Huo Yuhao sorted through his gains and stepped out of the cultivation chamber.
It was midday, the sun blazing.
Gu Yuena, Snow Empress, and Electrolux were already waiting at the door.
Huo Yuhao nodded to them, then first handed Gu Yuena's Battle Armor to her.
During the process of perfecting his own Battle Armor, Gu Yuena's armor had also been completed—eleven silver-white components resonating with each other, nine-colored radiance flowing across their surfaces.
Gu Yuena took her Battle Armor, her purple eyes reflecting the flowing nine-colored light, a smile curving at the corner of her mouth. Without a word, she raised her hand lightly, and all eleven components flew toward her as if summoned. Chest plate, pauldrons, arm guards, leg plates, battle skirt—each piece precisely snapped into place, fitting perfectly.
The silver-white armor gleamed coldly in the sunlight. The moment it was fully donned, Gu Yuena's aura surged. Her silver-white hair danced without wind, her pressure expanding outward like a tangible force.
Though her current cultivation hadn't yet reached its limit—only early Super Douluo level—under this divine artifact's amplification, she directly reached peak quasi-divine, infinitely close to the divine level.
Combined with the Battle Armor's fivefold overall attribute enhancement, Gu Yuena's abilities meant she could fight divine-level experts even without the Dragon God's Heart or her past cultivation. Of course, not using the Dragon God's Heart made her prone to attracting thunder tribulation.
With just one Battle Armor, her normal combat power in this life had reached the same level as Emperor Tian and Snow Empress.
Watching this, Snow Empress and Electrolux felt considerable emotion—especially the former.
The metals Gu Yuena forged, combined with the Battle Armor Yuhao crafted, were far superior to ordinary Four-Word Battle Armor.
Ordinary Four-Word Battle Armor could at most elevate a Super Douluo to the quasi-semi-divine level—it couldn't compare to this Battle Armor.
The key was that as long as Gu Yuena and Huo Yuhao existed, this level of Battle Armor—or rather, these divine artifacts—could eventually be mass-produced.
Mass-producing growable divine artifacts—just thinking about it was terrifying.
"Unfortunately, it's not possible yet." Snow Empress sighed with some regret.
She believed Gu Yuena wouldn't speak idly on this matter. For now, Gu Yuena truly couldn't forge divine artifacts from Divine Alloy suitable for them.
After all, Gu Yuena had previously had Zhen Hua's guidance, but now she stood at the pinnacle of forging—all paths had to be explored by herself. Under these circumstances, expecting her to quickly research methods for mass-producing divine artifacts with universal applicability was asking too much.
If divine artifacts could be so easily mass-produced with universal applicability, they wouldn't be called divine artifacts.
That said, Snow Empress still felt a pang of regret—not being able to gain the Battle Armor's strength enhancement now was unfortunate.
If she could have such Battle Armor, her strength would certainly increase significantly, reaching the divine level.
But then Snow Empress reconsidered: even with such Battle Armor, without a super-divine artifact or divine seat, she would still face the plane's opposition. She felt somewhat relieved.
It didn't seem to make much difference.
Having this level of Battle Armor and standing at the divine level constantly would mean facing the plane's relentless targeting. Unless she only used the Battle Armor to unleash a single divine-level attack before immediately dismissing it, the ever-present thunder tribulation would find her.
With the plane's constraints in place, this Battle Armor's enhancement for her—while present—was far less significant than imagined.
Only when the Douluo Plane's restrictions on the divine level were lifted could she truly wield this level of Battle Armor's power. In that case, waiting until then was fine.
Noticing Snow Empress and Electrolux's gazes, Gu Yuena turned her head slightly. "Snow Empress, Elder Electrolux, once I've researched Heaven-Forged Divine Alloy suitable for you, I'll forge Battle Armor for you."
Snow Empress smiled and nodded. Electrolux was briefly startled, then a smile also appeared on his face as he nodded silently.
A practitioner of the Holy Demon Continent's system wearing Battle Armor—it did sound somewhat odd at first. But considering they were ultimately divine artifacts, there was nothing to mind.
As for compatibility issues, since Battle Armor design was based on the martial soul system—the Spirit Transmission Tower had already solved many problems when forging Battle Armor for spirit beasts. Even if there were difficulties, with his foundation, they wouldn't be insurmountable obstacles.
Huo Yuhao stepped forward and shared his insights from merging the divine persona with the others.
At present, his comprehension of the Creation laws was still insufficient, and early-stage Creation laws weren't suited for combat. Thus, apart from enhancing his martial soul and cultivation, the Creation Divine Persona didn't contribute much direct combat power.
However, the Creation Divine Persona had brought him considerable indirect improvements.
Now, Creation power had become more accessible to him,the difficulty of mobilizing it had dropped a full tier. Where he once had to deliberately guide it, now he merely needed a thought, and life energy would spontaneously converge from all directions.
