The smoothness of these events truly exceeded Yu Yuanchen's initial expectations.
Although he had hoped to reach some level of cooperation with the Evil Emperor and Di Tian, the fact that these two soul beast overlords agreed so readily, and even displayed a posture of proactive cooperation, still left him feeling slightly surprised.
However, upon second thought, he felt relieved. Ultimately, the temptations of "becoming a god" and "returning home"—prospects capable of driving any peak existence to madness—had overridden all barriers and suspicions.
In the face of shared and immense interests, past grievances and racial boundaries no longer seemed so important. This, in turn, proved the feasibility and immense value of this path.
With the framework for cooperation finalized, the next step was to execute it in a grounded, step-by-step manner. Yu Yuanchen no longer held anything back, laying out the current difficulties and his preliminary concepts in full.
The primary hurdle was the breakthrough of his own Spiritual Power. Stepping into the Spirit Origin Realm (God-level) was the prerequisite for safely and precisely extracting the imprint of the Saint Demon Continent from the Life Origin of the Evil Emperor.
This matter concerned the safety of the Evil Emperor and the success of the plan; it could not be rushed, nor could it be forced.
"A breakthrough in Spiritual Power is profound and mysterious; it requires both opportunity and accumulation," Yu Yuanchen said candidly to Di Tian, the Evil Emperor, Qian Daoliu, and Tang Chen, who were seated around him. "Perhaps I will have an enlightenment in the next moment, or perhaps it will require ten years of hard work."
"Based on my own intuition and foundation, I have a seventy percent certainty of success within three to five years, or ten years at the latest." For peak existences who counted their lives in tens of thousands of years, this duration was not long at all.
Hearing this, everyone nodded slightly. At their level, they all understood that in the later stages of cultivation, every bit of progress was incredibly difficult; haste would only lead to failure. Ten years was a wait they could afford.
The second key was the reinforcement of the spatial divine artifact, the Hell Gate.
Yu Yuanchen took out the palm-sized, dark gold portal-shaped artifact, which was covered in mysterious runes and radiated spatial fluctuations.
Even Di Tian and the Evil Emperor felt a glimmer of interest upon sensing the pure Power of Space contained within it.
"This object is called the Hell Gate, obtained from a Demon Plane," Yu Yuanchen introduced. "Its essence is extraordinary, being a crystallization of a plane's laws and top-tier materials. However, limited by the foundation of the plane where it was born, its grade is roughly equivalent to a Level 3 Divine Artifact."
"To construct an ultra-long-distance channel capable of reaching a large plane like the Saint Demon Continent, nothing less than a peak Level 2 or even a Level 1 divine artifact will suffice."
"A Level 3 Divine Artifact..." A glimmer of realization flashed through Di Tian's massive dragon eyes. "That is indeed insufficient. The energy and stability of the laws required to cross the barriers of a large plane are far beyond imagination."
"Fortunately, the path to reinforcement has already been identified," Yu Yuanchen changed the subject, his gaze sweeping across the group. "The first lies in the integration of Soul Tool Technology."
He explained: "The forging of the Hell Gate utilized the unique Demon Alchemy of the Demon Plane. The system is complete, but it has reached its limit. The Soul Tool Technology of the Douluo Continent follows a completely different logic, yet it shares the same goal, especially in the refinement of energy circuits and the universalization of law runes."
"If we can fuse the essence of both, taking what is best from each, we will certainly be able to greatly improve the energy transmission efficiency and structural stability of the Hell Gate."
Qian Daoliu interjected: "For this matter, the three of us alone lack the capability. While we can provide the high-level vision and direction, the specific technical implementation, material ratios, rune engraving, and other meticulous work require professional talent."
Yu Yuanchen nodded: "Exactly. The Federal Research Institute gathers the most elite group of soul masters on the Sun Moon Continent. They may be limited by their strength and lack our breadth of vision, but in terms of technical details and practical execution, they are true experts. We must rely on them."
Tang Chen patted his chest, his voice booming like a bell: "Leave the material forging and the reinforcement of the artifact's body to me! That 'Spirit Forging' path you pointed out a few years ago, the kids from the Clear Sky Sect and I have already grasped some of the techniques! We can now complete 'Spirit Forging' and create metals with rudimentary sentience!"
"If we can go a step further and reach 'Soul Forging', or even the legendary 'Heavenly Forging', and perfectly fuse Heaven-grade metals into this Hell Gate, it will surely increase its sentience and foundation, laying a solid base for subsequent reinforcements!"
