The enshrined members of the Holy Spirit Sect were not all evil soul masters. Even the Chief Enshrined and most of the others were soul masters whose martial souls had dark or sinister attributes. They had never harmed anyone but had been persecuted or sought refuge from trouble, ultimately choosing to join the Holy Spirit Sect as enshrined members seeking sanctuary.
However, these enshrined elders rarely involved themselves in the sect's daily affairs. Only in times of direct threat to the sect would they intervene. Most of the time, they obeyed only the Chief Enshrined's commands—such as this time, when they came to protect Bei Bei.
Since most of them were personally invited by Chief Enshrined Long Xiaoyao—whose strength surpassed all others—his authority among them was undeniable.
So, when they found themselves surrounded, the two enshrined members made protecting Bei Bei their top priority and prepared to escape with him.
They didn't consider anyone else.
After all, the Holy Saintess of the sect was not their Saintess.
Without the two Super Douluo elders leading the charge, the remaining evil soul masters lacked the strength to resist the two powerful enshrined elders from the Sun Moon Empire.
The Sleep Demon Elder made a decisive choice. Under the guise of protecting the Saintess of Blue Silver, he followed the Super Douluo enshrined members and fled.
Four remaining Titled Douluo and other evil soul masters were briefly thrown into disarray. But with danger already upon them, the Third Elder, Nether Thunder Douluo, shouted, "The Holy Sect's plan must not fail! Prepare to engage the enemy and cover the retreat of the Holy Son and Saintess!"
With Nether Thunder invoking the name of the Holy Spirit Sect, the remaining elders and evil soul masters regained their fighting spirit and joined forces to intercept the advancing enshrined elders of the Sun Moon Empire and the soul engineers led by Jing Hongchen.
This mission was a major one for the Holy Spirit Sect. Apart from the deceased Nangong Wan, five of the remaining seven elders had been deployed.
From highest to lowest rank, the present elders were:
Third Elder: Nether Thunder Douluo
Fifth Elder: Ten Thousand Souls Douluo
Sixth Elder: Sleep Demon Douluo
New Seventh Elder: Ghost Face Douluo
New Eighth Elder: Giant Fiend Douluo
The reason for two new elders was the prior deaths of Abhorrent Douluo and Masked Douluo at the hands of Grandfather Gao.
The Holy Spirit Sect had paid a steep price and consumed vast resources to fill the vacant elder seats. Originally the Eighth Elder, Sleep Demon Douluo was promoted to Sixth Elder.
Sleep Demon Douluo—also known as Nightmare Demon—cunningly took the Saintess and was the first to flee, closely following the two enshrined elders of the sect.
The remaining four elders couldn't flee so easily. Though they retreated while fighting, they had no spare attention to worry about the Contra-level evil soul masters around them.
Still, if those Contrabased evil soul masters could stall the enemy even briefly, it would aid their own escape.
Among evil soul masters, there was no such thing as loyalty.
As for Huo Yuhao, none of the evil soul masters paid him any mind.
But if someone had tried to find him, they'd be shocked to discover he seemed to have vanished from the battlefield.
In truth, Huo Yuhao was hanging upside-down from the ceiling of the plaza, giving him a complete view of everything below. With his abilities, no one could detect him.
And while the battle below raged on, Huo Yuhao wasn't just spectating.
With such a massive blow to Mingde Hall, its aura and fortune were highly unstable. Unlike the Golden Ancient Tree, it had no object capable of suppressing and anchoring its fate. At this moment, Mingde Hall's fortune was as defenseless as a naked girl in the wind.
Yuhao, naturally, showed no mercy.
He ruthlessly plundered Mingde Hall's fortune, absorbing and devouring it without restraint, empowering himself in the process.
Had anyone present known how to observe fortune, they would have seen an astonishing sight—a golden vortex of fortune forming and being rapidly swallowed by Yuhao.
Yuhao had always been one to plunder fortune, whether from factions, individuals, or free-floating opportunity. Anything that could be taken, he took.
But those prior sources were all small and scattered, not worth mentioning.
What he gained today was monumental—his third-largest fortune haul to date.
The largest was when he devoured the fortune of the Extreme North.
The second was when he conquered the Body Sect.
Now, as he devoured the fortune of Mingde Hall, Yuhao could feel his cultivation rise dramatically once more. His understanding of various principles also saw significant improvement.
"If I can fully consume Mingde Hall's fortune," Yuhao pondered, "I might just be able to cross the threshold into the demi-god realm. But I wonder how I'd compare to a true Rank-100 Divine Officer."
After successive power boosts, Yuhao's strength had already surpassed Limit Douluo and was edging into demi-god territory. He was practically invincible in the mortal realm. Even if Ditian came, Yuhao felt confident he could slap him silly with ease.
