Chapter 568.3. A Surprise Attack within the Cover of Smoke

Xia Xuanchen didn’t hesitate. Light radiated from his body as a crystal suddenly appeared in his hands. This crystal was oval, and about the size of an infant’s head. There were many intricate and sophisticated carvings on its surface, and it emanated majesty from the moment it appeared.

Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong’s palm and fist landed on his soul protective barrier at almost the same time. Frightening spiritual power and soul power combined as an ear-piercing sound rang from the Class 9 protective barrier. Cracks appeared in the crystal, and terrifying chills and the domineering aura of Tang Wutong’s Radiant Dragon Butterfly flooded into them.

Right at this moment, that oval crystal erupted with a layer of brilliant golden light. A formidable propulsion force forcibly pushed Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong backward, and that wasn’t all. The crystal stone covered Xia Xuanchen’s body with a layer of golden light that was shaped like an eggshell.

Xu Tianyuan’s eyes were overcome with greed when he saw the crystal stone in Xia Xuanchen’s hands. Of course he knew what that was. That was a priceless treasure for all soul engineers, even for Class 9 soul engineers?

What is that?

Huo Yuhao was taken aback. His Ultimate Ice was very penetrative, and after he gained his second soul core through the Yin Yang Complement method, normal protective barriers couldn’t block his Snowless Glacier.

But in that moment, Xia Xuanchen’s defensive capabilities repelled his Ultimate Ice, and also produced such forceful propulsions. That wasn’t something that typical soul tools could achieve. What exactly was in his hands?

“Linked ring, lock on!” Xia Xuanchen roared hysterically.

It seemed like he had defended himself against Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong’s attack casually, but only he knew what was happening to him. If not for that strange eggshell in his hands, Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice would have probably frozen him solid. Even though he probably wouldn’t die, his opponents’ onslaught wouldn’t just stop with that. He would undoubtedly meet his demise if his opponents were allowed to chain their attacks.

Even though it hadn’t been long since he took over as the Evileye Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion’s commander, his reputation and influence within his legion were still relatively high. The Evileye Tyrant Legion’s remaining soul engineers quickly activated their linked soul tools as he roared his command.

This linked ring was specifically meant to deal with enemies who had broken through to their most important areas. Not even Huo Yuhao could deny that the Sun Moon Empire was still far ahead in terms of training and commanding their soul engineer legions.

Circles of blue light glowed one after another, and swiftly formed a circle as intense soul power undulations appeared.

“Linked ring, defensive barrier.” Xu Tianyuan’s reaction speed wasn’t slow either. He gave his order as soon as was possible.

The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion’s quality was the highest among the four beast-ranked legions, and they moved equally swiftly. Xu Tianyuan’s goal was simple: he wanted to surround Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong. With their linked defense and offense, how could they not kill their opponents with over three hundred soul engineers working together, no matter how formidable their opponents were.

Huo Yuhao heaved a sigh inside. These beast-ranked soul engineer legions are indeed difficult to deal with! If not for those soul engineers that we killed in the chaos before this, we might not have had a chance.

The Dou Ling Empire’s royal palace was in an irreversible situation. However, Huo Yuhao had to find some way to obliterate these two beast-ranked soul engineer legions when they were detached from the main army, no matter what. But it was evident that he couldn’t do so now. Even Ultimate Douluo had to avoid two soul engineer legions who had completed their linkup.

A large black door appeared. Huo Yuhao no longer needed any incantations to open a single spectral gate, and he could almost do so immediately.

Huo Yuhao held Tang Wutong’s hand as they disappeared into the spectral gate with a flash.

They could be chased by linked attacks if they ran away, while running out of the linked defense may not be completely safe. Any kind of concealment soul skills would be futile if those linked attacks were executed over an area.

But what Huo Yuhao did, when he escaped into another plane, not even the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Legion could do anything to them, not to mention these two soul engineer legions.

Xia Xuanchen flew next to Xu Tianyuan with a tinge of fear in his heart as he wiped cold sweat from his forehead.

“That was close. They’re extremely powerful, and what’s more frightening is that they have concealment abilities,” Xia Xuanchen said to Xu Tianyuan.

Xu Tianyuan glanced at the oval crystal in his Xia Xuanchen’s hand. He frowned and said, “I’m more worried about that escape ability that they just displayed. Their auras vanished into thin air. Can that be spatial power? But only Ultimate Douluo can master spatial power. Since when has the Dou Ling Empire possessed such formidable individuals?”

Xia Xuanchen forced a laugh. “Let’s hurry and retreat. No matter where these two are from, it appears that our brothers we’ve lost contact with have met their demise. We should hurry back to the soul tool front, then we can pack up and leave. Ensure that everyone maintains the linked defense so that we can avoid being ambushed again. We have to leave as quickly as possible.”

