If they were in the Sun Moon Empire, unless they were like Huo Yuhao and possessed abilities that could conceal entire groups and utilize spatial power, they couldn’t possibly succeed in any ambushes with that almost airtight surveillance coverage.

They no longer had to leave anyone behind in their soul tool front. They could wait until the Dou Ling Empire’s situation stabilized before sending someone back to claim it.

Huo Yuhao grabbed Tang Wutong’s hand as they soared into the sky and flew in the direction that those two soul engineer legions had left in.

Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection couldn’t cover an entire country, but pursuing two soul engineer legions wasn’t much.

Inside Dou Ling City.

Smoke and dust permeated the air as most of the royal palace lay in ruins from its center after that frightening onslaught. Only the outer walls were still standing in tatters.

There were agonizing cries everywhere in the city, and the entire city was in chaos.

The city defense army wasn’t small, but they could only blankly attempt to maintain order. The royal palace had been destroyed, and that practically eradicated the Dou Ling Empire’s citizens’ mainstay.

Xu Sanshi took Jiang Nannan, Ye Guyi, Nan Qiuqiu, and Ji Juechen as they arrived beneath Dou Ling City’s walls. They watched the smoke and dust as their expressions became increasingly black.

Xu Sanshi didn’t just have the Heavenly Soul Empire in his blood, as half of his blood came from the Dou Ling Empire, but his mother was also the Dou Ling Empire’s previous princess, the previous emperor’s youngest sister, who was the current emperor’s aunt. Of course, the prerequisite was that the Dou Ling Empire’s emperor was still alive.

Xu Sanshi had followed his mother to the Dou Ling Empire when he was young, and he had seen his cousin, the Emperor, once, though they rarely contacted each other afterwards.

The Dou Ling Empire’s royal family had vehemently disapproved when his mother had married his father. His mother was the previous emperor’s favourite daughter. But the proud princess finally chose her own prince charming, and she eloped with Xu Sanshi’s father. When she came back, she came back with Xu Sanshi.

Therefore, the Dou Ling Empire’s royal family ostracized Xu Sanshi’s family. This matter was considered his deepest secret; not even Jiang Nannan knew about it.

Xu Sanshi’s heart filled with many emotions as he watched Dou Ling City mired in dust and smoke. This was his mother’s old home, no matter what! Some blood of the Dou Ling Empire’s royal family still ran through his blood after all.

“Open the gates.” Xu Sanshi gazed at the battlement. The gates were closed at this moment, and soldiers patrolled the battlement in solemnity and dejection.

“Who goes there?” The bows and soul tools on the battlement immediately aimed downward. Everyone within the city was still shaky, fearful, and as tense as could be. Under such circumstances, any suspicious figure who appeared could be attacked.

“We hail from Shrek Academy. We are here to assist you.” Xu Sanshi spoke as he lowered his voice.

“Shrek Academy? How can you prove that?” The general on the city walls could barely keep his cool.

Xu Sanshi raised his hand and flashed his identity token as a student from Shrek Academy’s inner courtyard.

Telescopic soul tools were necessary for every empire, and those on the city walls quickly saw his identity token before they made him toss it onto the city wall.

Xu Sanshi was worried and impatient, but there was nothing he could do at a time like this, and tossed out his token forcefully.

The token reached the top of the city walls, where it was quickly verified before the city gates were finally opened.

A general that was a little older than thirty came out. Even though Xu Sanshi and the others seemed young, he didn’t dare to disrespect them at all, as anybody who came from Shrek Academy couldn’t be judged by their age. The inner courtyard students who were barely more than twenty ae already possessed extremely formidable prowess.

“What’s the situation like inside the city?” Xu Sanshi asked the general.

“I’m not too sure. The enemies’ attack came without warning. They appeared suddenly, and directly attacked the royal palace before attacking all our important positions. We have sustained heavy losses! The royal palace…”

The general’s face was overcome with grief as he stopped there. Even though he didn’t know exactly how the royal palace was doing, he could see the dire situation by gazing in the palace’s direction from the battlements. The general had been standing guard on the battlements when the royal palace had been bombarded by that Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell, and he felt like the end of the world had come in that moment. The entire palace became an enormous orange-red sphere of light, and the terrifying onslaught came afterward.

The soul engineers who were fighting back inside the city were massacred by their frightening enemies before they started going after the city defense army. Even though the army wasn’t small, they suffered severe losses because they weren’t organized and weren’t able to retaliate. Several large buildings were completely laid to ruin.

Xu Sanshi’s expression was extremely dark, but he was able to keep his cool.

