Witnessing Soul Tool Industry, Ming Capital
The level 67 Ultimate Ice Soul Core slowly rotated within the dantian, each rotation further condensing the light and ice Soul Power within the body.
The chilling aura of the 70,000 Year Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone and the dragon's 100,000 Year Frost Dragon Lizard Leg Bone blended perfectly, their qi and blood flowing like mercury through their meridians.
Zhu Lu sat on the other side of the bed. Her level 50 Soul King realm had been completely solidified under the nourishment of the 60,000 Year Demon Leopard Skull, and the aura of the Hell Spirit Cat had become increasingly elusive and unpredictable.
The next morning.
The six people checked out of the inn, bypassed the large detection array at the main city gate, and slipped out through the small cargo gate on the west side of Blackwater City.
Once outside the city gates, the official road gradually extends into the inland hinterland.
The terrain along the way gradually changes from barren, rocky hills to flat plains and gentle slopes.
Occasionally, one can see cigar-shaped soul-guided airships, several meters long, cruising slowly in mid-air, their sides emblazoned with the royal crest of the Sun Moon Empire.
Large tracts of farmland are neatly arranged, and several large tracked guided tillers are working in the fields with a roar, stirring up waves of mud.
"This iron oxen used for plowing the land are even more effective at digging than a ten-thousand-year-old earthworm."
While munching on wild fruit, Di Lingxi pointed to the ridge of the field and offered her opinion.
After traveling a hundred miles, the official road branched off into a secluded dirt road leading to the hills and dense forests.
Dai Huabin raised his hand to signal everyone to stop and pointed to the valley ahead.
A fierce battle is raging on the flat ground of the valley.
The battle was not a traditional duel between Soul Master, but rather five young Soul Engineer clad in silver-white armor besieging a 30,000-year-old Ironclad Rhinoceros.
The young man leading the group was only at the fourth level of cultivation, and he wore a level four Soul Tool Shield generator on his chest.
Faced with the ferocious charging Soul Beast, the five did not engage in a direct physical confrontation.
The two men flanked the rhinoceros from both sides, throwing out four metal concussion grenades that blasted deep craters at its feet, thus limiting its momentum.
The other two quickly set up heavy Soul Guidance Ray Gun, firing blazing golden light in alternating bursts, accurately hitting the Ironclad Rhinoceros's eye sockets and soft joints.
The leading youth, wielding a charged soul-guided vibration sword, slid along the ground at the moment the Mad Rhino was blocked, and slashed the sword into its vulnerable throat.
From the moment they encountered the Mad Rhino to the moment the Soul Beast collapsed, the entire process took less than two minutes, and the five of them didn't even use much of their own Soul Power.
"The coordination was very tight, and energy consumption was kept to a minimum."
Zhu Lu analyzed in a low voice.
"This is the Soul Guidance Combat System."
Dai Huabin led the group back into the woods and said in a low voice:
"Traditional Soul Master do have higher burst damage and a higher potential, but in small-scale skirmishes with opponents of the same level, Soul Engineer have an absolute advantage in terms of margin for error and attack range."
Ice Empress pursed their lips.
"All that fancy talk, I could crush them, gun and all, into a pancake with a single slap."
"That's an overwhelming advantage due to your hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation."
Dai Huabin glanced at her helplessly.
"If an army of 50,000 Soul Engineer equipped with this weapon were formed, even Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast would be riddled with holes if it charged head-on."
Ice Empress gave a soft snort and did not refute.
The six continued their journey along the mountain path.
As they reached the edge of a grove of dead trees, a faint fluctuation of Soul Power suddenly emanated from the bushes ahead, accompanied by a strong smell of blood.
Bi Ji frowned slightly and quickly stepped forward to push aside the thorns.
The corpse of a young man, drained of his life essence, lay face up in the mud, with a dark skull branded on his chest.
"It's the evil practice of the Holy Spirit Cult."
Dai Huabin crouched down and examined the bite marks on the corpse's neck.
