A name suddenly appeared in Tang Wulin's mind, and he almost blurted out, "Are you the Heartless Douluo?"

This man was superior in power to the Atlas Douluo, held a lofty position in the Tang Sect, and was Blood One of the Blood God Battalion, as well as a federal general. All of this undoubtedly required incredible power to attain, and the only one that Tang Wulin could think of that could fit this description was Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi.

The Heartless Douluo smiled, and said, "You're a smart kid; I knew you'd guess this for yourself. Everyone thinks I decided to disappear and enjoy myself in seclusion, but little do they know that I only found my purpose in life after coming to this place 60 years ago. I've always been here during the past 60 years, and during that time, I've traveled deep into the abyssal realm to gather information. I've led a very eventful and fulfilling life during these past six decades, and during that time, I came to understand just how important the Blood God Legion was. Hence, I have to stay here. 60 years ago, I took over from the last Blood One. He came from the Battle God Hall, and he was their hall master from three generations ago. Back then, he only told me one thing; the life one leads here is lonely but full of pride.

"Your life will be a lonesome one, but your soul will be immensely proud! 60 years later, I am in full agreement with his words, and I'm proud of every single soldier of the Blood God Legion as all of them have proud souls. Hence, when Zang Xin said that he wanted to send you here to polish you and accelerate your growth, I agreed because I hope that you can also possess a proud soul. This will be very important to your future, and it'll also allow you to see the world more clearly."

This man really was the Heartless Douluo! All of Tang Wulin's dejection was wiped away after hearing his words.

Reviving Shrek Academy was certainly extremely important, but guarding this abyssal passageway was just as important!

He'd been guarding this place every single day for 60 years; what an immense display of will and commitment! Indeed, he really did have a proud soul.

Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "I still can't fully comprehend your current frame of mind, but I'm willing to stay here until I figure everything out. I understand what you're trying to say, and I'll do everything in my power to improve myself."

The Heartless Douluo smiled, and said, "Everyone has their own responsibilities; my obligations lay here, whereas you owe your responsibility to the academy. Don't be overly eager to make progress; you have to constantly remember that there's only hope for the academy so long as you're still alive. Even if you fail to revive the academy, you have to establish a strong foundation for the next generation. The current situation on the continent is extremely chaotic, and the continent is being plagued by a series of problems and reforms both on the inside and on the outside. What you need to do now is to improve yourself so you attain the power to protect yourself in this chaotic world."

Tang Wulin nodded in an earnest manner.

The Heartless Douluo continued, "You're mentally very strong, and I'm very glad to see that. Alright, let me tell you about the true situation in the abyssal plane so you can develop a greater understanding of the enemies we're facing."

"Yes!"

The smile on the Heartless Douluo's face faded, and he said in a grim voice, "The abyssal plane is far more powerful than you can imagine. In that world, there are 108 abyssal levels, and each and every level is connected by spatial passageways. There is an emperor on each level, so there are a total of 108 emperor-level beings in the abyssal plane; we refer to them as the 108 abyssal emperors. Among these 108 abyssal emperors, the ones on the first 36 levels are roughly comparable in power to human Titled Douluos, so they don't pose much of a threat.

"The emperors of the middle 36 levels are comparable to our Hyper Douluos, so they're also quite manageable. However, the emperors of the final 36 levels are all comparable or even superior to human Limit Douluo. In particular, the abyssal emperors of the final 18 levels are all demigod, and the emperor on the 108th level possesses power that's infinitely approaching that of a true god.

"The energy of the abyssal plane exists in a special state that's completely different from the natural energies of our continent. To them, the natural energies in our world can be converted by them through devouring life force energy, thereby bolstering their entire plane. However, there's nothing useful to us in the abyssal plane. Otherwise, the federation could potentially agree to mobilize a massive army to wage war against the abyssal plane, but there are no benefits to be reaped from doing that, so the federation has assigned our Blood God Legion the task of guarding the abyssal passageway.

