"Zhongli Wu, have you no shame left to say that I am the one going too far!"
"Who was the one that flew into a rage over a disagreement, led over a hundred evil soul masters straight into my Mingde Hall, and demanded to take away my disciple Ye Fan?"
"And now you say I am going too far!"
"Then I will show you just how far I can go."
"Today, aside from the few Titled Douluos you brought with you, I guarantee that every single other evil soul master dies right here."
Jing Hongchen spoke without giving Zhongli Wu a chance to retort.
Every single stationary soul cannon in Mingde Hall, every soul cannon from the Soul Engineer Corps, aimed straight at the evil soul master faction.
At this, Zhongli Wu instantly felt a surging sense of mortal crisis grip his heart.
"Zhongli Wu, what do we do now?"
Feng Ling, too, wore an expression of intense urgency at that moment as she voiced her question to Zhongli Wu.
One had to know that these hundred-odd evil soul masters were all her foundation in Bright City, the heritage she had painstakingly accumulated within the Holy Spirit Cult.
Moreover, after that vicious melee just now, fewer than fifty of those hundred evil soul masters remained.
If the surviving evil soul masters perished alongside them as well, then she, the vice-cult master of the Holy Spirit Cult, might as well quit her job.
At these words, Zhongli Wu's complexion darkened even further.
"Do we fight to the bitter end, or do we preserve our green hills so we never lack for firewood?"
Without a doubt, Zhongli Wu ultimately chose the latter.
"Feng Ling, Fourth Worshipper, Minglei, Myriad Souls, Sky Centipede, Mask—fall back first!"
With that, Zhongli Wu manipulated the Bone Dragon King and was the first to smash through Mingde Hall's defensive barrier.
Feng Ling, the Sky Centipede, and the Mask cast one glance at the impending deluge of Mingde Hall's artillery fire, then ultimately chose to follow Zhongli Wu in escaping the encirclement.
The Fourth Worshipper and Minglei hurriedly broke off their battle against the Ice Bear King. Because the Ice Bear King possessed a massive bulk and sluggish speed, when the Fourth Worshipper and Minglei attempted to flee, the Ice Bear King could not catch up for a moment and could only stand frozen in place, paralyzed by impotent rage.
The Myriad Souls Douluo proved the most wretched of all. Trailing at the very rear of the group, Jing Hongchen possessed quick eyes and swift hands, ruthlessly landing a cannon blast right on him.
"Aiyo!" Fortunately, the Myriad Souls Douluo transformed into a soul-body state, and that single blast merely scorched his surface skin without harming his foundation.
As for the remaining evil soul masters, every last one of them was buried beneath the artillery fire of Mingde Hall.
Having resolved the evil soul masters in Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen tallied the battlefield and discovered that even the Royal Soul Engineer Corps had suffered losses exceeding fifty percent.
Those who remained were likewise covered in wounds and scars.
Jing Hongchen logged all these debts under the Holy Spirit Cult's name. Holy Spirit Cult, once Teacher's grand plan is complete, sooner or later I will settle the final account with you.
Having finished this, Jing Hongchen walked over to the spot where Ye Fan had vanished, observed the area for a long while, and finally dismissed the defensive barrier.
The instant the defensive barrier dropped, Jing Hongchen and the others sensed the intense fluctuations of battle erupting in the distant sky.
Without time to reform the ranks of the Royal Soul Engineer Corps, Jing Hongchen led the group charging toward the battle.
From afar, Jing Hongchen discovered that the ones fighting were none other than Zhongli Wu and the others who had just escaped.
At that moment, they were surrounded and trapped by another branch of the Royal Soul Engineer Corps.
"Teacher!"
When Jing Hongchen saw clearly that the leader of the soul engineer corps was none other than the person he had just sent Ye Fan to seek help from—the Hall Master of the Sun Moon Empire's Consecration Hall, Kong Deming.
"Strange, could it be that Xiao Fan went to find Teacher the moment he vanished?"
Jing Hongchen filled his mind with doubts.
Yet very soon Jing Hongchen's doubts vanished entirely, because he spotted two familiar figures behind Kong Deming.
"Xiao Xiao, Meng Meng?"
"So these two little fellows were the ones who went to find Teacher for reinforcements."
Jing Hongchen pieced together the crucial point.
He hurried forward to pay his respects to Kong Deming: "Teacher!"
"Mm, Xiao Xiao and Meng Meng already told me about the matter at Mingde Hall."
