"Holy Monarch, what should we do now?" One by one, the Abyssal Kings gathered in front of the Abyssal Holy Monarch, fear evident in their eyes.
The Black Emperor—a being who, for over six thousand years, could throw the Blood God Legion into chaos with just a projected avatar—had now been slain in such a short time. Not only was his main body destroyed, but even his Plane Seed didn't survive. The ninth layer of the Abyss was completely shattered. Just like the kings of the thirty-fifth and eighty-sixth layers, he was utterly annihilated, with no possibility of resurrection.
How could the other Abyssal Kings not be terrified?
"Continue sending the Abyssal creatures to assault the Blood God Legion. The Abyssal Kings must not act rashly. Join forces with me. When the seals are broken, we'll strike together. Even if the Douluo Plane can destroy Plane Seeds, let's see how they can withstand all of us attacking at once," the Abyssal Holy Monarch said through clenched teeth. "Abyssal Kings, continue the sacrifices! At any cost!"
"I'll go!"
"I'll go!"
"I'll go!"
…
A wave of Abyssal Kings stepped forward eagerly. This time, the Holy Monarch didn't even need to offer any incentives.
Sacrificing themselves to the Abyssal Passage meant they didn't have to fight—and they'd be guaranteed resurrection.
But for those who stayed to fight, no one knew how many would die or how many might never return. The risks were immense.
Given the choice between certain resurrection and the danger of eternal death, of course they rushed to be the ones sacrificed.
Boom!As the sacrifices began, the Abyssal Passage trembled violently.
Pfft!Even Long Yeyue couldn't hold on, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Blood One, we can't keep going. Blood Three is too old. If this continues, it'll kill her," Guan Yue looked up at Leng Yaozhu.
"Until reinforcements arrive, we must hold the line. If the Abyssal Kings break through all at once, the entire Blood God Legion will be annihilated—and the Douluo Plane itself could fall. Blood Two, if you say anything else that weakens morale, don't blame me for being rude," Leng Yulai snapped her head toward Guan Yue. Right now, the Abyssal Plane was launching a frenzied assault on the seals of the Abyssal Passage. If the Blood God Formation broke, all the seals would collapse in moments.
Then, the Abyssal Kings would swarm through.
She had no other choice. She was at the very front of the Blood God Legion, facing pressure greater than that of all the other eight Blood Gods combined.
Even now, she had to spare six drops of Phoenix True Fire to support six Blood Gods who were not Limit Douluos. She had no strength left to divide further.
"Yueyue!"A strong voice suddenly echoed from beneath the Endless Mountains. A brilliant blue light spread across the sky as Chen Xinjie rushed toward the Blood God Legion.
"Your Excellency Hanhai!" Zhang Huanyun was overjoyed. As the military's greatest pillar, Chen Xinjie's arrival lifted a heavy burden from his shoulders.
Zhang Huanyun even felt the urge to cry—reinforcements from the Sun-Moon Federation had finally arrived.
"What's going on? Just this many Abyssal creatures and you're calling for reinforcements? Do you really need to activate the Blood God Formation? I order you to deactivate it immediately! These few Abyssal creatures—I alone can wipe them out," Chen Xinjie looked down at the battlefield, clearly furious. There were many Abyssal creatures, sure, but no Abyssal Kings. With the strength of the Blood God Legion, they should have no problem holding the line.
Chen Xinjie had also once trained in the Blood God Legion in his youth. He was well aware of the patterns of Abyssal tides.
Yet now, Zhang Huanyun and Leng Yaozhu were pushing his beloved Yueyue to activate the Blood God Formation. She had even vomited blood from the strain! Weren't they trying to get her killed?
"Your Excellency Hanhai, you're unaware. The Abyssal Plane has gone berserk, launching an Abyssal Tide and violently attacking the seals of the Abyssal Passage. The Blood God Battalion had no choice but to activate the Blood God Formation. Without it, all spatial passages would be breached. Until all reinforcements arrive, we have no other option but to hold out for every second we can," Zhang Huanyun explained as best he could.
