DD Black White [220-222] (Patreon)

Chapter 220: The Tournament Ends

In the end, the final zone of the Battle Royale Championship became a chaotic and intense battlefield.

As the poison circle kept shrinking, all teams were forced into combat.

In the cramped arena, various soul skills flew everywhere. The slightly weaker contestants were eliminated instantly.

For example, Ye Lingling from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy—though not strong, she was a crucial healer for her team. Even with March 7th's full protection, she was immediately focused down and had to leave the match.

The battle was chaotic but spectacular.

Long Aotian of the Body Sect, Qian Renxue of Spirit Hall, as well as Hu Liena and Xie Yue who unleashed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, all displayed power close to the Soul Sage level, dominating the field.

Compared to Firefly and Castorice, who chose the Body Sect and Spirit Hall respectively, the alliance formed by Jinhsi and Gu Yue had a numbers advantage, but their overall strength was somewhat lacking.

Firefly and her peers kept each other in check, and no one acted rashly against the other's chosen teams.

However, as the fighting intensified, Shrek Academy was the first to be eliminated.

Soon after, Nan Qiuqiu, Xu Tianzhen, Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu, and others followed.

With their teammates tied up and unable to help, Jinhsi and Gu Yue could only helplessly withdraw.

Firefly and Castorice exchanged glances and instantly understood each other's intent—eliminate Robin and March 7th first.

These two excelled at support and defense. Even after Wang Qiu'er's group had endured heavy soul tool bombardment, they managed to persist thanks to Robin and March 7th's support.

"You can't be serious, you two! That's not fair!" March 7th exclaimed in disbelief, seeing Firefly and Castorice blocking her path.

With perfect coordination, Spirit Hall and the Body Sect surrounded Wang Qiu'er's group.

Even with Robin's buffs, Wang Qiu'er's group had already been worn down by multiple battles and a level-seven soul tool bombardment—their state was poor.

In this situation, Robin and March 7th were successfully contained, and St. Freya Academy's second team was regretfully defeated.

"This might be for the best—at least it won't ruin Xiao Ming's plan," Robin said with a resigned shake of her head.

She understood that Lu Jingming's purpose in hosting this battle royale wasn't for St. Freya Academy to win.

After all, if they competed personally, the championship would be a foregone conclusion.

Even if the second team won, it wouldn't be much different from them taking the crown themselves.

The hundred-thousand-year soul bone and stigmata weren't meant for them—they were part of Lu Jingming's World Tree Plan.

So, Firefly had made a misstep.

Robin glanced at Firefly and shook her head again.

Though it wasn't unacceptable for the Body Sect to win, Lu Jingming clearly preferred Spirit Hall to take the championship.

On reflection, the usually low-profile Castorice was the one who truly grasped Lu Jingming's intentions.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have partnered directly with Qian Renxue.

Unlike Castorice, who stayed at St. Freya, Robin, March 7th, and Firefly were outsiders and didn't fully understand Lu Jingming's plans, leading to their defeat.

Sure enough, after eliminating Robin, March 7th, and Wang Qiu'er's group, Firefly decisively unleashed her sixth soul skill, "Super Starfall Kick," intending to knock Spirit Hall out.

By now, the final zone was tiny—only a few dozen meters across.

Facing Firefly's devastating meteor kick, no one could dodge; they had no choice but to brace themselves.

A massive blast of flames swept the arena, engulfing everyone in searing explosions.

To ensure the Body Sect's victory, Firefly specifically warned Long Aotian to stay at the very edge and survive until the end.

Her main targets were Qian Renxue, Hu Liena, and the others.

However, as the smoke cleared, things didn't go as Firefly planned.

Long Aotian survived with his activated "Undying Golden Body" soul skill and invincibility shield.

But, unexpectedly, Spirit Hall's team was also unscathed.

Seeing the ghostly purple aura swirling around Qian Renxue and the fluttering ghost butterflies, Firefly was bewildered.

Watching from outside the arena, Lu Jingming shook his head helplessly.

Although Firefly and the others knew Castorice well, they didn't know about her most overpowered ability—granting teammates one death immunity.

Given Castorice's personality, she wouldn't deliberately hide this, but she wouldn't bring it up either.

