Douluo Unrivaled: The Beginning Materializes the Black Abyss and White Flowers

Chapter 205 The Battle for Supremacy
Lu Jingming felt instantly delighted at the thought of potentially taking down the Black Tower in the future.

He waved to the Black Tower with a smile, then turned and left the laboratory.

As the laboratory door slowly closed and Lu Jingming's figure completely disappeared from sight, Hei Ta slowly raised his hand, gently touched his lips, and muttered to himself, "A strange feeling?"

She shook her head slightly, as if trying to dispel this inexplicable feeling and stop thinking about the strangeness of that moment.

Then, she casually tossed the Plague Gem in her hand, turned around and walked to the Black Tower Magic Mirror, raising her hand to throw the Plague Gem into the mirror.

Within Phoenix Valley in the realm of gods, there lies a lava lake.

A slightly thin, handsome young man with red hair was sitting quietly above the lava lake.

He was surrounded by an aura of melancholy, his gaze fixed blankly on the sky, as if lost in deep longing, perhaps recalling some unforgettable past.

"Fourth Brother is still the same as ever. I wonder how many years it has been since he stepped out of this lava lake?"

Not far away, a girl with long pink hair and a handsome young man were looking at the melancholy Phoenix God Ma Hongjun. The girl couldn't help but sigh and said helplessly.

"Fatty, sigh!" Oscar, the God of Cookery, also sighed helplessly.

Compared to Ma Hongjun, he felt much luckier.

Although both are second-level gods and cannot take their families with them to ascend to the divine realm, at least Ning Rongrong can ascend with him, unlike Ma Hongjun who had to endure the heart-wrenching pain of separation from his beloved.

Ma Hongjun originally had the opportunity to inherit the position of the first-level god, the God of Fire. However, due to his own laziness, he ultimately failed to inherit the position and had to settle for the second-level god, the God of Phoenix.

This one level difference brings about a world of difference.

Therefore, Ma Hongjun was not qualified to lead people to ascend to the God Realm. Not only was Flander, who raised him from childhood, unable to follow him to the God Realm, but even his beloved Bai Chenxiang could only stay in Douluo Continent, facing the fate of growing old alone.

While Oscar and others couldn't fully empathize with Ma Hongjun's pain, they could imagine the torment he was going through.

Therefore, after ascending to the God Realm, Ma Hongjun hid in the lava lake of Phoenix Valley, cultivating frantically, trying to numb himself and escape his inner pain in this way.

But occasionally, he would still find himself, like now, involuntarily drawn into his own world, trapped in memories of the past from which he could not extricate himself.

In the realm of gods, there are many outstanding goddesses. With Ma Hongjun's qualifications, if he so desires, and with his many brothers and sisters, especially one brother who is a god-king, it would not be difficult for him to find another goddess to accompany him.

However, since ascending to the God Realm, Ma Hongjun has imprisoned himself in the lava lake and has never left it.

In the realm of gods, he had almost no social activities other than his long-time friends.

"Let's go. This fat guy in his current state probably won't pay any attention to us." Oscar, the God of Cookery, shook his head helplessly.

They had originally planned to invite Ma Hongjun out of seclusion so that everyone could get together and rekindle their old friendships, but now it seems that this trip was in vain again.

A trace of sadness flashed in Ning Rongrong's eyes. Hadn't she also experienced the pain of separation? Her father and two grandfathers were all gone.

Seeing Ma Hongjun's current appearance, she couldn't help but think of her past self.

But she was luckier than Ma Hongjun; at least she had someone by her side, while Ma Hongjun remained alone, struggling alone in his pain.

Oscar and Ning Rongrong turned to leave, unaware that a red gem had silently fallen into the lava lake.

Meanwhile, Ma Hongjun, who was immersed in his memories, was also unaware of this anomaly.

At this moment, he was so deeply immersed in painful memories of the past that he had shut down his perception of the outside world and did not even notice Ning Rongrong and Oscar's arrival and departure.

Because of this, he did not notice that the purple Honkai energy was gradually merging into the lava lake, perfectly blending with the fire-type immortal energy in the lake, and then quietly entering his body with his breath, where he instinctively absorbed and refined it.

After an unknown amount of time, Ma Hongjun finally snapped out of his overwhelming longing, and his thoughts began to wander uncontrollably.

"If only Third Brother could have helped me bring Chenxiang to the God Realm back then! He inherited the position of God King, he clearly had that authority!"

The moment the thought flashed through his mind, Ma Hongjun was startled and quickly shook his head vigorously, trying to shake the idea out of his head.

Because he knew in his heart that the reason he couldn't bring Bai Chenxiang was because he wasn't strong enough, not because of Tang San's fault.

As a god of law enforcement, Tang San's act of helping the Shrek Seven Devils become gods violated certain rules of the divine realm.

