Row upon row of crystal tanks held countless identical-looking young women, all with pinkish-blue hair and exquisite features, yet utterly lifeless.
They were "Xiao Qi" clones—or failed creations Tang San had made while perfecting his "Ten-Thousand-Year Plan."
"Wh-what is this?" Bei Bei cried in horror inside Shrek Academy.
At the center of the laboratory, a gigantic, dark-red magic array slowly turned. Countless evil runes twisted through the air, giving off a nauseating stench of blood.
[Sky Screen Prompt: Detected a Transcendent God-level forbidden art—Blood River God-Slaying Array (core prototype).]
"The Blood River God-Slaying Array..."
Electrolux stepped forward, his expression turning grave. "This array uses the blood of billions of living beings as its catalyst, attempting to devour a plane's will. It seems that the so-called 'Sea God ancestor' of your world was never trying to protect the continent."
"If my guess is right, he's turning the entire Douluo Continent into a blood farm. Once the time is right, he'll choose one or two suitable artifact spirits and transform the entire planet into his divine domain."
Around the array lay many evil artifacts that seemed suited to Evil Soul Masters: the [Hundred Ghost Banner], which could imprison souls, and the [Death God Skull], brimming with baleful energy...
"Haha, so this is the so-called 'Sea God ancestor,' the so-called greatest sect under heaven? The so-called hidden guardians?"
Huo Yuhao sneered as he packed the items one by one into his Storage Soul Tool. "If these things turned up in the hands of Evil Soul Masters, Shrek would probably cry out for justice and hunt them down. But in the hands of the Clear Sky Sect, they're gifts from the gods?"
The people outside the Sky Screen fell completely silent. Before, the commentary had only accused Tang San of being selfish. But now, this scene had nailed him to the pillar of shame as an "Evil God."
Huo Yuhao turned and pressed a hand toward the empty space before the magnificent main hall of the Clear Sky Sect.
"BOOM!!!"
As an ice mountain abruptly crashed down upon Clear Sky Peak, the entire mountain let out a teeth-grinding cracking sound. Then, beneath the gaze of countless onlookers, the peak that had stood for ten thousand years collapsed and crumbled, reduced to ruins.
After returning to the Body Sect, Huo Yuhao didn't rest.
With Electrolux's guidance, he launched an unprecedented "Divine Artifact Reforging Plan."
Under the baptism of Gold of Life and Necromancy, the evil artifacts seized from the Clear Sky Sect shed their bloodthirsty malice and began to shine with brilliant gold and silver light.
"This one is called the [Body God-Suppressing Cauldron]. It will protect the Body Sect's fortune for ten thousand years!"
Huo Yuhao sent the reforged cauldron into the sect's ley line.
"The other three..."
Huo Yuhao gazed west. That was where the continent's Soul Tool Technology had reached its peak—and where the ruling power of the entire Douluo Continent now resided, the force that had once destroyed the Body Sect's headquarters.
A few years ago, the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Master Regiment and the Holy Spirit Cult's Evil Soul Masters had joined forces with the elders of Shrek Academy to grievously wound the Body Sect. His teacher, Du Busi, was still recovering from his injuries.
He had also once promised to help Princess Vina of the Heaven Dou Empire avenge herself. She was now carrying his child, who would one day become the new ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire—or rather, the reunified Heaven Dou Empire.
And the Sun Moon Empire was the only obstacle left in his path.
"Ming Capital. Xu Tianran."
Clad in a silver robe, Huo Yuhao stood with three divine artifacts floating behind him, their terrifying pressure so immense it made the sky change color.
"Let's go see if the technology of this age can withstand the Body Sect's fury. The Sun Moon Empire—and the entire continent—are due for a new ruler."
At Huo Yuhao's command, countless Body Sect disciples soared into the sky, blotting out the sun.
Before the astonished eyes of countless people on the Douluo Continent, beyond the Sky Screen—
At the command of that imperial young man, the Body Sect's war machine, dormant for years, roared to life.
Led by Du Busi and Huo Yuhao, thousands of Body Sect disciples became streaks of light and shot straight toward the heart of the Sun Moon Empire—Ming Capital.
"Look! Is that the Body Sect's entire force?"
Outside the Sky Screen, Xu Jiawei, the Star Luo Emperor, drew in a sharp breath. He had never seen the Body Sect deploy in such numbers. More terrifying still, the pressure radiating from their ranks surpassed that of any Soul Master Regiment he had ever seen.
The people of the Sun Moon Empire, however, sneered.
"That's Ming Capital! It has the most sophisticated detection Soul Tool array on the entire continent. Even a fly would trigger a barrage of Level 9 Soul Guidance Rays!"
Outside the Sky Screen, Jing Hongchen clenched his fists inside Mingde Hall. Though this was a parallel world, he couldn't believe the Body Sect could infiltrate without a sound.
But in the next instant, what appeared on the Sky Screen left every Soul Engineer on the continent speechless.
Huo Yuhao stood in the clouds, the "Moon Eye" between his brows glowing with a silvery light. Rings of nearly transparent ripples spread out from him, enveloping the entire army.
[God-level Domain: Myriad Manifestations: Void Concealment!]
On the Sun Moon Empire's surveillance screens, there was nothing at all. Radar waves passed through their bodies, while thermal sensors detected only the movement of the air.
"Impossible!"
Desperate cries rang out from Mingde Hall beyond the Sky Screen.
"That's the ultimate application of spiritual power! He's synchronized everyone's spiritual fluctuations with the atmosphere! In the 'eyes' of Soul Tools, they don't exist!"
Kong Deming's aged body trembled violently. The technology he had always been proud of was as fragile as a sheet of paper before a god-level spiritual domain.
And so the Body Sect's army, like ghosts in the dead of night, silently crossed barrier after barrier and appeared directly above the imperial palace of Ming Capital.
At that moment, the palace blazed with lights.
The crippled Xu Tianran sat in his wheelchair, talking grandly about his plans for unification to Ju Zi and his trusted ministers.
"BOOM!"
A gigantic silver cauldron slammed down from the sky, crashing hard against the palace's protective barrier.
[God-Slaying Halberd: Fall of the Mortal World!]
The linked barrier, which had been able to withstand bombardment from a Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannon, shattered like glass beneath the divine halberd's impact. Amid a rain of golden shards, Huo Yuhao plunged down, clad in a silver robe and descending like a god, murder in his eyes.
"Xu Tianran, it's time to settle our accounts."
"Enemy attack! Protect His Majesty!"
The piercing alarm instantly rang throughout Ming Capital.
Outside the Sky Screen, the people of the Sun Moon Empire were now utterly terrified.
"That's the imperial palace! Our imperial palace! Not even the people of Shrek Academy have ever broken in here—not in all of history!"
Xu Tianran watched himself on the screen, frightened out of his wheelchair, and ground his teeth together.