Holy Ghost Cult vs. Mingde Hall

Myriad Souls Douluo sensed the location of the dead souls and charged ahead, with Zhongli Wu and the others following close behind.

Before long, the four of them arrived outside Ye Fan's room under Myriad Souls Douluo's guidance.

Myriad Souls Douluo intended to sneak into Ye Fan's room, knock him unconscious, and take him away.

But the moment he approached Ye Fan's room,

the barrier alarm in Ye Fan's room began to blare wildly.

"Alarm! Alarm!"

Soon afterward, alarms rang throughout all of Mingde Hall.

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were both jolted awake from their cultivation by the alarms. "Someone has invaded Mingde Hall!"

The two quickly rose and left their rooms to join Jing Hongchen.

Jing Hongchen had also been roused from cultivation at once. "How bold. Let me see who dares to trespass into my Mingde Hall."

He pushed open his door and flew into the air, sensing that something had gone wrong at Ye Fan's residence.

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen immediately arrived at Jing Hongchen's side.

"Not good. Something has happened to Xiao Fan."

Jing Hongchen cried out and was about to fly to Ye Fan's aid.

Hearing that, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen exchanged a glance. Both caught the crucial detail in Jing Hongchen's words, and Meng Hongchen hurriedly flew after him to ask, "Grandfather, you said Xiao Fan has returned?"

Seeing Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen following him, Jing Hongchen feared that they would encounter danger and immediately rebuked them. "Meng Meng, Xiao Xiao, return to your rooms and stay there. Come out only after the crisis has been resolved."

"No—!" Meng Hongchen had barely begun to protest when Xiao Hongchen covered her mouth and dragged her back to the ground.

"Brother, why did you stop me? Grandfather said Xiao Fan was in danger."

Meng Hongchen's eyes were red as she questioned Xiao Hongchen.

Xiao Hongchen was not angered by this. "You really are something. You have the same rotten temper as Grandfather and never use your brain before acting."

"If you had directly contradicted Grandfather just now, he would definitely have had the soul engineers of the Royal Soul Engineer Corps carry us back to our bedrooms."

"But things are different now~~"

"Brother, you mean we can secretly sneak into where Xiao Fan is staying now."

"Mhm~"

Over on Ye Fan's side, he had already been startled awake from cultivation.

The instant the room's alarm sounded, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm warned him, "Ye Fan, enemies are attacking."

"Judging by their auras, they are that group from the Holy Ghost Cult."

"The Holy Ghost Cult!"

Ye Fan froze at those words.

He had not expected the Holy Ghost Cult to find him after only a month.

Where did things go wrong?

In the instant Ye Fan was thinking.

Outside, Zhongli Wu's face had already darkened like the bottom of a burnt pot.

"This Myriad Souls Douluo is useless at everything except ruining things."

A perfectly good sneak attack had been exposed by him outright.

Watching the Sun Moon Empire's Royal Soul Engineer Corps continuously rise into the air around them,

Zhongli Wu felt a headache coming on.

But Zhongli Wu quickly made a decisive judgment and gave Minglei an order.

"Minglei, notify Feng Ling and have her bring people to support us."

Faced with hundreds of gleaming standard-issue soul cannons,

as well as the uniform linked defensive barriers on the other side,

Zhongli Wu recognized the formation before them. "The Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Corps!"

Zhongli Wu's expression was grave. He knew that with just the four of them, they held no advantage against the well-equipped and well-trained Royal Soul Engineer Corps. Though the four of them could use the classic piss-and-run technique, that would mean the plan to capture Ye Fan had completely failed.

At this moment, Jing Hongchen had already led the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Corps guarding Mingde Hall to surround Zhongli Wu and the others.

"Who are you? Why have you trespassed into the important grounds of my Mingde Hall?"

As he spoke, Jing Hongchen directed the Soul Engineer Corps to raise their cannon muzzles and activate a linked defensive barrier, encircling Zhongli Wu's group of four.