Because of this incident, the God of Destruction harbored resentment towards Tang San and targeted him at every turn, which shows that Tang San also had his own difficulties.

After all, Tang San couldn't even bring his own teacher, Yu Xiaogang, to the God Realm, so how could he expect him to help him bring Bai Chenxiang?

Although Ma Hongjun was rationally open-minded and believed that everything was his own doing, that thought just now was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples in his heart.

The plague gem that fell into the lava lake had now completely transformed into purple Honkai energy, which mixed with the immortal energy and was being continuously absorbed by Ma Hongjun.

Using its unique ability to observe parallel worlds through the Thousand Realms One Vehicle, Black Tower closely watched the entire process of the Plague Gem merging into Ma Hongjun's body, and a satisfied smile gradually appeared on its face.

As the Phoenix God, Ma Hongjun is a fire-attribute deity, which is extremely compatible with the attributes of the Plague Gem.

Furthermore, given the significant flaws within him, it won't be long before his Herrscher personality is born.

In this way, a powerful Herrscher of Flame will be born in this realm of gods.

Although Ma Hongjun is currently only a second-level god, he has been cultivating frantically in the lava lake over the years. Although his godhood level has not improved, his strength has already reached the level of a first-level god.

Once Ma Hongjun, possessing the combat power of a first-level god, becomes a Herrscher and gains control over molecular motion, he is highly likely to break through that seemingly insurmountable barrier and thus possess terrifying combat power at the God-King level.

Moreover, after becoming a Herrscher, one will usually be accompanied by Herrscher weapons. At that time, Ma Hongjun's strength will surely leap to the peak level of the God Realm.

This was precisely the "grand gift" that Lu Jingming had carefully prepared for Tang San.

Lu Jingming would certainly not do something as foolish as funding the enemy, but can Ma Hongjun, after being reformed, still maintain his original self? The answer is clearly no.

Therefore, Ma Hongjun, who has become law-abiding in the divine realm, will inevitably have a fierce conflict with the divine realm.

Even if he is eventually suppressed by the gods, Lu Jingming has already achieved his goal.

It should be understood that one day in the God Realm is equivalent to one year in the mortal realm, and suppressing a God-King level powerhouse is by no means an easy task.

Although the God Realm has five God Kings, the Sea God Tang San, the Evil God Ji Dong, and the Kind God Lie Yan are all newly promoted God Kings. In terms of strength and foundation, they are still slightly inferior to the veteran God Kings, the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life.

Because of Ma Hongjun's identity, it will likely be the Sea God Tang San, along with his close associates Ji Dong, the Evil God, and Lie Yan, the Good God, who will take action. The God of Destruction will probably remain on the sidelines, and the Goddess of Life will be even less likely to intervene.

By the time the divine realm successfully suppressed the Herrscher of Flame, Lu Jingming's plans in the lower realm would likely have already been completed, and the overall situation would likely be settled.

At that point, Tang San will have very little time to react.

Furthermore, the Black Tower will block the God Realm's observation of Douluo Continent, resulting in a long period of inactivity in the God Realm's monitoring of Douluo Continent in the coming period.

The "fun" in the divine realm is quietly brewing, and Lu Jingming is not in a hurry to plant the second World Tree.

Prior to this, he believed it was necessary to improve the overall strength of the two Douluo Continents.

After all, some of the corrupt points are now far too powerful, such as the corrupt point that was modeled after his Sea Abyss City.

Faced with one or two such filths, he might be able to come up with a solution, or ask Jingliu to clean them up.

However, he knew very well that the more powerful beings there were on the Douluo Continent, the better it would be for him. After all, the stronger the life forms on a planet, the faster the planet would evolve, which would undoubtedly help him condense his godhood more quickly.

Based on this, he plans to hold a grand competition centered around a simulated universe.

As for the specific event planning, he already has a clear idea in mind.

Lu Jingming's goal was to indirectly enhance the strength of some powerful figures in Douluo Continent by using the prizes from winning the competition, and then have them work for him.

A 100,000-year-old soul bone, a 100,000-year-old holy mark, or even increasing the age of a soul ring—all these can create a powerful individual.

For example, if Sword Douluo were to obtain a 100,000-year-old soul bone or a 100,000-year-old holy mark, his own strength would undergo a tremendous change, which would help Lu Jingming cleanse more of his impurities.

After all, his own strengthening would also accelerate the planet's evolution, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop. Lu Jingming felt this deal was worthwhile.

For Haiyuan City now, 100,000-year-old soul bones and 100,000-year-old holy marks are renewable resources, so giving some away is not a big deal.

Moreover, holding a competitive event can help pass the time during this period of boredom.

The simulated universe constructs an extremely realistic virtual world. Its charm not only attracts Soul Masters to fight to their heart's content to hone their Soul Skills and study their own Soul Skills, but also draws many nobles and merchants who are not Soul Masters to flock to it.

