"Cough, cough—"
Dai Hao felt a surge of essence and blood churning in his chest. Forcibly suppressing the discomfort in his body, he descended back to the ground.
The Northwest Army Group was brimming with talent. Aside from Dai Hao himself, coupled with the other Titled Douluo, even though it was somewhat rushed, they safely and soundly blocked a Class-9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell.
But right now, this wasn't the most important thing.
"Immediately deploy the troops to reinforce the Mingdou Mountain Range defense force!"
With a single order, the entire camp instantly mobilized.
The White Tiger Duke and several Worships and Legion Commanders of the Star Luo Empire took the lead. Racing at their top speeds, they rushed to reinforce the border defense force, hoping to rely on the combat power of Titled Douluo to... well, even if they couldn't turn the situation around, they at least had to withstand the Sun Moon Empire's attack and stop them from breaking through the Mingdou Mountain Range defense line.
Even though Dai Hao, as the Empire's Marshal, should have remained stationed at the central army and the rear; even though the current Mingdou Mountain Range was fraught with peril and swarming with enemy experts... the Mingdou Mountain Range could not be lost. Therefore, Dai Hao could no longer afford to worry about such protocols, effectively putting himself in mortal danger.
Accompanied by muffled thunder-like booms continuously echoing from the distance, even though they no longer brought the blinding light from before, hearing such dense explosions from hundreds of kilometers away made it easy to imagine just how fierce the fighting at the border was.
Fifteen minutes later, three legions from the camp rapidly pulled up their stakes and marched out.
Scouts constantly entered and exited the camp; judging by their anxious appearances, the situation at the front was likely not optimistic.
Very soon, bad news continuously trickled back to the central command tent: The Sun Moon Empire's Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion had entered the fray; the Hall Master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, Jing Hongchen, had arrived; several Evil Soul Master Titled Douluo from the Holy Spirit Cult had arrived on the battlefield; Class-9 Soul Engineers were taking action... All these pessimistic reports instantly left the generals left behind to guard the camp covered in frowns.
It was too sudden!
The intensity arrived far too suddenly!
...
"Fire! Fire!"
"No matter what, we can't let them break through the defense line!"
A Legion Commander defending the Mingdou Mountain Range roared. With his Martial Soul attached, he slashed out with his blade, instantly killing a Soul Engineer.
"Brothers, hold the line! Reinforcements will be here soon!"
The Sun Moon Empire's attack was so fierce; it could be said to be completely without warning, violently escalating by several tiers all at once.
Who could have thought that they would suddenly employ several Class-9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shells, violently blasting a massive gap in the weaker sections of the Mingdou Mountain Range, and then deploy the manpower of four Soul Engineer Legions, along with those frenzied Evil Soul Masters.
Swish, swish, swish—
Right at this moment, several streaks of flowing light suddenly shot across the sky.
The next second, beams of intense light began to rain down incessantly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In just a short moment, quite a few of the Northwest Army Group's strongholds situated atop the Mingdou Mountain Range were obliterated.
"It's flight soul tools!"
"The Sun Moon Empire has seized air superiority!"
"Damn it! If the Sun Moon Empire holds air superiority, we'll be sitting ducks! Where is our aerial force? Did the Empire issue you flight soul tools just for show?!"
"Motherf**kers! Get up there and fight!"
"..."
Similar curses and reprimands echoed continuously across the various strongholds.
No empire would ignore the importance of air superiority. However, hindered by their lagging soul tool research, the Three Great Empires had always fallen far behind the Sun Moon Empire regarding powerful flight soul tools. Even so, they had barely managed to piece together aerial forces. But after plundering the two great armories in Mingdu, the aerial forces of the Three Great Empires had completely traded their muskets for cannons. This battle was the time for the Star Luo Empire's aerial force to show its worth.
Swish, swish, swish—
The Star Luo Empire's aerial force rapidly took to the skies. But having been a step too late, the moment they popped up, they were met with a fierce onslaught from the Sun Moon aerial forces, which didn't give them a single chance to ascend. Furthermore, because their training time and methods were far inferior to the Sun Moon Empire's, the Star Luo Empire's fight for air superiority basically resulted in losing three men just to take down one of the enemy.
This style of fighting was essentially trading life for life.
However, this tactic did manage to buy a moment of respite for the legions and soldiers stationed in the Star Luo strongholds on the mountaintops.
Yet, this breathing room did not last long.
Swish—
Swish—
"..."
A beam of light fell, and a stronghold was destroyed; another beam fell, and a small patch of the aerial force was wiped out.
Up in the air, figures flickered with light. All of these people were equipped with flight soul tools that glowed with a dark yellow light. They were none other than the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion.
