The Unrivaled Tang Sect

Huo Yuhao heaved a sigh, and he just stood there as he muttered under his breath, “You’ve really hurt his heart!”

Xu Yun turned and glared at him. “How have I hurt his heart? What about me? What about my heart?”

Huo Yuhao said plainly, “Your appearance was unexpected in the first place. You will know whether not I am a spy if you calm down and think about it. You’ve changed your opinion, and now you think I have been sent by the White Tiger Duke. This proves that you understand in your heart that I cannot possibly be a spy. I can tell you very frankly that I have no connection at all to the White Tiger Duke, and I even hate him. As for Luoli, I only think that he has a martial soul with huge potential and talent, but he hasn’t been able to unleash it, so I decided to help him a little. Let me ask you a question, princess.”

“What?” Xu Yun asked doubtfully. 

Huo Yuhao continued, “There’s strength hidden within his martial soul, and this strength hasn’t appeared after almost twenty years. Do you think it’s that easy to draw out this strength? I’ve beaten him for more than a month. Why have I only beaten that strength out of him yesterday? Have you thought about that? Alright, you can think about that yourself. However, I advise you not to try and reveal my identity. Otherwise, I will leave this place. I only have one aim in joining the army, and that is to defend my empire. You don’t have to think too much about my identity, and you can just think of me as a soul master who cultivates independently.”

Huo Yuhao turned and left after he finished his sentence, and he didn’t give Xu Yun any chance to talk. 

Dawdling explanations would only make this princess even angrier. In the state she was in, she couldn’t possibly think rationally or accept anything that Dai Luoli would have said to explain himself. Huo Yuhao could only use this method of “playing it cool”, and throw a hit back at her to achieve any effect at all. Furthermore, Huo Yuhao’s words were all true, and Dai Luoli did trigger his martial soul’s true strength because he wanted to protect Xu Yun. 

A contemplative look flowed from Xu Yun’s eyes as she watched them leave. Everything that had happened last night played again and again in her mind... she couldn’t forget Dai Luoli’s eyes yesterday. Yes! How could he possibly fake an expression like that?

“Luoli, I’m sorry... I have blamed you wrongly.” Xu Yun muttered under her breath. She wanted to chase after him, but couldn’t get over her own pride, and she just watched Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli return to their ranks as they followed the recruits back for training. 

“He has so many wounds on his body. How painful must that be?”

The two of them returned to the recruits. All those recruits, along with the other team leaders, stared at them with a completely different expression from before. 

The bodyguards had slunk away. The two of them had just returned when they were immediately surrounded by the recruits and tossed into the air in the next moment. 

The two of them had led Small Team One’s recruits to defeat the bodyguards. That battle made the blood in these fellows’ hearts burn with passion, while Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli immediately became like heroes to them. 

Just as the recruits were hollering excitedly and tossing them up and down, Huo Yuhao’s mood was originally very high when he suddenly felt his heart tense up for no particular reason. In that moment, he felt as if the world had become black and white, and an indescribable fear instantly spread across his entire body. 

This sense of fear didn’t come from a person or a living being. Instead, it became from an entire region of space. There seemed to be some force from the dark that was suppressing his heart and made him shudder with a fright that came from deep within his soul. 

This unprecedented situation turned his face ghastly pale in an instant. Something had happened, and something big was about to happen. After Wang Qiu’er sacrificed herself, Huo Yuhao controlled the power of destiny, and this sudden fear gave him an extremely ominous feeling. 

His eyes seemed to be guided by a mysterious wave of the power of destiny, and he gazed into the distance as he was still being tossed up and down through the air. 

The sky suddenly seemed to brighten far into the horizon right at this moment. The flash that suddenly appeared was very intense, and even though it was extremely far away, it managed to catch the attention of all the recruits. Their frolicking stopped, and everyone turned and gazed in that direction. 

Everyone could see an incandescent sphere of light flickering far beyond the horizon. This radiance was hemispherical, and it gradually expanded outwards while its light was very intense and dazzling. Many people couldn’t help but shift their eyes away after staring straight at the flash for a moment, and nobody dared to continue staring right at it. Only Huo Yuhao’s eyes were fixed on that flash from the beginning to the end. 

Yes, something had happened. 

The earth trembled faintly in the next moment, and booming sounds that resembled dull thunderclaps rolled forth and caused the entire army camp to quiver violently. 

The recruits began to feel waves of dizziness, and some recruits who were relatively weaker even fell down on the ground from all those tremors. 

Zhuang Tian murmured to himself, “What’s happening? That direction… that direction seems to be where the Northwestern Field Army is stationed! That…”

Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli were back on the ground, and their expressions changed at almost the same time. 

Dai Luoli applied strength to his legs and was about to charge forward when Huo Yuhao pulled him back. 

“Where are you going?”

Dai Luoli’s voice was quivering a little. “I want to take a look. That… that’s where the Northwestern Field Army is stationed. My father is there! That… that seems like…”

Huo Yuhao grabbed his shirt and dragged Dai Luoli in front of him. “Everything has already happened. What can you do even if you head over right now? From this moment onwards, you’re not allowed to leave my side. We’ll wait until we have more accurate intel before we do anything.”

