The Holy Son of Illustrious Virtue Hall, Huo Yuhao, Built the Soul Guidance System Single-Handedly!

White World, outside Mingdu.

Huo Yuhao looked at the Sun Moon Empire Imperial Guard before him, over a thousand strong, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

But every Imperial Guard Soul Engineer who saw the chilling smile on his face shuddered in unison.

They knew full well what kind of formidable figure stood before them!

Whether it was the Soul Tool Armor they wore, the Soul Tool Guns they carried, or the various Soul Tools used by ordinary civilians,

almost all of them had been developed by His Highness the Holy Son, who could be called the founder of the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Guidance Technology system.

If his cultivation had reached the Titled Douluo level, he would probably have already become the current hall master of Illustrious Virtue Hall!

And until shortly before this, the Holy Son of Illustrious Virtue Hall should have been a cripple who had just been stripped of all his cultivation, just like them.

But now, the blood-red killing aura swirling around his slender body

left over a thousand battle-hardened Soul Engineers without even the courage to pull their triggers.

Just then, a series of muffled booms suddenly came from Mingdu.

The next instant, more than a dozen streaks of purple light shot into the sky from Mingdu. Fast as lightning, they reached the air above Huo Yuhao in the blink of an eye.

The light faded, revealing more than a dozen mechs, purple from head to toe.

Each mech stood over five meters tall, its entire body cast from an alloy forged from various rare metals.

The core Soul Guidance Array on each mech's chest glowed faintly, and two Soul Cannons of astonishing caliber were mounted on its shoulders.

The purple mechs descended from the sky, forming a perfect encirclement that hemmed Huo Yuhao in at its very center.

At the same time, lights flickered across Mingdu's walls, which stood dozens of meters high.

The City Defense Soul Guidance Array Formation activated!

Countless pitch-black Soul Guidance Ray cannon muzzles swung out from within the walls. Dazzling white light gathered at their massive openings, all aimed at the solitary blood-red figure below.

At a single command, more than a thousand Soul Guidance Rays and the concentrated fire of the purple mechs would be enough to raze a mountain to the ground!

"Tap, tap, tap..."

A crisp series of footsteps rang out.

Xu Tianran, emperor of the Sun Moon Empire, wore golden imperial robes. Supported by his Soul Tool prosthetics, he slowly walked to the highest point of the city wall and looked down at Huo Yuhao.

"Isn't this our esteemed Holy Son? It's been a long time."

Xu Tianran smiled faintly, his expression composed and smug.

"Divine punishment has descended, and all beings are equal. Every Soul Master on the continent has lost their cultivation, and naturally, I am no exception."

"But you seem to have forgotten one thing, Holy Son."

"A Soul Master's cultivation may be reset to zero, but Soul Tools won't be!"

Xu Tianran spread his arms as though to embrace all of Mingdu.

"The Soul Guidance Batteries you developed over the years have completely overturned the order that governed Soul Tools for thousands of years!"

"They don't need a Soul Master to power them with their own Soul Power, nor do they need a Soul Engineer to operate them."

"Even an utterly ordinary mortal can pull a trigger and unleash the immense power of a Soul Tool!"

"A full-powered strike from the City Defense Soul Guidance Array Formation is enough to severely injure a Super Douluo!"

"In this world where all beings are now equal, these Soul Tools are heaven's punishment!"

"Huo Yuhao, I bet you never dreamed of this, did you?"

The smile on Xu Tianran's face grew ever brighter.

"The things you personally developed would one day turn against you and become the talisman that claims your life!"

The next instant, the view on the sky screen suddenly shifted.

Mingdu, in the direction of Illustrious Virtue Hall.

Two figures, one old and one fat, were sprinting down the street at full speed, kicking up a trail of dust.

In front was a white-haired old man dressed in silver robes.

Though advanced in years, his feet moved with extraordinary speed.

Kong Deming, Silver Moon Douluo and master of the Sun Moon Empire's Offering Hall!

The fat old man chasing after him, gasping for breath, was Jing Hongchen, master of Illustrious Virtue Hall.

"Teacher, it looks like the Imperial Guard has surrounded Junior Brother!"

Jing Hongchen shouted between heavy breaths as he ran.

As a Soul Engineer, he had long been accustomed to traveling with various Soul Tools.

