Chapter 570.3. Change of Plans

“Yes, we’ll give them hell when we get back!” A few of the vice-commanders exclaimed furiously in unison.

Soon, they started to take out all sorts of soul tools and started to take aim. Suddenly, an unknown signal was issued from outside of their linked defensive barrier. Following which, the spectral creatures which were slowly trodding towards them suddenly charged towards the barrier like floodwater during the monsoon season.

Soul Light Rays and soul cannons fired repeatedly at the spectral creatures under the command of a few of the more powerful soul engineers. At that instant, countless spectral creatures were blown to pieces. Their bones, organs and all sorts of strange innards were scattered all over the ground.

Huo Yuhao was floating in the sky as he watched the entire battle from a distance with Tang Wutong.

Both of them were slightly startled by the firepower the two beast lord-ranked soul engineer legions were exhibiting.

Even though they had always regarded these two soul engineer legions highly, they still could not help but gasp after witnessing the power they wielded.

By now, it should be apparent that these spectral creatures came from Huo Yuhao’s spectral demiplane. The number of spectral creatures his spectral demiplane contained was seemingly limitless. Even Huo Yuhao did not know where they were coming from. He was only aware that there was a maximum number of spectral creatures which could exist within his spectral demiplane at any point in time. After this limit was reached, the total count would not increase. However, if any of the spectral creatures were to die or disappear, the demiplane would regenerate new spectral creatures to make up for the deficit.

Now, Er Bai, Little Bai’s original body, had truly become the king among all the spectral creatures within the spectral demiplane. He ruled over almost every single spectral creature within the demiplane. Most of the spectral creatures, with the exception of the powerful ones like the Bone Dragon, abided by his orders. Hence, when Huo Yuhao activated his Spectral Calamity, the spell was a lot more powerful with Er Bai leading the spectral creatures.

However, the beast lord-ranked soul engineer legions’ destructive power was simply too overwhelming. The Abomination was one of the most powerful spectral creatures within the entire spectral demiplane. It was nearly invincible on land. Even though it was humongous and possessed incredible defensive power, it was still extremely agile and fast.

However, its powerful body, which it had always been proud of, could not withstand the devastating blows from the beast lord-ranked soul engineer legions. There was no way they could get close to the linked defensive barrier. In addition, because of their huge size, they were easy targets for the soul engineers. Hence, countless Abominations collapsed to the ground after shrieking their last howl.

More and more spectral creatures were turning into carcasses outside the protective soul barrier. However, the wave of spectral creatures that were swarming towards the protective soul barrier appeared to be endless.

Even though Huo Yuhao was not trying to kill these soul engineers, he was not prepared to let them go so easily. If they were allowed to return to the Sun Moon Empire without a challenge, he would not be able to achieve his objective.

Xu Tianyuan and Xia Xuanchen were oblivious towards his movements in the sky. Huo Yuhao had just put away a soul tool that probably symbolized death in their eyes. It had belonged to the Starsky Douluo. It was the Sunmoon Divine Needle!

With Huo Yuhao’s current ability, he was definitely able to harness the full potential of the Sunmoon Divine Needle. He had originally planned to use it to destroy the trap they had planned to bait him with. Following which, he would destroy all of the soul engineers with Tang Wutong with any method and skill that they possessed. After all, they had more than just Spiritual Tempest as their martial soul fusion skill!

However, he decided against that. He felt that the Sunmoon Divine Needle was not very suitable for the circumstances before them. Even though it was incredibly powerful, it was also easy to recognize, Once he used the Sunmoon Divine Needle, he would have blown his cover. It would be extremely disadvantageous for Huo Yuhao to allow the enemy to know who he was. Hence, he decided not to use it. After all, he was the only other known user other than Ye Yulin.

Every single soul engineer in the protective soul barrier was in a hyper-excited state as they rapidly fired the soul tools in their hands. As they saw how the spectral creatures collapsed and died before their eyes, they felt as though an unknown primal need within their bodies had been satiated.

Xu Tianyuan and Xia Xuanchen slowly heaved a sigh of relief. Even though these spectral creatures looked extremely fearsome, they were still unable to stand up to the firepower of the beast lord-ranked soul engineer legions.

Since that was the case, they no longer found a need to worry about them. No matter how strong the evil soul masters were, they would eventually tire themselves out from sustaining their continuous summoning of so many spectral creatures. And when that moment eventually arrived, it would be the legions’ turn to retaliate and kill them.

After all, every beast lord-ranked soul engineer legion had their own trump card. As the legion commanders, Xu Tianyuan and Xia Xuanchen wielded the best soul tools in the legions. For example, the Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell and the high energy compression milk bottles were soul tools which were only carried around by the legion commanders.

High energy compression milk bottles were built from a new technology that the Sun Moon Empire had recently developed. Every single milk bottle was worth as much as a Class 9 soul tool. It could contain as much soul power as a Class 7 soul engineer possessed.

