Chapter 549.1. Opening - Phantoms in the Sky

Plant-type soul beasts’ intelligence was activated more slowly than animal soul beasts. They could only be considered intelligent after they had a hundred thousand years of cultivation.

Huo Yuhao didn’t go near, because he was afraid that he would startle this large flower. He was a human after all, and soul beasts were very sensitive towards humans.

Huo Yuhao’s benevolent spiritual power circled over as he conveyed his emotions to that datura flower and inquired patiently.

The datura flower told him that its pollen had sensed the Bluesilver Emperor at a valley not far from this place.

Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power could almost cover fifty kilometers! He quickly found that valley.

He hadn’t discovered anything different about that place, but under the datura flower’s guidance, he immediately sensed how different the plants in this valley were from the outside world.

Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power could reach fifty kilometers in diameter because of these plants, but there weren’t plants in every single corner within this range. He couldn’t feel any spiritual tentacles in places where there were no plants, so he couldn’t get their help from those areas.

But when he inspected that valley closely, he noticed that there were many plants growing in this valley. However, not a single plant released their spiritual tentacles to merge with his.

Seems like that must be the place!

Huo Yuhao could feel himself getting excited. They had been searching for so long, and they had announced so many bounties over the past two years, while they had increased the rewards more than once. Even then, they couldn’t find the Bluesilver Emperor at all. He hadn’t expected to find a clue in this place.

He was just about to stand up and proceed towards that valley to search when he sensed something, and lay back down in the thicket. He was using Imitation, and he was just like a bush himself, as he didn’t release any part of his aura at all.

Huo Yuhao widened his eyes in surprise. Damn, the Sun Moon Empire is worried after all!

Beyond the horizon at the limits of his senses, Huo Yuhao could feel a large mass of aerial surveillance soul tools flying towards Heavenly Sea City.

There were aerial surveillance soul tools both high in the sky and closer to the ground, and some were only five hundred meters above the ground. He didn’t use Spiritual Detection to detect them directly because they were too far away, so he could only observe them through the plants around them.

Huo Yuhao noticed several dozen surveillance soul tools that were extremely close to the ground roaming around by observing everything, and many silhouettes surged high across the sky at the same time.

Seems like my judgment is correct. The Sun Moon Empire is concentrating their stronger forces to eradicate us.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Huo Yuhao’s mouth. Two pieces of good news had appeared one after another. How could he not be happy?

He had to take a rain check for that valley, but the valley wasn’t about to uproot itself and run away. He would execute his mission first before returning to search for the Bluesilver Emperor.

Huo Yuhao was just lying there quietly, and it didn’t take long before those lower surveillance soul tools reached his location and swept past him!

Those surveillance soul tools that were responsible for surveillance lower to the ground contained thermal detectors, oscillation detectors, and even spiritual detectors.

Even though there were relatively fewer spiritual detectors, there were enough to give Huo Yuhao a surprise. Has the Sun Moon Empire really understood? Even if they haven’t yet understood, they must have considered problems in that respect, and they’ve increased their spiritual detection capabilities.

How lucky!

Those spiritual detectors swept across Huo Yuhao, but didn’t react at all. Their spiritual undulations didn’t discover anything out of the ordinary.

Of course, Huo Yuhao wouldn’t give them a chance to discover anything. His spiritual aura had become identical to the plants around him, like he was completely assimilated into the thicket. Huo Yuhao also regulated his body temperature to be identical to everything around him, and his soul power was completely shut off. In addition to Imitation, he was just like a shrub. Spiritual detectors wouldn’t detect his presence even if they were just a foot in front of him as long as he didn’t move.

Those lower surveillance soul tools quickly flew by, and the aerial surveillance soul tools appeared immediately afterwards.

Huo Yuhao didn’t have to use Spiritual Detection to conduct a deep investigation. He could use his own Spirit Eyes to see those aerial surveillance soul tools very clearly.

It didn’t take long before he witnessed hundreds of aerial surveillance soul tools whiz by in the sky above him. They were dispersed as they flew in all directions, and all kinds of surveillance waves covered a tremendous surface area as they were like an enormous web that blanketed everything around Heavenly Sea City.

A faint smile appeared on Huo Yuhao’s face. Go search! You’ll never find us.

Huo Yuhao’s eyes suddenly froze in this moment.

