Chapter 545.3. Merfolk's Blessing

Sea God’s Descent? Is she actually a god? This soul skill is too strong. Even though Tang Wutong’s soul ring turned grey after unleashing that soul skill, and she probably needed a lot of time to recover before being able to unleash it, it was their first time seeing a soul skill that was that powerful. What soul beast or Spirit could possibly give her such a soul ring?

Tang Wutong settled down in the underwater world and waited for Huo Yuhao’s meditation to end. Just as they were deep in the sea, a huge storm was brewing in the Sun Moon Empire.

The Imperial Palace of the Sun Moon Empire!

Xu Tianran was seated on his throne, and there was strong killing intent in his eyes. Hundreds of officials were kneeling down in front of him. The entire palace was filled with a tense atmosphere. No one even dared to breathe loudly.

“Are all of you aware? In just a short few days, a soul formation at the Ming Dou Mountain Range was attacked and destroyed. Following that, Oak City and Eastern Sun City were attacked and looted. The intelligence that we obtained has actually only indicated that the other party is a group of soul engineers. As for how many of them there were or what soul tools they used, it is unclear. Who can tell me where this soul engineer legion came from, and how they snuck into our borders? Or do they actually belong to us?”

Xu Tianran was shouting by the time he was finished. His furious roars echoed throughout the entire palace.

The officials were all terrified. They didn’t dare to say anything impulsive in front of Xu Tianran in his state of fury.

“Military Chief, tell me! What’s going on?” Xu Tianran glared at the Military Chief, who was standing in the front row.

The Military Chief was already more than sixty. He had no choice but to straighten his back and furrow his brow as he said, “Your Majesty, I’ve also been pondering this issue after receiving the news. It’s likely to be the work of those from the Star Luo Empire at the border of the Ming Dou Mountain Range. After all, it’s close to their empire. If they used some special method to hide from our aerial surveillance soul tools and launch an all-out assault, it’s possible for them to complete such an ambush.”

“Nonsense!” Xu Tianran roared, “Hide? How can they do that? You’re the Military Chief. Don’t you know how many aerial surveillance soul tools we have deployed at the border? This time, all our aerial surveillance soul tools were wiped clean. We’ve suffered heavy losses. The attack even came from within our territories, and not from the Ming Dou Mountain Range. You say it’s the work of the Star Luo Empire. Where’s the proof? Where is it? How many enemies were there?”

The Military Chief laughed bitterly. “That’s something I can’t understand either. To attack such a large-scale soul formation of ours, it’s important for them to be immensely strong. However, they didn’t leave any traces behind when our reinforcements arrived. The guards that survived the attack only claimed to have seen soul tools similar to our all-terrain self-driving forts. They were present in large numbers too. They overwhelmed us, which led to defeat. As for where those self-driving forts disappeared to, we are also unaware. As news was passed to Radiant City, the border troops deployed almost all our aerial surveillance soul tools to sweep the area, hoping to find where the problem was. However, we were disappointed. We didn’t find any clues. We only found possible traces that an army might have been stationed in a patch of forest. That’s all. Our enemies seem to have vanished into thin air.”

“What about Oak City and Eastern City? Did they also vanish into thin air?” Xu Tianran’s fury seemed to have been restrained a little.

The Military Chief said, “Given the current situation, I’m afraid that’s the case. We obtained more detailed intelligence from both cities. Oak City was also subjected to a similar attack. The enemy’s attack was simply too much for a city like Oak City to defend against. The city was quickly looted in a short period of time. Not long afterward, Eastern Sun City was attacked. However, the soul engineer legion that attacked Eastern Sun City didn’t use any self-driving forts. Rather, it was an elite, fully-equipped soul engineer legion. They were simply too strong. Even the two Titled Douluo from the Holy Ghost Church suffered at their hands. All our resources in the soul formation and warehouses in Eastern Sun City were completely looted.”

Xu Tianran’s breathing became heavier. He was panting in large breaths. Clearly, he was enraged.

Normally, he was able to control his emotions. However, how could he possibly remain calm after receiving so much bad news? The reason why he was furious was actually because he was terrified.

How could he tolerate someone else in his backyard? He didn’t even know the background of his enemies, and his empire had been subjected to such huge blows. It was very worrying for him.

