"Second Priest, our brethren's casualties are mounting: a quick tally reveals at least a thousand have fallen, with nearly two thousand injured!"
Atop a mountain peak, all Soul Masters were in retreat here. Snakelance Douluo had roughly estimated a number and approached Golden Crocodile Douluo with a somewhat heavy heart.
Unlike the previously high spirits, now everyone's faces were filled with fatigue, looking deeply concerned.
For at the foot of the mountain, a demon army of tens of thousands had assembled.
It was a colossal number.
And a number that brewed despair.
At that moment, the demon army was also somewhat weary, but, after all, this was the home field of the demons, and everyone knew that the attack of the demon army would only get fiercer.
"Alas, the demons reacted quicker than we anticipated. Before we could stabilize and digest the previous battle's achievements, they launched an attack," Golden Crocodile Douluo sighed slowly.
It was indeed too sudden.
Looking at the Soul Masters below, his heart also sank with endless desolation.
If the fight continued, their ending would be a tragic one.
"Yes, it's all so sudden..." Snakelance Douluo nodded helplessly.
Had they known, after clearing out the demons in Alba Territory, they should have returned to the front of the Spatial Passage, waiting for further instructions, instead of venturing deep into enemy territory like this.
"But we cannot give up until the last moment. Go tell everyone, we have already dispatched powerhouses back to Soul Land for reinforcements, it won't be long before strong forces arrive, and then all crises will be resolved!"
"But can the ones we dispatched really escape those demons' pursuit?" Snakelance Douluo spoke uncertainly.
"Perhaps," Golden Crocodile Douluo uttered melancholically, then his gaze fixed on Snakelance Douluo, "Regardless of whether our messenger can get the message out, the words from your mouth must be affirmative.
You understand the principle of a cornered soldier winning, you must give people hope for life, then we will have hope."
Upon hearing Golden Crocodile Douluo's words, realization dawned in Snakelance Douluo's eyes, and he nodded vigorously, "Second Priest, I understand what you mean. I'll go pass the message immediately."
Golden Crocodile Douluo nodded, watching Snakelance Douluo's departing figure, silently hoping it was not too late.
However.
No sooner had Snakelance Douluo left than he ran back in a panic.
Golden Crocodile Douluo's heart sank, "What's happened?"
"The demons have launched another attack, and their numbers are even greater than before; it seems their reinforcements have arrived."
Upon hearing this, Golden Crocodile Douluo's gaze flickered.
Without a doubt, this was news that couldn't get any worse...
But...
"We have no escape left, we can only fight with all our might for a slim chance of survival!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo's voice rose even higher, "Fight!"
His voice, like rolling thunder, echoed in all directions.
"Fight!"
Below, thousands of Soul Masters let out a cry, their morale shook the heavens!
...
"It seems I will have to resort to some drastic measures."
"Without a foolproof plan, I can only sacrifice a few pawns to try and create an opportunity."
"But if the strike misses, I will have to leave temporarily and look for another chance."
Outside Spirit City, Spirit Emperor's eyes also showed a resolve.
...
"Hey, why aren't you talking?"
Meanwhile, in Pope Hall's plaza, a guard asked the human Soul Master controlled by Spirit Emperor.
Suddenly, the guard noticed an eerie smile on the face of the person he was questioning.
"This is bad, there's definitely something wrong with him!"
The guard roared angrily.
But before anyone could react, a powerful force suddenly erupted from the Soul Master in front of him.
Boom!
The Soul Master exploded first, followed by an incredibly violent power spreading out in all directions.
Everything within a hundred meters around him was instantly vaporized.
"Who dares wreak havoc in Martial Soul Hall!"
Just then, Qiandaoliu noticed something amiss and bellowed in anger.
At the same time, powerful soul power surged from his body as a six-winged angel's silhouette appeared behind him.
"Holy Light Barrier!"
The sixth Soul Ring on Qiandaoliu's body lit up, and suddenly a huge six-pointed star appeared in the void with a diameter of two to three hundred meters, and then golden light fell from the star, enveloping the scope of the explosion.
Strangely, no matter how fierce the explosion's power, no one outside the starlight screen could feel any soul power fluctuation whatsoever.
It was as if inside and outside the barrier, they were completely different worlds.
Undoubtedly, this was the power of a barrier skill!
"I don't know where the perpetrator is!"
Qiandaoliu's gaze was electric, sweeping swiftly over each figure.
