Chapter 347: The Ghost Emperor’s Apprehension
The energy fluctuations transmitted by Lamo grew increasingly intense, yet also progressively weaker.
Clearly, the Chaotic North King had taken notice of the situation.
Perhaps two and a half hours into the three-hour battle, they had already begun responding.
Now, after half an hour, two Tyrant-level presences finally approached.
"Sure enough, the Northern Three Kings have Tyrants under their command who can be mobilized."
Xu Yuan wasn't surprised.
He had known this early on—it was part of the intelligence provided by Kaye.
Having been captured, the two Tyrants under Kaye were utterly spineless, selling out all the information they could.
"The Chaotic North King himself hasn't come. It seems guarding the Hell Gate is still quite taxing."
The Northern Three Kings guarding the Hell Gates weren't like the Western Legion of Douluo Continent, which merely collected salaries without doing much. They were constantly on high alert, ready to fend off attacks from Hell. In fact, the Northern Three Kings had to remain stationed directly in front of the Hell Gates at all times to prevent any of the Hell Lords from entering the Demon Plane through any portal and launching a massacre.
"With two Tyrants gone and the Chaotic North King having to guard the Hell Gate, shouldn't the Chaotic North King's royal city now be free of obstacles?"
Xu Yuan pondered this as he continued to wield his spear without pause.
Spear thrust after spear thrust battered Lamo, further depleting his condition.
By the time the two humanoid purple demons arrived, Lamo was already in a weakened state.
These two newly arrived Tyrant demons bore a resemblance to humans, with small pointed horns atop their heads. Instead of wings formed from burning purple flames, they had naturally grown flesh-and-blood wings adorned with intricate purple patterns.
The purple patterns exuded an air of nobility.
Xu Yuan retracted the Dharma Heaven Phenomenon.
His fifth soul ring still flickered.
Fifth Soul Skill: Blood Essence Manifestation.
At this moment, what he was using was the original form of his fifth soul skill.
A massive surge of blood essence flowed along Xu Yuan's spear, materializing countless spear shadows.
Every single one of these thousands of spear shadows was real.
Each spear strike carried terrifying force.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the other side, Na'er continued to "struggle valiantly," keeping all the Lord-level demons of Lamo's royal city firmly occupied.
---
North
Chaotic North King's Royal City
Lan Muzi, whose aura had been fully concealed, altered his appearance and casually strolled into the Chaotic North King's royal city.
Unlike Xu Yuan's amateurish information-gathering abilities, Lan Muzi had genuinely visited Devil Island!
"Little Yuan is catching up faster and faster. Fortunately, I've made progress in condensing my second soul core. This Demon Plane has given me some final inspiration."
Unlike the path taken by Xu Yuan and Yun Ming, Lan Muzi was preparing to condense a pair of complementary yin-yang dual soul cores.
His martial soul's essence wasn't particularly strong. His rise to this point was entirely due to his own innate talent, which allowed him to gradually elevate his martial soul step by step.
Now, the condensation of soul cores held immense significance for him.
The complementary yin-yang soul cores would continuously influence his martial soul, laying the foundation for its further enhancement.
Lan Muzi had been stuck at Level 89 for three years. During this time, he had used various methods to hone his physical condition, all in preparation for enduring the complementary yin-yang dual soul cores.
However, his martial soul wasn't focused on physical enhancement.
Fortunately, he leveraged his unique traits, transferring most of the oppressive force of the complementary yin-yang dual soul cores onto his spirit.
More accurately, it was transferred to his blade soul.
He condensed his blade soul into a tangible form.
He intended to use his blade soul to bear the oppressive force of the complementary yin-yang dual soul cores while simultaneously refining his blade soul with the power of the dual cores.
If successful, upon achieving the rank of Titled Douluo, his strength would soar to new heights.
The Demon Plane had provided him with the final spark of inspiration.
After completing this exploration mission, he would enter seclusion to break through!
---
Xu Yuan fled.
Even though one of the Tyrants, Lamo, was severely weakened, he was still undeniably a Tyrant-level powerhouse.