But this wasn't the end.
Above Rank 99 was the mysterious Rank-100 Divine Officer realm. These beings had god-rings but no divine status. Da Ming and Er Ming of the Clear Sky Sect were roughly at this level but seemed unable to roam the continent freely.
As for the Silver Dragon King behind Ditian, she likely surpassed the Divine Officer level—but her current condition remained unknown due to her injuries.
Aside from threats on the continent, Yuhao was most wary of that person's divine descent through mechanical force.
Even as he absorbed fortune, Yuhao kept a close eye on the ongoing battle.
The Body Sect had successfully raided Mingde Hall and escaped because of Poison Undying's involvement, a clear objective, and swift execution.
The Holy Spirit Sect's members were strong but inferior in combat power compared to the Body Sect. Worse, due to Tang Ya's greed, they missed their best opportunity to retreat and were now trapped in a deadly situation.
Sun Moon Empire's enshrined elders, Elder Mo and Elder Su, had slain all Contra-level evil soul masters in their path and now pursued the four remaining Holy Spirit Sect elders.
Losing so many Contras at once was painful—even for the Holy Spirit Sect.
Fortunately, Nether Thunder Douluo was also a Rank-9 soul engineer. Using powerful soul tools, he relieved some of the pressure on the others.
But the other three elders still struggled, as they had to deal with both Elder Mo and Elder Su while fending off the counterattacks from Mingde Hall under Jing Hongchen's command.
At last, the two Super Douluo enshrined members of the Holy Spirit Sect unleashed their true power, forcibly punching through the Royal Soul Engineer Legion.
They carved a bloody escape path for the Sleep Demon Elder, Tang Ya, and the other fleeing elders. A group of evil soul masters made a break for Mingde Hall's exit.
"Seal the entrance to Mingde Hall now!" Jing Hongchen shouted, trying to trap them inside.
The two Super Douluo heard his command and no longer held back. They simultaneously activated their seventh soul rings and unleashed their Martial Soul True Forms.
One transformed into a monstrous bird, the other into a massive skeleton.
Their bodies expanded to five meters tall—but limited the size due to space constraints.
When the two Martial Soul True Forms emerged, overwhelming dark power exploded from them, flooding the area with pressure and fear.
No wonder dark-attributed soul masters were lumped together with evil soul masters—they certainly looked evil.
The skeletal true form pounded its fists and blasted through the hall's not-yet-sealed exit, even invoking its ninth soul skill to do so.
The monstrous bird's true form, carrying Bei Bei, charged out of Mingde Hall, aiming to flee into the skies.
But just then—
From within the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, a flash of cold light erupted like starlight across the heavens. Countless terrifying rays of energy shot toward the escaping monstrous bird's true form.
Sensing mortal danger, the monstrous bird's true form unleashed its ninth soul skill in desperation, attacking wildly in a bid to survive.
Yuhao, using his spiritual detection, followed the attack's origin with his eyes—and saw the silhouette of an old man standing beneath those "stars."
"It's him."
It was none other than the enshrined elder of the Sun Moon Empire—known as the Master of the Starry Sky—Rank-9 soul engineer, Starry Sky Douluo, Ye Yulin.
Ye Yulin, the Controller of the Stars, titled "Starry Sky," was a Level 9 Soul Engineer—renowned as one of the top three Soul Engineers of the Sun-Moon Empire and counted among its greatest military powers.
If not for the memories of the Third Prince, Huo Yuhao might not have recognized Ye Yulin.
His presence here signified how seriously the Sun-Moon Emperor took this operation—he had to ensure that not a single evil soul master escaped the Mingde Hall.
At this moment, the star-like lights above Ye Yulin's head were his exclusive soul tools: a full set of ninth-level soul tools, more powerful even than the Flaming Heaven Net, another combination soul tool.
Yet this still wasn't Ye Yulin's most powerful soul tool.
Even so, with just a casual move, he already threatened the life of the Spirit Pagoda enforcer who had revealed his true form as the monstrous bird.
The monstrous bird activated its ninth soul skill, launching a beam of light from its mouth to counterattack the incoming starlight beams. But despite being scattered, those beams tore through the ninth soul skill with overwhelming might and struck the true body of the monstrous bird, who looked on in shock.
Screee—!
With a pained scream, the monstrous bird fell, its martial soul true body forcibly dispelled, reverting to its original human form. Yet even then, the enforcer clutched tightly to Bei Bei's arm, ensuring Bei Bei remained unhurt.
