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In response to Nalundo's accusations, Xu Yuan had Huan Xing remain completely neutral.
The more you say, the more mistakes you make.
At this moment, silence was the best choice.
At the same time, from Nalundo's tone, Xu Yuan also discerned a new level classification that seemed more fitting than his own term "Great Lord"—that of "Tyrant."
This Nalundo was one such Tyrant.
Demon Lord Alba commanded ten Tyrants, each ruling over their own demonic kingdom neighboring Alba's territory. Their capital cities bordered Alba's domain, protecting his main city and standing ready to heed his call at any time.
Xu Yuan had traveled over a hundred kilometers from the channel to reach this place—Nalundo's capital city. This location was very close to Alba's territory and not far from the other Tyrants either.
This proximity facilitated communication between them.
Beyond this central zone, in a semicircular fan-shaped area, lay Nalundo's territory. This territory was even vaster than the combined lands of the ten Tyrants surrounding Alba.
However, the true master of this land would always be Alba.
With absolute strength, Alba didn't need to occupy the most land to maintain absolute control.
Forget about Alba himself—even the nine Great Demons under him were beings the ten Tyrants couldn't hope to match.
Xu Yuan had Huan Xing gather a bit more intelligence.
Finally, he issued an order for Nalundo to assemble all his forces and march to support the great Demon Lord Alba.
Nalundo's eyes flickered.
"You are not one of Alba's apostles." His eyes gleamed with what seemed like wisdom.
"Alba would never command us Tyrants to wage war on a new world!"
Having confirmed that this demon's true purpose was indeed to request reinforcements, this Tyrant revealed his hostility and pointed out the issue with Huan Xing's identity.
Not allowing the Tyrants to participate in battles?
Xu Yuan indirectly gleaned another piece of information.
As for why, it wasn't something he could uncover now because Nalundo attacked.
Nalundo suddenly produced a massive hammer from somewhere and brought it crashing down.
"Hmph! Regardless of which master you serve under, if you dare to incite my loyal servant Nalundo against Lord Alba, you deserve death a thousand times over!"
A thick purple flame surged above Nalundo's head, coating his massive hammer. The aura was terrifying.
Nalundo was truly enraged.
This was absolutely not Alba's command.
If it wasn't Alba's command, then gathering all his forces to enter Alba's core territory without cause—what kind of offense was that?
One misstep, and he, Nalundo, could be punished or even killed by Alba.
A Tyrant was something Alba could crush effortlessly, without a shred of hesitation or regret.
By simply gifting Nalundo's corpse to someone, any lord would have the chance to ascend to Tyrant status.
Even if they failed to ascend, if Alba truly needed a Tyrant position filled, he could directly refine the bloodline of an ordinary demon to help them break through and become a new Tyrant.
Such was the power of a Demon Lord.
It was also the root of the demonic race's terrifying top-down rule.
Thus, even if Huan Xing might belong to another Demon Lord, Nalundo was genuinely furious at this moment.
If you want me dead, I won't let you live either!
With Alba's authority pressing down, as long as he could prove that the other side had provoked first, Nalundo still believed that his own master would step in to protect him.
From afar, Xu Yuan felt the overwhelming might of this hammer strike and was shaken to the core. He quickly had Huan Xing detach from the demon body and return as a streak of light.
"Hmm?" Nalundo abruptly turned his gaze toward Xu Yuan's direction.
"Foreigner!"
His expression instantly turned cold.
"So it was you foreigners causing trouble. Die!"
Behind Nalundo, a pair of illusory flame wings condensed.
He had broken through to Tyrant-level after undergoing Alba's bloodline transformation, enabling him to temporarily activate his bloodline power and gain abilities exclusive to the demonic royal lineage.
With a flap of his wings, he rapidly flew toward Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan gritted his teeth and fused his battle armor in an instant.
Yuan—Xu Yuan appeared.
