The Unrivaled Tang Sect

This was where Huo Yuhao demonstrated his intelligence. His questions were very precise, and so he did not arouse his the woman’s suspicions.

After some haggling, Huo Yuhao was able to rent, at an exorbitant price, a cargo ship one hundred and fifty meters long, which could carry ten thousand kilograms worth of goods. This cargo ship was equipped with ten Class 3 soul cannons, manned by ten Class 3 soul engineers. It was not cheap. In total, Huo Yuhao had to pay out forty-five hundred gold soul coins.

Huo Yuhao paid one-third of the deposit up-front. He would load his goods after one week.

He put his receipt away and started to leave the Sun Moon Harbor Shipping Company with Nan Qiuqiu. A look of joy flashed in his eyes. His preparations were sound.

However, not long after he left the building, he was blocked by some men.

They were all muscular and rugged, and smelled of the ocean. They stood in a row, completely blocking the rather narrow street.

“What do you want?” Before Huo Yuhao could say anything, Nan Qiuqiu had already opened her mouth.

Among the four buff men, the leader smiled and said, “We don’t want much. We noticed that you’ve just rented a huge ship, and we think you’ll need some men to help you out. Hence, we’ve decided to offer you our services to help you transport these goods. How about it?”

While he seemed to be asking, his tone was off.

Huo Yuhao said plainly, “There’s no need. We have enough men on our own. Don’t find trouble with us, we’re backed by a major chamber of commerce.”

The leader laughed and said, “So what if you’re backed by a chamber of commerce? We’re Bluebeard’s men. Have you heard of him?”

Bluebeard? Huo Yuhao and Nan Qiuqiu naturally did not know who he was. They looked at each other. Nan Qiuqiu looked dumbfounded, but Huo Yuhao’s eyes were soon clouded with fear.

“You’re… you’re Bluebeard’s men? What do you want?”

The one in charge was satisfied with Huo Yuhao’s reaction as he said, “Let’s find a quiet place to speak.” As he said that, the three of them advanced forward menacingly, surrounding Huo Yuhao and Nan Qiuqiu.

 

Huo Yuhao looked scared, but his right hand grabbed Nan Qiuqiu’s arm tightly, stopping her from acting rashly. They were led down a quiet and empty alley by these big men.

Once they were well into the alley, the leader said with a leer, “Young man, it seems that you know about Bluebeard. There’s nothing more to say then. For the safety of your goods, you have to pay tolls. As Bluebeard’s men, we’ll follow the rules. We don’t want much from you, just one-third of the value of your goods. When you load them onto the ship later, we’ll come down to do an estimate. By coming down today, we’re just making sure you know of our presence. At the same time, we’re giving you a chance. It’s just a formality!” As he said this, he extended his right hand and rubbed his thumb, index finger, and middle finger together.

The fear quickly faded from Huo Yuhao’s face as he let go of Nan Qiuqiu’s hand.

“Qiuqiu, I know that you have been trying to hold it in for the whole day. Here’s your chance. These men are pirates. Destroy them humanely, and try and keep it clean.”

After he said that, he immediately started to walk away.

“Rascal, where do you think you’re going?” one of the brawny men shouted. He was already trying to grab Huo Yuhao.

However, at this moment, a ray of pink light shot out from next to Huo Yuhao. It landed on the man, who collapsed before he could even shout.

With Huo Yuhao’s cultivation and spiritual power, he had already seen that of the four buff men, only the leader was a Rank 20 Soul Grandmaster. The rest were just normal men who were a tad more muscular.

Pirates of the Sun Moon Empire? How could they be good?

There were bursts of curses, cries, and grunts coming from behind him, which stopped extremely quickly. Before Huo Yuhao could even walk out from the alley, he could smell perfume coming up from behind him. 

Nan Qiuqiu dusted her hands off and said unhappily, “Not fun, they were all too weak. This doesn’t satisfy me. You’re a sly fellow indeed, tricking them here before striking!”

Huo Yuhao turned to look at her, and hissed, “Qiuqiu, grow some brains! Did you want to kill them out in the open? Wouldn’t that reveal who we are? Let’s head back!”

He was pleased with how Nan Qiuqiu had handled it. The Light of Annihilation annihilated more than just soul power. The alley was spotless, and without a single trace of a fight.

------

 

He did not rush to leave, but instead stayed one night in Seajoy City. The next morning, just as the sky was brightening, the Tang Sect resumed their journey. This time, they did not fly.