Watching this, Huo Yuhao sighed inwardly: "Pity. If not for that ninth soul skill absorbing part of the blow, Ye Yulin's ambush could've taken his life, not just severely injured him. Still, he's loyal—even now he's protecting Big Brother Bei Bei. He deserves a decent ending."
As they fell, Bei Bei grabbed the enforcer in return, guiding their descent so they landed safely on the ground despite his grievous injuries.
"Cough… Thank you, Holy Son," the Spirit Pagoda enforcer coughed out a mouthful of blood, gasping for air and thanking Bei Bei for the safe landing.
Bei Bei only shook his head in silence, his eyes locked on Ye Yulin like facing a mortal threat.
Fortunately, the other enforcer in skeletal form had broken free of Mingde Hall and arrived just in time to shield Bei Bei and his ally.
Ye Yulin looked at the trio coldly. "Surrender now. Don't force this old man to act again."
Around them, soldiers of the Royal Soul Engineer Legion encircled the group. Earlier, only a hundred or so had entered Mingde Hall—outside, over three hundred remained, each a five-ring Soul King.
And this wasn't even the Legion's full strength. Rumor had it that at full capacity, the Royal Soul Engineer Legion numbered over a thousand.
These 300-plus elite soldiers, combined with Ye Yulin, left Bei Bei's group feeling the weight of death. Escape was almost impossible.
"Damn it!" growled the enforcer in skeletal form. "If only Tang Ya had returned earlier, we wouldn't be in this situation!"
As for Tang Ya and the others—luck was not with them. The enforcer, now in skeletal form, had abandoned them entirely. With him gone, Mingde Hall's defenses locked down completely, sealing all exits.
Tang Ya and the Sleep Demon Douluo were just a step away from escaping.
Their expressions were dark and grim.
The other four elders quickly caught up. Now six of them were trapped within Mingde Hall, while behind them stood Elder Mo and Elder Su—Sun-Moon Empire's imperial enforcers—and Jing Hongchen, leading the full force of Mingde Hall.
Jing Hongchen, having lost his mind, began laughing maniacally. "Hee hee hee! You're trapped now!"
Mo and Su looked at him strangely. They'd known him a long time, but had never seen him act like this.
"Has the shock driven him insane?" they wondered.
At this point, all the evil soul masters inside and outside Mingde Hall were like turtles in a jar—utterly trapped.
And it had all stemmed from Tang Ya's greed, which cost them the best opportunity to flee.
Huo Yuhao: No worries. I'll take it from here.
"Time for some micromanagement~" Huo Yuhao smiled slightly.
At the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
In the shadows, Xian Lin'er also witnessed Ye Yulin's devastating single strike. Her heart filled with dread—not seeing Huo Yuhao among the fighters gave her an ominous premonition.
"Yuhao, where are you? Please, be safe!"
Ye Yulin signaled the soldiers to close in on Bei Bei's group.
At that moment, an immense pressure descended from the sky, blanketing everyone equally.
Vast Blue Ocean Domain—has arrived!
Huo Yuhao's True Body Clone appeared above the academy, coldly gazing down at everyone.
Ye Yulin snapped his head up, eyes narrowed. "Another reinforcement?"
Then, the True Body Clone spoke—for the first time since it was created.
"The world... has grown foul again."
Witness the peak power of the Douluo Continent.
Whoosh—
Behind the clone emerged two massive, pitch-black arms and two dragon heads. The hands spread wide, and the dragon heads extended from the shoulders like wings. Though their eyes were shut, they exuded terrifying power.
This was a partial manifestation of his true demonic form:
Titan Snow Demon's right arm
Windfury Ape's left arm
Dragon heads of the Fire and Water Dragon Kings
The two dragon kings' corpses had been refined by Huo Yuhao into external soul bones, not as arms, but as dragon heads. The True Body Clone inherited parts of their strength.
At the same time, the ocean-blueVast Blue Ocean Domain spread outward, engulfing the entire academy. Like a crushing abyss, its pressure shattered buildings wholesale.
The deafening collapse echoed throughout most of Mingdu. Students and faculty who had evacuated looked on in horror—many fainted, soiled themselves, or collapsed in terror.
Hidden enemies within the academy fared worse—some were directly crushed to death by the domain's pressure, like bugs squashed underfoot.
Even Xian Lin'er had to unleash her martial soul just to barely withstand the force. Terrified, she retreated at full speed, trying to get as far from the True Body Clone as possible.
Fortunately, the further one was from the clone, the less pressure they felt from the domain.
Because—only those directly targeted by theVast Blue Ocean Domain felt its full wrath.
Below the clone, over 300 Royal Soul Engineer Legion soldiers had no time to react before they simultaneously exploded into blood mist.
