Firepower Barrage, the Terror of Soul Masters!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Explosions rang out in succession, and the terrifying shockwaves spread outward from the center of the blast.

But before they could even touch the team, layers of soul-guiding shields expanded from within the ranks, firmly blocking all the shockwaves.

A moment later, the smoke and dust dissipated.

When he saw the situation clearly, Ye Luochen couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Floating at the front of the team were dozens of soul rings, the vast majority of which were purple, with nearly ten black soul rings among them.

Nearly ten ten-thousand-year soul beasts, along with dozens of thousand-year soul beasts!

A soul beast attack of this scale—especially one involving highly troublesome flying soul beasts—would likely be more than enough to slaughter an entire small town, and even medium-to-large towns would face significant trouble.

Yet, in front of the academy team, they hadn't even lasted a single round of attacks before being completely annihilated?!

They hadn't been able to stir up even the slightest bit of trouble!

"How about that? I told you not to worry, I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Beside him, Meng Hongchen's voice rang out once again.

"This is the greatest characteristic of soul engineers. If fighting individually, they might not seem all that powerful."

"But if a group of soul engineers gathers together to form a certain scale, their combat power will absolutely far exceed that of a group of soul masters of the same number and level."

Listening to Meng Hongchen's words, Ye Luochen nodded.

It was indeed so.

Not to mention that the soul beasts before them hadn't been able to withstand the first round of concentrated fire.

Even if they had managed to block it, it was likely that in just an instant, a second and third round of firepower would have poured down upon them.

And this was the most terrifying aspect of combat clusters.

There was always someone whose attack was in a charging state, ensuring there would never be a gap in firepower.

Furthermore, there were people constantly prepared to raise soul-guiding shields, leaving the opponent without even a sliver of a chance for a desperate final counterattack.

"Technology..."

"This is the terrifying nature of technology..."

Ye Luochen sighed with emotion.

And this was only using soul devices that could be utilized by a specific group of people.

If one day, soul devices could enter every household as Xuan Ziwen had once described to him, no longer having barriers to their use.

At that time, everyone could be a soldier.

At that time, facing the Sun Moon Empire's terrifying soul-guiding legions, how would the original three kingdoms resist?

Ye Luochen could not see a chance.

He had stayed in Mingde Hall for so long and had seen too many things—things that the original three kingdoms could not possibly catch up with in a short period of time.

And the advantage of soul masters, which the original three kingdoms had always been proud of, seemed to be having its gap narrowed bit by bit by the Sun Moon Empire.

"Sigh..."

Ye Luochen let out a soft sigh.

"I still have to become stronger..."

The torrent of the era was vast and mighty, seemingly unstoppable.

And if one wanted to preserve oneself in this torrent, the only way was to work harder, to strive to make one's individual strength even more powerful.

After dealing with this group of soul beasts, people immediately flew forward to search through the remains of the soul beasts for any potential spoils of war.

It was a pity that among so many soul beasts, not even a single piece of soul bone had dropped; aside from the soul rings, there was nothing of any value.

And this team, quite obviously, did not possess a soul device capable of storing soul rings, unlike the ninth-level soul engineer who had led the team previously.

Therefore, even these numerous soul rings, the only things of value, could only be wasted in vain.

The team set off again, continuing to advance toward their destination.

Afterward, perhaps because they were far away from the soul beast forest, the team did not encounter any more soul beast attacks.

As for bandits or the like, they were not seen at all.

No one would be stupid enough to attack a Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy team within the borders of the Sun Moon Empire.

After traveling safely for several days, the team finally came to a stop.

Before them stood a continuous, towering mountain range that reached into the clouds.

With the cultivation levels of everyone present, it was impossible to cross this mountain range by flying over it.

Not to mention whether their flight soul tools could even reach such an altitude.

Even if they could, the terrifying low temperatures and thin air were absolutely not something they could withstand.

That meant they could only pass through on the ground.

"Everyone, stow away all your soul tools and prepare to pass through the checkpoint."

At the very front, the lead teacher for this team shouted.

"The Mingdou Mountain Range is the border between our Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire. Once we pass this checkpoint, we will be on Star Luo Empire territory. Keep your wits about you; do not say a single word you shouldn't, and do not do a single thing you shouldn't!"

Hearing this, everyone followed suit, carefully stowing away all the soul tools on their persons and changing back into light clothing.

As members participating in this tournament, everyone had at least some understanding of the situation between the empires.

Although on the surface, the war had long since ended.

In reality, the friction between the major nations had never ceased, especially here at the Mingdou Mountain Range. As the border between the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire, conflicts erupted almost every few days.

In such a sensitive zone, one had to be extremely cautious in both speech and conduct.

After tidying up, the group marched imposingly toward the checkpoint.

This side of the checkpoint still belonged to the Sun Moon Empire, so the group passed through smoothly without any obstacles.

But the moment they crossed the checkpoint, the situation changed immediately.

Despite having complete documentation and paperwork, the Star Luo Empire soldiers still stubbornly demanded to inspect everyone's luggage and belongings, claiming it was to prevent dangerous weapons from entering Star Luo Empire territory.

The lead teacher was so angry he gritted his teeth, but he had no way around it.

An inspection was out of the question; otherwise, the other side would surely find an excuse to confiscate a large number of soul tools. If that happened, affecting the team's strength was secondary, but if the technology were leaked as a result, the consequences would be massive.

Yet, in such a sensitive area, the other side was using this catch-all excuse, and he truly had no choice, nor could he resist.

Otherwise, if the military used it as a pretext to detain them here and delay their tournament schedule, it would be a disaster.

After multiple failed negotiations, the lead teacher had no choice but to pay to resolve the trouble.

After greasing their palms with a full ten thousand gold soul coins, the group finally passed through the checkpoint without further incident and successfully entered the territory of the Star Luo Empire.

Fortunately, once they were inside the territory, the situation returned to normal, and the team faced no further obstacles, traveling smoothly the rest of the way.

After all, border friction was one thing, but within their own borders, they still had to maintain appearances.

Seeing that everything had returned to normal and there was no longer a need to be overly cautious, Meng Hongchen seemed to recall something and asked Ye Luochen:

"I remember, you're from the Star Luo Empire, right?"

"Yes." Ye Luochen nodded.

"Then are there any fun places in the Star Luo Empire? The tournament doesn't start for a few more days; if we just stay in the hotel, wouldn't we be bored to death?" Meng Hongchen asked again.