Seeing this, Zhongli Wu no longer bothered to conceal himself. He flew directly into the air to face Jing Hongchen. "Hallmaster Jing, long time no see."

"Zhongli Wu, it's you. Why aren't you staying obediently in your Holy Ghost Cult? Why have you come to my Mingde Hall to cause trouble?"

Jing Hongchen recognized him, and his heart jolted. But he recalled his teacher's words: "The Holy Ghost Cult can be used, but not trusted."

As a result, Jing Hongchen showed Zhongli Wu no courtesy.

"Zhongli Wu, you led people into my Mingde Hall today. If you cannot give me an explanation,"

"then none of you will be leaving today."

As he spoke, Jing Hongchen was the first to release his Toad Martial Soul, countless metal cannon barrels around him aiming at Zhongli Wu.

While dealing with Jing Hongchen, Zhongli Wu said, "If I said I came to admire the famed Mingde Hall, would Hallmaster Jing believe me?"

At the same time, he secretly transmitted his voice to Myriad Souls Douluo. "Myriad Souls, hurry up and charge straight in."

"Capture the brat who stole our Soul Beast Embryo."

"Remember, I want him alive." Zhongli Wu feared that Myriad Souls Douluo would not know his own strength, so he added another warning.

"Hold out until Feng Ling arrives to support us, then we will charge out."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Myriad Souls Douluo quickly acknowledged the order. Then, while Jing Hongchen's attention was entirely focused on Zhongli Wu,

Myriad Souls Douluo transformed into a cloud of black mist and charged directly into Ye Fan's room.

"Hehehe! Brat, I told you not to let me catch you."

"Otherwise, I'll make you beg for life and beg for death."

Myriad Souls Douluo charged into the room and immediately locked onto Ye Fan.

Just as he believed victory was assured,

"No—!"

A shrill scream suddenly exploded. Before Myriad Souls Douluo's words had even faded, an enormous palm covered in biting ice crystals suddenly shot out from the Undead Demiplane amid the rolling black mist, carrying terrifying force that could crush everything as it viciously slammed toward his body.

Caught completely off guard, Myriad Souls Douluo had no time to mobilize his soul power to defend himself. He was instantly sent flying by the giant palm, the black mist around his body scattering by more than half as he crashed heavily onto the ground, his blood and energy churning violently.

With a thunderous boom, the roof of Ye Fan's room shattered, and a figure stepped into the air.

Ye Fan stood tall and steady upon the shoulder of the mountain-sized Ice Bear King, suspended in the air with an awe-inspiring presence.

"An ferocious beast!"

Jing Hongchen's pupils contracted sharply. He shouted in a low voice, his expression instantly becoming incomparably grave.

"The Ice Bear King!"

Zhongli Wu, standing nearby, also saw his expression darken abruptly, his heart filled with shock and wariness.

Jing Hongchen was full of concern, secretly worried that Ye Fan had been coerced by the ferocious beast.

Ye Fan instantly saw through his teacher's thoughts and immediately transmitted his voice in secret. "Teacher, this is a ferocious beast I saved in the Far North. It is grateful for my life-saving grace and willingly became my personal guard."

Hearing this, the heavy weight in Jing Hongchen's heart fell away. His tense expression completely relaxed, and a hint of delight flashed through his eyes. With the Ice Bear King helping them, their chances of taking down Zhongli Wu's group had greatly increased.

"Ah, it's you people."

The Ice Bear King also recognized Zhongli Wu and the others. They were the evil soul masters who had stopped and injured it outside Ice God's Palace that day.

"I'll kill you all!"

The Ice Bear King roared madly and was about to disregard everything as it pounced at Zhongli Wu and the others.

Left with no other choice, Ye Fan released his Death Angel Martial Soul and flapped his Angel Wings to fly beside the Royal Soul Engineer Corps.

Seeing this, Jing Hongchen immediately gave the order. "First squad, protect Ye Fan."

As his words fell, the orderly Soul Engineer Corps opened a gap and firmly sheltered Ye Fan within it.

As for the Ice Bear King, it had already pounced toward Zhongli Wu.