The Abyssal Sage King didn't resort to brute force to directly kill his subordinates—he simply wanted to maintain a sense of dignity.
After all, he still needed to carry on in the future, and being undignified just wouldn't do.
Grasping tightly onto the Sage King's "market demand" for dignity, the Wisdom Emperor was the first to approach him and present a full proposal like a business pitch.
First, he offered up the core of the sixth layer of the Abyssal Plane to the Sage King as a gesture of loyalty.
Second, he met the Sage King's need for dignity by thoroughly explaining the power dynamics among the Douluo Plane, the Abyssal Plane, and the Holy Spirit Cult. He proposed a "Nine-Palace Grid Tactic" to balance the power levels between the two sides, with the goal of mutual attrition—so that both would suffer great losses. A true two-birds-one-stone strategy.
A flawless plan, tailored to market demands. The Wisdom Emperor struck the Sage King's weak spot perfectly, giving him everything he desired.
Thus, under the Sage King's promise, the Wisdom Emperor's "shell company" was successfully listed, and his solo project officially launched.
Once the project was complete, the Wisdom Emperor would become second only to the Sage King in the Abyssal Plane—standing above all others. The stock of the "Wisdom Emperor Shell Company" was bound to skyrocket.
And once the Abyssal Plane successfully devoured the Douluo Plane, he could cash out at the peak. His gains from this project would be enough to break through and become a god.
However, things didn't go as smoothly—Di Tian disrupted the situation. The war between soul beasts and humans had nearly crippled the human soul masters' forces in the Douluo Plane.
The balance of power between the two sides was completely broken. The half-crippled human soul masters were no match for the Abyssal army led by the Spirit Emperor.
At this critical moment, another ambitious figure stepped onto the stage—and into the Wisdom Emperor's strategic game.
It was none other than the Abyssal Plane's supposed ally: the Ghost Emperor of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Now that the power balance had tilted, and the human soul masters were no longer a threat, the truly ambitious Ghost Emperor—the one who actually controlled the Holy Spirit Cult despite not being its nominal leader—entered the picture.
The Wisdom Emperor quickly realized that the Ghost Emperor was a man unwilling to live under others. His true control over the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters made that abundantly clear.
So, the Wisdom Emperor significantly revised his project proposal.
He began secretly supporting the Ghost Emperor and the now vastly strengthened Holy Spirit Cult, using them to ambush and kill the Abyssal Kings. He even goaded the Ghost Emperor into trying to possess the Demon Empress.
This new plan was highly appealing to the Ghost Emperor, aligning perfectly with his side's market interests.
As for the Abyssal Sage King, he had no objections to this revised proposal from the Wisdom Emperor's "company."
After all, it was still a brilliant move.
Even if the Demon Empress's divine true body had been crafted by the Blood River Godslaying Formation as a vessel for the Sage King's descent onto the Douluo Plane, it wouldn't be easy for him to seize it outright.
But if the evil soul masters like the Ghost Emperor served as cannon fodder—attempting the possession first and exhausting both the Ghost Emperor and the Demon Empress in the process—
Then the Sage King could make his move and claim the prize.
The exhausted Ghost Emperor and Demon Empress would be as weak as chickens, powerless to stop him.
Once descended upon the Douluo Plane, and armed with a supreme divine weapon, he would win for sure!
The Douluo Plane would be his for the taking. Even the million-year-old soul beast Di Tian would end up as his dragon steed.
And so, the Sage King agreed.
If not for the Sage King's secret support, the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters would never have been able to achieve such a sudden explosion in power.
The upgrade of the Doomsday Skeleton—from carrying just nine people to housing over a thousand high-level evil soul masters—was also the handiwork of the Abyssal Sage King.
Likewise, if the Wisdom Emperor hadn't acted as an insider, leading the Abyssal Kings into a trap laid out by the Holy Spirit Cult—a trap powered by the Blood River Godslaying Formation—and if he hadn't also handed over the supreme artifact, Heavenly Saint Abyssal Halberd, and revealed the rankings and weaknesses of several Abyssal Emperors...
There's no way the Ghost Emperor's forces could have so easily ambushed and annihilated over a hundred Abyssal Kings.
Now, with those hundred Abyssal Kings already fallen, their scattered abyssal energy—aside from the portion absorbed by the Doomsday Skeleton under the Ghost Emperor's control—was largely drawn by some mysterious force through the Blood River Godslaying Formation and sent back to the Abyssal Plane.
Behind the Wisdom Emperor, the supreme artifact Heavenly Saint Abyssal Halberd shimmered with dark purple demonic runes, giving off eerie fluctuations. Combined with the Wisdom Emperor's strange and unnatural movements, a dark purple streak of light along with abyssal energy surged back into the Abyssal Plane—like a message being transmitted.
And witnessing this whole trap play out was none other than the Demon Empress, who had just arrived.
"Ghost Emperor!"
Her beautiful eyes gleamed with killing intent, staring at the Ghost Emperor, hidden inside the Doomsday Skeleton.
He had somehow acquired so many hidden cards, and even managed to evade her senses—manipulating the Blood River Godslaying Formation to kill over a hundred Abyssal Kings.
Now, how could she not realize? The Ghost Emperor's ambition had already turned into action.
Originally, with Di Tian dominating the battlefield and her own formidable strength, she believed they could easily intimidate the evil soul masters.
In fact, during the construction of the second Blood River Godslaying Formation, the Ghost Emperor and his cultists had indeed been obedient—like a bunch of well-behaved children.
But she never imagined that the Abyssal Plane would bypass her, the dominant force in the current situation, and establish a direct alliance with the Ghost Emperor.
What she couldn't understand even more was why the Abyssal Sage King would allow the Ghost Emperor to massacre over a hundred of his own Kings?
But now wasn't the time for questions.
Di Tian was still locked in fierce combat, and who knew what the maniacal Ghost Emperor—who had now revealed all his trump cards—might do?
Either way, she needed to eliminate this unstable factor immediately!
With that thought, her Slaughter Blood Sea erupted.
The space around her was instantly flooded with a sea of blood.
On the horizon of that bloody ocean, a blood moon slowly rose.
Endless blood-red lights—dreamlike yet gory, sometimes romantic, sometimes horrific—shimmered across the surface of her skin.
Eventually, those crimson lights gathered at eleven points on her body. Blood-red divine light exploded outward, and a set of blood-red armor perfectly attached itself to her body.
It was her battle armor and mecha—nurtured within her for ten years.
Upon breaking through the divine threshold, she had taken Di Tian's advice and began nurturing her battle armor and mecha nonstop. Now, with the Blood River Godslaying Formation's energy as fuel, her battle armor had evolved from four-word to five-word, and her mecha had advanced from divine to true-god level—ordinary weapons now turned divine artifacts.
Now that she was using both simultaneously, it was a clear sign:
The Demon Empress was going all out.
Eternal Night Annihilation Domain!
A strange blood-slaughter wave spread outward from beneath her feet.
The battle armor's inherent domain was released in full force.
Heaven and earth turned into a blood-colored night—silent and terrifying.
Having pretended to be submissive to the Demon Empress for so long and carefully laid all his plans, the Ghost Emperor certainly had no intention of surrendering.
Hiding inside the Doomsday Skeleton, he let out a maniacal laugh:
"Jie jie jie~"
"Doomsday Skeleton—formation!"
(End of Chapter)