Demon Invasion

"Exactly," An Lan said with a mischievous grin. "The Red Edge Spear's first Soul Skill, Sun Piercer, ignores all defenses!"

Though she had already guessed as much, hearing those four words—"ignores all defenses"—still sent a shock through Le Lingzhao.

Ignoring all defenses? That was ridiculously overpowered!

In the entire history of the Douluo Continent, only a handful of Soul Skills could compare to this one.

For example—

Invincible Golden Body!

Invincible Golden Body!

Invincible Golden Body!

That's right. This was the Invincible Golden Body Tang San had relied on before becoming a god, using it to his heart's content. Xiao Wu...

Ahem. Trident warning!

At first, An Lan had wanted a boosting-type Soul Skill. But after learning the details of Sun Piercer, he'd immediately changed his mind.

What boosting-type Soul Skill could compare to ignoring all defenses? As expected of an Auspicious Beast Soul Spirit.

Le Lingzhao came back to herself and first gave her disciple a glowing appraisal. "Your strengths are obvious. Your strength, speed, and mental power are all far beyond those of Soul Masters at your level, and your first Soul Spirit is the one and only Auspicious Beast Soul Spirit in the world. You're blessed with extraordinary gifts."

After praising him, she changed her tone and pointed out sternly, "But your weaknesses are just as obvious."

"You've never systematically studied spear techniques, and your spear work is too rough. You can only overwhelm your opponents with the Red Edge Spear's raw stats, without bringing out its full power. If you meet a truly evenly matched opponent, you'll easily end up at a disadvantage."

An Lan knew this all too well. He respectfully cupped his hands. "Please teach me, both of you, Masters."

"Cheeky."

Le Lingzhao reached out and lightly flicked his forehead. An Lan took the opportunity to grin and sidle up to her, affectionately wrapping his arms around hers.

Le Lingzhao and Leng Qingning exchanged a glance, then nodded in silent understanding.

They certainly weren't about to let anyone else take their precious disciple.

It was only spear technique. They could learn it themselves!

Of the two, Leng Qingning's Amethyst Phoenix was a Beast Martial Soul, so she didn't know much about spear techniques.

But An Lan's father, An Ze, had the Evil-Breaking Spear Martial Soul and was an expert in the spear. Back when he'd been with the Blood God Legion, he and Leng Qingning had often sparred, so she wasn't completely in the dark.

Le Lingzhao, meanwhile, was a little more accomplished than Leng Qingning.

Her Martial Soul was the Holy Angel, which had nothing to do with spears, but her clan possessed the divine weapon Angel Holy Sword. She had studied sword techniques and had also grasped the realm of sword intent.

As the saying went, once you understood one method, you could understand them all. With a foundation in swordsmanship, and a spear expert to offer a little guidance, teaching An Lan in the early stages would pose no problem.

As for the later stages, who hadn't been a workaholic when they were young?

Both women were already at the pinnacle of the continent. With mental power at the peak of the Spirit Domain Realm, they had not only vast horizons but extraordinary insight as well.

If they truly set their minds to studying the spear, reaching the Spear God realm might be out of reach, but cultivating a spear soul would be well within their abilities.

Just as the three master and disciple were enjoying a rare moment of peace together, Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao frowned almost simultaneously. One after the other, they turned their gazes toward the northwest through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows.

Deep in the mountains, barely a hundred kilometers from Shangling City, an extremely powerful spatial fluctuation had appeared.

The two women exchanged a glance. Leng Qingning knitted her brows. "Something's happened. Another plane is connecting to the Douluo Continent."

The revulsion on Le Lingzhao's face was plain to see. "Its aura is just as nauseating as the Abyss's. It's an enemy, not a friend."

The Holy Angel Martial Soul was naturally a bane to evil. Even from a hundred kilometers away, she could sense the foul, wicked aura surrounding the other side.

An Lan's heart sank at her words. Could it be the Demon Plane?

Yuanen Yehui was about his age, and the timeline fit perfectly.

At that thought, he hesitated.

On one hand, he and Yuanen Yehui were online friends who had met in person, and they got along well. It would be hard to simply stand by and do nothing, even though he knew she wasn't in mortal danger.

On the other hand, although both his masters were Super Douluos, the Demon Monarch Wu Jie was powerful, with strength on par with a Demigod. He really didn't want his masters to put themselves in danger.

Before he could think it through, Leng Qingning had already risen to her feet. "It seems to be... the direction of the Yuanen Family."

Although the Yuanen Family was a reclusive clan, in this day and age, it was impossible to remain completely cut off from the world.

Among the Federation's four major powers, Shrek Academy treated Shrek City as its own territory and cared little about other cities. Its influence in Shangling City was practically nonexistent.

The Tang Sect and the War God Temple each had branches in Shangling City, but they were only guarded by Titled Douluos. That made the Spirit Pagoda the biggest local power.

Leng Qingning had known of the Yuanen Family's existence, but since they wanted to live in seclusion, she saw no reason to disturb them. The two sides had never had any dealings.

That changed a few months ago, when An Lan met a young girl named Yuanen Yehui in person. The Yuanen Family had once again entered her field of vision.

Le Lingzhao focused and probed again. A trace of surprise crossed her eyes. "It really is! If I remember right, that little online friend of An Lan's is from the Yuanen Family, isn't she?"

Leng Qingning gave a slight nod. "Shall we go?"

"Let's go!" Le Lingzhao rose at once.

An invasion from another world concerned the safety of the entire continent, so they had a duty to act. And since it involved the family of An Lan's friend, there was all the more reason not to stand idly by.

"Bang! Bang!"

The two women acted swiftly, their Battle Armor appearing in an instant.

One violet streak and one golden streak smashed straight through the floor-to-ceiling windows, transforming into beams of light as they sped toward the Yuanen Family's location northwest of Shangling City.

With the situation so urgent—and with the life-saving measures they'd left with An Lan—covering a hundred kilometers was only a moment's work for them. They vanished into the sky without leaving him a single word of instruction.

An Lan hadn't even reacted before the two figures disappeared over the horizon.

Looking at the two gaping holes left in the windows, the troubled expression on his face faded. He scratched his head, his mind full of questions.

Battle Armor was the most advanced crystallization of Soul Guidance Technology on the continent, and he had naturally collected information about it.

Three-Word Battle Armor covered the body in distinct layers, its edges sharp and clear. But his two masters' Battle Armor had no rigidly joined plates or obvious outlines of separate components. It flowed directly out of their bodies, taking shape naturally along their limbs and torso.

Thinking back to what he had just witnessed, An Lan's heart began to pound.

The waist, shoulder, and chest armor formed a seamless whole, and divine patterns wandered freely across the armor, like living things. Those were unmistakably features of Four-Word Battle Armor.

He... had actually been underestimating his two masters all along.

Everything that had happened before suddenly made sense to An Lan.

No wonder they'd dared to set their sights on the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. No wonder his second master had laughed at him when he mentioned Heavenly Phoenix Douluo.

With two Four-Word Battle Armor Masters rushing to the rescue, what was there to worry about?

They had this in the bag!

More importantly, he actually had four backers at the Ultimate level!

Purple Phoenix Douluo, Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, Judgment Douluo, and Angel Douluo!

An Lan finally relaxed. He took out his Communication Soul Tool and tapped on the avatar of a cute girl with black eyes and red hair, her cheeks still carrying a touch of baby fat.

It was Yuanen Yehui.

Actually, he'd known all along that the Yuanen Family was in Shangling City, but he'd never planned to deliberately approach Yuanen Yehui. The two of them had met purely by chance.

It all began three years ago...