Xu Zihuang, sheltered under Yao Yang's arm, gazed down at the island that had turned into a crimson purgatory, his expression filled with melancholy.
In fact, Yao Yang had already hinted at this outcome earlier. But he also knew this was already the best result. Wang Xiao had brought only a mere forty men, and if they kept tangling with the Western Sea Soul Engineer Legion, the losses would only grow worse.
The soldiers of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion swiftly flew toward Yao Yang and Xu Zihuang with their flying soul tools. Aside from Yu Lao and the others who had already seen Xu Zihuang, there were also those who had been fighting against the main force of the Western Sea Soul Engineer Legion earlier.
Of the twenty-three Soul Emperors, only nineteen remained. Many were more or less injured, though none of the wounds were serious.
On Yu Lao's side, out of the original twenty-one men, only thirteen had made it here safely.
"Young Master."
They surrounded Xu Zihuang. Although their faces were solemn from the loss of comrades, no matter what, as long as Xu Zihuang had been rescued, everything was worth it.
There is no war without death.
But just then, countless dazzling blue-violet bolts of lightning poured down like waterfalls from the night sky.
Yao Yang, the strongest present and a spiritual attribute soul master, reacted instantly and shouted loudly: "Scatter!"
Everyone instinctively looked up, while still heeding Yao Yang's warning and spreading out with their flying soul tools. From those blue-violet lightning pillars, each more than a meter thick, they sensed an aura of extreme danger.
The source of the lightning was none other than Haixiao, who had returned to human form. His once deep-blue armor was shattered, and from his broad chest down to his abdomen ran a gaping wound that exposed bone. His face was pale as gold foil. With his lungs torn, his heavy gasps sounded like a broken bellows.
His black eighth soul ring was shining, and a mass of condensed lightning flickered across his body.
"Eighth Soul Skill, Violet Thunder Hell!"
A trace of blood slid down from the corner of Haixiao's mouth, his voice abnormally deep.
"This way, I can still be worthy of His Highness the Crown Prince."
Wang Xiao, who had also canceled his Spirit Avatar state, saw this scene and his expression instantly changed.
Though his cultivation was much stronger than Haixiao's, even he could not possibly block the entirety of Haixiao's eighth soul skill unleashed with the last of his soul power.
His martial soul was the Overlord Xiao, an exceptionally rare existence among tiger-type martial souls. With both darkness and wind attributes, its quality was in no way inferior to the White Tiger martial soul passed down in the Star Luo Empire's White Tiger Duke family. It combined both speed and strength, leaving almost no weaknesses. Truly a top-tier beast martial soul.
But unfortunately, it did not excel in defense. At most, he could do his utmost to shield Xu Zihuang and the others.
He could not help but inwardly regret not stopping Haixiao's desperate counterattack.
Haixiao gave a bitter smile, gazing distantly toward the eastern sea. Beyond that ocean was the country that had raised him.
Scenes of the past flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern. Now, he actually felt much lighter.
Perhaps ever since he had discovered that Xu Tiannan was colluding with evil soul masters, he had already made his decision. To die here was, in truth, a release.
His consciousness fading, he forced himself to weaken the power of the blue-violet lightning pillars surrounding Xu Zihuang with his eighth soul skill.
Xu Tiannan had once shown him great favor, but Xu Zihuang's father, Xu Zhengxuan, had also done so in the past. This was one reason why he had always treated Xu Zihuang with such courtesy over the years.
Though he knew Wang Xiao had the strength to protect Xu Zihuang, he did not want him to shoulder too much risk. At the same time, he was fulfilling his duty as a vassal of Xu Tiannan.
This was his final insistence. In this life, he had no regrets toward anyone.
"Everyone, gather around me!"
Wang Xiao, who was preparing to unleash all his strength to shield the others, froze for a moment upon hearing Xu Zihuang's voice. The soldiers of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion, frantically maneuvering their flying tools, also turned their eyes toward Xu Zihuang.
At this moment, Xu Zihuang, guarded by Yao Yang, let his tied-back medium-length hair fall loose again, a few strands of strange purple hair at his forehead and temples fluttering in the wind. His cold vertical pupils gleamed with a purple radiance full of majesty, while in his right hand surged a ball of black-violet lightning. The restless thunder element emanated a suffocating pressure.
Under Xu Zihuang's control, the lightning in his palm condensed into thin threads about the width of a finger.
To their astonishment, the soldiers discovered that Haixiao's eighth soul skill—the massive blue-violet lightning pillars—dissipated like melting ice upon contact with Xu Zihuang's black-violet lightning threads.
"Ul—ti—mate—Lightning?!" Haixiao's mouth filled with blood as he muttered word by word. Looking at the awe-inspiring Xu Zihuang, he froze for a moment, then his stiff face revealed the most relieved smile of his life.
"Heaven bless my Sun Moon!"
Lightning was the manifestation of the righteous energy of heaven and earth, innately suppressing evil soul masters. And Ultimate Lightning's suppression of them was comparable even to the Angel Clan of ten thousand years ago.
He seemed to see countless evil soul masters perishing beneath endless thunder.
He did not know if Xu Zihuang's future growth would prove a blessing or a curse to Xu Tiannan and his son, who now held power in the Sun Moon Empire. But for the evil soul masters, it would surely be their doom.
With his final obsession fading, Haixiao could no longer maintain his stance. Closing his eyes, he plummeted straight down, consumed by the scorching heat waves.
He would forever slumber here with his subordinates.
The threads of lightning Xu Zihuang had formed instantly wove into a net about ten meters wide before him. Under the shelter of this net, the space became a last sanctuary. Though shocked by Xu Zihuang's methods, the soldiers' battle-honed instincts let them quickly react.
Wang Xiao casually crushed the lightning pillars pouring toward him, his breathing slightly quickened—whether from the drain of his battle with Haixiao or from the surge of emotions, it was unclear.
"Ultimate Lightning indeed! Young Master truly lives up to the bloodline of His Highness the Prince and Her Highness the Princess."
Martial soul inheritance was directly tied to both parents. Xu Zihuang's martial soul was clearly not a random mutation, for Wang Xiao could distinctly sense within him two equally powerful yet utterly different bloodline forces merging. One of those auras he could never mistake—it was the destructive power unique to the Purple Sovereign Extinguishing Heavenly Dragon martial soul.
He was among the few who knew the identity of Xu Zihuang's mother.
The black-violet lightning in Xu Zihuang's palm gradually dimmed. Gazing at the once more tranquil night sky, he let out a long breath of relief and fainted on the spot.
Though he had the absolute attribute advantage of Ultimate Lightning, for someone who had yet to obtain even a single soul ring, it was far too taxing. Fortunately, Haixiao's eighth soul skill was entirely composed of lightning. Otherwise, with his current cultivation, how could he possibly have blocked it?
Even just maintaining a small protective space had completely drained his soul power. Luckily, his body had long been nourished by all kinds of heavenly treasures since childhood, preventing it from collapsing on the spot.
"Young Master!" The others looked at Xu Zihuang with concern, their eyes carrying a trace of fanaticism. What he had just displayed was simply too shocking.
A mere tenth-rank soul master had actually blocked the eighth soul skill of a Soul Douluo?
Yao Yang checked Xu Zihuang's condition and reassured everyone: "It's fine, Zihuang only fainted from exhausting his soul power. With some rest, he'll recover."
He had originally been prepared to step in, but never thought Xu Zihuang would endure. Though he had the absolute attribute advantage, the pressure Xu Zihuang had borne was real.
Wang Xiao floated over, exchanged a glance with Yao Yang, then heavily waved his right hand.
"Return to the warship. Leave this sea."