Hagen City, Tian Shui City.
This was the city closest to the Far North.
In the air, the faint, lingering scent of blood still remained, mixed with the recently repaired and reinforced broken pass.
Clearly, this border city, originally meant to resist beast tides, had not long ago defended against a major external assault—and this so-called external assault was most likely the erosion from the Abyss in the Far North.
However, the Abyss army's offensive had evidently been repelled.
Otherwise, given the temperament of Abyss creatures, there would not be a single living person left here.
At this moment, around a round, disk-shaped stone table.
Three factions were seated.
The Spirit Hall faction led by Qian Daoliu, the Star Dou Great Forest faction led by Bi Ji and Bear Lord, and the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect faction led by Ning Fengzhi.
Good grief—because the Abyss was invading the continent, they had even pulled in the soul beasts from the Star Dou Great Forest.
Apart from the faction leaders sitting here for the meeting.
Ning Rongrong could sense many Title Douluo-level auras.
Within Tian Shui City, the three factions combined actually had as many as twenty-five individuals who had reached the Title Douluo realm.
On the way back, Ning Rongrong had learned from Ning Fengzhi.
Just from the Spirit Hall side in Tian Shui City, they had mobilized four worshippers from the Worship Hall including Qian Daoliu, plus six ordinary Title Douluo.
On the Star Dou Great Forest side, it wasn't entirely people from the Star Dou Great Forest—there were also ten-thousand-year soul beasts from the Far North that originally belonged to the Ice and Snow Emperors. Including Bi Ji and Bear Lord, they totaled ten as well.
Ning Fengzhi's side was relatively fewer, only five people.
Ning Fengzhi and Sword Bone—two Title Douluo—plus Shui Cangyue who had just reached Rank 93, and Dugu Yan, the strategic nuclear weapon at Rank 95.
In other words: Spirit Hall ten people, Star Dou Great Forest ten people, Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect five people.
Although it looked like the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had sent the fewest people…
Ning Fengzhi had brought even his personal bodyguards along—this showed just how seriously he was taking it.
Ning Rongrong had also roughly grasped some related intelligence, though time had been too short after all.
She looked toward the faction leaders seated on both sides of the round table.
Ning Rongrong gave a light cough:
"I am Ning Rongrong of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Since I'm already acquainted with everyone here, I won't introduce myself further. Let's begin the meeting!"
How could they not be acquainted? Whether it was Qian Daoliu or Bi Ji, they had met more than once.
The circle of major powers was small—people saw each other almost every day.
Qian Daoliu nodded and spoke first: "It has already been half a year since the Abyss forces appeared and we reached this standoff."
"Thanks to the full cooperation of all parties, we have done our utmost to suppress the Abyss forces within the Far North, preventing them from ravaging the entire Douluo Continent."
"But that alone is not enough. Since everyone here is on our side, I'll speak plainly."
"According to what the original overlord of the Far North, Xue Di, revealed, the Wind and Snow Valley connects to the Abyss plane. Combined with the information we have scouted recently—"
"The enemy is very strong—terrifyingly strong."
"In the entire Abyss plane, the number of existences that have reached Title Douluo level—or the equivalent of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts—exceeds one hundred."
"Among them is the Abyss Holy Lord, the ruler of the Abyss, who is rumored to have already reached god level."
"Even Xue Di, a fellow deity, was severely wounded by the Abyss Holy Lord. She is now recovering in the Star Dou Great Forest. I believe everyone here is aware of this, so I won't go into detail."
"We must find a way to close the passage to the Abyss plane. Otherwise, once the god-level Abyss Holy Lord descends, we will have no means to resist."
"I heard that people from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect took out the Spirit Emperor and Sickle Emperor. Is that true?"
The one speaking was Bear Lord. After his previous defeat, he had gone into seclusion to reflect, and now he had emerged once more. When it came to dealing with evil forces from outside the Douluo world, Bear Lord felt it was his duty.
"Mm, we took them out by surprise. There should still be five quasi-god powerhouses on their side," Ning Rongrong replied, meeting Bear Lord's gaze with a nod.
