Chapter 265: The Abyssal Plane
In the core of the Star Dou Forest, the expansion of the Lake of Life suddenly halted.
The once-crystal waters turned faintly red, and the newly sprouted spirit grasses along the shore withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even the life energy saturating the air began to reverse its flow, converging violently toward the lake's center.
"What's happening?"
Di Tian roared and poured soul power into the Spirit Land Contract, but the once-bright green light had dimmed to near darkness, as though something was blocking it.
Gu Yuena's face turned icy. Her divine sense surged outward like a tidal wave, instantly locking onto the source of the disturbance.
At the bottom of the Lake of Life, a pitch-black rift was slowly widening. From within, countless shadowy tendrils coiled outward, greedily devouring the lake's essence.
Gu Yuena's eyes narrowed. This made no sense—she had placed powerful barriers and spatial seals beneath the lake.
By all rights, no force should be able to breach them. But allowing this to continue would bring disaster.
If the process went unchecked, the Lake of Life would be torn apart, crippling the entire soul beast race.
She unleashed her full divine power, immediately sensing the nauseating aura. Then she realized its origin.
"It's the aura of the Abyssal Plane."
Her cold voice split the air as she raised her hand, forming a blade of silver light and slicing down toward the rift.
"Zzzraaa!"
The light blade struck the shadows—the contact released a piercing shriek. Though many were severed, they reformed instantly, even more frenzied than before.
Bi Ji stepped forward, her overwhelming life power forming a verdant barrier to halt the encroaching darkness. "They're devouring the very essence of life! If this keeps up, the Lake of Life will be drained dry!"
Before her words could fade, a low growl thundered from within the rift.
A massive skeletal claw, covered in jagged bone spikes, burst through and slammed onto the lake's surface.
The entire core region quaked violently. The expansion of the lake reversed completely as the waters drained away, exposing its cracked bottom.
From the rift crawled a monstrous abomination—its body an amalgamation of writhing shadows, its face disturbingly human, eyes gleaming with a predatory red light.
"The Abyssal Plane?"
Di Tian recognized it immediately. His expression darkened. "How dare they breach the plane barrier?"
"It seems they haven't noticed my presence," Gu Yuena said coldly. "If they had, not even ten Abyssal Kings would have dared touch the Star Dou Forest."
Her silver eyes glinted with murderous calm.
The Abyssal Plane was powerful—but still only of semi-divine rank.
Though it had produced a few deity-level beings, its dimension was far too weak to give birth to anyone near half-step God King level.
This rift, she realized, was probably the result of a resonance—an aftereffect caused by the Spirit Land Contract. The sudden expansion of the Lake of Life's power must have drawn the Abyss's attention.
At once, Gu Yuena's hands moved through a series of intricate seals.
A surge of elemental power erupted from her palms, annihilating every Abyssal creature that had emerged.
Soon after, her mastery of space compressed reality around the rift, forcing it shut at incredible speed.
In moments, the fissure was gone and stability began to return to the lake.
Gu Yuena quickly severed all links between this space and the outside world, ensuring that not a trace of the lake's essence could leak into the Abyssal Plane.
"My Lady—what's happening?" Bi Ji asked, her voice tight with confusion. "How could the Abyssal Plane suddenly attack the Douluo Plane? They shouldn't have the power to break through its barrier!"
It was true. They inspected the space beneath the Lake of Life regularly. If the Abyss had planned something long-term, they would have noticed.
Gu Yuena's violet gaze lifted toward the distance—toward Shrek Academy.
It was becoming clear: the upgrade of the Golden Tree had triggered a disturbance in the very essence of the Douluo Plane.
That fluctuation of origin energy had drawn the attention of the Abyss. Seizing the moment, they'd broken space and sought to steal the energy for themselves.
Di Tian followed her gaze, and the truth dawned on him as well.
Then Bi Ji gasped. "There's an Abyssal energy signature coming from Shrek Academy too!"
Could it be—the Abyss wasn't just attacking the soul beasts, but Shrek itself?
"Should we intervene—eliminate the Abyssal creatures before they cause more damage?" Bi Ji asked, her eyes flashing fiercely.
If the Abyss absorbed too much of the plane's energy, all cultivation on the Douluo Continent would deteriorate.
Worse, the arrival of such a hostile plane endangered the soul beast race itself.
Gu Yuena shook her head slightly. "No need. That Golden Tree will not allow the Abyss to consume its power."
Her tone was calm, her certainty absolute.
…
At Shrek Academy, Mu En and Xuan Zi stood beside the Golden Tree, monitoring every flicker of its energy fluctuations.
When a black rift tore open at the bottom of the Sea God Lake, both men turned sharply.
A malevolent aura surged outward, coiling around the Golden Tree's roots. Streams of power began siphoning away at an alarming rate.
The Golden Tree blazed suddenly, light flooding the entire Sea God Pavilion.
"What's going on? Stop them!"
Mu En's voice boomed like thunder.
His Holy Light Dragon martial soul ignited in response, merging with the Golden Tree's essence. For an instant, his strength soared to near divine level.
Waves of radiant energy burst forth, searing through the darkness and dissolving the invading Abyssal remnants.
The elders of the Sea God Pavilion all joined the effort, eyes wide with disbelief as they unleashed their powers to block the intruding forces.
But the flow of energy from the fissure did not stop—it only intensified.
They could do nothing but watch as the Golden Tree's light weakened, its energy continuously drawn into the rift.
"This is bad! Why did a spatial crack just appear here? Could another world be attacking our Shrek Academy?" shouted Xuan Zi, his face pale.
Judging by the strange aura emanating from the rift, they knew beyond doubt—it led to another, powerful plane altogether.
But why attack here?
It was clear that the monsters had come not for destruction but to devour the Golden Tree's energy.
"What do we do now? We can't close the rift! Are we just going to stand here and watch this happen?"
Mu En's heart pounded in desperation. He closed his eyes and reached out through his spirit, trying to communicate directly with the Golden Tree.
(END CHAPTER)
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