But now, his teacher, Kong Deming, had insisted that they run toward Mingdu's city gate, nearly exhausting Jing Hongchen to death.

"They've even activated the City Defense Soul Guidance Array Formation. Are we going to save Junior Brother?!"

Kong Deming's stride faltered slightly. He turned to glance at Jing Hongchen, an utterly helpless expression on his face.

"Hongchen, we are indeed going to save someone."

"But not your junior brother."

Jing Hongchen froze.

"Huh? Then who are we going to save?"

Kong Deming let out a long sigh.

"We're going to save that idiot Xu Tianran."

"What you really ought to be doing now isn't worrying about your junior brother, but praying for Emperor Xu Tianran. Pray that Yuhao is in a better mood today"

"and will leave his corpse intact."

Jing Hongchen: ...

Black World, Illustrious Virtue Hall.

"Hongchen, did you see everything on the sky screen?"

An aged voice sounded behind Jing Hongchen, making him start.

He turned around to find a white-haired old man in silver robes standing behind him. He had no idea when the man had arrived.

It was none other than Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming.

"Teacher, what brings you here?!"

Jing Hongchen hurriedly bowed, then pointed at the sky screen and spoke urgently.

"Teacher, you saw it too. That so-called divine punishment on the sky screen reset the cultivation of every Soul Master on the continent to zero!"

"Soul Tools can't operate without Soul Power to drive them. If every Soul Master's level is reset to zero, all the Soul Tools Illustrious Virtue Hall has in storage will be reduced to scrap metal!"

Kong Deming said nothing. He simply stared at the purple mechs hovering in midair on the sky screen, and at the rows of pitch-black cannon muzzles on Mingdu's walls.

He was now extremely close to the level of a Level 10 Soul Engineer. It could even be said that his theoretical knowledge had already reached that level.

But he still needed to create his own Level 10 Soul Tool, the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield.

And once the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield was complete, the Sun Moon Empire would have a means of keeping the Holy Spirit Cult in check.

With the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield's formidable defensive power, Kong Deming would not fear even that madwoman, Death God Douluo.

Yet the sky screen's sudden appearance had shattered everything Kong Deming knew.

The reason was simple: he did not recognize a single one of the Soul Tools shown on the sky screen.

Soul Guidance Array Formations were something the Sun Moon Empire was currently researching, a way to combine powerful Soul Tools and increase their destructive power exponentially.

But those mechs were unmistakably humanoid Soul Tools, which Illustrious Virtue Hall had failed to develop successfully.

Yet in the parallel world's Sun Moon Empire, these mechs could already be deployed in actual combat?

This stirred even greater interest in Kong Deming.

As Kong Deming sank into thought, Jing Hongchen could not help speaking again.

"Those Soul Tools on the sky screen have no Soul Power fluctuations, but they're operating normally."

"But that's simply impossible!"

"Hongchen, did you hear what Xu Tianran said on the sky screen?"

Jing Hongchen paused at Kong Deming's question, then nodded.

"I did. Xu Tianran said it was some kind of... Soul Guidance Battery developed by the Huo Yuhao on the sky screen?"

"Soul Guidance Battery..."

Kong Deming murmured the words again, the light in his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"Soul Tools that don't need Soul Power to drive them, don't need Soul Engineers to operate them, and can even be used by mortals..."

"Could it be an upgraded version of the Sealed Milk Bottle?"

"No, the Soul Power stored in a Sealed Milk Bottle will eventually run out."

"But the Soul Tools on the sky screen clearly use another, completely different method of storing power!"

"If this technology really exists, it will completely overturn the order of Soul Tools!"

"This is an epoch-making invention!"

At this point, Kong Deming suddenly calmed down again, his brows furrowing tightly.

"But, just as you said, all beings in that world are now equal, and Huo Yuhao has lost all his cultivation."

"Over a thousand Imperial Guards, more than a dozen... humanoid Soul Tools, and the City Defense Soul Guidance Array Formation on top of that. Even a Super Douluo above level ninety-five would be blasted to pieces."

"He has no way of withstanding those Soul Tools."

"I'd like to see just how he turns this around."

Just then,

a soft chuckle from Huo Yuhao sounded from the sky screen at the same time.

"Xu Tianran, I think you'd be better off calling yourself Xu Tianzhen!"