Star Luo Royal Academy Team? The Whole City Was Shocked: A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring! Zhu Zhuyun: Could It Be Spirit Hall?

"Father places great importance on this tournament. He specially sent us to Linhai City to temper our Soul Power and willpower against the crashing waves."

"Now that our special training is over, we'll rest for two more days before setting out for Spirit City to take part in the final Grand Finals."

"I'll make the entire continent understand that the authority of the Star Luo Empire's imperial family cannot be shaken!"

Just as Dai Weisi was brimming with confidence, imagining the glorious moment when he would lift the championship trophy in Spirit City,

suddenly,

a shrill, urgent alarm shattered the tranquility of Linhai City.

"Woo—!!!"

Immediately afterward, the bustling harbor descended into chaos. Countless civilians and merchants pointed at the sea in terror, crying out in alarm.

"What's going on?"

Dai Weisi furrowed his brow and looked toward the sea in displeasure.

But the moment his gaze fell on the waters, he froze.

A vast fleet, so enormous it was suffocating, had appeared on the sea, where once there had been nothing but endless blue waves.

These were not the wooden sailing ships commonly seen in the Star Luo Empire.

They were deep-sea behemoths forged entirely from steel, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen!

Their enormous hulls were like moving steel fortresses. The pitch-black cannon muzzles radiated a chilling menace beneath the sun as they slowly adjusted their angles, aiming at the defenseless city.

"Th-that... what is that?!"

Zhu Zhuyun's face paled, and her voice trembled.

As members of the Star Luo Empire's highest nobility, they had seen countless powerful Soul Beasts and Soul Masters, but never anything like these oppressive steel constructs.

An unfamiliar terror instantly engulfed the entire Sea-Viewing Platform.

Meanwhile, aboard the Great Sun Prince Mansion's flagship,

row upon row of fully charged Soul Engineer cannons glowed a dangerous red. At a single command, they could turn this prosperous port city into a sea of flames.

The Soul Engineers at the control panels held their fingers over the firing keys, awaiting the final order.

Yet Xu Zhao slowly raised his hand and made a gesture for them to stop.

"Heir Prince?"

Zi Zhenzhu, standing beside him, looked puzzled, a bloodthirsty glint in her eyes.

"With just one volley, the defenses of Linhai City will crumble instantly. We'll be able to land without meeting any resistance."

Xu Zhao shook his head. His gaze swept over the panicked crowds below, and he said calmly,

"There's no need."

"We're here to conquer and rule, not to leave behind ruins and charred corpses."

"This city is ideally situated. In the future, it'll serve as a bridgehead for the Great Sun Prince Mansion's expansion inland. If we blast it to pieces, rebuilding it will be too much trouble."

With that, Xu Zhao turned around and looked over the several Titled Douluo behind him, his tone composed.

"Since we're making an entrance, we should do so with the bearing of the strong."

"Who will help me 'take' this city?"

"We only need to deprive the city's leaders and defenders of their ability to resist. Minimize civilian casualties as much as possible."

As soon as the words left his mouth,

a figure clad in blue-black stepped forward. It was Black Bird Douluo, Yan Yu, who had earlier cowed Sea Dragon Douluo.

"Heir Prince, leave this rough work to me."

Yan Yu bowed slightly, still wearing his usual breezy smile, as if the task he had accepted wasn't to seize a city, but to attend a poetry gathering.

"I was just getting irritated by that Sea Dragon Douluo. It'll be good to stretch my muscles."

"Besides..."

Yan Yu glanced up at the city, a trace of disdain flickering in his eyes.

"Although there are a few decent auras in the city, the strongest are only Soul Emperors or Soul Saints. There isn't even a single Soul Douluo."

"Subduing them will be as easy as turning my hand."

Xu Zhao nodded slightly, granting Yan Yu's request.

"Go ahead."

"Show them what true power looks like."

"Yes!"

Yan Yu replied, then lightly tapped the deck with his toes.