Facing three opponents alone? Xu Yuan couldn't possibly win a direct confrontation.
Switching to the Dharma Heaven Phenomenon mode would give him sufficient strength to match all three, but the two Tyrants from the Chaotic North King's city clearly excelled in agility.
Without entering the Dharma Heaven Phenomenon mode, however, Xu Yuan lacked the ability to withstand the combined might of the three Tyrants.
Thus, after exchanging blows for several dozen rounds, Xu Yuan switched his martial soul, using the teleportation soul skill inscribed on his Heavenly Origin Brush to create distance. He then called for Na'er to quickly retreat.
"Senior Brother, they're catching up!"
"No problem, just hold on for a few more minutes." Though his words sounded calm, Xu Yuan was actually pushing his mech suit to its maximum capacity, fleeing toward the base at full speed.
Xu Yuan's mech suit was a close-fitting model, with no cockpit or passenger seat.
Its design prioritized combat efficiency.
However, his mech suit had begun to incorporate transformations, inspired by Mu Ye's approach to mech suits—a concept Xu Yuan had been researching for some time.
Though his mech suit was only at the purple-grade level, it was crafted entirely from fully spirit-forged divine alloy!
Its base quality surpassed that of most black-grade mech suits.
With slight adjustments to its form, it created space for Na'er.
Xu Yuan carefully counted the seconds.
After about five minutes of escape, the three pursuing Tyrants—Lamo included—stopped their pursuit.
This was because Lamo's royal city had come under attack.
A diversion within a diversion.
---
Lamo's Royal City
Wu Zhangkong sheathed his Sky Frost Sword, storing the spoils from the royal city into his storage-type soul-guided device. Glancing at the returning trio of Tyrants, he didn't hesitate and immediately flew southward toward Kaye's royal city.
Kaye's two Tyrants had been captured, and before the territories they controlled descended into chaos, the maps they provided of the western region remained highly reliable.
Meanwhile, Xu Yuan had already surveyed the area between the Northern Three Kings and Alba's imperial city.
This meant that Shrek Academy now possessed detailed terrain maps of the western and northern directions extending from their base to the nearby royal cities.
With the terrain mapped, unnecessary internal friction could be avoided, allowing them to reach these royal cities with minimal effort.
Food-based soul masters could provide temporary bursts of sustenance.
Prolonged engagements, however, were unsustainable.
Thus, Wu Changkong, wielding the strength of a Soul Douluo and a three-word battle armor master, decisively crushed the remaining Lord-level demons in Lamo's royal city. He then swiftly gathered treasures from within the city, especially the new types of ore and materials suitable for forging that Xu Yuan had specifically instructed him to prioritize.
To maximize efficiency, Wu Changkong had already conducted three dry runs, essentially raiding the three royal cities directly south of Lamo's.
"Now it's up to the academy."
Xu Yuan was only one person; he couldn't alter the structure of competition between massive factions.
The specifics of the next phase of expansion, securing the base, and managing this demonic passage would depend on the academy.
With Na'er in tow, Xu Yuan didn't return to the base immediately.
Instead, he changed direction, heading toward Nalundo's royal city.
---
Douluo Continent
South Coast
The Ghost Emperor was still shaken.
After recovering from his injuries deep in the ocean, he quickly returned to the continent.
"Yun Ming's strength is truly terrifying. Can quasi-god-level power really reach such heights?" Recalling the previous battle, the Ghost Emperor still wore an expression of lingering fear.
Even evil soul masters could feel fear and trepidation.
"It's no use. Yun Ming must be eliminated as soon as possible. As long as Yun Ming lives, our Holy Spirit Sect's plans cannot proceed smoothly."
The Ghost Emperor turned to look toward the depths of the ocean.
The Demon Emperor's premature awakening and forced engagement with Yun Ming had set things back for quite some time.
Even the Ghost Emperor's sinister face couldn't help but crease with worry.
"Delaying a few more years means more preparation time, but it also increases the variables…"
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