After leaving the Evil Demon Great Forest, the group continued advancing southward at an extremely fast speed. After traveling roughly a thousand kilometers, the sun overhead began slowly moving toward the west, and the surrounding light gradually dimmed.
The setting sun was like blood, looking incredibly shocking, yet at the same time carrying an indescribable sense of romance.
Xu Yuexuan checked the map. After a moment, she put the map away and said softly:
"We are already very close to Mingdu. A bit further ahead, between Mingdu and us, there is still a medium-sized city called Tuoyun City. This city is garrisoned by one and a half soul-guidance legions from the imperial family's several armies, along with many more soul master powerhouses. It is also the final line of defense before Mingdu…"
The moment her words fell, the group had already swiftly left the area of the forest below and returned to the skies above a human town.
Shen Hanyu's speed was extremely fast, so fast that the others could barely discern what the scenery below was like. They only felt the sights before their eyes flash past, seeing only blurry fragments. This was the case for all the girls; those with stronger cultivations fared a bit better and could at least still see something…
However, protected by soul power shields, the strong winds rushing toward them like knives did not affect the group in the slightest. In their perception, it was merely a slightly cool breeze blowing against their faces.
Soon, under Shen Hanyu's extreme speed, the group arrived in the skies above a grand-scale city.
Night was slowly falling, and the city below was already brightly lit with lights. One by one, bright street lamps lit up. There were still many pedestrians on the streets, and quite a few taverns as well as special establishments that only began operating at night had just started business. In the center of the city, several enormous bright lamps shone toward the night sky. Below them stood a grand palace whose magnificence and luxury would be extremely rare even when compared to the Spirit City or Heaven Dou City on the continent…
"Is this really just a medium-sized city? Its scale is so huge…"
Gu Qingbo, positioned in the center of the group, whispered. Even after expansion, Element City's scale was comparable to old super cities like Heaven Dou City, yet the scale of the city before them was almost equivalent to nearly half a Heaven Dou City…
A faint smile appeared on Xu Yuexuan's face as she explained:
"Ever since the empire began vigorously developing soul guidance devices, the economy has also experienced a major leap forward. It was this economic boom that ushered the empire into an era of prosperity. During that era, countless cities sprang up across this land, and the population entered a period of rapid explosive growth. Everything left behind from that era laid the foundation for today. Even though a large part of the continent has fallen into turmoil, the nation's strength is still maintained at a considerable level…"
The era Xu Yuexuan spoke of was not far in the past. During that time, the imperial family possessed several powerful Title Douluos, and even a Super Douluo with the Purple Emperor Extinguishing Heaven Dragon martial soul had appeared. The empire's various sects were also filled with powerhouses. The prosperity of that era is still passed down by word of mouth to this day, becoming one of the brightest chapters recorded in the history of the Sun Moon Empire.
Upon hearing Xu Yuexuan's words, the corners of Gu Yuena's mouth curved into a slight arc, though this arc carried a hint of mockery.
The turmoil and chaotic times they hated were, in the end, also largely caused by that period of prosperity.
When a race gradually grows stronger, serious contradictions and problems inevitably arise within it. Aside from internal factors, external factors can also very likely cause drastic changes. History is always strikingly similar, some things are dictated by fate, while others are purely the trajectory of events…
…
After crossing a majestic mountain range, the group finally saw the true face of Mingdu.
Mingdu, also known as Sun Moon City, is the undisputed capital of the Sun Moon Empire and its true political and economic center. Mingdu is the real heart of the Sun Moon Empire. This giant city is incredibly prosperous, and its scale is even more unimaginable. In Shen Hanyu's perception, even the current Spirit City combined with Heaven Dou City could not compare to it.
Standing high in the sky, from their perspective, the endless stretch of brilliant lights extended all the way to the horizon. The architectural style here had a bit more of a technological feel compared to other cities. Although this technological style was somewhat crude, making the overall aesthetic somewhat strange, there was no denying that this was likely the most developed region in the entire Sun Moon Empire.
Within this giant city, buildings over ten meters tall were everywhere, and in the distance there were even several structures more than ten stories high. Although there were very few such buildings, from afar they already presented the scene of a metropolis.