Since her companions rarely faced mortal danger, only Castorice and Lu Jingming were aware of this power.

Thus, Firefly's plan backfired—her clearing move inadvertently handed the championship to Spirit Hall.

With Long Aotian taken down by Qian Renxue, Hu Liena, and Xie Yue's fusion skill, the first Battle Royale Championship in the simulated universe came to a close.

Lu Jingming was very satisfied with the outcome.

He'd wanted Spirit Hall to win from the start, as only they could make the best use of the hundred-thousand-year soul bone and stigmata.

He knew Spirit Hall's situation: neither item would go entirely to Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong would surely choose the soul bone, leaving the stigmata to Qian Renxue.

With the soul bone, Bibi Dong could advance her Rakshasa God trial, shorten the time to ascend, and be strong enough to clean up the increasingly powerful Contamination Points—working for Lu Jingming.

Qian Renxue, by refining the stigmata, would see her strength soar.

With the threat of Contamination Points, Qian Daoliu would urge her to take the God Trial early, bringing the Angel God into the world ahead of schedule.

With two deities, even newly ascended, they could suppress the Contamination Points and keep things under control.

After all, Lu Jingming's goal was to help the planet evolve, not let Contamination Points destroy the world.

If he wanted destruction, he could simply unleash unfiltered Honkai Energy; that would be even easier.

The very mechanism by which Honkai Energy grows with civilization means destruction is never hard.

And civilization doesn't just mean technological advancement—cultivation-based societies are also civilizations.

If a cultivation world grows stronger, the force of destruction should rise accordingly.

Of course, Lu Jingming wouldn't go so far as to create an Cocoon of Finality just for fun.

Given the energy required to manifest such a thing, it would cost even more than directly summoning an Emanator.

Lu Jingming planned to make the Battle Royale Championship an annual event.

He had no intention of competing again himself.

This tournament would both boost the planet's overall strength and serve to expand the simulated universe's influence.

After this event, everyone would surely take the simulated universe more seriously.

As long as its influence kept spreading, until every commoner could enter, Lu Jingming would reap enormous benefits.

By then, the cost of soul bones and similar rewards would be negligible.

As the tournament ended, Lu Jingming smiled at the disappointed Firefly and the equally glum March 7th and said, "It's okay, it's just a loss. How about this: I'll grant each of you a wish. What do you say? Of course, Castorice can have two wishes."

"Really?!" March 7th's eyes lit up, her gloom vanishing. Firefly also blinked at Lu Jingming in surprise and delight.

"Of course. Castorice, do you mind?" Lu Jingming nodded, turning to Castorice.

Since Castorice was the true winner, he sought her opinion.

Castorice shook her head lightly—why would she object? She was secretly pleased to get two wishes instead of one.

"Hooray! Castorice, you're the best!" March 7th cheered, instinctively wanting to hug Castorice.

Luckily, Lu Jingming reacted quickly and grabbed March 7th's collar, stopping her.

If March 7th had hugged Castorice, given Castorice's special physique, March 7th would have suffered for it—potentially even feeling the pain of death.

Realizing this, March 7th stuck out her tongue sheepishly and gave Lu Jingming a grateful look.

If he hadn't stopped her, she would've been in for a world of hurt—the thought alone was chilling.

"When you've decided on your wishes, come find me." With that, Lu Jingming exited the simulated universe.

As his figure faded, Robin turned to March 7th and Firefly. "We should head back too."

"Of course! I can't wait to find Xiao Ming and make my wish!" March 7th said eagerly, clearly pondering what to ask for.

After all, with the Authority of Reality, Lu Jingming could fulfill wishes as long as he had enough power.

Firefly and Robin exchanged a knowing smile, saying nothing.

To them, little March 7th was no threat—not even worth worrying about.

…

"Herta, I plan to revise the plan."

Upon leaving the simulated universe, Lu Jingming immediately sought out Herta and awakened the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Makoto, sharing his thoughts.

His experiments in the parallel world made him realize the World Tree Plan was crude, with frequent accidents.

For instance, he hadn't anticipated the planet's will acting on its own, gathering negative energy and making Contamination Points stronger than expected, putting immense pressure on soul masters.

