Zhongli Wu saw the Ice Bear King charge at him.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, then ordered the Fourth Worshipper beside him, "Fourth Worshipper, you and Myriad Souls keep the Ice Bear King occupied."
"Yes!"
"Got it!"
The Fourth Worshipper and the Myriad Souls Douluo swiftly blocked the Ice Bear King's path and fought it, retreating as they drew it high into the sky.
Jing Hongchen did not order the Royal Soul Engineer Corps to stop them.
His attention remained fixed on Zhongli Wu.
As Jing Hongchen and Zhongli Wu continued their standoff,
Feng Ling arrived with a large force of Evil Soul Masters who had been waiting on the perimeter.
They broke up the Mingde Hall Soul Engineer Corps' formation from the outside.
At the sight, Jing Hongchen quickly ordered the Soul Engineer Corps to abandon its circular containment formation and switch to a defensive shield formation, in case the Holy Spirit Cult lashed out like a cornered dog.
"Zhongli Wu, what's going on?"
Feng Ling flew to Zhongli Wu's side. No fewer than several hundred Evil Soul Masters followed her, a force that rivaled Mingde Hall's Royal Soul Engineer Corps in numbers.
And on average, these Evil Soul Masters had higher cultivation than the members of the Royal Soul Engineer Corps.
The Royal Soul Engineer Corps' advantage lay in its excellent equipment.
What was more, even without the Fourth Worshipper and the Myriad Souls Douluo, the Holy Spirit Cult still had two Super Douluo—Zhongli Wu and Feng Ling—along with the Nether Thunder Douluo and two Titled Douluo Feng Ling had brought.
Seeing the main force arrive behind him,
Zhongli Wu regained his customary composure.
He stepped forward to the head of the force.
Then he spoke calmly. "Jing Hongchen, if you know what's good for you, hand over that angel brat."
"Otherwise, don't blame the Holy Spirit Cult for turning Mingde Hall upside down."
Ye Fan looked at the army of more than a hundred Evil Soul Masters facing them.
He could not help feeling a chill. The Holy Spirit Cult really is going all out.
To go to such lengths for a single Soul Beast Embryo.
But Ye Fan did not know that Zhongli Wu wanted more than the Soul Beast Embryo. He wanted Ye Fan himself.
While Ye Fan's thoughts wandered,
Jing Hongchen turned his gaze toward him. What on earth did Ye Fan do to make the Holy Spirit Cult go to such lengths?
But none of that mattered now.
As the head of Mingde Hall and Ye Fan's teacher,
he would stand by Ye Fan no matter what he had done.
"Zhongli Wu, let me see what the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult can do."
"You dare boast that you'll turn my Mingde Hall upside down?"
Right before Zhongli Wu, Jing Hongchen activated every defensive installation in Mingde Hall. Countless metal Soul Cannons trained their barrels on Zhongli Wu and his forces.
Then, showing Zhongli Wu no courtesy whatsoever, Jing Hongchen aimed the cannons at the army of Evil Soul Masters behind him.
"Jing Hongchen, you dare?"
Even Zhongli Wu had not expected Jing Hongchen to act so decisively.
He hurriedly summoned the Bone Dragon King.
The enormous Bone Dragon King had barely appeared before it smashed through the Royal Soul Engineer Corps' formation.
At the same time, Zhongli Wu shouted an order to everyone around him. "Spread out! Engage them in close combat. That way, they won't be able to use their Soul Tools to their advantage."
"Yes!" came a chorus of over a hundred voices.
At his command, the Evil Soul Masters around and behind him surged forward behind the Bone Dragon King, enduring the Soul Cannon fire from the other side.
Once they closed in on the Royal Soul Engineers, both sides began fighting hand to hand.
The battlefield descended into chaos.
On the Holy Spirit Cult's side, Zhongli Wu, Feng Ling, Minglei, and the two Titled Douluo Feng Ling had brought were now free to act.
At a signal from Zhongli Wu, Feng Ling and Minglei moved to tie down Jing Hongchen.
Zhongli Wu himself rode the Bone Dragon King straight toward Ye Fan.
"Heh, heh, heh. Hand over the Soul Beast Embryo, boy, and I'll make you the Holy Son of the Holy Spirit Cult."
Damn it, he's going after Ye Fan!
