What Was Inevitable Had Finally Come

In an incomparably spacious room, all was silent.

Twelve Soul Douluo sat cross-legged in a circle, their expressions devout. Flames burned across their bodies, soul rings rose, and Soul Power poured into the ground beneath them, which was inscribed with demonic patterns.

The demonic patterns resembled flowing blood, eerie and bewitching, outlining a hexagram. At the center of the hexagram, the ground seemed to have repeatedly collapsed inward, forming an abyss that devoured everything.

Outside the circle formed by the Soul Douluo stood several hundred more people, likewise arranged in several rings. Their wrists had all been slit, blood dripping onto the ground, only to be instantly absorbed by the demonic patterns and flow into the abyss.

For ordinary people, this would undoubtedly have been agonizing. Yet apart from fanaticism, there was nothing else on the faces of these hundreds of people.

Even as some were gradually drained into desiccated corpses, and others fell to their knees with pale, weakened faces, they seemed drawn by something. Their hands remained extended, allowing their blood to drip, their eyes filled with anticipation as though they could see liberation in the distance.

A thick stench of blood filled the air. Blood continuously poured into the abyss, and faintly, they began to hear the sound of a heartbeat.

Before long, even the twelve Soul Douluo were beginning to show signs of collapsing. Yet their faces remained devout, even tinged with excitement.

The abyssal maw began to contract, and the heartbeat grew increasingly distinct.

Yet outside the room, everything was so calm that it seemed as though nothing had happened.

Tang Sect.

Battle Soul Hall.

Guo Xiaoxu had already donned his Black Rank Fighter mission uniform. Behind him stood a group of senior operations team members clad in fitted black outfits.

They remained silent, quietly waiting for something.

The outskirts of Shrek City.

The visible defensive construction projects were being rushed forward at full speed.

Within the inner perimeter of those construction sites, space distorted from time to time.

After a while, a woman completely covered in pink mecha emerged. She swept her gaze over the construction site, then looked toward the shadow that had suddenly spread beyond the outskirts of the city.

On the mountain, buses sped over winding roads, tearing wildly along the mountain highway as though their drivers had no regard for their lives.

Yet even with such insane driving, none of the buses showed any sign of overturning. Instead, they reached the other side of the mountain at tremendous speed.

If anyone had been watching, they would have noticed a faint green glow constantly flashing beneath the buses.

Once the buses reached level ground, that faint green light vanished into the darkness without a trace.

By then, night had silently fallen.

Sea God Island.

Golden Crown.

Tang Wulin looked up at the stars filling the sky. The multicolored bracelet on his wrist now felt as though it were dripping blood, burning hot against his skin.

This was a warning sign.

It seems it's about to begin.

Tang Wulin closed his eyes, merging his spiritual consciousness with the Golden Ancient Tree. He sat cross-legged, sensing his consciousness stretch along the roots and branches with the ancient tree's breathing. The Blue Silver Domain unfolded, and in unseen corners, blades of grass glowing with faint blue light broke through the soil, stretching their bodies and swaying gently in the wind.

At the horizon, a point of light suddenly swallowed the entire starry sky. Then clusters of light, trailing dazzling flames, rose and fell.

A blinding white beam shot into the sky with a thunderous roar. In an instant, it crossed the entirety of Shrek City, reached the outskirts, and blasted apart every cluster of light in a single strike.

The terrifying fixed-installation Soul Guidance shells exploded outside the city before they could reach Shrek.

At that moment, golden light flared, connecting heaven and earth. A blue halo rose up and, in the blink of an eye, enveloped the entirety of Shrek City. Blue Silver Emperors hidden in every corner grew frantically, absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy to sustain the Blue Silver Domain.

Under the coordination of the Blue Silver Domain, the Soul Guidance arrays that had long been buried throughout the outskirts all began operating with the Golden Ancient Tree as their core. Specks of light connected into a whole, blocking every bit of the violent shockwaves outside.

Beneath the Golden Ancient Tree, Xie Xie and the other five were already dumbfounded.

The shells destroyed by the Heaven-Piercing Spear had merely been an appetizer. Immediately afterward, several hundred more Soul Guidance shells soared into the air and smashed directly against the protective barrier.

Among those several hundred Soul Guidance shells, not a single one was below Rank 7!

Limited by its scale, the protective barrier's energy level was finite. Under the relentless barrage, ripples spread across its surface, and its light dimmed slightly.

The outskirts.

Listening to the constant reports of declining energy levels through her earpiece, Ling Zichen's gaze turned cold. Light flowed across her mecha, and the core Soul Guidance array glowed. She raised a hand as terrifying energy gathered within it. Staring fixedly at the spreading shadow, she said coldly, "Dogs of the Holy Spirit Cult, I advise you to back off. This attack of mine has at least the power of a Rank 10 fixed-installation Soul Guidance shell. Once I fire it, I have no idea what might happen."

"Heh heh... Threatening me? You're not qualified!" The shadow abruptly contracted, condensing into a person. His limbs merged into the shadows, making him look utterly horrifying.

When had Ling Zichen ever tolerated such provocation? The Soul Guidance array on her mecha shone ever brighter, and the power gathering before the Soul Guidance shell launcher grew increasingly immense. "Boom—"

A blazing beam of light slammed into the shadow.

"Hahaha!" The shadow dissipated beneath the light, only to reappear after it vanished. "Interesting! Interesting! But you... still underestimate the abilities of Soul Masters!"

Ling Zichen's expression was ugly after firing the beam.

Because the data feedback told her that she had hit nothing.

Her Soul Guidance core was cooling down. There was absolutely no way she could fire a second beam in a short time.

The shadows spread across the sky and earth, battering against the protective barrier.

Ling Zichen could not retreat. She knew full well that this man was powerful and possessed bizarre methods. Once he successfully infiltrated the protective barrier, the defensive Soul Guidance arrays would be finished!

A flash of white light streaked past, and the shadow let out a miserable scream.

A sacred chant rang out. A figure emerged from the protective barrier, pairs of wings unfolding behind her. A solid angelic statue, seemingly cast from light itself, appeared behind her, radiating a gentle white glow.

"Ya Li!" the shadow roared. "Instead of hiding on Sea God Island, you came out to seek death, did you?!"

Waves of warm power passed through the protective barrier and washed over Ling Zichen's body. She could even feel old hidden injuries healing beneath that warmth.

Yet the white light that was like sweet rain to her became blazing fire the moment it fell upon the shadow, continuously melting it away.

The spreading shadow retreated beneath the light, quickly withdrawing far from the construction site.

High in the sky, Ya Li struck through the air with her palm. The angel behind her did the same, and in the distant woods on the outskirts, a shriek of unbearable agony echoed out.

The shadow scattered completely.

Ya Li knew he was not dead, but she could not pursue him.

She merely hovered in the air, her wings beating behind her as gentle light merged into the protective barrier. Tiny angels were born within the light, mending the cracks that had already appeared.

Her gentle voice entered Ling Zichen's ears. "Report immediately if anything unusual happens."

Her wings curled around her, and Ya Li transformed into a streak of white light, vanishing in an instant.

Ling Zichen stood at the edge of the protective barrier and rose into the air.

By then, the several hundred fixed-installation Soul Guidance shells had mostly finished exploding. Aside from looking somewhat battered and dim, the protective barrier had not shattered.

But Ling Zichen did not relax because of that.

Because the main course was about to arrive.