This Soul Engineer Legion was composed entirely of descendants of the imperial royal family; it could be said to be the strongest among the four Beast King-tier Soul Engineer Legions. The Imperial Dragon Legion maintained their soul tool formation in the air, protected within a dark yellow light barrier. One could see that this barrier originated from a spike-shaped soul tool at the pinnacle of the flight soul tools on their backs. Every single soul tool was outputting soul power outward, and combined together, they formed a massive barrier with astonishing defensive capabilities.
At this moment, the Imperial Dragon Legion was continuously firing thick beams of soul guidance rays downward. This wasn't a solo attack; the soul tools they deployed seemed to have certain combination effects. In groups of three or five, every soul guidance ray they fired caused a violent explosion down below.
For a time, the Star Luo Empire's army suffered heavy casualties.
After all, unlike the Imperial Dragon Legion, the Star Luo Empire's defenses consisted of nearly a hundred different types of flickering lights, exceptionally scattered. Even though they had borrowed soul tools obtained from the Sun Moon Empire, they couldn't use them in a linked fashion, causing their defensive power to plummet drastically.
"Heh, what a waste of good resources."
From behind the Imperial Dragon Legion, a figure slowly ascended into the air. This was the Legion Commander of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion, Xu Tianyuan. As a member of the imperial royal clan, his status was supremely noble. Right now, he was looking down coldly. With a flip of his palm, a soul tool appeared in his hand. Aiming at a stronghold below, a yellow light instantly lit up...
"Roar—How dare you!"
Suddenly, a tiger's roar assaulted them!
But Xu Tianyuan didn't hesitate in the slightest and opened fire directly!
Swish, swish, swish—
Beams of Class-9 soul guidance rays, like shooting stars, crashed down toward the earth's surface; he was clearly trying to heavily damage the Mingdou Mountain Range defense force!
But right at this moment, "Go!"
An old man rushed onto the scene!
As a black Soul Ring lit up, the old man pointed his right hand at the sky. A silver-white light instantly shot into the heavens, blooming open mid-air to form a giant umbrella over fifty meters in diameter, directly blocking a massive swath of the soul guidance rays raining down.
And Xu Tianyuan's Class-9 soul guidance rays didn't directly hit the surface of the umbrella. The moment they touched the umbrella's silver-white light, they seemed to be disassembled, deconstructed and swallowed by countless dense spatial cracks, turning completely into nothingness.
This old man was precisely the Legion Commander of the Star Luo Empire's First Soul Master Legion—Xuanji Douluo.
Hearing the name, it seemed identical to the Star Sword Douluo's. However, in the Star Luo Empire, as an old-generation Titled Douluo-level expert with a Level 94 cultivation, Xuanji Douluo had actually long forgotten his real name. Because his Martial Soul was the Xuanji Umbrella, he later simply went by the name Xuanji.
As a sworn friend of the previous generation's White Tiger Duke, he was a generation above Dai Hao. Entrusted by the late White Tiger Duke to protect the White Tiger bloodline, he was the most core, powerful asset of the White Tiger Ducal line. But at the same time, he disdained the dirty politics within the Duke's mansion, so he spent the vast majority of his time garrisoned with the army.
The moment Xuanji Douluo made his move to block the attack, the Xuanji Umbrella suddenly dipped low, and a massive white tiger pounced from behind him.
The tiger's eyes were filled with heavy killing intent; he was utterly enraged.
On his way rushing over, of the corpses he had seen, Sun Moon Empire Soul Engineers were pitifully few, totaling no more than fifty. But the corpses left behind by the Star Luo Empire were far too many. Not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even Soul Masters, the hard-to-train Soul Engineers, and the aerial forces they had spent so much effort cultivating had died in large numbers. It was completely like a knife scraping against Dai Hao's heart!
"Roar—"
White Tiger Meteor Shower!
In the sky, a massive patch of clouds seemingly morphed into a giant, illusory tiger head. With the tiger's maw wide open in anger, a massive ball of radiant light gathered within it. Almost in an instant, *Boom! Boom! Boom!* Meteors bombarded toward the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion. Bolstered by the cultivation of a Titled Douluo, even a thousand-year soul skill in Dai Hao's hands was no weaker than a Class-9 soul guidance ray.
"Defend!"
With a single word, the Imperial Dragon Legion formed their defense.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
However, no matter how fiercely Dai Hao bombarded them, the Imperial Dragon Legion remained completely unscathed, to an absolutely absurd degree.
Seeing this, Dai Hao's expression shifted slightly.
Xu Tianyuan seemed to guess what Dai Hao was thinking, and a cold sneer appeared on his lips. "Dai Hao, did you think our Sun Moon Empire's four Beast King-tier Soul Engineer Legions were weak? It seems your previous luck made you completely misjudge us. If it hadn't been for your eighteen Titled Douluo suddenly launching a night raid and catching them off guard, do you think the Fire Phoenix and Terrorclaw Soul Engineer Legions would have been destroyed and crippled? If it hadn't been for the Limit Douluo Du Busi personally taking action against the heavily drained Evil Monarch Soul Engineer Legion, do you think that legion would have been completely wiped out?"
