Martial Soul Hall? What is that thing?

The words had barely fallen when a sudden change occurred.

Above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, a massive spatial rift tore open.

Several figures flew out, scattering with clear intent to surround Gu Rong in an instant.

Only then did Gu Rong react, his eyes widening as he scanned his surroundings, his scalp tingling as if his hair were standing on end.

Possessing the [Spatial Teleportation] soul skill, he clearly judged the method just used to be a profound spatial ability.

Furthermore, the strength of those who had teleported was monstrous; their distinct aura fluctuations revealed them all to be of the ninth rank, and there were six of them!

"Martial Soul Hall?!"

Gu Rong's expression twisted.

Even his voice trembled slightly at that moment.

Given his knowledge, he could think of no other possibility, yet his mind remained clear enough.

With almost no hesitation, he immediately decided he had to run; no matter how powerful he was, he could not take on six at once!

Maintaining his massive Bone Dragon form, he flapped his wings to turn nimbly, breaking toward the outside without hesitation, choosing the shortest route.

However, things were not that simple.

If you strike the young, you must endure the wrath of the elders.

Blocking his path was an old man with a head of gray hair, his entire body radiating a majestic power.

Seeing Gu Rong's terrifying form charging aggressively toward him, the old man remained calm and unhurried, slowly raising the holy sword in his hand and unleashing a slash of holy light.

The skin that the Dawn of Light squad had to exhaust all their strength to pierce now appeared as thin as paper, easily sliced open by the energy.

Blood sprayed, and the impact brought Gu Rong's movements to a halt.

Accompanied by a scream, his dragon-form body teetered.

As he crashed into the ground with a boom, a cold voice laced with hidden killing intent reached his ears.

"Bullying the younger generation—is it fun?"

Gu Rong struggled to stand, looking up.

He saw the six brats he had been fighting just moments ago excitedly gathering toward the old man.

They were clearly familiar with each other, and as they spoke right in front of him, the information in their brief exchange nearly made Gu Rong forget his pain.

"Senior, did only your Special Operations Team come?"

"I thought His Majesty would have called for Grandpa and the others as well."

Long Haochen greeted him politely, his entire demeanor visibly relaxing, completely devoid of his previous tension.

Gu Rong understood this look well; it was much the same scene whenever he stepped in to help Ning Rongrong after she had caused trouble.

"His Majesty is far-sighted; naturally, he has his reasons."

"It is merely an outpost base; the six of us are enough."

"As for you little ones, you must work harder in the future. You couldn't even handle this small bit of trouble?"

The gray-haired old man was naturally Chen Zidian, the former leader of the Demon Slayer Fallen Hunting Squad and now the captain of the federation's Special Operations Team.

He smiled as he looked at Dawn of Light, his tone softening significantly. Long Haochen scratched his head in shame, while Chen Ying'er continued to clamor from the side.

"Grandpa Chen, you must avenge us!"

"This old man is so annoying; he's clearly very strong, yet he resorts to sneak attacks."

Hearing this, Gu Rong, lying in the crater below, felt his dragon-form face twitch slightly.

But he did not dwell on it, his attention quickly shifting elsewhere—the amount of information was a bit overwhelming.

The term "Special Operations Team" was easy to understand; it was nothing more than a special combat unit, and he assumed every member was a powerhouse.

Moreover, the implication was that there were more than one; besides Martial Soul Hall, who else could assemble such a force?

The problem was... why call him "His Majesty"?

On the Douluo Continent, such a title represented an emperor.

Yet Bibi Dong of Martial Soul Hall was more commonly addressed as "Your Excellency," which made this sound strange.

Of course, Gu Rong could not ponder for long; various thoughts flashed through his mind, and he immediately prepared to flee again.

Unfortunately, before he could act, he heard Chen Zidian respond to Chen Ying'er from the sky, his tone once again filled with hostility.

"Rest assured, this old man will avenge you."

"Martial soul abilities, eh... they are indeed quite peculiar."

"Judging from the situation just now, he should be skilled in physical attacks and possess very high defense."

Chen Zidian muttered to himself, summarizing quickly, before diving down with his holy sword in hand, aiming directly at the dragon-form Gu Rong.

Brilliant holy light spilled forth, blooming with a dazzling radiance. As the two sides clashed again, the disparity in strength was visible to the naked eye.

Just like Long Xingyu, who had received personal training from Lin Feng, his strength was even greater than in the original records.

Chen Zidian was the same, his every gesture stirring heaven and earth, carrying the faint aura of some law.

With effortless ease, he beat Gu Rong until his face was bruised and swollen; that prideful defense of his showed no real difference in the face of an absolute gap in strength.

After several consecutive clashes broke his Ninth Soul Skill fusion, Gu Rong reverted to human form, his Bone Dragon Martial Soul rapidly dimming—where was there any chance left to escape?

"You... cough... who exactly are you?"

"To be this powerful, you cannot possibly be unknown!"

"Could it be that you are a legendary expert from the Worship Hall of the Martial Soul Hall?"

"This humble one is Gu Rong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Since I am surely going to die, may I know your name?"

Gu Rong stood on the ground, his chest heaving, his aura dimmed to the extreme, his soul power nearly exhausted.

As for escaping, he had completely abandoned all hope, even preparing himself to be silenced.

In his mind, the Martial Soul Hall had not made a move for many years; once they erupted, it would surely be with the momentum to sweep across the world.

In such a case, how could they possibly let him go?

It seemed that Dugu Bo was also in grave danger.

But Gu Rong was truly curious: who exactly was it that had defeated him?

Death was not terrifying; what was terrifying was dying with regrets, having not even seen the opponent's Martial Soul from start to finish—it was simply too stifling!

Thus, he had asked that question, his burning gaze fixed on Chen Zidian, hoping to receive the answer he sought.

"Martial Soul Hall? What kind of thing is that?"

Chen Zidian frowned, staring at Gu Rong as if he were an idiot.

It was not that he refused to manifest his Martial Soul; he simply did not have one at all.

Moreover, having just arrived on the Douluo Continent, he hadn't even had the time to find Long Haochen and the others to gather information.

Naturally, he was unaware of the [Martial Soul Hall], and his subconscious retort caused the atmosphere to freeze on the spot.

"You, what did you say?"

Gu Rong nearly choked to death.

He had never imagined he would hear such a response.

He had expected the old man before him to at most deny it or refuse to answer, but he had not expected such a line.

Even more absurdly, as a dignified Titled Douluo, he vaguely sensed that the other party was not lying—but how could that be possible?

On the Douluo Continent, besides the Martial Soul Hall, who else could field so many powerhouses? Even the Clear Sky Sect, once the head of the Upper Three Sects, could not possibly do it!

"Senior, the Martial Soul Hall is a faction in this world."

"It is said their strength is decent; this fellow must have misunderstood."

Long Haochen could not bear to listen any longer and hurriedly explained to Chen Zidian, clarifying things in a few sentences.

The latter immediately wore an expression of sudden realization and glanced at Gu Rong strangely, yet he offered no further explanation.

He was merely a prisoner, unqualified to learn so much information, at least not until His Majesty Lin Feng gave his consent.

"Alright, let the farce end here."

"Imprison this fellow and ask how he should be dealt with."

"Moving forward, hand the defensive work over to the Special Operations Team; Haochen, you all continue inscribing the formation patterns."

"Strive to complete the teleportation array as soon as possible, so that the radiance of His Majesty Lin Feng may be spread across this new land!"