Chapter 549.3. Opening - Phantoms in the Sky

Huo Yuhao wasn’t in a hurry. At least, the Imperial Soul Engineering Legion wouldn’t return tonight without an alarm. Therefore, he still had enough time.

He didn’t enter Radiant City, instead relying on his Spiritual Interference Domain and Imitation as he hid behind a large tree, opened a spectral gate, and returned to his spectral demiplane.

Huo Yuhao had already informed everyone about the plan, so all three soul engineer legions had made their preparations to take off inside his spectral demiplane.

Huo Yuhao immediately called a meeting once he returned, and gathered all the Tang Sect’s senior members.

Huo Yuhao didn’t tell Bei Bei that he had discovered the Bluesilver Emperor’s whereabouts. Now was not the time to tell him about that, because it would affect his mood. Huo Yuhao simply told everyone what he had discovered in his surveillance of Radiant City.

Everyone’s faces turned black as they listened to his description, and that was especially so when they heard Huo Yuhao describe the Imperial Soul Engineering Legion.

“This is more troublesome than we thought,” Bei Bei frowned as he spoke. “The Sun Moon Empire can’t possibly guess our plan, but Radiant City’s defenses are probably already at their weakest. This is the Sun Moon Empire’s capital, and their defenses are undoubtedly tight and strict. Judging by the current situation, it’ll be very difficult for us to cause any significant losses to Radiant City. It’s hard for us not to be discovered even with your Spiritual Interference Domain, unless we can destroy the aerial surveillance soul tools around Radiant City as soon as possible. But if we do that, the city will be warned.”

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “It is quite difficult to destroy the aerial surveillance soul tools aroundRadiant City, because they’re are all linked to a soul tool front beneath them. That enormous soul tool front will attempt to intercept as soon as an attack is discovered.”

Xu Sanshi said, “It is hard for us to succeed with the current situation. Why don’t we choose another target? Even if we don’t attack Radiant City, I believe that they will bring their armies back as long as we can cause utter chaos within the Sun Moon Empire.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “The Sun Moon Empire is already placing a lot of emphasis on us. The only thing is they don’t understand how we operate. This opportunity will only come once in a blue moon, and the Sun Moon Empire will be a lot less mobile without the Imperial Soul Engineer Legion around. The Sun Moon Empire losing their flexibility and mobility gives us a chance to retreat. Therefore, we cannot give up this opportunity, no matter what. We will never know when another opportunity like this will arise again.”

Bei Bei smiled faintly at Huo Yuhao and said, “Seems like you already have a plan, little junior brother. How do we go about it?”

Huo Yuhao’s eyes closed into slits. “We have to start from those aerial surveillance soul tools. Aerial surveillance soul tools are very expensive, and destroying one will already give the Sun Moon Empire some heartache. Furthermore, we can only complete our ambush by destroying those aerial surveillance soul tools. My plan is as such…”

Huo Yuhao briefly explained what he was thinking.

Everyone nodded as they listened to his description, but Tang Wutong was the only one who frowned. “That’s too dangerous, Yuhao. If you’re discovered, you will be immediately attacked by linked soul tools. Even though we all trust in your ability, those linked soul tools’ offensive powers are far too strong.”

Huo Yuhao replied, “I wouldn’t have the confidence before getting Li Ya as my Spirit, because the Sun Moon Empire has advanced their research into spiritual detectors. But fusing with Li Ya has elevated my spiritual power to a much more intricate level, and I can mask and imitate everything around me more perfectly. This means that the Sun Moon Empire’s surveillance soul tools will have a hard time detecting me, while only spiritual detectors can do that in the first place. However, the greatest problem with a spiritual detector is its range. I can tell from the Sun Moon Empire’s current deployment of spiritual detectors that their current research product only has a range of about five hundred meters. Under such circumstances, I can just do what I need to do high in the sky, and target those aerial surveillance soul tools and ignore the low-altitude ones, and they won’t discover me. Those aerial surveillance soul tools linking together with the soul tool front on the ground is most effective because there’s sufficient space for the soul tool front to intercept any attacks against them. Those low-altitude surveillance soul tools are a lot easier to deal with.”

Everyone nodded continuously as they listened to Huo Yuhao’s convincing discussion. Tang Wutong was the only one who still had some hesitation in her eyes as she stared at him.

“Alright, since that’s the case, it’s settled. You have to be careful, Yuhao. Nobody can help you on this, and you have to prioritize your safety above everything else. You have to leave as soon as something goes wrong. At most, we’ll just abandon this opportunity altogether.” Bei Bei reminded Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao nodded. “Don’t worry, eldest senior brother. I will be as careful as I can. The Sun Moon Empire is too confident in their aerial surveillance soul tools. After this mission, they will realize that we aren’t moving quickly from place to place by sea, and they will be confused about our abilities. Since that’s the case, we shall give them a good one this time.”