Shadows formed neat lines roughly a thousand meters in the sky as they flew rapidly in Heavenly Sea City’s direction. Dark golden colors flickered on their bodies, and they were still relatively conspicuous as the sun shone on them. Their silhouettes would become especially blurry during nighttime, and the light around them contorted faintly.

Huo Yuhao drew a cold breath at what he saw. A single term appeared in his mind: human-shaped soul tools!

Has the Sun Moon Empire really developed human-shaped soul tools?

Yes, those dark golden shadows were soul engineers who were all covered in dark golden armor.

How could Huo Yuhao not tell if that armor was just normal armor, or human-shaped soul tools? Yes, those were human-shaped soul tools.

Every single human-shaped soul tool was about three meters tall, and they were completely covered in dark golden armor. There were three pairs of flying-type soul tools outstretched behind their backs as they raced through the air.

There were three hundred people. Three hundred people raced above him in an instant, and every single person emanated frightening auras.

The location of the eyes on their helmets radiated faint red colors. Light bent around them, and they seemed to assimilate into the air around them. Except, they were in the sky, and they didn’t seem like they could find anything to integrate into.

Huo Yuhao swallowed some saliva. What he was most worried about had happened after all. The Sun Moon Empire had finally made a breakthrough in their research into human-shaped soul tools, and their development seemed extremely strong.

According to his investigations, the strongest legion in the Sun Moon Empire’s Hand that Protects the Nation was the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Legion, and they were formed from three hundred soul engineers who were at least Soul Kings.

But when these soul engineers flew over him, how could Soul Kings compare with their soul power undulations?

Not even Soul Sages could match up to the strength of those soul power undulations. They clearly belonged to Soul Douluo, and that was especially so for the several dozen soul engineers who were flying at the forefront. Every single one had auras that were so deep and profound that they were undoubtedly Titled Douluo.

Huo Yuhao had always known that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion was strong, but he didn’t expect them to be that powerful.

A soul engineer legion like that could reach Heavenly Sea City from Radiant City in less than four hours if they flew with their full strength.

They quickly flew over Huo Yuhao’s head. Huo Yuhao stood up quietly, and took a deep breath as he gazed in the direction they were flying in. The Sun Moon Empire! This is the Sun Moon Empire’s strength!

Huo Yuhao pursed his lips tightly as he forced down the helplessness in his heart. He surged into the sky, and his Class 9 flying-type soul tool opened and activated at once.

“Boom–” A dull boom could be heard as Huo Yuhao’s body broke the sound barrier and raced in Radiant City’s direction.

Time, time! What he needed most was time. He wanted Radiant City to feel alarmed and fearful, so time was most important for him. He had to complete his mission before the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion returned to Radiant City.

It was already afternoon, and evening would come in two hours. Huo Yuhao could reach Radiant City before evening if everything went smoothly. The Imperial Soul Engineer Legion would take some time to search for them, and they would also need about four hours for their journey. It was likely that they couldn’t return to Radiant City by tonight.

And once he started operating inside Radiant City, he trusted that the Sun Moon Empire would find a way to inform the Imperial Soul Engineer Legion and seek their aid. From that moment onwards, he would only have four hours. What he could accomplish within those four hours was up to his own ability.

Huo Yuhao was resilient and determined. After his initial shock from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion’s formidable equipment, he quickly calmed down as he tried to recall everything he had seen while he surged through the sky.

The Sun Moon Empire couldn’t possibly have more than three hundred Soul Douluo. That was impossible! Not even the Star Luo Empire, which had the most soul masters, had so many high-level soul masters.

But the Imperial Soul Engineer Legion’s soul engineers had auras that were clearly no different from that of a Soul Douluo. This meant that the soul engineers’ armor possessed excellent amplification effects, and they were probably Class 8 soul tools.

A single Class 8 soul tool wasn’t much, but what about three hundred of them? What kind of power was that? The Sun Moon Empire had enough power to fight the Holy Ghost Church with just this single soul engineer legion. At least, they would have enough to intimidate and deter them from making any rash moves.

But the Sun Moon Empire didn’t have what many eight-ringed individuals, so how were they using these Class 8 soul tools? This was a doubt that Huo Yuhao couldn’t wrap his head around.

Using soul tools which belonged to higher classes wasn’t impossible under normal circumstances, but a single class was the limit. Soul tools with higher classes had more requirements and conditions, and they became increasingly harder for soul engineers of lower classes to use.