Huo Yuhao immediately released his Thunderous Nether Vine soul spirit, forming a dense, impenetrable thunder web around the three of them.
A faint anger quickly crept onto the Snow Empress's pretty face.
She was just looking for a place to vent her frustration. Who was it that sent a pillow when she was feeling sleepy?
"Don't be impulsive!" Huo Yuhao's expression changed. His Spiritual Detection rapidly spread throughout the entire Cold Spring, and a bad premonition instantly welled up in his heart.
In front of them, something seemed to be scattered all over the ground, flashing with a faint red light.
"What is that?" Nan Shuishui was greatly surprised. She had never seen other unknown objects exist in the depths of this lifeless Cold Spring.
Huo Yuhao's shared Spiritual Detection immediately gave him the answer. Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen a pig run.
"Stationary Soul Cannon Shells!"
Seeing the red lights flashing with increasing frequency, Huo Yuhao and the others had no time to communicate. The divine skill that had saved his life many times—Kamui—was instantly and resolutely activated!
Rumble...
A series of violent explosions instantly turned the entire Cold Spring upside down. Even the Heavenly Dragon Gate's location, far opposite Dragon City, felt the violent tremors from the earth.
Because Huo Yuhao had teleported the Snow Empress and Nan Shuishui in first, he, who was bringing up the rear, was inevitably hit by the violent impact of the explosion. The Thunderous Nether Vine was instantly shattered to pieces.
Huo Yuhao couldn't care about the consumption. He activated his Ice Empress's Protection and Immortal Spirit Wood Shield in tandem.
Even so, when Huo Yuhao escaped into the otherworldly space, his back had already been blasted into a bloody mess.
No matter how strong his spiritual power was, it wasn't of much use against inanimate objects like stationary soul cannon shells.
"Oh, my back... my back..."
As Huo Yuhao endured the severe pain, he didn't forget to make a failed lame joke in a cutesy voice.
It seemed that whether it was Huo Gua or himself, this body was doomed to suffer a severe blow to the back.
"Yuhao!"
The Snow Empress immediately rushed over upon seeing this. She supported Huo Yuhao with one hand and condensed her ultimate cold soul power with the other to stop the bleeding from his wound.
A towering rage instantly swept through the entire otherworldly space. The Snow Empress threw all previous matters to the back of her mind. She had only one thought now: to make the one who had harmed Huo Yuhao pay the price!
Nan Shuishui's face changed drastically. The current Snow Empress was no ordinary Ultimate Douluo. That killing intent, which had almost condensed into a physical substance, was by no means something she could withstand.
At the same time, she also understood the weight Huo Yuhao held in the heart of this leader of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North.
She had initially thought that Huo Yuhao, as the rumors said, had a close cooperation with the soul beasts. Now it seemed that their relationship was far more than what it appeared on the surface.
While the Snow Empress was furious, wasn't Huo Yuhao himself feeling aggrieved? He had clearly kept an eye out, but the opponent had unexpectedly used soul cannon shells, the one method that could effectively deal with him, against him.
Huo Yuhao immediately used the backup plan he had left behind. Before entering the Cold Spring, he had cast a wisp of wood-attribute soul power onto the ground. It was the innate ability of the Ten Thousand Demon King's true form, the Demon Eye Demon Tree, which could grow a seedling of the Demon Eye Demon Tree in the place where the soul power was left, which could be used for observation and reconnaissance.
In a short while, Huo Yuhao's eyes suddenly turned cold.
"The entrance to the Cold Spring is surrounded by heavily armed troops."
As soon as these words were spoken, Nan Shuishui's face instantly turned deathly pale.
Huo Yuhao was someone she had invited with the underground treasure of her entire sect. Other foolish people who didn't understand the situation had actually colluded with the warlord army to frame him. Weren't they digging their own graves?
Seeing her expression, Huo Yuhao instantly understood her thoughts.
"Don't worry about it. Your sect has a traitor. In the future, you should still use some iron-fisted methods. Womanly kindness can't manage a sect well." Huo Yuhao said with a wave of his hand.
