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"What is this?"
As Rong Nianbing spread his divine sense to investigate the current state of the Douluo Continent, he suddenly fell silent.
The Abyss.
Douluo Continent… was being invaded?
Very quickly, he assessed the situation and analyzed the essence of the abyss across the spatial rift.
"An energy-based plane… one that exists solely to devour material planes?"
Such a plane had set its sights on Douluo Continent?
But why had the Divine Realm severed its connection with Douluo at such a critical moment?
Rong Nianbing's mind spun rapidly. The truths he had previously deduced began to take more concrete shape.
"So that's their plan—those two, the God of Destruction and the Sea God. They want to let Su Yu—or rather, that Undead Sacred Law God—use the abyssal energy to condense a godhood, one that might even approach the level of a God-King?"
Although the abyss initially shocked him, Rong Nianbing quickly composed himself.
He studied the battlefield and found that while the Douluo side was technically at a disadvantage, the abyss seemed oddly hesitant—almost as though it were the one being suppressed.
The soul masters of Douluo Continent burned with passion and morale.
...
"Origin Arts?"
His divine sense inadvertently captured the term, and Rong Nianbing's heart jolted in shock.
This… this was a cultivation technique capable of advancing an entire plane!
As long as practitioners within the plane cultivated it and reached a certain realm, they could absorb external energy and feed it back into their home plane. The rate of the plane's evolution would become unprecedentedly fast.
Of course, if low-level cultivators merely cultivated within the plane using this art, the benefits would vanish. In fact, the plane would start to regress.
After all, as the cultivation world prospered, the number of basic cultivators would grow. And the energy absorbed by them would be stored in their bodies—only to return upon their death.
In essence, the more people cultivated, the more energy was drained from the plane.
But ultimately, this wasn't a flaw of the Origin Art itself—it was a fundamental issue of cultivation.
Even without cultivating Origin Arts, the same energy consumption imbalance would occur.
As Rong Nianbing delved deeper into his understanding of Douluo Continent, he discovered the emergence of generalized and specialized cultivation methods, which dispelled his initial concerns.
Origin Arts were faster than the original meditation techniques, but the generalized arts—or specialized methods tailored for specific soul masters—were even more efficient.
Thus, within the Douluo plane, soul masters cultivated those specialized arts, while in the external cosmos, they used Origin Arts to absorb outside energy.
In this way, Origin Arts actually alleviated pressure on the Douluo plane.
Currently, the armies in the Extreme North were absorbing abyssal energy to aid the plane. In the future, elite soul masters might travel the universe, absorbing foreign energy to nourish their home.
This model could allow the soul master civilization to grow without burdening the Douluo plane.
On the contrary, a stronger cultivation civilization might actually result in even more feedback for the planet.
Rong Nianbing looked at Su Yu with a new kind of awe.
This man wasn't just forging his own godhood—he was leading an entire civilization toward transformation.
The more he saw, the more Rong Nianbing realized how monstrous Su Yu truly was.
It wasn't just about life and death… he was even trying to seize the Authority of Wisdom.
"No!" Rong Nianbing suddenly jolted in realization.
That's not it!
"His goal isn't to dabble in the Authority of Wisdom—his true aim is to claim it entirely!"
Otherwise, why would the God of Destruction—who prioritized the development of the Divine Realm above all else—go so far as to clash with the Sea God, and even help sever the link to the lower world, just to allow Su Yu to ascend using abyssal energy?
Even with extreme talent, the God of Destruction would only train someone—not break the rules for them.
Unless… the value of nurturing this person outweighed the cost of breaking those rules.
"The Authority of Wisdom…"
Combined with the current development trajectory of the soul master world on Douluo—
Hiss...
Even as a divine consciousness, Rong Nianbing couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. The surrounding elemental energy surged.
"Senior, you've probably seen everything you wanted to see by now, haven't you?"
Su Yu's half-smiling tone made Rong Nianbing feel slightly awkward.
Everything—from the Origin Art to the generalized cultivation techniques—he had obtained directly through divine sense.
Technically speaking, this was theft.
But since Su Yu had made no move to stop him—even though it happened right in front of him—perhaps it couldn't really be called that.
Still, Rong Nianbing couldn't help but feel a bit awkward.
"This Origin Art would be immensely beneficial to my homeland as well," Rong Nianbing said seriously. "I'll remember this favor."
Strictly speaking, the plane he came from was also on the verge of decline. Due to the devastation wrought by wars in earlier eras, the plane no longer had the strength to evolve on its own.
