Better Call for Backup

Three days passed quietly, and Heaven Dou City remained peaceful.

People on the streets went about their lives as usual. The morning market was just as lively, Soul Tool shops opened as usual, and a construction crew had already begun clearing the rubble at the Tang Sect ruins. The sound of hammers striking broken stones rang out from morning until night.

Everything was normal—so normal that there was nothing to criticize.

Yet Yin Hongye could see what others could not.

The entire city had grown darker.

It was an indescribable feeling. Even Qian Renxue had not noticed the slightest thing amiss.

These past few days, only blacksmiths outside the Heavenly Screen had been staring intently at it, watching every forging detail they could see.

Of course, Yin Hongye was a blacksmith himself and knew how to forge. But when it came to Soul Forging and alloys, Lou Gao could only understand the alloys. As for Spirit Forging and Soul Forging, it felt like witnessing a miracle. He clearly felt that he was just a hair away from grasping it, yet something was always missing.

At that moment, strands of black silk quietly seeped into Heaven Dou City from its corners. They slipped into cracks between streets and alleys, beneath the iron grates of sewers, and into the most crowded commercial districts. Then they stopped and began to lie dormant.

Bugs.

Many bugs from the Holy Spirit Cult had entered the city.

He did not need much effort to guess where they had come from. Other than those scum hiding in the shadows, no one could leave behind such a disgusting sensation within his senses.

With so many bugs flooding into Heaven Dou City at once, there could only be one target—Zhen Hua.

A Divine Craftsman was an important strategic asset of the Federation.

Yin Hongye stood before the floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor of the Blacksmith Association, looking down at the city below. He pulled the curtains aside through a narrow slit, then let them fall again. He did not think himself invincible.

He knew his own abilities very well. Put bluntly, they were just something disgusting that could annoy people, particularly effective against Evil Soul Masters. There was nothing especially remarkable about them.

If Ghost Emperor showed up, wouldn't he have to die once?

Reviving was so slow. It took as long as an advertisement.

Better use the method he was best at—calling for backup.

He first dialed the encrypted channel of the War God Hall. It rang three times before the other end answered.

"Sky-Crossing Douluo." Leaning against the window frame, Yin Hongye got straight to the point. "I have a feeling something is wrong in Heaven Dou City."

Guan Yue paused for a beat on the other end.

If he remembered correctly, Yin Hongye's Martial Soul was even more sensitive to Evil Soul Masters than an angel's. If he said there was something, then there was definitely something going on.

If he was calling him, it was probably a major matter.

"I can't explain it for now. Stay alert on your end. Better safe than sorry." Yin Hongye hung up after saying that.

He scrolled through his contacts until he reached a certain note. His finger paused for a moment. Two words were displayed on the screen: Deadbeat Debtor.

He still dialed it.

"Passionate Douluo." His form of address was very formal, but his tone was anything but. He sounded as though he were the one owed money.

"Heaven Dou City hasn't been right these past few days. You'd better come over."

"You've still got the nerve to call me!" Passionate Douluo gritted out.

"If I die, wouldn't that mean the debt dies with me? You don't want me to be unable to pay you back, do you?" Yin Hongye said even more bluntly. After all, only he knew that he could revive.

The other side fell silent for a breath, likely judging the importance of the matter.

Before long, Zang Xin's voice came through the communicator. "What did you blow up this time?"

"Nothing this time. I think it's related to the Divine Craftsman."

Yin Hongye did not elaborate. Saying too much would only make him sound like a crow bringing bad news wherever he went. Unlucky.

After the communication ended, Zang Xin sat there for a while, holding the communication Soul Tool.

Outside the window was the training ground of Tang Sect headquarters. Several young disciples were practicing hidden weapon techniques, and dart tips struck the bullseyes with crisp clinks.

He watched those young people, but all he could think about was Yin Hongye's earlier statement—"Heaven Dou City hasn't been right these past few days."

He knew Yin Hongye's strength well. Wearing Four-Word Battle Armor, Yin Hongye could even fight Dark Blood Demon, one of the Dark Four Heavenly Kings. If he only needed to protect the Divine Craftsman while escaping, then unless the two Emperors descended, Yin Hongye's strength would absolutely be enough to keep the Divine Craftsman safe.

The Divine Craftsman had only recently emerged. There were still many people in the Federation whose Four-Word Battle Armor had yet to be completed.

For instance, Leng Yaozhu of the Spirit Pagoda.

Tang Sect had himself.

Shrek Academy had Holy Spirit Douluo.

The military had plenty of others as well.

Yin Hongye, on the other hand, had taken up a huge number of slots, relying on his exceptional forging talent to do whatever he pleased.

If this information had come from anyone else, Zang Xin would at most have treated it as a reference. But coming from Yin Hongye, it was different. That man had a talent for causing trouble. He was probably about to stir up something huge.

Still, the Holy Spirit Cult should not be able to gain anything from Yin Hongye. Everyone he killed had their souls scattered and destroyed, without exception.

Zang Xin let out a long sigh.

He stood up, took his coat from the hanger, and called toward the door, "Prepare the car. We're going to Heaven Dou City."

His assistant jogged over. Before he could ask about the itinerary, Zang Xin had already put on his coat and zipped it to the collar. His movements were neither hurried nor slow, yet he did not pause at any step. He reached the door, then turned back and took two additional storage Soul Tools from a drawer, stuffing them into his inner pocket.

"Should we notify the Tang Sect branch in Heaven Dou City to receive us?" the assistant asked.

"They've only just started rebuilding there. Tell them to halt construction." At the thought of the Heaven Dou Tang Sect incident, Passionate Douluo felt anger rise in his chest.

Yin Hongye really had a knack for causing trouble...

He suddenly wanted to drag out and whip the corpse of a certain tower master who had once been one of the Spirit Pagoda's Eighteen Heavenly Pillars.

If Yin Hongye had not killed his way out himself, he would never have known that the man surnamed Li had a son.

As he thought about it, he suddenly gave a cold laugh.

"Vice Hall Master, what's wrong?" the young assistant could not help asking.

"Nothing. I just thought of someone who killed his wife, remarried, and still never became a Spirit Envoy. It made me laugh," Passionate Douluo said.

Night in Heaven Dou City deepened by another layer.

Not in the sense of time, but in a visibly thick quality, as though someone had draped a layer of gray gauze over the city lights.

The streetlamps remained lit, but their light could not pierce certain corners. The darkness in those corners was not merely devoid of light—it rejected light.

Three figures stood within such a patch of darkness.

The three seemed to seep out from the shadows, appearing out of thin air atop an abandoned warehouse.

"Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua... Why did the Federation have to produce a Divine Craftsman like him?"

Ghost Emperor stood at the front and said directly, "The Federation's Four-Word Battle Armor all depends on him alone."

"Kill him, and it'll be like cutting off the Federation's throat." Dark Blood Demon stood behind and to Ghost Emperor's right, looking even older than Ghost Emperor.

Dark Hummingbird stood behind and to Ghost Emperor's left. Compared with the other two, he looked far younger.

Ghost Emperor withdrew his gaze and gathered his sleeves. "This mission must succeed. Otherwise, the Federation's strength will restrain our actions to a certain extent."

His body drifted down from the rooftop's edge. His black robe spread through the air like a fragment of night torn away by the wind, silently merging into the dark alley below.

Dark Blood Demon and Dark Hummingbird followed close behind. The three shadows crossed the streets and headed toward the Blacksmith Association of Heaven Dou City.