Xu Tianran looked up and saw a point of light hurtling rapidly toward him. His hair stood on end as an intense chill swept through his entire body.
"A Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell! They actually have a Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell! Open fire!"
Xu Tianran immediately pulled out a control device. The surrounding Class 9 stationary soul cannon emplacements instantly locked onto the incoming shell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless shells shot into the sky, colliding with the incoming Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell.
Boom!
A mushroom cloud erupted above the imperial palace. In an instant, the night sky over all of Radiant City was illuminated as brightly as day.
The retreating Zhang Lexuan glanced back.
"Dean Su's Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell is truly terrifying. Firing it directly at the palace meant that even if it was intercepted, the shockwave alone would engulf the entire palace.
"Most importantly, that's the imperial palace, where the Sun Moon Empire's upper echelon is gathered. There are no civilians there, so the people of Radiant City won't be caught in the blast. The decapitation strike can't really be considered a failure."
Launching the Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell at the palace had been Su Yunlin's idea. He had guessed that the palace contained the greatest concentration of soul tools, so striking it with a Class 9 shell was the best option. Even if it failed to kill anyone, destroying those Class 9 cannon emplacements with the explosion's aftershock would still be an enormous profit.
The citizens of Radiant City saw flames soaring into the sky from the direction of the imperial palace. Instantly, the entire city descended into chaos.
The next moment, several streaks of light arrived above the palace.
At this point, two-thirds of the imperial palace had already been reduced to rubble.
"What happened?"
The Sun Moon Empire's Class 9 soul engineers immediately gathered and began searching for members of the imperial family.
As the smoke gradually cleared, a protective barrier could be seen shielding two people inside.
It was Xu Tianran and Ju Zi.
Xu Tianran surveyed the destruction around him. The painstakingly constructed by several Class 9 soul engineers, had been completely obliterated. The Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell had triggered a chain reaction of explosions, blasting the entire imperial palace apart.
"Damn it! How could the three Douluo nations possess a Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell? Investigate! Find out who sold them one!"
Xu Tianran roared in fury.
He had never imagined that he himself would become the target of a Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell. Had his peak Class 9 defensive soul tool not been powerful enough, he might already be dead.
The Steel Palace, jointly constructed by several Class 9 soul engineers, was theoretically impregnable—even a Limit Douluo should have been unable to breach it. Yet they had never expected the three Douluo nations, who traditionally valued Spirit Masters over soul tools, to use stationary soul cannon shells.
Just a handful of stationary soul cannon shells had triggered explosions powerful enough to tear apart the palace's defensive system, reducing the entire palace to ruins. Countless high-grade soul tools had likely been destroyed in the blast.
...
The four experts battling high above naturally noticed what had happened to the imperial palace.
Even Du Busi was stunned.
Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells were truly terrifying. If he took one head-on, he had no idea what would happen—but he was certain he would not come away unscathed.
Long Xiaoyao looked at the three before him. "Since when did all of you start relying on soul tools?"
Elder Xuan chuckled. "Old Dark Dragon, times are changing! If you keep clinging to the old ways, sooner or later you'll suffer for it. I've already learned that lesson the hard way."
Long Xiaoyao snorted.
"Your assassination has failed. Withdraw."
Elder Xuan nodded and turned to Du Busi and Su Tianxuan.
"Let's go!"
The three experts departed in different directions, while Long Xiaoyao also left shortly afterward.
Standing amid the ruins of the imperial palace, Xu Tianran silently surveyed the shattered remains around him, his expression grave. No one knew what was going through his mind.
...
Elsewhere.
Su Yunlin, who was still busy packing up the treasury, also heard the tremendous explosion. He naturally understood what had happened.
They had only brought two Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells in total.
Su Jinming had entrusted one of them to Xian Lin'er. Whether she chose to use it against Xu Tianran or Long Xiaoyao was entirely up to her.