Even though it constantly absorbed energy from the universe, it was barely enough to make up for the loss and consumption of its own internal energy.
But if they had Origin Art—
If the god-level beings from his world could begin to absorb external energy...
"You don't need to owe me a favor," Su Yu said flatly. "I've hit a bottleneck in my cultivation. I need to study the systems of various cultivation civilizations to deepen my understanding."
Cultivation systems?
Rong Nianbing had no issue with that.
He himself had mastered both Battle Qi and Magic from the Yangguang Continent, and was the only person there to cultivate both paths to the eighteenth tier.
"If possible, I'd like to visit your homeland someday," Su Yu added, "and experience the cultivation environment there firsthand."
But he shook his head as he said this.
What he truly needed wasn't just magic and battle qi techniques.
The cultivation systems of different civilizations often varied drastically—and the root of this was that each plane had different foundational laws. Just like how Douluo Continent had the unique martial soul system, which made cultivation much easier.
It was the underlying rules of each plane—its cultivation environment—that Su Yu truly wanted to experience.
"Visit my homeland?" Rong Nianbing frowned slightly.
That was the world he came from. Naturally, he wouldn't let just anyone enter.
In the Divine Realm, Rong Nianbing represented his home plane and had joined the godly council on its behalf. This granted him a unique status and considerable autonomy, due to both his strength and his diplomatic position.
Even now, the gods of the Divine Realm couldn't interfere with his homeland.
Unlike the Sea God, who freely meddled in Douluo's development and bestowed god trials on talented individuals, such interference was not tolerated in Yangguang Continent.
That plane had its own complete system.
If someone wished to become a god, they could naturally condense their own godhood.
Yes—Rong Nianbing's home world already had divine-level beings.
Its level of development was far beyond anything Douluo Continent could match.
If Su Yu were to visit that world now, at best he'd be considered a ninth-tier powerhouse—maybe tenth if he pushed himself to the limit, just as Rong Nianbing himself once had.
But make no mistake—there were plenty of beings in that world far stronger than Su Yu.
From that angle, there didn't seem to be any real risk in letting Su Yu visit.
Still… it was his homeland. Letting an outsider enter and "experience" it just felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Think of it from another angle," Su Yu said with a sincere smile. "I'm just a guest visiting your home—nothing more."
His intent wasn't hostile, and his words were genuine.
A plane capable of producing first-tier gods? That spoke volumes about its strength.
Rong Nianbing's home plane was likely one of the most powerful in the universe.
"I don't object," Rong Nianbing said after some thought. "But since the Divine Realm is currently severed from Douluo, my divine consciousness only made it here through my godhood's inherited space. I have no way to bring you to my world."
Su Yu smiled.
"There's no need for you to worry about that, senior. I have my own methods."
Since Rong Nianbing had no objections, then it wasn't a problem.
Traveling between planes? That wasn't even a real issue in Su Yu's eyes.
A glowing rune slowly floated beside Su Yu, its brilliance pulsing with dense spiritual light.
The character: "Spirit (灵)"!
"This is one of my runes," Su Yu explained. "I can embed part of my spiritual consciousness into it. Once it reaches your homeland, it'll act autonomously—allowing me to sense and understand its cultivation environment."
Rong Nianbing stared at the rune in shock.
"This is… your rune technique?"
After the initial astonishment, his eyes filled with admiration.
"I've heard the soul masters around here speak of the miraculous powers of your runes—but seeing it for myself is something else entirely."
Rong Nianbing had just scanned the surroundings with his divine sense.
He now understood quite a bit about the rune techniques.
Among the soul masters in the army, quite a few had practiced rune-based cultivation. Some were actively drawing runes, while others were using them in battle. From multiple angles, he had seen their practical uses.
But what left him truly puzzled were the tales he had heard from the soul masters—stories about Su Yu's runes with seemingly divine powers.
Rune techniques were indeed impressive—ingenious, even—but Rong Nianbing still hadn't grasped their essence.
That changed the moment he saw Su Yu's rune with his own eyes.
In that instant, the true profundity of rune cultivation was laid bare to him.
"To forge such a path… no wonder he's pursuing the Authority of Wisdom." Rong Nianbing silently marveled.
He turned his gaze back to the character floating beside Su Yu.
"This rune must be incredibly important to you, right?" Rong Nianbing hesitated, sensing the deep spiritual essence contained within the 'Ling' (Spirit) rune.
