Departure, Ambush

Eastsea City, Soul Guidance Train Station

At last, the day had come for Li Ziming to leave for Heaven Dou City. Mu Chen brought Mu Xi to the Soul Guidance Train Station to see Li Ziming off on the train bound for Heaven Dou City.

"Senior Brother, once you get to Heaven Dou City, you have to train hard. Don't let anyone surpass you," Mu Xi said, looking at the young man before her with longing.

"Alright, alright. I'll definitely train hard and won't disappoint you, Junior Sister."

"Master, this is far enough. I'll study forging techniques properly with Martial Uncle. The next time we meet, I'll definitely give you a huge surprise." The golden-haired young man, whose aura was powerful and blazing like the sun, spoke to the father and daughter before him.

"Ziming, I know your talent. Becoming an Eight-Star Saint Craftsman won't stop you,

but that isn't what worries me. This trip to Heaven Dou City may not be peaceful. You must be careful."

After saying that, Mu Chen turned to the green-haired old man beside Li Ziming and clasped his fists respectfully. "Elder Ye, I'm sorry for the trouble of entrusting this useless disciple's safety to you."

This old man was a high-ranking member of the Forging Masters Association headquarters, sent to escort Li Ziming to Heaven Dou City. He came from one of the Forging Masters Association's guardian families.

According to Mu Chen, he was one of the Association's rare Super Douluos, immensely powerful and worthy of trust.

"Ah, there's no need for that. It is this old man's duty. To witness the Association produce so many outstanding young people in succession is truly fortunate. How could it be any trouble?"

Elder Ye shook his head, checked the time, and said to Li Ziming, "Alright, the train is leaving. Let's go."

"Master, Junior Sister, I'm leaving. I'll be back during the New Year." With that, Li Ziming hurried after Elder Ye.

"Goodbye, Senior Brother!" Mu Xi waved.

"Have a safe journey!"

Watching the golden-haired youth's retreating figure, Mu Chen gradually felt as though he had released a blazing sun from a frog's dried-up well back into the boundless starry sky.

"You should go to the stage that truly belongs to you."

Mu Chen murmured softly.

"Dad, what did you say?" Mu Xi asked curiously.

"Nothing."

At that moment, Li Ziming was aboard the Soul Guidance Train from Eastsea City to Heaven Dou City. He sat beside the window as the train sped along, while staff occasionally pushed carts through the carriage and asked whether passengers needed meals.

"Watching the scenery like this has its own charm." Li Ziming looked at the view outside, blurred by the Soul Guidance Train's high speed.

But even the finest scenery became dull after a while, let alone the blurry landscape outside. Li Ziming soon closed his eyes to rest.

The journey to Heaven Dou City was not short. With Elder Ye beside him, Li Ziming began studying the forging notes Mu Chen had given him aboard the train.

Suddenly, a hair-raising sensation jolted him awake. Li Ziming emerged from his study state and scanned his surroundings.

There were many passengers in the carriage, and quite a few children were curiously looking out the windows. Nothing seemed unusual.

Yet the unease in Li Ziming's heart did not lessen in the slightest. In fact, goosebumps rose all over his skin. His intuition was warning him: danger was coming, and it was no small threat.

Following Elder Ye's gaze, Li Ziming looked over. Could the threat be coming from outside the train?

Li Ziming looked out the window. The scenery remained blurred, but since the Soul Guidance Train had already left the city, the surroundings had lost some of the bustle of a major city and gained more of the pastoral scenery of the countryside.

Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, except for several dazzling lights in the distance.

Wait, lights? Li Ziming focused his eyes. Those were not lights at all—they were several high-grade fixed Soul Guidance Cannons.

Trailing blinding sparks, they shot straight toward the carriage. If they struck directly, he and Elder Ye would be fine, but few of the other passengers in the carriage might survive.

Suddenly, a figure flashed into view. Green hair flew wildly as nine Soul Rings—four purple, four black, and one red—circled him. With a casual swing of his sword, the incoming shells exploded in midair. Only after the intense light faded did Li Ziming see clearly that Elder Ye had stopped them.

