Chapter 356: Preparation for the Journey into the Abyss
In the world of consciousness, the soul’s essence is pure light. This is reflected externally in the fact that as long as Donald does not conceal it, any professional above the rank of “Zhe Tong” can sense a fiercely burning golden flame pulsing within his body, as if it possesses its own will and life. Of course, this is not because he has ignited a divine flame, but rather a phenomenon caused by the powerful soul essence mixing with divine radiance.
Both high elves and those with divine bloodlines are extraordinary beings. Demons with such bloodlines are also extraordinary creatures, though ordinary demons are far inferior to true gods in terms of ability and talent. Of course, some powerful abyssal kings and demon lords are on par with mighty true gods in strength, and their descendants naturally surpass ordinary divine descendants.
However, due to the strength and ubiquity of divinity, they are regarded as representatives of extraordinary bloodlines.
Beings with extraordinary bloodlines exhibit characteristics that surpass those of ordinary intelligent creatures. For example, Carlisle, who inherits the bloodline of the God of Hatred, has a towering stature and robust physique far beyond ordinary people. Normally, taller individuals should be less agile, but Carlisle is as nimble as gibbons that move effortlessly across steep cliffs—this is the advantage brought by divine bloodlines!
Take Donald, for instance. With both high elf and divine extraordinary bloodlines, he first gains the long lifespan, natural aura, and perfect elemental affinity typical of high elves—though these are secondary traits. The fusion with divine bloodlines further perfects these qualities.
At this point, both his physical strength and soul essence are far superior to those of mages or warriors of the same rank. This is the benefit of possessing divine bloodlines—similar to dragon-blood mages or evil magic mages, only his bloodline grants him even greater divine power.
Divinity enables divine beings to become more perfect both in appearance and inwardly. From Donald’s advanced perspective, this is a change caused at the genetic level; his form of life is gradually surpassing ordinary humans and approaching that of true extraordinary beings.
Donald is aware of his current state. He is no longer just an ordinary divine being with a trace of divine bloodline; instead, his bloodline is becoming increasingly perfect, just one step away from reaching mythic status and becoming a truly immortal extraordinary being.
Even a beauty as highly sought after in the capital as Catherine sometimes felt inferior when she saw Donald—this was one of the effects of divine radiance. Although he was just one step short of igniting the Divine Flame, that single step made a world of difference; crossing it meant becoming a powerful demigod with an almost endless lifespan, while failing to do so kept him at the mortal level, where even a thousand-year lifespan would eventually run out. Of course, Donald, possessing both high elf and divine bloodlines, could likely live far longer than ordinary divine beings, but without reaching demigod status, he would never attain that immortal realm. Thus, Donald now had a new idea. After the calamity, the reserve of soul power in the Book of Truth had reached a staggering figure of nearly a hundred thousand. Yet he had no plans to use it—firstly, the strength of his current domain was sufficient, and creating a few more heroic units would merely be icing on the cake. Secondly, once he became legendary, it would be easy for him to attract the attention of true gods, so he didn’t intend to create powerful units like heroes and dragons out of thin air to avoid drawing their attention. Moreover, it was best for him to stay low-key until he became a demigod before relaxing a bit. Another important reason was that, according to the Book of Truth, this soul power was essential for him when igniting the Divine Flame. It should be noted that the process of igniting the Divine Flame relied entirely on one’s own understanding; external forces could hardly assist. The more divine power a being possessed, the greater the challenges and dangers. Just as legends from his past life said that one had to overcome celestial tribulations to become an immortal, this was the test imposed by the will of the world’s laws on those who sought to transcend the ordinary. Generally, only by acquiring followers in advance and gaining the help of faith power could one somewhat assist those preparing to ignite the Divine Flame in overcoming such trials. But a soul that had not ignited the Divine Flame, no matter how powerful, remained at the mortal level, with too weak a resistance to the impacts of the complex beliefs of various beings. To avoid being lost in the onslaught of faith power and the tests of the laws’ will, a strong will was essential for staying clear-minded. Therefore, during the process of igniting the Divine Flame, aside from the help of faith power, only this pure and ownerless soul power could replenish his soul, preventing too much of it from being consumed during ignition, which could lead to a lack of essence and make it difficult to continue transforming his soul into a divine one—resulting in failure.
