Battle Situation

The battle between two Soul Douluo-level powerhouses was on the verge of erupting. The dim night sky seemed to have been split apart. On one side lay profound, lightless darkness; on the other, flashing lightning. With both men in their Martial Soul Avatar states, every collision unleashed alarming shockwaves and thunderous roars. Even the already small island began to tremble faintly. Wave after wave swept ashore, gradually washing away the bloodstains left on the harbor walls.

The more than twenty Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps Soldiers above Soul Emperor cultivation who had followed Wang Xiao also began fighting the gathered West Sea Soul Engineer Corps soldiers.

In terms of numbers, the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps naturally held the advantage.

As one of the Sun Moon Empire's elite Soul Engineer Corps, it had a full complement of two hundred soldiers. Even after one squad had been wiped out by Wang Xiao and the others atop the city wall, there were still at least one hundred and sixty remaining.

After excluding the twenty-odd soldiers stationed in the castle to protect Xu Zihuang, the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps still had nearly seven times the manpower of Wang Xiao's side.

However, in terms of overall cultivation, the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps was clearly far inferior. The Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps elites Wang Xiao had brought were all Soul Emperors above Level 60, while the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps had fewer than ten people above Level 60 even at most.

Battles between Soul Masters and Soul Engineers differed from clashes between armies. Numbers did not represent an absolute advantage; individual strength mattered far more. After all, Soul Masters possessed all manner of strange Martial Souls, and their soul skills varied in countless ways. Coordinating with one another was nowhere near as easy as it sounded.

In the long-standing team soul-fighting competitions of Douluo Continent, neither side usually had more than seven members. Even for a seven-man team like that, achieving seamless cooperation often required years of practice together.

The twenty-odd Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps soldiers had divided into small teams of three to five, cutting apart the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps soldiers. While each small team fought independently, they also supported one another. With overwhelming individual strength and flawless coordination, they drove the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps back step by step.

It was enough to show just how terrifying the combat strength of the complete Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps had once been.

"Don't panic! There are only a little over twenty of them, so their consumption will definitely be greater than ours. As long as we keep wearing them down, the advantage will gradually tilt toward us." A steady voice rang out from the front of the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps.

Hearing that familiar voice, the flustered West Sea Soul Engineer Corps soldiers instinctively turned toward its source with delighted expressions.

"Deputy Regiment Commander Qiu Ying!"

He was a red-faced middle-aged man dressed in the same dark-blue armor. He looked considerably older than Haixiao. He was only around 1.6 meters tall, and his body was exceptionally stout, yet strangely, his limbs were thin and completely disproportionate to his torso.

The red-faced middle-aged man was hunched over, his entire body covered in grayish-white pentagonal scales that extended from his face to his back, forming a hemispherical shell behind him. This enormous hemispherical shell almost completely covered his limbs as well.

The newcomer was Qiu Ying, deputy regiment commander of the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps. His cultivation was second only to Haixiao's, and he was a genuine Soul Sage-level powerhouse.

Qiu Ying's appearance was like a calming pill, rapidly pulling together the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps, whose formation had nearly collapsed.

Meanwhile, the expressions of the three Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps Soldiers closest to Qiu Ying darkened at once. A fierce glint flashed through the eyes of the lean young man holding two azure Soul Guiding Fine Swords. The sole black Soul Ring at his side, the sixth in line, shone brightly as he transformed into more than ten azure afterimages and attacked Qiu Ying's neck from behind.

"Sixth Soul Skill, Azure Shadow Devour!"

"Qing Mu! Don't be rash! That old bastard's Martial Soul is an armadillo. It won't be easy to break his defenses!" The obviously steadier middle-aged man beside Qing Mu hurriedly tried to stop him, but his Martial Soul did not excel in speed, and he had no time to intercept him.

In an instant, the more than ten azure afterimages had reached Qiu Ying's back. The Soul Guiding Fine Swords in their hands poured down toward Qiu Ying's neck like a dense rainstorm.

"Hmph." Qiu Ying glanced sideways at Qing Mu, whose face was covered in azure scales, and sneered coldly. Then, his limbs and head completely retracted into the hemispherical shell on his back. His already hunched body curled up further, his head and feet pressing tightly together until he finally formed a complete sphere.

Immediately afterward, the sphere covered in grayish-white pentagonal scales abruptly shot up from the ground and slammed straight into the more than ten afterimages formed by Qing Mu's Sixth Soul Skill, Azure Shadow Devour.

As a Sixth Soul Skill—and a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill at that—Azure Shadow Devour was certainly not some simple Clone Type skill. Every clone possessed fifty percent of Qing Mu's own strength. However, if a clone was destroyed, Qing Mu himself would also suffer a considerable backlash.

As Qiu Ying smashed apart the afterimages one after another, Qing Mu's expression changed slightly. Gritting his teeth, he controlled the afterimages to scatter in all directions.

At the same time, the other two Imperial Dragon Soul Mentor Corps soldiers who had been with Qing Mu understood his intent. They drove back the nearby West Sea Soul Engineer Corps soldiers and moved in to support him.

Boom! Boom! Boom! A rapid series of sonic booms rang out as soul skills and Soul Tools collided. The two men blocked every attack from the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps soldiers. Behind them, Qing Mu panted heavily, his face pale and full of shame.

"Brother Tang, Uncle Fu, I was too reckless this time."

The man Qing Mu called Uncle Fu was the middle-aged man who had tried to stop him earlier. His expression was grim, but he did not reprimand Qing Mu at a time like this. He merely snapped at him in anger.

"Get up! Who taught you to turn your back on the enemy in battle?!" Before his words had even faded, an arm-thick Soul Guiding Shock Cannon fired from his wrist and streaked past Qing Mu's ear.

A West Sea Soul Engineer Corps soldier fell in response, warm blood splashing all over Qing Mu.

Qing Mu stiffly glanced at the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps soldier behind him, who had already been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh. He hurriedly rose to his feet, gripped his azure Soul Guiding Fine Swords tightly, adjusted his breathing, and assumed a defensive stance.

Though Qiu Ying was somewhat regretful that he had failed to keep Qing Mu behind, he did not care too much. He believed that if they slowly wore the enemy down, the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps would ultimately win.

But that was only if their regiment commander could hold off Wang Xiao.

With that thought, Qiu Ying's expression shifted as he raised his head toward the strange fish and the Two-Winged Giant Tiger locked in combat high above.

At that moment, he discovered in shock that his own regiment commander was already being forced back step by step.

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