The astonished gazes of Yuanen Yehui and the others gave Tang Wulin a small sense of satisfaction.
The only downside was that their surprise faded a bit too quickly.
Xu Lizhi clicked his tongue in amazement.
"You and Brother Yuan are real freaks. Your progress is way too fast. The six of us feel like cavemen compared to you."
Tang Wulin froze for a moment.
"You're saying Brother Xu's soul power also increased rapidly?"
He stared at Xu Lizhi with an expression of curiosity.
Before Xu Lizhi could continue, Yue Zhengyu interjected.
"Xu Yuan, that freak, is already a Titled Douluo now."
"What?" Tang Wulin instinctively shouted, looking at Yue Zhengyu with disbelief.
Even after repeating the words in his mind, he was certain he hadn't misheard.
Xu Yuan had already become a Titled Douluo?
How was that possible?
Before Tang Wulin entered the Dragon Plane, Xu Yuan was only at the Soul Emperor level. Had he really advanced twenty plus levels in just two and a half years?
No, it must have been closer to thirty levels.
Tang Wulin couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Incredible as it sounds, it's true. This is what we heard from Elder Feng and the others. Brother Yuan played a crucial role in the war against another plane. It's even said that he killed a Limit Douluo," Xu Lizhi added.
Tang Wulin's expression turned blank.
No, it couldn't be.
Such an outrageous increase meant he was advancing nearly one level per month on average.
Was he even human anymore?
Moreover, Xu Lizhi's last sentence completely shattered Tang Wulin's confidence.
Even if he hadn't surpassed Xu Yuan in terms of soul power, he still had two more seals of the Golden Dragon King to unlock.
Nine seals were enough to rival a typical Titled Douluo. After unlocking the tenth seal, he even possessed strength close to that of a Super Douluo.
He might even have the qualifications to fight someone at level ninety-five, a Super Douluo.
However, Xu Yuan had already reached the point where he could kill a Limit Douluo.
This…
It wasn't that Tang Wulin couldn't accept others being better than him—it was just that everything felt so surreal.
After spending two and a half years in deep meditation, he still found himself utterly overshadowed by Xu Yuan.
Yue Zhengyu stepped forward, patting Tang Wulin on the shoulder with a sigh. "As hard as it is to believe, that's the reality. That guy—barely twenty years old—already has the record of killing a Limit Douluo. I would never have imagined this in the past."
Achieving the rank of Titled Douluo at the age of twenty was already enough to place someone at the pinnacle of the continent, leading an entire era.
But Xu Yuan didn't stop at just becoming a Titled Douluo.
"However, there's no need to worry too much. Xu Yuan's rapid advancement seems to be due to the environment over there. Though if we go there, we may not perform as extraordinarily as he did against the Abyss, my family told me that Xu Yuan developed something there—a special meditation room. If you train inside it, your soul power can increase by at least one level per year."
An additional level of soul power per year was incredibly impressive.
"Of course, that's for ordinary soul masters. With our talents, if we focus entirely on cultivation, we might be able to gain an extra two to three levels per year," Yue Zhengyu continued.
Under normal circumstances, their yearly progress was just over three levels, less than four.
If they joined the Blood God Legion, however, they could advance by six levels per year.
By this calculation, in two and a half years, they could gain fifteen levels.
Tang Wulin's eyes widened.
What kind of holy land of cultivation was this?
He had gone to the Dragon Plane, using a unique method to enter a state of deep meditation, and after two and a half years, he had only gained eighteen levels. It wasn't until he forcefully unlocked the Golden Dragon King's seals that he gained two more levels, reaching a total of twenty levels in two and a half years.
But now, Yue Zhengyu was telling him that if the people here went to the Blood God Legion's meditation rooms, they could potentially gain fifteen levels in two and a half years?
Though the gap still existed, it wasn't as significant as it seemed.
Yue Zhengyu's meaning was clear: the cultivation in these meditation rooms was normal meditation. In other words, while meditating, they could also continue training in secondary professions, honing their soul skills, and developing other aspects of their abilities.
At this moment, Tang Wulin was genuinely curious about what kind of holy land of cultivation this was.
