Chapter 1816: Withering Life Force

Regardless of how much genetic modification Ling Zichen underwent, she was still a normal person, and the power of Eternal Heaven was far too much for her to bear.

Despite her preparations and astute hypotheses, the terrifying recoil had still almost destroyed her.

However, she was fortunate in that she was receiving the assistance of the only healing system Limit Douluo in this world, as well as the secondary tree of life.

The only way to treat withering life force was to constantly inject enormous amounts of life energy into her body to sustain her until her body was able to generate its own life force again.

With the protection of the secondary tree of life, this wasn't an issue, but Ling Zichen had to constantly remain near the secondary tree of life until she recovered.

Yali had told her that she would never be able to fire Eternal Heaven again. Otherwise, even a god would struggle to save her. Sustaining withering life force a second time would destroy the core of her being, and with her passing, Eternal Heaven would also be lost.

Ling Zichen hadn't offered a response to this, but those familiar with her knew that it was very difficult to predict what she would do once she entered her mad scientist mode. At the same time, she was going to receive the most thorough protection as she was literally a walking Eternal Heaven!

Half a month after the abyssal passageway's disappearance, the federation issued a reward to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy that was comprised of a large quantity of resources. Northern Legion Commander Guo Zhenfeng was also rewarded with a promotion to the general rank. If it weren't for the countless sacrifices made by the Northern Legion, there wouldn't have been enough time to mobilize the federation's troops, and had the northern front been overwhelmed, disaster would've struck the entire continent.

Guo Zhenfeng had led from the front and almost perished, but the silver lining was that he had now become the youngest general in the federation. The sky was the limit for him, and he had become the brightest young star in the military, dethroning Shen Yue from that position.

In direct contrast to his fate was the one suffered by Dong Zi'an. He had refused to follow orders, and his actions had caused the Western Legion to suffer heavy losses.

As a result, he was sent straight to military court, and even the chief army commissioner wasn't able to save him.

However, as a Limit Douluo, he was naturally given a special pardon, so he was only demoted to the senior colonel rank, and he would continue to serve in the Western Legion.

Northwestern Legion Commander Yin Moshang would also take on the role of Western Legion commander in the interim. Once the situation in the northernmost region completely settled down, a new permanent commander would be elected.

As for the Spirit Pagoda, the only information that was released was that there was now a new chairwoman, but the issue of Qiangu Dongfeng advising Dong Zi'an to go against military orders wasn't exposed, thereby saving some face for the organization.

After all, Qiangu Dongfeng had already paid the price for his actions.

At the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy encampment.

"I've invited everyone here today to discuss who will be returning to the academy and who will be staying here." Tang Wulin was conducting the post-battle meeting.

The abyssal passageway had been gone for half a month.

The military could continue to stay here as where they were didn't affect the normal operation of the federation. The Tang Sect wouldn't be heavily impacted, either, as the personnel sent here were all battle units.

However, the same didn't apply for Shrek Academy. In order to contend with the abyssal plane and the Holy Spirit Cult, Shrek Academy had deployed almost all of its high-end power, who were also the most important teachers of the academy. For example, Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng had just set up the inner court, and they were in the process of selecting inner court disciples.

Furthermore, they also had to train some of the young teachers, and they were very busy, so now that things had settled down, it was time to consider whether who should leave or stay.

Cao Dezhi said, "There isn't too much that needs to be taken care of in the Tang Sect, and I'm worried that the abyssal passageway could resurface at any time. So many powerful abyssal beings have already arrived, and I don't think they'll give up so easily. It would take a few years for the full Blood God Array to be completed, and most importantly, we still can't be 100% sure whether the abyssal passageway will appear in the distance or not."

"Tell us about the Blood God Array; will it be able to seal the passageway like the one in the Blood God Legion?" Tang Wulin asked.

Cao Dezhi shook his head in response. "Most likely not. In fact, I daresay it's virtually impossible. 6,000 years ago, far fewer abyssal beings had invaded our plane, and they were also less powerful. Hence, after we forced them back, we actually seized control of the abyssal passageway. At the time, many of the most powerful Soul Masters of that generation locked onto the abyssal passageway, and the Blood God Array was essentially set up right on top of the passageway, thereby completely sealing it shut.

"However, this time, the abyssal passageway has managed to retreat and only the connecting coordinates were left behind. As such, the Blood God Array can only be set up on our plane, rather than directly on the abyssal passageway. As a result, we can't predict when the abyssal creatures will return, and we also can't use the array's defensive power as the Blood God Legion can. Of course, if the abyssal passageway resurfaces at the same location, then the array will still have some effect, but it's difficult to say how effective it's going to be."

Tang Wulin nodded in response. "In that case, if the abyssal passageway returns, we'll be facing another stern battle, and we may not be able to count on the Blood God Array, is that right?"

Cao Dezhi replied, "That's right. However, this is still far better than the prior situation. In my experience, there's virtually no way to alter connecting coordinates, so the abyssal passageway will definitely reappear at the same location, and it'll only be able to change locations after it connects with our plane. I don't know how the Holy Spirit Cult managed to open this new set of coordinates for them here, but I presume it had something to do with the Blood River Godslayer Array. Now that the array has been destroyed, it would be virtually impossible to change the coordinates unless the Holy Spirit Cult can set up the array again."

Tang Wulin said, "I see. In that case, all of our Tang Sect's forces can remain here to contribute to the defensive effort; does anyone have any suggestions for the academy's personnel?"

He turned toward Long Yeyue as he spoke.

Long Yeyue said, "I suggest we also keep some people here for now as a precautionary measure. However, with the connection between the tree of life and the secondary tree of life, we can teleport people here at the cost of some life energy. Hence, I suggest that everyone aside from the Limit Douluos go back. The education of the current cohort can't be delayed, and we have to prepare for the next round of enrolment; there will most likely be a lot of applicants this time. Also, I like Zichen's suggestion to set up a new branch of the academy.

"We don't necessarily have to only enroll children with aptitude in soul technology; we should open our arms to all children with special talents. The motto of our academy is that we only accept monsters, not normal people, but it doesn't say that we only accept Soul Masters."

Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I agree. Soul technology is advancing rapidly, and we can't just stubbornly cling onto what we know best."

The power of Eternal Heaven had left a lasting impression on everyone, and with the bold theory proposed by Ling Zichen, there was a very good chance that soul technology development was going to enter a new era, one that would prepare humanity for space exploration.

If Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect didn't want to be left behind, then they would have to prepare in advance to be able to ride this wave. Thankfully, this direction had been identified by the head researcher of the Tang Sect, so they were already leading the way.