Soon.
He fixed his gaze on a middle-aged man in the standard-issue Battle Armor of Martial Soul Hall.
"Could it be him? Has he been possessed by a powerful demon from the Demonic Plane?"
Qiandaoliu pondered with suspicion.
If not for that, he couldn't imagine what other reason would make a Soul Master loyal to Martial Soul Hall do such a thing.
Suddenly.
He saw a sly smile at the corner of the Soul Master's mouth.
"Not good!"
"Everyone, scatter!"
Qiandaoliu bellowed, as his sixth Soul Ring lit up once more, another six-pointed star appeared in the sky, and a golden light barrier fell in an instant.
But he was still a step too late, the Soul Master's body exploded in an instant, and dozens of people around were affected, shattered to pieces in the blink of an eye!
"Damn it!"
Qiandaoliu roared in a deep voice.
He realized in an instant that he had still underestimated the enemy.
"Ha-ha, I am here..."
"Isn't it a surprise, quite unexpected?"
At this moment, another person laughed heartily. Qiandaoliu looked over and saw it was another Soul Master who had returned from the Demonic Plane, like a changed person, his eyes filled with mockery.
"This time, you definitely won't escape!"
Qiandaoliu's eyes were filled with a crazed murderous intent. The Seraph suddenly spread its wings. Before his voice could spread, he had already arrived in front of that Soul Master, a longsword condensed from light piercing directly through the Soul Master's chest.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, is this the strongest person in Spirit City? Seems like he can only muster the courage of a common man."
Suddenly, a contemptuous voice rang out again in Qiandaoliu's ears.
Further away, someone's mouth showed a mocking smile.
But, in the next moment, Qiandaoliu was already in front of him, with a flash of light, the Holy Light Longsword had already beheaded the opponent.
"Do you have anything left to say now?" Qiandaoliu stood with one foot on the severed head on the ground and asked coldly, "Tell me where you came from, and I can make this quick for you."
"My origin..."
"Don't kill me, I'll tell you..."
Finally, fear showed on the face of that head.
Qiandaoliu said nothing, just quietly listened.
"What I want to say is..."
"You've been tricked."
"Ha-ha-ha."
The head burst out laughing.
"Not good!"
Qiandaoliu suddenly looked up towards the direction of the Spatial Passage, Hu Hansan's figure entered his view, already standing in front of the passage.
Seemingly noticing Qiandaoliu's gaze, Hu Hansan even waved his hand at him as if saying a final goodbye.
"No!"
Qiandaoliu roared angrily, realizing what had happened.
He had fallen for a diversion. The enemy's true target was the spatial transmission channel.
Boom!
The next moment, an even more powerful Soul Power burst forth.
The force of this blow made even Qiandaoliu feel alarmed.
In the glowing light, a giant mushroom cloud rose in front of Pope Hall, the rolling dust billowing towards the sky.
Bang!
Qiandaoliu exerted a little force and crushed the head under his foot. Without caring about the powerful residual waves of Soul Power, he charged into the dust.
...
"What happened, what's going on?"
"Hurry up and check!"
"..."
Inside Pope Hall, Gui Douluo, Ju Douluo, and the other Elders all showed a shock on their faces.
"Not good, something went wrong with the Spatial Passage!"
Pope Bi Bidong's voice reached everyone's ears.
However,
When the many Elders looked towards the throne, where was Bi Bidong's figure to be seen?
Then, the rest of them turned into streaks of light and disappeared within the great hall.
...
"What in the world happened!"
When Ju Douluo, Gui Douluo, and the others looked down from a high position at the former plaza in front of the hall, shock was evident on their faces.
The plaza was gone, replaced by a huge pit several meters deep.
Grand Worshipper Qiandaoliu was standing inside the pit, while Bossi hovered in the air not far away, his eyebrows tightly furrowed, seemingly deep in thought.
However, all this was unimportant...
"Where is the Spatial Passage to the Demonic Plane?"
They all realized the issue.
"It was beings from an alternate dimension that invaded and destroyed the Spatial Passage!"
Qiandaoliu summed up what happened in a single sentence to inform everyone.
"What!"
All were taken aback.
Who could possibly do such a thing under the nose of the Grand Worshipper?
"Seal Spirit City immediately, and conduct a thorough investigation of every civilian and Soul Master. I'm not sure if there are agents of otherworldly forces mingling among them."