“Even though we can’t be sure if the royal family has any survivors, I hope you can cooperate with me right now to restore order within Dou Ling City. Our companions have repelled the enemy, and both soul engineer legions have retreated. Nobody will attack you for now. Therefore, you don’t have to guard the city gates anymore. Take your men and follow me into the city. We’ll maintain order immediately.”

“Ah? I can’t do that.” The general immediately declined, while his eyes also grew suspicious as he stared at Xu Sanshi. Xu Sanshi wanted him to abandon his city gates, but how could he do that?

Xu Sanshi didn’t explain. Instead, he pulled off a necklace from his neck.

The chain itself was silver, and very thin, but the pendant hanging beneath was very peculiar. It was a faint golden token, with six jewels embedded on its surface. Every jewel had a different shape and size, but the jewels together formed the words “Dou Ling”, and were also emanating faint soul power undulations.

The general was astonished when he saw this pendant. He turned his eyes back to Xu Sanshi before he went down on one knee.

“Greetings, prince.”

Prince?

 Jiang Nannan, Nan Qiuqiu, Ye Guyi and Ji Juechen were all surprised when they heard that word. Since when had Xu Sanshi become the Dou Ling Empire’s prince?

Of course, they didn’t know that the previous emperor had given this pendant to his mother when she was his favourite daughter.

This necklace was a symbol of the royal family, and also a symbol of status within the royal family. This necklace could only be given when princes obtained their titles, and there were only a few of these pendants inside the Dou Ling Empire.

Back then, this pendant had been given to Xu Sanshi’s mother because she was doted upon. This meant that Xu Sanshi’s grandfather had bestowed upon his mother a status that wasn’t inferior to a prince.

Afterwards, when Xu Sanshi’s mother had eloped with his father, the pendant became a souvenir. The furious emperor even wanted to take it back, but Xu Sanshi’s mother had hidden it very well. She didn’t want to hand it over, no matter what, and claimed that she wanted to keep it as a souvenir. In the end, it became part of Xu Sanhshi’s property after he grew up.  

Not even Xu Sanshi himself had imagined that he would use this pendant one day. How he had dreaded this day! But at a time like this, the blood of the Dou Ling Empire’s royal family flowed in his body. He had to take responsibility!

Xu Sanshi retrieved the necklace and put it back over his neck. He lowered his voice and said, “At ease. Our affairs are urgent. Follow me into the city immediately, and withdraw the city defense army so that we can maintain internal order. We cannot allow Dou Ling City to descend into chaos again, no matter what. We can’t allow any more people to die.”

“Yes.” The general swiftly got to his feet, and his originally vacant and sorrowful eyes brimmed with confidence. Even though he didn’t know who this prince was, and he had never even seen him before, at least someone from the Dou Ling Empire’s royal family was still around. This meant that there was yet hope! As long as Dou Ling City didn’t fall into irreversible chaos, there was still a chance to turn things around.

The general immediately gave out orders, and withdrew a thousand five hundred soldiers from the two thousand responsible for guarding the city walls. He led them personally as they followed Xu Sanshi and the others into the city. Dou Ling City really needed to be stabilized at a time like this.

Xu Sanshi revealed his identity and entered Dou Ling City to restore order on this side.

On the other side, Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong had caught up with those two soul engineer legions.

They could see their strict and neat formations in the distance. Huo Yuhao heaved a faint sigh inside as he turned towards Tang Wutong and said, “The Sun Moon Empire is far better at training, nurturing, and commanding their soul engineers than we are. Look at their formation, and their linked soul tools. They are much more advanced than we are. They live up to their names as beast-ranked soul engineer legions after all.”

Tang Wutong said, “Then what do we do? I think it’s unlikely that we can keep them here in their current state. Linked soul tools are truly too irritating.”

If the soul engineer legions didn’t have linked soul tools, Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong could ambush and obliterate all of these soul engineers by relying on his mysterious Imitation and Spiritual Interference Domain.

But with the legions’ linked defensive barriers, that chance had been reduced to almost zero. The Sun Moon Empire’s legions weren’t afraid of being ambushed as long as they could maintain their linked defensive barrier, and with their strength and preparations against an ambush, that didn’t seem like a very difficult task. They just had to maintain their defenses at a certain level.

Huo Yuhao contemplated for a moment as his eyes closed into slits. He lowered his voice and said, “Do they really think they can escape my pursuit like that? I wish to see if they can maintain their defenses longer, or if our pursuit is more vicious.”

Huo Yuhao’s storage ring glowed as he spoke, and a single soul cannon appeared in his hands.

This soul cannon wasn’t large, and its opening was only about thirty centimeters in diameter. It was completely black, and radiated gentle soul power undulations.

Huo Yuhao infused his soul power into the cannon, and the cannon immediately hummed softly. He placed it on his shoulder, and didn’t even have to aim as he pressed the button to fire.

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