Plans for the Future, Heading to Star Luo

The morning mist of Heaven Dou City was like gauze, winding around the blue-gray eaves. Three days had already passed.

When Qian Renxue appeared at the entrance to the inn alley, the bronze bell beneath the eaves suddenly rang without wind, startling several resting gray sparrows into flight.

Today, she had shed her luxurious palace robes. She wore a plain white fitted outfit beneath an ink-black cloak, its gold-threaded Angel patterns faintly visible through the mist. The sandalwood box in her hands gleamed coldly.

"The things are here."

Qian Renxue placed the wooden box on the table, her voice as cold as a frozen lake. Then she continued speaking to Shen Lian:

"However, your plan to use faith to strengthen divine power is doomed to fail."

Her gaze swept over the faint purple mark between Shen Lian's brows. A trace of barely perceptible disdain colored her tone as she said to him:

"The Power of Faith on the Douluo Continent belongs only to the Angel God."

Shen Lian raised a brow. His fingertips had just touched the wooden box when they stopped.

He watched Qian Renxue turn and leave. As the hem of her cloak swept over the threshold, it stirred up a cloud of dust, and doubt welled up in his heart:

"Faith increases divine power? What the hell is this woman talking about?"

Shen Lian shook his head, casting the inexplicable speculation from his mind. His attention was immediately drawn to the parchment scroll inside the wooden box.

The moment he unfolded the map, Shen Lian's pupils contracted with excitement.

The Tiandou Mountain Range, outlined in vermilion, wound like a giant dragon, while thirty-seven military camps marked in code were scattered throughout like game pieces.

His fingertip traced the marker for the "Black Armor Cavalry Camp" east of Sunset Forest. It contained detailed records of the Martial Soul configurations of two thousand cavalrymen. Astonishingly, thirty percent possessed wolf-type beast Martial Souls.

"Idiots..."

Shen Lian chuckled softly, pressing his finger heavily onto the red mark labeled "Spirit Master Reserve Camp," then muttered to himself:

"Although the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tools aren't as powerful as they will be ten thousand years from now, they're still at the fourth- or fifth-grade level. When Sun Moon Empire's Armor-Piercing Shells come flying over, can your wolf claws tear apart Alloy Armor?"

Shen Lian's thoughts drifted back to the underground workshop of the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy three years ago.

When his grandfather had lifted the dust cloth to reveal the three-meter-tall Mountain Breaker Soul Guidance Cannon, the rumble of its turning gears seemed to still echo in his ears.

That war machine, equipped with fifth-grade Shock Shells, had once blasted apart a hundred-meter-wide piece of Basalt with a single shot during a simulation test.

Yet the defenses of Heaven Dou City marked on the map were nothing more than Bluestone City Walls reinforced with Soul Power.

"Fourth- or fifth-grade Soul Tools..."

Shen Lian's fingertip slid across the border of the Star Luo Empire on the map, where three major fortresses had been circled in ink. He continued:

"That's enough."

Shen Lian's gaze swept over the densely packed military camp markers like that of a hawk, and a cruel curve formed on his lips:

"When the time comes, the armies of those empires will all become souls beneath Soul Tools."

Shen Lian's voice was low and icy, filled with unquestionable killing intent. Candlelight flickered in his eyes, reflecting boundless ambition and madness.

As for the high-level combat strength the Douluo Continent took such pride in, Shen Lian merely gave a contemptuous snort.

He slowly rose and paced to the window, gazing at the stars glimmering in the night sky as though he could see the battlefield of the future.

"To bring the Sun Moon Empire's army across such a vast distance, it will surely have to wait until I become a god."

"By then, the so-called experts of the Douluo Continent will be nothing more than ants before a god's power. One move will be enough to crush them all."

With that, Shen Lian flicked his finger, rolled up the deployment map, and casually stuffed it into his Storage Ring. His movements were carefree, as though that secret, which concerned the lives and deaths of tens of millions, were no more than a scrap of waste paper.

