"You little punk, who are you trying to fool with that tough-guy act? Five Level 10 Soul Guidance Cannons— even a god would lose a layer of skin."
Far away, Luo Feng sat inside the cockpit of the Vanguard Titan.
He watched contentedly as the red dot on the radar screen vanished in an instant, then even reached up to pick his ear.
At the very moment Qiangu Zhangting was reduced to ashes, a system notification rang out in Luo Feng's mind—more intense and wild than any he had ever heard before!
[ Ding! An extremely high-value target has been completely annihilated! ]
[ Congratulations! You have successfully killed a Level 94 Titled Douluo (Three-Word Battle Armor Master) above your rank—Qiangu Zhangting! ]
[ Ding! You have obtained an enormous package of high-level Soul Power experience! ]
[ Ding! Your Soul Power Level has increased by three levels! ]
[ Current Soul Power Level: Level 94 (Super Douluo)! ]
[ Ding! As you killed a core heir of the Spirit Pagoda, you have triggered the hidden achievement "Hero of Chaotic Times."
Your [Steel Alchemist] Martial Soul Avatar proficiency has greatly increased, and your analysis progress for the material reconstruction of the Level 12 God-Slaying Soul Guidance Cannon has increased by 10%! ]
"Holy crap! I jumped three levels in one go? And got a hidden achievement, too?!"
This felt incredible.
Luo Feng had initially thought that gaining one or two levels would already be impressive.
He hadn't expected to become a Level 94 Titled Douluo in one fell swoop.
Of course, his opponent hadn't been an ordinary person.
That had been the grandson of the Spirit Pagoda Master.
If converted into an experience pack in an online game, this had to be top-tier.
Unfortunately, against such ferocious artillery fire, carbon-based lifeforms were always the little brother.
It was just like those powerful experts from Shrek Academy.
Hadn't they still fallen before a Level 12 Soul Guidance Cannon?
A lot of things couldn't be changed by human will.
At the same time, Tang Wulin and his companions in the distance were speechless.
On one hand, they were genuinely stunned by the Vanguard Titan's terrifying firepower.
They secretly congratulated themselves that he was an ally, not an enemy!
But on the other hand, everyone present was surely getting goosebumps.
The Qiangu Family and the colossal Spirit Pagoda were bound together.
Today, Luo Feng had blasted their young master's grandson to bits in front of everyone.
Did they think the Spirit Pagoda Master would swallow that insult?
They were in deep trouble!
Traveling with someone like him meant they had openly fallen out with Qiangu Dongfeng.
"Um, Sect Master! Should we make some backup plans?"
Old Xie forcibly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
When Tang Wulin turned to look at everyone, he was clearly doing something similar.
Although Tang Wulin was a genius with divine blood in his veins,
he was still just a young man.
He had neither the experience nor the ability to handle a situation like this.
He was completely dazed.
For the moment, he couldn't come up with a plan.
At the same time,
far away, at the heart of the Spirit Pagoda,
Qiangu Dongfeng had been cultivating.
Suddenly, a sense of foreboding stirred within him.
Both eyelids kept twitching.
"What's going on?"
As one of the top experts on the Douluo Continent,
Old Qiangu's strength had already brushed against the threshold of godhood.
That gave him an extraordinary sense for certain things.
"Something's happened to my grandson!"
"Someone! Quickly, contact the East Sea First Armored Legion!"
He didn't know why such a thought had come to him.
But Old Qiangu clearly intended to follow his instincts.
The trusted aides at the door, however, had no idea what was going on.
They thought the old master had hit a critical juncture in his cultivation and gone off the rails.
"Reporting to the Pagoda Master, the young master said not to contact him unless it was something special. It would affect his authority in the legion..."
"Bullshit! Are you even going to listen to me?"
At that moment, Qiangu Dongfeng had none of the dignity of the Spirit Pagoda Master.
He was nothing but a senile old man in a fit of madness.
But the very thing he feared came to pass.
When his men tried to activate the special communication code,
all they heard from the other end was a steady "beep, beep, beep."
It was over. It was over!
Something had definitely happened!
There was no such thing as a signal blackout for the Spirit Pagoda.
Could it be...?
"There's no time! Quickly, gather a team and go to the armored legion to bring my grandson back!"
He could tell something had gone wrong.
But Old Qiangu still hadn't realized how serious it was.
He even still imagined that his elite Soul Master corps could bring the boy back.
He had no idea that he and his grandson had already been separated by life and death!
In the waters off the East Sea, within the swath of destruction that had been thoroughly plowed by five Level 10 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannons,
the seawater was still rushing back in, roaring loud enough to shake the heavens.
"Beep!"
Inside the Vanguard Titan's cockpit, Luo Feng looked contentedly at the empty radar scan and opened the communication channel to the deep-sea submarine.
"Master Tang, the annoying flies have been cleared out.
But that was quite a commotion. The Spirit Pagoda's mad dogs are probably already on their way.
Are we staying here to enjoy the scenery, or making a strategic retreat?"
On the other end of the communicator, Tang Wulin drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his shock.
After all, he was the leading figure of the current Shrek Seven Devils. Once his brief daze passed, the decisiveness of a Tang Sect Master swiftly returned.
"Retreat! Dive immediately!"
Tang Wulin made the call at once, then turned to his companions.
"Gu Yue, Xie Xie, activate the highest-level counter-surveillance plan. We're not just leaving—we're leaving without a trace!"
Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had managed to lie low under the Federation's nose for so long through more than mere passionate conviction.
They also had unparalleled technology and teamwork.
"Leave it to me."
Gu Yuena nodded coolly.
Silver light blazed around her, and pure spatial elements rippled outward like waves.
Under her precise control, the spatial coordinates in this sea—already torn apart by the explosions—were completely scrambled and shattered.
Anyone attempting to reconstruct the scene with Soul Skills like "Time Reversal" or "Spatial Tracking" would see nothing but a chaotic void.
Two hours later,
an extremely piercing sonic boom came from the sky.
Twelve high-speed supersonic fighter jets bearing the Spirit Pagoda's insignia, along with more than a hundred elite purple and black mechas,
descended upon the sea like a dark cloud pressing down.
Leading the group was a core Super Douluo elder of the Spirit Pagoda.
He had been given a direct order by Pagoda Master Qiangu Dongfeng: even if they had to turn the entire East Sea upside down, they were to find Young Master Qiangu Zhangting.
However, when the elder hovered in midair and saw the scene below, he froze.
There were no traces of battle, no wreckage from a fleet.
Because the very concept of "wreckage" no longer applied!
What lay before the Spirit Pagoda group was a gigantic whirlpool more than ten kilometers in diameter.
The seafloor's crust had been completely melted by the terrifying heat, turning into a vast sheet of smooth, glassy crystal that glowed with an eerie red light.
The surrounding seawater couldn't even approach the area. The moment it touched the surface, the terrifying residual heat instantly vaporized it.
"Th-this... What level of weapon could have done this?
Could it have been the God-Slaying Fixed Soul Guidance Cannon—the kind that destroyed Shrek City?!"
A Spirit Pagoda Black-Grade Mecha Master's voice trembled. He could barely keep hold of the controls.
"Shut up! Start a thorough search at once! We need to find him alive, or dead..."