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The Abyss had used this tactic many times before—luring Chosen Ones, born of resistance in lower planes, into its depths. These individuals often carried fragments of their plane's core, and once inside the Abyss, they were devoured. Their cores were corrupted, stripping their home planes of any remaining power to resist.
Aside from a plane's core, only certain divine artifacts possessing devouring capabilities had the potential to siphon energy from a realm as vast as the Abyss.
But even those artifacts rarely posed a true threat.
Unless their rank was unimaginably high—capable of instantly and extensively absorbing vast quantities of energy—most such artifacts could, at best, absorb energy equivalent to what a dozen Titled Douluos might use for cultivation.
And that amount of energy was negligible—barely a drop in the ocean to a full-fledged energy-based plane like the Abyss.
That was why Su Yu had come here.
He hoped to borrow the Golden Dragon Spear.
After all, Gu Yuena possessed the Silver Dragon Spear. Leaving the Golden one in the hands of the Auspicious Beast was a complete waste. Far better that Su Yu wield it in the fight to devour the Abyss.
"I do have a divine weapon capable of devouring Abyssal energy. But why should I lend it to you?" Gu Yuena asked bluntly.
Su Yu was stunned. He hadn't expected her to so openly reveal the existence of such a weapon.
But on second thought, it made sense. Even in her weakened state, Gu Yuena possessed the power to kill with a thought. There was no need for her to hide anything from someone like him.
"I, Su Yu, possess the ultimate life attribute... and have mastered the Law of Life. I believe I can assist in healing the damage to your life origin," he offered seriously.
The Law of Life?
As Su Yu activated the law, converting ambient elemental energy into pure life force, Gu Yuena's expression changed, her eyes showing rare surprise.
"Your talent is even more terrifying than I imagined," she muttered in awe.
"Very well. If you can heal the damage to my life origin... I will lend you the Golden Dragon Spear."
With both parties in agreement, Su Yu had no objections.
Once Gu Yuena's life origin was fully restored, she would be able to return to god-level strength. In battle, armed with the Silver Dragon Spear and empowered by the Abyss's energy, she could rapidly recover and ascend back to a first-tier god. Reaching God King level, however, would still be difficult.
Su Yu remained in her secluded dimension for a full week.
He tirelessly channeled life energy into her body. Thanks to his ultimate attribute, the quality of the life force he produced was astonishingly high. On top of that, he infused it with life essence from his Living Blade, enhancing both its potency and volume. To Gu Yuena, it was like a spring of vitality in the heart of a barren desert.
Perhaps this wouldn't mean much to the Silver Dragon King in her prime... but in her current weakened state, the effects were profound.
While his life force kept her condition stabilized, Gu Yuena finally had the focus and energy to suppress the terrifying sword aura embedded in her life origin and begin purifying it—healing, little by little.
By the second day, Su Yu began integrating his Cycle of Life and Death into the process.
And the results were remarkable.
The synergy between life and death laws made the healing vastly more effective. When Gu Yuena took the initiative to circulate her own power to assist in the cycle, the outcome was equivalent to a divine technique executed by a first-tier god.
Of course, even with that level of power, a week wasn't nearly enough to completely heal wounds as deep as those in Gu Yuena's life origin.
But midway through the process, Gu Yuena changed strategies.
She decided to shed her existing form and begin a form of rebirth.
Not full reincarnation, but something more akin to a soul beast's transformation into human form.
This ability was something all soul beasts possessed.
Even soul beasts as old as a hundred thousand years would use this power to survive. If they could withstand the lightning tribulation to the very end but were gravely injured, transforming into a humanoid form would help them recover.
This was the main reason many hundred-thousand-year soul beasts had transformed into human forms in human society—because without it, survival was impossible.
The Silver Dragon King also had this opportunity. However, her cultivation was so high that she had long passed the hundred-thousand-year threshold. But being the Silver Dragon King, she had methods at her disposal. Even the Snow Empress had used a special method involving the Snow Lotus to seal her power and successfully transform into human form, so it was no surprise that the Silver Dragon King could do the same.
Moreover, her method allowed for a much quicker restoration of her strength.
With a flash of silver hair cascading down to her ankles, Gu Yuena's long locks shimmered with the luster of silver crystals. They flowed smoothly, and her beauty was beyond words—too ethereal to be captured by mere descriptions. Her skin, slightly pale and flawless, complemented her purple eyes. Even in the simplest of attire—a white shirt—she exuded an undeniable elegance.
Transformed into her humanoid form, Gu Yuena was breathtaking, and Su Yu was momentarily stunned.
In just a few days, Gu Yuena had completed her transformation, advancing from a six-year-old child to an eighteen-year-old young woman.
It was more astonishing than Su Yu's witnessing of the Snow Empress's own maturation.