"I'm just very curious. In the current continent, who on earth still dares to make a move against me." Huo Yuhao became interested. If it were some of the generals under Marshal Xie Long, who were dissatisfied with him creating a people-centric country, it would be understandable. The key was the source of those stationary soul cannon shells, which was worth investigating.
Huo Yuhao didn't believe that the old powerful nobles of the former Heavenly Soul Empire could get their hands on so many advanced stationary soul cannon shells so quickly.
"Hao, let's go up and see." Die Qiu, who had been staying in the otherworldly space, also had an unhappy expression.
Huo Yuhao nodded and controlled the otherworldly space to move upwards. Soon, they saw nearly a thousand well-equipped soldiers in battle formation at the entrance of the Cold Spring, surrounding the collapsed entrance layer by layer.
In their hands, Huo Yuhao could see many soul tool weapons that he couldn't name.
Had the Sun Moon Empire begun to infiltrate the chaotic Heavenly Soul Empire?
After much thought, Huo Yuhao could only think of this one possibility. Then, his gaze rested on a few people dressed in Earth Dragon Gate attire in the center of the army.
One of them was, shockingly, the Deacon Xu whom he had met not long ago.
"What's the background of this Deacon Xu?" Huo Yuhao turned his head and asked Nan Shuishui.
"He joined the sect ten years ago and became an inner sect deacon because of his outstanding contributions. He also has a son named Xu Shenshu, who is one of the core members of our Earth Dragon Gate's team for the tournament in Ming Dou a year from now." Nan Shuishui explained.
Oh, that mob character... Huo Yuhao was about to observe a little longer, but the Snow Empress beside him could no longer sit still.
The killing intent on her body had completely solidified. Seeing her like this, Huo Yuhao had no choice but to swallow the words of persuasion that were on the tip of his tongue.
"Let's go. We're going out."
Just as these thousand or so soldiers were on high alert, an extreme cold, carrying an endless killing intent, suddenly descended—
"Die—"
The Snow Empress fully displayed her strength as the leader of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North. With a single move, she turned a ten-li radius into a world of ice and snow. The soul tools engraved with core formations were instantly frozen and directly scrapped.
Seeing this scene, Huo Yuhao's eyes couldn't help but light up. The core formations of these soul tools were all made of rare metals. If it's metal, it's susceptible to extreme cold. It seemed he would have to consult the Snow Empress about this in the future.
"It's... the Snow Empress!"
The faces of the few leading officers changed dramatically. Didn't the Snow Empress go down with Huo Yuhao? How could she suddenly appear in the sky?
But they no longer had any medicine for regret. How could they, with their low cultivation, be a match for the Snow Empress? The extreme cold not only froze their bodies but also completely ended their lives.
They dared to plot against me with this level of skill? Huo Yuhao was baffled. Should he say there were too many fools in this world, or that his prestige was not enough?
"No, don't kill me!" That Deacon Xu retreated repeatedly, shouting in a terrified manner, "Gate Master Nan, Qiūqiū, Qiūqiū is still in our hands!"
"What did you say?" Nan Shuishui, who was on the side, was instantly frightened out of her wits.
"Where is she?" The reason the Snow Empress hadn't frozen him directly just now was to leave a living mouth. She hadn't expected the other party to have actually taken a hostage as a way out.
"If you let me go, I will return her to you afterwards!" Deacon Xu was also cunning. He knew that with Huo Yuhao present, rescuing a hostage would be a piece of cake, so he had arranged for someone to take Nan Qiūqiū away in advance.
"Do you think I'll fall for that?" Huo Yuhao frowned. He didn't want to be led by the nose by the other party and asked, "How did you know my identity? Why did you want to harm me?"
"It... it was the news that came back from the Proud Sword Sect..." Deacon Xu answered in a panic. "It said that the Demon King had returned to the Earth Dragon Gate at the invitation of the Gate Master, so I was only following..."
Sizzle—
Just then, a bolt of lightning struck Deacon Xu's head without any warning, blasting it to pieces.
"Holy Son, it has been a long time."