"You find it hard to believe, don't you?" Yue Zhengyu looked at Tang Wulin's expression and seemed to guess his thoughts.
It wasn't just Tang Wulin who was surprised; the other five were equally shocked.
"The Blood God Legion isn't part of the Federation's regular army—it's a special force aimed at resisting the Abyss. In the past, the Blood God Legion suffered massive casualties every year due to Abyssal invasions.
On the other hand, the Abyssal plane has a very peculiar structure. Not only does the energy of their creatures return to their plane upon death, but they also drain the ambient energy of Douluo Planet."
"Doesn't that mean we've always been at a disadvantage in our fight against the Abyss?" Wu Siduo exclaimed in surprise.
Yue Zhengyu glanced at her and gave a confirming nod.
"That's right. For six thousand years, the Federation has been at a disadvantage in its war with the Abyss. However, since the Abyss can only invade through the spatial passage and their forces are limited, we've managed to seal them within the passage, minimizing their erosion of Douluo Planet."
Clearly, Yue Zhengyu had learned quite a bit about the Blood God Legion from his family.
First, his family truly knew a lot, and second, the nature of the Blood God Legion had changed—they were no longer keeping secrets.
"It's not just about their unique characteristics; in terms of absolute strength, we're also inferior to the Abyss. A month ago, when the Holy Spirit Sect attacked the Blood God Legion, an Abyssal Emperor descended onto Douluo Planet. His strength likely reached God level. Unless our quasi-gods burned themselves out, they wouldn't stand a chance against him—and he's only the third Emperor of the Abyss."
Yue Zhengyu knew a great deal because, as one of the new generation of Shrek Seven Monsters, the Angel Family realized he would inevitably join the front lines against the Abyss. Thus, they shared all the information they had with him.
Wu Siduo, Yuanen Yehui, and the other six people felt despair just listening to Yue Zhengyu's description.
So Douluo Planet had essentially been under the constant drain of an Abyssal leech?
Douluo Planet had never been safe!
"The meditation rooms I mentioned earlier were only created after Xu Yuan arrived there. They were developed using the energy converted from a new type of soul-guided weapon he invented. By hunting Abyssal creatures, one could obtain stellar energy, which could then be used to accelerate cultivation. This finally balanced the benefits on both sides."
Seeing the gloomy atmosphere among the group, Yue Zhengyu quickly shared more information to lighten the mood.
"Of course, that's not the most important part. The key lies in the mutation of the spatial passage between the two planes. It's now become a treasure trove capable of nurturing extraordinary opportunities. This is the focal point of our upcoming conflict with the Abyss."
"Us?"
"That's right. As members of the new generation of Shrek Seven Monsters, we will undoubtedly participate in the war against the Abyss. It's not just us; the other students from the academy, the Spirit Pagoda, the Hall of War Gods, and even other legions of the Federation will send large numbers of powerful individuals to the Endless Mountains to cooperate with the Blood God Legion in seizing the resources of this treasure trove."
Yue Zhengyu effectively explained the purpose of their return this time.
"So, are we heading to the Endless Mountains soon? That means we'll get to reunite with Brother Yuan," Xu Lizhi said.
The others also realized this.
Could the Shrek Seven Monsters finally gather together and fight side by side?
"Based on the current situation, that's exactly the case. The sooner we arrive there, the sooner we can understand the situation and take the opportunity to further increase our soul power," Yue Zhengyu replied.
None of the seven present regretted not going to the Endless Mountains in the past few years.
In the Demon Plane, each of them had found their own opportunities, pushing their potential to the limit.
Now that their foundations were strong, they could follow in Xu Yuan's footsteps, rapidly increasing their soul power by absorbing stellar energy and achieving rapid growth in their soul power levels.
Of course, how far they could grow depended on their individual accumulation.
---
Seven days later.
Endless Mountains.
The situation in the Endless Mountains had grown more complex.
It wasn't that the resistance between the Federation and the Abyss had intensified—it was that the Federation's internal factions had become increasingly complicated.
However, under the Federation's constraints, at least the personnel from the Hall of War Gods and the various legions were following the Blood God Legion's orders. Members of the Spirit Pagoda, Shrek Academy, and the Tang Sect, who also held high-ranking positions within the Blood God Legion, cooperated respectfully.