Right at this moment, shrill and ear-piercing whistling sounds could be heard ringing out hysterically from the entire Sixth Reserve Legion. This was the whistle for an emergency assembly! 

Large numbers of reserve troops swiftly came out of their tents and assembled from every camp, and the officers got into their respective positions. The entire reserve legion was mobilized, and even though they were just the reserves, the quality they displayed was impressive. 

The order came down very quickly. All reserve troops were to prepare for battle, and that included recruits. Everyone was to pack up and get ready for battle at any moment. 

Xu Yun was a battalion commander, and her battalion consisted almost entirely of recruits. Huo Yuhao and the three hundred recruits were her newest additions. Their battalion of recruits had twice as many people as normal battalions, at nine hundred soldiers in total. 

Xu Yun was standing in front of everyone, and her expression was exceptionally black. Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli could guess what had happened, and she naturally could as well. 

Xu Yun hollered, “Tang Dong, Dai Luoli, step out.”

Huo Yuhao pulled Dai Luoli and they took a few steps forward and saluted her. 

Xu Yun lowered her voice and said, “From now on, the two of you are promoted as my bodyguards, but your ranks will remain Private First Class. Stand behind me.” She couldn’t care about military rules anymore at a time like this. The recruits hadn’t even finished their basic military training, and they were officially not allowed to become bodyguards for a battalion commander. She was distraught with anxiety and confusion, however, and she needed a mainstay at a time like this. What she didn’t know was that this order that she had just given was the wisest decision she had ever made in her entire life. 

Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli stepped behind Xu Yun. At a time like this, Huo Yuhao wasn’t worried about Dai Luoli making a move by himself. Xu Yun’s presence was enough to calm him down a little. 

Xu Yun continued giving orders, “Everyone, return to your bunks, pack and organize your things. Come back and assemble at the military drill ground afterward, and stay where you are to rest. After that, wait for further orders. Disperse!” 

The soldiers returned to their respective destinations, but she kept Huo Yuhao and Dai Luoli behind. 

“The Sun Moon Empire... the Sun Moon Empire must have made their move,” Xu Yun spoke as she fumed with rage between gritted teeth. 

Dadi Luoli didn’t have to pretend. His expression was black, and he nodded forcefully. “They’ve invaded us without declaring war. Furthermore, they’ve used soul tools which possess great power. I wonder how the frontlines are doing. My father…”

Xu Yun interjected, “The White Tiger Duke is a Titled Douluo, so he’ll be fine. I wonder what class those soul tools are to give us such sensations… My only wish now is that the front lines haven’t suffered excessively heavy losses. The army has already sent scouts to find out what’s happening, and they should return quickly with definite intel.”

Huo Yuhao’s expression was solemn. Dai Luoli and Xu Yun weren’t knowledgeable enough, and they didn’t know enough to judge how forceful that explosion was. He was a gifted student from Shrek Academy’s Soul Tool Department, so how could he not be able to judge? The feeling he got from that explosion’s force could only be achieved with one type of soul tool. 

That soul tool could only be a Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell. They were almost three hundred kilometers away from where the explosion had occurred, and they could still clearly see, hear, and feel the explosion’s effects from such a distance away. Huo Yuhao had only seen an explosion like this once before, and that was when he had triggered an explosion in that underground warehouse within Radiant City. That apocalyptic spectacle was deeply imprinted in his memory. 

This meant the explosion that had just occurred didn’t come from just a single Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell. It was likely that more than one had been used. The Sun Moon Empire had held themselves back for more than half a year. Were they about to launch a full-scale invasion? The timing of their invasion was at least six months earlier than Huo Yuhao had predicted. 

The Star Luo Empire became the Sun Moon Empire’s first target after launching an invasion. 

Huo Yuhao heaved a faint sigh inside. He felt very helpless and exasperated. The Star Luo empire was too far behind the Sun Moon Empire in terms of their research with soul tools. Otherwise, with the intense energy undulations that Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells gave off, those shells should have been intercepted at the border. However, it seemed the Star Luo Empire were unsuccessful at intercepting those shells, and the Sun Moon Empire managed to detonate their stationary shells near the armies stationed near the Star Luo Empire’s borders. The Star Luo Empire had probably sustained heavy losses this time!

Dai Luoli wasn’t the only one concerned about the White Tiger Duke... 

They didn’t have much to pack. Their personal belongings were all stored inside storage-type soul tools that they kept on their bodies all the time, while they were wearing all their military equipment, such as their uniforms, leather armor, number plates, and weapons. As for other items like their bedsheets and whatnot, they did not pack those burdensome things. 

The booms that resembled dull thunderclaps continued ringing out in the distance. Even though the light wasn’t as bright as before, everyone could hear those dense explosions from several hundred kilometers away. It wasn’t hard to imagine how intense the battle at the border was…