Volume 39, Chapter 550.1: The Attack Starts!
The temperature at an altitude of six thousand meters was very low, but such low temperatures were considered a good source of replenishment for the Icy War God’s Armor. The thin air was filled with elements of ice, which the Icy War God’s Armor processed to replenish the energy that it expended before it stored the energy that it was absorbing, compressed it, and fed back a portion of it to Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao was full of admiration for this armor. I’m like a Transcendent Douluo with this armor on! Even though the Sun Moon Empire has already produced human-shaped soul tools, mine is crafted from unrivaled materials, and it has cost Teacher Xuan many years of thought and effort. This super human-shaped soul tool is also crafted from the Tang Sect’s mechanical technology, so the Sun Moon Empire’s human-shaped soul tools are still relatively weaker.
Huo Yuhao was already starting to move as he thought. His Spiritual Detection expanded as far as he could push it. He was six thousand meters in the sky, and he didn’t believe that the Sun Moon Empire could place any spiritual barriers at this height.
Not even high altitude aerial surveillance soul tools could be placed at this height.
But Huo Yuhao was still full of praises for the capabilities of the Sun Moon Empire’s aerial surveillance soul tools. At least, he discovered that there were still aerial surveillance soul tools five thousand meters in the sky, and even though there weren’t many, every single one was relatively large, and their construction was extremely intricate and sophisticated. If not for his mission, Huo Yuhao would really want to take one back to study it.
Huo Yuhao floated forward, and the first things he went for were those high altitude aerial surveillance soul tools that were flying around five thousand meters in the sky.
He observed quietly for a few moments, and he could already tell what kind of soul tool they were.
These are clearly satellites! They were used for transmissions and communication, and they were enormous. They could transmit all kinds of information within two hundred and fifty kilometers, and as long as there was one such soul tool within two hundred and fifty kilometers, the Sun Moon Empire would be able to transmit information across long distances. They wouldn’t even have a problem communicating at a range of more than five thousand kilometers.
But these satellites didn’t possess any offensive or defensive capabilities, and they weren’t able to detect anything around them.
Huo Yuhao slowly came up to a satellite as he placed a small round metal piece that was about the size of his palm within a tiny crack.
Huo Yuhao was using both Imitation and Spiritual Interference Domain at the same time. He activated his personal defenses to the highest possible level to prepare for worst case scenarios, and his Spiritual Detection covered a vast area around him from the beginning to the end. He was prepared to retreat at any moment. After all, he wasn’t entirely sure about the Sun Moon Empire’s surveillance soul tools.
The first metal plate was installed successfully without anything changing at all.
Huo Yuhao retreated silently after completing his task. He observed for a few moments, and surveyed the surveillance soul tools around him to see if anything was happening. The nearest soul tool front beneath him remained stable and quiet, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
The first attempt was most important, because it laid the foundations for what he was about to do next.
Huo Yuhao quickly began to shift around in the sky. He wasn’t afraid of troubling himself, as the surveillance soul tools five thousand meters up were furthest away from each other. He didn’t move down to the soul tools beneath him to install those metal plates. He installed the metal plates on all the aerial surveillance soul tools above Radiant City at that height, and only then did he fly down to four thousand meters.
He continued in a similar fashion. Even though he was flying very quickly, three hours had gone by after he finished installing the metal plates on the aerial surveillance soul tools three thousand meters up.
There were sixty-three surveillance soul tools of many different kinds three thousand meters in the sky, and every one was very far from the others. Huo Yuhao also had to be very careful, and that was an important reason why he was taking so long. If he didn’t have his Icy War God’s Armor, he would even have to take breaks before continuing.
Huo Yuhao’s following task was even harder, because there were more than four hundred surveillance soul tools of all kinds between an altitude of five hundred meters and one thousand meters. There were around two hundred and seventy at a thousand meters, and there were more than one hundred and sixty at five hundred meters.
Huo Yuhao planned to forgo the surveillance soul tools at five hundred meters. He would deal with them later on, but he had to install the metal places on the surveillance soul tools at one thousand meters.
But this altitude was also the most dangerous. The surveillance soul tools hovering at a thousand meters were inherently extremely powerful, while the surveillance soul tools at five hundred meters would sweep both toward the ground and into the air. Therefore, Huo Yuhao had to use Spiritual Detection to avoid the surveillance soul tools that could discover him as much as possible.
Huo Yuhao paused for a little in the air and readjusted his condition.
He relaxed for a little before he reduced his Spiritual Detection’s range, which was initially spread over a large area, to a small but intricate area of effect. He kept his Spiritual Detection’s range to around a thousand meters in diameter so that he could conduct a more detailed surveillance of all the energy changes around him. This included the surveillance soul tools’ waves and undulations, and how they were changing.
