"Is this what flying feels like?"
"So unique!"
"It's like embracing freedom!"
Bai Er spread his arms, enjoying the oncoming wind with a look of pure bliss, striking a pose as if embracing the sun.
However, because it was his first time using a flying soul tool, his posture twisted too much, and he momentarily lost his balance, seemingly trying to imitate Lao Da.
"Huh? Huh!"
"Oh no!"
Bai Er wobbled and twisted in the air, flailing his arms, trying to regain his balance, his face showing panic.
Hearing Bai Er's shouts from behind, Medmus, his lips twitched involuntarily.
His face darkened, and he turned and grabbed Bai Er's shoulder, helping him stabilize himself.
"Phew~"
"Thanks, Medmus!"
Bai Er looked down at the vast earth below, still shaken.
Without Medmus's help, he might have really crashed.
Although at this altitude, with his defensive and buffering soul tools, he wouldn't have suffered too much damage.
"Idiot!"
"You're already being naughty on your first flight!"
"If there's a next time, I won't help you!"
Bai'e patted his chest confidently, giving Medmos a thumbs-up and saying,
"Don't worry, partner!"
"The word 'repeat' doesn't exist in my dictionary!"
Medmos's fist clenched; if they weren't in the air, he really wanted to punch Bai'e!
"Hey!"
"What are you two standing there for?"
"Hurry up and catch up!"
A girl with pink hair in the sunlight waved her arms at Bai'e and Medmos from afar, her ever-energetic voice reaching their ears through the wind.
Bai'e grinned foolishly, exchanged a glance with Medmos, and then flew side by side quickly towards the main group.
Normally, a level four flying soul tool has two soul power jets, with a maximum speed of 250 miles per hour.
With an unlimited supply of Dream Coins, the speed is about 400 miles per hour.
The overall speed is definitely incomparable to the high-speed rail of the golden age of his previous life, let alone a large passenger plane.
However, this is only a Level 4 flying soul tool; Xilu City already possesses the capability to manufacture Level 8 flying soul tools.
With a total of twenty soul power jets, it can reach speeds of 2,500 li per hour, fully reaching the level of a large commercial airliner.
This technology is currently only possessed by Xilu City; even the Sun Moon Empire hasn't achieved it yet, their highest speed being only 1,500 li per hour.
It's virtually impossible for the Sun Moon Empire to develop a flying soul tool of Xilu City's caliber unless they find some extraordinary materials from the Celestial Planet and miraculously succeed.
This is because Xilu City's Level 8 flying soul tool's core array underwent rigorous mathematical derivation and model calculations; the enthusiastic research department even built a large computer for this purpose.
After all, the higher the speed and precision required for data calculation, the greater the mental demands on pure mental computation.
They couldn't just brute-force a bunch of spirit-attribute Soul Masters to act as human computers, so they had to find a way to solve the data processing problem using Soul Tools.
However, the level eight flying Soul Tools in Xilu City were too fast, and only high-level Soul Masters could use them; ordinary Soul Masters' organs would be turned into mush, which was seriously inconsistent with the philosophy of the Passionate Research Department.
Recently, under Huo Yuhao's instructions, they were developing these flying Soul Tools towards high-altitude, high-speed aircraft,
trying to make them pilotable even for low-level Soul Masters.
The designs of fighter jets from their previous life also had many aspects worth learning from in this world.
If possible, Huo Yuhao wanted to equip the Seer with a few high-speed aircraft as a precaution.
"Children, we should be almost there."
"Pay attention."
When we land, remember to use the cushioning posture I mentioned.
Don't get injured; we'll be on a surveillance mission soon."
"No matter what dangers we face, maintaining good condition at all times is the most basic requirement!"
Old Song's gentle voice traveled through his spiritual energy to the ears of Bai E and the others flying behind him.
This gentle spiritual energy was like a cool breeze, revitalizing their weary spirits.
"Finally, we can land!"
"Long-distance travel is definitely more comfortable with Teacher Tibao's Hundred Realms Gate!"
Bai E breathed a sigh of relief. His first experience of high-altitude flight was indeed wonderful, but an eight-hour flight wasn't so pleasant.
Being blown around by the oncoming high-speed airflow for eight hours made him feel like he was about to become expressionless.
Tibao, positioned directly in front of Bai E, had her signature red hair slightly disheveled, and her childlike voice was melodious and innocent.
"Little Bai, even if we used all our soul power, we couldn't cross such a distance."
"Currently, long-distance travel still relies on flying soul tools."
"Unless you're willing to spend your little treasure trove of Dream Coins, Little Bai."
Bai E scratched his head, a smile spreading across his face.
"I don't actually have much money."
"Hehe, maybe in the future, maybe."
Just then, Xuan Zi suddenly landed, followed by the other selected team members.
"We've arrived, children, let's land too."
Elder Song manipulated the wind element to create an airflow, gently supporting the reserve team members as they slowly descended.
Bai E, having not touched the ground for a long time, felt somewhat unaccustomed to it.
Then, under Elder Song's guidance, they began to stretch their limbs, reaccustoming themselves to standing and walking, and incidentally accelerating blood circulation to warm their bodies.
The regular team members in the distance did the same.
Although they were highly skilled, they were equally exhausted, and their condition was even worse than the reserve team.
Xuan Zi wouldn't create a windbreak for these regular team members, manipulating the airflow to assist them in flying.
