To maintain the secrecy of their Martial Soul and to ensure speed, the Heaven Dou Empire did not send out super-large airships for this trip, but instead used medium-sized ones.
Each airship can accommodate thirty people to live inside, and is fully equipped with all kinds of facilities, making it essentially a flying hotel.
A total of thirty medium-sized airships were deployed this time, fourteen of which were equipped with royal guards, all of whom were at least Spirit Emperor level experts. The leader of the team was Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, also known as Qian Renxue.
The remaining sixteen ships carried the fifteen winning teams from the qualifying rounds and the First Heaven Dou Team, who were directly promoted.
The thirty airships were originally lined up in a row, but suddenly the airship carrying the Plant Academy crashed into the airship carrying the Shrek Team, while also sending out a distress alarm.
That wasn't the end of it. Shortly after the Botanical Academy Team's airship went out of control, the airships of the Exotic Beast Academy Team, Canghui Academy Team team, Blazing Academy Team, and Skywater Academy Team all crashed into the Shrek Team's airship at the same time, and also sent out distress signals.
"Your Highness..."
A guard rushed forward to report the unusual situation to Qian Renxue, but before he could finish speaking, Qian Renxue waved her hand to interrupt him.
"You don't need to tell me, I can see it!"
Seeing the unusual behavior of the airships on the flanks, Qian Renxue pondered for a moment and then decisively ordered, "Pass on my order, everyone be on high alert and prepare for battle. The Firmament Knights are ready to attack. There is a high probability that the attackers will be Titled Douluo- level experts."
Send a message to the Cardinal Archbishop of the Spirit Hall, instructing him to send a distress signal to the Spirit Hall as soon as possible!
The airship itself could not possibly malfunction like this, and there couldn't possibly be a problem within the Plant Academy either, so the problem must be coming from outside.
It is highly likely that the Plant Academy knew of the approaching unknown danger through some means and issued an early warning.
External threats can be divided into two types: Scourge and man-made disasters.
The surrounding sky was clear and there wasn't even a breeze, so there was clearly no possibility of Scourge. That left only a man-made threat.
Considering the strange and clan-like actions of powerful families, sects, noble families, and wealthy clans in the past, how could Qian Renxue, with her intelligence, not guess what kind of change had occurred?
Knowing that several powerful figures at the Titled Douluo level might attack, and unable to reveal her own strength, Qian Renxue had no choice but to seek help from the Spirit Hall through the accompanying Red Archbishop.
"We can't just passively fight in the sky! Let's join forces and ram the Shrek Team's airship down!"
The warning in her heart grew stronger, and Little Nine decisively contacted Huo Wu and the others to launch an even more violent ramming attack on the airship where the Shrek Team was located.
The Shrek Team was completely dumbfounded. They could only watch helplessly as the ropes binding their airship to the flying Soul Beast were cut, destroying the airship's levitation ability and causing it to crash downwards.
That wasn't the end of it. Little Nine and the others forcibly controlled their flying Soul Beast to chase after the falling Shrek airship, showing no sign of giving up until they were all wiped out.
"Damn it, we can't wait any longer, we have to make our move now!"
A furious roar came from a cloud in front, followed by a hundred flying Soul Beast flying out rapidly. Each flying Soul Beast had more than a dozen figures standing on its back, and the aura they exuded was at least at the Soul Douluo level.
"The enemy's target is likely the Plant Academy. First and second squads will continue to escort the other academy teams forward, while the rest will make an emergency landing to rendezvous with the falling Plant Academy team."
Qian Renxue's pupils constricted when she saw the figures appearing behind her, and she decisively gave the order again, but her expression turned quite cold.
She discovered that there were over a hundred auras belonging to the Titled Douluo level ahead, and the others were all Soul Douluo level beings.
Those forces were far more insane than she had anticipated, having mobilized such a formidable force.
This is why, with the popularity of the optimal cultivation theory developed by Yu Xiaogang, the limits of Soul Master' achievements have been greatly improved. Soul Master who could only reach the Soul Douluo before can now basically break through to the Titled Douluo level.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be easy to gather over a hundred Titled Douluo at once; even the one who surrounded and killed Tang Hao back then only had about twenty Titled Douluo.
"Boom..."
The airship, plummeting from the sky, crashed to the ground and shattered. Seeing the airship's miserable state, Tang San and the others, who had escaped earlier by being grabbed by Flender and bound by his Blue Silver Ghost Vine, were filled with rage and hatred. They looked at Little Nine and the others who were slowly descending with murderous intent.
They almost died just now. Falling from that height, even with their considerable cultivation, they would have had a hard time withstanding it; at least most of them would have died.
" Suosite, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Flender, in his Martial Soul Avatar state, angrily questioned him, but there was a hint of bravado beneath the surface.
Not only were the Plant Academy eyeing them covetously, but the powerful members of the Blazing Fire Academy, the Exotic Beast Academy, and the Skywater Academy, who had followed them down, were doing the same, and they were subtly forming an encirclement around them.
This is really bad!
If these people were to make a move, they definitely wouldn't be able to hold out for long, especially since Yu Xiaogang was unconscious due to his weak strength.
Yu Xiaogang hadn't fallen unconscious, they could have used their Martial Soul Fusion Skill to fight him, but now it's much more difficult.
"That's the question I should be asking. What exactly does Shrek want? How dare you shamelessly send so many powerful warriors to attack and kill us?"
