Under Xu Zihuang's full-speed travel, two hours later, he returned to Shrek Academy.
When he tore through space and appeared on the open ground in front of the Sea God's Pavilion, Elder Xuan, the current Pavilion Master of the Sea God's Pavilion, was looking solemnly toward the southwest.
Although Elder Xuan did not possess Xu Zihuang's exceptional affinity and precise control over spatial power, which allowed him to sense spatial fluctuations from thousands of kilometers away, as a powerhouse approaching the limit of human soul masters, his perception of certain events was extremely keen.
"Elder Xuan."
Xu Zihuang landed gracefully and gave Elder Xuan a slight bow.
Elder Xuan naturally sensed Yu Tianhuang's arrival, and his expression grew even graver.
"Tianhuang, you sensed it too, right?"
"If nothing unexpected happened, it should be the Sun Moon Empire taking action against the Star Luo Empire."
Xu Zihuang nodded seriously.
"I just don't know if the Star Luo Empire can hold out."
According to his memories from his previous life, although Juzi was only feigning at the Star Luo Empire, she would assemble a group of high-tier soul engineers to carry out a decapitation strike against White Tiger Duke Dai Hao. Among them were as many as three ninth-level soul engineers, led by none other than the Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin.
Among the Sun Moon Empire's ninth-level soul engineers, Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin ranked among the top three. Combined with his top-tier soul tools, his overall strength was not inferior to Jing Hongchen, the Hall Master of the Mingde Hall. Even against a Super Douluo-level powerhouse, he would not fall short in the slightest.
And once White Tiger Duke Dai Hao fell, the Star Luo Empire would likely be in grave danger.
Elder Xuan sighed softly, "It seems this war is unavoidable. However, the Star Luo Empire is, after all, the nation with the deepest foundation on our original Douluo Continent. It shouldn't collapse so easily. For now, the best course is to observe and respond accordingly. I've already sent people to scout the situation in the Star Luo Empire, hoping to obtain as detailed information from the front lines as possible. Moreover, since the Sun Moon Empire has acted against the Star Luo Empire, I'm afraid the Heavenly Soul Empire will not escape disaster either."
Compared to the Star Luo Empire, he was more worried about the Heavenly Soul Empire's situation. In terms of national strength, the Heavenly Soul Empire was ultimately much weaker than the Star Luo Empire. Although it had the support of the Body Sect, the Sun Moon Empire also had the backing of the Holy Spirit Cult's group of evil soul masters.
Most critically, Shrek Academy itself was located within the territory of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
As a result, Elder Xuan had to make additional preparations.
"Elder Xuan, you're right. In fact, I share the same concern," Xu Zihuang said solemnly. "With almost the same length of border, there is no natural barrier like the Mingdou Mountain Range between the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Sun Moon Empire. If the Sun Moon Empire truly launches a war, the Heavenly Soul Empire is clearly the more suitable target for a surprise attack."
Xu Zihuang said this also to issue an early warning.
From his standpoint, he actually did not wish for the Star Luo Empire and Heavenly Soul Empire to collapse too quickly. Only when the three sides mutually exhausted each other would the situation be most favorable to him.
If necessary, he would even help the Star Luo Empire and Heavenly Soul Empire resist the Sun Moon Empire's invasion.
Hearing Xu Zihuang's words, Elder Xuan's expression indeed changed slightly as he furrowed his brows and said gravely,
"Once news from the front lines arrives, we will immediately convene a Sea God's Pavilion meeting and make further decisions."
"Before that, Tianhuang, go check on Guyi's situation first." At this point, Elder Xuan's expression finally softened, a gratified look appearing in his eyes as he raised his hand to gesture toward Xu Zihuang.
"Even with you as a comparison, it still cannot overshadow the brilliance of Guyi. The future of the academy must be entrusted to young people like you."
Xu Zihuang's mind stirred. Combining Elder Xuan's change in expression with his words, he vaguely guessed something. A brilliant golden halo rippled outward, and his figure once again vanished into distorted space.
In the next instant, he appeared out of thin air inside the meditation chamber where Ye Guyi was in secluded cultivation in the underground world of the Sea God's Pavilion.
The room was filled with intensely rich light elements, almost tangible in their density. Ye Guyi sat cross-legged right in the center, surrounded by countless dazzling golden tree roots hanging down all around him.
Three pairs of holy angel wings spread behind her, each feather possessing clear texture and detail, emitting a layer of soft golden-white mist. The intense light made her entire body seem almost transparent. The sacred aura was restrained, as if a true Angel God had descended to the mortal world.
The source of the sacred aura was at Ye Guyi's chest. It was a ball of golden-white light compressed to the extreme, spiraling in a vortex shape.
Without a doubt, this was the soul core Ye Guyi had condensed during this period of secluded cultivation. It was not a single-attribute soul core, but a multi-attribute soul core with sacred as the main attribute, supplemented by light and fire attributes, similar to the soul core Xu Zihuang had condensed at his brow.
Generally speaking, the attribute of a soul master's first soul core reflects their martial soul's origin. Multi-attribute soul cores are much harder to condense, but correspondingly, they provide far greater enhancement to the soul master's abilities.
