The Star Luo Imperial Palace was unusually quiet tonight.
For some reason, the normally vigilant guards had suddenly grown somewhat lax.
Of course, no matter how lax they became, nine Titled Douluo still stood guard within the Star Luo Imperial Palace.
One of them was even a Super Douluo with Soul Power at Rank 97.
Under these circumstances, barring an accident, no one could infiltrate the palace.
"Whoosh—"
Beneath the pitch-black night sky,
one shadow after another flashed past like ghosts.
In just a moment, several assassins from the Holy Spirit Cult had already breached the layers of security and silently infiltrated the Star Luo Imperial Palace.
Their target was Gu Tian.
Inside a lavish palace, Gu Tian, who had been meditating, suddenly opened his deep-set eyes.
"Hmm?"
As if sensing something, he quickly rose and looked in one direction.
At the same time, two figures appeared before Gu Tian, one after the other.
They were Giant Hammer Douluo and Xuanji Douluo, who had been secretly protecting him.
Titled Douluo were human too. After so many days without incident, they had also let their guard down.
Every day, two Titled Douluo took turns secretly guarding Gu Tian, each for a fixed twelve-hour shift.
Before long, five black-robed figures appeared inside the palace.
"Looks like we're in luck!"
After seeing Giant Hammer Douluo and Xuanji Douluo, the leader gave a sinister laugh. "That old Azure Luan isn't here. It's just you two useless fools!"
"Evil Soul Masters!"
Giant Hammer Douluo's expression turned grave, and his voice was full of confusion. "How did we only sense their presence when they were already this close?"
"They must be carrying Soul Tools that conceal their auras. It seems the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult have joined forces. The very thing we feared has happened."
Looking at the five men in black, Xuanji Douluo said grimly, "We have a mole on our side. Otherwise, they could never have found this place so easily."
"Giant Hammer, use your full strength and make as much noise as you can."
As a veteran commander who had seen countless battles, Xuanji Douluo made the decision without hesitation.
As soon as he finished speaking, his martial soul, the Xuanji Umbrella, appeared in his hand. One Soul Ring after another rose slowly from beneath his feet.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.
His seventh Soul Ring flashed. The Xuanji Umbrella in his hand suddenly unfurled, surging with brilliant silver light until it became a giant umbrella more than fifty meters in diameter.
"Good."
Giant Hammer Douluo nodded and immediately summoned his Martial Soul Avatar.
A colossal hammer appeared behind him, golden all over and emanating a heavy aura.
"Trying to get the others to come help?"
The leader sneered. "Too bad. You're too late!"
"What do you mean?"
At his words, Xuanji Douluo felt a foreboding rise in his heart.
"Since we dared to come here, of course we came prepared."
As he spoke, the man in black took out a bead that shone with silver light.
"That's..."
The moment Xuanji Douluo saw the bead, his expression changed. He shouted, "Giant Hammer, destroy that bead!"
He had fought the Sun Moon Empire for years, so he recognized at a glance that the bead was a powerful Soul Tool—and one that had unquestionably been made by the Sun Moon Empire.
"Too late!" The man in black spat out two words.
In the next instant, the silver-glowing bead burst into a beam of light.
Almost instantly, it enveloped the entire palace.
"A Rank 10 Soul Tool, the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield?"
At the sight, Gu Tian looked utterly astonished, then shook his head. "No, this isn't the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield!"
"Didn't expect you to know a thing or two, kid. No wonder you're supposed to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult in the future. Too bad you'll never get the chance."
The black-robed man glanced at Gu Tian, surprised.
"This is a failed version of the Rank 10 Soul Tool, the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield. According to that old fool, it has no offensive power at all, only the ultimate in defense."
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known the Sun Moon Empire had something this good."
As he spoke, the man in black removed his hood, revealing short silver hair and a fairly handsome face.
"Zhongli Wu!" Gu Tian's brows furrowed.