Jing Hongchen moved to rescue him, but Feng Ling, Minglei, and the other Titled Douluo surrounded him.
"Damn you! Holy Spirit Cult, you're courting death!"
Seeing Zhongli Wu head straight for Ye Fan, Jing Hongchen's heart clenched. A towering fury surged through him, and he paid no heed to the Titled Douluo closing in around him.
He stopped holding back and entered a state of ultimate frenzy. His Soul Power erupted.
The metal cannon barrels covering his body shuddered as they all came online. Dense volleys poured forth, scorching blasts of light raging across the sky.
The furious barrage sealed off layer after layer of airspace. Its relentless blasts drove the others back, forcing Feng Ling, Minglei, and the Titled Douluo with them onto the defensive.
He fought as he retreated, drawing closer to Ye Fan.
At the same time, he kept shouting, "Xiao Fan, run! Get to the Imperial Palace and find your grandmaster!"
Ye Fan beat his Angel Wings and darted through the shockwaves of the battle, evading Zhongli Wu's pursuit.
At those words, Ye Fan instantly realized whom Jing Hongchen meant.
The grandmaster Teacher means must be Kong Deming—the foremost Soul Engineer in the Sun Moon Empire, the only true god of Soul Engineering on the continent, and the man said to be most likely to reach Rank-10 Soul Engineer!
But Zhongli Wu panicked the moment he heard whom Jing Hongchen had named. He called out to Feng Ling and the others, "Feng Ling, stop that brat! Whatever you do, don't let him escape."
"Yes!"
Feng Ling, Minglei, and the others wasted no time carrying out Zhongli Wu's order.
The four split into two groups: one to intercept Jing Hongchen, the other to intercept Ye Fan.
Ye Fan felt a headache coming on. Great. Three Titled Douluo have me surrounded!
Looks like I can only hide in the Undead Demiplane.
Without hesitating, Ye Fan recited the undead incantation right before Zhongli Wu.
A doorway to the Undead Demiplane opened, and he plunged through it.
Zhongli Wu's heart lurched. Spatial power. Damn it, the brat's going to escape.
Jing Hongchen was delighted. Spatial power? I didn't know Xiao Fan had that up his sleeve.
Jing Hongchen felt somewhat reassured. His barrage eased, though it remained strong enough to hold down the two lower-ranked Titled Douluo surrounding him.
Zhongli Wu, Feng Ling, and Minglei could only watch as Ye Fan vanished on the spot.
Each of them looked as if they had seen a ghost.
Feng Ling was the first to stop fighting. She asked Zhongli Wu, "Zhongli Wu, we've lost the target. What now?"
Zhongli Wu had already stopped as well. His face darkened with frustration. "What else can we do?"
"Everyone, retreat!"
Zhongli Wu used his Soul Power to carry his voice across the entire battlefield.
The remaining Evil Soul Masters received the order and fought as they withdrew, gathering once more behind Zhongli Wu, Feng Ling, and the others.
Zhongli Wu glanced at the Evil Soul Masters behind him. Fewer than half remained. Damn it. Not only did we fail to recover the Soul Beast Embryo, we lost nearly fifty people.
He began wondering how he would answer to the two towering figures above him.
Then he looked toward the Myriad Souls Douluo and the Fourth Worshipper, who were still fighting the Ice Bear King in the distance.
Yes. This is all Myriad Souls' fault for botching the job.
The two Titled Douluo fighting Jing Hongchen heard Zhongli Wu's order and began retreating as they fought.
Jing Hongchen could guess what had happened. Zhongli Wu saw Xiao Fan vanish into thin air, so now he wants to retreat.
He made his decision at once. "Royal Soul Engineer Corps, heed my order! Stop the Evil Soul Masters from escaping at any cost."
At the same time, Jing Hongchen altered Mingde Hall's defenses again. A circular domed barrier rose around them, sealing Mingde Hall tight from top to bottom and inside to out.
The moment ordinary Evil Soul Masters touched the barrier, its Soul Power struck them down.
Zhongli Wu hurriedly probed it with his spiritual power. The barrier attacked with Soul Power. Though it could not stop the Titled Douluo on his side,
anyone below that level would be unable to withstand its impact.
Zhongli Wu turned a cold face toward Jing Hongchen and said in a low voice, "Jing Hongchen, do you really intend to take this so far?"
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