After exiting the Abyss, Bai Yuan immediately reported his encounter with the Mei Empress.
This wasn't an overreaction—it was a necessary warning to prevent other Blood God Legion reconnaissance teams from suffering unnecessary casualties by stumbling into powerful enemies unaware.
Once his report was complete, Bai Yuan returned to his barracks, his premonition growing stronger by the moment.
The Abyss would never tolerate beings like him and Tang Wulin continuously "stealing" its source power. A massive counterattack was likely imminent.
And chaos—that was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.
His premonition soon became reality.
Late that night, piercing alarms shattered the Blood God Legion's tranquility.
From the Abyssal Passage direction came mountain-shattering roars and energy fluctuations—the abyssal creatures had launched a full-scale assault!
Countless abyssal creatures of diverse forms surged from the channel like a breached dam, launching frenzied attacks on the Legion's defensive lines.
Zhang Huanyun commanded from the rear, directing soldiers of all ranks to defend and counterattack using fortifications.
Cao Dezhi led the elite Blood God Battalion like a dagger thrusting into the enemy formation, specifically targeting powerful high-level abyssal creatures.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Tang Wulin wielded the Golden Dragon Spear like a golden whirlwind. Wherever he passed, abyssal creatures transformed into pure life energy and were absorbed by him.
The exceptionally fierce combat around him had clearly drawn the Abyss's high command's focused attention. The Abyssal Sage King, behind the scenes, was urging more forces to converge on him.
At the peak of this chaos, Bai Yuan closed his eyes in his barracks. Through the mysterious connection between avatars and main body, he perfectly synchronized the battlefield's current state and his own judgment to Gu La's true body, far away on a remote island.
Gu La instantly received the information.
"The time has come!"
His eyes flashed with resolve. Without hesitation, spatial energy surged around him.
Amid the violent spatial fluctuations caused by the abyssal invasion, this subtle teleportation ripple went completely undetected.
The next moment, his figure silently appeared in a hidden corner near the Blood God Legion's base.
Then, one by one, figures materialized beside him—Mu Yi, Alice, Liu Niandao, Yin Wansheng, Bo Xi, Ming Baixue, Qing Liuli.
All seven of Gu La's avatars had gathered here—except for Du An, who remained in the Douluo timeline as the final resurrection insurance.
"Main Body." The avatars bowed slightly.
Gu La's gaze swept over them, words concise and clear: "My spirit souls are already full and evolved to their current limits. No further enhancement is needed."
"Our primary objective is to conquer a suitable abyssal layer for me, devour its core life energy, and forge my third martial soul! After success, Alice and I will jointly evolve your spirit souls and bloodlines."
The avatars naturally had no objections. This was the core of the plan—the most rational resource allocation sequence.
"The lower thirty-six layers' Abyssal Monarchs are too weak. Their life energy likely can't support your third martial soul," Bo Xi analyzed. "We need at least a middle thirty-six layer with a Monarch at Super Douluo level. Only then does the accumulated life energy barely suffice. Which layer do we attack?"
At this, Bai Yuan—who understood the Abyss best—spoke: "I have a target. In the Abyss lies a layer called the 'Layer of Illusions,' specifically breeding a strange abyssal creature known as the 'Possession Demon.'"
"These demons lack physical form, excelling at possession and control. Once they possess someone, even the closest companions can't detect them. Defense is next to impossible."
"That's precisely why the Blood God Legion has never truly killed these abyssal creatures—they almost never engage in direct combat."
His tone shifted, eyes gleaming with calculation: "But precisely because they avoid battle and hide, rarely expending energy, this layer's accumulated life energy is likely abnormally vast!"
"Six thousand years of accumulation—even after surrendering most to the Abyssal Sage King—the remainder absolutely exceeds ordinary middle layers, possibly rivaling even some upper thirty-six layers."
"Moreover, their direct combat strength is extremely weak. They can't possibly possess our consciousness, tempered through countless trials and linked to the Main Body. This layer is the perfect target."
"Good!" Gu La decided immediately. "We attack the 'Layer of Illusions'!"
With the plan set, Gu La instantly switched to his Celebi martial soul. Time-space energy enveloped himself and the seven avatars, silently merging them into phase space as they crept toward the Abyssal Passage.
Meanwhile, Bai Yuan reappeared on the battlefield. Wielding the replica Atlas Spear, his Devouring Domain flickered in and out. He killed abyssal creatures while seemingly fighting alongside the troops, subtly moving toward the Abyssal Passage entrance.