Currently, aside from the vast numbers of Abyss creatures in the Far North, there were five quasi-god-level Abyss Lord projections—all at the Limit Douluo quasi-god level, roughly equivalent to soul beasts over 700,000 years old.
But because they were merely projections, their strength was significantly weaker than true quasi-gods.
"As expected of a human even Di Tian acknowledges. You are very strong," Bear Lord said as he sized up Ning Rongrong. This was not their first meeting—last time in the Star Dou Great Forest… well, never mind, that had been an accident.
But to single-handedly deal with both the Spirit Emperor and Sickle Emperor—that was extremely terrifying.
Even Bear Lord did not think he could do the same.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect not only possessed a martial soul fusion skill capable of unleashing god-level power, but also had Ning Rongrong—a human even Di Tian had to be wary of.
"Wait—you said five quasi-god projections?" Qian Daoliu's sudden voice cut in, carrying a trace of urgency. "Aside from those five, there are no others?"
"Uh… I don't quite understand what you mean," Ning Rongrong said, looking puzzled.
"My perception is enough to cover the entire Far North. Even a Limit Douluo quasi-god would be impossible to hide from me. Indeed, there are only five."
"Hiss—"
Forget Qian Daoliu for a moment—Ning Rongrong's words caused everyone present, including the Title Douluo of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, to suck in a breath of cold air.
One must know that even a Limit Douluo's perception range was not particularly large (reference to the original work: Tang San's perception range as a Title Douluo was 1,500 meters).
To cover the entire Far North—what kind of terrifying perception was that?
"Young Sect Master Ning, could it be… you have become a god?" The speaker was Qing Luan Douluo, the third worshipper of the Spirit Hall Worship Hall, standing beside Qian Daoliu. He had only recently reached Rank 98.
But at this moment, he was trembling slightly, his voice filled with indescribable shock.
"I am not a god; my cultivation method is simply a bit special."
"However, if it's someone like the previous Spirit Emperor and Sickle Emperor, killing them would only take a little extra effort."
"Hiss!"
Just a little extra effort?
In the hall, the sound of people sucking in cold air rang out once again.
Over the past six months, the many powerhouses present had clashed with the Abyss several times.
The strongest among them were the Sickle Emperor and Spirit Emperor who had descended with their true bodies—especially the Spirit Emperor, whose mental attacks were bizarre to the extreme. One could even call him a god among men: he could heal, fight, and stack buffs for his teammates—completely outrageous.
If not for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and Ning Fengzhi at Rank 98 stacking buffs, they might not have even been able to drive the enemy back to the Far North.
Of course, the martial soul fusion skill of Ning Fengzhi's trio was very powerful.
But they simply couldn't hit anyone.
The Spirit Emperor was extremely wary of martial soul fusion skills. Combined with his formidable soul strength, he could detect the lengthy preparation phase of the Spirit Hall fusion skill before it was cast.
Thus, after repeated kiting, plus Dugu Yan's city-slaughtering-style mowing down of enemies, and the large number of soul tools from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, they had barely managed to suppress the Abyss creatures.
However, there was one detail that Qian Daoliu had noticed.
That was… it wasn't just the Spirit Emperor and Sickle Emperor who had descended with their true bodies into the Douluo plane.
There was one with extremely formidable strength, yet who rarely participated in battle.
The flaw and pattern in the preparation phase of the martial soul fusion skill had also been told to the Spirit Emperor by him.
Otherwise, perhaps during the first Abyss siege, they might have taken out either the Spirit Emperor or Sickle Emperor in one go—instead of letting them slip away so easily.
"Senior Qian Daoliu, are you saying there might be three true bodies that have descended from the Abyss plane?" Ning Rongrong asked, a trace of surprise appearing on her face as she listened to Qian Daoliu's explanation.
"Correct. From our perspective, he should be something like a military strategist."
"He has basically never participated in combat, but his strength is likely also at the quasi-god level—clearly stronger than the projections."
"Like a military strategist, huh…"
Ning Rongrong fell into thought, a faint image forming in her mind.
(End of chapter)