Outside Mingdu, on the official road.
Xu Lanqing, Jing Hongchen, and Zheng Zhan stood by the roadside, watching as the carriage was driven back. They turned their gazes toward Mingdu in the distance, and the sight left Xu Lanqing even more awestruck.
Unlike other cities, this one had no walls. It stretched magnificently into the distance, its far end nowhere in sight.
Jing Hongchen and Zheng Zhan each summoned their Flying Soul Tools, both of which unfolded like wings.
Zheng Zhan's Soul Guidance Aircraft was as black as ink, with the solid, resilient feel of metal. It spanned two meters when unfolded, and with a few flaps, he was already soaring into the sky.
Behind Jing Hongchen, meanwhile, a pair of wings shimmered with golden light. The thin-as-a-cicada's-wing Flying Soul Tool suddenly blazed with golden radiance, enveloping Xu Lanqing in an instant. It then expanded a thousandfold, and two enormous golden wings, each ten meters wide, began to flap gently.
Wrapped in a thin golden membrane, Xu Lanqing floated behind Jing Hongchen as they rose slowly into the air. His fingers itched, and he reached out to touch one of the golden wings. To his surprise, it felt soft, without a trace of metal. It was quite an eye-opener.
"Your Highness, we'll need to hurry. If we set out now, we'll reach the empire's border by dusk."
Jing Hongchen smiled at him. The next moment, the golden light grew dazzlingly bright, and the scenery around them turned into a blur.
High above, one golden and one black figure streaked across the sky like beams of light, speeding toward the empire's northern reaches.
Everything outside had turned into a blur, but Xu Lanqing felt no discomfort inside the membrane. It was as if he were sitting in a quiet room; he couldn't even hear the wind. If not for the scenery rushing past outside, he wouldn't have known he was flying through the air at high speed.
Their destination was the Far North. The empire had the Demonic Forest, a Soul Beast habitat second only to the Star Dou Forest, but with Xu Lanqing's Ice Phoenix Martial Soul and its Ultimate Ice, there was no better place than the Far North to obtain the most suitable Soul Ring. If he could get a good one, why settle for something inferior?
Besides, if they didn't get far from the empire, the people behind this would never make a move.
"Hall Master Jing, have you found anything?"
Xu Lanqing was a little nervous. His life was on the line, after all.
"Ever since we left the city, I've felt an intermittent gaze fixed on us. I tried to detect it, but couldn't sense the person's presence or location. Either they're watching us from afar with some special Soul Tool or other method, or they're so powerful that even I can't detect them. If my teacher were here, he could certainly flush them out. Unfortunately, he has to stay at the Imperial City to prevent anyone from taking advantage of our absence."
Jing Hongchen had often received Kong Deming's guidance, so he usually addressed him as his teacher.
Jing Hongchen furrowed his brow slightly, clearly wary of the powerful enemy hiding in the shadows.
"I'm more inclined to believe it's the first possibility. If they can really stay with us without being detected, they'd have to be at least Level 98. But there isn't even a Super Douluo above Level 95 in the empire. The only possibilities are experts from Shrek or the Eastern Three Kingdoms."
Xu Lanqing hoped it was the first possibility, too. If their enemy really was a Level 98 expert—or even a Level 99 Limit Douluo—he'd be in grave danger.
Wait. Xu Lanqing suddenly realized something, and his face darkened. The only Limit Douluo in Sun Moon Empire territory was one of those Evil Soul Masters from the Holy Spirit Cult. But at this point in time, who would collude with the Holy Spirit Cult to kill him?
Xu Lanqing's thoughts raced. Who would benefit most from his death? He asked himself, and the answer was obvious: the greatest value he had was the possibility that he'd one day inherit the position of Crown Prince, or even the throne.
And then there was the person he'd seen in the female assassin's memories.
He knew exactly who wanted him dead.
Xu Tianran!
The comfortable life he'd enjoyed over the past few years had nearly made him forget that bastard.
Damn it, he'd let his guard down. All he could do now was hope Jing Hongchen and the others could handle this. Even if they couldn't win, they should at least be able to escape.
And there was Ye Yulin following behind with the three Rank Nine Soul Masters he'd brought along. That made six Rank Nine Soul Masters in all.
Unfortunately, the empire had been fighting frequent battles against the Star Luo Empire and Heaven Dou Empire, and all the stationed Soul Engineer Legions had been sent to the borders. Otherwise, Xu Lanqing would have insisted on bringing along a Soul Engineer Legion for protection.
It was too late to turn back now. Besides, it was only a guess, Xu Lanqing told himself.
Time passed. Fiery clouds slowly appeared on the distant horizon, their crimson glow mingling with the setting sun's fading light. The sight was beautiful.
Xu Lanqing felt a little more at ease. Their enemy still hadn't made a move after all this time. They probably weren't confident in their strength, which meant there was no Limit Douluo among them.
Before long, a small town came into view.
"Your Highness, this is the town closest to the Far North. Let's go down and rest for a while. Night is almost upon us. Searching for Soul Beasts in the dark would be not only inefficient but much more dangerous."
"Okay."
Xu Lanqing didn't object. It was his first time traveling, so he was happy to take the advice of these seasoned hands.
They had crossed half the empire—thousands of miles—in half a day. They might have arrived even sooner if they hadn't been conserving their Soul Power to keep it at its peak.
They landed outside the town and entered on foot.
At the same time, dozens of miles away from them.
In a forest, seven or eight figures leaned against the trees, some standing, some lying down. An evil, icy aura emanated from them, turning the woods into a sinister, haunted place.
One man stood in their midst. His face was pale, his head large, and his body short and frail, as if he could barely support himself. A crimson vertical eye opened on his forehead, its pupil filled with numerous little eyeballs. It was a bizarre sight.
Four black Soul Rings floated beside him, along with two yellow and two purple ones. His sixth Soul Ring kept flickering as crimson currents spread out before him, forming a screen that showed Xu Lanqing and the other two.
One of the figures asked, "Second Elder, should we make our move now?"
"Move my ass. It's an obvious trap. Do you want to walk right into it and get yourselves killed?" Second Elder Nangong Wan shot the fool a glare.
"Come on, Second Brother. When is the Cult Master getting here? If we wait any longer, the Fourth Prince will have his Soul Ring and be on his way back. Once he returns to the imperial palace, we won't be able to do a thing."
Third Elder Ming Lei grumbled.
"If the Supreme Cult Master weren't in seclusion, and the Hall Master of Worship weren't guarding him, we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble."
"I don't know. He should have arrived long ago, but there's still no sign of him, and no one's sent word either."
For some reason, a hint of unease stirred in Nangong Wan's heart, then vanished as quickly as it came.
With the Cult Master absent, he was the highest-ranking person here. If he did nothing, the Cult Master would surely punish him when he returned. But if he attacked, they were bound to fail, and he might even lose his life.
His expression shifted between dark and bright as he hesitated for a long while. At last, he spoke. "Xiao Hong stays here. Your ability is unique, and it may come in handy later. The rest of you, come with me to the Far North. He wants to obtain a Soul Ring, so let's prepare a surprise for him."
A petite woman nodded. The others quickly left with Nangong Wan.
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