Soon, seizing a moment of battlefield chaos when most were preoccupied, he vanished into the surging abyssal tide, disappearing into the channel's depths.
Though Bai Yuan's actions were covert, they didn't entirely escape Zhang Huanyun and Cao Dezhi's perception.
The two exchanged glances, seeing grave understanding in each other's eyes.
They guessed Bai Yuan might have ulterior motives. Considering his unique devouring ability, they ultimately chose silent consent—only secretly ordering trusted subordinates to monitor unusual activity at the "Layer of Illusions" channel.
For now, their attention was more drawn to Tang Wulin—his Golden Dragon Spear's terrifying lethality against abyssal creatures, and the overwhelming attack pressure he endured, were simply too conspicuous.
—
The Abyss, "Layer of Illusions"
This environment was surreal—a haze of color-distorting mist filled the air. Countless semi-transparent, ghost-like Possession Demons drifted and weaved through it, emitting faint psychic whispers.
Nearly incorporeal, physical attacks were almost useless against them. The Abyss's suppression of martial souls left Blood God Legion warriors virtually helpless here.
Yet this suppression had minimal effect on beings whose essence had already touched the divine or possessed special authorities.
Bai Yuan stepped into this layer first. Surrounding Possession Demons, like sharks scenting blood, swarmed toward him, trying to invade his spiritual sea.
But what met them was a suddenly expanded, even deeper and more terrifying Devouring Domain!
Buzzz—!
An invisible force field spread. Those ethereal Possession Demons, like leaves caught in a vortex, emitted silent shrieks. Their forms twisted as they were torn apart and devoured, transforming into pure spiritual and life energy flowing into Bai Yuan.
At that moment, space rippled faintly. Gu La and his seven avatars stepped from phase space.
Surveying this environment saturated with psychic pollution and twisted laws, Gu La's eyes remained calm. "Begin."
Qing Liuli stepped forward first.
Over the past half-year, she'd finally broken through to Soul Saint. Though her seventh soul ring was merely a thousand-year purple one—due to her second spirit soul, the Bodhi Wood, requiring unique mental power for ascension—her True Body had already activated. She hadn't wasted the extinct plant seeds Gu La had specially found for her.
"Seventh Soul Skill—Pure Heart Lamp True Body · Pure Land of Vairocana!"
She uttered the words lightly. Warm yet unyielding glazed light radiated from her. Her figure transformed into a massive, brilliantly glowing Pure Heart Lamp!
Soft yet unviolable light illuminated a hundred-meter radius, forming a peculiar domain.
Where the light touched, the twisted colored mist dissipated like meeting its natural enemy. Possession Demons within the area shrieked horrifically, burning and purifying like evil spirits thrown into sacred flames!
This Pure Land not only banished heart demons and cleansed impurities but contained a trace of mental law power. Within its range, it temporarily isolated the outside Abyss's suppression.
The avatars immediately felt a lightness in their bodies. The sluggishness in their soul power flow vanished. They summoned their martial souls.
Seeing this, Gu La and Alice retracted the power maintaining phase space and assisting against suppression. Qing Liuli would now fully sustain this temporary "safe zone."
Gu La took a deep breath, his expression turning utterly solemn.
He waved his hand. A silver-white light flew from his storage soul device, hovering in midair.
It was a mecha!
Its entire body gleamed with cold silver-white metal luster. Its lines flowed with power. Its structure was so precise it seemed from another era.
Gu La had added no extra paint. To him, this purest metallic original color was the most beautiful embodiment of order and strength.
This was the divine-grade mecha he'd spent thirteen years forging since crossing into the Legend of the Dragon King timeline—including accumulations from the Peerless Tang Sect timeline.
Countless efforts poured, mountains of rare metals exhausted, all culminating in this fully Heavenly Refined metal creation!
Its near-infinite power source was an advanced divine artifact obtained from the system—the Warp Jump Pulse Engine.
More crucially, Gu La had invested resources sufficient to evolve both his Groudon and Celebi martial souls twice over, exchanging them at the system for a special Pokémon and its complete set of equipment and skill modules.
Now, this fusion of top-tier forging craftsmanship, era-transcending engine, and otherworldly Pokémon power would, under Gu La's will, undergo its final fusion here in the Abyss!
This silver-white mecha, from the moment of its birth, was destined to become Gu La's strongest trump card—the cornerstone for his ascension to higher realms. The vessel for his third martial soul!
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)