Tang Wutong arrived beside Huo Yuhao and said, “Let me go with you. We can back each other up if we’re together.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head. “No, Wutong. It’s different this time. I’ll be a more flexible by myself, and I won’t be discovered so easily. With my current spiritual power, it’s likely that I won’t be discovered even if spiritual detectors sweep over me. But if you’re around, the spiritual detectors and oscillation detectors can easily spot you if they sweep over you. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

Tang Wutong quietly reached out and pinched his waist as she glared at him threateningly.

Huo Yuhao’s facial muscles twitched. “Don’t worry, I’ll be as careful as I can possibly be, for you.”

Tang Wutong gently leaned into his arm. “I’ll be waiting for you. Be careful.”

“Yes.”

Huo Yuhao pulled He Caitou with him and went straight over to the warehouses. Bei Bei immediately gathered the three soul engineer legions and prepared for battle. He ordered the Heavy Artillery Soul Engineer Legion and the Tang Sect Soul Engineer Legion over to the warehouses to shift something.

The sky had already turned completely dark when Huo Yuhao came out of the spectral demiplane an hour later. He gazed at Radiant City in the distance, and he could see light and fire across thousands of homes. He had to concede that this city, which was the largest one on the continent, would leave a very deep impression on anybody coming here for the first time. The city’s scenes at night were the most beautiful that Huo Yuhao had ever seen.

Huo Yuhao heaved a faint sigh. I’m sorry, Radiant City’s peace is destined to be broken tonight.

Huo Yuhao already had his Icy War God’s Armor on by now. He used his spiritual power to control the dark blue hues so that they didn’t shine, and his entire body seemed to disappear into the night sky. Not a single trace of his armor’s intense chills was released.

Huo Yuhao would be extremely careful even without Tang Wutong’s reminder. His life and death was linked to the three soul engineer legions, because his spectral demiplane was a double-edged sword. If Huo Yuhao was alive, everyone inside his spectral demiplane could become an army of ghost soldiers, but if he died, then everyone in the Tang Sect and the three soul engineer legions would never leave his spectral demiplane.

This wasn’t because he didn’t want to release everyone before he came out. They were too close to Radiant City, and everyone would be easily discovered if they came outside.

Therefore, he had to take this risk. He wasn’t taking this risk for himself. He was representing several thousand soul engineers. He was also representing the Douluo Continent’s last hope. He didn’t have a choice not to be careful!

With his Icy War God’s Armor, Huo Yuhao could vividly feel thick soul power flowing through the armor and entering his body continuously. The armor was almost like part of his skin, and perhaps even part of his skeleton. He didn’t feel any discomfort or difference, besides the fact that his entire body became a little fatter.

Huo Yuhao controlling the Icy War God’s Armor was different from when the Snow Empress was doing it. The reason was because unleashing this human-shaped soul tool’s full potential required Huo Yuhao’s spiritual power. The Snow Empress didn’t understand it enough, so she could only use it to amplify her abilities and defend herself.

The armor’s wings gradually opened behind it. It was a Class 9 soul tool, but it was different from Huo Yuhao’s flying-shaped soul tool. The Icy War God’s Armor didn’t consume Huo Yuhao’s own soul power, so it could take him over seven thousand meters in the air. This fact alone was something that no other soul tool in the world could achieve.

There were two great dangers at high altitudes: lower temperatures and thin air. The Icy War God’s Armor negated the extreme cold’s effects, and the armor itself could absorb energy from the low temperatures around it and feed that energy back to Huo Yuhao. Thin air was fatal to other soul masters, and was a condition they couldn’t recover from. But that wasn’t a problem for the Icy War God’s Armor.

Huo Yuhao had already attempted to go beyond ten thousand meters in the sky with this human-shaped soul tool. That was an entirely different world, and he wouldn’t fall even if he didn’t use any soul power to control himself. He would just be hovering in very thin air, and that feeling was both mystical and frightening at the same time.

Huo Yuhao didn’t know if he was the first human to fly at such a height, but he didn’t see any other living beings at that altitude.

He tapped his feet against the ground as his wings blasted off. He used his Spiritual Detection to open a path under the cover of Imitation, and surged into the air in the moment when there weren’t any surveillance soul tools sweeping his path.

The Icy War God’s Armor’s energy was all contained inside it, and Huo Yuhao didn’t have to release any soul power at all for his armor to take him high into the sky. What he needed was to communicate with his armor through his consciousness.

Huo Yuhao reached a thousand meters in the blink of an eye. Most low-altitude surveillance soul tools were no longer effective at this height, but Huo Yuhao was going even higher.

Two thousand meters, three thousand meters, four thousand meters, five thousand meters.

He went all the way to six thousand meters before he controlled his armor to stabilize himself as he hovered in midair.