The once-pure blue domain now bloomed with a haunting crimson.
Bei Bei let out a grunt, blood trickling from his lips—he was clearly injured by the pressure.
Thankfully, the two enforcers shielded him with their soul power, sharing the burden and keeping him conscious. Yet they too were barely hanging on—the skeletal form enforcer was even forced to one knee, unable to speak.
Only Ye Yulin managed to withstand the domain's direct pressure by relying on the combined defense of four ninth-level defensive soul tools.
But even his face twisted in terror.
A fear he hadn't felt in decades now grew rapidly in his heart. Shaking, he stood amid his defenses and shouted:
"Senior! Please stop! Let's talk this out!"
Why didn't Ye Yulin flee? Not because he didn't want to—but because he couldn't.
He couldn't even move a single step under the domain's pressure. How could he possibly negotiate with the being before him?
The True Body Clone ignored him. It simply raised one hand and condensed a pearl-sized water orb glowing like a gem.
Then it casually dropped it.
The Lost Pearl of the Vast Blue Ocean—each drop weighs a thousand catties!
The orb fell without fanfare, accelerating silently until it struck Mingde Hall.
CRACK—
The earth split apart. The orb pierced deep underground and obliterated the entire Mingde Hall.
Right in front of Ye Yulin's eyes, the Mingde Hall was effortlessly pierced through by a water orb, as if it had borne an unimaginable burden, like it was made of paper—appearing no different from an ordinary house.
The water orb didn't just pierce through Mingde Hall—it triggered a chain reaction that caused internal collapse.
The Mingde Hall, which was claimed to withstand bombardment from ninth-level soul tools and impenetrable even to a Super Douluo, was not only infiltrated but casually torn open by a single soul skill from a clone body!
As the structure fell apart, Jing Hongchen and the others inside witnessed the full process of Mingde Hall being pierced through.
Boom—! More and more parts of Mingde Hall began to collapse. Soul engineers who remained inside were either buried alive or fled in a blind panic, trying to survive.
"No!!!"
Jing Hongchen let out a mournful scream.
"How is this possible? Impossible! I must be dreaming!"
He appeared deranged. Blood-tears streamed from his wide, disbelieving eyes.
It was over. Everything was over.
Mingde Hall had been utterly destroyed. His life's work reduced to ruins. The Hongchen family was finished.
Elder Mo and Elder Su were similarly aghast.
They were well aware of Mingde Hall's defensive capabilities, and yet someone had torn right through them. Not good—there's a powerful enemy outside!
The rest of Mingde Hall's people were also in utter disarray.
Tang Ya and the five elders from the Holy Spirit Church saw it all. Although they were shocked, what followed was joy.
Because the destruction of Mingde Hall meant they finally had a chance to escape!
"Go!"
The Sleep Demon Elder gave a low shout, immediately taking Tang Ya into the air and rushing toward the gaping hole created in Mingde Hall's wall. With the structure collapsing, the breach wasn't far—too close for Mingde Hall's defenders to stop them in time.
But they failed to realize just how dangerous it was.
In truth, inside Mingde Hall was far safer than the outside.
"After them!" Seeing the Holy Spirit Church members trying to flee, Elder Su shouted urgently.
But before Elder Su and the others could take a step, Tang Ya and the five elders who had just burst out of the hall all screamed in agony—and instantly plummeted to the ground, disappearing from sight. Whether they lived or died was unknown.
Frightened, Elder Su and the others stopped in their tracks.
Only the crazed Jing Hongchen still tried to charge out and kill, but the other Mingde Hall members quickly restrained him to stop him from rushing to his death.
"Hall Master, no!"
"Hall Master, it's too dangerous!"
"Let go of me! I'm going to kill them!!!" Jing Hongchen roared.
Elder Mo turned and slapped him twice across the face, cutting off his cries. "What good is you dying now?! Go save the others! Do you want all of the Empire's talents buried here?!"
The slaps seemed to wake him up. Jing Hongchen stopped screaming, only silently shedding tears. Then he turned to help with the rescue—but his steps were staggered and heavy.
Only Elder Mo and Elder Su remained, staring grimly at the hole in Mingde Hall. Moonlight poured through the breach, but outside… there wasn't a sound of fighting.
That silence terrified them even more.
They could already guess: there was definitely a powerhouse outside. And it certainly wasn't one of their own allies.
Otherwise, why would Mingde Hall have been destroyed?
Fortunately, theVast Blue Ocean Domain had not yet spread into the interior of Mingde Hall. Otherwise, not a single person inside would have survived.