"But we can't just watch the Blood God Battalion get drained to death!" Chen Xinjie growled through clenched teeth.
"I believe every soldier in the Blood God Legion is ready to die to defend against the Abyss. The Blood God Battalion is no different," Zhang Huanyun said gravely.
The Blood God Formation required practice.
To prepare for emergencies, the Blood God Battalion always had a few special backup Blood Gods who regularly trained for formation deployment.
But Cao Dezhi had taken all the Tang Sect members away. The backup Blood Gods had since been promoted to full-fledged ones.
The new backups had just been chosen and hadn't yet practiced the formation.
As a result, there was no one in the Blood God Battalion who could replace Long Yeyue.
She had to bear the burden alone.
Boom!The Abyssal Passage trembled violently once more. A pale, slender hand reached through and slammed down on the seal.
The Abyssal Holy Monarch had made his move again.
Pfft!This time, all nine Blood Gods vomited blood simultaneously, Leng Yaozhu included.
Starting with Long Yeyue, the others were in even worse shape—some bleeding from all seven orifices, their faces ghostly pale.
They all looked like they could collapse at any moment.
Leng Yaozhu, at the front, was under immense pressure. Long Yeyue was too old, her cultivation too weak. With just one strike from the Abyssal Holy Monarch, the least injured among them turned out to be Guan Yue.
"Blood One, this can't go on. Everyone's reaching their limit," Guan Yue looked at Long Yeyue, then turned to shout at Leng Yaozhu again.
"Shut up! Even if we can't hold, we must hold! Break for me!" Leng Yaozhu wiped the blood from her lips, raising the Emperor Sword high. A dragon and a phoenix soared once more, the dragon ascending into the heavens, vanishing into the sun, moon, and stars; the phoenix diving into the earth, disappearing into the land.
As the dragon and phoenix vanished, a vast and desolate world emerged around Leng Yaozhu. She stood upon an ancient, primordial land, and everywhere she stepped, all living beings prostrated before her. Even the sun, moon, and stars in the sky lowered their positions slightly—as if to show submission.
The scene was vast and overwhelming, its terrifying aura seemingly transcending time and space, crashing down and shaking the soul.
"What is this woman doing? Why is it so terrifying?" Chen Xinjie instinctively backed away. Though he could tell the world enveloping Leng Yaozhu was just an illusion, it felt incredibly real.
"Do you hate her for leading the Blood God Battalion to die?" Zhang Huanyun couldn't help but ask.
"No. No," Chen Xinjie shook his head without hesitation. "She's at the very front, leading by example. I have no reason to hate her."
"With your cultivation, Your Excellency, if you hadn't harbored hostility toward Blood One just now, her aura wouldn't have forced you to retreat," Zhang Huanyun said seriously.
Leng Yaozhu had broken through many times and caused several major disturbances in the Blood God Legion. Zhang Huanyun had some understanding of her aura.
"Is that so? Interesting." Chen Xinjie gave a nonchalant smile, neither admitting nor denying that he had felt hostility toward Leng Yaozhu earlier.
"I was wrong! The dragon, the phoenix—none of those are me. I am me. Break!" Leng Yaozhu shouted once more. The illusory world around her shattered inch by inch. In the next moment, a terrifying aura burst forth from her body.
Sky, earth—everything merged completely with her aura.
Though she stood in the Abyssal Passage, just by raising your head, you'd feel like she was also above you, gazing down from the heavens.
"Divine Origin Realm spiritual power—she broke through just like that." Chen Xinjie staggered. He, too, had secretly reached the Divine Origin Realm like Leng Yulai.
So he knew exactly how difficult it was to break through in spiritual power.
"Truly dazzlingly talented… but to break through like this, the backlash is coming soon. She won't succeed," Chen Xinjie whispered. Sure enough, in the next second, Leng Yaozhu's aura vanished entirely from the world of the Blood God Legion.
(End of Chapter)