Douluo: Manifesting the Black Abyss and White Flower at the Start

During breakfast, Lu Jingming received a message from Herta: the Cosmic Juggernaut Inverted Horizons project had successfully anchored to a parallel world. This was good news.

He'd been busy at the time, so he hadn't hurried over—Herta had to wait a little longer.

Soon, he saw Herta dressed in a magical girl outfit, and in front of her, a projection screen displayed images that looked oddly familiar to Lu Jingming.

"You're too slow. You're the first person to ever keep me waiting this long."

Herta didn't turn around, but her tone clearly showed her dissatisfaction. When had she ever waited for anyone? Usually, people waited for her.

"My bad. Lady Herta, you're peerlessly beautiful and wonderfully gentle—surely you'd forgive my rudeness?"

After spending so much time with Herta, he understood her well—just praise her without reservation.

"Hmph, all talk!" Herta huffed, feigning displeasure, but let the tardiness slide.

"So this is the parallel world anchored by Cosmic Juggernaut Inverted Horizons?"

Lu Jingming looked at the screen, his expression growing strange.

The scene showed a small, old-fashioned mountain village. At the village entrance hung a battered sign reading "Shrek Academy" in big characters.

And before those words was the green monster head—the Shrek Academy emblem.

At that moment, a group of eleven- or twelve-year-old boys and girls, accompanied by their parents, queued up to register.

This scene felt like a key, unlocking deep memories for Lu Jingming.

Although he didn't know them personally, he recognized a few by memory: Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and the blond, heterochromatic-eyed youth at the registration—Dai Mubai.

"So it's this world!" Lu Jingming couldn't help but marvel.

This parallel world, the first one anchored by Cosmic Juggernaut Inverted Horizons, was intricately connected to his current world—the Douluo Continent of ten thousand years ago, the first Douluo story with Tang San as the protagonist.

Lu Jingming looked away from the screen and at Herta, his eyes burning with excitement.

 "Can you open the Imaginary Channel yet?"

To him, no matter which world was on the other side, acquiring Reality Authority was always the top priority. As for that world's resources—they were just a bonus. Only Reality Authority was indispensable.

"Not yet. Honkai Energy is insufficient. At present, we can only open a temporary channel, and we can't transfer living beings," Herta explained calmly.

Activating the Cosmic Juggernaut Inverted Horizons required massive Honkai Energy, and Lu Jingming's supply was nowhere near enough.

"So, living beings can't go, but soul devices can, right?" Lu Jingming quickly grasped her meaning.

To get Reality Authority, things related to him needed to influence the other world—the greater the impact, the more Reality Authority he'd get.

Just like the simulation universe before—in Douluo Continent, it revolutionized soul battles, forcing old arenas to close, causing continent-wide upheaval.

The Reality Authority he gained largely came from the simulation universe's impact on this world.

So, his next steps were clear: open a temporary Imaginary Channel and send over the simulation universe. As long as it could stir up that world, he'd reap continuous Reality Authority.

It was also a test. According to what he knew, in the first Douluo Continent, the God of Asura and the Sea God's divine senses lingered on the continent.

While their presence was for inheriting god positions, and they couldn't interfere beyond that, these two were crafty—who knew if they'd secretly watch everything happening below?

So Lu Jingming had to be cautious, lest he get caught by the gods of that world as soon as he snuck in.

However, to launch the simulation universe, he needed a special edition.

After all, that world was different—there was no one to promote the simulation universe, and limited means, so he couldn't send too many devices.

If he wanted lots of Reality Authority, he'd have to invest up front.

Lu Jingming knew you had to spend big to win big. Only by investing more resources—like Honkai Energy—could he create more chances for Reality Authority.

As long as he got enough, he could materialize more Herrscher gems, and the efficiency of Honkai Energy conversion would naturally improve.

With this in mind, Lu Jingming told Herta to activate Cosmic Juggernaut Inverted Horizons.

In an instant, a mysterious purple vortex appeared—the temporary Imaginary Channel, created using space authority.

Lu Jingming quickly tossed all the special simulation universe devices he'd prepared into the vortex.

As the vortex faded, he'd lost count of how many he'd thrown in.

Although they couldn't cover the whole continent, they'd surely cause a stir among soul masters.

After all, influencing soul masters brought far greater returns than influencing ordinary people, and the stronger the soul masters, the more Reality Power they fed back to him.

"All right, now it's up to luck." Lu Jingming clapped his hands, face full of anticipation.

At present, he couldn't set foot in that world himself—his only hope was that the simulation universe devices would cause a stir there, bringing him bountiful Reality Power.

...

...

...

Douluo Continent, Spirit Hall, Pope's Hall.

This was the core of the Spirit Hall, radiating solemnity and power from every inch of air.

"Your Holiness, this is the strange soul device that's been appearing across the continent. Simply inject soul power to activate it, and the user can enter a false dream world."

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Huan, dressed in a bright red ceremonial robe reserved for elders, looked even more enchanting. At this moment, he respectfully presented a strange black metal soul device to the Pope sitting atop the Pope's throne.