She currently wore a serious expression, and as soon as she caught sight of Tang Wulin, she said, "Let's go!"

Tang Wulin's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. Was she not going to provide an explanation for her prolonged absence?

In any case, this wasn't the time to be asking questions; time was of the essence!

Thus, the two of them emerged from the academy and arrived beside the Sea God's Lake. Tang Wulin turned to Ling Zichen, and said, "Please pardon me, I'm going to need to hold your hand from here."

Ling Zichen rolled her eyes in response. "What's the big deal? We've already hugged; holding hands is nothing." She offered a hand to Tang Wulin in a casual manner as she spoke.

Tang Wulin cleared his throat in an awkward manner as a resigned look appeared on his face.

He grabbed onto her hand, and soul power enveloped both of their bodies as they plunged into the Sea God's Lake together.

Soon, they arrived beside the secondary tree of life, and the very earth in the distance seemed to be tremoring as bursts of loud rumbling rang out in the distance.

The Limit Douluos had detected Tang Wulin's aura, and they quickly arrived on the scene.

The fact that Ling Zichen was with him was a clear indication that they had brought Eternal Heaven with them. Tang Wulin hurriedly asked, "What's the situation like?"

Cao Dezhi replied, "The situation is currently still quite stable. After some discussion, the control center has decided to constantly bombard the array. In doing so, we'll be expending a lot of artillery fire, but they'll also have to expend energy to maintain the array. At the moment, it doesn't look like the Blood River Godslayer Array is showing any signs of moving, and it doesn't seem to be sufficiently stable to be moving anywhere, either."

Tang Wulin was quite relieved to hear this. "That's good to hear. Let's go to the control center, Senior Cao. Zichen, you stay here for now; all of the other seniors will protect you, and we'll take you over to the control center later."

Even though Eternal Heaven had arrived, further planning was required to determine how to use it.

In the abyssal passageway.

Purplish-black light was surging incessantly above the giant altar, yet the figure standing at the very center of the altar had turned a purplish-golden color.

A terrifying aura was proliferating outward incessantly, and six people were seated around the altar. To be more accurate, these were six humanoid creatures, including the likes of the Black Sovereign, the Hornet Sovereign, and other rulers of the abyss.

Their auras were currently surging incessantly toward the altar between them, while Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor looked on with intensely frenetic eyes.

Ghost Emperor murmured to himself, "We're finally about to succeed! After so many years of careful planning, the end is finally near. You must be very excited, right, Old Man Ha? After Demon Sovereign succeeds, we'll be the next to attain godhood through slaughter."

Harosha nodded in response, and the look in his eyes was even more frenzied than that of Ghost Emperor. "I am indeed very excited. This is what we've been hoping for all along. If Demon Sovereign manages to succeed, we'll know that the path we've been pursuing is the correct one, and it'll be worth everything that we've given to the abyssal plane."

That's right, a deal had been struck between the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane.

The Holy Spirit Cult naturally hadn't agreed to open up a new passageway for the abyssal plane free of charge.

For them, the ultimate objective was to complete the Blood River Godslayer Array, but due to how heinous a creation it was, the heavens itself would attempt to strike down the array countless times during its creation.

Only with the protection of many powerful beings could the array be successfully created, so the agreement between the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane was that in exchange for opening up a new abyssal passageway, the abyssal plane had to lend the Holy Spirit Cult sufficient assistance to complete the Blood River Godslayer Array.

This was a mutually beneficial deal for both sides. The abyssal plane wanted life energy, while the Holy Spirit Cult wanted death energy, so there was no conflict of interest.

The Holy Spirit Cult had calculated that even though it would cost them greatly to open a new abyssal passageway, the assistance they would receive from the abyssal plane would more than make up for that.

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit Cult could use the abyssal army to create more widespread slaughter, thereby generating more death energy that they could absorb while concealed in the shadows, enhancing themselves while taking minimal risk.

Of course, the most important benefit that the Holy Spirit Cult could derive from this deal was the creation of the Blood River Godslayer Array. This was a path for Evil Soul Masters to attain godhood that had been discovered after countless generations of research by the Holy Spirit Cult.