Though he still couldn't match the Sea God's absolute control over ocean power, he could be considered to have initially grasped authority over Creation power. Even without his Plane Lord authority, creating simple life forms was no longer difficult.
Moreover, even when not undergoing the tertiary awakening, the Creation Divine Persona's effect of nurturing his body and spirit remained. If he converted his spirit power to life attribute, the effect was even better. Combined with the Chaos Dharma Body, Gold of Life, and seven-colored divine thunder, even without any major future breakthroughs, his divine body and spiritual power should still breakthrough within the year.
Especially his divine body.
Divine bodies already had extremely powerful regenerative abilities. Now, with the Creation Divine Persona, Huo Yuhao's recovery had improved further—even if he used his body to tank ordinary divine-level attacks, any injuries would heal in an instant.
This level of recovery, combined with his divine body's strength, sparked an idea in Huo Yuhao: to fully elevate the seven-colored divine thunder nurtured within him to the divine level—comparable to plane thunder tribulation power.
He should be able to withstand it.
This would effectively mean he was constantly being tempered by plane thunder tribulation, making his divine body's improvement rate even faster than his spiritual power's.
It was said that Huo Yuhao's physique surpassed Tang Wulin's—now it seemed that trend was indeed taking shape.
But Huo Yuhao himself welcomed this.
Even after reaching the divine level, he wouldn't abandon body refinement.
Leaving aside the Dragon God's level for now, he at least wanted to pursue the Golden Dragon King's peak physique from ten thousand years later.
He wanted mechanics, and he wanted stats.
High mechanics in one hand, high stats in the other.
Both must be grasped, both must be strong.
Only then could he be considered complete.
After they'd conversed in the room for a while, Electrolux said meaningfully, "Your breakthrough was so conspicuous that it will surely alert the Holy Spirit Cult—they'll likely accelerate their plans."
Huo Yuhao said, "By the same logic, such a grand display will also alert the Demon Lord from the other world. To be safe, he'll seek out the Holy Spirit Cult ahead of schedule."
Electrolux's expression stiffened slightly, then he smiled helplessly. "It seems it's time for me to go undercover in the Holy Spirit Cult."
His leisurely days were temporarily over. Time to get busy.
Huo Yuhao nodded, and said solemnly, "Elder, be careful."
With that, he opened the Undead Plane to Electrolux, sharing the Plane Lord authority with him—allowing him to mobilize the plane's power or use it as a retreat if necessary.
Pausing, Huo Yuhao quietly supplemented Electrolux with what he knew about the Killing God and some intelligence from the Demon Emperor. Given Electrolux's abilities, the chances of something happening in the Holy Spirit Cult were already low, but with the Undead Plane as a backup and knowledge of the Killing God's key information, it was an extra layer of security.
Electrolux nodded. "I understand."
He said nothing more, nodding to Snow Empress and Gu Yuena, then turned and walked out the door.
After today, the Undead Calamity, the Necromancer Saint, would temporarily go offline—and the Demon Lord would take the stage.
Watching Electrolux's disappearing figure, Snow Empress and Gu Yuena were silent for a moment. Snow Empress spoke first, "Will Elder Electrolux be alright?"
The Killing God was still a threat to him.
"Trust in Elder's abilities," Huo Yuhao said, taking a deep breath, his gaze turning toward the door. "And as long as we move quickly enough here, putting enough pressure on the Holy Spirit Cult, they won't act against a divine-level expert who could be their ally."
It was time for them to act against the Holy Spirit Cult as well.
Snow Empress and Gu Yuena followed Huo Yuhao's gaze. They too had sensed several Limit Douluo-level presences nearby.
It was Yu Guanzhi, Wang Hongchen, Qianku Dongfeng, and Qianku Dicing.
Clearly, they had come because of Huo Yuhao's suspected breakthrough aura.
The three exchanged a glance, and Huo Yuhao stepped forward, pushing open the door.
In the midday sun, Yu Guanzhi, Wang Hongchen, and Qianku Dongfeng stood side by side. Qianku Dicing stood at the front. Seeing Huo Yuhao emerge, all four clasped their hands in congratulations: "Congratulations to the Spirit-Ice Ancestor (Lord) on returning to the divine seat, achieving eternal life."
Huo Yuhao: "..."
Why did this feel like a scene from a cultivation novel—the ancestor emerges from seclusion, cultivation greatly advanced, and the sect's higher-ups line up to welcome him?
Oh, right—he was indeed the Spirit Transmission Tower's "ancestor."
Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly as he suppressed the urge to facepalm, saying calmly, "At ease."
As the four straightened, Qianku Dongfeng and Yu Guanzhi both seemed to have something to say. Huo Yuhao said, "Come inside and talk."
