The heavy alloy gates slowly slid apart with a low hydraulic rumble, and a cold draft carrying the faint scent of metal ions washed over him.
Qian Gu Fenfeng walked slowly into the Spirit Pagoda's secret laboratory, buried a thousand meters underground. Rows of constantly flickering Soul Tool Displays were embedded in the silver-gray alloy walls, and countless conduits crisscrossed like blood vessels, winding toward the center of the laboratory.
At the center of the laboratory, a slender figure stood before an enormous instrument, debugging its parameters. Her messy black hair was tied behind her head, and fine metal powder dusted her white lab coat. It was Ling Zichen, known as the madwoman of the Soul Tool world.
Hearing his footsteps, Ling Zichen turned her head, the fervor of her immersion in the experiment still lingering in her eyes.
"Father!" Ling Zichen motioned him forward. "This is the Soul Tool you envisioned."
Qian Gu Fenfeng's gaze fell upon the enormous machine.
The device was ellipsoidal, its casing forged from several rare god-level metals. Countless intricate Soul Tool circuits glimmered across its surface, while a constantly twisting mass of light flickered at its core.
Within that light, space resembled crumpled tissue paper. Indistinct lights and shadows that did not belong to the Douluo Plane were faintly visible, and an unfamiliar, distant planar aura slowly seeped from the device.
Ling Zichen's voice carried excitement she could scarcely conceal. "I deciphered the rules of the Plane Barrier. With a continuous energy supply from a Class 10 Soul Tool Core, it can tear through the membrane between two worlds, cross planes, and connect to other worlds."
Qian Gu Fenfeng's pupils contracted slightly. He slowly approached, sensing the restless spatial fluctuations inside the device with his fingertips through a protective barrier.
"Once activated, it can open a passage to another plane," Ling Zichen said softly. "For example... the Abyss Plane."
Qian Gu Fenfeng silently gazed at the constantly twisting spatial core, his low voice ringing through the spacious laboratory.
"Then let us call it the Boundary Rift Gate..."
"Zichen, has the Golden Ancient Tree's core been extracted?"
"Yes, Father. It has already been extracted."
"Fuse the core into the twelve demigod positions I created, then have them resonate with the Golden Ancient Tree essence at the very heart of my divine embryo. When the time comes, as long as I absorb the Abyss Plane's core, all twelve Spirit Envoys of my Spirit Pagoda will ascend to godhood!"
With that, he took out his Soul Tool phone. "Hello? Big Brother."
"Hmm? Hahaha, Fenfeng, it's you."
"Everything is ready now. Begin the Apotheosis Plan..."
"...All right!"
Deep within the laboratory, Gu Yuena stared viciously at Qian Gu Fenfeng, her thoughts unknown.
Heaven Dou Continent. Heaven Dou Imperial Soul Master Academy.
"Kailuolun! You're amazing! You've only just turned twelve, and you've already broken through to rank thirty!"
"Unlike one of our academy's teachers, who hasn't reached rank thirty but has already broken past fifty years old!"
"Ah! Really?"
"Would I lie to you?"
"I heard from a teacher that Kailuolun is already a Class 4 Soul Engineer!"
"Wow-Kailuolun! You actually became a Soul Engineer! No one has even tried in ages..."
A young boy with a straight, upright bearing listened to the envious remarks around him and gave a crooked smile. He was only a twelve-year-old child, after all, and their flattery thoroughly satisfied his pride.
On the surface, however, he still looked as unruffled as a gentle breeze beneath light clouds. "Oh, don't say that... I'm really not as amazing as everyone thinks..."
Meanwhile, outside the Abyss Passage.
Across the ellipsoidal casing of the Boundary Rift Gate, every fine Soul Tool circuit lit up with flowing dark-purple light, and layers upon layers of runes raced across the metal surface.
Ling Zichen stared intently at the console, her hands rapidly adjusting the Soul Tool knobs as fine beads of cold sweat seeped from her temples. She transmitted, "Energy levels have reached the critical threshold! The Plane Barrier is about to tear!"
Qian Gu Fenfeng stood behind the barrier, his gaze locked firmly on the center of the device.
The spatial mass of light, which had only been twisting slightly, abruptly swelled. Like a canvas slashed by a sharp blade, a pitch-black rift burst open.
Gray-purple chaotic mist churned around the edges of the black passage. It carried the aura unique to the Abyss Plane-cold and corrosive, laden with the howls of countless vengeful spirits. Even from dozens of meters away, its soul-eroding malice could be felt.
Beyond the rift was no longer a blurry illusion-it was a world that truly existed. Shattered black earth was faintly visible beneath chaotic clouds and mist, and countless twisted Abyssal Creatures growled in the distance.
"The passage can only remain stable for a limited time! Fifteen minutes at most!" Ling Zichen warned loudly, pouring Soul Power and Soul Tool energy frantically into the core to forcibly stabilize the constantly trembling rift. "Father, be careful..."
"All right."
Qian Gu Fenfeng stepped forward, his robes snapping in the raging currents of abyssal air pouring out. Then he leaped into the pitch-black rift spanning the two worlds.
In an instant, the hum of every surrounding Soul Tool instrument and the life force unique to the Douluo Plane were completely cut off.
Beneath his feet lay soft, putrid black mud. A dim sky hung overhead, without a sun, only endlessly rolling purple-black mist.
Ravines crisscrossed the distant land, and fine particles of abyssal energy drifted through the air.
Howls rose and fell from every direction. Countless malformed abyssal monsters had already sensed this visitor from the Douluo Plane.
Qian Gu Fenfeng slowly straightened, his golden eyes sweeping across the barren, twisted land.
And the moment he stepped into the Abyss Plane, the Abyssal Sage King's eyes snapped open. "Human... you dare come knocking at my door again!"
"Die!"
The Abyssal Sage King suddenly appeared before Qian Gu Fenfeng, thrusting the Heavenly Sage Rift-Piercing Halberd in his hand forward. "Human, a wise man knows which way the wind blows. Back then, a mere avatar of mine left you utterly bedraggled, yet now you dare come knocking at my door!"
"Hahahahaha! That only proves I came fully prepared!" Qian Gu Fenfeng raised his Coiling Dragon Staff to block the deadly strike, then abruptly widened the distance between himself and the Abyssal Sage King.
At that moment, far away in the Spirit Pagoda on the Douluo Plane, twelve Spirit Envoys each stood within a ring-shaped Soul Tool, meditating and regulating their breathing. The auras emanating from their demigod positions resonated across the distance with Qian Gu Fenfeng's artificial godhood.
The divine wheel behind Qian Gu Fenfeng's head was emanating the Golden Ancient Tree's aura-the very poison Abyssal Creatures feared most!
That essence suddenly blazed with light, and its Plane Core-level power spread throughout the plane. Wherever the light reached, every Abyssal Creature turned to drifting ash, and the released abyssal energy flowed ceaselessly into Qian Gu Fenfeng's Coiling Dragon Staff.
Feeling the slowly growing power within him, Qian Gu Fenfeng could not help throwing back his head and laughing. "Hahahahahaha! Abyssal Sage King, so what if this is your home ground!? Now I have used my godhood as a foundation to create twelve subsidiary demigod positions. With the Golden Ancient Tree's core as well, I need not fear you!"
Sensing the plane's dwindling energy, the Abyssal Sage King's expression darkened. He was deeply bound to the plane, and now that the abyssal energy could no longer be reclaimed, his power was steadily declining as well.
He knew he had to end this battle swiftly!
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