"My power has already reached a level where it's rapidly recovering," Gu Yuena said. "If I continue this way, in a few months, I should reach the limit of rank ninety-nine."
Her rank ninety-nine limit was simply a result of being trapped in the Douluo plane, not a reflection of the peak of her actual strength.
Understanding this, Su Yu sighed in relief. As long as she could unleash god-level power, that was all that mattered.
"Here is the Golden Dragon Spear for you."
Gu Yuena took the Golden Dragon Spear from the Auspicious Beast and handed it to Su Yu.
"This Golden Dragon Spear was forged from a rib of the Dragon God. Without Dragon God's bloodline, it's difficult to control."
Before Gu Yuena could finish, Su Yu took the spear in his right hand, and the Golden Dragon Spear, which had been struggling violently in his grasp, was immediately subdued. A powerful surge of True Dragon bloodline energy erupted from Su Yu's body, effortlessly calming the spear.
"The Ice Fire Dragon King's bloodline!" Gu Yuena exclaimed, surprised by this energy.
Once upon a time, the Dragon God had nine great Dragon Kings under his command, and the Ice Fire Dragon King was one of them. These two Dragon Kings possessed god-king level strength, and though their attributes were opposites, their bond was inseparable. Their combined skills made them two of the strongest Dragon Kings under the Dragon God's banner.
More importantly, though these two Dragon Kings were not descendants of the Dragon God, they had inherited part of his bloodline through the attributes granted to them. Su Yu now carried both of their bloodlines, and the combination brought him even closer to the Dragon God's essence.
"Yes, this is a power I obtained by chance, from the bloodlines of the two Dragon Kings."
Gu Yuena nodded, not pressing further on the matter.
The Golden Dragon Spear continued to tremble in Su Yu's hands, clearly indicating that even the power of the Ice Fire Dragon King's bloodline wasn't enough for Su Yu to fully control it.
Noticing this, Gu Yuena did something. A surge of soul power merged into the Golden Dragon Spear, stabilizing it completely.
Divine weapons had their own spirituality.
Since it was approved by the Silver Dragon King, Su Yu could temporarily use it.
"Thank you," Su Yu said, holding the spear with gratitude.
"You have many bloodlines within you," Gu Yuena remarked.
As Su Yu unleashed the power of both Dragon Kings' bloodlines, Gu Yuena sensed the presence of other high-level bloodlines within him.
Gu Yuena immediately recognized the bloodline of the Auspicious Beast. She also quickly discerned another bloodline—Phoenix blood, specifically the true Phoenix bloodline, on the same level as the Dragon King's bloodline.
"To combine these divine beast bloodlines into a blood, soul, and spirit ring—if all you've done is merely control these bloodlines, then you are truly wasting their potential," Gu Yuena remarked.
Su Yu was taken aback.
Had he just been lectured?
In all his cultivation, Su Yu had defied conventional expectations, and even when studying with Kong Deming on soul tools, it was rare for him to encounter such a situation. Most of the time, Kong Deming simply imparted knowledge, and Su Yu would absorb and understand it instantly.
Now, to have his cultivation details critiqued by Gu Yuena... it was unexpected, but it seemed to strike at the heart of the matter.
"That's right," Su Yu admitted. "At the moment, I'm only using these bloodlines as a means of enhancement, but I haven't truly grasped the essence of the power contained within them."
He had delved deepest into the Auspicious Beast's bloodline, developing the Fate Power from it. But that was driven by his own curiosity about Fate Power rather than a conscious effort to develop the bloodline itself.
"If you could tap into the Phoenix bloodline's rebirth through fire ability, you might be able to help me recover further," Gu Yuena said, her voice tinged with regret.
"Such a shame."
Su Yu's lips twitched. So that was her real intention.
He'd thought she was simply pointing out that he hadn't cultivated in this area properly. He had misunderstood.
"Gu Yuena, I have one final request," Su Yu said.
"Mm?"
As he was about to leave, Su Yu finally asked her about the techniques to enter the Dragon Valley.
"Dragon Valley?" Gu Yuena furrowed her brow, her mood darkening slightly. After a moment, she replied, "You must mean the Dragon Tomb."
"Dragon Tomb?"
"Yes, it's where countless dragons have fallen. These aren't ordinary dragon-type soul beasts either; these are true dragons. Some of them may have even been at the god level, and the number of fallen dragons may well be in the triple digits."
"I sensed it years ago. When you came from the Soul Spirit cultivation system, I also sensed the aura of the Dragon Tomb on you."
Su Yu chuckled nervously.
Although it was an opportunity he had discovered himself, Su Yu couldn't help but feel that entering the Dragon Tomb was akin to stealing from the Dragon Clan.