"Caw—!"

A clear, soaring bird cry suddenly rang through the skies.

Yan Yu shot upward. In midair, he instantly transformed into the enormous phantom of a Black Bird, its wings stretching over fifty meters!

Its black wings blotted out the sky, and blue-black light rippled outward like waves.

The terrifying pressure of a ninety-third-rank Titled Douluo poured down without restraint, instantly enveloping all of Linhai City!

The clear sky turned gloomy in an instant.

Fine raindrops appeared out of nowhere, carrying a bone-chilling cold and suffocating Soul Power fluctuations as they drifted down over every corner of the city.

"Th-this is..."

On the Sea-Viewing Platform at the City Lord's Mansion,

Dai Weisi felt an irresistible force pressing down on his shoulders. His legs buckled, and he dropped to his knees with a thud.

He looked up in terror at the enormous figure in the sky, as imposing as a god or demon, and the nine Soul Rings slowly revolving around him.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red!

The last one—a scarlet-red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring—stung his eyes and nearly made him stop breathing.

"A T-Titled Douluo?!"

"And... a Titled Douluo with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?!"

Dai Weisi's voice turned shrill and distorted with sheer terror.

He couldn't understand it.

Why had such a terrifying figure suddenly appeared in this remote city by the sea?

And judging by his actions, he had clearly come for the city!

"I am Yan Yu, Black Bird Douluo of the Great Sun Prince Mansion."

Yan Yu stood in the sky with his hands behind his back, standing atop the phantom Black Bird. His voice boomed like rolling thunder in everyone's ears.

"By order of my Heir Prince, I am taking control of this city."

"Those who surrender will be spared."

"Those who resist to the bitter end—"

Yan Yu's gaze turned cold, and he casually waved a hand.

Boom!

A pillar of blue-black light came crashing down from the sky, instantly blasting the City Defense Army Barracks—the most heavily fortified place in Linhai City—into a vast crater!

"Will be shown no mercy!"

With that earth-shaking boom and the sight of the City Defense Army Barracks reduced to scorched earth,

the last thread of restraint in Linhai City snapped.

Panic swept through the entire city like a plague.

Screams, sobs, and the pounding of running feet blended together as the streets erupted into chaos.

Merchants abandoned their stalls, and pedestrians knocked over goods.

Everyone ran around like headless flies, searching for a safe place that didn't exist, desperate to hide from the figure in the sky who was like a god of slaughter.

"Wh-what kind of monster is that..."

On the Sea-Viewing Platform, Zhu Zhuyun's face was as pale as paper. She gripped the railing tightly, her knuckles turning white.

She stared at the figure in the sky, radiating terrifying pressure, and asked in a trembling voice,

"Weiss, a Titled Douluo with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring... could he be from Spirit Hall?

Apart from Spirit Hall, what other force on the continent could have such power?"

The other members of the Star Luo Team also turned to Dai Weisi, their eyes full of fear and helplessness.

In their minds, Spirit Hall was the only supreme power, and only Spirit Hall could possibly possess such a terrifying powerhouse.

Although Dai Weisi was also drenched in cold sweat, his eyes were clearer and more guarded than theirs.

"No, it definitely isn't Spirit Hall!"

Dai Weisi gritted his teeth and stared at Yan Yu in the sky, his mind racing.

"Spirit Hall may act arrogantly, but it has a strict hierarchy. Its people usually call themselves 'Elders,' 'Enshrined Elders,' or 'Bishops.'"

"But this man says he comes from the 'Great Sun Prince Mansion,' and keeps saying he's acting on the orders of an 'Heir Prince'!"

"Heir Prince?

That's clearly a title used by a princely household!"

Dai Weisi drew a deep breath, forcing down his fear. His voice was ominously low.

"And look at those steel warships. Those unheard-of weapons of war aren't Spirit Hall's style at all.

If Spirit Hall had things like those, it would have unified the continent long ago. Why wait until now?"