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Rolling thunder descended from the heavens.
The heavenly tribulation, infused with intense destructive power, struck the Thunderous Hell Vine. However, it only caused a massive burst of lightning to scatter in all directions.
Even after the lightning dispersed, the thunder's power was forcibly absorbed by the Thunderous Hell Vine.
Under its devouring, the force of the tribulation seemed no different from ordinary thunder, consumed and digested as if it were nothing.
According to legend, the Thunderous Hell Vine possesses the bloodline of the Thunder God, allowing it to continuously absorb the power of lightning to enhance its cultivation.
It is an extraordinarily defiant and heaven-defying race.
Of course, such a heaven-defying existence naturally comes with significant limitations.
When the Thunderous Hell Vine devours thunderous power, it constantly faces the risk of self-destruction. In fact, no Thunderous Hell Vine has ever survived for more than 100,000 years.
Su Yu's Thunderous Hell Vine was a unique case. By devouring an enormous amount of ferocious beast tribulation power in a short period, it was pushed to the 100,000-year level.
Even then, it could not escape the fate of self-destruction.
Fortunately, Su Yu had long established a soul contract with it in advance. At the critical moment, it transformed into a soul form, allowing the Thunderous Hell Vine to survive as a spirit body, maintaining the power of a 100,000-year soul beast.
Strictly speaking, the Thunderous Hell Vine now exists solely as a spiritual entity without a physical body.
The thunder power it devours is actually borne and channeled through Su Yu's fifth soul ring and his own body.
In other words, part of the thunder energy serves to strengthen Su Yu's fifth soul ring, while another portion flows directly into his body.
Unlike the Thunderous Hell Vine, Su Yu uses the thunder power to temper his body. While absorbing it, he harnesses the energy to reinforce himself, enabling his body to continuously withstand the surging thunder within.
Moreover, even if the thunder power exceeds his body's limits, Su Yu can rely on his immense vitality to keep himself alive, using the excess power to gradually refine and temper his body.
In fact, this unique situation makes his physical tempering even more effective and faster.
The only downside is that it consumes a significant amount of his life force.
While the Thunderous Hell Vine devours the tribulation, the Reincarnation Grass fares far worse.
Under the devastating force of the heavenly tribulation, its entire form is battered, with not a single part remaining intact.
As a plant-type soul beast—even a divine herb—it cannot escape the inherent frailty of its kind.
Even special plant-type soul beasts with improved defenses cannot match the durability of top-tier beast-type soul beasts.
The Reincarnation Grass was once merely a Holy Soul Grass. Its strength was not remarkable; though a divine herb with heaven-defying effects, it was not heaven-defying in itself.
Even after undergoing the transformation of death and rebirth, its fundamental nature remained unchanged.
Su Yu insisted on completing the Nine Cycles to make up for this shortcoming.
In his plan, strictly speaking, the Nine-Cycled Reincarnation Grass and the original Reincarnation Grass are not the same lifeform.
Only by undergoing the nine cycles can it truly evolve, overcoming the flaws of plant-type soul beasts and becoming a heaven-defying being wielding the power of life and death.
The power of the heavenly tribulation was unimaginably strong.
The Thunderous Hell Vine was a special species capable of directly devouring the tribulation's power. Combined with Su Yu's support as a safeguard, it was able to handle the process with ease. In contrast, the Reincarnation Grass's performance was more in line with what one would expect.
In fact, the Reincarnation Grass fared far better than the Blue Silver Emperor had back in the day.
As the heavenly tribulation descended and its body sustained damage, the Reincarnation Grass, leveraging its mastery over the power of death, took the opportunity to condense a vast amount of death energy from its deteriorated state. It then skillfully converted that death energy into life energy.
The transition between the two types of energy was executed with remarkable finesse.
As the destructive force invaded its body, it tore apart the internal tissues of the Reincarnation Grass, giving rise to death energy. This death energy, once transformed into life energy, began slowly healing the internal wounds.
Although this didn't completely offset the damage, under the ravages of the heavenly tribulation, this surge of life energy brought about a dramatic shift in the nature of transcending the tribulation.
What was originally a destructive force intent on annihilating a soul beast had now become a unique form of trial.
The terrifying yet opportune border between life and death was now bolstered by a safeguard.
With insights gained under the threat of death and the possibility of racial evolution, the Reincarnation Grass had the life energy needed to support and complete this transformation, allowing it to benefit from the tribulation.
"With the Thunderous Hell Vine as a backup, I've indeed saved myself a lot of trouble."
Seeing the Reincarnation Grass begin to evolve, Su Yu smiled.
