Tang Wulin asked in a grim voice, "Then what if it had been an inside job? What if they had initiated the abyssal tide with no regard for the consequences?"

"An inside job?" Chen Xinjie's pupils abruptly contracted as he asked in a cold voice, "What do you mean by inside job? Are you telling me there were traitors in your Blood God Legion?"

Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "Of course there were no traitors in the legion; every soldier who joins the Blood God Legion must have undergone rigorous background checks. However, there are some people who want to destroy this plane and are willing to stoop to any lows to bring disaster upon this plane. If the abyssal tide had broken through the defenses of our Blood God Legion, then a calamitous disaster would've definitely ensued, resulting in the loss of countless lives, which would only benefit a certain group of people."

"You're referring to Evil Soul Masters?" Chen Xinjie's aggression clearly eased slightly, indicating that he was beginning to believe Tang Wulin's story.

Tang Wulin nodded in response. "That's right. We don't know how the Evil Soul Masters managed to infiltrate our legion, but they damaged a certain point on the seal within the abyssal passageway, and the abyssal plane used this to their advantage to unleash an all-out attack that caught us completely off guard. The federation doesn't know the full story, but what I can tell you is that the situation at the time was extremely perilous. Not only had we fully activated the Blood God Array, we also had to face the surprise attack from the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult.

"In our direst hour of need, we were blessed by the power of the plane, and only then did we just barely manage to force back the abyssal tide. However, the legion had suffered heavy losses during the ordeal, and what's even more damning is that the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult are like sharp swords that are constantly hanging over our heads; we don't know when they're going to collude with the abyssal plane again."

"Hold on," Chen Xinjie interjected, "Everyone's actions are governed by motives; what motive did the abyssal plane have to unleash such an attack when doing so required them to make such heavy sacrifices? Why were they in such a hurry? The powerful beings of the abyssal plane are definitely aware that it won't be easy to conquer the entire Douluo Continent, and that they'll have to face the pressure of the entire plane during their attempt at making a conquest. Even the slightest misstep could result in them suffering heavy losses, so why did they decide to take such a risk?"

Tang Wulin replied, "The abyssal plane has always wanted to devour the life force energy of our plane, and truth be told, a major motivating factor behind the abyssal plane's decision to strike at a time like this is because our plane is becoming weaker. Due to excessive exploitation from the human race, the resources on the Douluo Star are gradually being depleted. That must also be the main reason behind your Eagle Faction's intention to wage war and plunder resources from the other two continents."

"At the same time, the severe lack of resources on the Douluo Star has also damaged the balance of the planet's entire ecosystem. Back when Shrek Academy was destroyed by the Godslayer missile, the ancient Golden Tree that protected the Sea God's Pavilion had also been destroyed. Did you know that the Golden Tree is the tree of life of our entire Douluo Star and is the core of nature? Its destruction has led to the overall situation on the planet deteriorating even further. The power of the plane has waned even further, and that's the root cause behind the abyssal plane's decision to strike at this juncture. They want to completely destroy and devour us when we're at our weakest to evolve their plane."

Chen Xinjie was slightly shaken by Tang Wulin's words. Indeed, why did the Eagle Faction support war, and why were they so eager to invade the other two continents? It was all because of the lack of resources in the federation was becoming more and more apparent. The plan formulated by the higher-ups of the federation was to colonize the other two continents, then move on to colonize other planets in the near future.

The small spacecrafts developed by the secret research center of the federation had already discovered some planets that could support human life. However, mass immigration to those planets would require a vast amount of resources to be dedicated to research and development. With the severe lack of resources on the Douluo Continent, the federation no longer had the means to support such massive projects.

This was the main instigating factor behind the imminent war. Tang Wulin's word had had a profound impact on Chen Xinjie as he was explaining the problem that the Douluo Continent was currently facing on another level.

The federation wasn't directly behind the Shrek Academy bombing, but they had definitely turned a blind eye to certain events leading up to the horrific event. Shrek Academy was simply far too powerful and influential, and any attempt to instigate a war would be affected by the neutral faction, spearheaded by Shrek Academy. Hence, Shrek Academy was going to pose a major hindrance to the federation's future plans.

