Unaware of the truth, the Longxing City Bishop genuinely believed Long Yue was a high-ranking figure from Spirit City. He immediately kowtowed, weeping bitterly as he explained his innocence and helplessness, trying to shift the blame.
Long Yue cared nothing for any of that. He pointed at the bishop. "You'll lead the charge when the time comes. Redeem yourself through meritorious service."
"Yes, yes, yes-" The bishop acted as though he had truly been handed some wonderful assignment.
Though displeased, Chrysanthemum Douluo said nothing.
Since Long Yue enjoyed playing the fox borrowing the tiger's might, Yue Guan would let him have his fun. His gaze swept toward Qilin Douluo, standing nearby-if he had a Peak Douluo backing him, he could borrow a tiger's might too.
Once they reached Spirit City, he would see how His Holiness the Pope settled the score with Long Yue.
Long Yue scheduled his operation for that evening, just as Sima Lanxiao returned from the city lord's residence.
"Lord Sima, it's too late today. Why not visit the Defense Clan tomorrow?" Joander suggested.
The Douluo Continent was not the Divine Realm Empire. Their customs were entirely different.
If Sima Lanxiao visited the Defense Clan late at night, only for them to reject his goodwill and throw the Divine Realm Empire's delegation straight out, it would be a joke.
"Mm."
Sima Lanxiao was somewhat exhausted. Longxing City remained under the Star Luo Empire's control, so he had been meeting and speaking with its officials.
Everyone had taken their seats in the hall of the city lord's residence. After servants presented tea, sweets, and pastries, they exchanged another round of pleasantries before finally turning to the matter at hand...
Going through that whole routine was truly exhausting.
Accustomed to the Divine Realm Empire's efficiency, Sima Lanxiao hardly knew what to say about these ancient bureaucrats.
"We'll discuss it tomorrow."
No sooner had Sima Lanxiao spoken than a shrill cry rose from the neighboring compound. "...Heh heh heh! Clear Sky remnants! So you've been hiding here. You're courting death!"
"?" The Divine Realm Empire's delegation all looked over, only to see an expert radiating Titled Douluo-level power hovering in the air, laughing wickedly at the Defense Clan's compound.
"Spirit Hall's lapdog!" Within the compound, Niu Gao, patriarch of the Defense Clan, cursed furiously. "We've already hidden ourselves away here, yet you still insist on wiping us out to the last man?"
"What Spirit Hall? We're bandits! Attack!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan released nine soul rings: two yellow, two purple, and five black. In the darkness, one of those rings flashed, though it was impossible to tell which. His singular velvet sky chrysanthemum produced flowers that filled the sky, then descended on the Defense Clan's residence in a meteor shower.
Boom, boom, boom-
Like golden rain amid sunset clouds, tens of thousands of brilliant waves of light flared from the ground. Many Defense Clan disciples suffered grievous wounds within that streaming radiance.
"Giant Rhinoceros Avatar!"
With a furious roar, Niu Gao's solid chest rapidly swelled. His skin turned black, and an immensely thick layer of hardened hide abruptly covered his body.
As a purely defensive soul master, Niu Gao had added only a single defensive attribute to every one of his soul rings. To achieve this, every soul ring he acquired came from the same species of soul beast.
These single-attribute soul rings granted Niu Gao ultimate defense. At the same time, his weakness lay in the excessive narrowness of his abilities. Against different opponents, his adaptability was far worse than that of an ordinary soul master.
"I'll hold him off! Get out of here!"
"Father!"
The Defense Clan had over three hundred soul master disciples. After Chrysanthemum Douluo's area-of-effect soul skill incapacitated some of them, the rest split into four teams under the leadership of Niu Gao's eldest son, Niu Ben, escorting the women and children as they broke out of the residence in different directions.
"To think we'd still get to see a purely defensive martial soul like the plate-armored giant rhinoceros! Truly..." Sima Lanxiao sighed with deep emotion, his wistful expression much like that of someone seeing a rare animal thought extinct.
The Defense Clan's inherited martial soul was the plate-armored giant rhinoceros, a top-tier defensive beast martial soul. Its defensive power was outstanding, and very few soul masters of the same rank could break through it. It could even rival the diamond mammoth.