In this virtual world, they can enjoy all kinds of high-end delicacies that are difficult to taste in the real world, and admire the dreamlike and beautiful scenery.

Moreover, the simulated universe has become a stage for competition.

The dazzling array of high-fashion items and glittering titles made the gathering of aristocrats and businessmen in the simulated universe resemble a grand display of wealth.

Moreover, the simulated universe has launched a number of entertainment features. These unprecedented entertainment methods have given the people of Douluo Continent a fresh perspective, including virtual games.

Many wealthy and idle merchants and nobles became addicted to these virtual games. After all, in real life, even if they were extremely wealthy, they still had to be humble and respectful in front of those with higher ranks. In front of Soul Masters, they dared not easily flaunt their wealth. Even if they were rich, they had to be careful and dare not be ostentatious.

But in the world of virtual games, the situation is quite different.

In the simulated universe, they can buy virtual identities with money without worrying about offending others in the game.

Even powerful Soul Masters might not be a match for them if they haven't spent money in the simulation game.

This allowed those who were not Soul Masters in reality to truly experience the feeling of triumph.

In this situation, the simulated universe brought considerable financial benefits to Abyss City.

Lu Jingming incorporated almost every type of game from his previous life into the game. For the people of Douluo Continent, where entertainment options were relatively scarce, it was hard to resist such a temptation, and they could only willingly spend money to play.

It can be said that Lu Jingming's move was, to some extent, a great thing.

Since the introduction of a variety of entertainment options in the simulated universe, those bored nobles no longer find pleasure in bullying commoners, and the atmosphere of Douluo Continent seems to have quietly changed as a result.

After all, the nobles had bullied commoners mostly because they were bored and wanted to have some fun.

Now that there are more fun ways to have fun, they naturally don't need to risk being harassed by righteous Soul Masters to bully ordinary civilians.

This made the Shrek Inspection Team's workload much easier.

In the past, they often traveled to various parts of the mainland, specifically to find out those nobles who oppressed the common people.

Now, they only need to focus their attention on evil spirit masters, and the number of nobles committing crimes has decreased significantly.

According to Lu Jingming, many bad behaviors are often caused by people being too idle.

If you give these people something to do, who will have the time to do something as disgraceful as bullying the weak?
Of course, there are indeed some psychologically disturbed scoundrels who take pleasure in bullying the weak, but they are only a minority.

With other nobles showing some restraint, these scoundrels are more easily exposed, making it easier for those with ulterior motives to deal with them.

At this moment, Xiao Xiao and Ma Xiaotao from Shrek Academy are playing a fighting game called "The King of Fighters".

Xiao Xiao controlled Athena Asamiya, while Ma Xiaotao controlled Mai Shiranui, and Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming and others watched the battle with great interest.

Soon, relying on her own strength and even faster reflexes, Ma Xiaotao controlled Mai Shiranui to unleash a series of smooth combos, successfully defeating Xiaoxiao's Athena Asamiya and ending this exciting game duel.

"Yay!" Ma Xiaotao clenched her fist excitedly. Defeating her opponent in the game made her even happier than winning a battle in real life.

She finally understood why the disciples in the academy, whether from the inner or outer courts, would always agree to enter the simulated universe together to play games after their cultivation ended.

If it weren't for her best friend Wu Ming getting her hooked, she would probably still be buried in cultivation and would never have discovered that there are such fun things in the simulated universe.

Xiao Xiao seemed a little depressed.

She herself is very passionate about games and is quite skilled at them. Usually, her friends in the foreign language department can rarely beat her in games.

However, she suffered repeated defeats against her senior classmates and others, failing to beat any of them.

Even though Han Ruoruo was new to the game, she still managed to defeat Xiaoxiao thanks to her Contra-level physical abilities and reflexes.

Feeling a little disappointed after losing the game, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but miss Wang Dong, who had left Shrek Academy and returned to the Clear Sky Sect in search of Huo Yuhao.

Ever since Huo Yuhao was abandoned by the academy and taken away by Xue Di, Wang Dong left Shrek Academy in anger.

Jiang Nannan rarely stayed at the academy, but often stayed at Qunyu Pavilion.

Xu Sanshi had a girlfriend to keep him company, Bei Bei left the academy to find Tang Ya, who had also left school, while He Caitou returned to the Soul Guidance Department to continue participating in the so-called Extreme Individual Soldier Project.

It can be said that the Shrek Seven Devils reserve team is now defunct in name only.

Of the former official team members, Ling Luochen and Dai Yueheng graduated, while Chen Zifeng and Gongyang Mo, who were physically disabled, also left Shrek Academy in disappointment.

Now, only Ma Xiaotao and Xixi remain at Shrek Academy.

