"Through countless efforts, I was finally able to connect an abyssal passageway to the Douluo Star, and once the passageway took shape, we launched the first probing attack 6,000 years ago. At the time, your planar ruler was still very powerful. At the very least, I wouldn't have been powerful enough to face it at the time, so I could only bide my time. It's not such an easy task to truly devour a plane, and you humans were quite powerful as well, so I had to search for an opportunity. Unbeknownst to all of you, through the abyssal passageway, I was already able to inject my consciousness into your world.

"I couldn't sense all things, but I could sense strong negative energy. Those idiots from the Holy Spirit Cult have constantly been searching for an evil god to support them, but little did they know that I was that evil god all along. The Holy Spirit Cult actively sought us out as I brought the existence of the Blood God Legion to their attention through some special means. The Holy Spirit Cult is intent on destroying everything your federation wants to protect, so they went to great lengths to get into contact with us, but little did they know that this was all a part of my plan.

"After that, we made an agreement. The Holy Spirit Cult wants to harness the death energy and negative emotions of the human race, while we want the life energy, so there was no conflict of interest. However, that Ghost Emperor had been plotting against us in secret from the very beginning. At the time, they had already begun constructing the Blood River Godslayer Array. Demon Sovereign was nothing more than a madwoman; Ghost Emperor was the true mastermind. His plan was very smart; he wanted to use Demon Sovereign to create a Divine Realm, which would help him ascend to godhood.

"Our abyssal plane would only be a stepping stone for them, and they only wanted to use us. Thus, I played along and pretended to be oblivious to their plan, but in reality, I was always one step ahead of them. Unbeknownst to them, the creation of the Blood River Godslayer Array, the opening of the abyssal passageway, the instigation of this battle; all of it was in preparation for this very moment. As the ruler of the abyssal plane, it's very difficult for me to descend into this plane. The ruler of your Douluo Plane is very careful, but no matter how careful someone is, there will always be lapses.

"Why did I allow so many of my subordinates to perish? It's because I needed more energy. The abyssal energy that you devoured on your end is only the energy arising from their deaths, while I devoured the essential power that was generated from the collapse of their abyssal levels; this power allowed me to arrive in your world and rise beyond the restrictions of this plane. Now, you must be wondering why that bet was proposed, right? My objective was very simple: I wanted more of my subordinates dead, but I couldn't just ask them to die, so this was a perfect excuse.

"Also, I needed more time to successfully traverse between planes. I instructed the Sage Sovereign to tell Demon Sovereign that our abyssal plane needs more time to mobilize more powerful beings, and that I'll also be able to project a part of my power into this plane. At the time, all Demon Sovereign wanted was to weaken us as much as possible. She was a very ambitious woman; even more so than Ghost Emperor anticipated. She wanted to weaken us, and once she devoured the life energy of the Douluo Star to create a Divine Realm, she would devour our abyssal plane as well to further strengthen her Divine Realm.

"Of course, I also played along to this and pretended that I was oblivious to her plans, but unbeknownst to her, even her body as a true god was prepared for me. Before you two struck her down, I wouldn't have been able to come to this plane. Without a godly body, even if I could transmigrate to this plane, I wouldn't have a vessel. Thus, the Blood River Godslayer Array actually worked to create a vessel for me. Once I obtained this vessel and could descend into this plane in my full glory, this plane would belong to me."

A pleased smile appeared on the Holy Lord's face as he continued, "I also have to thank you. If you hadn't destroyed Demon Sovereign's soul, it wouldn't have been an easy task for me to possess her body. Her will is far stronger than I imagined, and it was fuelled by her ambition. Only after possessing her body just now did I realize that her objective for creating a Divine Realm was actually to try and resurrect her husband. It's a good goal, but unfortunately, she won't ever be able to achieve it now.

Thus, the truth was revealed, and this was undoubtedly the worst possible situation for the Douluo Continent. The Holy Lord had prepared 6,000 years for this plan to come into fruition, and he had finally succeeded.

Tang Wulin slowly raised his Sea God's Trident with a serious expression. If Demon Sovereign had only been a true god, then the Holy Lord would be a genuine deity. Would they really be able to defeat such a formidable enemy?

All of the powerful beings of the human race gathered behind Tang Wulin.

The darkness in the sky seemed to have become even more oppressive, and the purple sun seemed to shine only for the Holy Lord.

All of the elements in the air began to rapidly dissipate, and the abyssal creatures on the battlefield began to swell in both stature and aura, as if they had been injected with performance-enhancing drugs.

The abyssal passageway reopened, and a massive abyssal army quickly emerged from within.

 The Holy Lord slowly raised his head and closed his eyes as he spread his arms open. "What a wonderful world this is! This day will be marked in history as the beginning of my conquest of the entire universe; don't you all feel honored to be witnessing such a monumental moment in person?"

Tang Wulin said in a cold voice, "This is our world, and we'll do everything in our power to defend it. If you want to conquer it, then you'll have to step over our dead bodies first."

The Sea God's Trident in his hand began to glow brightly, and his aura quickly elevated under the enhancement of the transcendent divine weapon.

Gu Yuena fused into his body again, and a massive pillar of nine-colored light erupted into the heavens, attempting to pierce through the dark sky.

The Holy Lord did nothing to stop them and merely looked on with a derisive sneer on his face.

"This is a very interesting transformation; no wonder you were able to kill Demon Sovereign. Unfortunately for you, what you're facing now is a god, and ultimately, you two are only able to attain godly power, but haven't actually ascended to godhood. You possess a strong enough foundation, but you're sorely lacking in power. Our abyssal plane is superior to the Douluo Plane, and as its ruler, I possess the power of a first-rank god! Even without a godseat, there's no way you can oppose me!"

The sky suddenly turned a dark purple color, and enormous pressure descended from above as the Holy Lord spoke, crushing the pillar of nine-colored light.