They paused, then visibly relaxed. Qianku Dicing was the first to step over the threshold, the others following close behind.
They filed in, quickly scanning the room, and soon noticed Snow Empress and Gu Yuena still present. Not daring to be remiss, they greeted each in turn.
Huo Yuhao guided them to their seats and poured tea.
Steam rose, tea fragrance filling the air.
Yu Guanzhi accepted the cup, his fingers tightening slightly.
Qianku Dicing's hand, holding his cup, also stiffened. Before knowing the other's identity, it had been fine. But now, knowing he was sitting before a deity—the Spirit Transmission Tower's Spirit-Ice Ancestor—the offered teacup felt almost overwhelming.
Wang Hongchen broke the silence first: "Lord Spirit-Ice, you're too kind."
Huo Yuhao waved his hand, taking his own seat, his tone flat: "Let's skip the pleasantries. You didn't come just to congratulate me, did you?"
The room's atmosphere relaxed. Yu Guanzhi set down his cup, glanced at the hesitant Qianku Dongfeng and Qianku Dicing, and spoke first: "Lord, we came today for two reasons. First, to congratulate you on your breakthrough. Second..."
He paused, exchanging a look with Wang Hongchen.
"To discuss plans for dealing with the Holy Spirit Cult's Douling branch and the Blood River God-Slaying Grand Array."
"The Blood River God-Slaying Grand Array?!" Qianku Dongfeng's pupils shook with alarm.
Huo Yuhao had only shared the intelligence from the Demon Emperor with the Federation, since the Dark Department operatives were the ones acting on Douling. The Spirit Transmission Tower hadn't yet learned about the Blood River God-Slaying Grand Array. But Qianku Dongfeng had seen mentions of such formations in ancient texts—data the Execution Department had previously seized from evil soul masters.
So he understood some of its horrors, and hearing it now naturally shocked him.
He opened his mouth as if to ask something, but seeing Huo Yuhao about to speak, he held back, suppressing his shock.
Huo Yuhao noted his reaction but said nothing. After a moment's thought, he turned his gaze to Qianku Dongfeng and Qianku Dicing.
"How about the Spirit Transmission Tower handles the Douling situation directly?"
Yu Guanzhi and Wang Hongchen both paused. The latter asked, "You mean..."
"Only by completely shattering their arrangements on the Douling Continent will they shift their attention to the Endless Mountains." Huo Yuhao's eyes flashed with cold light, his voice deepening. "This time, the Spirit Transmission Tower will deploy all its experts to uproot the Holy Spirit Cult's Douling branch!"
The room fell silent.
Yu Guanzhi swallowed.
What had he just heard? The Spirit-Ice Douluo planned to send all of the Spirit Transmission Tower's experts to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult's Douling branch?
Just imagining such a deployment made his scalp tingle.
But Huo Yuhao paid no mind to their expressions, calmly looking at Qianku Dongfeng and the others.
"Any objections?"
"We will naturally follow the Ancestor's command." Qianku Dongfeng and the other had no objections.
When the Ancestor spoke, who would dare defy him?
Anyone with objections could be thrown out!
(Note: Some readers may have misconceptions about the spiritual power realms, which I didn't make clear. Third-class Divine Origin realm refers to the spiritual power level of mortal-world third-class deities, Levels 101-109—not mortal-world second-class deities, Levels 110-119. At the divine level, the original story's rankings all use mortal-world standards.)
(Spirit Emperor in the original temporarily reached third-class Divine Origin realm using certain methods, but he obviously couldn't challenge the plane-weakened mortal-world second-class deities like the Abyss Saint Lord or Gu Yuena with that. If Spirit Emperor's trump card could raise his spiritual power from Level 100 to above Level 110, he'd be more impressive than Lan Xuanyu. Even after reaching the divine level, Lan Xuanyu's abilities weren't that absurd.)
(Also, Soul Land IV explicitly states that Gu Yuena from ten thousand years ago was a mortal-world second-class deity, and in Soul Land III she said she was only displaying second-class Divine Origin realm spiritual power. The Dragon God Transformation martial soul fusion skill could reach third-class deity level (with partial Dragon God divine persona enhancement), yet was still weaker than the mortal-world second-class deity Abyss Saint Lord—which also indicates that "third-class deity" here refers to Levels 101-109.)
(So third-class Divine Origin realm is stronger than ordinary Divine Origin realm, but not by much. A third-class Divine Origin realm expert alone should correspond to the strength of a Level 100 true deity. That's also why, in my initial setting for mortal-world divine levels, I listed Level 100 separately as a divine official level. In Soul Land III's setting, the Divine Origin realm has a transitional quality—like how the Spirit Domain realm is synonymous with Limit Douluo, seemingly representing just Level 100.)
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