"Spirit Forging?" A gleam of light flashed in Di Tian's eyes. Having lived for countless years with vast experience, he immediately understood the value of this forging technique. Bestowing sentience upon inanimate objects was a profound method that touched upon the realm of a creator! "If this can truly be achieved, the potential of this divine artifact will be greatly enhanced."
Yu Yuanchen looked at Di Tian and the Evil Emperor, saying in a deep voice: "The most critical link in the reinforcement lies in the sublimation and expansion of its core 'Space Law'. For this, I must rely on the two of you."
He admitted honestly: "Although I hold this gate and have some understanding of the Power of Space, I am still young and lack deep accumulation. Brother Qian and Brother Tang are not specialists in this path either; they only grasped the fur of the Power of Space due to the requirements of their soul cores."
"But the two of you have lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and your comprehension and application of the Space Law are far beyond what we can compare to. If we can have your full assistance in analyzing, completing, and even optimizing the spatial law structure within the Hell Gate, the chances of success will surely increase significantly."
Di Tian, as the Golden-eyed Black Dragon King, had lived for hundreds of thousands of years and possessed the dragon race's inheritance. With his cultivation growth limited, he had turned to mastering space to an extremely high degree; tearing through space for long-distance travel was no difficult task for him.
The Evil Emperor was born with control over the Power of Time and Space. Although he leaned more toward the application of time and space on a spiritual level, his understanding of the essence of space was also extremely profound. Moreover, Yu Yuanchen intended to add a touch of the Power of Time to the Hell Gate, as the two laws of time and space could influence each other when understood to a high degree.
Di Tian nodded slightly, and the Evil Emperor did not refuse. There was no choice; the temptation of becoming a god was too great for them to resist.
If they encountered difficulties regarding space, Di Tian would never pass up any possibility to increase the success rate and would inevitably consult Gu Yuena, which was exactly the result Yu Yuanchen expected.
One must know that the Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena, controlled the Seven Great Elemental Laws, which included the Power of Space.
Even in the original work, where she displayed world-shaking wisdom and possessed God King Level strength at her peak, her mastery of the Space Law would certainly not be inferior to a First-level God of Space. (Though her peak state seemed to be in a state of Schrödinger's cat, severely injured from birth until now.)
With the participation of an expert like Gu Yuena, the reinforcement plan for the Hell Gate would undoubtedly be given wings.
Thus, the grand blueprint for reinforcing the Hell Gate was clear: using Yu Yuanchen's Spiritual Power breakthrough as the guide, the technology of the federal soul masters as the framework, Tang Chen's Spirit Forging, Soul Forging, and even Heavenly Forging techniques to strengthen the artifact's body and sentience, and finally gathering the power of Di Tian, the Evil Emperor, and potentially Gu Yuena to sublimate its core Space Law!
This was a super-project that gathered the strengths of many and involved top-tier knowledge across multiple fields! It was by no means a task that could be completed in a day.
However, neither the three of Yu Yuanchen nor Di Tian and the Evil Emperor showed any sign of fear; instead, they were filled with excitement and anticipation. At their level, encountering such a grand goal that was both challenging and related to their own paths was a rare opportunity in itself.
"The road is long and arduous, but we will arrive if we walk it," Yu Yuanchen looked at everyone, his tone calm and firm. "Since the direction is clear, then... let us begin!"
⁂
Time flies like an arrow, and the sun and moon move like a shuttle. Five years had passed in the blink of an eye since that meeting in the Evil Spirit Forest that determined the future landscape of the continent.
These five years were years of precipitation and accumulation.
The Douluo Federation continued to develop steadily on the foundation laid by Yu Yuanchen and the others.
Internal governance became increasingly perfect, soul tool technology changed with each passing day, people's livelihoods continued to improve, and communication with the Evil Spirit Forest became increasingly close through the pilot promotion of the Beast Taming Method. Although the people of the Sun Moon Continent were resistant to the Beast Taming Method due to their history of suffering under soul beasts, time would eventually heal those wounds.
The entire Sun Moon Continent presented a scene of prosperity.
Under the restraint of the Evil Emperor, the Evil Spirit Forest changed its former treacherous and dangerous atmosphere. Although it remained a place where strangers were unwelcome, large-scale beast tides had become a thing of the past.