Xu Yuexuan looked at the familiar giant city before her, a trace of nostalgia and pride flashing in her eyes. But immediately afterward, she suddenly came back to her senses.
She had witnessed Mingdu's prosperity far too many times. Although this was now her hometown, it had long been occupied by others. Even her brothers and sisters had all fallen here. The chief culprit behind all of this was within the imperial palace in the center of this giant city.
Hatred! This was extreme hatred…
Xu Yuexuan's fists clenched tighter and tighter, until finally even her bones produced cracking sounds from the immense force. The Purple Emperor Extinguishing Heaven Dragon was originally a top-tier beast martial soul. As the companion divine beast of the Dragon God, the existence of this martial soul was undoubtedly extremely powerful.
Even though she was currently only at the Soul Ancestor level, she still possessed considerable combat power.
Her age was not large. Possessing Soul Ancestor cultivation at her current age, even on the Douluo Continent she would be a genius capable of astonishing the continent. Even a dazzling genius like the former Yu Tianheng would likely only be at the Soul Elder level at her current age. It was almost universally acknowledged that Xu Yuexuan was a genius. Unfortunately, she had joined the group far too late. Even now, her position within the team still felt rather strange.
Shen Hanyu planned to have her succeed to the position of Sun Moon Emperor. He already had his own arrangements for this. The Heavenly Sound Sect behind Xie Shiyu could play their role as top-tier tools at this time. Shen Hanyu was not worried at all that they would refuse, after all, the moment he spoke, the one who needed to worry would forever be the other party, not himself…
…
The Sun Moon Imperial Palace was built in the central area of Mingdu. It occupied a very wide area, and most of its buildings were magnificent and luxurious. Due to the special period they were currently in, the day-and-night palace integrated multiple styles, looking somewhat similar to the Pope's Palace of the Martial Soul Hall, only even larger and more luxurious.
The palace at night was very quiet. The serving maids coming and going mostly moved in a hurry, as if some man-eating beast was hidden in the darkness, causing their footsteps to grow faster and faster until they finally disappeared into the shadows.
Many soldiers holding sharp blades and long spears guarded the various palace gates strictly. Soul guidance cannons in a reduced size were installed on the palace walls, and a terrifying number of hidden dark guards lurked in the shadows. These dark guards were mostly soul masters with cultivations above level forty. They quietly hid in the darkness, forming an almost impenetrable barrier together with the visible defenses. But even deeper in the shadows, there were still hidden trump cards, at least the group's spiritual power had not detected them.
In a palace clearly taller than the surrounding buildings in the distance, bright lights illuminated many of the outside shadows. Inside the palace, the laughter of a woman sounded quite pleasant, yet in this environment, it also carried a few traces of eeriness and terror.
The fury in Xu Yuexuan's eyes was almost completely undisguised. Her delicate fists clenched and unclenched, tightened and loosened again, but in the end they powerlessly dropped.
Shen Hanyu led the group into this magnificent complex of buildings from midair. The offensive soul guidance devices hidden on the tall surrounding walls had not even had time to activate before they were directly destroyed by a terrifying surge of soul power. The surrounding soldiers and serving maids, all living people, lost consciousness in an instant and heavily collapsed to the ground.
You Mengchu's gaze turned toward the depths of the imperial palace. She then said softly:
"There is the aura of a Super Douluo deep within the palace, along with extremely dense blood qi and resentment. It seems this evil soul master Super Douluo has slaughtered quite a few lives recently. Otherwise, he wouldn't have turned this dragon qi-rich imperial palace so terrifyingly cold and sinister…"
Shen Hanyu was unconcerned. An evil soul master Super Douluo (rank 95) was enough to cross strength boundaries and fight an ordinary rank 96 Super Douluo, but in front of the group, he was still far too insignificant.
Seeing the group remain unmoved, You Mengchu helplessly sighed and said:
"Since you all can't be bothered to act, I'll take care of this guy. Anyway, I have nothing better to do, it's better to use him to test my current strength…"
A trace of interest appeared in Shen Liuyu's eyes. She stepped forward and grabbed You Mengchu's arm, smiling as she said:
"Sister Mengchu, take me with you. I also want to test where my current strength stands. There are also quite a few evil soul masters of varying strengths deep in this palace. I can get some hands-on practice too…"
You Mengchu nodded, then flew toward the depths of the palace first. Shen Liuyu waved at the group and quickly followed You Mengchu's steps.
