Without any unnecessary delay, Xu Tianhao immediately led the Seven-Person Squad and left the Bright Capital silently.
Poison Immortal followed in secret, responsible for protecting them from the shadows throughout the journey.
Unless Xu Tianhao's group encountered a genuine life-or-death crisis, he would never intervene.
This arrangement was at Xu Tianhao's own request.
Although he feared death, he was willing to step out of his comfort zone to hone his strength and temper his fighting will through genuine life-and-death trials.
Therefore, every time he left the Bright Capital to carry out missions or undergo training, either his teacher Kong Deming would follow in secret to protect him, or his master Poison Immortal would personally oversee the situation; one of the two was always present.
Although these two powerhouses would intervene to save Xu Tianhao the moment his life was on the line, they never interfered in his daily training or ordinary battles.
This not only ensured his safety but also maximized the effectiveness of the practical training, allowing Xu Tianhao to constantly break through his limits on the edge of life and death.
After leaving the Bright Capital, the Seven-Person Squad used flying spirit tools to head rapidly toward Xinyue City.
The seven members wore uniform combat suits, which adopted a deep, ink-like dark black color scheme.
The fabric was made from the latest stealth spirit tool material developed by the Sun Moon Empire.
It could perfectly conceal their spirit power fluctuations and life aura, making them even more covert when sneaking.
In addition, it was reinforced with basic spirit tool defensive array patterns, capable of blocking Spirit Ability attacks from below the Spirit King level.
Even when facing attacks at the Spirit Emperor level, it could cushion some of the damage.
When the group arrived at the territory of Xinyue City, night had just fallen, and the lights were just beginning to flicker on.
Xu Tianhao led the squad directly to the City Lord's Mansion in Xinyue City.
Seeing that the group was dressed remarkably and exuded a cold aura, the guards at the City Lord's Mansion, though unaware of their background, dared not rashly stop them.
Xu Tianhao did not engage in unnecessary negotiation and directly produced an exclusive token engraved with intricate patterns.
Once the token appeared, the entire City Lord's Mansion instantly became solemn. The captain of the garrison guards immediately bowed, and quickly went to report to City Lord Li Yadong.
Li Yadong rushed over upon hearing the news. Upon seeing the token, his expression changed drastically, and he dared not show the slightest negligence.
He immediately bowed and handed over full control, remaining respectful throughout the entire process, awaiting all of Xu Tianhao's orders.
Subsequently, Li Yadong dared not delay and immediately ordered his men to retrieve all detailed intelligence regarding the roaming Evil Soul Masters.
From the personnel composition, activity trajectories, and hideouts to the distribution of strength, nothing was omitted, and everything was presented before Xu Tianhao.
Xu Tianhao reviewed the intelligence one by one, and within a few moments, he understood the situation of this group of Evil Soul Masters entrenched near Xinyue City clearly.
This group of Evil Soul Masters totaled over twenty people. Although the number was small, each was powerful, and they were by no means comparable to a ragtag group of soldiers.
Their leader was an Evil Soul Master whose cultivation had reached the Spirit Saint realm, named Blood River.
Under Blood River, there were two deputies at the Spirit Emperor level, as well as five core members at the Spirit King level.
The remaining Evil Soul Masters had a minimum cultivation at the Spirit Ancestor or Spirit Elder level.
There were no low-level Spirit Masters below the three-ring level; every member was an elite Evil Soul Master.
An Evil Soul Master group of this scale and strength was a huge threat whenever it appeared near any city.
You must know, more than twenty high-level Evil Soul Masters acting together, with tacit cooperation and vicious methods, were formidable.
Even if a Spirit Douluo-level powerhouse were sent to encircle and suppress them head-on, it would be difficult to completely annihilate them in a short time.
Even with a slight carelessness, they might be found with a flaw and counterattacked by the opponent.
Conversely, the Seven-Person Squad led by Xu Tianhao, although all were talented members of the younger generation,
even if each had extraordinary combat power and could challenge strong enemies across ranks, the highest spirit power level in the entire team was only forty-five.