Some soul beasts that had gained intelligence and were curious about the outside world began to have initial contact with interested soul masters through specific channels established by the Federation. A brand-new relationship between humans and soul beasts was quietly budding.
As for the Star Dou Great Forest, after Di Tian returned, he reported the details of the Evil Spirit Forest meeting to the Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena.
Gu Yuena was noncommittal, but she tacitly allowed Di Tian to participate in the Hell Gate reinforcement plan to a limited extent, provided it did not overly affect the development of the Star Dou Great Forest itself, and she would occasionally offer guidance when he encountered difficulties regarding the Space Law. This was already a tremendous support.
In the innermost secret chamber of the Federal Research Institute, the Hell Gate floated in the center of a complex soul guiding array constructed from various rare metals.
Hundreds of the most elite soul masters of the Sun Moon Continent, under the macro-guidance of Yu Yuanchen and Qian Daoliu, analyzed the internal structure of the divine artifact day and night, deduced the optimal optimization plan for the energy circuits, and conducted careful regional experiments time and time again. Progress was slow, but solid and orderly.
Inside the Clear Sky Sect, Tang Chen led the sect's most elite disciples, surrounding the roaring, burning forge, sweating like rain. Spirit Forging technology had matured, and some genius disciples had even touched the threshold of Spirit Forging.
A large quantity of rare metals containing spirituality was forged, and some high-quality pieces had begun preliminary compatibility experiments with the Hell Gate. Although failures occurred repeatedly, experience was constantly being accumulated.
The Evil Emperor often exchanged divine thoughts with Di Tian, discussing the mysteries of Space Law together and feeding their insights back to the research team.
Occasionally, Di Tian would bring a trace of divine thought containing deeper spatial principles; these naturally came from the guidance of Gu Yuena, which always allowed Yu Yuanchen and the team responsible for Space Law Optimization to suddenly see the light and avoid many detours.
As for Yu Yuanchen himself, for most of these five years, he had been in a state of semi-seclusion. He did not deliberately try to break through his Spiritual Power bottleneck, but instead immersed more of his mind into the perception of his own Bloodline Source and the Ancestor Will Imprint.
His Spirit Domain, "Return to Origin," could not only trace the origin of external objects but also reflect upon himself. Time and again, he stirred those vague yet powerful Ancestor Will Imprints deep within his bloodline, immersing himself in those vast, ancient battle scenes, experiencing the most fundamental Way of Thunder Destruction and Creation, and feeling the supreme will of the Dragon Race to fight against the heavens and the earth.
This process was not a smooth path. Those Ancestor Will Imprints, though unconscious existences, contained extremely powerful spiritual pressure and unique will fragments.
Every deep realization was like a baptism and confrontation at the soul level. Yu Yuanchen needed to hold fast to his original heart, digesting and absorbing the beneficial experiences within, while simultaneously resisting the unconscious contamination of those chaotic will fragments, maintaining the purity and dominance of his own consciousness.
This was a slow, grinding process, an ultimate test of character, perseverance, and comprehension. Over the five years, Yu Yuanchen's aura became increasingly introverted, and an ancient and majestic artistic conception often lingered around him. When his eyes opened and closed, purple-gold lightning would occasionally flash, as if it could pierce through the void and see through to the origin.
On this day, late at night. Deep within the Governor's Mansion, in Yu Yuanchen's private meditation room.
He sat cross-legged, eyes slightly closed, with no soul power fluctuations around him, as if he had merged with the surrounding environment.
Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, he was observing an extremely ancient scene: a purple-gold Thunder Sacred Dragon spanning the starry sky, locked in a fierce battle with an Underworld God radiating endless darkness and destructive aura. The dragon roar shook the stars, and the lightning broke all laws; it was the collision of the most primitive power and laws.
He had observed this scene countless times, but each time, there were new insights. However, tonight, it seemed somewhat different.
When he poured all his heart and soul into it, attempting to capture that subtle point where the Thunder Sacred Dragon stirred the heavens' thunder and invoked the Thunder Law, a sudden change occurred!
This time, the intrusion of the Ancestor Will seemed to trigger a trace of imperceptible residue from previous wills. It seemed that because he had not completely removed the will contamination in the past, a tiny bit remained each time, and now, with accumulation, it triggered a quantitative change. Triggered by this new will contamination, a more surging Determined Will Torrent erupted.
"Roar--!"