Suosite's old face was grim, and his eyes were also filled with murderous intent.
If he didn't need to use Shrek as a hostage to make the other side hesitate, he really wanted to join forces with everyone and wipe out Flender and the others immediately.
"Why waste words on such scum? Lock them all up. If they dare to resist, kill them without mercy!"
Compared to the relatively mild-mannered Suosite, Dragon Duke Meng Shu was much more decisive in his killings.
Suddenly, Meng Shu's sharp eyes locked onto Tang San, and he said coldly, " Tang San, I advise you to behave yourself. If you dare to take out your Hidden Weapon, don't blame us for being ruthless."
He had already obtained intelligence that Tang San's strongest methods were those strange and insidious Hidden Weapon. According to Little Nine, some of these Hidden Weapon were so powerful that they could even threaten experts at the Titled Douluo level.
Therefore, he was prepared when he landed, and he would strike with lightning speed if Tang San made the slightest move.
Realizing that his aura was being locked by at least seven Soul Douluo- level powerhouses, Tang San, understanding that things were hopeless, lowered his hand from his storage belt with a gloomy face.
"Dean, we're ready!"
At that moment, Little Nine's calm voice came through.
It turned out that after landing, Suosite and the other powerful figures who accompanied him went to suppress the Shrek members, while Little Nine and the others went to the side to perform Martial Soul Fusion.
At their speed, they certainly couldn't shake off the Titled Douluo who were attacking them, so their plan was to quickly build an impregnable fortress, hide inside, and wait for rescue.
This is the safest plan.
This is precisely where the Martial Soul Fusion Skill that Little Nine and the others had previously completed came in handy.
As Little Nine finished speaking, Zijing and the others merged their martial Martial Soul into the Blue Silver Ball, ultimately manifesting a giant tree that was a hundred feet tall.
This is not just the Martial Soul Fusion of Zijing and others; it also includes the Martial Soul of Caren and her husband, with the Martial Soul of Caren's husband, Yamato, playing the most significant role.
Meanwhile, having planned ahead, they landed in a dense forest, where they could leverage the power of the surrounding vegetation to strengthen their defenses and endurance.
"This is..."
This scene was naturally witnessed by the Shrek members, who were all stunned and shocked. Even Tang San, whose mental cultivation was the most profound, was also quite surprised.
They, the Shrek Team, had worked themselves to the bone, relying on a large number of rare and precious medicines to complete an Eleven-in-One Martial Spirit Fusion Skill, but now they were witnessing another Group Martial Spirit Fusion Skill.
The integration process has just involved at least fifteen people, Issei far surpasses their previous accomplishments.
Countless vines surged from the tree trunk like a swarm of snakes, binding the stunned Shrek members tightly before dragging them toward the tree.
Tang San, who was the first to react, hesitated for a moment, glancing at Dragon Duke Meng Shu, and the others who were eyeing him menacingly. In the end, he did not choose to resist and let the vines bind him and drag him over.
Meanwhile, seeing that the Shrek group was quite sensible, Suosite and the others rushed towards the tree. When they got close, the tree trunk, which was ten feet in diameter, suddenly split open with a downward-sloping crack.
Indeed, even after creating such a giant tree, Little Nine still felt uneasy. He dug hundreds of feet deep into the ground using the tree roots before feeling a little more at ease, and he is still continuing to dig deeper.
"Who are those people...?"
The Shrek Devils, who were hanging on the tree trunk, also saw the black-clad men attacking on flying Soul Beast. Especially after sensing the powerful aura that the men were not hiding, their expressions turned very ugly.
They weren't stupid; they understood that no force in the world could field hundreds of Titled Douluo- level experts at once, even if these individuals were only at the initial stage of the Titled Douluo realm.
In other words, these people must come from multiple different factions.
Once this is understood, it's not hard to guess the identities and origins of these people. They must have been sent by a powerful family, sect, noble family, and wealthy family, and their target is clearly the Plant Academy.
Unfortunately, Shrek also belongs to the aristocratic families, clans, and wealthy clans.
In this way, the hostility and murderous intent of Dragon Duke and others towards them can be explained.
This made Tang San and the others feel extremely ashamed. Although they were unaware of the attack, they were still implicated.
How could they, with their pride and arrogance, possibly accept using such despicable means to eliminate their rivals?
However, they were also extremely helpless, because they were not in power behind the scenes and had neither the right nor the ability to stop such behavior.
The men in black who had attacked felt utterly bewildered as they looked at the Shrek members who had fallen onto the tree trunk.
They naturally knew the identities of the Shrek Team members; they were the chosen ones in their camp, their future, and even had the potential to become gods.
It would be a huge loss if these prodigies were to perish here, especially the few Titled Douluo who were leading them.
Because Tang San and the others came from their sect and family, if anything happened to Tang San, their ancestors would never let them off the hook.
Because of this, none of them dared to make a move rashly, otherwise, if a fight broke out, Tang San and the others would inevitably be hurt.
It should be understood that although these aristocratic families, clans, noble families, and wealthy clans have formed an alliance, it is only a fragile one. Given the opportunity, they would not hesitate to stab their current allies in the back.
Eliminating the opponent's rising stars is undoubtedly an effective and cost-effective tactic.
It can be said that the plan Suosite provided to Little Nine to take Shrek hostage was incredibly wise, hitting the black-clad men's Achilles' heel immediately.
The attackers' silence further confirmed Tang San and the others' identities and fueled their anger.