Heart of the Sea God Secured!

Right!

It was a Clone.

The real Huang Yun was already gone.

The intelligence had said this guy could create Clones!

For the first time, cracks appeared in the armored marshal's expression. He suddenly turned and swept his gaze across the imperial treasury, alarm bells ringing wildly in his heart.

Inside the imperial treasury.

Around the stone pillar, ten figures flashed into view from every direction at once.

Each wore gray cloth robes, each was wrapped in blue-white arcs of electricity, and each reached for the azure treasure atop the stone pillar.

The ten Clones lunged at the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud simultaneously from different directions.

"Insolence!"

The armored marshal roared. His golden spear had already flown back into his hand. He swung it horizontally, and a crescent-shaped golden spear aura burst forth, cutting the nearest four Clones in half at the waist.

Then he thrust the spear tip three times in rapid succession. Golden spear auras poured down like a rainstorm, piercing through and shattering another three Clones.

With the strength of an eight-ring Soul Douluo, crushing Soul King-level Clones like these was as effortless as chopping vegetables.

But the Clones had never intended to defeat him.

While the armored marshal was fully occupied with crushing those seven Clones, the eighth had already slipped beside the stone pillar under cover of the chaos.

It reached out and seized the entirely azure Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud from its groove. The instant its hand touched the icy object, a smile curled across the Clone's lips.

Second Soul Skill—Teleportation.

With a flash of blue light, the Clone and the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud vanished from the spot together.

The armored marshal's spear had just shattered the last Clone. When he turned to look at the stone pillar, his entire body froze as if he had been nailed in place.

The top of the stone pillar was empty.

There was nothing left in the groove.

The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, the national treasure passed down through generations of Heaven Dou's imperial family, had been taken right beneath the eyes of an eight-ring Soul Douluo.

Cold sweat slid down the armored marshal's forehead, dripping from the edge of his iron armor onto the bluestone floor.

His fingers around the golden spear turned pale, his knuckles bruising purple-blue from the force of his grip.

"Good. Very good!"

"I never thought that I, a dignified eight-ring Soul Douluo, would make such a blunder!"

"And get played by some brat of a five-ring Soul King!"

He forced the words through clenched teeth, then spun around and strode out of the treasury. He raised the golden spear high, pouring all his Soul Power into it. Dazzling golden light erupted from its tip and shot into the night sky, illuminating the heavens for hundreds of meters around.

"Seal the palace! Capture the thief!"

His thunderous roar rolled outward, making even the tiles atop the palace walls tremble faintly.

"All imperial guards, heed my command! Search for the intruder! The flying Soul Master corps is to take off immediately! Seal every exit! Do not let anyone leave!"

As his words fell, the eastern side of the imperial palace instantly erupted into chaos.

Imperial guards on the ground surged in from all directions like a tide. Torch after torch flared to life, turning the area around the treasury as bright as day.

Footsteps, clashing armor, and shouted orders blended together. In just a few dozen breaths, the entire eastern sector of the palace had entered its highest state of alert.

Then came the dense sound of beating wings from high above.

A flying corps formed of dozens of flying-type Soul Masters above the Soul King rank rose from the camp on the western side of the palace. They swiftly spread out in the sky, forming a net of encirclement.

Most of these flying Soul Masters possessed Martial Souls of various birds of prey—hawks, falcons, eagles, cranes. Their figures circled through the skies as their sharp eyes scanned the streets and buildings below.

The imperial guards sealed the ground while the flying corps sealed the air. Together, they formed an airtight encirclement.

Yet at the very moment the armored marshal gave the order to seal the palace, Huang Yun was already darting rapidly through a cluster of buildings on the eastern side.

The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud had been transferred to his true body through Teleportation. It now rested against his chest, its cool and profound energy pulsing gently even through the cloth.

He did not need to look back to know that chaos had already erupted behind him.

Those Clones had bought him a few breaths of time, but at his speed, a few breaths were enough to cover a considerable distance.

With his Lightning Falcon Eyes fully activated, the layout of the buildings ahead and the patrol routes appeared as clearly in his vision as the lines on his palm.

He did not rush toward the city gates. That was the route any ordinary person would choose to escape, and it was certain to be heavily guarded.

Instead, he chose a direction the pursuers would never expect—the northern imperial garden.

The imperial garden was filled with rockeries and dense trees, making it the best place to hide at night.

As long as he could cross the imperial garden and reach the palace's northern wall, the complex terrain of the residential district and commercial streets beyond would make him impossible to catch, no matter how many pursuers there were.

Huang Yun tapped off the ground. His figure flashed between the buildings like an elongated streak of lightning. With three consecutive Teleportations, combined with the dual burst of Lightning and Dragon Shadow Flash, his speed had become too fast for the naked eye to follow.

The flying Soul Master corps in the sky caught his approximate location several times, but whenever they turned to pursue him, all that remained was a fading afterimage. The true target was already hundreds of feet away.

After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, a gray figure landed soundlessly in the shadows beyond the northern palace wall.

Huang Yun glanced back toward the brilliantly lit palace. In the distance, he could still see the flying Soul Master corps circling high above and the dense glow of torches on the ground, but they were already far behind him.

He did not linger. His figure merged with the night once more as he sped toward the outskirts of the city.

After flying several hundred more li, he found a secluded forest and descended.

He leaned against a thick tree trunk, took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

His fingers slipped into his robes and took out the palm-sized azure object.

Under the moonlight, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud gave off a gentle gleam. Within it, something like a vast sea flowed, shimmering with rippling light. It was icy, translucent, and cool to the touch, as though he were holding a frozen ocean.

Huang Yun looked at it, and the corners of his lips slowly rose.

"Finally got it."

He gently stroked the surface of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. Its cool touch flowed from his fingertips into his body, refreshing his entire being.

He raised his head and looked in the direction of Heaven Dou City. Its lights still shone brightly, but it no longer had anything to do with him.

Xue Ye had laid out two traps. The first was the fake at the lantern festival, meant to lure the snake from its hole.

The second was the golden marshal, an eight-ring Soul Douluo stationed in the imperial treasury, waiting for prey to come to him.

He had to admit that the old emperor was indeed deeply calculating. He had even accounted for the possibility that Huang Yun would come back for another attempt.

Unfortunately, no matter how carefully he calculated, he had not anticipated that Huang Yun could break the situation with such a simple yet effective Clone tactic.

Perhaps he had anticipated it, but he had not expected it to be this outrageous.

Huang Yun carefully stored the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud in his storage ring and rose to his feet.

His gaze passed through the gaps in the forest, toward the horizon that was gradually beginning to pale.

The Heart of the Sea God was secured.

This was no place to stay long. It was time to make another trip to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.