Chapter 221: Holy Grail War

It was precisely because the World Tree Plan in the parallel world developed beyond Lu Jingming's expectations—even forcing him to summon Elysia as backup—that he decided to host the battle royale, indirectly empowering Spirit Hall and hastening the rise of stronger people to clean up the mess.

Beings like Black Fu Hua, Black Kevin, and Black Osial, plus the Haiyuan City, all far exceeded normal power levels. The parallel world's soul masters could barely cope.

Worse, the expanding Contamination Points threatened countless civilians and even cost the lives of some soul masters.

Lu Jingming never thought of himself as a good person. Although he offered some compensation, it was only from his own perspective; he had no intention of asking others for their opinion.

In his view, the strong ruling the weak was only natural.

Otherwise, why strive to become strong—just to avoid being controlled, to have peace of mind? Lu Jingming fully embraced the evil savior mindset.

Of course, he wasn't a complete villain. That's why he wanted to revise the plan, minimizing harm to civilians and reducing casualties.

If he simply copied the parallel world's plan here—planting the World Tree, linking it to the planet's will, using memories to condense ley lines and gather negative energy—the resulting Contamination Points could be unimaginably powerful.

This Douluo Continent, ten thousand years after the original, was in far worse shape.

Ten thousand years ago, evil soul masters didn't rampage unchecked and commoners had ways to rise.

Now, evil soul masters had run wild for millennia, and commoners were oppressed by nobles for ten thousand years. Lu Jingming dreaded to imagine the accumulated negative energy.

If he planted the World Tree and guided that negative energy through the ley lines, horrors like anti-matter armies, cosmic locust swarms, or abominations from his memories could manifest.

After all, Black Fu Hua and Black Kevin appeared only because they existed in his memories.

Millennia of suffering at the hands of evil soul masters and nobles left the commoners with overwhelming resentment—much more than the parallel world's Douluo Continent. Lu Jingming was keenly aware of this.

So, here, he couldn't just replicate the old plan—he had to build in safeguards, or risk things spiraling out of control.

Though he trusted his ability to handle things—with Jingliu and Herta on his side—it was best to avoid unnecessary risk.

Unlike the parallel world, he intended to unify the Douluo Continent and build an empire—to enjoy being emperor for once.

He wanted to care for his people, not rule through brute force or cause undue suffering.

After all, survival was already hard enough in this era.

Thus, he needed to discuss a new plan with Herta, the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and Makoto.

His willingness to consider the people and revise the plan earned softer looks from Makoto and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.

Among them, Herta knew Lu Jingming best.

She understood that, above all, he disliked losing control. The parallel world fiasco had shaken him—he wanted a new plan.

Of course, some kindness played a role, but only Lu Jingming knew how much.

"What's your idea?" Herta asked casually. She didn't mind tough problems; as a genius, she welcomed challenges—easy tasks bored her.

"In the parallel world, Contamination Points were uncontrollable because they lacked reason—just pure destruction and killing driven by negative emotions."

Lu Jingming explained, then smiled. "But what if those negative-energy clones had some memories and intelligence—even if those were drawn from my own impressions?"

"That's interesting. You mean…?" Herta crossed her arms, intrigued.

"Using my memories as a recording medium, I'll create a Holy Grail that can purify Contamination Points, select Masters, and summon Servants formed from negative energy. As the Servants battle, defeated ones are absorbed and purified by the Grail, their power returned to the planet. The winning Master will gain a divine seat—the Sea God's position!"

Lu Jingming smiled slyly.

"You're so devious!" Makoto instantly realized—this targeted Sea God Tang San!

Why the Sea God's position? It was a direct blow to Tang San's influence on the Douluo Continent.

Herta had long set up pieces in the divine realm, ready to distract Tang San.

Once all was done, Tang San's power would be greatly weakened.

"It's a win-win: optimizing the plan, reducing civilian deaths, creating a new divine seat, boosting Douluo's strength, and hitting Tang San at the same time."

Normally, negative energy was hard to use, but with the World Tree's stigmata and Herta's brilliance, Lu Jingming could turn it into a divine seat.

This would not only enable his plans for eternal and thunder God-King seats, but also add an extra first-level Sea God seat.