Under the rotation of this golden-white soul core, the dense light elements in the room were devoured like a whale by Ye Guyi. Her entire aura steadily rose.
Judging from the stability of this soul core, Ye Guyi had evidently fused with it perfectly. She was now in the subsequent stage of comprehension.
"I should have guessed it earlier."
Xu Zihuang came before Ye Guyi and sat cross-legged, his gaze dazed as he murmured with a bitter smile. Of course, he knew that Ye Guyi had taken enormous risks to condense her soul core ahead of time, all so she could better help him in the future.
He simply stood guard by Ye Guyi's side until news from the Star Luo Empire's front lines arrived.
The facts were exactly as Xu Zihuang and Elder Xuan had anticipated: the Sun Moon Empire had launched an attack on the Star Luo Empire without any warning.
The Sun Moon Empire used several ninth-level stationary soul cannon shells to blast open a massive breach at a relatively weak point in the Mingdou Mountain Range. They then deployed at least four soul engineer legions, delivering continuous strikes against the Star Luo Empire's Northwest Group Army.
Under the covering fire of the soul engineer legions, the Northwest Group Army collapsed across the entire front. One of the ninth-level stationary soul cannon shells landed directly in the core position of the Northwest Group Army, inflicting extremely heavy casualties on this most elite legion of the Star Luo Empire.
Now, White Tiger Duke Dai Hao was leading the army to fully resist the Sun Moon Empire's invasion while ordering the Northwest Group Army to withdraw toward the seven cities on the northwest border of the Star Luo Empire. These seven cities were garrisoned by reserve legions and served as the Star Luo Empire's second line of defense.
If this second line of defense were breached and the Sun Moon Empire's forces penetrated deep into the Star Luo Empire's interior, the Star Luo Empire would have no natural defenses left, and the situation would turn dire in an instant.
White Tiger Duke Dai Hao was well aware of the current crisis and had ordered a desperate defense relying on this second line of defense. He himself personally led the White Tiger Personal Guard and the First Soul Master Legion to cover the rear, drawing away the Sun Moon Empire's two guardian soul engineer legions.
More specific details had not yet arrived, but the general situation was that the White Tiger Personal Guard and the Star Luo Empire's First Soul Master Legion had suffered devastating casualties under the encirclement and suppression of the Sun Moon Empire's two guardian legions. Even Dai Hao himself was suspected to have been severely injured and was retreating toward the north, into Heavenly Soul Empire territory.
The Star Luo Empire had already organized a group of powerhouses at the Title Douluo level and above to go rescue White Tiger Duke Dai Hao and had sent a request for aid to Shrek Academy.
The Heavenly Soul Empire and Dou Ling Empire had also received the distress signals, but distant water could not quench a nearby fire. The most urgent priority now was to rescue White Tiger Duke Dai Hao, and only Shrek Academy could mobilize powerhouses quickly enough to carry out the rescue.
In the conference hall on the first floor of the Sea God's Pavilion, figures sat around the long meeting table.
Elders Song, Elder Zhuang, and the other veteran members of the Sea God's Pavilion were all present, along with the four deans: Yan Shaozhe, Cai Meier, Xian Lin'er, and Qian Duoduo. Seated at the very end were Xu Zihuang and Zhang Lexuan.
This was the current full roster of the Sea God's Pavilion.
Elder Xuan sat at the head, his expression solemn as he spoke:
"The situation is as described. Time is of the essence, so I won't elaborate further. This mission will be led by Elder Song, with Lin'er and Duoduo accompanying you. Also bring along that ninth-level stationary soul cannon you recently succeeded in producing."
"Yes!"
Everyone responded in unison.
Noticing the unusual look in Xu Zihuang's eyes, Qian Duoduo explained somewhat excitedly:
"Thanks to the blueprint you brought back, Tianhuang, we spent nearly three years of effort, and it was finally not in vain. That ninth-level stationary soul cannon was just completed not long ago."
With Qian Duoduo's usually straightforward personality, in normal times, he would surely be dancing with excitement. But under the current circumstances, he restrained himself considerably.
"Dean Qian, that's not what I'm concerned about. I want to go with you this time."
As Xu Zihuang spoke, he glanced sideways at Elder Xuan. The others also exchanged looks and turned their gazes toward Elder Xuan.
Yu Tianhuang's importance to Shrek Academy was beyond doubt. No one wanted to let him take risks on the battlefield.
But to everyone's surprise, Elder Xuan agreed decisively.
"In that case, Tianhuang, you may go along."
"You're wondering why I agreed?"
Seeing the stunned expressions on everyone's faces, Elder Xuan shook his head with a wry smile.
"You've all overlooked one very important thing: Tianhuang's current strength is probably not much inferior to yours anymore. His ability to protect himself on the battlefield may even be stronger than yours. If he wants to grow quickly, he still needs appropriate pressure."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are chapters available on Patreon."
"From Douluo to Godhood by Defy 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo: Far North Invincibledo 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo Peerless: Living as an Evil Soul Master 40 Advance chapters."
"Douluo Dalu 2:Peerless Tang Sect Dawn of Sun and Moon 40 Advance chapters."
[email protected]/facficmax10--------(@→a)