Outside Mingde Hall—
Tang Ya and the others were being crushed into the ground by immense pressure. Blood dripped from the corner of her lips—she was instantly gravely injured. Thankfully, two triggered ninth-level defensive soul tools on her body activated at the critical moment, saving her from being instantly killed.
As the Holy Saintess of the Holy Spirit Church and the leader of the Evening Water Alliance, Tang Ya had no shortage of protective measures.
But still, like the other five elders, she was forced to kneel or crawl—unable to rise.
Struggling to look up, they saw the figure standing high above in the sky: the clone body.
"Who… is that?" Tang Ya's heart was filled with endless questions—and overwhelming fear.
Because from this being, Tang Ya sensed an aura even more terrifying than Long Xiaoyao's.
The clone body didn't attack again—because Huo Yuhao was still absorbing the fate energy of Mingde Hall. It hadn't been fully extracted yet.
When the Hall was breached, the fate energy within didn't even need to be stolen—it overflowed on its own like an avalanche.
"Visualize the White Tiger, the Black Tortoise, the Heavenly Dragon—and Brother Tianmeng, help me gather the fate energy!" Huo Yuhao's voice rang out in his spiritual sea.
The three visualization entities, previously resting, immediately leapt into action. The Golden Black Tortoise and Heavenly Dragon even reinforced the others, enhancing their power.
As for the Skydream Iceworm, it had just been awakened from a long nap and was still confused. Upon seeing the broken Mingde Hall, it asked in surprise:
"Brother Hao, what have you gotten into now? Is this still Mingdu?"
The Iceworm had been napping due to sheer boredom—but now, suddenly awakened to a battlefield scene, it was immediately excited:
"Another high-level battle? Let's go, me and Brother Hao are about to wreck everything! Wahaha!"
"Brother Tianmeng—let's harvest the fate energy first," Huo Yuhao replied with a grin.
The Iceworm joined in the task with enthusiasm. "Whoa, this fate energy is rich! Ninety-nine percent purity! What a rare treat~"
While the clone body exerted dominion over the battlefield, standing tall and seemingly just posturing, it was in fact drawing attention away from Huo Yuhao.
Suddenly, a dragon's roar echoed from outside the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. A figure stormed into theVast Blue Ocean Domain, unleashing a power second only to the clone body.
A new challenger?
No. This person had come to rescue, not fight.
The moment the intruder stepped into the Vast Blue Ocean Domain, the clone instantly recognized him—Long Xiaoyao.
Only someone like Long Xiaoyao, an Ultimate Douluo, could move within theVast Blue Ocean Domain and even save others.
He had been lurking in the shadows all along. Luckily so—otherwise, Bei Bei would have suffered greatly today.
In a flash, Long Xiaoyao reached Bei Bei and the two enshrined elders. He released his soul power, grabbed all three, and shouted:
"Go!"
Upon entering the domain, Long Xiaoyao instantly realized the terrifying level of the clone's strength. He dared not linger.
While "Ultimate Douluo" was a realm, there were still gaps within it. Faced with a quasi-god-level clone, Long Xiaoyao felt his hair stand on end.
But would the clone let them go that easily?
Bei Bei could wait—his attribute of Ultimate evil still held untapped potential. As Bei Bei's protector, Long Xiaoyao could be spared as well.
But those two elders? Their potential was spent. Their deaths were inevitable—sooner or later.
The clone coldly snorted, raised a hand, and in what seemed a slow gesture—but was actually lightning-fast—a massive hand made of countless droplets formed and slammed down toward Long Xiaoyao's group.
Vast Blue Ocean Great Hand Seal!
The principle behind the "Sea Vast Handprint" was extremely simple — it merely condensed water into the shape of a handprint and then dropped it down.
In other words, it was an unremarkably simple attack.
Except that it just happened to block out the sky and cover the sun.
With Huo Yuhao's spiritual power aiding it, the main body avatar could easily mold the power it controlled into any shape. If he wanted, he could even form a "Sea Vast Poop" instead — not a problem at all.
However, the water that formed the handprint was anything but ordinary. It was made of the same water used to forge the "Sea Vast Pearl" — each drop a thousand-catty weight of Sea Vast Heavy Water.
This heavy water was the origin water that the main body avatar was condensing. It had not yet reached its peak form, though, as Huo Yuhao estimated that true peak heavy water could weigh ten thousand catties per drop. Only then could it contend with a God King.
Previously, the Sea Vast Pearl soul skill possessed a unique soul power operation structure, which gave it an unstoppable destructive force.
This time, however, the "Sea Vast Handprint" was purely a shaped form of water. While still immensely powerful, the force was more dispersed. Its damage potential couldn't match the Pearl — but the sheer presence of it was unparalleled.
Before, when the Pearl was launched, no one showed any reaction — they simply couldn't comprehend its terror.