As Qiandaoliu spoke, Ju Douluo, Gui Douluo, and some late-arriving guest elders of Martial Soul Hall all left with gloomy faces.
The once-proclaimed Holy Land for Soul Masters, Spirit City, had been peaceful for decades, but recently...
Some folks are getting way too bold, causing trouble in Spirit City. Are they treating them like nobodies?
"What do you plan to do?"
After everyone else had left, Bi Bidong sent a voice message to Qiandaoliu.
Upon hearing this, Qiandaoliu's face showed a hint of helplessness, "What can I do?"
"Only Qin Xiao himself knows the space-time coordinates to the Demonic Plane. Even if we wanted to open the portal and rescue them, we are powerless. The only lucky thing is that Qin Xiao is within the Demonic Plane; he should be able to save himself."
"But for someone in that plane, opening a Spatial Passage wouldn't be easy, right?"
Bi Bidong frowned.
Qiandaoliu nodded, "Indeed, it's not easy. Because of the suppression by the Plane Will, the energy consumption to open a portal would be several times what is normal."
"Then Qin Xiao, he..."
"He doesn't need our worry. Have you forgotten what he was doing before he left Soul Land for the sea?"
"Of course, he was going to inherit..."
Bi Bidong's eyes suddenly lit up, "Wait, according to what you are saying, has Qin Xiao already inherited godhood?"
Qiandaoliu showed a rare smile, "So I said there's no need to worry about that guy, right?"
"The gap between humans and gods is unimaginable; what's difficult for humans can be easily achieved by Qin Xiao. I actually hope he comes back later, so that all the lurking creatures on the continent will surface. When our opponents show themselves, it will be easier to deal with them."
A visible attack is easy to dodge, but a hidden one is hard to defend against; that's the truth.
Upon hearing this, Bi Bidong nodded lightly, "Then I think, we should make an even bigger fuss, let everyone on Soul Land know about this..."
Elsewhere.
On a barren mountain outside of Spirit City, the Spirit Emperor watched the mushroom cloud rise to the sky with a satisfied smile, as if admiring a beautiful piece of art.
The last scene witnessed by Hu Hansan was now clear in his mind. He was certain that the last explosion took place right in front of the Spatial Passage, and the Grand Worshipper Qiandaoliu from Martial Soul Hall hadn't managed to stop it in time.
In other words, his plan had been executed perfectly.
"To prevent humans from using this method to increase their Cultivation Level, I should return to the abyssal plane immediately and report everything that has happened here to Sage King, urging him to wage war on Soul Land sooner..."
The Spirit Emperor already had a plan in his heart.
...
Elsewhere.
The Demonic Plane.
Qin Xiao, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, and the Red-clothed Bishop from Martial Soul Hall had just left when a deafening explosion erupted behind them.
Everyone turned to see the towering Spatial Passage collapse instantly; the powerful spatial turbulence completely shredded everything within hundreds of meters.
The human Soul Master guarding the portal didn't even make a sound before being obliterated by the spatial rift.
"My lord, this, this..."
The Red-clothed Bishop standing beside Qin Xiao swallowed hard after the spatial crack disappeared, then looked at Qin Xiao as if seeking help.
"Useless thing, you stutter after a mere trifle."
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King scoffed disdainfully, also looking at Qin Xiao, "This, this..."
Suddenly, he too didn't know how to begin.
Asking Qin Xiao what to do outright would seem cowardly, wouldn't it?
"You want to ask, 'What should we do?'"
Seeing them nodding like pecking chickens, Qin Xiao snorted with dissatisfaction, "You two really are quite a pair.
Maggots criticizing a pig for being dirty without seeing the filth on themselves."
"Okay, stop talking about me already," the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King protested, somewhat embarrassedly.
"Actually, it's not a big deal that the Spatial Passage has been destroyed. It can just be rebuilt."
"Can you do it with your strength?" the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was excited.
But Qin Xiao shook his head, "Titled Douluo Level strength definitely won't cut it. To open a Spatial Passage in this world, you need to exert several times the effort than before."
What he didn't say was that if he were to display his God Rank Cultivation Level, there would be no problem at all.
Opening a spatial portal?
Straightforward.
On the other hand, after hearing Qin Xiao's words, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's morale collapsed, "If Titled Douluo Level can't do it, does that mean only God Rank can?
Are there even gods in this world? And even if there were, they would probably just destroy us, not help us."
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