The outbreak of the war involving the Star Crown Sect caused a great stir, but due to the fact that the Douluo Continent essentially lacked a communication system, no major powers were aware of it for the time being—aside from the two dueling parties.
The Wuhun Empire also took advantage of this. The signal flare launched by Lion Douluo was intended to create a time gap so that Qian Daoliu, who had prepared a contingency plan, could rush in to provide support.
On the lands of the Zhao and Qian families, Xu Zilong gazed at the dazzling fireworks in the distance, and a fire of vengeance ignited in his heart.
He had spent years enduring long, dull journeys at sea for this very moment—to take revenge on Xu Mingxi.
Xu Zilong recalled the slow growth of his soul power during his past training and felt intense hatred toward Xu Mingxi.
In truth, he knew that his inability to improve was mostly due to the deficiencies of his childhood and the low age of his soul rings, but he believed that as long as he could obtain a divine inheritance, all of this would no longer be a problem.
After learning that Xu Mingxi had broken through to level 99 and become an unrivaled Douluo, he was briefly depressed and finally realized that he would never be able to reclaim the divine inheritance in this life.
Therefore, he decided to make Xu Mingxi suffer before returning to the Sun Moon Continent—and to show her that seizing his divine inheritance came at a cost.
This was why Xu Zilong had previously been willing to use a fixed ninth-level soul guidance shell. He was unafraid when preparing to return to the Sun Moon Continent, even though his soul guidance device had been exposed.
Later, at Qian Daoliu's request, he agreed to serve as a backup in the operation to assault the Star Crown Sect, all for the sake of avenging the one who stole his divine inheritance.
"Xu Yang, Xu Yin, let's go. After destroying the mountain gate of the Star Crown Sect, we'll return directly to the Sun Moon Continent."
"Yes."
The soul guidance armor he wore emitted a strange purple glow. Xu Zilong's eyes were filled with ferocity as he flew directly toward the Star Crown Sect alongside two Titled Elders.
Each of them possessed at least two ninth-level soul guidance devices. Their leader, Xu Zilong, was fully armed. With the power of soul guidance, he could even stand against a level-97 Super Douluo.
He swore that this time, he would make Xu Mingxi—the thief—feel the pain of losing something precious.
Behind these three, dozens of soul masters in Sun Moon Empire uniforms appeared out of nowhere. Each of them was at the Soul Douluo level or higher, carrying soul guidance towers on their shoulders.
Behind Mount Star Luo, the Star Tree, which had been concentrating on controlling its roots and battling Qianjun and Jiangmo, seemed to sense something. The old face on its trunk couldn't help but open its mouth wide.
Then, its roots parted, dragging the Star Crown Sect disciples below the Soul Saint level away from the battlefield, retreating rapidly. A deep, ancient voice echoed throughout Mount Star Luo:
"Children of the Star Crown Sect, retreat quickly, fall back to the rear mountain."
As Elder Teng's voice fell, the battlefield erupted. Xu Fangming did not hesitate and immediately summoned the disciples of the Star Crown Sect to retreat swiftly to the rear mountain.
Each disciple wore a flying-type soul guidance device. The sight of hundreds of soul masters soaring into the sky stunned the Wuhun Empire army.
The baffled Lion Douluo was about to order his subordinates to press the attack and break through the Star Crown Sect's gate completely—but he suddenly felt a burning sensation from behind.
Keep in mind, he was a level-97 Super Douluo, and his martial spirit was a top-tier fire-attributed beast spirit—Flame Lion. There were few things on the entire Douluo Continent that could make him feel heat.
When he looked back, Lion Douluo's face changed instantly. His soul power surged to shield his body, and he suddenly released his ninth soul skill into the sky.
"Qianjun, Jiangmo—take your men and run!"
No further explanation was needed. The Wuhun Empire's Titled Douluo had already started fleeing like the soul masters of the Star Crown Sect. Even the heads of the Zhao and Qian families chose to abandon their people.
Dozens of soul guidance shells fell from the sky and bombarded the Star Crown Sect's mountain gate, wiping out soul masters from both the Star Crown Sect and the Wuhun Empire who failed to escape in time.
"Xu Zilong! What are you doing!!!"
Lion Douluo burst out from the smoke, most of his clothes torn, revealing strong arms and a muscular chest.
He scanned the surroundings sharply, but found no sign of the person he was looking for.
In his mind, the only one who could possess such a large-scale, powerful soul guidance arsenal was the member of the Xu family claiming to be from overseas.
The Wuhun Empire's soul masters suffered massive losses in the bombing. Aside from a few Titled Douluo and Soul Douluo, no one survived.
The heads of the Zhao and Qian families stared blankly and numbly at the scorched earth below. Their families were completely finished this time.
They no longer held any hope for survival and could only pray that the scattered clan members sent away would be able to carry on their bloodlines.
"Xu Zilong, come out! How dare you betray the Wuhun Empire!"
Lion Douluo shouted in the air—only to be answered by another wave of soul guidance shelling.
The Star Crown Sect did not escape unscathed either. In fact, Xu Zilong's hatred toward them far exceeded that toward the Wuhun Empire.
Several level-8 and even level-9 soul guidance shells fell directly onto the Star Crown Sect's mountain gate. The massive explosions destroyed many buildings, and even the Grandmaster's Hall at the mountaintop was reduced to rubble.
Fortunately, the Star Crown Sect had relocated its weaker disciples before Xu Mingxi's Poseidon hunt began—otherwise, this wave would have dealt a fatal blow to the sect.
If the mountain gate was destroyed, it could be rebuilt; if resources were lost, they could be recovered—but if the sect's powerful core and young generation, the hope of the future, were lost, it would be a true catastrophe.
Xu Fangming forcibly stopped the elders who wanted to rush out in a fury after seeing the gate they had protected for centuries destroyed. He quietly recorded the event in his heart.
"Elders, disciples, what we need to do now is survive and wait for Mingxi and the master to return. We must not act rashly."
Everyone understood the reasoning—but how could they vent the pain in their hearts when watching their home destroyed?
The Star Crown Sect soul masters vented their rage on the incoming soul guidance shells. Stars bloomed in the sky as they exploded the projectiles mid-air to minimize damage to the rear mountain.
As for the various sect resources and perfect simulation training grounds—they could only be abandoned for now. The issue of the assassins would be dealt with in the future.
Seeing that the Star Crown Sect's gate had been completely destroyed and that Lion Douluo and his men would soon recover and pose a threat to him, Xu Zilong quickly led his forces in retreat.
They had flying soul guidance devices and were virtually unscathed. Lion Douluo, having spent too much soul power, could not pursue them.
The end of the book is already on my Patreon [patreon.com/Devsen]