A Complete Success
By the time Xu De and the others finally arrived, several battles had already taken place, leaving the surrounding area in shambles.
In front of a cave hidden in the rock face, two Soul Douluo led more than thirty Soul Engineers in a circular formation. In the front row, Beast Martial Soul and Tool Martial Soul Masters with stronger defenses held shield-shaped Soul Tools to block the enemy Soul Masters' attacks.
In the rear, Soul Masters with stronger offensive abilities attacked with cannon- and gun-shaped Soul Tools, while support-type Soul Masters provided support from the very back.
Facing them was a massive wolf with rift-gold scales along its back and limbs so thick they were almost deformed-a sixty-thousand-year-old Rift Wind Demon Wolf. Its body was covered in wounds. When it saw Xu De and the others, it threw back its head and howled before charging again. But just as it was about to break through, four figures struck together and forced it back once more.
The two in the lead were naturally the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Douluo. Of the other two, one was an old man who looked to be around sixty and stood about 1.8 meters tall. In his right hand, he gripped a two-meter-long scepter entwined by a long, silver-white dragon. The other was an elderly woman who held a Serpent Cane like Meng Yiran's.
The two were the Peerless Dragon Snake: Dragon Duke Meng Shu and Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang. Neither was in particularly good shape, especially Chao Tianxiang. She was only a Soul Emperor; if she and Meng Shu hadn't been able to use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, she wouldn't even have been qualified to take part in a battle like this.
Flying Feather Douluo and Wild Bull Douluo naturally wouldn't stand by and watch. They swiftly joined the battle and took out their Soul Tools. Flying Feather Douluo's Soul Tool was called Gale Blade Feather; wearing it allowed him to better control the direction of his attacks and strengthen the power of his flying feathers.
The Soul Tool on Wild Bull Douluo's hands was called Mountain-Shaking Heavy Peak. It could boost his defense and increase the force of his blows when he struck an enemy.
Both were level-eight gauntlet-type Soul Tools.
The Rift Wind Demon Wolf clearly hadn't expected the two newcomers to both be Titled Douluo. In the earlier fighting, the humans before it had been able to hurt it, but they had only inflicted inconsequential minor wounds. As a result, the Rift Wind Demon Wolf underestimated Wild Bull Douluo's strength.
Rather than dodge, it met Wild Bull Douluo head-on. Wild Bull Douluo unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar, and, empowered by Mountain-Shaking Heavy Peak, his first Soul Skill, Savage Bull Heavy Punch, slammed into the Rift Wind Demon Wolf's forepaw.
There was a muffled bang, followed by a cracking sound from the Rift Wind Demon Wolf's forepaw, while Wild Bull Douluo remained completely unscathed. The Rift Wind Demon Wolf realized something was wrong. Wind gathered into a ball in its mouth, and after a long howl, the ball grew larger still and blasted toward Wild Bull Douluo.
But Wild Bull Douluo paid the attack no mind. He threw out two energy-storage beads, destroying the wind ball outright, then used the smoke screen created by the blast to charge up to the Rift Wind Demon Wolf.
The Rift Wind Demon Wolf clearly hadn't expected Wild Bull Douluo to ignore its attack entirely. Caught off guard, it let Wild Bull Douluo break through to its side with ease.
"You little bastard, open your fucking mouth!" Wild Bull Douluo roared and unleashed his ninth Soul Skill. His arms swelled in an instant, and earthy yellow stripes appeared along his blood vessels. The Rift Wind Demon Wolf's teeth couldn't hurt him at all. He forcibly wrenched its jaws open, leaving it trapped in place and unable to break free for the moment.
Flying Feather Douluo, who had been gathering strength for some time, naturally wouldn't waste the opportunity. More than thirty dark green feathers condensed around him shot forward. The Rift Wind Demon Wolf's mouth, limbs, abdomen, and even its dick were sliced into a bloody mess, exposing stark white bone.
If its earlier injuries had been no more than flesh wounds, the Rift Wind Demon Wolf's defenses had now been completely broken. The blood loss alone would slowly bleed it to death.
The Soul Engineer corps naturally wouldn't let this chance slip by. They had finished charging, and a full eight level-seven Soul Cannons fired at once, pouring cannon fire into the Rift Wind Demon Wolf's mouth, abdomen, back, and other parts of its body.
One shot even entered its asshole? Xu De and Meng Yiran couldn't help looking in that direction. They saw Yu Xiaogang staring fiercely at the Rift Wind Demon Wolf's asshole, his face twisted. In his eyes were the satisfaction of a great vengeance fulfilled and a trace of despair at having lost everything.