Since the group's descent wasn't deliberately concealed, the commotion was quickly discovered by the Western Army Group of the Star Luo Empire not far away.
Bai E and the others immediately noticed some small black dots appearing in the sky, growing larger as they approached.
Soon, these figures revealed their true forms: a team of about thirty Soul Masters, wearing black leather armor, each with a white tiger pattern on their chest that emitted a faint white light in the sunlight, indicating who led their troops.
The group of Soul Masters were all at least at the fourth ring level.
The elder leading them was a Soul Saint.
The group of Soul Masters was filled with a murderous aura and was disciplined and orderly, clearly a group of elites who had seen Blood Soul Masters before.
"Who dares to approach our army without permission?!"
The leading elder activated his Martial Soul, seven perfectly matched Soul Rings spinning behind him, his aura as a Soul Saint filling the sky.
Xuan Zi impatiently waved his hand, instantly dispelling all the aura before the elder's horrified gaze.
Then, seeing Xuan Zi's hand press down, all the flying Soul Guidance Devices of this team of Soul Masters malfunctioned, and they fell directly to the ground.
"Why fly so high?"
"Even your Marshal wouldn't dare fly over my head."
"Little Dai, I'll leave this to you."
Dai Yueheng's lips twitched upon hearing this address, but he still obediently stepped forward to the front of the group and looked at the leading elder, saying:
"Elder Du, it's me."
"These are all my classmates."
"I already contacted my father on the Magic Network about the specifics."
"You can confirm it through the Magic Network."
The leading seven-ring Soul Saint immediately withdrew his Soul Rings, his face showing surprise overshadowing his fear.
"Young Master!"
"You've arrived!"
"These must be top students and teachers from Shrek Academy!"
"Look at the mess this has made, what's the point of confirming anything?"
"Come, I'll take you to the military camp to find the Marshal!"
Du Leisi immediately led Elder Xuan and his group to the Western Army Group's garrison.
On the way, Xuanzi subconsciously reached for a chicken leg to eat, but suddenly felt Huo Suier's gaze. He stiffened slightly and shoved the chicken leg into Dai Yueheng's hand.
"Ahem."
"Eat it."
"The chicken leg is for you."
Dai Yueheng looked at the chicken leg in her hand, completely bewildered, unsure whether to eat it or throw it away.
Bai E and the others curiously observed the scene at the military camp.
They had been to the city defense garrison of Xilu City before and subconsciously compared the two.
"Partner, I feel that this place is somewhat different from the Xilu City defense garrison,"
Bai E whispered to Madmos beside him.
Medemos surveyed the surrounding soldiers and tents, muttering in response,
"Backward."
"There are even some who aren't Soul Masters."
"Most of them are armed with spears and bows."
"It's hard to imagine they're from the same era as Xiru City!"
The backwardness of the Western Army Group caused Medemos to frown.
He couldn't imagine how this army could win against the Xiru City garrison.
The technology was overwhelmingly superior.
Unless Dai Hao became the "Grandpa of the Peninsula," able to knock down Xiru City's high-altitude aircraft with a single pebble.
And as far as he knew, the Star Luo Empire's Western Army Group was the strongest army in the Star Luo Empire, hailed as the pillar of the empire.
If the strongest army was like this, what were the other armies like?
While the two were whispering, the group, led by Dureis, arrived at a large leather tent, larger than the others, standing like a target in the center of the camp.
Medemos felt a pang of discomfort.
If he were commanding a battle, he would start by bombarding these large targets with fixed-position soul-guided artillery shells.
Before the large, leather-covered tent stood Dai Hao, ranked fourth on the Douluo Must-Eat List.
Dai Hao bowed respectfully to Xuanzi and Elder Song, both superior to him in both strength and seniority.
"Elders, I have received Yue Heng's message."
"I have prepared the relevant information."
"Please come to the tent for a discussion."
Bai E curiously sized up the renowned White Tiger Duke, while Madmos glanced at him briefly before looking away.
The others entered the tent one by one. Xia Die, holding the Shadow Cat, gave Dai Hao a cryptic look.
Xia Die knew her father had a grudge against this man, but Huo Yuhao hadn't told her the details.
Huo Yuhao didn't want her to be dragged into the feud between him and Dai Hao; in his eyes, Dai Hao was no different from a dead man, just a moving corpse.
Dai Hao took out two documents from the camp and handed them to Xuanzi, who then tossed them to Wang Yan.
"These two documents contain detailed information about the bandit groups in the Mingdou Mountains."
Wang Yan looked at Duke Baihu with suspicion, then asked,
"Two documents?"
"Wasn't there only one?"
Dai Hao patiently explained,
"Originally, there was only the Death Hand Bandit Group."
"Recently, another bandit group, the Gehrman Bandit Group, arrived."
"The two bandit groups even had a small-scale conflict."
After a moment of contemplation, Wang Yan said,
"Please let me take a look at the documents first."
Duke Baihu waved his hand, indicating that Wang Yan could do as he pleased.
Wang Yan opened the two documents and read them carefully.
The Death Hand Bandit Group had a total of three hundred members, including thirty Soul Masters, the strongest of whom was a Soul King, but the specific details were unclear.
The Gehrman Bandit Group had a total of one hundred members, including fifteen Soul Masters, the strongest of whom was probably a Soul Grandmaster.
The most interesting thing about this bandit group was that, at some point, everyone wore a monocle over their right eye.
(End of Chapter)
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