"Rest assured, today this master will back you up."
With that, Kong Deming took the lead and stepped forward, a bright moon illuminating behind him, atop which nine soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and five black—blazed brilliantly.
At the same time, a metallic radiance lit up behind Kong Deming.
"Bright Moon Divine Light Shield."
At that moment, Zhongli Wu, trapped by the Royal Soul Engineer Corps, instantly recognized the soul tool behind Kong Deming.
It was none other than Kong Deming's natal soul tool, the "Silver Moon Divine Light Shield," reputed to be infinitely close to a tenth-tier soul tool.
"Elder Kong, it's all a misunderstanding!"
Facing Kong Deming, despite the other man being merely at rank 94, Zhongli Wu still felt a multiplying sense of pressure.
For he had once heard the Supreme Cult Master and the Supreme Worshipper say: Of all people in the Sun Moon Empire, you must never offend Kong Deming.
To have two ultimate Douluos evaluate him thusly, the weight Kong Deming carried in Zhongli Wu's heart went without saying.
"Zhongli Wu, for the sake of Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao—"
"Today, if you sever one of your own arms and furthermore take an oath that from this day forth you will never target my grand-disciple Ye Fan again, this matter will just be let go."
"Otherwise, this old man shall properly teach you a lesson today on behalf of Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao."
As soon as these words dropped, Zhongli Wu's expression shifted uncertainly between light and shadow.
Before Zhongli Wu could reach a decision, the Myriad Souls Douluo impatiently leaped out to provoke Kong Deming: "Cult Master, he's merely a rank 94 ninth-tier soul engineer."
"What's there to be so high and mighty about?!"
"Whoosh!"
"Boom!"
Before the Myriad Souls Douluo could finish speaking, he only felt his vision go black. The next second, Kong Deming flickered right in front of him, and a stream of flames roared like a fire dragon from Kong Deming's shoulder, firing a direct cannon blast straight at the Myriad Souls Douluo.
"Ah—!" The Myriad Souls Douluo was blown straight into lingering smoke, after which his soul-body painfully and contortedly reassembled.
It was only because the Myriad Souls Douluo possessed the advantage of his martial soul that he survived; otherwise, that single cannon blast would have genuinely turned the Myriad Souls Douluo into a mere ghost.
Seeing Kong Deming make his move, Zhongli Wu himself could not help trembling slightly:
"Spatial power."
"Mother and Uncle Long really weren't wrong."
"Even though this Kong Deming's cultivation isn't top-tier, his complete set of abilities and soul-tool mastery truly have reached the pinnacle of perfection."
"What do I do?"
"What do I do?"
"If only Uncle Long and Mother were here in Bright City."
Just as Zhongli Wu sought to stall for time, trusting to luck to see if he could draw the attention of Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao—
Kong Deming simply ignored the Myriad Souls Douluo, his gaze locking straight onto Zhongli Wu as he spoke: "Zhongli Wu, my patience is limited."
"I'll count to five. If you still haven't made your decision, then remember to be a good person in your next life."
"Five—"
Mid-shout, Kong Deming issued an order to the Royal Soul Engineer Corps behind him, commanding them to concentrate all their power onto his Silver Moon Divine Light Shield.
Seeing the aura around Kong Deming growing increasingly heavy and oppressive.
Feng Ling, the Fourth Worshipper, Minglei, the Mask, and the others all wore grim expressions.
"Is this the strength of the continent's absolute peak soul engineer?"
"Why do I feel a sense of oppression akin to facing the Supreme Cult Master?"
"Four!"
"Three—!"
As Kong Deming's countdown drew ever closer, Zhongli Wu's expression grew increasingly unsightly.
"Two—"
Ultimately, right as Kong Deming called out the penultimate number.
Zhongli Wu stepped forward: "Elder Kong, this time I admit that I failed to think things through and led people to forcefully breach Mingde Hall."
"Here, I offer my apologies to Mingde Hall first."
"At the same time, I swear that as of today, my Holy Spirit Cult will no longer target Ye Fan."
"Should I violate this oath, may my martial soul shatter, my cultivation be utterly lost, and may I suffer a miserable death for all eternity."
As the words fell, Zhongli Wu shaped his arm into a claw, grabbed his left arm, and yanked hard. "Rensh!" Zhongli Wu gritted his teeth and severed his own arm.
"Wait—!" Just at that moment, a heavy voice echoed from afar.
Yet everything was already too late.
Before you continue