Everything was within his grasp as he drifted down. He didn’t cause any disturbance at all as he arrived next to a surveillance soul tool that was patrolling in a pattern. He flicked his wrist dexterously as he sent another metal plate into a blind spot that the soul tool itself couldn’t detect. Huo Yuhao somersaulted in the air with a flash as his flying-type soul tool accelerated and moved him a hundred meters horizontally. He avoided several spiritual surveillance waves as he flew.
Huo Yuhao quickly changed directions as he shifted to another side and floated downwards, and he dealt with another surveillance soul tool with yet another dexterous flick of his wrist.
Huo Yuhao’s understanding of hidden weapons meant he was still confident of doing this properly even if he had to do it over long distances. But doing that was a lot less discreet than going up close to those surveillance soul tools.
Huo Yuhao had to be very careful with each installation. He couldn’t allow any mistakes at all. He could expose himself with even a tiny error. What he was doing would determine whether his plan could be executed successfully, so how could he afford to be careless?
Huo Yuhao was moving a lot faster here than he was at the higher altitudes. He turned, spun, and danced through the air as he stuck metal plates to aerial surveillance soul tools continuously. His movement was like rolling clouds and flowing water as he didn’t stop at all, and all those surveillance soul tools had nowhere to hide under his Spiritual Detection.
Anybody who could watch those surveillance waves in the sky would be overwhelmed with admiration at what Huo Yuhao was doing. Every movement and every acceleration zipped through and between dozens of intersecting surveillance waves at the same time. There were some close shaves where Huo Yuhao had to use Instant Teleportation to avoid them.
Even though not every kind of surveillance wave could discover him, Huo Yuhao had to put safety first as he tried his best to keep any wave from touching him.
After he completed the last installation at one thousand meters, he paused in the air before he accelerated and disappeared beyond the horizon.
Huo Yuhao could feel some dizziness in his brain, which was a sign of consuming too much energy. He had consumed too much energy and not spiritual power, because he could still take this with his spiritual power.
The sky had turned dark, as most of the lamps and lights that resembled the stars in the night sky had disappeared. Huo Yuhao flew far into the distance and descended to the ground at a relatively obscure and remote area.
He crossed his legs and sat down on the ground as he panted deep and heavily. Huo Yuhao’s face was a little pale, and his eyes were filled with fatigue. However, there was also excitement in his eyes.
Huo Yuhao was entirely certain that nobody else in the Douluo Continent could achieve what he had just done. Not even Ultimate Douluo could do that.
Huo Yuhao looked up at the sky. Even though he couldn’t see the surveillance soul tools he had worked on, his eyes were full of satisfaction in this moment.
A gorgeous shadow emerged from Huo Yuhao’s body. It was Li Ya, the mermaid princess. She sat down beside him just like that, and brought her tail up close and placed her arms around it like a young girl sitting on the ground hugging her knees.
A beautiful song could be heard, but Huo Yuhao was the only person who could hear it. Wonderful melodies circled around his spiritual sea, and his fatigue disappeared like silk spun from cocoons. He was recovering all the spiritual power that he had expended at an incredible speed.
This wasn’t Huo Yuhao’s soul skill. Instead, this was the mermaid princess’ innate ability. She didn’t speak to him, but was just singing so beautifully with a faint smile on her face.
Everything was dark around him, but it was also quiet and tranquil. Huo Yuhao quickly entered meditation as he listened to Li Ya’s song.
He was still this mission’s main director, and he had to recover what he had expended as quickly as possible.
Consuming soul power was nothing much. He hadn’t consumed much soul power because he had his Icy War God’s Armor to replenish him. However, Huo Yuhao needed to rest because he had used too much spiritual power, and especially so when consuming too much energy made him feel fatigued.
Huo Yuhao’s soul core absorbed spiritual power continuously as Li Ya sang to him, and that accelerated his regeneration.
Huo Yuhao got back to his feet after an hour, and his eyes were already full of life and vigor.
Li Ya didn’t go back into his body. Instead, she just hovered quietly beside him.
Huo Yuhao raised his right hand as deep chanting sounds could be heard, and a grey soul ring appeared on his body.
This wasn’t the first time that Li Ya had seen his grey soul ring, so she didn’t feel conflicted or resistant at all. Huo Yuhao was in such a state when he completed the contract with her after all. This ring was evil, filled with light and a little strange, but she was slowly starting to accept it.
Huo Yuhao had begun to chant his spell, and deep and dull incantations rang out. Huo Yuhao used Imitation and Spiritual Interference Domain so that he could hide Li Ya and himself.