Having gained new understanding, the Reincarnation Grass used all the life energy it generated to fuel its transformation, reducing the energy it had to devote to resisting the tribulation.
Had the heavenly tribulation continued to strike without interruption, its evolution might not have succeeded.
At the critical moment, the Thunderous Hell Vine forcibly absorbed the tribulation energy that was about to strike the Reincarnation Grass, creating a perfect window for its advancement.
Once that window passed, more tribulation bolts fell—but now, they merely served as nourishment for the Reincarnation Grass's growth!
After a long while, the tribulation finally dissipated.
The Reincarnation Grass had successfully endured the 200,000-year soul beast tribulation.
At the same time, the Thunderous Hell Vine, which had gained immensely from this tribulation, finally broke through to the 200,000-year level as well.
Su Yu's fifth soul ring had also turned orange.
Three black, one red, two orange, and one red soul ring with multicolored patterns—that was the current composition of Su Yu's seven soul rings.
The black hue of his first three rings had become even deeper, and within the third ring, a faint trace of red had already begun to take shape.
"Huh, Teacher has arrived too."
Sensing the fluctuation of Kong Deming's soul power, Su Yu retracted the Reincarnation Grass and went to greet him.
"Teacher."
"Hmm. The spatial detector you requested has been completed. I'm not sure if it meets your specifications," Kong Deming said, producing a large number of conical soul devices.
There were exactly thirty-six conical soul tools, each standing three meters tall with a base diameter of one meter.
"Each individual unit is equivalent to a standard Level 9 soul tool. Arranged in a specific configuration, these thirty-six detectors will link together, encompassing the surrounding space and allowing for a clear perception of spatial fluctuations."
"Teacher, thank you for going through so much trouble."
Su Yu's eyes lit up as he gazed at the thirty-six detection devices. He channeled his spiritual power into one of them, carefully assessing its detection capabilities, and felt highly satisfied.
"Snow Empress, I'll be placing these detectors in the areas we previously scouted. I'll also need your help to find some trustworthy soul beasts to guard them and report to me immediately if any disturbances occur."
Snow Empress understood Su Yu's purpose—it was connected to another plane, one even more powerful than the Douluo Continent. Regardless of Su Yu's motivations, these detectors were designed as a safeguard against the Abyss. Naturally, she would not take this matter lightly.
Detecting the Abyss's approach or any signs of danger in advance would at least allow them time to prepare.
After all, this was the Extreme North.
If the Abyss descended, the Extreme North would be the first to bear the brunt of its impact.
"Don't worry, I'll handle the arrangements," Snow Empress replied.
Su Yu nodded, then began installing the detectors in the designated locations, fully covering the target area.
The thirty-six detectors linked together seamlessly. As Su Yu infused soul power into them, he immediately sensed the anomalies in the surrounding spatial fluctuations.
"This will do."
If they could already detect current spatial disturbances, then they would certainly sense it if the Abyss came any closer.
From Kong Deming, Su Yu had also learned the latest news beyond the Extreme North.
Although he had maintained communication with Kong Deming via soul tools, those devices were not advanced enough to allow for casual, real-time conversation.
Three months ago, shortly after Su Yu had returned from the Star Dou Forest to the Extreme North, the Sun-Moon Empire launched a full-scale war to unify the entire continent.
Huo Yuhao had also joined the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion.
With Huo Yuhao's formidable strength and Juzi at the helm, the Sun-Moon Empire's forces had thoroughly suppressed the Star Luo army.
The battlefield between the two nations had shifted from the Sun-Moon Mountain Range and was now approaching the heartland of the Star Luo Empire.
"Teacher, when you return, try to ensure the army pushes through the Heavenly Soul Empire and Dou Ling Empire first."
"Haha, so you've noticed that, huh?" Kong Deming stroked his beard and laughed heartily. "Don't worry. The army already plans to launch a swift offensive against the Heavenly Soul Empire."
While Juzi's military strategies were solid, her successes largely depended on the inherent strength of the Sun-Moon Empire. Her ulterior motives were also quite transparent—someone like Kong Deming, with a broad strategic vision, could see through her intentions at a glance.
"The Heavenly Soul Empire has the Body Sect within its borders, but they pose little threat. Under the assault of our Sun-Moon army, the sparsely numbered Body Sect won't be able to stir up any real trouble."
On the contrary, Juzi would likely leave an intentional opening, allowing members of the Heavenly Soul royal family to escape and seek refuge in the Star Luo Empire.
As a result, taking full control of the Heavenly Soul Empire's territory would not be difficult.
As for the Douling Empire, although the Xuanming Sect had not agreed to cooperate at the moment, with their reclusive nature, the Douling Empire's resistance capability was minimal.