The real trouble came from the smaller factions below.
Smaller factions weren't a big issue. At most, they had a Titled Douluo overseeing them, and they wouldn't dare defy the Blood God Legion's commands.
However, there were also medium and large factions, some of which were overseen by Super Douluos or even Limit Douluos, like the Moonlight Sect, whose leader was a Limit Douluo.
The Moonlight Sect wasn't a problem because of its early cooperation with the Blood God Legion due to the Starry Sea Alliance.
The real chaos stemmed from three other major sects—or rather, companies that had emerged in this new era. Their strongest members were all Limit Douluos.
These three companies had never participated in the Blood God Legion's campaigns before and didn't know much about it. However, after reviewing the documents issued by the Federation and conducting field investigations, they understood the biggest benefit here: the meditation rooms.
How to secure more shares of the meditation rooms became their top priority.
After all, companies prioritize profit.
"Long time no see, everyone."
Without the previous evaluations, now anyone who comes to the Endless Mountains can find a peak in the outer area, establish a base, and then set up transportation links with the mountain where the Blood God Legion is stationed for easy support.
Of course, the real activities still take place at the summit of the mountain where the Blood God Legion is located, as the meditation rooms are only built within the Blood God Legion's territory.
There are no more tedious evaluations, but registration is still required.
The Shrek Seven Monsters reunited. After Long Yuxue registered all seven of them, she informed Xu Yuan, who came to bring them into the Blood God Legion.
"Brother Xu, I heard that you've already become a Titled Douluo?" Tang Wulin asked casually from Xu Yuan's left side.
"It was just luck. The environment here suits my cultivation very well," Xu Yuan said indifferently.
He glanced at Tang Wulin and added, "This place should suit you too. If I remember correctly, your Golden Dragon Spear can devour energy and use it to nourish yourself, right?"
Tang Wulin's expression stiffened.
In truth, he didn't like discussing the Golden Dragon Spear with others.
After all, this divine artifact relied on devouring to function, which made it somewhat evil in nature.
However, since Xu Yuan had brought it up, he couldn't ignore the comment.
"Yes."
"You should be able to devour Abyssal creatures as well. By directly devouring their energy, you can quickly increase your soul power. However, I don't recommend doing so."
The first half of Xu Yuan's statement excited Tang Wulin.
But the second half immediately made him frown.
Why not?
"Because I've already devoured one Abyssal creature. The Abyssal Sage King personally descended. If we were to assign a soul power level to him, he'd be at least level 130."
Tang Wulin's pupils contracted.
What level?
Level 130?
If this had been before he fused the ninth and tenth seals of the Golden Dragon King, he might still have had some confidence.
After all, fusing one seal equated to gaining one rank of strength.
But by the time he reached the tenth seal, he already understood—it wasn't as simple as one seal equating to one rank of power.
At the very least, during the Titled Douluo stage, the ninth and tenth seals weren't enough.
He would need to fuse the eleventh seal to truly reach Super Douluo-level strength, and even the twelfth seal likely wouldn't grant him Limit Douluo-level power.
The gap was simply too large.
After reaching the Titled Douluo stage, there were only nine levels of difference, but each step became harder than advancing from level ten to level ninety.
Level 130, when converted to his Golden Dragon King bloodline, wasn't equivalent to fusing thirteen seals—it would require fusing sixteen or even seventeen seals to reach that level.
And that was assuming there weren't as many distinctions between level 100 and level 130 as there were for Titled Douluos.
"Of course, right now, the Abyssal Sage King and I have formed a mutual restraint. You can try using your Golden Dragon Spear to devour some Abyssal creatures' energy, but don't attempt to devour an Abyssal Emperor. That's something the Abyssal Sage King won't tolerate."
Xu Yuan warned Tang Wulin against devouring any Abyssal Emperors.
Xu Yuan himself had devoured the Ba Emperor and knew how vast an Emperor's energy was. However, he hadn't continued to devour Mei Emperor, nor did he currently plan to forcefully devour Ardent Emperor.
It wasn't about whether he had the strength; rather, he was still pondering a critical question.