"To enter the Dragon Tomb, you must be at least level 50. Conceal your aura, activate the true dragon bloodline, and use spatial powers to negate the energy fluctuations you cause in the space. Don't linger too long around the outskirts of the tomb; even if you do all this, you'll only be able to stay for a few seconds. As for the core area, the spatial intensity there is stronger. The deepest area, you shouldn't attempt to enter," Gu Yuena instructed.
Su Yu was surprised at how accommodating Gu Yuena was. The Dragon Tomb, after all, was the burial place of the Dragon God, and there seemed to be the Dragon God's core within. Gu Yuena hadn't just warned him against entering the deepest part—she'd casually given him the technique to enter.
It seemed that Gu Yuena wasn't as indifferent as he'd thought.
"I'm doing this because I see your potential," Gu Yuena explained, sensing his confusion. "With your talent, it's highly likely that you'll achieve godhood. Moreover, you seem to have connections to the Gods of Destruction and Life."
She paused here, not continuing further.
Gu Yuena had deeper plans, but she thought that revealing a few secrets was already a considerable gesture. Su Yu wouldn't be aware of the ancient secrets, like how the Golden Dragon King had been sealed in the divine realm for so long.
However, Su Yu had already guessed the next step in her thoughts.
"You want to ally with me and the Gods of Destruction and Life, the Four Great God Kings, to unseal the Golden Dragon King, don't you?" Su Yu asked.
The Four Great God Kings could dominate the divine realm. With the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King possibly able to combine their skills, they would be able to control the entire divine realm. Even if the Gods of Destruction and Life didn't want to participate, Su Yu's relationship with them was strong enough to hold them off temporarily, especially with Silver Dragon King pushing for the seal to be undone.
In reality, Su Yu was wrong in his guess. Silver Dragon King had never intended to rescue the Golden Dragon King. In her mind, it was all about devouring the Golden Dragon King's origin to restore the Dragon God's power.
"Your control over spatial power is meticulous, but it's too refined. You're lacking in macro control," Gu Yuena remarked as Su Yu prepared to leave.
She then turned to Di Tian. "Di Tian, see him off."
Di Tian unleashed his soul power, each fragment spinning like small black holes, radiating an overwhelming aura.
It was then that Su Yu remembered he had forgotten to ask Di Tian about the Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core.
However, as Di Tian's soul power swirled, Su Yu suddenly had a spark of inspiration. The rotation of the two soul cores wasn't exactly what he had theorized.
Di Tian's hands transformed into massive dragon claws, and he tore through the void, creating a rift. With a punch, he struck the rift, opening up a passage.
As the space began to heal, Su Yu suppressed his curiosity and stepped into the rift.
Inside the rift, the spatial power was chaotic, but Di Tian's punch had cleared a path that led to another spatial node. While the passage wasn't stable, and chaotic spatial power surged through, Su Yu didn't find it threatening. Instead, he found that his control over spatial power became clearer.
He continued forward, stabilizing the path, and after ten minutes, he arrived at an unfamiliar location. Surrounded by dense primordial forests and abundant vitality, Su Yu quickly realized something was off.
"This isn't the Dragon Valley."
No, it wasn't the Dragon Valley he'd found near Tianhai City, which was a fake Dragon Valley.
"Could this be Star Luo Continent from the original work?" Su Yu wondered.
He was surprised to find that Di Tian had sent him here. Initially, Su Yu had planned to wait before sending someone to explore a new continent due to the Abyss's arrival, but now, he found himself here in this way.
"It seems that in the eyes of these orthodox beings, this is the main entrance, and the Tianhai City path I used was the backdoor?" Su Yu mused.
He wasn't overly concerned about the two different spatial paths. His focus shifted to the continent around him. Last time, when he and Huo Yuhao arrived at the Phoenix Mainland, they made substantial gains, including refining the Phoenix bloodline power.
Moreover, he had found precious rare metals, some of which even the Sun and Moon Empire didn't have.
Now, having the chance to explore this new continent, Su Yu was certain that the rewards would be just as great.
Since ancient times, Star Luo Empire had always been stronger than the Heaven Dou Empire. One of the main reasons for this was the more balanced resources, and now, it seemed like this continent might be no different.
"Even though the Phoenix Mainland has a true divine-level Phoenix fall, the resources here aren't any worse," Su Yu reflected.
He wasn't sure whether it was because of the Dragon Valley, but he preferred not to think so. If that was the case, there could be opportunities on par with those arising from the fall of a divine being.
"Let's explore this place first. I'll also refine my theory about the Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core and perfect the core formation array before heading to the Dragon Valley to break through," Su Yu decided, not in a rush to break through at the Dragon Valley.
During his last exploration of the Phoenix Mainland, it had taken him three months. Now, with his increased strength, Su Yu was confident he could complete the exploration in just a month.
"Also, I need to consider the relationship between the black hole soul power and the soul cores," Su Yu thought, continuing to search for resources while pondering the discrepancies between his theory and the reality he had experienced.
(End of Chapter)