Chapter 413: The Terrified Fierce Beasts
There was no denying it soul beasts living on Douluo Continent were tragically unfortunate. With the Divine Realm suppressing them from above, they would never be able to rise up. In the end, they could only meet a hopeless demise under the heavenly tribulations.
The soul master system had always been a one sided exploitative structure. By harvesting the essence of soul beasts the soul rings formed after their death humans could gain their talents, enhance themselves, and continuously grow stronger. The Divine Realm had altered the world's rules to facilitate the birth of soul rings, forcing soul beasts to sacrifice everything to nurture talent for the Divine Realm.
Although Ye Cheng's creation of the Divine Ring Master system had a higher ceiling, it was not without its drawbacks. The main issue was that one could only rely on themselves there was no longer a shortcut to improving one's talent by hunting soul beasts and absorbing their innate gifts through soul rings.
A soul master with poor talent could, by fusing with a highly compatible soul ring, undergo a transformation and turn from a weakling into a genius by inheriting the essence of a powerful soul beast. Divine Ring Masters, however, had no such shortcut.
That being said, Divine Ring Masters could compensate by using medicinal pills, rare treasures, and unique cultivation methods to improve themselves. In the grand scheme of things, soul masters who relied on hunting soul beasts could never compare to Divine Ring Masters, who forged their own rings.
After all, not everyone was like Huo Yuhao, obtaining the sacrifice of a million year soul beast for his first soul ring and stumbling into endless fortunate encounters thereafter. The vast majority of people could only absorb ordinary soul rings, making the path of forging one's own rings the true, bright road with unlimited potential.
Seeing the admiration in Di Tian and the other fierce beasts' eyes as they longed for this world, Ye Cheng smiled with satisfaction and said, "I already understand your intentions, and I can give you what you seek. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If you want something, you must offer something in return."
Rather than feeling disappointed, Di Tian and the others actually breathed a sigh of relief. There was no such thing as unconditional goodwill in this world. If Ye Cheng had simply handed over what they wanted without any demands, they would have been suspicious and uneasy.
But what could a figure like him possibly need them to do? Was he asking them to revive him? The thought left Di Tian and the others puzzled.
"Although I have fallen to this state, I am not completely ignorant of the outside world," Ye Cheng said. "Your world, just like ours, will soon face an Abyss invasion. I need you to cooperate with humans and resist the Abyss together!"
"…That's it?"
Hearing this, Di Tian and the others let out a sigh of relief. The information from the videos had been sparse, so they had no clear understanding of how terrifying the Abyss truly was. While the videos mentioned Ye Cheng perishing alongside an Abyssal Lord, that referred to his world, not theirs. Based on the strength the Abyss had displayed in their own world, it didn't seem like an unstoppable catastrophe. Their ignorance made them fearless they did not perceive the Abyss as a great threat.
"Just that?"
Noticing their dismissive attitude, Ye Cheng's voice turned cold. "Don't think that what you saw in the videos represents the full power of the Abyss. What you saw were nothing more than low level grunts, not even worthy of being called pawns. You have no idea how terrifying the Abyss truly is!"
The moment he finished speaking, the world around Di Tian and the others abruptly changed. Suddenly, they were observing the dream world from a macro perspective.
RUMBLE…!!!!
The once clear and beautiful sky, filled with white clouds, was now covered in a sinister mass of black gray and blood red demonic clouds.
Darkness loomed over the world, and scarlet lightning flickered wildly within the storm. Amidst the sea of crimson lightning, the most eye catching sight was a massive rift in space.
This space rift had suddenly appeared at the center of the ominous clouds. It expanded slowly, growing wider and wider, like a colossal, world devouring beast opening its jagged maw to consume everything.
A chaotic, malevolent, and corrupting aura seeped out of the spatial rift, rapidly infiltrating this world.
"This is the scene of the Abyss's arrival, taken from my memory. Take a good look," Ye Cheng's voice echoed in Di Tian and the others' ears.
By some unknown means, he allowed them to view the entire event from a god's eye perspective, witnessing the world's transformation in real time.
As the Abyss descended, the continent trembled, the land boiled, and a powerful, sinister force swept through the world, silently yet rapidly corroding and consuming everything.
Di Tian and the other fierce beasts could see it all clearly the entire world was changing due to the Abyss's invasion.
Suddenly, the vast rift in the sky released beams of deep red light. The dark crimson glow bathed the entire world in a blood like hue.
And within that red glow, Di Tian and the others could see them those grotesque, humanoid shaped, nightmarishly deformed Abyssal Demons!
This was completely different from watching a recorded video. Now that they were inside Ye Cheng's memory world, Di Tian and the others could feel the sheer terror exuded by the Abyssal Demons, their eerie nature, and their perverse hunger for invasion.
As soon as they descended upon the world, these demons began indiscriminately attacking all living creatures, devouring and assimilating everything in their path.
Di Tian and the others shuddered uncontrollably.
Was this… truly the fate awaiting their world?
Reflecting on their previous dismissive attitude toward the Abyss, Di Tian and the others now wished they could travel back in time and slap themselves. What kind of nonsense had they been spouting? How could they have taken such a horror so lightly?!
How arrogant had they been?!
"SKREEEEEE !!!"
Suddenly, the world shifted once again.
With a monstrous shriek, two enormous, clawed hands emerged on either side of the rift, viciously tearing it open.
Di Tian and the others instinctively widened their eyes and gasped in shock.
A massive, grotesque head covered in countless sharp horns forced its way through the widening crack. Its horrifying, abyssal gaze locked onto them, as if staring into the entire cosmos. The endless darkness within its eyes seemed capable of swallowing souls whole.
If not for the fact that this was merely a memory simulation, Di Tian and the others would have likely had their souls shattered or been instantly corrupted into Abyssal Demons.
"…This must be the strongest of them," one of the fierce beasts muttered in awe.
The others instinctively nodded.
Even without mentioning its terrifying presence, just its sheer size was enough to terrify them. The head alone was as large as half of Douluo Star. If its full body emerged… wouldn't Douluo Star be nothing more than a plaything to it?
"The strongest?"
Ye Cheng's voice was laced with mockery. "If only that were the case. Unfortunately for you, what you're looking at is just one of many Abyssal Lords, merely ruling a single layer of the Abyss."
"There are countless Abyssal Lords like this!
"Now, do you still think resisting the Abyss is an easy task?"
Di Tian and the others stood frozen in absolute horror.
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