Yet twenty thousand years later, the people of the Divine Realm Empire could no longer find a single inheritor of the plate-armored giant rhinoceros martial soul. Its fate was even worse than that of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda-at least that had survived under a different surname. The plate-armored giant rhinoceros had simply vanished.
"Should we save them?" a senior official in the delegation could not help asking. "They are predecessors of the Tang Sect, after all..."
"No!"
"No!"
The two refusals rang out simultaneously, spoken by Joander and Sima Lanxiao.
Joander said, "The attackers are clearly from Spirit Hall. We cannot offend an organization that spans the entire continent. Offending Spirit Hall would be equivalent to offending the Spirit Pagoda in the Sun Moon Federation."
Someone objected, "Our Divine Realm Empire isn't afraid of Spirit Hall. Even if they unify the Douluo Continent, they still can't exercise authority over us."
"But making an enemy of Spirit Hall would mean the complete failure of this diplomatic mission." The fervor in Sima Lanxiao's eyes had faded, leaving only a bureaucrat's indifference. "From the Divine Realm Empire's standpoint, we should seek mutually beneficial cooperation with the Douluo Continent's greatest power, not become its enemy and commit the empire's precious military resources to this continent."
"So we..."
"Do nothing. We leave Longxing City tomorrow." Sima Lanxiao canceled their planned visit to the Defense Clan the following day. He was very interested in these Tang Sect predecessors, but he was unwilling to let that interest threaten the empire's interests.
As Joander accompanied Sima Lanxiao into the inner courtyard, he suddenly said, "Lord Sima, I truly never expected you to refuse the Defense Clan protection."
"If Ancestor Tang San were being hunted by Spirit Hall, perhaps I would consider offering him protection on the empire's behalf. But a mere Defense Clan?" Sima Lanxiao sneered. "Twenty thousand years later, Defense Hall no longer has the plate-armored giant rhinoceros, yet isn't it still thriving? In the end, it's nothing but a name. Not worth it."
Such was a bureaucrat.
"Phew. Fortunately, they aren't the Tang Sect's dutiful sons and devoted grandsons."
Long Yue watched the movements of the Divine Realm Empire's delegation next door. Once he confirmed that Sima Lanxiao truly had not sent anyone to rescue the Defense Clan, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, Sima Lanxiao still has his reason. He knows that if he wants to accomplish anything on the Douluo Continent, he absolutely cannot openly oppose Spirit Hall," Tong Yu said. "But, junior brother, you should still spare the women and children."
"Of course, senior brother. I haven't stopped them from escaping." As Long Yue spoke, circles of light lit up across his body. These were soul tools specifically designed to store battle armor.
One-Word Battle Armor could not be directly integrated into a soul master's body.
Long Yue put on his One-Word Battle Armor. "My targets have always been the Niu family's patriarch and young master."
Tong Yu stared at Long Yue's right gauntlet and forearm guard, discovering that both were forged entirely from thousand-refined heavy silver. "How much of your One-Word Battle Armor have you completed?"
As he spoke, there was a hint of envy in Tong Yu's voice.
He had once possessed Three-Word Battle Armor himself, but unfortunately, it had been confiscated after he committed his offense.
"Fifty percent. I expect the One-Word Battle Armor to be finished by the time I reach rank fifty."
Putting on his One-Word Battle Armor was also when Long Yue was most vulnerable to a sneak attack.
With his senior brother Qilin Douluo guarding him, however, he did not need to worry about that.
Besides the right gauntlet and forearm guard, Long Yue's One-Word Battle Armor included a right shoulder guard and upper arm guard, armor components for his left hand and arm, and components for both legs.
Tong Yu reminded him, "You have no circlet or breastplate. You should at least have forged the breastplate first."
"There's nothing I can do. Every mecha manufacturer in the empire is terribly busy. I can't even find anyone to do it."
After Long Yue donned this incomplete set of One-Word Battle Armor, his strength increased as well.
Even incomplete One-Word Battle Armor was still battle armor.
Yet Long Yue was in no hurry to leap out and become the Defense Clan's target. Instead, he hid at the rear like a great cat waiting for the chance to pounce in ambush.
"Senior brother, we still need to dispose of Chrysanthemum Douluo."
Tong Yu raised his hand. "I know."
Boom-
The two struck without hesitation.
Before you continue