Another benefit: summoned negative-energy memory bodies would become part of the world's record, gaining existence.

If Lu Jingming wanted to summon the real thing later, the energy cost would drop drastically.

For instance, summoning full-power Archeron might cost 100 million Reality Power, but if someone had already summoned a memory-based version, the world would recognize it, and the cost would drop to 80 million.

He couldn't predict exactly which characters would be summoned, since his memories contained many.

But once summoned, they'd be recorded; whether he made them real would be his choice.

It was like a gacha—drawing an SSR depended on luck.

Of course, he could cheat for his allies, if they were chosen as Masters.

Master selection depended on destiny; those with greater fortune were more likely to be chosen.

"This is a good method—can effectively reduce casualties. I'll help," said the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.

As the God of Wisdom, her research skills, though not quite Herta's equal, were formidable.

This Holy Grail War model was far superior to the crude Contamination Point setup of the parallel world.

With Lu Jingming's memories as the core, the negative-energy Servants would possess intellect and memories.

Though these memories were fake, compared to mindless, destructive monsters, this was much better.

At least, most Servants with reason wouldn't go on indiscriminate killing sprees—though villainous Servants, like the Lord of Extermination or certain Herrschers, might still do great harm.

"That's a Holy Grail War, huh? If Aha notices, you might just get to be a Masked Fools," Herta rolled her eyes.

She felt Lu Jingming's main goal was fun—plus saving Reality Power.

If he could draw some of his favorite waifu cards, he'd be even happier.

Herta herself was looking forward to it; if someone summoned Ruan Mei, she'd have an excuse to have Lu Jingming summon Ruan Mei to keep her company.

As for Screwllum and Stephen, Herta didn't expect Lu Jingming to summon them.

Given her understanding of him, his heart was set on his waifus.

Ruan Mei qualified, but Screwllum and others would have to wait.

Once he stopped worrying about Reality Power, maybe he'd consider it.

Chapter 222: Mobius and Herta

"Building a system to purify and convert negative energy isn't hard—I'll make one for you." Herta wasn't just anyone. Faced with such a technical problem, she instantly had a plan and acted with speed.

In front of Lu Jingming, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and Makoto, she summoned the Void Archive with a flourish.

Activating her Reconstruction Authority, golden light gathered. A golden Holy Grail slowly floated in the air, spinning and radiating mysterious energy.

Lu Jingming couldn't help but twitch at the scene—a true genius.

He'd only just mentioned the need, and Herta had already delivered.

It proved he'd been right to equip her with the Void Archive.

The materials for this Grail were clearly extraordinary; without the Archive, he'd have needed to use his own Reality Power.

With a wave, Herta sent the golden Grail spinning into Lu Jingming's hand.

As soon as he gripped it, the Grail's functions flooded his mind.

The Grail would serve as a medium, his memories as the record, and, by contracting with the planet's will, select destiny-bearing Masters to summon memory bodies formed from negative energy.

This Holy Grail War, set across Douluo Continent, would grant the winner the Sea God position and matching stigmata—an instant ascent, no God Trial needed.

The war itself was a special God Trial; only the last one standing could claim victory.

As memory bodies were defeated, the Grail would absorb and purify their energy, feeding it back to Douluo Star and strengthening it.

As the planet grew stronger, Lu Jingming would receive feedback, helping him form his own divine seat.

Meanwhile, the Grail, after absorbing enough energy, could be used to create a new divine seat.

With the planet's will involved, the ocean authority would naturally condense—a new Sea God seat.

Lu Jingming had perfectly outplayed Tang San, who remained blissfully unaware of the trap.

After studying the Grail and conferring with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Makoto, Lu Jingming was satisfied.

The finished Grail was an outstanding artifact—once it absorbed enough energy, it could grant wishes, within limits.

If it could create a divine seat, it would become a coveted treasure.

If it could create one, it could create another.

Given time, Douluo would have a tool for continuously creating divine seats.

With enough time, the number of gods could even surpass the Divine Realm.

Of course, this was limited by Douluo's capacity—though unlike the Divine Realm, Douluo Star didn't have to host the divine seats themselves, just the gods, since the seats existed in Stigmata Space.