Huo Yuhao dictated that they would not continue their journey by air. The Sun Moon Empire had the most surveillance-type soul tools of all the countries on the continent. Every city was guarded by them, and they might even have some planted in the wilderness!

With their strength, they would need around two days to reach their destination by land. Sunrise City, where the hostages were kept, was located in the south of the Sun Moon Empire. They made their detour so as to not expose their identities.

They resumed their journey, but did not travel off the beaten path. Instead, they went by the main roads, and they moved ahead at full speed.

Every time they ran into other travelers, Huo Yuhao would use Imitation to make them invisible. They were thus able to bypass the other travelers without being noticed, and without slowing down. As they moved forward, they did not encounter any difficulties.

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As the Tang Sect moved quickly toward Sunrise City, a bunch of other uninvited guests appeared near the Sun Moon Empire’s border.

Elder Xuan flew at the forefront, Elder Song next to him. With the two of them in the lead, they were followed by other elders, as well as the Dean of Shrek Academy, Yan Shaozhe, and the Vice-Dean of the Soul Tool Department, Qian Duoduo.

While there were only eight of them, their combined power was nearly unprecedented in history.

Qian Duoduo had recently risen to Rank 95, and formally become a Transcendent Douluo. Hence, it could be said that all eight of them were Transcendent Douluo. Their combined power was even higher than when they had last taken action during the tournament.

“Xuan Zi, do we really need to do this? It’s completely against the rules,” Elder Song said in a low voice, frowning.

Elder Xuan smiled and said, “So, the actions of the Sun Moon Empire are legal? After the Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament, they stopped so many team members from the various teams, and even detained and imprisoned some of them. That’s against the rules, too.”

Elder Song sighed and said,  “The Sun Moon Empire is committing a grave sin. I’m afraid the evil soul masters…”

Elder Xuan shook his head and said, “They dare not. In terms of soul engineers and overall strength, the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Star Luo Empire are weaker than the Sun Moon Empire. However, in terms of soul masters only, they are not afraid. Unless the evil soul masters are seeking death, or are using all their strength, they would not dare to do anything. Let’s go. If we don’t create a ruckus, what can Yuhao do? He should be in the Sun Moon Empire by now.”

“How could you consent to Huo Yuhao taking part in this operation?” Elder Song asked.

Elder Xuan waved his hand dismissively. “Old Song, don’t be too fixated on the past. Yuhao appears to be quite different now. Furthermore, the Ultimate Soldier Plan isn’t supposed to raise a flower in a greenhouse, right? If he doesn’t experience hardship, how can he better himself? As long as we make a big enough ruckus, he should be safe.”

“Alright,” Elder Song agreed with a reluctant nod.

Elder Xuan led them forward, and soon was in Sun Moon Empire airspace.

As this was the border, the density of surveillance-type soul tools was the highest here. Instantly, seven or eight high-altitude surveillance soul tools locked onto his position.

Elder Xuan smiled, and pressed forward with his right palm. An intense yellow light shone from his body.

Instantly, the sky appeared to collapse. An incomparably powerful aura radiated out from him. The high-altitude surveillance soul tools that had detected Elder Xuan all started to whine loudly. Even as they sensed the power of their target, they were all affected by it.

The high-altitude surveillance soul tools were built on the foundation of Sealed Milk Bottles, which provided them with enough soul power to spend a long time in the air. However, as Elder Xuan’s soul power fluctuations were too vigorous, it caused the soul power in the Sealed Milk Bottles to react adversely. 

Bang! Dazzling fireworks burst out nearby.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang… A series of explosions, accompanied by flashy red fireworks, followed the first one quickly. After a breath or two, all the high-altitude surveillance soul tools in a two-and-a-half kilometer radius were blown up by Elder Xuan’s massive soul power.

After Elder Xuan did that, the rest started to act too. With their Transcendent Douluo strength, they did not need any flying-type soul tools to fly. The remaining seven all flew off in different directions.

After a short while, the pitch-black night sky started to light up again. A huge amount of aerial surveillance-type soul tools were destroyed at great speed.

However, the Sun Moon Empire was still the most powerful empire on the continent. It quickly reacted and counter-attacked!

Powerful rays of light lit up on the ground as soul tools bombarded the sky. They were all wide-barreled soul cannons, and there were also other soul cannons which could immobilize, paralyze, or stun their targets!

Only soul tools which were Class 6 and above could hit targets at their altitude. Instantly, the entire sky was illuminated by bright, eye-catching lights. The rays of light from the soul cannons were like a forest of death that enveloped everything!