In the Sun Moon Empire, west of the Jingyang Mountain Range and a thousand miles north of the Mingdu, lies the largest primeval forest within the empire's borders— the Evil Demon Forest.
This place is shrouded in a faint gray mist all year round, with deep forests, teeming with Soul Beast, and extremely dangerous.
Its name comes from the fact that deep in the forest dwells an absolute powerhouse in the Soul Beast Realm — the Evil Eye Tyrant, ranked second among the Ten Great Ferocious Beast!
That was a terrifying being who once challenged the Beast God Di Tian, and although he was defeated, he was able to retreat unscathed; his strength was unfathomable.
Because of these Ferocious Beast, the depths of the Evil Demon Forest are rarely visited by humans and are considered a forbidden zone for Life.
However, very few people know that deep beneath this perilous forest lies a vast gathering place for human Soul Master.
That place is precisely the old stronghold of the Holy Spirit Cult, which has been operating there for thousands of years!
The Holy Spirit Cult, at some unknown cost and in some unknown way, reached a non-aggression pact with that Evil Eye Tyrant, thus allowing it to safely establish its headquarters in such a dangerous location.
Its secrecy is unparalleled, no wonder that few people have been able to discover it over the past thousand years.
On this day, the Holy Spirit Cult's Third Elder Nether Thunder Douluo, returned to the surface from that oppressive and gloomy underground base, a rare occurrence.
Being constantly in the dark underground, even with his profound cultivation, he felt like his whole body was about to mold.
Breathing in the forest air, filled with the scent of grass and earth, and feeling the warm Yangguang filtering through the layers of leaves, he couldn't help but stretch his limbs. It felt... wonderful.
However, this brief moment of comfort froze the moment he subconsciously looked up at the sky!
Through the gaps in the dense canopy of trees, he was astonished to discover that, in addition to the real sun hanging high in the sky, there were several extremely dazzling "mini suns"!
They were tearing through the sky at incredible speed, trailing brilliant yet deadly tails, hurtling towards the area where he was!
"That's...?!"
The relaxation on Nether Thunder Douluo's face vanished instantly, replaced by extreme shock and disbelief!
Before he fell into the clutches of Evil Soul Master, he was a genius Soul Engineer of the Sun Moon Empire.
He instantly recognized that it was not the sun at all, but a powerful long-range Fixed Soul Cannon Shell!
Moreover, judging from its terrifying power and energy level, it is by no means an ordinary item; it is very likely a level eight, or even a level nine, terrifying weapon!
What terrified him even more was that the trajectories of these shells ultimately landed right in the area beneath his feet—the headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult!
"Enemy attack--!!!"
The Nether Thunder Douluo let out a heart-wrenching roar, his voice booming like thunder, instantly echoing across half the forest and penetrating the soil, frantically warning the underground base!
At the same time, his dark Soul Power suddenly erupted, and he transformed into a black lightning bolt, rushing away into the distance at an extremely fast speed.
Even though he was Titled Douluo, he wouldn't dare to face an attack from Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell.
At that very moment, the enormous Soul Cannon, radiating a blazing red light, descended like a meteor from the sky.
"BOOM!!!"
The explosion of the first Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell was not the end, but rather the prelude to a symphony of Destruction!
Following closely behind, the second, the third...
At least five Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell, each possessing earth-shattering power, were fired in succession with precision at the area where the Holy Spirit Cult headquarters was located!
"BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!"
The continuous, terrifying explosions piled up, as if to tear the entire Evil Demon Forest apart from the continental plate!
The terrifyingly high temperature instantly vaporized everything in the Core Zone of the explosion—rock, soil, and even the solid dome structure of the Holy Spirit Cult headquarters!
The blinding white light engulfed everything, making it impossible to look directly at it.
Immediately following, even more violent and ferocious shockwaves spread outwards and overlapped wildly, like concentric circles!
They no longer simply flatten trees, but act like invisible, Destruction plows, scraping away a layer of the earth's surface!
