August 24, 2057, Federation calendar, midnight. Qian Gu Fenfeng had just executed Chen Xinjie on the spot.
Meanwhile, at the Sea God Legion's base.
In the ink-dark depths of night, black clouds pressed down upon the waves of the Eastern Sea, and thick clouds had swallowed the moonlight entirely.
Lights stretched for dozens of miles through the Sea God Legion's naval harbor. Massive soul-powered warships lay moored in the bay, coastal-defense Soul Cannons stood in dense ranks, and patrol aircraft cruised back and forth along the coastline. This harbor, the very heart of the Federation's navy, remained under heavy guard even in the darkness.
Deep within the clouds high above, tens of thousands of Southern Legion troops hovered silently in the night. Wings of interwoven silver-white and dark purple flickered through gaps in the clouds. Every Communication Soul Tool had been disabled, and even the slightest trace of escaping soul power was concealed beneath layer upon layer of restraint.
Five people stood at the very front of the legion's formation. Their auras differed, but each possessed the power to shake an entire region.
Qian Chenyue stood on the left flank, her ink-purple dress billowing. Six pitch-black fallen angel wings slowly unfurled behind her, cold, dark light flowing along their tips. Her fallen angel martial soul stirred faintly, its shadowy pressure, distinct from that of a holy angel, silently suppressing the sacred light of the surrounding troops.
Her expression was cold, her gaze fixed on the command tower of the Sea God Legion's naval harbor far below. She raised her fingertips slightly, and a soundless soul power signal quietly spread.
At the center, Qiangu Qingfeng wore plain, close-fitting clothes, his features bearing the steadfast resolve passed down through the Qiangu Family. He was the commander of this night raid. Sweeping his gaze over the harbor's layout below, he said in a deep voice, "The time has come. Move. Disable the coastal artillery formations first and split up the fleet. Do not give the Sea God Legion a chance to assemble into formation."
On the right, Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu wore fiery-red Battle Armor, Heavenly Phoenix Burns the Palace Gate, its flowing light dancing as flames from her heavenly fire phoenix martial soul leaped upon her shoulders.
Not a trace of her usual composure remained on her radiant face. Her phoenix eyes were icy, and winglike flames spread behind her. She said evenly, "My flames will tear apart their outer defenses first."
Beside her, shadowy purple light flowed around Leng Yulai. The Dark Phoenix's cold black aura coiled around her, one dark and one bright beside her elder sister's blazing phoenix true fire, their auras opposed. A faint, cold curve lifted the corner of her mouth. "With you opening the way, Sister, leave the stragglers hiding in the dark to me."
Han Tianyi stood at the very rear of the formation, vast spiritual power hovering and circling around him. The pressure of his soul power froze even the night breeze flowing beside him into stillness.
His clouded eyes looked down upon the naval harbor. "I will seal off the sea, freeze the shipping lanes, and cut off their ships' routes of advance and retreat."
The instant the signal fell.
Boom-!
The first towering blaze abruptly tore through the night. Leng Yaozhu moved first, the enormous phantom of a heavenly fire phoenix soaring into the sky behind her. Streaming flames filled the heavens like a rain of fire, smashing into the coastal artillery positions around the harbor's perimeter.
Violent explosions followed one after another. Heavy Soul Tool Turrets shattered and burst apart amid the raging flames. The piercing shriek of alarms instantly rang throughout the Sea God Legion's entire base, and the sleeping naval harbor plunged into chaos.
Almost simultaneously, Leng Yulai became a shadow, taking advantage of the confusion amid the flames to rush through a breach in the defenses. The Dark Phoenix's shadow power silently reaped the patrolling Soul Masters hastily rising to fight. Shadows disrupted the chains of command within the harbor, and Communication Soul Tool towers were secretly destroyed one after another.
Han Tianyi swept through the air to the harbor entrance. His spiritual domain unfolded without a sound, and an illusion as tangible as reality spread before the eyes of the Sea God Legion's soldiers.
The once-surging sea rapidly froze at a speed visible to the naked eye. Thick ice instantly sealed the harbor's entrances and exits, locking the soul-powered warships inside firmly in their berths. Their hull-mounted thrusters roared and shook, yet they could not move an inch.
The six black wings behind Qian Chenyue beat fiercely, and the fallen angel's shadowy domain abruptly spread. What followed, however, was a rain of light falling from the heavens.
The mutated light elements landed on the Sea God Legion soldiers scrambling to assemble.
One soldier suddenly felt as though his head were splitting apart.
"Ah... ah..."
Amid his agonized screams, his head suddenly burst open, blooming into three brilliant roses.
"Hahahaha... I, your Daoist master, have done it!"
"Three flowers gathered at the crown!"
Some soldiers suddenly sprouted third and fourth legs, until their bodies were utterly twisted by arms; others suddenly festered all over, finally becoming puddles of rotten flesh.
It was like purgatory on earth.
The Southern Legion's army forcibly held back the fear in their hearts and, taking advantage of the chaos, poured down from the clouds. Countless wings cut through the night as they charged into the already chaotic naval harbor. Shouts of slaughter, the roar of artillery, and the sounds of clashing soul power instantly swept across the entire coast.
Qiangu Qingfeng hovered at the highest point in the sky, calmly looking down upon the fighting below.
Orders were conveyed to the entire army through soul power. In orderly fashion, the Southern Legion divided the Sea God Legion's strongholds, cutting the naval troops hastily rising to fight into isolated groups.
The night raid had become a prairie fire.
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