A very important question.
If Xu Yuan killed an Abyssal Emperor, the layer they ruled over would collapse. Where would the energy ultimately flow?
To the Abyssal Sage King?
No, most likely it would flow to other Abyssal layers.
Ba Emperor's death would give rise to another new Ba Emperor.
Moreover, Ba Emperor was just an individual. Although he was the core of that Abyssal layer, he only took a portion of its energy with him.
When Ba Emperor was completely devoured by Xu Yuan, the Abyss lost a significant amount of energy, but it also lost an entire layer. For the remaining 107 layers of the Abyss, their overall energy actually increased!
With Ba Emperor gone, the other Emperors would grow stronger.
Similarly, if the Ardent Emperor were to die, the energy from the third layer would be absorbed by the other layers. The most likely beneficiaries would be the Emperors of the top ten layers.
Among the top ten layers, Ardent Emperor followed the most orthodox path. His abilities weren't strange—he was a straightforward offensive-type soul master system. But aside from Ardent Emperor and Spirit Emperor, there were others like Scythe Emperor, who possessed spatial abilities; Wisdom Emperor, a control-type with intelligence; Bee Emperor, who had powerful area-of-effect attacks; and Black Emperor, who specialized in devouring.
Any of these Emperors ascending to god-level power would make them far more troublesome than Ardent Emperor.
Of course, this might just be excessive worry.
Just like how Xu Yuan had hesitated to devour Abyssal energy before, it turned out there wasn't an issue.
Even so, Xu Yuan still didn't recommend devouring too many Emperors.
Devouring regular Abyssal creatures was fine, but Emperors were best left alone.
For example, in the seventy-two layers outside the thirty-sixth layer, if thirty-six layers collapsed and their energy was redirected to the remaining thirty-six layers under the Abyssal Sage King's guidance, the power of those remaining thirty-six layers could potentially double.
Reaching godhood was a leap, perhaps difficult to achieve, but below godhood, it was possible.
The Abyss had many Emperors at the Limit Douluo level, but they were still manageable. However, if there were more, it would become much harder to deal with.
"The most crucial point is that devouring an Abyssal Emperor might give the Abyssal Sage King an excuse," Xu Yuan said.
Both sides maintained a balance.
But if the Abyssal Sage King decided that the previous agreement was unfavorable, he had the right to break it at any time.
The balance couldn't be disrupted.
"Alright, I'll try to only devour regular Abyssal creatures."
Xu Yuan thought for a moment and didn't press further.
"Brother Xu, I have a request. I hope you can fulfill it," Tang Wulin said, not dwelling too much on the restrictions regarding his targets for devouring.
Wu Siduo and the others immediately realized what Tang Wulin was about to ask.
They looked on curiously, not stopping him.
They wanted to see Xu Yuan's strength too.
"What request?" Xu Yuan asked knowingly.
"I want to understand the true gap between me and Brother Xu," Tang Wulin said earnestly.
After two and a half years of cultivation in the Dragon Plane, he felt reborn, as if he had gained an extraordinary opportunity during his deep meditation.
It felt like a fundamental leap in his life essence.
This made it hard for him to accept the reality that he still hadn't caught up to Xu Yuan.
He wanted to know the true gap between himself and Xu Yuan.
He had heard from Yue Zhengyu that Xu Yuan had killed a Limit Douluo. Upon arriving here, he roughly understood—Xu Yuan had likely killed, or even devoured, an Abyssal Emperor with Limit Douluo-level strength.
This didn't mean Xu Yuan's strength equaled that of a Limit Douluo.
Tang Wulin felt that he hadn't truly reached the Super Douluo level yet, but with the tyrannical devouring ability of the Golden Dragon Spear, he could theoretically kill an Abyssal Emperor at level 97.
Relying on the spear's ability to continuously weaken his opponent while strengthening himself, as long as he had enough time, he could wear down his opponent to death.
Of course, if another strong fighter kept the opponent occupied, he could easily ambush them with the Golden Dragon Spear.
"Alright," Xu Yuan didn't refuse Tang Wulin's request.
A fight?
Sure.
"Do you know the most effective way to recognize the gap between two people?" Xu Yuan countered.
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