“Yes,” Xu Tianyuan nodded understandingly.

They were deep behind enemy lines all by themselves, after all. If they were on the battlefield at the front lines, even if their enemies were even more powerful, they wouldn’t be afraid because of their soul engineer legions’ combined strength. However, there were two incredibly strong individuals hiding near them, and they felt like they had thorns in their backs. They could be ambushed at any moment, so retreating back into the Sun Moon Empire’s territory was the best solution. They had sustained severe losses on this mission, but they had accomplished their mission. They had still managed to do something very laudable.

The two Class 9 soul engineers discussed logistics for a moment before they led their legions back toward their soul tool front. Even though they were already prepared to lose their soul tool front from the beginning, the Dou Ling Empire’s resistance was much weaker than they had imagined, judging from their current situation. A single Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell had immediately dealt with the entire royal palace, and if not for those two powerful people who had appeared afterwards, their two legions would be almost perfectly victorious.

The two soul engineer legions changed formations once more. This time, they tried to keep some space between them, because the two commanders had seen how powerful  Huo Yuhao’s group attacks were from his Spiritual Tempest. Therefore, they maintained their ring-shaped formation, but they formed two rings, with one larger than the other.

The Evileye Tyrant Legion was outside, while the Imperial Dragon Legion was inside. The Evileye Tyrant Legion was responsible for maintaining their linked defenses, while the Imperial Dragon Legion would rest inside. They could switch to maintain their defenses like that, and if they ran into anything, a single soul engineer legion was sufficient for defense. The other legion would augment their defenses, and it could also turn defense into offense.

If they didn’t run into any more enemies, they could proceed at a steady pace by switching around. They were naturally not afraid of running into the Dou Ling Empire’s forces. Unless the Dou Ling Empire concentrated all their soul masters to surround and attack them, they probably didn’t have a chance at all. The empire’s elite forces had all gone to Shrek City, so these two soul engineer legions’ combined strength was almost invincible.

The two legion commanders were almost perfect in their command of their respective soul engineer legions, but their faces were so dark that it was frightening when they returned to their soul tool front.

The soul tool front’s defenses were still open, but they couldn’t communicate with anybody inside. Afterwards, they witnessed the soul tool front’s linked offensive soul tools charging up. They were aimed directly at them.

But what could they do? Their opponents had actually taken over their soul tool front beforehand, which completely exceeded their expectations. They were deep behind enemy lines, and they didn’t even have any time to think. They turned to run, and flew toward the Sun Moon Empire as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, they didn’t know that there was barely anybody inside the soul tool front. They were using the soul tool front’s soul power reserves to activate its linked defensive and offensive soul tools, which came from Milk Bottles. They couldn’t have kept that up for long.

If these two soul engineer legions kept their distance and maintained a continuous onslaught, perhaps they would sustain some losses, but taking back their soul tool front would be relatively easy.

But just as when Huo Yuhao was faced with Ju Zi, when he clearly knew that her target wasn’t Shrek City, Shrek City still couldn’t reduce their vigilance and alertness. This was the same reason why these two soul engineer legions couldn’t stay for any longer despite knowing that the soul engineers inside that soul tool front weren’t strong. Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong’s ambush had left a deep shadow in their hearts.

The two legions hadn’t flown away for long when Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong appeared outside the soul tool front.

They rendezvoused with their companions before Huo Yuhao immediately found Xu Sanshi.

“Sanshi, Dou Ling City’s situation isn’t great. The city has suffered a destructive onslaught, and the royal palace is completely destroyed. I don’t know if anybody from the royal family is still alive. Let’s do it this way. You guys will stay here and proceed toward Dou Ling City. Reveal our identities as Shrek Academy’s members, help them restore order, and search for any members of the royal family who are still alive. Wutong and I will pursue those two soul engineer legions. I don’t believe they can fly all the way back to the Sun Moon Empire. They will have to rest along the way, and that will be our chance. We will take this opportunity when they are separated to try and keep these two legions in the Dou Ling Empire forever. We will avenge the Dou Ling Empire’s royal family.”

Xu Sanshi nodded and said, “Alright, then go. Leave Dou Ling City to us. You’re right, but…”

Xu Sanshi heaved a sigh inside, and everything he could say was too late. The Sun Moon Empire was too cunning. They didn’t just target the Dou Ling Empire; they directly executed an assassination mission against the Dou Ling Empire’s royal palace. Their formidable soul engineer legions could fully unleash their frightening offensive capabilities in a skirmish like this. If the Star Luo Empire ran into a similar situation, they probably wouldn’t do any better than the Dou Ling Empire had. Ultimately, they lost on surveillance and intelligence.