Surely, this was one of Su Yu's core runes?
He was just handing it over to him? Was he not worried that Rong Nianbing might damage it, or even try to claim it as his own?
After all, even if Su Yu had drawn it himself, it wasn't impossible for others to try and replicate or forcibly seize its structure.
That said—
The difficulty of doing so was astronomically high.
Su Yu's 'Spirit' rune had already begun to undergo a transformation. Its internal patterns were no longer static but were in a constant state of flux, interacting with the laws of the world. The structure shifted continuously, interweaving and morphing into something intangible and profound.
It was no longer a lifeless construct.
And because of that, pure imitation was futile.
"It's fine. It's just a rune," Su Yu said casually.
To him, runes were something he crafted himself—
They were formed from his insights, not built up from mere resources or external power.
In other words, he could always create another if he invested the necessary time and effort.
Rong Nianbing stared at Su Yu's composed demeanor.
Seeing that, he no longer hesitated and reached out to accept the 'Spirit' rune.
"Once I've bestowed the divine trial to Yuhao and this strand of consciousness returns to the Divine Realm, I'll make sure to deliver your rune into my homeland."
He gave Su Yu a deep look before his divine sense flowed back through Huo Yuhao's body and disappeared into the inheritance space once more.
"Xiao Yu, can we really trust this Rong Nianbing?" Electrolux asked, watching Su Yu send off his rune with visible concern.
"Elder Yi," Su Yu replied calmly, "I've used the power of Fate to divine his path. His godhood and his personal strength align well—but he isn't overly dependent on that godhood."
"You mean… he's absorbed the nature of his godhood to the point where he could separate from it and still retain the benefits of a deity?" Electrolux frowned, not quite understanding.
"No. What I mean is—
He only gained his godhood because his own strength reached that level.
In other words, his home plane is capable of producing first-tier gods."
Understanding finally dawned in Electrolux's eyes.
A civilization powerful enough to produce gods independently of the Divine Realm—being able to visit such a place and study its cultivation environment was indeed worth the cost of a rune.
Runes could always be drawn again.
And as long as Rong Nianbing proved trustworthy and delivered the rune as promised, the return on that investment would be immense.
Rong Nianbing bestowed the Divine Trial of the God of Emotion upon Huo Yuhao and conducted the first three trials within the inheritance space.
Calling them "trials" was a bit of a stretch—they were essentially gifts.
The Goddess of Life had already granted Yuhao a solid foundation, which made everything smoother.
"Alright, it's time for you to return."
With that, Rong Nianbing sent Huo Yuhao's consciousness back to the Douluo Continent, and his own divine sense withdrew into the Divine Realm.
He then retrieved the 'Spirit' (灵) rune and studied it carefully.
"What an ingenious rune technique..."
During his stay on Douluo Continent, Rong Nianbing had observed how the average soul masters used rune magic.
Most of it was template-based and mechanical, albeit impressive—bearing some similarities to magic.
But Su Yu's rune…
It was on a completely different level.
"This has potential for further development. It might one day reach the point where it can channel the Laws themselves… essentially, a prototype for a godhood."
As a practitioner of magic, even though the rune's structure shifted unpredictably, Rong Nianbing could still glean insights from it.
"This Su Yu… he truly is a genius.
Cycle of Life and Death… Wisdom… and even Spirit—he comprehends all of it so profoundly."
Each of these—on its own—was enough to qualify as the core heritage of a top-tier world's Chosen One.
Yet Su Yu had unraveled all of them.
It was… absurd.
"Senior, shall we begin?"
Su Yu's spiritual power emerged from within the rune, condensing into a spiritual projection.
"Huh? Your spiritual force hasn't even reached the divine consciousness level, yet you can already do this?" Rong Nianbing was surprised.
"It's the rune's effect," Su Yu explained simply.
"Alright then, I'll make the arrangements."
Rong Nianbing no longer tried to peer into the core structure of Su Yu's rune.
What he had already perceived was more than enough.
If he continued to probe deeper, he feared he might become lost in it.
The rune's shifting patterns weren't merely expressions of its structure—they were interwoven with universal laws.
To delve deeper was to directly confront the laws themselves… a dangerous move that could entangle one's consciousness in a loop of cosmic understanding.
With that thought, Rong Nianbing opened a portal and stepped through.
He cast the 'Spirit' rune into a remote corner of the Yangguang Continent, while he himself continued on to the Divine Continent.
(End of Chapter)