Xu De lowered his gaze and saw blood slowly trickling between Gangzi's legs beneath his robe. It seemed little Gangzi really was gone. Beside him, the middle-aged Soul Master dressed in pink, his fingers held in an orchid gesture, was gently stroking Gangzi's back with a look of pity.
The Rift Wind Demon Wolf let out a mournful howl and fell heavily to the ground. Flying Feather Douluo rushed into the demon wolf's den ahead of Wild Bull Douluo, and before long he came dashing out with delight on his face. "Your Highness, we found the Soul Bone! We found the grass you wanted too! There are also a few little wolves around a thousand years old inside."
Hearing Flying Feather Douluo's words, Xu De breathed a long sigh of relief. They had finally found the most important target, and the Rift Wind Demon Wolf was also a top-tier Soul Beast, just right for his Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon's First Soul Ring.
"A Soul Bone! Another Soul Bone!" Back at the Rift Wind Demon Wolf's body, Wild Bull Douluo, who had been a step too slow, could only take up the job of dissecting the corpse. To his surprise, there really was a Soul Bone, and it was a torso bone at that.
At those words, Flying Feather Douluo was the first to lose his composure. He didn't have a single Soul Bone, and the Rift Wind Demon Wolf's wind attribute was compatible with him as well. If he could obtain it, with the boost from breaking through to level ninety-one Soul Power and the Soul Bone's enhancement, he would no longer have to rank at the bottom among Titled Douluo.
Seeing the yearning on Flying Feather Douluo's face, Xu De naturally wouldn't be stingy. He had no interest in Soul Bones under a hundred thousand years old, and the wind attribute was incompatible with Xu Tianxing. Giving it to Flying Feather would not only make him more loyal, but also show Xu De's subordinates the rewards of working hard and risking their lives.
"Congratulations, Elder Flying Feather. With this Soul Bone, your strength will increase greatly!" After speaking, Xu De looked at Wild Bull Douluo, whose face was full of envy, and naturally wouldn't favor one over the other.
"As for that torso bone from Tang Hao, let's give it to Elder Wild Bull!" It wasn't that he wouldn't save it for Xu Tianxing. The main reason was that Xu Tianxing already had a Torso Soul Bone, and it was quite old and compatible with his attribute. Once he returned to the Sun Moon Empire, obtaining another Soul Bone through his merits was a nail already hammered into the board.
After hearing this, Wild Bull Douluo and Flying Feather Douluo both knelt on both knees, placed their right hands over their chests, and held their backs ramrod straight, performing a standard noble salute.
"We both came from minor noble families. His Majesty favored and promoted us, and afterward Lord Tianxing and the empress cared for us. Today, Your Highness has bestowed such favor upon us as well. I, Flying Feather, and I, Wild Bull, swear to serve His Highness the Crown Prince unto death from this day forward!"
Xu De hurriedly helped them both up, unable to suppress the delight on his face. "Elders, you're too kind. If I, Xu De, successfully ascend the throne in the future, you two shall be made princes!"
To the side, the Peerless Dragon Snake felt somewhat awkward. After all, they were the only two outsiders there-oh, and Meng Yiran too. But clearly, neither Xu De nor Meng Yiran herself considered her an outsider.
"Senior, both of you, thank you for your help this time. If you're willing to join the Sun Moon Empire, I'm prepared to grant each of you the title of Earl!"
In truth, he really wasn't making empty promises. The promises he made had to do with the situation within the Sun Moon Empire.
The Sun Moon Emperor had not ascended the throne in the usual way. He had succeeded in taking the crown through a coup and a war. On top of that, the current campaign against the two Douluo empires had greatly expanded their territory. As a result, the Sun Moon Empire had few nobles, and titles had become the most commonly bestowed reward.
Heaven Dou and the Star Luo Empire were different. They had been established for far too long, and with no major internal wars, their nobility had reached saturation. Ordinary titles were one thing, but titles of such high nobility naturally couldn't be handed out indiscriminately.
Meng Shu and Chao Tianxiang exchanged a glance, delight showing on both their faces. They had intervened this time with the intention of building a good relationship with the Sun Moon Empire in the first place. After all, in their eyes, the two great empires were clearly inferior to the Sun Moon Empire. They had no idea that Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect still had more than ten Titled Douluo hidden away.
"Our Peerless Dragon Snake family is willing to join the Sun Moon Empire and pledge loyalty to Your Highness!"