The remaining shell was kept for breaking out. After all, the Sun Moon Empire's soul tools were no joke. After Shrek Academy's rapid development in soul tools, they naturally understood how terrifying soul tools could be.
"We're done. Let's go!"
After Su Jinming finished collecting everything, he prepared to leave. Su Yunlin and the others also retreated according to the original plan.
They had not only taken away those soul cannon platforms, but had also found a highly encrypted warehouse. With Su Jinming, a Class 9 soul engineer, present, although it took some time, they still opened it.
Inside were 16 Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells. Huo Yuhao, whose original plan had been to blow this place up, was instantly terrified when he saw them. If the Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells here were detonated, Radiant City would definitely suffer a devastating catastrophe.
Fortunately, Su Jinming was here. He took away all the Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells. With these Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells, Shrek Academy's backbone would become even stronger.
...
Elsewhere, at the imperial palace.
Xu Tianran looked at the devastated palace, his gaze fixed on a section of ruins. That had been where his imperial father lived.
Very soon, Shadow Douluo Xue Chen reported to Xu Tianran.
"My apologies, Your Highness. His Majesty has unfortunately perished."
Tears instantly streamed down Xu Tianran's face, but no one knew that inside, he was wildly overjoyed. The old emperor was dead. Now, as crown prince, he could ascend the throne openly and justifiably.
The people from the three Douluo nations had just done him a huge favor. They had actually helped him solve his greatest problem.
"Your Highness…"
Ju Zi looked at Xu Tianran. She still had not recovered from the explosion just now.
"Imperial Father, how could you just leave like this? Damn it! I will definitely…"
"Heh. I never expected that after living for over 200 years, this old man would still witness such a hypocritical scene. The emperor's death is a good thing for you, isn't it?"
An aged voice rang out. A hunched old man dressed in white appeared not far away. If he had not spoken, no one would have noticed someone was there at all.
"You are?"
Xu Tianran felt a chill down his spine. From this old man, he sensed an extremely powerful pressure.
"Dragon God Douluo Mu En!" Jing Hongchen immediately recognized the old man.
Shadow Douluo Xue Chen instantly made his move. With several flickers, he arrived before Mu En. But in front of Mu En, his body was frozen in place.
Shadow Douluo, famed for his ghostlike movement, actually could not move.
Boom!
In the next moment, Shadow Douluo Xue Chen exploded instantly. Before he could even raise his hand, he was killed in a single instant.
Xu Tianran was shocked. Dragon God Douluo. He had heard this title from Jing Hongchen before. To the Sun Moon Empire, Limit Douluo were legends among legends.
Although the Sun Moon Empire's highest-level secrets were all designed with Limit Douluo as hypothetical enemies, and Xu Tianran himself had also seen two Limit Douluo before, this Dragon God Douluo appearing before him made him feel a sense of crisis unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Even when he had been ambushed years ago and lost both legs, he had never been this afraid.
"Protect His Highness!"
Several Class 9 soul engineers and other guards immediately surrounded him, but in the next instant, all of them were sent flying. The defensive soul tools on the Class 9 soul engineers were triggered, yet all of them still flew backward with blood streaming from all seven orifices.
"Soul tools are indeed powerful. The future may indeed belong to soul tools. But before this old man, your soul tools are no different from empty decorations."
Elder Mu spoke slowly. In the next moment, he took one step forward.
Buzz!
Crack.
Xu Tianran's peak Class 9 defensive soul tool activated. In just a single breath, a crack appeared in the defensive barrier.
"Oh? This soul tool is somewhat interesting. It can actually block this old man's attack."
Elder Mu slowly raised his hand, his eyes glowing with golden light.
Roar!
A majestic dragon roar rang out. A massive white dragon charged toward Xu Tianran. Elder Mu wanted to tear apart Xu Tianran's defensive soul tool together with Xu Tianran himself.
"Hmm?"
Elder Mu suddenly raised his head and saw a silver barrier descending from the sky, enveloping Xu Tianran.
...
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