On first sight, it seemed as though the cost-benefit analysis of this milk bottle did not make much sense. However, it was important to note that a Class 7 soul engineer was equivalent to a Soul Sage. A Soul Sage was at an entirely different level from a Soul Emperor. The amount of soul power a Soul Sage could store was hence definitely an impressive amount.

To put it simply, if a Class 5 soul engineer were to wield a high energy compression milk bottle, he would be able to fight continuously for several hours with his Class 5 soul tool without worrying about running out of soul power.

As for the power of a Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell, there was no need to explain how destructive and effective it was in wartime.

The Evileye Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion mainly stocked up on high energy compression milk bottles, while the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion was the legion with the greatest number of Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells among the Hand that Protects the Nation. This was something that even Xu Tianran did not know.

The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion had always been led by a member of the royal family. Even though these members were extremely loyal to the royal family, that did not mean that they must be loyal to the Emperor at that point in time. Hence, they would usually hide and stock up whatever Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells they were given.

Among all the Class 9 soul engineers, only a selected group of soul engineers knew how to make Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells. The royal family of the Sun Moon Empire not only controlled the wealth of the empire, but also all sorts of rare metals! Hence, by exchanging rare metals for Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells with the Class 9 soul engineers, the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion was able to stock up on these weapons, and become more powerful.

This was something that only the legion commanders of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion knew. Hence, if the Imperial Soul Engineer Legion were to go all-out, even the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion might not be able to defeat them. The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion was effectively bribing their way to victory!

This was also why the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion was extremely highly regarded by members of the royal family. In fact, most of them felt that as long as they could control the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion, they could, to some extent, control the entire destiny of the Sun Moon EMpire.

Xu Tianyuan was the current commander of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion. As a person who was obsessed with power, he would most definitely bring a huge pile of those weapons that could decide the destiny of an empire.

However, the Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells they had used to bomb Dou Ling City were the ones which were drafted for use by the army. They did not belong to him. However, he was now prepared to use all of his trump cards to ensure his legion’s survival.

Even though the deaths of the soul engineers from his Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion caused him a lot of pain, he knew how the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion would not truly become weaker as long as he held onto these trump cards.

“Boom! Boom! Boom…” Countless spectral creatures continued to crumble under the ferocious attacks of the soul engineer legions. Smoke was starting to envelop the group as horrifying howls from the dying spectral creatures threatened to deafen the soul engineers.

After a short moment, the world around them suddenly became quiet. Every single spectral creature which was within sight of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion and the Evileye Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion had been shredded to pieces.

Is it finally over?

The soul engineers within the linked defensive barrier were all panting. Fatigue caught up with them as the adrenaline in their bodies started to wear off.

Xia Xuanchen looked at the screen of a surveillance soul tool before ordering, “Do not drop your guard. It is not over yet. Our enemies are still here. They seem to be clustering together right now.”

Yes. Even though there were no longer any spectral creatures near them, the screen showed what there were still large numbers of spectral creatures surrounding them deeper in the woods. These spectral creatures could attack them at any moment.

This short pause was a good chance for the tense soul engineer legions to catch their breath. It was easy for them to tire themselves out if they were to maintain their fast-paced attacks for extended periods of time.

It seems like there are really evil soul masters controlling these spectral creatures from behind the scenes. They have probably stopped their attacks after watching how we were able to slaughter their spectral creatures with ease. Instead of intentionally stopping to control the rhythm of the battle, they probably stopped out of fear.

It is said that evil soul masters have to give up a lot to breed and nurture their own avenging spirits or spectral creatures. Every single death means that they’re a little weaker than before. Hmph! Let’s see how much longer you evil soul masters can maintain your attack. Our soul engineer legions have never backed down from head-on battles like this!

Both Xia Xuanchen and Xu Tianyuan shared the same sentiments. Unfortunately, they did not know that the person who was controlling the spectral army was not in the least bit concerned about the deaths of his spectral creatures.

Huo Yuhao’s current spiritual power was already leaps and bounds ahead of his original spiritual power. Back when his spectral creatures were dying under the legions’ fire, he had already noticed some of the finer details that most people would have missed out on.

After every spectral creature died, its carcass would release an inconspicuous energy fluctuation. This streak of energy would return to the spectral demiplane through the spectral gate.

Initially, Huo Yuhao thought he was seeing things. However, upon closer scrutiny, he realized that he was not hallucinating. The streak of energy was actually the spectral creature’s spirit fire.

This also meant that only the body of the spectral creature had died. The spectral creature’s spirit fire would just return into the spectral demiplane.

It was important to note that the spirit fires, which belonged to the spectral creatures within the spectral demiplane, were created by the Calamity Necromancer Electrolux himself. There was actually light-type energy within every single spirit. Hence, even Ye Guyi—who was extremely adept at purification—could not purify the spirits within the spectral demiplane.