It was not a real roar, but a divine sound acting directly on the depths of his soul! Yu Yuanchen only felt that his soul was about to be assimilated and torn apart under the scouring of this torrent!
Countless chaotic thoughts, instincts of battle, and ancient memory scenes surged in, attempting to drown his self-consciousness!
This was an unprecedented impact! Far exceeding any time in the past five years!
Yu Yuanchen let out a muffled groan, his complexion turning pale instantly, but his mind remained as clear as a mirror, guarding the last bit of clarity in his Spirit Platform.
He held fast to his original heart, using his belief in protecting his family and friends and exploring the Great Dao as a lighthouse. Amidst the waves of the will torrent, not only was he not assimilated, but his spirit became even more resilient and powerful under the scouring of the torrent.
In this extreme confrontation and refinement, Yu Yuanchen's understanding of his own path became clearer than ever before. Under this immense pressure, his Spiritual Origin was crazily tempered, purified, and compressed!
He did not know how much time had passed; it felt like only an instant, yet also like an eternity.
When the violent Ancestor Will Torrent finally ended completely, something seemed to shatter in Yu Yuanchen's Sea of Consciousness!
"Crack--"
A crisp sound, which only he could hear, came from the depths of his soul.
The next moment, Yu Yuanchen felt his "vision" suddenly widen! His Divine Sense, which originally required deliberate expansion to cover a thousand miles, now moved with a slight thought, spreading out naturally like mercury pouring onto the ground, easily enveloping the entire Federal Capital and continuing to extend further.
His perception became incomparably sharp; the subtle flow of energy between heaven and earth and the trajectories of the laws contained in all things were presented in his "heart" with unprecedented clarity.
A profound feeling, transcending the mundane, as if he could see through the origin of all things and grasp a portion of the rules of heaven and earth, arose spontaneously.
His Spiritual Power was no longer an accumulation of quantity, but had undergone a qualitative transformation! From the mundane Spirit Domain Realm, he had stepped into the Divine Domain—the Spirit Origin Realm!
Under Yu Yuanchen's conscious control, the commotion of the breakthrough was compressed to a very small range, limited to the meditation room. Only a trace of majestic aura, imperceptible yet making the soul tremble, faintly leaked out.
Almost at the same time, Ye Zhilan, who was meditating in the next room, suddenly opened her beautiful eyes, a flash of surprise and worry in them, and appeared at the door of the meditation room in an instant.
Almost back-to-back, the figures of Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen also appeared like ghosts. The two of them were powerful and had the sharpest perception.
"Yuanchen!" Ye Zhilan called out softly, filled with concern.
The door of the meditation room slid open silently, and Yu Yuanchen walked out slowly. His expression was calm, but in those deep eyes, countless stars seemed to be born and die, and the Thunder Law seemed to be intertwined, giving people a feeling of being unfathomable. His aura was rounded and introverted, yet faintly resonating with the entire world.
"Don't worry, I am fine." Yu Yuanchen smiled slightly at his wife, then looked at Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "My Spiritual Power has finally broken through."
Upon hearing this, Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen were stunned for a moment, and then a look of wild joy appeared on their faces at the same time!
"Good! That's great!" Tang Chen slapped his thigh hard and said excitedly, "Old Yu, you guy, you finally made it! As for the next step, can we start to restore the mark of that Big Eyeball?"
Although Qian Daoliu was steady, he could not hide the excitement in his eyes: "Spirit Origin Realm... In this way, the most critical step of the plan has been taken! Congratulations, Brother Yuanchen!"
Yu Yuanchen nodded, feeling the Spiritual Power in his Sea of Consciousness that was as vast as the sea, as condensed as steel, and carried a trace of divine majesty; his heart was also surging with waves. It was not easy; five years of hard work had finally paid off!
Moreover, he was also a little scared of the residue of the previous will contamination in his soul. Fortunately, it was triggered this time; if it had continued to lurk, who knew when it would have exploded.
"Still need to be cautious." He looked at the deep night sky outside the window, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of space, seeing the distant Saint Demon Continent.
"However, since my Spiritual Power has broken through, the next step is to start restoring the mark, and... accelerate the strengthening of the Hell Gate. The road to the new world is one step closer!"
Five years of precipitation, the Spirit Origin is initially formed. The expedition plan spanning planes is about to enter a substantial fast lane! The challenges ahead remain arduous, but the light of hope has become increasingly clear.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan