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The Golden Dragon King is sealed in the Divine Realm. It is absolutely impossible for him to break the seal on his own.
Moreover, the seal itself is a secret of the Divine Realm.
Yet now, something unexpected has happened.
According to the information passed on by the God of Life, a god-king-level powerhouse has entered the surrounding star region, exerting a subtle but undeniable pressure on the Douluo Divine Realm.
In addition, the Golden Dragon King's unexpected breach of the seal has already consumed much of the energy of both the God of Destruction and Tang San.
To reseal him, a great battle is inevitable.
And in the midst of such a battle, the Divine Realm is bound to fall into turmoil. One day in the Divine Realm equals a year in the lower realms, and no one can be certain how long the battle will last.
What's even more concerning is the presence of that mysterious god-king-level figure.
"The Golden Dragon King breaking the seal is both a blessing and a curse."
Su Yu pondered the situation and decided to inform Gu Yuena of the news.
No matter who orchestrated the event or what led to the Golden Dragon King's escape, a war between him and the Divine Realm was certain. After the war, the Golden Dragon King would either be sealed once more or left seriously injured.
This might be Gu Yuena's chance to devour the Golden Dragon King.
"I wonder how much strength Gu Yuena has recovered by now," Su Yu thought, uncertain about her current power.
Almost a year had passed since Gu Yuena entered the Dragon Tomb to focus solely on cultivation. Her strength should have increased significantly by now.
She probably hasn't had time to equip a set of Super Mecha Armor, though it likely wouldn't enhance her strength that much anyway.
Su Yu, on the other hand, is different. With a weaker foundation, he needs external amplification to match the strength his realm demands.
"The God of Life still had time to send me a message, so things shouldn't be too bad."
Currently, while the Divine Realm appears to have only three god-kings, it could actually be counted as four. There's Rong Nianbing, who can match a god-king in power, and the exception of Tang San, who can temporarily channel the power of the God of Shura through Xiao Wu.
With Rong Nianbing and Xiao Wu in her special state, they could conservatively match the combat strength of one god-king.
At worst, if you include Oscar—who can replicate the God of Shura's power at what could be considered a "bug" level—they should be able to contend with even a stronger god-king.
Su Yu didn't rush to share the news about the Golden Dragon King with Gu Yuena and instead returned to Sun-Moon.
The Douluo Soul Master Tournament is only two months away from launching.
As for the tournament venue, it will be hosted across the entire Federation.
At Su Yu's request, the tournament is now divided into a youth group and a junior group—participants under twenty belong to the junior group, and those under thirty are in the youth group.
Additionally, all regions will have their own sub-venues, with a dedicated Soul Arena built specifically for the competition. Even during the tournament's off-season, these venues will host regular regional events.
Su Wen has ushered in the age of universal soul masters.
Motivational policies for soul master cultivation are gradually being integrated into all aspects of the Federation's policies.
Two months later, the official tournament will begin. Each provincial sub-venue will select sixteen teams. Then, the three major administrative regions—Sun-Moon, Heaven Dou, and Star Luo—will host second-tier competitions to pick eight teams each from their respective provinces.
The final showdown will be held in the previous championship team's home city, which this time is Sun-Moon.
The tournament system is complex and will require soul masters from all regions to travel frequently. The full competition schedule is expected to span six months!
A grand event held every five years—six months isn't too long.
Moreover, with the pressure of the competition stretched over half a year, and combined with academy training and experience gained during the matches, it is expected that participants will commonly advance by two levels during the event.
Of course, this only applies to those progressing steadily from start to finish.
Even soul masters stuck at a major bottleneck might break through, which adds even more excitement and unpredictability to the tournament.
Sun-Moon Hall.
Su Yu stood before the team selected by Sun-Moon Hall and was quite satisfied.
"Xiao Fan, level fifty-four. He's gone from level thirty-seven to fifty-four in five years—not bad at all."
Back during Su Yu's second tournament, the team included Xiao Ping—Xiao Fan's older brother. Su Yu had already met Xiao Fan back then; he had been part of the reserve team and had undergone an assessment arranged by Jing Hongchen.
Aside from Xiao Fan, Bai Feng also made it into the team, although only as the reserve team captain.
He had broken through to level forty-one.
Unfortunately, the main team members are currently all Soul Kings and junior-level Mecha Masters.
Among them, the strongest is Chu Yuan. His martial soul is the Demon-Breaking Halberd. He hails from Heaven Dou City and was recommended by the Sun-Moon Hall's Heaven Dou branch.
His soul power is an impressive level sixty-seven. Though not a soul engineer, he possesses mid-tier Mecha Armor and has fully adapted to its enhancements, allowing him to unleash strength on the level of a Soul Sage.
In addition to Chu Yuan, there are two other Soul Emperors, both level-six Soul Engineers with self-made mid-tier Mecha Armor, capable of contending with Soul Sages.
Such a configuration, back in Su Yu's time, would have been considered overwhelmingly powerful across millennia of history.
However, after experiencing the dominance of Su Yu's team in the previous tournament, no future lineup—no matter how powerful—can be considered excessive anymore.
Would you believe a team with Super Douluo-level combat strength?
And they were strong enough to go head-to-head with Super Douluo at level 97 or 98!
In fact, such a lineup wouldn't even be considered top-tier on the Douluo Continent.
If we're talking purely about soul power levels, the teams from the Body Sect and Shrek Academy this year actually surpass Sun-Moon Hall.
However, they might fall short when it comes to their Mecha Armor configurations.
All of them are equipped with armor, but the quality of their armor might not match that of the soul masters from Sun-Moon Hall.
Even among entry-level Mecha Armor, there are notable differences in quality.
Then there are the provincial teams from Star Luo and Heaven Dou, both of which have Soul Sage-level combatants. Sun-Moon also has a provincial team, likewise boasting Soul Sage-level strength.
It can be said that, thanks to Su Yu's generation setting the "benchmark," the standard of top-tier teams in today's Soul Master Tournaments has been significantly elevated.
Su Yu's influence in this regard cannot be overstated.
The Federation has only been established for a little over a year, and reforms are just beginning. Yet Su Yu's soul spirit cultivation system has already been public knowledge for nearly five years.
"This is the inevitable result of Sun-Moon Hall's transformation."
Sun-Moon Hall is just an institution. Though it organizes a team to participate in the Soul Master Tournament, the institution itself has been undergoing reforms—gradually transforming into a research institute.
Under such circumstances, whether or not Sun-Moon Hall takes first place isn't of great importance anymore.
In the current Douluo Continent, every soul master belongs to the Federation.
Whoever wins the championship simply adds to the political achievements of their provincial administration.
"Still," Su Yu mused silently, "for this year's and even the next tournament, leading Sun-Moon Hall to victory remains Bai Feng's mission."
As his disciple, if Bai Feng's team couldn't even win the Soul Master Tournament championship, it would indeed be hard to justify.
"Alright, all fourteen of you are here. Today, I'll take you to a secret realm."
Su Yu activated his spatial power, constructing a stable spatial tunnel.
Behind him, the team members stepped into the passage one by one, cautiously yet filled with awe at the miraculous spatial energy. Their admiration for Su Yu only grew deeper.
The God of Wisdom—truly all-powerful.
True Dragon Continent.
Su Yu appeared in a wilderness with fourteen figures in tow. He summoned his spatial power, and instantly, a massive rift opened in the air.
"Those below the Soul King level—enter. What fortune you obtain depends entirely on yourselves."
Seven of the fourteen stepped into the spatial rift and were transported to the Dragon Valley.
The remaining seven were members of the main team. Su Yu said to them, "Your soul power has already exceeded the threshold for entering the Dragon Valley, so you cannot go inside. However, I've prepared another opportunity for you. Wait here for now."
With that, his figure disappeared, heading deep into the Dragon Tomb.
"Has something happened in the Abyss?"
Seeing Su Yu arrive in person, Gu Yuena asked in surprise.
Su Yu had already informed her in advance about the seven young ones. Since he had now brought them here, it made sense to give her a heads-up. But she had been in the middle of cultivation.
The fact that he interrupted her during her training clearly meant something significant had happened in the Abyss.
"The Abyss isn't the problem. The issue lies in the Divine Realm."
"Oh?" A glimmer of light flashed through Gu Yuena's eyes. She looked at Su Yu with a mix of curiosity and anticipation. "What happened in the Divine Realm?"
"The Golden Dragon King has broken free of his seal. Right now, the three god-kings are joining forces to battle him."
Gu Yuena's heart surged with excitement.
This was, without a doubt, good news for her.
"You'll have a chance to devour the Golden Dragon King's essence and fuse it into the Dragon God's bloodline. But before that, you need to make sure you're strong enough to handle it."
Traveling to the Divine Realm wasn't a challenge anymore. Su Yu had already gained initial control over the Power of Time. Reaching the higher-dimensional Divine Realm was now within his capabilities.
Even without a formal summons from the Divine Realm, he could use his own strength to ascend into its dimension and enter it.
As for the dimensional plane where the Abyss resided, Su Yu was in the process of locking onto its coordinates. Once located, even if the Abyssal Lord didn't descend in person, Su Yu could still enter the Abyss directly and eliminate him at the source.