Moreover, after becoming a demigod, one needs at least ten thousand followers to successfully accumulate divine essence within ten years and become a true god. Most demigods get stuck at this stage because the faith of intelligent beings in the main world has mostly been divided among the gods, while those regions without faith are often dominated by forces that reject religious beliefs. Thus, they have few options. Most of these demigods, lacking guidance and eager for quick success, only manage to gather the simplest form of divinity and ignite their divine flame, resulting in relatively weak powers. It’s therefore not easy for them to acquire followers.
Donald possesses the extraordinary ability to create beings using the Book of Truth. By paying enough energy and soul power, he can have as many followers as he desires, and once these followers exist, they instinctively develop a devotion to him, their master, even greater than that of true believers.
That’s why Donald decided to retain his soul power instead of using it on trivial summons—it’s crucial for his quest to become a god. Besides, he doesn’t want to spend at least ten years accumulating faith power after igniting his divine flame. The world is in a period of rapid change, and ten years is too long; the earlier he becomes a true god, the greater his advantage.
“From a long-term perspective, this nearly hundred-thousand units of soul power might not even be enough!”
With this in mind, Donald already had several plans to acquire more soul power, but he dismissed most of them one by one, eventually focusing on demon creatures, which offer the best value for obtaining soul power.
Although demons have physical bodies, just like the gods in the celestial realm, these creatures from lower planes are actually soul-based beings. Essentially, they are illusory. Unlike creatures in the main world, a demon’s soul and body are one and the same—its soul is its body, with no concept of a soul separating from the body after death and entering the underworld.
This is why most of their souls remain within their power core.
Even if one kills ten thousand orcs at once, it’s not as efficient as harvesting ten bronze demons. Thus, after each demon plague, some people advance further due to the gains from the battlefield—this can be considered one of the few positive effects of the plagues!
“The problem is that now that the demon plagues are over, where can I find a demon lord as mad as the Spider Queen, willing to launch an attack on the main world without hesitation?”
“Do we have to enter the Abyssal Plane to hunt?” After careful consideration, Donald felt that his idea wasn’t entirely impossible to realize!
To test his idea, he borrowed the travelogue from his teacher, intending to draw on the experiences of that legendary archmage who had ventured into the Abyss.
“You plan to enter the Abyss? That’s not a good place for interplanetary travel!”
Faced with his teacher’s concern, Donald smiled and said, “Don’t worry, teacher! I wouldn’t act rashly without enough confidence. Besides, I’m currently at a bottleneck and must prepare thoroughly to advance to the realm of immortality!” His disciple surpassing his strength and realm indeed left the old mage speechless. Messel naturally understood that to achieve great power, one had to face risks along the way—he had seen too many geniuses perish in realms below gold. So he stopped opposing and shared everything he knew with Donald.
With his teacher’s approval and the records from the legendary mage’s travelogue, Donald’s confidence grew significantly. Yet he still needed to consult more knowledgeable individuals for confirmation. So he summoned the demi-god demon Amps. Having once been a powerful lord in an Abyssal Plane, it surely understood the situation there better than outsiders.
“Master, do you intend to enter the Abyss?” Upon hearing Donald’s question, Amps felt both joy and worry. It was joyful because returning to the Abyssal World might allow it to do some things it had long wanted to do. It was worried because once inside the Endless Abyss, even if it didn’t target the Demon King of the 66th Pit, it would likely be detected by the Spider Queen, that demon goddess. After all, although the restrictions in its soul remained unaffected in the main world, once it got close enough to the Spider Queen—say, on the same plane—it could be detected instantly, no matter the distance.
So returning to the Abyss now would entail great risk!
“I have a spatial passage to the eighth layer of the Abyss, Amps. I remember you having an old friend there. How about we go say hello to them this time?” Understanding his master’s intent, Amps was overjoyed. Its hatred for that old friend immediately overshadowed its fear of the Spider Queen. Besides, that female demon goddess probably wouldn’t expect it to return to the Abyss so soon with such a task!
Thus, Amps bowed most devoutly to his master, using the ancient noble etiquette learned from human nobles, and said humbly, “As you wish, my great master.”