Moreover, once the time truly came, with the condition to fully release Xu Sanshi, the Xuanming Sect might not choose to remain reclusive.
Not to mention, the internal strife within the Douling Empire had already reached a breaking point.
The two princes had long harbored ambitions to usurp the throne. As soon as the Sun-Moon Empire's army employed a few strategies, they could easily take control.
"Teacher, we need to conquer the Heavenly Soul Empire as soon as possible, and then begin advancing our Soul Spirit cultivation system's further improvement plan."
"Hmm, Huo Yuhao already relayed this to us when he returned to Sun-Moon," Kong Deming replied.
"Actually, there's something else," Su Yu continued. "Teacher, when Yuhao and I traveled to the Endless Volcano on the Douling Continent, we encountered a spatial passage."
Su Yu recounted their discovery of the Fenghuang Continent—the continent where the Tian Dou royal family would eventually flee to, as described in the original novel.
"Beyond Douluo Continent, there are other smaller continents?" Kong Deming asked, somewhat surprised.
But he wasn't overly shocked.
After all, the Sun-Moon Continent and Douluo Continent had once been separate, and it was only due to continental shifts that they eventually collided to form what was known as Douluo Continent today.
The possibility of other continents beyond Douluo Continent was not out of the question.
"Yes, Teacher. This continent should be located to the east of our continent. When the time comes, you should try to use the power of the Offering Hall to search for a route there."
Developing a continent's resources would yield great benefits.
Moreover, Su Yu sensed that the Fenghuang Continent held tremendous opportunities.
There, powerful Phoenixes had once perished, and not just one.
"Aside from the Fenghuang Continent, I believe there are other continents over the oceans of Douluo Continent. Teacher, you might want to organize a group to explore."
"Originally, the Sun-Moon Continent was to the west, and Douluo Continent to the east. With our current technology, we've explored the seas quite thoroughly. There are no signs of new continents in the seas surrounding the Sun-Moon Empire. To the north lies the Extreme North, and to the east, we've already discovered the Fenghuang Continent. It might be worthwhile to search in the seas south of the Star Luo Empire."
Su Yu speculated that the Star Luo Continent was likely located in the southern seas of the Star Luo Empire.
These two continents might not be huge, but their sizes should at least rival that of the Douling Empire. It would be foolish not to explore them.
Moreover, once they fully explored these two continents, they could use them as a base to complete a full survey of the entire Douluo Star.
With this, Su Yu could focus on Douluo Continent while using the two smaller continents as intermediaries, ultimately gaining control over the oceans.
The Sea God's power was formidable primarily due to the faith of the Sea Soul Beasts.
Soul beasts were often rigid in their thinking, easy to brainwash, and rarely showed defiance.
Furthermore, the deep ocean was free from human Soul Masters' interference, which made the Sea Soul Beasts' faith in the Sea God even stronger.
"Exploring new continents, huh?" Kong Deming nodded, not pressing Su Yu on why he was so certain more continents existed.
The Sun-Moon Empire was on the verge of unifying Douluo Continent, and conquering more territory was only natural.
"By the way, Teacher, has Shrek communicated with Sun-Moon Hall?" Su Yu asked.
"Yes, we've secured the Soul God Hall's enlightenment slots you needed, and we've even secured five of them."
Su Yu: "..."
Five slots?
Su Yu had initially aimed for two, but to his surprise, Jing Hongchen had really come through, securing five slots.
Su Yu was well aware of the benefits of entering the Sea God Hall. The first time a Soul Master entered, they were almost guaranteed to fall into a state of sudden enlightenment.
Moreover, the Golden Tree was the core of the plane, and cultivating in the Sea God Hall, which was built around the Golden Tree, would yield even greater benefits.
"Our Sun-Moon Empire plans to finalize the remaining three slots, besides yours and Huo Yuhao's, in a year. We'll send them to Shrek for training. If you're free, you can visit Shrek City a year from now. Of course, if the timing isn't convenient, you can go alone. With your strength, you should be safe."
With that, Kong Deming took out a massive fixed-installation Soul Guidance cannon.
"A level-nine fixed-installation Soul Guidance cannon!"
The cannon was already loaded with three level-nine fixed-installation soul-guided cannonballs.
Su Yu took the cannon and stored it in his storage soul guide.
With this, he would definitely be safe.
"I should be able to make it in a year."
After sending his teacher off, Su Yu reminded Snow Empress to monitor the detectors and then left the Extreme North.
His destination was the Eye of Ice and Fire.
"Raise the Reincarnation Grass to the Nine Transmutations level, then sign the Soul Spirit contract and break through to Soul Douluo!"
(End of Chapter)