Although Xiao Xiao has become the disciple of Xuan Zi, the current master of the Sea God Pavilion, and her talent of twin martial souls is highly valued by the academy, she often misses Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong and others.

Although Xiaoxiao was deeply disappointed with Shrek Academy's initial actions, she was different from Wang Dong. Wang Dong had the powerful Haotian Sect as his backing, while her parents would not agree to her leaving Shrek Academy.

After all, within the academy, as a disciple of the Sea God Pavilion Master, she enjoyed special training resources.

Once she leaves the academy, she will be nothing more than an ordinary Soul Master with twin martial souls.

Moreover, Shrek Academy has done its best to train her, as the academy is facing a shortage of young talent and urgently hopes that the new generation of students can grow up as soon as possible.

Without Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao integrated into the new group. She got along very well with Ning Tian, ​​Wu Feng, and other senior students from the inner academy, such as Ma Xiaotao.

Although Wang Dong left Shrek Academy, Xiao Xiao could still occasionally meet with him through the simulated universe.

Wang Dong was in a bad mood, clearly because he had not been able to find Huo Yuhao, even after using the resources of the Haotian Sect.

Although Xiao Xiao was equally worried about Huo Yuhao's safety, she was powerless to do anything about it, as she was only a Soul Master and had no effective solutions.

Just then, Xiao Xiao, who was sitting to the side watching Ma Xiaotao and Wu Ming's battle with her chin propped up, suddenly noticed a red dot light up in the upper right corner of her vision.

That's the location of the email address; it's usually invisible and only alerts you when you receive an email.

Xiao Xiao couldn't help but feel curious, wondering who could have sent her the email.

However, when she opened the email, her pupils constricted, because it was an announcement from the official Simulated Universe website.

"Sister Xiaotao, check your emails!" Xiaoxiao exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh, PUBG tournament? What's that?" Upon hearing the shout, Ma Xiaotao, Han Ruoruo, and the others immediately put down their games, opened their emails with questions, and saw the same official announcement.

"Dear users of Simuworld, Simuworld will be hosting a PUBG tournament on June 10th. The tournament rules, eligibility requirements, and prizes are as follows!"

"June 10th, isn't that next month? What's going on? A 100,000-year-old soul bone! What is that guy trying to do? Has he gone mad?" Ma Xiaotao was shocked after reading the email.

Regardless of the specifics of this PUBG tournament, the rewards alone were enough to deeply impress even her.

The champion's reward is a 100,000-year soul bone and a 100,000-year holy mark. The top three also receive generous rewards, such as a 10,000-year soul bone and a holy mark, or a level eight or nine soul tool.

It's fair to say that even Shrek Academy would feel a pang of regret offering such a reward.

However, this was merely a prize for a virtual competition held in a simulated universe.

Such an extravagant reward is enough to make the entire Soul Master world on the continent excited. Even a Title Douluo would probably be tempted by it.

Ma Xiaotao knew very well that the official backer of the simulated universe was Haiyuan City, and the master of the simulated universe was Lu Jingming. That's why she found Lu Jingming's actions unbelievable.

"Participants must be under 20 years old, and teams of seven can register. The maximum number of teams is 100. Xiao Tao, you must notify the college immediately and have them quickly form several teams to register for the competition."

After reading the email, Han Ruoruo made a decisive statement.

Regardless of Lu Jingming's purpose in organizing this competition, Shrek Academy must not miss this opportunity, as the rewards are simply too tempting.

"With age and team limits, I think the championship reward is just for show. Who can beat the team from St. Freya Academy?"

Wu Ming crossed her arms and curled her lip in disdain.

Since the age limit is under 20, she, Han Ruoruo, and Ma Xiaotao are all ineligible to participate.

As for a team of seven under the age of twenty, she could hardly imagine any team that could pose a threat to the seven incredibly powerful monsters from St. Freya Academy.

Therefore, she felt that the enviable champion prize offered by the simulated universe PUBG competition was probably just a gimmick to attract attention, and that it would most likely end up in the hands of St. Freya Academy.

"Even if we don't win the championship, the rewards for second and third place are still very valuable, so we have no reason to give up."

Han Ruoruo, however, had a different opinion.

After all, in addition to the champion's prize, the prizes for the runner-up and third place are also very valuable, and their value is no less than that of the champion's prize in previous All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournaments.

Therefore, she thought that Haiyuan City was very sincere in holding this competition, and this PUBG competition sounded very interesting.

It's likely that, besides Shrek Academy, other major soul master academies and even major sects will actively participate.

After all, this PUBG tournament did not restrict participation to only Soul Master Academy members.

In other words, the intensity of this competition will far exceed that of previous Soul Master Competitions. After all, the strength of the major sects is no weaker than that of the Soul Master Academy, and may even be stronger in some aspects.

(End of this chapter)