artifacts had spirits, and a master's super-divine artifact was hard to permanently seize without killing the owner, if the Blazing Emperor had brought it, Huo Yuhao would at least have a chance to seal it—for example, by tossing it into the Eternal Domain, thereby weakening the Abyss Saint Lord.
Eternal Lord: "You're throwing everything into me, aren't you?"
Huo Yuhao averted his gaze: "Bear with it—only an imperial weapon can counter another. Think of it as recognition of your worth."
Unfortunately, it seemed that opportunity wouldn't come.
Still, as a Level 100 divine-power existence, the Blazing Emperor himself was valuable enough. This operation had been quite rewarding.
Huo Yuhao's gaze made the Blazing Emperor uncomfortable.
He said coldly, "Who are you?!"
"A dead man doesn't need to know."
Too lazy to waste words.
Huo Yuhao's calm words only inflamed the Blazing Emperor's rage. "Arrogant! Even Emperor Tian wouldn't claim he can kill me!"
***
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