These words were truly soul-piercing. But right now, Dai Hao, in his White Tiger True Body form, had to admit that he had indeed been blinded by the Tian Hun Empire's smooth successes.
But now was not the time to dwell on this!
"Roar—"
The White Tiger let out an angry roar, shaking the mountains and rivers!
His aura began to climb at an astonishing rate. Nine soul rings rose in sequence from his feet. Amidst the flickering light of the White Tiger phantom, a streak of flowing light darted out from within Dai Hao. A giant Vajra Tiger merged its aura with Dai Hao's ninth soul ring, and their combined wild aura instantly deterred the nine heavens!
Seeing this, Xuanji Douluo also took a step forward. Nine soul rings flared, his aura equally extraordinary.
Joining them in their attack were the other Titled Douluo experts of the Star Luo Empire. With their auras combined, they pressed down toward the Imperial Dragon Legion, seemingly intent on completely wiping them out!
However, right at this moment—Buzz—
A dazzling golden light abruptly shot up, like a giant pillar piercing the heavens, violently smashing down toward Dai Hao's direction!
This single strike was aimed squarely at Dai Hao's life.
Fortunately, an Invincible Barrier instantly lit up, blocking the attack.
Dai Hao and the others looked over and saw a figure stepping through the air. An old man slowly rose from the Sun Moon Empire's side. This person was the Starry Sky Douluo, Ye Yulin. The golden pillar of light from just now had been fired by his Sun Moon Divine Needle, and the method he used was a sneak attack. But he didn't feel the slightest bit ashamed.
Close behind him was the Hall Master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, Jing Hongchen. In addition to him, there were the Holy Spirit Cult's Evil Soul Master Titled Douluo, and the commander of the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Engineer Legions.
Without a doubt, they hadn't made a move earlier because they were resting and waiting for someone. And that person was Dai Hao, who had walked right into their trap.
Furthermore, they hadn't deliberately concealed their presence on the battlefield from the very beginning. Because they knew very well that even if Dai Hao knew it was a dragon's pool and a tiger's den, he would undoubtedly come to reinforce them in person.
The Mingdou Mountain Range was the southern gateway of the Star Luo Empire. Once it was lost, what awaited the Star Luo Empire would be the Sun Moon army driving straight into their lands. By then, the Sun Moon army would be impossible to stop.
So, this was an overt scheme!
Right now, they only had one goal: to kill Dai Hao. As long as this White Tiger Duke died, the morale of the entire Star Luo Empire would plummet. Moreover, a legion without its commander was like a person without a head; all their defenses would effectively exist in name only.
"Dai Hao! Go to hell!"
In an instant, the fierce battle at the Mingdou Mountain Range erupted. After just a brief exchange, the Star Luo Empire's side was completely pushed into a disadvantage, and the Mingdou Mountain Range's defense line was being gradually eaten away by the Sun Moon army... No! It couldn't be called eating away; it was a swallowing! The Sun Moon army's momentum was incredibly fierce right now!
At the same time, within the Star Luo Empire.
Flash—
Three figures flickered through the void, only to disappear again. Though they flashed by in an instant, if one could see clearly, they would undoubtedly discover that these three were Chen Junting, Gu Tianchen, and Huo Yuhao.
"Old Gu, can you go any faster?!"
"I'm already going as fast as I can!"
Chen Junting knitted his brows tightly and asked again, "How much longer until we reach the Mingdou Mountain Range?!"
Gu Tianchen estimated briefly and said, "Three minutes!"
This operation prioritized speed above all else, so to reduce the burden on Gu Tianchen, besides the three of them, they hadn't brought a single Titled Douluo, let alone Ye Xuanji, an Limit Douluo. Besides, the Tian Hun Empire's side still had Kong Deming. If Ye Xuanji left, who else would have the strength to pin him down?
Furthermore, his master being different from before meant things would be fine.
One mustn't forget that inside Chen Junting's Undead Demiplane, there was still an Undead Bone Dragon with Limit-tier combat power. Moreover, he could summon Di Tian, the strongest being on the Douluo Planet, at any time.
As for what Chen Junting and his group of three intended to do... it was to reinforce the Star Luo Empire's Northwest Army Group.
Well... saying "reinforce" wasn't entirely accurate either. After all, up until now, the Star Luo Empire's side still hadn't sent out any signal requesting reinforcements. The reason they were rushing so desperately was to prevent what they had predicted from actually happening; they were rushing over entirely based on a hypothetical scenario.
It was better to believe it existed than not. If it actually happened and they weren't there, it would truly be a case of too little, too late.
Beside Chen Junting and Gu Tianchen, Huo Yuhao wore a highly complicated expression. He hadn't expected that after severing his father-son relationship with Dai Hao, the first time he'd see him would be to save him. This really was...
"Sigh—"
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