Watching the two figures gradually move away, Shen Hanyu waved his hand, then turned his gaze to Xu Yuexuan and said softly:
"If you want to kill him yourself, Bing'er and the others will help you…"
Xu Yuexuan nodded heavily. Finally, her gaze turned toward Shui Bing'er and the others, a trace of sincere plea appearing in her eyes.
"I'm begging you…"
Shui Bing'er chuckled lightly, then stepped forward and gently patted Xu Yuexuan's shoulder before saying:
"Don't worry. We'll help you deal with all the hidden guards in the surrounding area. As for your so-called imperial brother, we'll leave him to you…"
Xu Yuexuan did not speak again. Her gaze gradually changed, becoming extremely cold and indifferent. The way she looked at the brightly lit palace before her was like looking at ruins, with killing intent slowly spreading.
Shui Bing'er led the group forward at a measured pace. With every step she took, invisible frost slowly spread upward from the bottom of the palace. The hidden guards concealed in the surrounding darkness sensed the anomaly and revealed themselves one after another.
The strength of the dark guards around this palace was generally quite high. Even the weakest among them were at the Soul Emperor level. They were mostly personnel secretly selected by the imperial family from the common people, and many were retired soldiers from the army who had actively joined the dark guards. The imperial family had poured tremendous resources into them and provided them with medicinal pills that could increase their cultivation, maximizing their potential to reach their personal cultivation limits.
Shui Bing'er took another step forward. A blue-colored ice mist rapidly spread in all directions. The cry of a phoenix echoed in the ears, sacred yet oppressive. For a moment, those with weaker cultivations already began to feel dizzy and light-headed.
The woman's coquettish laughter from inside the palace had completely disappeared, replaced by a burst of panicked sounds. Eight soul rings revolved around Shui Bing'er's body. Bai Nian walked out from beside her with an ice-cold expression. At this moment, her gaze was locked dead on a Soul Douluo standing on the steps above. The instant Shui Bing'er's finger pointed down, Bai Nian's figure burst into motion. In a single instant, she slaughtered dozens of people in front of her. A trace of terror appeared in that Soul Douluo's eyes. He frantically took out a short staff from his soul guidance device, activated it with soul power, and threw it into the air.
Brilliant fireworks exploded in the sky. Countless soul masters and soldiers guarding the palace who received the news began converging from all directions. Dark clouds gathered in the air, and countless ice crystals fell like arrow rain, cleanly slaughtering a small support team of soul masters that had rushed over.
This was Xue Wu's soul skill. Although she was an auxiliary system soul master, there was no way around the fact that the soul bones she had absorbed were all top-grade. She had also mastered quite a few powerful offensive soul skills. Coupled with her martial soul itself possessing a certain degree of attack power, facing these ordinary soul master teams, she could almost crush them effortlessly.
On the other side, Gu Qingbo, Qiu Ruoshui, and the others had already joined the battle. The Sun Moon imperial family's defenses were strict and terrifying, and there were also many soul master powerhouses in Mingdu. After detecting the anomaly in the imperial palace, they could not possibly refrain from coming to investigate. The situation would only become more complicated than it is now.
Under the horrified and despairing gazes of the surrounding black-clothed figures, Bai Nian's slaughtering nature was completely awakened. Almost no one could withstand even one move from her. Even the powerful Soul Douluo with soul power above rank 85 was directly tortured and killed by her within three moves, his body torn in half. For a moment, the scene was extremely bloody.
Shen Hanyu and the others stood on the peak of a nearby palace watching the show. Shen Xinyu paid no attention to what was happening below and was still secretly teasing the Snow Emperor's patience.
Gu Yuena and the other two had nothing much to say; they probably just treated everything here as a game.
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are chapters available on Patreon."
"Douluo: Sword of Judgment and Eternal Ice 30 Advance chapters"
"From Douluo to Godhood by Defying the Heavens 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo: Far North Invincibledo 30 Advance chapters."
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