He hadn't expected the Holy Spirit Cult's Cult Master himself to be involved in the assassination.
Aside from Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui, the two Limit Douluo at Rank 99, the Holy Spirit Cult had practically sent everyone.
At the same time, the seven Venerables led by Azure Luan Douluo all looked stricken.
Seven pillars of light shot into the sky, illuminating the entire Star Luo Imperial Palace.
They immediately rushed toward the palace where Gu Tian was staying.
"The Holy Spirit Cult! The Sun Moon Empire!"
Azure Luan Douluo was the first to arrive. Seeing the silver barrier surrounding the entire palace, his expression turned ghastly.
Vast Soul Power poured from him, and a cyan divine bird appeared behind him out of thin air.
It was his martial soul, Azure Luan.
Nine Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet. The last one was an eerie blood-red.
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!
His sixth Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring suddenly lit up. Cyan Flame engulfed Azure Luan Douluo as he charged at the silver barrier.
Unfortunately, it did no good. The silver barrier stretched like elastic beneath his attacks, but it simply wouldn't break.
"Damn it! It really is a Rank 9 defensive Soul Tool."
"The one saving grace is that he's still following us in secret. I hope we can hold out a little longer!"
With that thought, Azure Luan Douluo lit up his seventh and ninth Soul Rings at the same time, transforming into the divine bird Azure Luan and attacking the silver barrier again.
By then, the other six Venerables had arrived one after another.
They unleashed their strongest attacks, and seven terrifying Soul Skills struck the silver barrier at once!
Even Wang Xian'er, the Rank 96 healing-type Super Douluo known as the "Medical Immortal," used one of her few offensive techniques.
Yet not one of their attacks could break through the barrier.
"Even Elder Ye and the others can't break through that barrier when attacking together!"
In another part of the Star Luo Imperial Palace, Xu Jiawei's expression was dark with fury. "The Sun Moon Empire has some nerve!"
Only one power could possess a Soul Tool like this: the Sun Moon Empire.
That meant the Sun Moon Empire couldn't escape responsibility for this attack.
"I can't believe a Rank 9 Soul Tool made by the Sun Moon Empire is this powerful!"
Watching the scene in the distance, Xu Jiujiu was stunned. A hint of worry flashed in her beautiful eyes.
After all, the person whose life or death was unknown was her fiancé.
Although half a month together hadn't made her fall in love with him, she had still developed a favorable impression of him.
And more than that, he was the future hope of the Star Luo Empire.
"Imperial Brother, I'm afraid there's a mole among us!"
After a moment of thought, Xu Jiujiu furrowed her brows.
"I'll investigate this thoroughly."
At her words, Xu Jiawei showed no surprise. His eyes brimmed with murderous intent.
You could guard against any outsider, but never against a traitor in your own home!
This wasn't entirely Xu Jiawei's fault. Anyone appointed to serve in a place like the Star Luo Imperial Palace had been carefully vetted.
Moreover, once the Sky Curtain disappeared, he had immediately sealed off all information about the palace where Gu Tian was staying.
That was why, apart from a maid sent by the Zhu Family, Gu Tian had no other servants around him.
Xu Jiawei had also placed restrictions on who could enter the Star Luo Imperial Palace.
He hadn't expected something like this to happen anyway.
As a result, he quickly narrowed down the list of suspects.
"Guards! Surround the Luo Clan and Jiang Clan completely. Don't let anyone escape!"
Xu Jiawei immediately gave the order to the guards beside him.
At this time, only members of those two families knew where Gu Tian lived and could freely enter and leave the Star Luo Imperial Palace.
Whatever the truth, there was no harm in capturing them first.
"Young Master!"
Elsewhere, the little girl Zhu Lu stared anxiously at the palace in the distance, which was completely surrounded by the barrier.
Because of her special status, she hadn't been staying with Gu Tian.
Fortunately, that had allowed her to escape the disaster.
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