"So strong?" Xu Shi looked at Xu Cheng's casual intervention and felt a storm stirring in his heart.
He had always harbored a bit of resentment toward Xu Cheng—especially after getting beaten up last time. He always felt this grand-uncle of his was just unbelievably lucky, pampered by the current emperor. If they had been the same age, he believed he could have easily beaten Xu Cheng.
But now, he was thoroughly taught a lesson.
Just those two girls had already left him in the dust. For Xu Cheng to resolve the fight so effortlessly, it likely meant he was several tiers above them...
He shrank his neck slightly, afraid that Xu Cheng might glance his way.
Meanwhile, back at the tournament arena, things were heating up. New participants were entering: Jiang Nannan, who had just advanced to Soul King, Tang Ya at the Soul King peak, Nana, Juzi, and other Mingde Hall students.
On the outskirts of Mingdu, a dark cloud was also beginning to spread.
"Everyone, based on messages from our agents embedded in Mingdu, the Royal Academy competition is proceeding as scheduled. Nearly all students from the academy are gathered there. Xu Cheng and other top-tier talents have shown up one by one. If we act now, we can wipe out the entire younger generation of the Sun Moon Empire, cutting them off completely!"
Mu En spoke in a low, grave tone.
As his words fell—
In the makeshift meeting room,
Everyone's breathing quickened. The opportunity was far too tempting.
If they missed this chance, they'd have to stand by helplessly while the Sun Moon Empire soared to power.
"We'll follow Elder Mu's lead. For the future of the continent, we have no other choice!" Xu Jiawei said with passion.
The Star Luo Empire had suffered the most. If the Sun Moon Empire fell, Star Luo would benefit the most, especially with their shared border—free to plunder resources at will. It was a natural advantage.
At that point… the iron hooves of Star Luo must trample every inch of Sun Moon soil!He roared this in his heart.
No one understood how fiercely the flames of anger burned inside him.
"In that case, we proceed with the original plan," Mu En scanned the room and exhaled slowly.
"I'll repeat one last time: Shrek Academy and the Clear Sky Sect are the strongest and will handle the southern and eastern fronts. The other forces will be split between attacking the west and north. Once we breach the city walls, we'll rendezvous at the Royal Academy of the Sun Moon Empire according to the map!"
"Then we'll split up: some stay behind to slaughter the students, the rest rush into Mingde Hall to loot resources. If we're fast enough, their soul tool corps won't have time to react. By the time they organize a proper counterattack, we'll have already achieved our objective."
Outside the tent—
Xuanzi rubbed his chin, contemplating the plan to enter Mingdu. Regarding the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda matter that his disciple had mentioned, he felt it was better not to inform Elder Mu. But if he didn't tell him, would that make him seem petty?
Just as he was hesitating, he noticed Yan Shaozhe arriving late.
In fact, Yan wouldn't even meet his eyes directly.
Could it be...
He had his own hidden agenda too?!
Suddenly, Xuanzi relaxed and smiled. Looks like everyone had their own little schemes. He, Xuanzi, had served the Academy for so many years—if not merits, at least he had put in the work. What's wrong with pocketing a bit of treasure?
Besides, if he got separated from the main force, he could just say he was blocked by enemy powerhouses. In a chaotic battle, who would notice?
With Elder Mu leading the way, this operation was rock-solid!
Yan Shaozhe, noticing Elder Xuan staring at him with a goofy smile, felt a chill down his spine. Could it be… that someone had found out he'd gone to the Holy Spirit Cult to meet the Ancestor?
"These are filling-type advanced soul cannons. They're a bit like stationary soul tools—the bullets and launchers are two separate soul tools. Once you've filled the magazine, you can fire all bullets at once, causing massive damage. Even users several tiers lower can operate high-grade soul tools with them. The downside is long reload time, and once you fire, it's done. The enemy won't give you a second chance."
Xing Yi pointed to the nearby cannon turret as he explained.
"I see. The Empire's soul tool reserves really are impressive," Huo Yuhao said with admiration.
Each person here was equipped with at least twenty Level-6 soul cannon shells and two Level-6 filling-type soul cannons.
That meant before actual combat started, each of them could unleash the equivalent of twenty full-power strikes from a peak Soul Emperor.
Every single person!
And for higher-level soul engineers, they were even given some Level-7 or even Level-8 filling-type soul cannons, though in smaller quantities.
It was like burning money.
At the academy, under Xuan Ziwen's guidance, Huo Yuhao had studied these cannons—but only in theory. They were simply too expensive to be used on normal battlefields.
But now that even underground arsenals had been activated, it showed that the Sun Moon Empire was putting everything on the line. They were going all in.
"Once you're done firing, toss it aside. No need to feel bad. Then we'll switch to personal weapons for a real fight. But don't worry—reinforcements will arrive as fast as possible. As for the truly powerful enemies, someone else will handle them. Just remember, kid—stay behind me and share your spiritual power with me. That's all you need to do." Xing Yi patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder. He was talking more than usual. The young man could tell—even he was nervous.
"Okay."
"Beep beep beep!!!"
Suddenly, the entire base was bathed in a tense red light. Alarm sounds echoed through the underground facility.
"Back to positions! Prepare for combat!"
Xing Yi shouted.
Huo Yuhao instantly jumped to his turret.
He linked his spiritual power to several teammates around him and extended it outward in 3D mode.
At the same time, his gaze locked on the light screen above the underground chain.
A swarm of red dots was slowly approaching them.
The numbers on the screen flickered and changed rapidly.
"Two thousand meters!"
"Fifteen hundred meters!"
"One thousand meters!"
"Within underground firing range—fire!"
"Vrrrmm…"
A massive machine advanced underground, a spinning drill at the front, moving like a pangolin tunneling through the earth at breakneck speed.
It was Shrek Academy's infiltration unit.
At the front was none other than Mu En.
Beside him stood Xuanzi, Elder Lin, Elder Song, Elder Zhuang, as well as Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin'er, and Qian Duoduo—a total of eight Hyper Douluo. Behind them were nineteen titled Douluo.
More than forty Titled Douluo in total—half of them from Shrek Academy. This was the foundation of the continent's number one academy, even if they had faced setbacks recently.
This massive tunneling soul tool was personally piloted by Qian Duoduo, who kept his eyes closed as he sensed the outside world.
"How much farther, Duoduo?" Mu En asked quietly.
"About two thousand meters to Mingdu's outer defenses," Qian Duoduo replied thoughtfully.
"Phew... Elder Mu, why so cautious? We're launching a surprise attack. Will the Sun Moon Empire even have time to respond? By the time they react, we'll already be gone, hahaha!" Xuanzi laughed heartily.
"Don't be careless!" Mu En frowned slightly.
For some reason, even though he had prepared thoroughly for this battle, he couldn't shake a strange, uneasy feeling.
"Heh, just watch this old man stir up chaos in Mingdu!" Xuanzi grinned.
But in the next moment—
Qian Duoduo's expression changed drastically. "Something's wrong!"
BOOM!!!
Before his voice even finished—
The tunneling soul tool was instantly engulfed by a massive explosion.
The earth shook and mountains trembled!
(End of chapter)