The flesh at the wound site had turned black and rotten, lingering with a chaotic and filthy aura of death.
Judging from the clothing and accessories, the deceased was a student of a mid-level Soul Engineer Academy in the Sun Moon Empire, and all his Storage Soul Tool and personal equipment had been looted.
"There are so many Evil Soul Masters."
A chill ran through Ice Empress's eyes as he stomped on the withered branches on the ground, crushing them to dust.
"The Holy Spirit Cult has high-ranking protection within the Sun Moon Empire, allowing it to act even more recklessly than it does within the Three Kingdoms."
Dai Huabin stood up, his Eye of Life slightly rotating in his sea of consciousness, quickly locking onto a few faint traces of evil energy remaining deep in the forest.
"They ran southeast, and in less than half an hour, three fifth-ring Evil Soul Master appeared."
"I'll handle it."
Zhu Lu's figure flickered, her toes lightly tapping the tree trunk a few times, and the Nether Civet Martial Soul instantly possessed her.
With the combined blessing of the Wind Shadow Leopard King's leg bone and the 50,000-year-old Silver-Pattern Shadow Leopard Soul Ring, he seemed to merge into the shadows of the trees, instantly leaping dozens of feet away.
Dai Huabin did not stop them, but led the others to quickly follow.
Deep in the woods, beside a pile of rocks, three Evil Soul Master dressed in black robes were sitting together dividing their loot.
A dark, afterimage-like figure suddenly materialized behind them.
Zhu Lu didn't even release her Martial Soul Avatar her fourth Soul Skill, "Ice Shadow Instant Kill," was suddenly activated.
Three afterimages, each shrouded in frost-white ice crystals, attacked the three men from behind, while their true forms slid along the ground, their sharp claws slicing through the air.
The two Evil Soul Masters had just noticed something was wrong when they felt a sharp pain in the back of their necks as they were pierced through by frozen ice spikes.
Just as the leading Five-Ring Evil Soul Master was about to unleash the Blood Soul Banner, Dai Huabin appeared above his head.
A pure, physical downward slash slammed heavily into the opponent's chest.
Snap!
A crisp sound of breaking sternum rang out, followed by Ice Explosion that blasted into his meridians along with the force of his palm.
The black-robed Evil Soul Master was sent flying backward, crashing through two giant trees before sliding softly to the ground, his life completely extinguished.
The entire battle, from start to finish, lasted no more than five breaths.
Bi Ji raised her hand and scattered a patch of emerald light, purifying the blood, filth, and deathly aura that covered the ground.
"Our teamwork is getting better and better."
Dai Huabin casually collected the two level-two storage rings that had fallen from the Evil Soul Master and handed them to Di Lingxi, who was standing next to him.
Di Lingxi took it, flipped through it, and then threw it back with disdain.
"It's all low-grade junk, not even a piece of dried meat."
The group cleaned up their tracks and quickly left the woods.
Over the next two weeks, the six of them ventured deep into the heart of the Sun Moon Empire.
The closer you get to the center, the more open and flat the terrain becomes.
Wide, black, hard-paved official roads were built between towns of all sizes, with metal tracks laid on them specifically for large freight Soul Guidance Train.
As Bi Ji sensed the underground veins along the way, she discovered that many mountains had been carved into huge mines, with various high-precision mining Soul Tool working day and night to extract rare metals.
This terrifying efficiency in resource extraction greatly shocked the Ferocious Beast regarding the speed of human civilization's development.
Due to the extremely high density of detection Soul Tool in the inland towns, the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress had to maintain their domain concealment throughout the entire process, perfectly disguising everyone's aura as ordinary passersby.
Dusk on the fifteenth day.
The six of them crossed the last mountain ridge, called Moonwatch Ridge.
Looking out, a colossal, unimaginably massive structure stands at the edge of the horizon.
Throughout the city, thousands of soul-guided lights lit up one after another in the twilight, illuminating half the sky with dazzling brilliance.
The heart of the Sun Moon Empire, Ming Capital.