Of course, his strategy was to intercept the Abyssal Lord outside his native dimension—attacking from beyond the planar boundary rather than recklessly charging into the Abyss itself.
After all, entering a hostile plane to fight its ruler head-on would be an extremely unwise move.
The recent actions of the Crimson Domain made Su Yu suspect a connection to the Abyss. In his previous life, he had only known that the Abyssal Lord was a First-Rank God—by universal standards, that meant a half-step God King.
The master of the Crimson Domain's plane seemed to be of similar rank, yet still dared to wage war against the Douluo Divine Realm, suggesting at least some confidence in facing a God King.
And Su Yu knew the Abyssal Lord wasn't a fool.
Within the Abyss, his strength likely exceeded that of a First-Rank God, especially with the divine artifact Heavenly Saint Rift Abyss Halberd in play.
"The safest option is still to lure him in and kill him here."
In the Douluo Plane, the Abyssal Lord could only exert First-Rank God power. Likewise, the Douluo Plane's own master could unleash that same level of strength here. This gave the illusion that the two planes were equally matched.
In truth, there was a significant difference.
"How much of your power have you recovered?" Su Yu asked, explaining the cosmic power level classifications to Gu Yuena.
He now felt that universal power rankings made more sense—compared to the Divine Realm's hierarchy, they were more consistent and measurable.
"High God-tier, I think," Gu Yuena said after a moment of thought.
High God-tier?
Su Yu looked at her in surprise.
That meant... Second-Rank God?
That was fast.
Then again, considering she was formed from the body of the Dragon God—who was at least God King level in his prime—it actually made perfect sense.
"Mm. The Golden Dragon King will be severely wounded, but your current strength is still far from enough. It's best if you can power up before the three Divine Kings finish him off. Ideally, reach First-Rank God... maybe even your peak."
This transformation involved the essence of her bloodline. Su Yu believed it was best done at her full strength.
"My growth has already started slowing," Gu Yuena said with a complicated expression.
She had passed the rapid-recovery phase.
Without devouring the Abyss, reaching her peak would take a long time through conventional energy accumulation.
"But devouring the Abyss will have to wait another six months. The Golden Dragon King won't last that long."
Su Yu replied, "Still, I know of a plane with a ceiling at peak First-Rank God. You might recover faster there. And there are dragons, too—it could benefit you greatly."
Gu Yuena was stunned by Su Yu's experience.
He had already explored other planes?
And had even come into contact with the greater universe?
"How is it that Su Yu seems to be advancing even faster than me?" she wondered, astonished. "No wonder he still feels so unfathomable..."
With such experiences, Gu Yuena didn't believe for a second that Su Yu's strength had stagnated.
He was likely still on par with her.
Su Yu, unaware of her thoughts, began explaining the situation in the Yangguang Continent.
"Magic? Dou Qi?" Gu Yuena mused thoughtfully.
That magical system seemed oddly compatible with her abilities.
"If I'm to travel to the Yangguang Continent, I'll need to get Rong Nianbing's permission first."
She didn't need him to guide her—just his consent to enter.
"You can send me to another plane in such a short time?" she asked, surprised.
"I've made some progress recently," Su Yu said humbly.
"You should prepare yourself first. I'll go finish arranging opportunities for the rest of the team."
Exiting Dragon Valley, Su Yu constructed another spatial gateway—this one led directly to Phoenix Continent, to the valley where the Phoenix Clan's small world resided.
"This is the Phoenix Clan's sanctuary. I've already spoken with them—you may train here. The Nirvana Flame here is gentle and rich in energy, easily absorbed. All of you should gain something from this."
With that, Su Yu departed the Phoenix Realm.
Meanwhile, on the Phoenix Continent, faith in Su Yu as the Phoenix God had already taken root. With his ability, Su Yu could now easily condense a divine seat of corresponding power.
Phoenix God Su Yu—not Phoenix God Ma Hongjun.
This idea had come from Feng Tian, who once suggested Su Yu condense a new Phoenix God position on the Phoenix Continent.
Even if it bordered on stealing someone else's divine authority, Su Yu didn't mind—and he went ahead with it.
In the Phoenix Continent...
Feng Tian's figure appeared once more, taking up the role of Divine Envoy to the Phoenix God, fanning the flames of belief across the land and driving more followers to worship Su Yu.
"How do you plan to reach the Yangguang Continent?" Gu Yuena asked, curious about the new technique Su Yu had mastered.
Su Yu smiled slightly and waved his hand, sending out a ripple of temporal power.
Gu Yuena instantly felt herself being guided by a strange force—one that seemed to transcend dimensional barriers.
"You've already condensed a divine seat?" she asked in confusion.
(End of Chapter)