To pit seven young Spirit Masters against over twenty high-level Evil Soul Masters,
including an Evil Soul Master group with a Spirit Saint and Spirit Emperor in charge, a head-on clash would be no different from throwing an egg against a rock, with no chance of victory at all.
But Xu Tianhao was never a reckless man who stuck to rules and fought blindly.
He was flexible and knew that when hard strength could not compete, one must make use of available power.
Others might be at their wit's end, but by his side, he had Poison Immortal, this top powerhouse, overseeing the situation, which could be called the most secure backing.
Since they could not compete head-on, he would just ask his master to step in and fight for them.
First, dismantle the opponent's top combat power, then let the squad step in to clear the remaining mess; this would both ensure the effectiveness of the training and completely annihilate this scourge.
Having finalized the strategy in his mind, Xu Tianhao immediately set off with the Seven-Person Squad toward the target location according to the Evil Soul Master hideout marked in the intelligence.
After Xu Tianhao and his group left, City Lord Li Yadong stood at the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, feeling bewildered in the wind.
Because Xu Tianhao had neither requested support from the city's army nor asked him, a City Lord at the Spirit Saint level, to accompany them in battle.
He had only left an order to wait in place before leaving directly, filling his heart with confusion and astonishment.
He really could not understand what kind of confidence these seven seemingly young "leaders" possessed to confront over twenty fierce Evil Soul Masters.
However, in the Sun Moon Empire, the strict hierarchical system was engraved in the bone, imperial power was supreme, and orders from official high-level forces could not be questioned.
Although Xu Tianhao had not revealed his true identity, the token he produced represented the personal arrival of the Evil Soul Master Inspection Team leader, which carried immense weight.
The Evil Soul Master Inspection Team was a special department newly established in the Sun Moon Empire in recent years.
Although it had been established for a short time, it was flourishing thanks to being directly under the imperial family and specifically tasked with inspecting and exterminating Evil Soul Masters across the world.
The Inspection Team even possessed the special privilege of mobilizing local troops, quickly becoming a powerful organization within the Empire that no one dared to provoke.
The head of the Inspection Team was himself a renowned Ninth-Rank Soul Engineer, with top-tier strength and status.
Therefore, the moment Xu Tianhao revealed the token, he had established absolute authority.
Even if Xu Tianhao was not the leader of the Inspection Team himself, he was certainly a disciple of the leader, a powerhouse dispatched by the Empire's high-level officials, or a core figure with high status and power.
Although Li Yadong had doubts in his heart, he dared not disobey in the slightest.
Regarding Xu Tianhao's order to wait in place and not act without authorization, he immediately bowed to accept the order, executing it unconditionally, and dared not interfere in the slightest throughout the process.
Leaving Xinyue City, the seven of them, including Xu Tianhao, headed east. After speeding for fifty miles, a deep mountain range with rolling hills and towering ancient trees appeared before their eyes; this place was exactly the Huiyin Mountain Range.
Inside the mountain range, ancient forests blocked the sun, and the miasma and the aura of Spirit Beasts intertwined, with numerous Spirit Beasts inhabiting the area.
Although this place could not be considered a top gathering place for Spirit Beasts, it could be considered a medium-sized habitat for Spirit Beasts.
Because the age of the Spirit Beasts within the mountain range was limited, with the highest not exceeding fifty thousand years, it posed no great threat to high-level Spirit Masters.
But it was precisely because of this that it became an excellent hiding place for that group of Evil Soul Masters after they committed their evil deeds.
Previously, this group of Evil Soul Masters had run rampant in the villages and towns around Xinyue City, slaughtering the innocent and absorbing the spirit power of living souls, committing numerous bloody crimes.
By the time City Lord Li Yadong led the city defense army to encircle and suppress them, they had long since fled into the depths of the Huiyin Mountain Range.
The terrain of the mountain range was complex, with dense jungles, making it very easy to hide their tracks. Li Yadong was cautious and dared not lead his army to venture deep inside, fearing that they would fall into the ambush of the Evil Soul Masters.
In the end, he could only report the intelligence layer by layer, submitting it to the Evil Soul Master Inspection Team, and waiting for superiors to dispatch powerhouses to handle it.