But now, at the mere emergence of the Sea Vast Handprint, everyone below paled with fear and horror. This time, they felt its terror with their own bodies.
The Sea Vast Handprint stretched across kilometers.
Like the hand of the heavens, punishing the mortal realm!
Would this strike not completely erase both the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy and the Mingde Hall below?
"Senior, please — no!!" Ye Yulin cried out, trying to appeal to the main body avatar's mercy.
Yet the massive handprint fell without hesitation.
"Let this heavenly water cleanse the mortal world!" declared the main body avatar in his second utterance.
Long Xiaoyao was directly beneath the handprint — and thus under the greatest pressure. He roared furiously, activating his martial soul in an instant. Two yellow, two purple, three black, and two red soul rings manifested around him.
"Seventh Soul Skill — True Body of the Dark Holy Dragon!"
"Ninth Soul Skill — Free Dragon's Flight!"
A hundred-meter-long form of the Dark Holy Dragon appeared — yet even so, it was like a fish swimming beneath a vast sea.
And this fish had no desire to drown.
Long Xiaoyao didn't hesitate to fully unleash his ten-thousand-year ninth soul skill, seeking only to break a gap and escape with Bei Bei.
As for the other two Elders of the Holy Spirit Sect, he could no longer concern himself with them.
The Dark Holy Dragon, formed from soul power, roared as it bore 90% of Long Xiaoyao's strength and hurled itself at the Sea Vast Handprint. His actual body remained behind, pale-faced.
It was as if he had fired his martial soul true body like a projectile.
And truthfully, that wasn't far from the truth.
After using that soul skill, Long Xiaoyao wouldn't be able to reenter his martial soul's true body for a while — he could only rely on raw soul power to fight.
Thankfully, this strike temporarily tore open the suppressive field of the Sea Vast Domain around him, allowing the two other Holy Spirit Elders to regain motion.
"Go!" Long Xiaoyao shouted lowly to them, grabbing Bei Bei and fleeing without looking back.
The two freed Elders didn't hesitate either. They rushed after Long Xiaoyao, wishing they had extra legs to speed their escape.
As for Tang Ya and the five other elders, they remained pinned under the suppressive domain, only able to watch helplessly as Long Xiaoyao escaped with the others. They didn't even have the strength left to call out for help.
Nor could Long Xiaoyao afford to care.
Because the gap between him and the main body avatar wasn't a mere difference — it was a multiplicative chasm. If they hesitated as Tang Ya had earlier, they'd miss their only chance at survival.
And as it turned out, their judgment was correct.
Only Long Xiaoyao and Bei Bei were permitted to escape.
The ascending Dark Holy Dragon clashed with the Sea Vast Handprint. With an explosive roar, both forces vanished into oblivion.
An all-out clash between two Ultimate Douluo, their power swept across the entire Mingdu.
The dragon dissipated, merging into the world's elemental energy as dark-type soul power, leaving no trace behind.
But the shattered Sea Vast Handprint gave way to a torrential downpour — each droplet like a bombshell pounding the earth.
It was the Rain of Sea Vast Heavy Water!
It scoured away the lingering dark soul power—
And cleansed those not permitted to leave.
The two fleeing Holy Spirit Elders were struck mid-air by the rain. Screaming, they plummeted and were soon pulped into meat sludge.
Only Long Xiaoyao, with his Super Douluo-level body, managed to endure the rain and escape the bounds of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy — not daring to pause or look back.
Once clear of the Academy, Long Xiaoyao and Bei Bei vanished into the night within seconds.
Watching Bei Bei's escape, Tang Ya — blood still on her lips — could not hide her sorrow. Yet she forced a bittersweet smile.
"This is fine… This is fine. He wasn't harmed because of me… It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so greedy… In the end, I'm good for nothing…"
Others on the ground weren't spared either.
Tang Ya, the five elders, and Ye Yulin remained pinned under the Sea Vast Domain, their only defense being their soul tool shields.
Yet the pounding rain shook those shields violently, filling them all with dread.
The Holy Spirit Elders begged for mercy.
Ye Yulin rapidly analyzed potential ways to break free.
Only Tang Ya curled into herself, closing her eyes within the soul shield, as though surrendering to her fate.
The already ruined Imperial Academy became even more devastated under the bombardment — the ground splitting apart amidst constant thunderous crashes.
Mingde Hall, already pierced through earlier, now faced total collapse as Sea Vast Heavy Water flooded in. Unable to bear the strain, it began to sink.
Elder Mo and Elder Su tried peeking outside but were quickly beaten back by the rain. They were utterly trapped.