"The energy in the 108 abyssal levels is conserved, which means that all of the energy within the abyssal plane adds up to a certain sum. That sum can't be easily changed, and if it decreases, they have to replenish it through absorbing energy from the outside world. This energy from the outside world that I'm referring to is similar to our life force energy. Hence, after this plane became connected to our world, the abyssal creatures have constantly been trying to invade us in order to elevate the total amount of energy within their plane.

"In a sense, you can think of the abyssal plane as a complete life form, and those abyssal creatures are only its cells. Following cell death, the energy will be recycled to create new cells, and that's what makes the abyssal plane truly terrifying. We can kill abyssal creatures all we want, but we can't truly destroy them. The Abyssal Demon Monarch and the Enchantress Empress that attacked you today are all ultra-powerful abyssal beings from the last 36 levels. They're affected by the seal in the abyssal passageway, so they can only project a small portion of their power into this world. Otherwise, there's no way that Blood Eight would've stood a chance against them.

"As things currently are, only the abyssal emperors on the first 36 levels can descend upon our world in their complete forms, but with me here, those abyssal emperors wouldn't dare to come to our world for no good reason. After all, even though they can be revived, the revival process is an extremely lengthy one. Every time I venture into the abyssal plane, my objective is to kill as many powerful abyssal beings as possible in order to buy more time for us.

"It's a good thing that the most powerful beings among our human race were able to complete the seal over 6,000 years ago. Otherwise, if the abyssal emperors of the last 36 levels had descended upon our world, we would've faced almost certain annihilation. Human soul technology may be advancing very quickly, but it's still not at a level where it can contend with the power of the abyssal plane.

Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. There were 108 abyssal emperors?! He finally understood why the Heartless Douluo was so determined to stay here and guard this place. Without a powerful being like him holding things together, the likelihood of the abyssal passageway seal being broken would inevitably increase, and that would result in a disaster of unprecedented proportions that could even spell the end of the entire world! That was not something that could be allowed to happen.

"What I'm thinking about now is whether you'll be able to completely destroy the abyssal energy of the 108 abyssal emperors by killing them with your Golden Dragon Spear. In that case, they won't be able to resurrect themselves. According to my knowledge, the cores of each of the 108 abyssal levels are none other than their respective emperors, so if an emperor truly dies, then there's a very good chance that the entire abyssal level that they rule over will be destroyed along with all of the abyssal creatures on that level. If that can work, then we'll potentially be able to eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane once and for all.

"However, the prerequisite for this is that you have to be powerful enough to accomplish this. The final 18 of the 108 emperors are all more powerful than I am, and they've already noticed you. Hence, if you were to venture into the abyssal passageway, an all-out assault will most likely be directed at you, and they won't rest until you're killed, so I can't allow you to take any risks. On this side of the passageway, the seal will restrict all of the more powerful abyssal emperors, so I'm confident in my ability to protect you. However, if we go to the other side, even I won't be able to guarantee your safety."

A faint smile appeared on the Heartless Douluo's face, and he continued, "Hence, the responsibility on your shoulders will only grow heavier from here. If you can also become a Limit Douluo in the future, you'll at least be able to protect yourself, and when that time comes, I hope you can venture deep into the abyssal plane with me. Together, we'll try and kill the 108 abyssal emperors and completely eradicate this threat to the continent."

A hint of shock appeared in Tang Wulin's face, and a surge of battle intent also welled up in his heart. If he could kill the 108 abyssal emperors and absorb all of their energy, breaking his future Golden Dragon King seals could become a simple task.

However, just a portion of the Black Empress's energy alone was enough to transform his blood essence vortex into a dragon core; how enormous would the energy of the 108 abyssal emperors be?

The Heartless Douluo continued, "Of course, you're nowhere near powerful enough to set that plan into motion for now, but at the very least, I see hope for the future in you. If you can reach my cultivation level someday, then there's a very good chance that you'll be able to kill some abyssal emperors with your Golden Dragon Spear. In doing so, you'll at least be intimidating them so that they'd have to think twice about invading our world."

Tang Wulin nodded in response. If he could accomplish that feat someday, then it would definitely be immensely beneficial to himself as well.