A few breaths later, Xu Yan, who had been twisting and crawling far away on the outskirts of the core zone, received the distress warning and rushed out of the core zone without looking back, racing toward the mixed zone.
Xu Yan's flying speed was nothing to scoff at. By the time he could see from far away where Xu Yu and the others were—
the maid who was advancing from the fourth ring to the fifth was still absorbing her fifth Soul Ring.
And that, precisely, gave Xu Yan plenty of time to prepare for battle in secret.
About another hour passed before the maid named Xiao Yu finally finished absorbing the Soul Ring.
Seeing this, the oldest and most respected of the three old bastards, Lao Da, impatiently strode up in front of Xu Yu and the others. He glared at Xiao Yu and said with a face full of impatience:
"You little girl, your foundation is unstable! It took us ages to wait for you to absorb a mere fifth Soul Ring! Forget it. Since you've all finished absorbing your Soul Rings, hurry up and come with us. Don't hold up our important business."
Xu Yu, who had secretly agreed on an escape plan, didn't hesitate any longer. She nodded at Lao Da, stood up, and said, "All right, then. Please lead the way. And please explain on the way exactly what you need our help with."
"Hmph. You'll find out if you follow us."
With that, the three old men formed up in a one-in-front, two-behind formation and "escorted" Xu Yu and the others toward the core zone. They walked for nearly an hour.
Only when they had reached the deepest part of the mixed zone could they see, across a stretch of grassland, the dense forest on the edge of the core zone.
Now.
Realizing that the time to act had come, Xu Yu erupted into motion. She first used Soul Power to shove the three weaker ones directly out of the brothers' "escort circle," then drew a silver-blue Soul Tool sword and pointed it at the brother closest to her.
"Xiao Yun, Xiao Yu, take the princess and go. I'll handle things here."
"Yes."
As soon as she spoke, the two maids swiftly took out their Flying Soul Tools. Each grabbed one of the little princess's arms and flew off behind the Soul Douluo whom Xu Yu had engaged.
"Did she just say... 'the princess'?"
The eldest brother realized from this special title, one ordinary people wouldn't use, that the group's identities were extraordinary. He hurriedly growled at his third brother, "Third Brother, that little girl's no ordinary person. Go after them! Second Brother and I will handle things here!"
"Got it!" the third brother answered. He leaped into the air and shot after the three girls as they fled.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Yan—who had already laid an ambush along the way—made his move!
"You three old bastards! Your grandpa Xu Yan is here! Have a taste of this cannon first!"
A sudden shout rang out. Xu Yan, ready for battle and carrying a bizarre-looking Soul Cannon on his shoulder, shot out of a hollow in a large tree with a whoosh.
He held his breath, took aim, and locked on to the third brother flying through the air. Then he fired!
A thunderous boom rang out from the sky. The third brother, blasted into a filthy mess by the Soul Cannon shell, couldn't help turning around to look toward where it had come from.
"Who's there?!"
"Your good-for-nothing grandson, your grandpa Xu Yan!"
"Hmm!"
When the eldest brother saw Xu Yan's face, his already gloomy expression darkened further. He glared furiously and said, "Good, good, good! There's a road to heaven, but you refuse to take it; there's no door to hell, yet you barge right in! I'm telling you, you've gotten yourself into serious trouble today!"
"Big Brother's right. Our brothers have always been the ones bullying others. No one's ever dared to cross us three brothers. Kid, you're dead meat!" The second brother, still entangled with Xu Yu, managed to squeeze in a shout amid the chaos.
"Bah! Three old bastards who gang up on the weak and pick on the young, and you're still acting tough with me. One-on-one, let's see if your grandpa Xu Yan can't chop off the heads of you three jackasses and turn them into chamber pots."
"Arrogant!!"
As soon as Xu Yan finished speaking, the three Evil Soul Masters actually growled in unison:
"I, Zhongli Tian, Zhongli Di, and Zhongli Ren, swear here and now that we will kill you right here. If we break this oath, may Heaven and Earth destroy us."
"?"
Listening to their inexplicable vow, Xu Yan couldn't help finding it strange. Swearing an oath was normal enough.
Their oath was pretty ordinary too, but making one just because someone had insulted them seemed like a bit of an overreaction.
What felt even stranger was the way all three of them swore in unison. It was as if... they were already used to making oaths like this.
"Then it looks like you three jackasses are destined to be destroyed by Heaven and Earth today. Have a taste of my Wrath of Burning Heaven!"
As he spoke, Xu Yan hefted a dark-red cannon barrel onto his shoulder. The entire barrel was black, and its terrifying black body was covered in countless ornate orange-red patterns.
This was a Level 7 Soul Tool heavy cannon renowned for its intense heat and explosive power. Xu Yan had named it Wrath of Burning Heaven.
Boom—
The instant the heavy cannon activated, a brilliant red light suddenly blazed forth. Rings of dark-red light began appearing along the dark cannon barrel, from back to front. Then a gigantic scarlet rainbow blasted out of its muzzle. Wherever it passed, grass and rocks alike were burned to a crisp.
The scarlet beam crossed a hundred meters almost in an instant. Its light was so intense that the woods within a radius of several hundred square meters became a sea of red. The violent explosion lit every plant in the area the same color.
"Third Brother, Second Brother and I will handle things here! Go after them!"
The instant Zhongli Tian, the eldest brother, finished speaking, his figure was swallowed by the terrifying, blazing firelight. The thunderous explosion erupted in two stages.
The first stage was the high-explosive blast. The powerful shock wave instantly plowed through everything the red light had touched.
Whether delicate flowers, shrubs, or towering trees, faced with that terrifying impact and destructive power, they seemed to have no fate but to be reduced to ashes.
And right behind the shock wave came the heat wave, said to arrive in the blink of an eye.
"Big Brother! Oh, damn!"
Although the sight of his eldest brother being swallowed by the flames left Zhongli Ren frantic with worry, he didn't forget the important task his brother had given him.
Zhongli Ren gritted his teeth, turned, and transformed into a streak of light, speeding into the distance.
But this time, the weapon he used was no longer the Wrath of Burning Heaven, renowned for its explosive force and scorching heat. Instead, it was its sister model: the Wrath of the Thunder God.
The next second, the second cannon blast—wrapped in countless blue-purple arcs of electricity—fired.
A blinding blue-purple beam of light rose from the flames. It shone so brightly that it illuminated the entire forest and half the sky in the same color.
Before you continue