The ancient tree wasn't uprooted; it was torn into the finest fragments the instant it came into contact with the shockwave, and then ignited by the high temperature, turning into ashes!
Although Nether Thunder Douluo had tried his best to escape the innermost blast radius, he was still relentlessly pursued by the shockwave that was powerful enough to shake mountains.
He felt as if he had been repeatedly struck by an invisible giant hammer. His protective Soul Power instantly collapsed, and blood gushed from his mouth as if it were free. His internal organs seemed to have shifted out of place.
But he still dared not linger, forcibly gathering his Soul Power and continuing to fly forward, because the roaring sound behind him continued.
It flew for another tens of kilometers until the earth-shattering roar gradually faded in its ears, turning into a muffled echo in the distance, before the Nether Thunder Douluo dared to stop.
He turned around abruptly, and what came into view was the huge mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke that was still rolling, expanding, and shooting straight into the sky above the Evil Demon Forest in the distance!
The gray-black and dark red hues intertwined, like the gaping maw of a demon, devouring the light of the sky and exuding a suffocating aura of death.
Even from such a distance, the occasional flickering arcs of residual energy within the cloud still sent shivers down his spine.
"Whoosh--woo--!"
The residual force of the weakened but still powerful shockwaves spread out in circles like a belated sigh of death, stirring up dust and fallen leaves, making his tattered robes flutter and his long hair fly wildly.
Nether Thunder Douluo's face was as pale as paper, devoid of any color, his blood and qi churning within him, and fresh blood continuously spilling from the corners of his mouth.
He endured the excruciating pain within his body and the trembling from the depths of his soul, and suddenly rose higher, ascending upwards to gain a wider view.
As he hovered high in the sky and looked once again at that familiar forest area, the sight before him made his blood almost freeze instantly!
What appeared to be the once lush and verdant Evil Demon Forest was now a huge, charred, and bottomless terrifying scar!
The mushroom cloud was slowly dissipating, but the giant crater was clearly imprinted on the earth, like a wound brutally pounded by a god with a giant pestle.
Centered on the giant pit, the area within a radius of several miles has become an absolutely desolate scorched earth.
All the trees, hills, rivers... everything vanished!
All that remains is a desolate and broken landscape, a hellish wasteland left behind after being repeatedly ravaged by high temperatures and shockwaves.
Even the Holy Spirit Cult headquarters, located hundreds of meters underground, was completely wiped off this land in that brief moment of intense white light and Destruction roar!
"Gone... all gone..."
Nether Thunder Douluo muttered to himself absentmindedly, his body trembling uncontrollably. It wasn't because of his injuries, but because of the fear and despair deep within his soul.
He never imagined that the headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult would be Destruction in this way!
Those who can mobilize these Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell are undoubtedly the high-ranking officials of the Sun Moon Empire.
However, while the relationship between their Holy Spirit Cult and the Sun Moon Empire wasn't exactly harmonious, they weren't enemies either. He truly couldn't understand why the Sun Moon Empire would resort to such ruthless methods.
After a brief period of shock and fear, Nether Thunder felt mostly relieved to have escaped unscathed.
However, as he gradually calmed down, he began to think about what to do next.
Although the headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult has been Destruction, it does not mean that the Holy Spirit Cult has been completely Destruction.
Currently, neither the leader nor the vice leader, nor even the two supreme elders, are at headquarters.
As long as these true leaders of the church remain, the Holy Spirit Cult will one day "rise again".
However, this time their Holy Spirit Cult did indeed suffer heavy casualties, with four of the eight elders and five of the twelve honorees dying.
Nearly half of the high-ranking members of the Holy Spirit Cult above the Titled Douluo were wiped out, not to mention those genius Evil Soul Master who were considered the future of the Holy Spirit Cult.
With a gloomy expression, Nether Thunder Douluo took one last look at the ravaged Evil Demon Forest in the distance before turning and flying towards Mingdu.
He needs to contact the followers outside as soon as possible and inform the leader and even the Supreme Elder about what has happened here!