The Abyssal Tide came swiftly and receded just as swiftly.
Unlike any recorded Abyssal Tide before, this one ended in a crushing defeat for the Abyssal side, with even the Abyssal Sage King suffering heavy losses. In contrast, the human Spirit Masters devoured the power of two Abyssal Emperors.
Su Ming, the newly appointed Blood Two, had demonstrated the power to turn the tide of battle within mere days of joining the legion.
Countless legion soldiers wept with joy.
If before they had persevered guarding the Abyss solely on willpower, now they had hope. From now on, their perseverance wouldn't rely on empty resolve alone, but on genuine hope!
So, human Spirit Masters truly could withstand the Abyssal assault and even stop the losses.
After the Abyssal army withdrew, Su Ming also completed his Nirvana.
Now, the seven Spirit Rings outside his body had changed slightly from before.
Black, Black, Black.
These three were bestowed upon Su Ming by The Light Sphere, and were still at the ten-thousand-year level, just shy of the hundred-thousand-year mark.
Red, Red, Red.
Bestowed by Hun Dun, Chunqiu, and Hun Yan respectively.
The seventh Spirit Ring, which was red when Su Ming's phantom first formed, had now turned into a black-gold color. It wasn't gold as a base, but black as a base. Within the pitch-black, abyss-like Spirit Ring, faint golden light seemed to flicker.
The seven great Spirit Rings pulsed rhythmically beneath Su Ming's feet, displaying a unique charm.
"Now my Martial Soul has completely evolved. It can now be considered Energy Control."
Su Ming revealed a smile.
The portion of abyssal energy within his body now bore a true mark belonging to him—the mark of his Martial Soul. This was also a result of the Douluo Plane's laws in operation.
Every Spirit Master's Martial Soul possesses its own unique mark.
This mark holds a considerable level of priority.
At least for now, even if Su Ming removed the Sea God's divine rank suppression, he wouldn't have to worry about the Abyssal Sage King reclaiming this portion of abyssal energy from within him.
Before his death, this power belonged to him.
Of course, achieving this step presupposed that the abyssal energy within him had been refined, not merely marked.
The Abyssal Sage King's level was far higher than Su Ming's. He had simply dispersed the source code within all the blank abyssal energy. Compared to Su Ming's Martial Soul mark, this source code was undoubtedly stronger. Su Ming's ability to fully control the abyssal energy still relied on the insights he had derived through his own analyzing.
These insights, together with his mark, wrested control of this portion of energy from the Abyssal Sage King's grasp.
Just as Su Ming fully revived, the Abyssal Sage King also sensed the change in his lost power, his expression turning ugly.
"This Su Ming... is fighting me for control of the Abyss?"
He felt both shock and fury.
He had always been the one plundering others. This was the first time someone had plundered him.
"Just because you have the Sea God backing you from the shadows? Without the Sea God, what are you!"
The Abyssal Sage King vented his rage wildly. He looked towards the two layers that had collapsed after the deaths of the Ba Emperor and the Charm Emperor.
Su Ming had only absorbed the core, not devoured all the power.
For each layer of the Abyss, an Emperor could control everything within it, but the portion that truly formed their main body constituted less than one percent of a layer's total energy. For weaker Emperors, it might not even be one-thousandth.
The Abyssal Sage King snorted coldly, reclaiming the energy from the two shattered layers that was scattered everywhere. He glanced at the Emperors of the lower layers and selected the subordinate Emperors of the Ba Emperor and Charm Emperor, pouring the energy into them.
"So it seems this is the contingency left behind after the God Realm's disappearance. They've even handed control of the Sea God faith to an outsider. There's probably one final trump card left, something that could threaten me if I were lured into the Douluo Planet."
The Abyssal Sage King's gaze was deep and contemplative as he pondered how to exhaust the contingency plan left by the Sea God.
"Su Ming, can the method you used to devour abyssal energy be shared?"
Cao Dezhi was the first to approach Su Ming after the battle ended to inquire about the situation.
He observed that Su Ming's absorption of abyssal energy didn't seem to involve any special secret technique.
"The key to devouring the Abyss lies in the Sea God's divine rank. I've gained the Sea God's approval and control his faith. I can use the Sea God's rank to suppress the Abyssal Sage King's power. You can't do that," Su Ming explained.
It was actually related to faith?
If Su Ming hadn't explained, Cao Dezhi would have thought the Sea God faith was solely for invoking the deity.
Thinking of this, a look of reminiscence appeared on his face.
The feeling of the faith descending upon him, elevating his Spirit Power to the divine level, had been too wondrous. He was savoring the memory.
Seeing this, Su Ming offered a kind reminder.
"Unless you plan to walk the path of a deity, you should forget the feeling from today. The elevation granted by faith is illusory. The more you dwell on that feeling, the harder it will be for you to genuinely break through to divine power."
Faith is a product of sentient will, a power with strong elements of fantasy.
Divine power is something that transforms only after being tempered by the laws.
Divine power bestowed by faith is a castle in the air. Over-immersion in it can cause genuine disdain from the true laws.
Unless one walks the path of faith, inherits a God Seat, and relies on the law tempering contained within the God Seat's authority to resolve this flaw.
Cao Dezhi was jolted awake.
He looked at Su Ming, shock flashing in his eyes.
Su Ming had such profound understanding of the god-level?
"I am enlightened."
"Then, if others have faith, can they use your method to absorb abyssal energy?" Zhang Huanyun asked.
"They could, but I don't recommend it. After all, it's snatching food from a tiger's mouth. If the source of faith isn't strong enough to suppress it... The reason the Sea God can suppress the Abyssal Sage King is also that the power he left on Douluo Planet is sufficiently strong, not just because his rank is high."
In essence, what Su Ming borrowed was the power of the Lord of the Plane; it just happened to be the portion belonging to the Sea God.
But he couldn't state this explicitly, so he merely reminded Zhang Huanyun this way.
He could sense that this legion commander also harbored a faint trace of faith—very little, but it was indeed present.
He was the military god of the Blood God Legion, deeply beloved; having faith was not surprising.
Zhang Huanyun felt regret.
It seemed he couldn't absorb it after all.
Seeing that the two had given up on questioning the method to absorb abyssal energy, Su Ming instead changed the subject.
"However, it's not entirely impossible for you to absorb abyssal energy."
"How so?" the two asked in unison.
"Set up a grand formation that provides the protection of the Sea God's rank indiscriminately over an area. That way, as long as the Spirit Master absorbing the abyssal energy is within the formation's protected zone, there's no need to worry about the Abyssal Sage King reclaiming the power."
"Of course, this would mean being stationed here permanently from then on, until the Abyss is destroyed."
Su Ming's words plunged the two into contemplation.
They were both somewhat tempted.
Even though Su Ming explicitly stated they would be trapped here forever, they were willing.
"Can your method be used to absorb Spirit Rings from Abyssal creatures?"
"Yes, but that would also require the grand formation's assistance."
The two showed delight.
This gave them a foundation to rely on.
"By the way, a grand formation of this level isn't easy to construct. It requires a core, preferably a divine artifact capable of containing, or even autonomously absorbing, Sea God faith."
Divine artifact?
Absorb Sea God faith?
Zhang Huanyun and Cao Dezhi exchanged a glance.
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