A massive rumbling sound traveled along the ground. The noise seemed to take on a physical form, causing everything in the stone chamber to tremble continuously.
But Lin Xiao knew that it was merely an illusion. What truly caused the shaking wasn't the sound itself, but the attacks coming from above the surface.
Looking up, he saw the soul lamps hanging overhead swaying violently. The gray candle flames inside were extinguishing one after another, signifying the deaths of Holy Spirit Cult disciples.
At this moment, the front lines should still be in the middle of the gambling match against Shrek Academy. Such large-scale deaths among the Holy Spirit Cult disciples were unlikely to be caused by the battlefield or any operation.
His thoughts raced, and Lin Xiao instantly understood. It was Xu Tianran—he had taken action against the Holy Spirit Cult.
An attack capable of causing such intense tremors was no ordinary method; it had to be high-grade fixed soul cannons.
Xu Tianran was truly willing to pay the price. To eliminate the Holy Spirit Cult, he had even deployed fixed soul cannons.
While Lin Xiao was pondering, the entire stone chamber shook violently once more. Another attack landed, and cracks had already spread across the surrounding stone walls, on the verge of collapse.
Lin Xiao glanced back at the statue of the Holy Emperor, now covered in fissures. With a sweep of his wide sleeve, he collected all the soul lamps in the chamber. Then, in a single step, he rushed toward the stone chamber's door.
Boom—
The instant Lin Xiao left, the statue of the Holy Emperor collapsed with a thunderous crash. The entire stone chamber, as if having lost its last support, was completely buried under earth and stone by the fixed soul cannon's assault.
Space fluctuated slightly, and Lin Xiao's figure appeared in the passageway. The ground beneath his feet was already covered in fallen sand and soil. Dust flew everywhere, and the smell of earth filled his nose.
Lin Xiao's expression changed abruptly.
This chamber that housed the Holy Emperor's statue was far sturdier than other parts of the Holy Spirit Cult headquarters. Only after leaving it did Lin Xiao realize that the attacks raining down on the headquarters far exceeded his expectations.
To deal with the Holy Spirit Cult, Xu Tianran had gone so far as to use ninth-grade fixed soul cannons—and not just one.
Lin Xiao sighed inwardly. The Holy Spirit Cult had helped Xu Tianran and his son seize the throne, and later assisted Xu Tianran in securing his position as crown prince. Zhong Liwu had schemed countless times, yet he never expected that before the Holy Spirit Cult could make a move, Xu Tianran would betray them first.
With this turn of events, even if Shrek Academy's people hadn't arrived early, the Holy Spirit Cult disciples remaining at headquarters would likely find it impossible to survive under ninth-grade soul cannons.
Boom—
The ground shook again. The third massive explosion rang almost directly beside Lin Xiao's ears. Above him, the earth seemed to collapse at that moment. Large chunks of rock and soil fell onto him, only to be deflected by the soul power around his body.
Staying here any longer would only get him buried alive.
The thought flashed through Lin Xiao's mind. His cloak billowed, and the River of the Underworld Embrace on his body lit up. Dark red light flowed along the hidden patterns on its surface.
At the same time, soul cannon after soul cannon appeared out of thin air beside him. The hazy glow they emitted was faintly connected with the dark red patterns on the River of the Underworld Embrace.
In the next instant, dazzling light condensed at the cannon muzzles. All the soul cannons seemed to merge into one unified whole. With a deafening roar, a beam of light shot upward from beneath the ground.
Above ground, the Evil Demon Forest had been completely transformed. Under the bombardment of three ninth-grade fixed soul cannons, half the forest had been leveled flat. The Holy Spirit Cult headquarters had long been buried, no longer recognizable.
Outside the forest, a fully armed army was steadily advancing, on high alert for any evil soul masters attempting to flee from the woods.
"Everyone, stay alert!"
At the front of the army, Sun Moon Empire Prince Xu Tianyun, clad in bright yellow armor, raised his right arm. The troops behind him received the order and spread out to both sides, gradually encircling the Evil Demon Forest.
At that moment, a dark red beam of light burst out from underground. The next instant, everyone saw a gray figure shoot into the sky and stand suspended in midair.
"By His Highness's command: leave no survivors! Everyone, attack immediately!"
As the command fell, countless beams of light in various colors streaked toward the figure in the sky.
Lin Xiao had used the Array Floating Cannon to blast open the ground in one strike. But the moment he soared into the air, he felt a twitch between his brows. His body's instincts continuously warned him of danger.
Turning around, he saw over a thousand figures densely packed on the eastern side of the Evil Demon Forest. Every one of them held soul tools aimed directly at him, their muzzles already glowing with blinding light.
Xu Tianran truly intended to pursue and kill without mercy.
The thought crossed his mind. Lin Xiao only had time for a rough glance at the surrounding environment before he was completely engulfed by the barrage of soul tool attacks.
Xu Tianyun watched the figure in the air, his brows slightly furrowed.
Logically speaking, the force he led was the strongest of the Sun Moon Empire's four Beast Lord-ranked soul engineer legions, the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion. Even a Titled Douluo would not emerge unscathed from such an assault.
Yet in his perception, the aura of the person in the air showed no fluctuation whatsoever—as if the legion's attacks hadn't touched him at all.
"Cease fire!"
A trace of unease flashed through his mind. Xu Tianyun raised his hand to halt the soul engineer legion's bombardment.
As the light in the sky dissipated, Xu Tianyun's expression changed drastically.
There was no longer any sign of the figure from moments ago. Instead, a large door had appeared at some unknown point. The legion's attacks poured through the door and were exiled to who-knows-where, without a single strike landing on that person.
Although the Netherworld Plane had already been absorbed by Lin Xiao, rendering the Gate of the Dead unable to lead to the Netherworld Plane or directly summon the undead, it remained highly effective as a defensive measure.
Even though the soul engineer legion's attacks were numerous, as long as they did not exceed the Gate of the Dead's endurance limit, none of them could reach Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked down at the army below. The style of the equipment they wore was not unfamiliar to him; he could even tell that the materials of those soul tools were not common single metals.
The alloy technology he had first proposed had, unexpectedly, ended up being used against him.
After scanning the area, a sense of something wrong rose in his heart. The Evil Demon Forest housed more than just the Holy Spirit Cult. The Evileye Tyrant Emperor, ranked second among the Ten Great Savage Beasts, was also here. Yet despite the ninth-grade fixed soul cannons ravaging the Evil Demon Forest, it hadn't made the slightest movement.
Had it secretly reached some deal with Xu Tianran? Or had something else happened?
Lin Xiao had no way of knowing, nor did he have time to think further. At this moment, he still had to face the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion, the foremost of the Sun Moon Empire's four Beast Lord-ranked soul engineer legions.
Gazing from afar at the black mass of troops in the distance, two gray soul rings slowly pulsed around Lin Xiao. Behind him, Electrolux's figure appeared incredibly solid. With a wave of the long staff in his hand, the two gray soul rings lit up in succession.
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