"Excellent. Now, all that's missing is the signal. Herta, let our Plague King begin—buy us enough time." Lu Jingming played with the Grail, his excitement growing.

The coming Holy Grail War thrilled him, like the anticipation before a gacha pull.

He wondered how many would be lucky, how many would pull SSRs, and how many would be cursed.

It was his own memory pool—he didn't even know how many cards were in it.

Their strength would vary—some as strong as gods, some weaker than their own Masters.

It was all luck; he had no intention of rigging it, or the fun would be lost.

"Go ahead and prepare your Holy Grail War. I'll handle the Divine Realm," Herta said nonchalantly, as if shaking up the heavens was child's play.

"Thanks," said Lu Jingming.

He trusted Herta completely.

She was both brilliant and reliable.

Compared to Ruan Mei, who had a bit of humanity in her divinity, Herta was the opposite—her humanity tinged with divinity.

Though she loved research, she was soft-hearted.

She'd saved her homeland more than once—a true savior with impeccable character. That's why Lu Jingming chose to summon her.

In contrast, Mobius and Ruan Mei were far more dangerous.

Back when he was weaker, he couldn't have handled Ruan Mei or Mobius, but Herta needed little oversight.

Sure enough, Herta, despite her genius and curiosity, never caused trouble or chaos for Lu Jingming.

If it had been Ruan Mei, who knows what strange soul beasts might now roam Douluo?

Though Lu Jingming loved Ruan Mei—he once declared himself her dog in-game—that was in the game.

In reality, summoning Ruan Mei wouldn't have been wise.

With his strength then, he couldn't control someone so divine, and she'd likely have caused unpredictable chaos.

He didn't want to wake up one day and find Douluo overrun by alien creations.

With the Divine Realm settled, Lu Jingming, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and Makoto went to plant the World Tree, contracting with the planet's will and drawing on planetary memories to condense the ley lines.

After Lu Jingming left, Herta glanced at the corner and remarked, "He's gone—you can come out."

"As expected of Lady Herta, I can't hide from you," Mobius's figure slowly emerged from the void, her serpent eyes narrowing warily.

As fellow geniuses, Mobius had to admit Herta's talent surpassed her own.

After all, Herta had saved her homeland repeatedly, while she and Mei failed to save their own world.

Though there were many factors, their achievements didn't stack up.

If not for the Cocoon of Finality sealing the solar system, Mobius and Mei might have achieved the Path of Wisdom and even been noticed by the Aeon—but that was only a possibility. Herta was a real Messenger of Wisdom, acknowledged more than once.

Having traveled with Herta for years, Mobius knew her depths and gained much from her vaster knowledge.

Herta's knowledge came from the whole universe—hers, only from Earth.

"I want to stir things up in the Divine Realm. One Plague King alone isn't enough—they could still suppress it. We need more time." Mobius got straight to the point, producing a black gem.

As the gem appeared, space twisted and gravity warped.

"You really aren't afraid of making trouble. Eyeing that dumb dragon, aren't you?" Herta instantly guessed Mobius's intent—she was after the Golden Dragon King.

The Golden and Silver Dragon Kings were split from the Dragon God—the supreme being.

Mobius wanted to study the Golden Dragon King, not the Silver, since the latter was close with Lu Jingming and might even marry him someday.

Mobius wasn't concerned about the Golden Dragon King, and Lu Jingming wouldn't mind.

"Give it to me—let's see what top-tier power this world holds." Herta was interested. The Golden Dragon King was a top god king, among the strongest.

If fused with the Herrscher of Rock's core, who knew how strong it might become.

"I knew you wouldn't refuse."

Mobius smiled. As fellow researchers, Herta wouldn't turn down an interesting experiment unless it crossed a line.

…

Lu Jingming was unaware of their collaboration, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

With real-world experience, Lu Jingming skillfully entered the planet's core and met the great orb of light—the planetary consciousness.

Compared to the parallel world, this one was stronger and more vibrant.

Though still not fully sentient, it was close.

But without Lu Jingming's intervention, the consciousness would probably have been devoured by Tang Hao, who would usurp its place.

After all, its chosen child of destiny was weak and took away most of its luck, leaving it defenseless, allowing Tang Hao—a mere god officer without a divine seat—to consume it.