Li Ziming turned around and realized that Elder Ye had somehow already left his seat.

Suddenly, Elder Ye's gaze sharpened. Li Ziming clearly noticed the change and turned his eyes toward somewhere farther beyond the window.

Outside the train window, black dots could be seen moving rapidly through the distant sky.

"Mecha?"

With a slight sweep of his spiritual power, Li Ziming discovered that they were indeed individual Mechas. Their designs were clearly different from those used by the military.

The Soul Guidance Mechas of Douluo Continent were basically humanoid, but the Mechas now before them carried a strange aura, damp, cold, and chilling, making people deeply uncomfortable.

"Enemies?"

Li Ziming's spiritual power was only one step away from the Spirit Abyss Realm, allowing him to perceive far more. For example, every one of those Mechas radiated intense malice, and the Soul Guidance Shells mounted on them were already poised to fire.

Yet Li Ziming's expression remained calm, as though he were not worried in the slightest.

The next moment, points of light lit up across the Mechas as the Soul Guidance Shells fired.

"Humph!"

But at that moment, a cold snort rang out. A streak of azure sword light rapidly spread outward, and the incoming Soul Guidance Shells abruptly came to a stop while still some distance from the train.

The light on the shells began to dim, and in the end, they went dark like duds.

At the same time, they finally saw where the attackers were. They were an assassination squad composed of Mechas.

There were as many as thirty attacking Mechas. The three leading Mechas were black!

However, the leading Black-Level Mecha differed from ordinary black Mechas. A pair of bone wings hung from its back. Once its wings spread, it moved with incredible speed.

Almost at the same time the Soul Guidance Shells attacked, it had already appeared above the Soul Guidance Train.

But when it saw golden light emanating from the Soul Guidance Train and the Soul Guidance Shells going dead like misfires,

the black Mecha froze. It had already prepared to attack, but after seeing the red Soul Ring circling the old man, light burst from the bone wings on its back. With a powerful beat, it tried to rapidly flee from the Soul Guidance Train.

"Though I already knew this journey would not be peaceful, sending only three Black-Level Mechas to deal with this old man is truly looking down on me."

Elder Ye's icy voice came from the Soul Guidance Train. He had anticipated that their whereabouts might be exposed and that they could face an attack, but he had not expected the enemy to move so quickly.

They had only just left the Skysea Alliance's territory when they were attacked. And for the enemy to gather so many Mechas in the Federation's heartland, they must have been preparing for quite some time.

To strike with such precision, these attackers had clearly plotted this for a long time.

Unfortunately, their intelligence seemed somewhat lacking. They had dared send these people to their deaths without even learning that a Super Douluo was accompanying them.

"Three Black-Level Mechas. For poor Evil Soul Masters like you to assemble such a lineup, it must have taken quite a while."

Golden light emerged from Elder Ye's body as his Four-Word Battle Armor, Azure Wind God, appeared. This was not the city, so he no longer needed to worry about harming innocents.

"Perfect. Let this old man test this newly upgraded Four-Word Battle Armor!"

He swung the azure blade in his hand. The fifth black Soul Ring shone brilliantly, and sword edges surged around him like a wild gale and pouring rain, shooting toward the enemies ahead.

"Fifth Soul Skill—Azure Wind Turns to Rain!"

In an instant, sword energy burst in every direction, raging wildly. The Soul Guidance Shields raised by the enemy Mechas were pierced as easily as paper, exposing the operators inside.

When the gale subsided, severed limbs and wreckage covered the ground. Only the leader remained alive, having survived with a ninth-grade Soul Guidance defensive shield, though he had only one breath left.

"Forging Masters Association... Wind God Sword... Ye... Qing... Ming!"

"Oh? You still have a breath left? But that is all."

As the words fell, a streak of sword light flashed. The wind and rain settled, revealing a green-haired old man standing amid a pile of Mecha wreckage.