Chapter 568.2. A Surprise Attack within the Cover of Smoke

They were still pillaging excitedly before this, but the legion itself wasn’t huge, and there were only so many people. They were also in enemy territory, so they were still comparatively careful. They would communicate with every small team leader after a period of time to confirm everyone’s locations.

But when they were establishing communication once more, they realized to their surprise that many small teams weren’t responding, like they had gone missing just like that.

The two soul engineer legions’ leaders were running scared. They immediately gave the order to gather in the sky and take a roll call.

Dou Ling City was in ruins. The city defense army were still blindly defending themselves against the soul engineer legions’ attacks, and the city was full of agonizing cries and chaos. Citizens were holed up in their houses, and nobody knew when a stationary soul cannon shell would land in their homes. Their walls didn’t give them any security at all.

The attacks suddenly stopped at this moment. Shadows began flying high into the sky one after another, and they were evidently gathering.

“I think they’ve realized,” Tang Wutong whispered in Huo Yuhao’s ear.

Huo Yuhao scoffed and said, “A soul engineer legion together is an extremely formidable entity, but if they are separated, they will die. The Sun Moon Empire’s soul engineer legions have won too many victories, that’s the reason they’re so arrogant, and this hubris is an important reason why they’re losing their lives. Let’s go. We’ll obliterate them so that we can avenge the Dou Ling Empire’s dead.”

Huo Yuhao grasped Tang Wutong’s hand and drifted upward as he spoke before they bolted into the air like a flash of lightning.

Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong became almost entirely like air with Imitation covering them, and they arrived at the soul engineers’ assembly point quicker than the soul engineers themselves.

Huo Yuhao could see six soul engineers hovering in midair with one look.

According to the Sun Moon Empire’s beast-ranked soul engineer legions’ organizational structure, every soul engineer legion had three legion commanders, one head commander and two vice-commanders.

These few should be their commanders. There were two head commanders, who were both Class 9 soul engineers, and there were four vice-commanders, who were Class 8 soul engineers. Huo Yuhao had already dealt with another Class 8 soul engineer back at the soul tool front. These two soul engineer legions had sent their best forces to participate in this operation.

Huo Yuhao held Tang Wutong’s hand and waited quietly.

There were more soul engineers flying up from below at this moment, and they were all gathering at their assembly point.

Huo Yuhao didn’t move, and he just waited quietly with Tang Wutong not far from those commanders.

The six commanders’ expressions were becoming increasingly darker. There was no way they couldn’t, because there were far too few flying up from below. Furthermore, they were mostly missing entire small teams.

These small teams didn’t even communicate at all.

The Evileye Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion’s commander was called Xia Xuanchen, and he was replacing the Manic Bull Douluo, Wang Yiheng. He was initially vice-commander before the Tang Sect dealt with Wang Yiheng, and was then promoted to head commander. His strength was still comparatively lower than the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion’s commander.

“Old Xu, something doesn’t seem right! We might be in trouble. Why are we missing so many people?”

The person he referred to as “Old Xu” was the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion’s head commander, Xu Tianyuan. He belonged to the royal family, and the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion was under many of the royal family members’ control. They weren’t entirely obedient to the Emperor’s authority, and this legion could be considered one of the strongest forces that the royal family controlled.

Xu Tianyuan was also part of the royal family, and he should be considered Xu Tianran’s older cousin in terms of seniority. But the truth was, he was much older than Xu Tianran was, and his status was one of the highest among the Sun Moon Empire’s royal family. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to command the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion.

The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion’s strength was second only to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Legion. Their names were very similar, but they represented very different strengths.

The royal family was especially formidable when they came together for certain designations, such as when the many princes were vying for the throne.

However, the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion had always been rather neutral. They didn’t lean toward any prince, and their neutrality was the reason for their continued existence. They only served the royal family, and furthered their needs.

“Yes, something’s wrong. Why are we missing so many people? Can it be because those little bastards are pillaging until they’ve forgotten about discipline?” Xu Tianyuan himself found that a little hard to believe when he spoke of that possibility.

Xia Xuanchen forced a laugh and said, “That’s not quite possible, is it? Even if they’re off pillaging, it’s not possible that we can’t communicate with them. The small team leaders can’t be so shortsighted.”

Xu Tianyuan nodded as he lowered his voice and said, “If nobody else assembles, we will activate our linked defensive barrier and retreat. We’ve achieved our goal, anyway.”

Xia Xuanchen hesitated, then said, “But we’re missing so many brothers.”

