Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Explosions rang out one after another, and terrifying shockwaves spread from their centers.
But before they could reach the group, layers of Soul Tool barriers spread out from within the formation, firmly blocking every shockwave.
A moment later, the smoke and dust dispersed.
When Ye Luochen saw the situation clearly, he could not help raising an eyebrow.
At the front of the group, dozens of soul rings floated in the air. Most were purple, and there were even nearly ten black soul rings.
Nearly ten ten-thousand-year soul beasts, along with dozens of thousand-year soul beasts!
An attack on such a scale by soul beasts—especially such troublesome flying soul beasts—would have been more than enough to slaughter a small town. Even some medium-sized or large towns would have faced considerable trouble.
Yet before the academy's group, they had not even endured a single round of attacks before being completely wiped out?!
They had not caused the slightest disturbance!
"How about that? I told you there was nothing to worry about. I wasn't lying, was I?"
Meng Hongchen's voice rang out again beside him.
"This is the greatest trait of Soul Engineers. In individual combat, they might not seem all that powerful.
"But when a group of Soul Engineers gathers together and reaches a certain scale, their combat power will absolutely far surpass a group of Soul Masters with the same numbers and cultivation levels."
Listening to Meng Hongchen, Ye Luochen nodded.
That was indeed true.
Not to mention that the soul beasts before them had failed to withstand the first round of firepower coverage.
Even if they had blocked it, the second and third waves of firepower would likely have poured down upon them again in an instant.
And that was what made battle formations so terrifying.
There would always be someone whose attacks were charged and ready. There would never be a gap in their firepower.
Moreover, there would always be people prepared to raise Soul Tool barriers, leaving their enemies without even the slightest chance for a desperate counterattack before death.
"Technology..."
"This is the terrifying power of technology..."
Ye Luochen sighed.
And these were only Soul Tools that could be used by specific groups of people.
But if one day, Soul Tools could enter every household as Xuan Ziwen had once described to him, no longer presenting any barrier to use—
Then everyone could become a soldier.
Then, facing the Sun Moon Empire's terrifying Soul Engineer legions, how could the Original Three Kingdoms possibly resist?
Ye Luochen could see no opportunity.
He had stayed in Mingde Hall for so long and seen too many things—things the Original Three Kingdoms could never catch up to in a short time.
And the Soul Master advantage that the Original Three Kingdoms had always been so proud of seemed to be gradually losing its lead to the Sun Moon Empire.
"Ah..."
Ye Luochen let out a soft sigh.
"I still need to become stronger..."
The great tide of the era surged onward, seemingly impossible to stop.
If one wanted to preserve oneself within that tide, the only path was to work harder—to make one's individual strength even greater.
After dealing with this group of soul beasts, people immediately flew forward and searched through the beasts' severed remains for any possible spoils.
Unfortunately, despite the sheer number of soul beasts, not even a single soul bone had dropped. Other than soul rings, there was nothing of value.
And this group clearly did not possess, like the Rank 9 Soul Engineer who had led them previously, a Soul Tool capable of storing soul rings.
Thus, even these numerous soul rings—the only valuable things left—could only go to waste.
The group set out again and continued toward its destination.
Afterward, perhaps because they had moved farther away from the soul beast forest, they did not encounter any more soul beast attacks.
As for bandits, they saw none at all.
No one would be foolish enough to attack a group from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy within the Sun Moon Empire's territory.
After traveling safely for several days, the group finally came to a stop.
Ahead of them stood a vast mountain range, stretching endlessly and soaring into the clouds.
With the cultivation of everyone present, it was impossible for them to cross this mountain range by flying over it.
Leaving aside whether their flying Soul Tools could rise to such heights—
Even if they could, the terrifying cold and thin air were not something they could endure.
That left only passing through it from the ground.
"Everyone, put away all Soul Tools and prepare to pass through the checkpoint."
At the very front, the lead teacher of this group shouted.
"The Mingdou Mountain Range is where our Sun Moon Empire borders the Star Luo Empire. Once we pass this checkpoint, we'll be in Star Luo territory. Stay alert. Do not say a single word you shouldn't say, and do not do anything you shouldn't do!"
Hearing this, everyone complied, carefully putting away every Soul Tool they carried and changing back into lighter clothing.
As contestants in this tournament, they all understood the situation between the empires to some extent.
Though the war had long since ended on the surface—
In reality, friction between the major nations had never ceased. Especially here in the Mingdou Mountain Range, the border between the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire, conflicts erupted almost every other day.
In such a sensitive area, they had to be extremely careful with both their words and actions.
Once they had finished tidying themselves up, the group marched grandly toward the checkpoint.
This side of the checkpoint still belonged to the Sun Moon Empire, so the group passed through smoothly without encountering any obstruction.
But the moment they crossed the checkpoint, the situation changed at once.
Despite having complete identification and documentation, the Star Luo Empire's soldiers still forcefully demanded to inspect everyone's luggage and belongings, claiming it was to prevent dangerous weapons from entering Star Luo territory.
The lead teacher was grinding his teeth in anger, yet there was nothing he could do.
Allowing an inspection was out of the question. Otherwise, the other side would definitely find excuses to confiscate a large number of Soul Tools. Affecting the group's strength would be secondary; if the technology leaked, the consequences would be far more serious.
Yet in such a sensitive region, the other side had invoked this all-purpose excuse. He truly had no way to resist.
Otherwise, if the military seized upon it as a pretext and detained them here, delaying their journey to the tournament, things would become troublesome.
After repeated negotiations failed, the lead teacher could only choose to spend money to avert disaster.
Only after paying out more than ten thousand Gold Soul Coins did the group finally pass through the checkpoint without incident and successfully enter Star Luo Empire territory.
Fortunately, once they entered the country, things returned to normal. The group encountered no further obstruction, and their journey was completely unimpeded.
Border friction was one thing, but within their own territory, they still had to keep up appearances.
Seeing that everything had returned to normal and they no longer needed to watch every word and action, Meng Hongchen seemed to remember something and asked Ye Luochen:
"I remember that you seem to be from the Star Luo Empire?"
"Yes." Ye Luochen nodded.
"Then are there any fun places in the Star Luo Empire? The competition won't begin for another few days. If we stay in the hotel the whole time, won't we be bored to death?" Meng Hongchen asked again.
Before you continue