The Pacific Ocean did not rage.
It did not storm.
It moved aside.
Water folded away from an invisible pressure, layers of the sea peeling back as if reality itself had been displaced. Miles above the Mariana Trench, space distorted—and something vast descended.
The Black Dragon Fortress had evolved.
No longer a crude battleship, it was now a sleek void-dreadnought stretching over two kilometers in length. Its hull pulsed faintly with abyssal runes, veins of Void Energy crawling across black alloy like a living nervous system. The ocean beneath it trembled.
Deep-sea monsters fled.
Those that didn't… went silent.
On the command bridge, Su Chen stood with his hands behind his back, eyes fixed on the golden vortex slowly rotating within the trench below. It glowed softly, leaking threads of strange, ancient power into the surrounding sea.
"That's the Gate," he said calmly. "Spirit Power leakage at a stable rate. Same wavelength as the Soul Land universe."
A holographic projection bloomed beside him as Babata's voice echoed through the bridge.
"Confirmed. Cross-world resonance detected. Entry is stable but fragile. Direct material descent may destabilize the local ecosystem."
"Then we don't descend," Su Chen replied without hesitation. "Shift the fortress into the interstitial void. Anchor it between layers."
The ship hummed. Space folded.
"As for deployment?" Babata asked.
Su Chen adjusted the collar of his black tactical coat and turned toward the airlock.
"I'll go first," he said. "Saeko. Esdeath. Prep the team, but don't move until I call."
He paused, then added, almost casually:
"If the forest is good for grinding… I'll bring you in."
The airlock opened.
Su Chen stepped forward.
Space bent.
---
World: Douluo Dalu (Soul Land)
Location: Star Dou Great Forest — Core Region
Timeline: Spirit Hall Hunt
Life rushed into him.
The air of the Star Dou Great Forest was thick, sweet, almost intoxicating. Spirit Power saturated every breath, clinging to skin, seeping into bone. Towering ancient trees rose hundreds of meters high, their canopies blotting out the sky like a green cathedral.
Su Chen appeared standing on a massive branch, its surface wider than a highway.
He inhaled once.
Slowly.
His lips curved faintly.
"This world is generous."
The system's feedback came immediately, but this time it felt less like data… and more like confirmation.
> Spirit Power Density: High
Conversion Compatibility: Perfect
Power flowed smoothly through his body, no resistance, no rejection. Douluo's laws accepted him.
Behind him, a spectral book emerged from nothingness.
The Book of the Undead hovered silently, its pages turning on their own. Only a single spirit ring floated around it—white, faint, almost pitiful.
Su Chen looked at it.
"…Let's fix that."
The forest answered.
A hiss sliced through the air.
Something dropped from above.
It landed without sound—an enormous spider, its body as large as a truck, legs curved like scythes and dripping corrosive venom. A grotesque human face pattern was etched into its abdomen, eyes twisted in eternal agony.
The Man-Faced Demon Spider.
It lunged.
Su Chen didn't dodge.
He didn't raise a weapon.
He simply thought.
Space compressed.
The spider's body folded inward with a sickening crunch, chitin shattering, organs collapsing into a sphere of paste that slammed into the forest floor.
Silence followed.
From the remains, a black halo rose slowly, heavy with age and malice.
Thirty thousand years.
Su Chen caught it midair.
Normally, absorbing a spirit ring required meditation, risk, endurance. One mistake and the soul would be torn apart.
Su Chen didn't absorb it.
He stored it.
"This world's rules are… inefficient," he muttered.
Inside his inventory, the ring replicated.
One became two.
Two became four.
Four became eight.
Black halos stacked endlessly, the air warping under the pressure of accumulated age.
"Now," Su Chen said softly, "let's do real mathematics."
Fusion began.
Ten rings collapsed into one.
Black turned crimson.
Crimson collapsed again.
Red turned gold.
Light detonated outward—not violent, but absolute. A perfect compression of power beyond what this world believed possible.
A Divine Spirit Ring was born.
Three million years.
A number that should not exist.
Su Chen pulled it out.
The forest screamed.
Trees bent. Spirit beasts miles away collapsed to the ground, instincts screaming submission. Deep in the forest's heart, ancient beings stirred in terror.
He brought the ring down.
The moment it merged with the Book of the Undead, the sky flashed gold.
A pillar of divine light pierced the canopy, ripping through clouds.
The forest shook.
> Martial Spirit Updated
Ring One: Divine Gold (3,000,000 Years)
Power rolled outward like a slow, inevitable tide.
Su Chen stood calmly within it.
"One," he said, glancing at the remaining empty slots. "Nine left."
---
The Forest Burns
Something was wrong.
Su Chen felt it before he saw it—violent disturbances in Spirit Power, collisions of wills strong enough to tear the forest apart.
Twenty kilometers away, ancient trees were being reduced to splinters.
He activated Spirit Sight.
Two colossal figures dominated the battlefield.
The Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming, bleeding and roaring.
The Azure Bull Python, Da Ming, coiled like a living mountain.
They were surrounded.
Golden-armored humans.
At their center stood a woman.
Bibi Dong.
She was beautiful in a way that felt wrong. Regal robes, a pope's authority, and eyes filled with hatred so deep it felt ancient. Power coiled around her like venom.
A god-in-waiting.
"She's here for their rings," Su Chen said flatly.
He smiled.
Purple wings unfolded behind him.
---
The Interruption
"Submit," Bibi Dong's voice rang across the battlefield. "Offer your rings, and your deaths will be merciful."
The Giant Ape roared in fury, blood dripping from his wounds.
Before the killing blow could fall—
The sky collapsed.
A black figure descended like judgment itself, slamming into the earth between hunters and prey.
The shockwave threw Titled Douluo back like leaves.
Dust settled.
Su Chen stood there.
No armor.
No weapon.
Only a single, blinding golden ring rotating behind a spectral book.
The pressure crushed knees into the ground.
"This—this violates Heaven!" Ghost Douluo screamed.
Bibi Dong's breath caught.
That ring…
It wasn't power.
It was divinity.
Su Chen looked at her.
"You look tired," he said calmly. "Chasing scraps."
Another golden ring appeared in his hand.
He tossed it lightly into the air.
The world trembled.
"I sell power," Su Chen continued. "And I'm feeling generous."
Bibi Dong's instincts screamed.
"What is your price?" she asked.
Su Chen smiled.
"Spirit Hall," he said simply. "End it. Join me."
"And by tonight?"
His eyes gleamed.
"You'll be a goddess."
The forest held its breath.
The fate of Soul Land balanced on a single answer.