Xu Tianyuan gritted his teeth and replied, “What can we do if our enemy has powerful individuals hidden within the city? This is the Dou Ling Empire’s capital city, and I believe news of this ambush has already been sent out. Reinforcements will arrive very soon. Since we have accomplished our mission and we can’t afford to deal with anything else, we’ll retreat before considering other things. Safety comes first.”

“Alright.” Even though they were both commanders of beast-ranked soul engineer legions, the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion’s commander, Xu Tianyuan, was the leader of this operation. Xia Xuanchen felt bad about his subordinates, but he had to be decisive at a time like this.

More and more soul engineers began gathering around them.

Xu Tianyuan suddenly developed a strange sensation at this moment, and Xia Xuanchen felt the same way.

They were both Class 9 soul engineers, and they had to be one of the better ones among their fellows for them to become commanders of beast-ranked soul engineer legions.

“Careful,” Xia Xuanchen growled before he swung his right hand, and a brilliant silver warhammer suddenly appeared in his grip before it blasted out into some empty space.

“Eh?” A faint exclamation could be heard as countless small golden hammers erupted from nothingness and expanded in all directions.

Xia Xuanchen’s hammer was very effective. The silver light diluted some of the golden light when the golden light erupted, but that was it.

Xia Xuanchen and Xu Tianyuan grunted before they flew backwards, and blood ran down their mouths and noses.

The strength of the two beast-ranked soul engineer legions’ commanders were displayed at a time like this. In that moment when the golden light that had appeared out of nowhere erupted, both Xia Xuanchen and Xu Tianyuan patted their chests at almost the same time.

A formidable strength exploded forth from their human-shaped soul tools, and tremendous propulsion forces blasted out in circles.

These propulsion forces didn’t just propel them out like an arrow, but also propelled their vice-commanders and the other soul engineers who had just assembled around them toward the periphery. They were like snowflakes and flowers dancing through the sky for a moment.

Mantra Amidst the Void, Spiritual Tempest!

Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong’s figures appeared from the air. That previous attack was Spiritual Tempest, one of their formidable martial soul fusion skills.

However, not even Huo Yuhao had expected the Sun Moon Empire’s powerful individuals to react so quickly. They chose the best method to deal with Spiritual Tempest.

The two commanders had erupted with powerful propulsion forces that even Tang Wutong and he were affected by to a certain extent. The other three hundred soul engineers also instantly dispersed, and most of them avoided Spiritual Tempest’s area of effect.

But most didn’t mean all of them, and the heads of some thirty-odd soul engineers closest to Spiritual Tempest’s epicenter exploded in the air. Blood spurted from the tops of their heads as their corpses plummeted toward the ground.

The four vice-commanders were stunned from that formidable spiritual shock, but Xu Tianyuan and Xia Xuanchen weren’t. Their human-shaped soul tools were Class 9 soul tools, which were equipped with strong defensive capabilities. Furthermore, individuals at their level were undoubtedly equipped with soul tools that could protect them against spiritual attacks.

Therefore, even though they took the brunt of the attack and also felt dizzy, they sacrificed two of their precious defensive soul tools meant for spiritual attacks before they forcibly protected themselves against Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong’s Spiritual Tempest.

Huo Yuhao trained his eyes on Xia Xuanchen, especially that silver hammer in his hands.

That silver hammer wasn’t a soul tool. Instead, it was a martial soul. A Class 9 soul engineer had actually used his martial soul at such a crucial moment, and this meant that Xia Xuanchen wasn’t just a soul engineer. He was a true Titled Douluo at the same time.

There are truly many powerful individuals hidden within the Sun Moon Empire!

But Huo Yuhao didn’t stop. He was faced with hundreds of soul engineers, and any pause meant that his enemies would team up against him. He took this opportunity when both soul engineer legions were in disarray, and he and Tang Wutong pounced at Xia Xuanchen with a flash.

The stronger their opponent, the quicker they had to destroy them. Furthermore, these two commanders were very effective at commanding their soul engineer legions. Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong had to kill them first before they could come closer to destroying these two soul engineer legions.

Xia Xuanchen could tell that he was Huo Yuhao’s target when he caught the look in his eyes. Silver light emerged from his body as he released a Class 9 protective barrier.

Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong arrived in a flash. A bright and crisp dragon roar rang out from Tang Wutong’s body as she punched at Xia Xuanchen’s barrier, while Huo Yuhao pushed out with his left hand.

Their attacks seemed simple and unassuming, but Xia Xuanchen’s senses saved him once more in that moment. He could feel the terrifying power contained in that fist and palm. They seemed so simple, but they made him feel like his life was in danger.