Right now, the Sun Moon Empire was launching a very heavy assault on the three empires of the original Douluo Continent. At such a time, news of victory was spreading very quickly from the frontlines. Under Ju Zi’s leadership, the Sun Moon Empire relentlessly attacked the other territories and achieved success. This should be a period of success for the nation. However, news of instability was coming from the back end.

One, perhaps two, soul engineer legions had entered the empire. However, their aerial surveillance soul tools didn’t reveal anything. No one even knew how they had managed to sneak in. This soul engineer legion was extremely effective. Clearly, the empire was at great risk.

Under such a circumstance, Xu Tianran was even plagued by nightmares. How could he not be furious?

“Your Majesty!” An elder beside the Military Chief lifted his head. He was even older, perhaps around seventy. He was the Chief Minister, the head of all the Ministers.

“Chief Minister, please speak.” Xu Tianran was much more courteous towards this Chief Minister. Without his support, there was no way he could have stabilized his position as Emperor.

“Your Majesty, now is not the time to be angry. We need to find this group of enemies first and destroy them at all costs. That’s important to alleviate any worries at the frontlines.”

Xu Tianran nodded slightly. He was an anti-hero. Although things were disastrous at the back end, he didn’t think of pulling Ju Zi and the army back.

Currently, it was very possible that the soul engineer legion hailed from one of the three other empires on the Douluo Continent. He had already sent people to inform Ju Zi of what was happening, and find out whether there were any important legions that were missing at the front lines.

If this soul engineer legion came from one of the three empires and was sent into the Sun Moon Empire, their goal would be very easy to understand – restrain and destabilize the morale of the army at the front line. Once the Sun Moon Empire’s army retreated from the front line, the empire would have been tricked.

Xu Tianran gestured and said, “Everyone, rise. Prepare a seat for the Chief Minister.”

After hearing that his tone of voice was not as furious as it was before, all the officials secretly heaved a sigh of relief. The atmosphere in the palace also relaxed much more.

The Chief Minister didn’t stand on ceremony either. He had been through three Emperors, and was very well respected. As he sat and looked at the other officials, it seemed like he was looking down on them.

“What suggestions do you have?” Xu Tianran asked.

The Military Chief replied, “Given the current situation, we must first stabilize the north before getting rid of this group of thieves.”

Xu Tianran laughed bitterly. “These thieves have really captured the correct timing. This is when we are the emptiest inside. We’ve sent out most of our soul engineer legions for this war. Only the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion is stationed in Radiant City, as well as two other soul engineer legions defending more important sites. To counter a soul engineer legion, we need another soul engineer legion. We’re a little overwhelmed now!”

The Chief Minister said, “Desperate times call for desperate measures. I think we need to determine where this group of thieves are first before we can target them. When necessary, we should use our greatest strength.”

“No!” The Military Chief reacted anxiously after hearing that. “Your Majesty, Radiant City is the most important!”

The Chief Minister furrowed his brow and said, “If we don’t use our greatest fighting strength, we’ll only appear powerful. At such an important period, what other suggestions do you have if you don’t adopt mine?”

The Military Chief went silent. He had many suggestions, but couldn’t achieve anything without the means! To unite the entire Douluo Continent, the Sun Moon Empire had gone all-in, sending out all their main fighting soul engineer legions. All types of soul tools were also being manufactured. At the same time, new soul engineer legions were also being trained. However, time was still needed for the results to be seen.

Over the past two years, the warehouses had been depleted to advance the speed of developing soul tools. If not for the fact that resources were being shipped back from the Heavenly Soul Empire, the Sun Moon Empire would have been unable to proceed further. However, similarly, the officials realized the benefits of war after they saw the benefits of occupying the Heavenly Soul Empire. This was why Ju Zi had gained a lot of recognition from leading the army.

“Military Chief, how’s the training for our new army going?” Xu Tianran asked.

The Military Chief replied, “Currently, we are seeing progress for the four new armies that we’ve been training. However, we are still lacking in equipment. Only two new armies are equipped well enough for fighting. All our factories are operating at full capacity, but we’ll still need half a year for all four armies to be fully equipped.”

These new soul engineer legions were all equipped with Class 4 linked soul tools, and the soul masters in these legions had to have at least three rings. This was already the best the Sun Moon Empire could do. Many soul masters were even recruited from the Heavenly Soul Empire.