If they couldn't abide by the natural order to climb their way to the top, then they would just have to defy the natural order and walk the path of evil to its very conclusion.

If they could successfully create a god on the back of 10,000,000 sacrifices, then the god created would be the ultimate God of Evil.

If the Douluo Plane were still under the protection of a Divine Realm, then this would be nothing more than a suicidal pursuit, but with the Divine Realm gone, new possibilities arose, including the possibility to create another Divine Realm.

Thus, following a discussion with the abyssal plane, a plan was established. The Holy Spirit Cult made the first show of sincerity by helping the abyssal plane open up a new passageway, but in exchange, the abyssal plane had to help them complete the Blood River Godslayer Array.

Of course, they didn't tell the abyssal plane that this array was meant to create a god; they had merely told the abyssal plane that the array possessed incredible defensive properties that would minimize casualties on their side.

Once Demon Sovereign attained godhood, Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor would follow, and with a God of Evil already in existence, it would be far easier to create the Blood River Godslayer Array again. The Holy Lord was restricted by this plane, so there was virtually no way that he could descend upon the Douluo Continent. As such, even if the abyssal army were displeased by the Holy Spirit Cult's deception, they wouldn't be able to do anything in the face of a God of Evil. At the end of the day, the Holy Spirit Cult would be in complete control, and judging from how things had progressed thus far, the abyssal plane was a very trustworthy partner in crime.

After a few quasigod level sovereigns descended upon this plane, they immediately assisted Demon Sovereign in completing the array.

This was why Tang Wulin and A'Ruheng had only seen powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult, but none from the abyssal plane earlier.

Enveloped within the purplish-golden light, the true appearance of Demon Sovereign had been revealed.

She was a stunning woman who appeared to be in her thirties, and both her figure and looks were impeccable.

At the center of her forehead was a purplish-golden crystal that was radiating scintillating light, and even though there weren't any soul rings around her, her aura was elevating at an astonishing rate.

Layers of rippling light occasionally appeared over the surface of her skin, and even though the constant bombing was still continuing outside, the Blood River Godslayer Array remained completely resolute.

A terrifying aura swirled through the air, constantly stacking on top of itself layer upon layer to create an explosive effect, but this had no bearing on the abyssal creatures inside.

The Black Sovereign slowly opened her eyes as she sat beside the altar, revealing a pair of gleaming eyes that resembled black gems. She took a glance up at Demon Sovereign, and a barely detectable cold smile appeared on her face.

She then closed her eyes again and focused on injecting her abyssal energy into the array.

...... 

At the control center.

"I suggest we initiate the bombing right away." 

There were only four people in the control center, namely Chen Xinjie, Yu Guanzhi, Tang Wulin, and Cao Dezhi, and the one who had spoken was Tang Wulin.

"If this Blood River Godslayer Array could move, then it would be like a mobile fortress, and it would've attacked us long ago. The fact that it still hasn't moved indicates that there are several possible scenarios. Perhaps the Blood River Godslayer Array still hasn't fully taken shape, perhaps the array has already accumulated enough power to elevate its overseer to godhood, or perhaps there are more powerful abyssal creatures that have yet to arrive on our continent. Regardless, it's in our best interest to take care of the array as soon as possible."

Yu Guanzhi nodded in agreement. "I concur."

"As do I," Chen Xinjie chimed in, "The issue now is how we're going to use Eternal Heaven. Due to the special nature of godslayer missiles, they affect everything around them, and all powerful beings at or above a certain level will be able to detect it. If it does get discovered, I'm worried that the abyssal creatures will intercept it in mid-air in a kamikaze attack, thereby preventing the full extent of Eternal Heaven's power from reaching the Blood River Godslayer Array."

Tang Wulin said, "That is indeed a possibility, and that's why I've brought the head researcher of the Tang Sect with me. She says that she's confident in her ability to maximize Eternal Heaven's power; how about we invite her to discuss this matter with us?"

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