As such, some extremists had colluded with certain unscrupulous powers to give rise to that unprecedented terror attack, which completely destroyed Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters.

Chen Xinjie had his own set of ideals. His greatest wish was to see the human race truly begin to immigrate to other planets during his lifetime. In order to find more habitable space for the humans on the Douluo Continent, he was willing to do anything and give up everything. However, even he wasn't aware that Shrek Academy's destruction had led to such severe negative implications on the entire plane.

"The other reason behind the abyssal plane's action lies in the fact that the Blood God Legion has recently attained a type of secret weapon that can truly destroy the abyssal energy within abyssal creatures. This struck fear into their hearts as it meant that they would actually be suffering irreversible losses if they were to continue to fight the human race. If they can't conquer our Douluo Star, then there's a chance that we'll be able to launch a counterattack against the abyssal plane after we whittle them down to a certain extent. In that situation, the roles of hunter and prey would be reversed."

"What did you say?" Tang Wulin's earlier analysis had only intrigued Chen Xinjie, but his latest claim had shaken Chen Xinjie to the very core.

"The Blood God Legion has developed a weapon that can destroy abyssal energy?" Powerful spiritual pressure erupted from Chen Xinjie's body once again.

Tang Wulin resisted his spiritual aura and nodded in an earnest manner. "That's right, we've developed such a weapon, and what we can be sure of is that it's extremely effective. During the last abyssal tide, we permanently slew three abyssal emperors, thereby completely destroying three of the 108 abyssal levels."

Chen Xinjie was breathing slightly heavily as his eyes shimmered with bewilderment. He was naturally aware of what this entailed. The abyssal plane had posed a massive threat for several millennia; it was like a constantly ticking time bomb. It was no wonder that the abyssal plane would initiate such an unprecedented abyssal tide; who could've thought that the Blood God Legion would be able to develop such a weapon? This entailed that the Blood God Legion's status was going to enjoy a massive boost!

"On top of that, we can convert abyssal energy into life force energy that can be injected into our Douluo Continent, thereby resolving the issue of the dwindling life force energy on the continent."

Chen Xinjie felt as if he had been dealt several heavy blows in succession. "Is that true?"

Tang Wulin replied, "I'm sure you can get into contact with Legion Commander Zhang; why don't you ask him? This is top secret information even in our Blood God Legion, so I had to secure permission from the legion commander before I disclosed all of this to you. The four pillars of the Blood God Legion have always been Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, and the Battle God Hall, and during these past 6,000 years, the Battle God Hall has always been an important component of our legion."

After a brief period of astonishment, Chen Xinjie gradually calmed himself down before asking, "What does all this have to do with the objective of your visit?"

Tang Wulin replied, "My friends and I established the Blood Dragon Squad, and we really have been sent out by the legion. I am the captain of the Blood Dragon Squad, and our objective is to search for Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult. They already know of the existence of our aforementioned secret weapon, so the Holy Spirit Cult will definitely become one of the legion's most powerful enemies. We don't want to be stabbed in the back when war breaks out between our legion and the abyssal plane.

"Hence, if we can discover the whereabouts of the Holy Spirit Cult, then our legion will wage war on them at all costs to cleanse them off the face of this world. Only then will we be able to focus all of our efforts and attention on facing the abyssal plane. No matter how you analyze the situation, there's no way that the Star Luo Empire or the Dou Spirit Empire would attack the federal military at a time like this.

"They know that they're inferior to us in power, so they would only be fearful of a war, rather than provoke us to try and instigate the war sooner. Going by the same logic, which side would benefit the most from a war between the three continents? Once a war commences, the Holy Spirit Cult will be able to attain a vast amount of death energy. Hence, even though we don't have any concrete evidence, it makes logical sense that they were behind this attack. As such, I hope you can give us some time to find these Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult. Finding the true perpetrators would be the best way to try and track down the lair of the Holy Spirit Cult through them."