After straightening his clothes, he walked to the door and pushed open the carved wooden panels. The cold morning wind rushed toward him.

Standing beneath the eaves, Shen Lian took a deep breath. Then a pair of enormous Vermilion Bird Wings suddenly unfolded behind his back.

The crimson feathers gleamed with a metallic sheen beneath the rising sun, and powerful Soul Power fluctuations flowed through every plume.

With a clear phoenix cry, the wings beat fiercely, and the powerful blast of air sent the surrounding roof tiles flying.

Like a red meteor, Shen Lian tore across the heavens and sped toward the Star Luo Empire.

Heaven Dou City below gradually shrank away. Shen Lian looked down at it, his eyes filled with disdain.

A blueprint had already formed in Shen Lian's mind:

Infiltrate the Star Luo Empire and find a way to obtain its deployment map, clearing the road for the Sun Moon Empire's army.

"Star Luo Empire, just wait."

Shen Lian silently recited in his heart. "You'll be next."

The Vermilion Bird Wings beat faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished into the clouds, leaving behind only a long crimson trail.

As the faint light of dawn pierced the clouds, Shen Lian's outspread Vermilion Bird Wings were sweeping over the vast forest sea at the Star Luo Empire's border.

Morning mist surged around the crimson plumes. Suddenly, the clash of metal mixed with the sound of trees snapping rose from below, startling a flock of night owls from the woods.

Shen Lian's pupils narrowed slightly. His wings abruptly folded, and he dropped vertically like a meteor. When he was three zhang from the ground, his wings suddenly spread again, and he hovered steadily atop an ancient pine.

In the clearing below, three clusters of Soul Power light reflected off one another.

Three middle-aged men dressed in tight black silk garments stood in a triangular formation, ghostly green feline Martial Soul phantoms rising around them.

The Soul King at their head had dense fur covering his neck. Two yellow, two purple, and one black Spirit Ring gleamed behind him. The four rings of the other two Soul Ancestors were somewhat dimmer, yet they still stained the forest mist an eerie blue-gray.

Their prey was a girl dressed in tight black clothing. Her back was pressed against a broken giant tree, and moonlight flowed across her pale cheeks, outlining her perfect jawline.

"Second Miss, surrender without a fight."

The Soul King licked his lips. His nails transformed into half-foot-long claws, scraping against the tree trunk with a piercing screech. Then he continued:

"The eldest miss said that as long as you obediently come back with us, stop causing trouble, and no longer resist, she can let you experience the true status of the Zhu Clan's second miss during your final days and allow you to live comfortably."

He deliberately dragged out the last words, his eyes roaming over the girl's body without restraint.

Zhu Zhuqing gripped her bloodstained dagger tighter, her knuckles turning white.

Her black hair, damp with cold sweat, clung to her cheeks, but her exposed eyes shone with startling brightness:

"Don't even think about it. I'll carve out a path to survival. I'll fight for my own chance to live. I won't go back and wait to die."

Before her words had faded, she suddenly sprang up, her dagger stabbing toward the throat of the Soul Ancestor on the right like a venomous snake.

"Overestimating yourself!"

The Soul King let out a vicious laugh as his third Spirit Ring suddenly lit up with purple light.

Five translucent phantom cat claws instantly condensed in the air. Accompanied by shrill whistles that tore through the air, they slammed viciously toward Zhu Zhuqing.

The girl hastily flipped and rolled across the ground, but the force still struck her back. She spat out a mouthful of blood and crashed into a tree trunk like a kite with its string cut.

The ancient tree groaned under the impact. She slumped against its roots, several tears ripped into her black clothes by the claws, beads of blood seeping through.

The Soul King slowly stepped forward, the sound of his boots crushing fallen leaves especially clear in the silent forest:

"Second Miss, you brought this upon yourself. Now that we're taking you back, all those conditions the eldest miss promised you are gone."

He extended his claws, about to seize the girl by the shoulder.