Fortunately, someone came for them — ordering a retreat.
Mingde Hall was collapsing. They had to evacuate.
Jing Hongchen, leading the survivors, looked at the crumbling Mingde Hall with reddened eyes. Others behind him wept quietly.
This place had held their pride and dreams — now, all lost. Many soul engineers remained buried in the rubble, all talents of the empire — but there was no time or strength left to save them.
The invading floodwaters mercilessly destroyed everything within.
"Hall Master, most of the people are out. We need to go too," said a grief-stricken soul engineer.
"Holy Spirit Sect… Evil Soul Masters…" Jing Hongchen roared. "I, Jing Hongchen, swear — so long as I draw breath, I will kill every last one of you!"
Then he turned. "We're leaving!"
Ironically, their path of escape — their only remaining road — was the very one the Holy Spirit Sect had used to invade.
Fan Yu was among the fleeing crowd. He and Xuan Ziwen had hidden in the lab and luckily survived. Only when someone called them to retreat did they emerge.
Fan Yu was still confused.
Weren't the Holy Spirit Sect just here to steal something? How had Mingde Hall ended up destroyed?
More importantly… Where was Yuhao?!
"Yuhao, please be okay…" Fan Yu prayed silently.
Xuan Ziwen was equally bewildered, though tinged with sorrow. He had worked and lived in Mingde Hall for years and had deep feelings for it.
His only consolation was that Fan Yu was safe — and that his students weren't present today.
Back on the surface—
The five Holy Spirit Elders' soul tool shields shattered one by one, and they were smashed into pulp by the unrelenting rain.
Blood mixed with rainwater, spreading out like red ink in a pool.
Tang Ya's soul shield finally reached its limit.
Crack!
It shattered.
Tang Ya bit her lip, bracing for the agony—
But at that moment, a wave of cold air enveloped her. Before she could feel the rain, a warm hand pulled her into Mingde Hall.
The ice umbrella shielding her broke in the next second, dissolving into the downpour.
Tang Ya felt herself being drawn in—
And fell into a cold, firm embrace.
She opened her eyes in shock—
And saw a cold, proud figure in ice armor and a frost mask.
"You?!" she gasped.
"Mingde Hall is collapsing. We're leaving," Huo Yuhao said coldly, then carried Tang Ya toward the escape tunnel.
Huo Yuhao carried Tang Ya as they fled into the underground structure of Mingde Hall. Inside, they finally escaped the range and suppression of the Vast Sea Domain.
Tang Ya could move freely again—but she didn't struggle out of Huo Yuhao's embrace. At this moment, she seemed to need someone to rely on.
So, with his arm wrapped around her waist, Huo Yuhao moved swiftly through the ruins of Mingde Hall, heading toward the tunnel entrance excavated by the Holy Spirit Cult.
As they delved deeper into the ruins, they witnessed the devastation wrought by the heavy water of the Vast Sea Domain. It looked like an ordinary flood, but hidden within was silent annihilation.
The sturdy metal structure—designed to withstand soul cannon blasts—collapsed and shattered effortlessly under the seemingly clear and harmless water. It was a chilling sight.
At the bottom of the hall, water had already pooled. Nothing floated beneath the surface—not even a single piece of paper—everything was crushed into dust by the terrifying weight carried by the heavy water.
As for the buried soul engineers—there was no need to elaborate. They had become one with the deadly tide.
Tang Ya looked away and leaned on Huo Yuhao's armor. Oddly, the cold metal felt… warm to her.
Unconsciously, she drew closer to him.
Huo Yuhao glanced at Tang Ya's face, now bluish from the cold, and finally retracted the chill emanating from his body. He could have told her that the warmth she felt wasn't comfort—it was her body's desperate attempt to keep her alive by heating itself before hypothermia truly set in. She might even get a fever later.
Truthfully, Huo Yuhao had been so exhilarated after devouring the entire fate of Mingde Hall in one go that he had forgotten to regulate his body temperature properly.
The accumulated heavy water had nearly reached the tunnel entrance, but Huo Yuhao was fast enough. At the last moment, he leapt through the rising current and entered the tunnel.
He looked back one final time at the collapsing Mingde Hall. Only ruins remained. The auspicious clouds of fate that once belonged to Mingde Hall had completely dispersed and become nourishment for him.
"But the remaining debris is still made of high-strength metals. I'll let the Mutant Frost Centipede devour this later—it should massively strengthen it."
Then, carrying Tang Ya, Huo Yuhao dashed into the tunnel.
Up ahead were Jing Hongchen and the others retreating. Huo Yuhao deliberately lagged behind.
Otherwise, if he crashed into them… well, he'd have no choice but to turn them all into red bean paste.
