Two years later, within the Sun Moon Empire.
The Rust Wasteland stretched for a hundred li in every direction, a barren expanse of yellow sand and rocky ground where not a blade of grass grew.
Although the area was rich in metal deposits, it was home to numerous Metal, Earth, and Soil-type Soul Beasts.
So far, the Sun Moon Empire had only sent powerful experts to establish and guard mining sites for metals rare enough to be worth the effort.
For that reason, this place was less a mining region than a hunting ground.
Fifty meters underground, a tunnel ran through the earth. Large Soul Beasts had dug it for all sorts of reasons, including foraging.
A three-person team from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy was making its way deeper into the tunnel, accompanied by their teacher, Xuan Ziwen.
Xuan Ziwen reached out and touched the claw marks on the stone wall, then cautioned the three students behind him. "The three of you, pay attention. We've entered the Red Iron Earth Dragon's territory. From now on, be extremely careful. Don't make a move without my permission."
"Yes, sir."
Wang Shaojie, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke all straightened up and answered Xuan Ziwen's warning solemnly.
Xuan Ziwen said nothing, only nodded in approval before leading the three of them farther into the tunnel.
They hadn't come to hunt Soul Beasts, but to investigate a type of metal ore that had suddenly appeared in the area.
This mission hadn't been meant for them. Though Xuan Ziwen was an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo, he wasn't the sort who excelled at combat.
But no one at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy was available to take the assignment, and Xuan Ziwen knew this type of metal fairly well, so the task had fallen to him.
They had already found the ore while exploring.
What puzzled Xuan Ziwen was how a type of ore that should have been found in underground magma zones had recently appeared in such large quantities on the surface.
Based on what they'd uncovered so far, a Soul Beast had most likely brought it up.
But there were no records of any such Soul Beast in the Sun Moon Empire. What kind of Soul Beast could bring ore up from underground?
Xuan Ziwen shook his head. These weren't questions he needed to worry about.
He wasn't a scholar who studied Soul Beasts. He only needed to investigate the ore deposits that might be here.
"T-Teacher..." Ju Zi called to Xuan Ziwen, her voice trembling.
Her call brought Xuan Ziwen out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw a pair of vertical pupils as large as lanterns in front of him.
Once he got a clear look, he saw a five-meter-tall Red Iron Sub-Dragon standing before him.
"This is bad." Xuan Ziwen immediately took a shield and a Soul Cannon out of his Storage Soul Tool.
He'd only just warned his students, yet he'd wandered into the Red Iron Earth Dragon's territory himself because he'd been too deep in thought.
Humans weren't on the Red Iron Earth Dragon's menu, but these Soul Beasts had an extremely strong sense of territory!
Roar!
Dragon Might spread with the Red Iron Earth Dragon's roar, turning the three students' faces pale.
They knew how to use Soul Tools, but most of their experience was against human opponents.
And as pampered darlings of the Sun Moon Empire, their overall strength was far inferior to that of ordinary human Soul Masters.
The Red Iron Earth Dragon's roar had left Xuan Ziwen in a sorry state too. He'd nearly lost his footing and fallen.
The Red Iron Earth Dragon looked to be around twenty thousand years old. Though Xuan Ziwen wasn't a strong fighter, he could still handle one on his own.
After his initial stumble, Xuan Ziwen immediately organized a counterattack.
Fixed Soul Cannon Shells and Soul Guidance Rays burst against the Red Iron Earth Dragon as if they cost nothing, keeping the beast—which hadn't managed to launch an attack right away—on the defensive.
"Head back! I'll catch up!" Xuan Ziwen kept blasting the Earth Dragon without even turning around.
Red Iron Earth Dragons were a real nuisance. Xuan Ziwen's goal was to drive it away, not kill it. The cost of killing one was simply too high.
Even driving it off meant suppressing the beast for a while. Otherwise, it wouldn't feel enough pain to retreat.
"Yes, sir." Ju Zi answered Xuan Ziwen, and the three of them turned and ran back the way they'd come.
"Good thing there's only one Red Iron Earth Dragon here. If another one shows up, we're done for," Wang Shaojie said as he ran, still shaken.
"Quit jinxing us! Save your celebration for when we're out of here. I don't want to stay behind and make the mushrooms underground yield a thousand eight hundred jin per mu!" Ke Ke teased Wang Shaojie.
Hearing Ke Ke, Wang Shaojie shot her an annoyed look. "Think you can outrun me?"
As the cannonfire behind them grew more distant, all three were relieved to be escaping danger.
But when they reached a bend, their faces instantly went deathly pale.
Another Red Iron Earth Dragon, also around twenty thousand years old, stood before them. It, too, seemed surprised to see the three intruders.
Despair welled up in their hearts. It was over.
Ju Zi gritted her teeth in anger and pulled a Soul Cannon from her Storage Soul Tool, aiming it at the Earth Dragon.
"Let's fight it! If we fight, we still have a chance to survive. If we do nothing, we're dead for sure!"
At that moment, Ju Zi already had some of the heroic bearing of the future empress and war goddess. She pulled the trigger on her Soul Tool, taking aim at the Red Iron Earth Dragon, whose strength far surpassed her own.
Boom!
A Fixed Soul Cannon Shell exploded against the Earth Dragon's face, covered in red iron scales. Flames instantly engulfed its faceplate.
Watching this, the three of them couldn't help feeling a surge of joy.
Could it have worked?
But when the smoke cleared, there wasn't even a scratch on the Red Iron Earth Dragon's face.
It scratched its face in confusion, then swiped at the three of them with one claw.
"Ah!"
The dragon claw sent all three of them flying. Fortunately, the Invincible Shield protected them, and none suffered serious injuries.
"Damn it..." Ju Zi struggled to sit up.
"The gap's still too big. Fixed Soul Cannon Shells below Rank Five don't do a thing!"
They were only students. They weren't just short on supplies—the blueprints for Soul Cannon Shells weren't even available to them.
The highest-grade Fixed Soul Cannon Shells they had were basic Rank Three models, completely incapable of harming the Red Iron Earth Dragon.
Roar!
As if this were a common failing among all dragons, the Red Iron Earth Dragon didn't finish the three of them off right away. Instead, it let out a threatening roar.
Wang Shaojie and Ke Ke went to Ju Zi's side and helped her up.
Their eyes were different now. Ju Zi's heroic display had greatly stoked their fighting spirit.
Their predicament was clear: they couldn't survive without fighting. They had to bring out everything they had to deal with this sudden crisis.
They all pulled Soul Cannons from their Storage Soul Tools, forming a small arsenal at their feet.
Their gazes were resolute as they braced themselves for battle.
One minute later.
"Cough—" Wang Shaojie spat blood after being slammed against the wall.
The three of them lay sprawled in different places, unable even to stand.
They'd used up all their Invincible Shields, and none of their attacks had managed to hurt the Red Iron Earth Dragon in the slightest.
The gap was so vast it was utterly despairing. Their desperate resistance was nothing but a joke in front of the Red Iron Earth Dragon.