The aged voice made Huo Yuhao's heart tremble. He had heard this voice in the Holy Spirit Cult back then, but he didn't know its identity.
Three figures appeared in the sky without any warning. They were all dressed in large black robes, their faces hidden.
"Shuishui, you are still as beautiful as ever." One of the black-robed men cast his gaze on Nan Shuishui and said with emotion.
"It's you..." Nan Shuishui cried out in disbelief. She recognized the owner of this aged voice. It was the evil soul master rival in love who had assassinated Nan Qiūqiū's father back then, who was now the Third Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult.
When Huo Yuhao had escaped from the Holy Spirit Cult back then, although he had successfully controlled all the members of the Holy Spirit Cult, not all the high-level members of the Holy Spirit Cult were in their lair.
"Third Elder, Nether Thunder Douluo?" Huo Yuhao's expression turned slightly grave. This old fellow wasn't even a Super Douluo, yet he dared to appear before him?
"The Holy Son has a good memory." The Third Elder chuckled and immediately threw back the hood on his head, revealing an aged and sinister face.
"You've come to my doorstep on your own, which saves me the trouble."
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly. He clearly didn't think the Third Elder could pose any threat to him. He could even have his Thunderous Nether Vine torture and kill him, even if he was an evil soul master Titled Douluo.
"The Holy Son has not yet reached the Soul Sage cultivation level, yet he can easily defeat the Body Douluo and remain unscathed in the explosion of ten level-eight stationary soul cannon shells. Truly a formidable junior." The leading black-robed man praised.
Huo Yuhao's heart trembled. Yes, it was this voice, the voice Huo Yuhao had heard before. His status in the Holy Spirit Cult was extremely high, no less than that of the Hierophant Zhongli Wu.
The aura he emitted was a bit unstable, clearly a sign of an impending breakthrough. He was shockingly a level ninety-eight Super Douluo of the same level as Zhongli Wu, with one foot already in the realm of an Ultimate Douluo.
"Presumably, you are the elusive Great Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, right?"
Huo Yuhao already had some guesses in his heart. However, even if he was an Ultimate Douluo, the current him could still contend with him without borrowing external force.
The reason he had been able to crush the Dragon God Douluo three years ago was because the Ten Thousand Demon King had digested a large amount of Jade Scaled Nine Ultimates Flower, causing his soul power to overflow, which had allowed him to use his Martial Soul True Body.
And the Snow Empress beside him was at the quasi-god level, so there was naturally no need to fear these two Holy Spirit Cult elders.
"It is indeed this old man." The Great Elder did not deny it but did not lift his hood either.
"Whether it is this old man or Nether Thunder, we both know that we are no match for the Holy Son and the Snow Empress."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but cast his gaze on the last black-robed man. He couldn't even feel this person's life fluctuations.
"Therefore, to take down the Holy Son, we had no choice but to invite our cult's Holy Emperor!"
"May the Holy Emperor live for ten thousand years!"
Huo Yuhao's heart tightened. He had not expected this Holy Emperor to actually exist in the world, and to have come before him!
This person was definitely an Ultimate Douluo at the quasi-god level!
The black-robed man who had been silent all along suddenly smiled, but his voice sounded very young.
"Demon King Huo Yuhao, the Child of Fortune of Douluo. If you can truly be used by me, it would be a blessing for our cult."
After speaking, his hands extended from his sleeves, but they looked slightly illusory.
On the palm of his right hand, a touch of blue light suddenly appeared, and dark blue vines grew out crazily. It was surprisingly the same Dark Blue Silver Grass as Tang Ya's.
And in the palm of his left hand floated a dark black hammer. This hammer was not unfamiliar to Huo Yuhao. Tang Wutong had used it quite a bit in the tournament three years ago. It was precisely the continent's number one tool martial soul, the Clear Sky Hammer.
Twenty hundred-thousand-year soul rings, exuding a dazzling red light, quietly rose up in everyone's sight, dyeing the entire Earth Dragon Gate a blood-red color.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao's face changed in utter horror!