Since he was in a good mood today, he decided to let them go—at least for now. Huo Yuhao believed that this elite group from the Sun Moon Empire would eventually bring him even more fortune.
More and more heavy water poured into the ruins, accelerating the collapse. Eventually, the entire Mingde Hall sank deep underground.
Beneath the tide of heavy water...
A Myriad Souls Banner floated eerily, drawing in all the wandering souls from the flood. Nearby stood a Demonic God Spear, absorbing the blood and flesh nutrients mingled within the heavy water.
Above the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy
The torrential rain had finally ceased. The ruined academy, as if cleansed, looked noticeably cleaner, and the air was fresher. The heavy water on the ground flowed toward the massive crater left by the collapse of Mingde Hall.
A serene post-storm scene.
Yet the cost of this "cleansing" was steep: two Hyper Douluo, five Titled Douluo, and countless trapped soul engineers from Mingde Hall had perished.
Aside from Tang Ya, who had been rescued by Huo Yuhao, the only other survivor of this calamity was Ye Yulin. Even then, three of the four ninth-rank defensive linked soul tools on his body had shattered, leaving him heavily damaged.
His powerful soul tools—like starlight in the sky—had all fallen during the rain, none left intact.
The Vast Sea Domain still lingered. Ye Yulin couldn't even move his feet. Under the pressure, he felt increasingly fatigued, struggling to breathe—as if drowning.
It seemed the domain's effects intensified with time.
Resistance? Impossible.
He couldn't resist before. Now, even less so.
But Ye Yulin no longer begged or tried to reason. He had realized that this avatar of Huo Yuhao possessed no mercy whatsoever.
Ye Yulin didn't know why this avatar had come—but its purpose was clear: utter destruction.
He had never seen such power.
And yet, such power showed no concern for reason. Wasn't he afraid of being hunted by the imperial army?
But then he remembered the downpour… and realized—maybe this person really wasn't afraid.
"In Mingdu, the Empire probably can't act recklessly either. Maybe they really can't do anything to him… Did he calculate even that far ahead?" Ye Yulin forced a bitter smile.
At that moment, three terrifying energy waves streaked across the sky with blazing tails, heading straight for the avatar.
Sensing the danger, Ye Yulin turned abruptly—and his eyes widened in horror.
Three ninth-rank fixed soul-guidance shells!
Someone had fired three of them to obliterate the avatar!
After the initial shock, Ye Yulin could only sigh in despair, "I'm finished."
He didn't know whether the avatar would survive, but he himself had no hope.
Just surviving the Vast Sea Domain had pushed him to his limits. There was no way he could withstand such a blast—he couldn't even run.
And it wasn't just the Academy that would suffer. The areas surrounding it would also be caught in the blast. Countless innocent civilians would die.
"Has the Empire really reached the point where they must resort to this? Have they already abandoned me?" Ye Yulin's heart filled with sorrow.
Yet the avatar showed no intention of dodging. Expressionless, he calmly raised one hand and reached downward.
The heavy water covering the ruins of the Academy and Mingde Hall surged upward, drawn to his palm.
With a simple wave, he condensed all the water before him into a vortex less than two meters wide. It spun at incredible speed, shielding him completely.
The three shells slammed directly into the vortex—
—and simply vanished.
They didn't even explode.
Defense soul skill: Sea Becomes Mulberry!
"From azure skies to mulberry fields, from farmland to oceans."
The world changes, full of helplessness.
But the boundless sea does not dry; the vortex never dissipates.
Though time changes all, this defense shall not be destroyed!
This technique, passed down from ancient soul beasts, used one's own power to cancel the force of incoming attacks. As long as one had energy left, the vortex could not be broken.
It was essentially invincible among peers—and with enough soul power, it could even defend against attacks from stronger opponents.
Of course, the cost was also considerable.
To block three ninth-rank shells, the avatar used up a full fifteen percent of his total soul power—more than any technique he had used before.
But Huo Yuhao's avatar had soul power as vast as the ocean, boundless and endless.
Not only that—his recovery speed was immense.
The remaining heavy water returned to his body, rapidly replenishing his energy.
But to onlookers, none of this was visible.
All they saw was a man raise his hand, summon a swirling water vortex, and casually block the most destructive weapons in the world.
Their understanding of reality shattered.
Countless soul engineers and experts from Mingdu witnessed this.
None could accept what they'd just seen.
None were more shaken than Ye Yulin in the front row. His eyes never blinked.
In fact, he doubted he could ever close them again.
"…Heh… Heh… Ha… Hahahaha—" Ye Yulin suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.
Another ninth-rank soul engineer, after Jing Hongchen—had gone mad.