His body rapidly expanded, enveloped in a burst of five-element light, transforming into a massive mech suit.
Controlling the mech, Xu Yuan swiftly flew backward.
He pushed the power of his battle armor to its limits and maximized the mech's flight capabilities.
His spirit, energy, and consciousness merged with the surrounding environment, suppressing Nalundo behind him while enhancing himself.
Even in the Demon Plane, the Seven Forbidden Techniques had a significant effect. Xu Yuan even felt that if he'd had more time to adapt, his forbidden techniques might have been even more effective here than in the Douluo Plane!
Huan Xing returned as a streak of light, swiftly rejoining Xu Yuan.
Strictly speaking, a soul spirit and soul master were one entity. Returning to the host body at spirit form speed far exceeded the flight speeds of both Xu Yuan and Nalundo.
This was why Xu Yuan chose to send Huan Xing to gather intelligence.
It was safe while also leaving a considerable distance for escape. A starting distance of over two kilometers was still crucial.
"Shouldn't Elder Brother Lan Muzi be in this direction?" After some thought, Xu Yuan quickly headed toward the direction Lan Muzi was exploring.
In fact, aside from him and Tang Wulin, none of the Shrek disciples exploring outside had ventured more than thirty kilometers from the channel.
Nevertheless, Xu Yuan still remembered everyone's exploration directions clearly.
At this moment, he was heading toward Lan Muzi's location.
It wasn't that he could reach Lan Muzi before Nalundo caught up; rather, he wanted to get closer to Lan Muzi and then unleash his full strength to draw Lan Muzi over.
Only by moving toward each other could they meet quickly.
One chased while the other fled. Xu Yuan unleashed his full potential, even burning his life force for a full half-hour, finally escaping a full fifty kilometers.
However, Nalundo remained relentlessly hot on his heels.
Even as they approached Alba's location, he showed no fear.
We're in the right. Why should we be afraid?
This foreigner is truly courting death!
In the distance, Lan Muzi sensed the commotion caused by Xu Yuan.
Primarily, the explosion from the level-nine fixed-installation soul-guided missile was too immense.
It wasn't just Lan Muzi—even Ya Li and the others near the channel felt it.
"What's going on? Is Xiao Yuan in danger?"
Did he even trigger the level-nine fixed-installation soul-guided missile in his hands?
Xu Yuan silently recovered his soul power while continuously retreating. His spiritual power locked onto every detail of the massive smoke cloud behind him.
After flying less than five hundred meters further, a colossal figure emerged from the dust cloud.
Nalundo now bore numerous burn marks on his body, but it seemed his essence hadn't been damaged?
Not only that, he appeared absolutely livid, with a purplish substance resembling blood flowing within the purple flames surrounding his body, making his purple flames burn even more fiercely!
Though the level-nine fixed-installation soul-guided missile had caused trouble, its accuracy had flaws. Xu Yuan had detonated it nearly point-blank when the distance between them was less than a hundred meters, leaving Nalundo no time to dodge.
Even so, this level-nine missile hadn't been enough to take him down.
Xu Yuan secretly lamented how outdated these level-nine fixed-installation soul-guided missiles had become.
Of course, the fact that he, a Soul King, managed to detonate it meant there was still some noteworthy technology inside.
Over five hundred meters, Xu Yuan gritted his teeth and continued dragging the fight.
However, in just thirty seconds, he was caught up by the enraged Nalundo.
Xu Yuan clenched his teeth, quickly flipping around. In his hand, the Five-Element Mech Suit rapidly formed a spear.
His spirit, energy, and consciousness infused into it, drawing in the forces of heaven and earth.
A massive sealing character rune appeared in the air.
The soul ring of Xu Yuan's Heavenly Origin Brush martial soul, though usually dormant, now manifested separately, playing a role as he activated his Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear martial soul.
The sealing character rune fused into the spear.
Rings of soul halos appeared, all glowing brightly.
Even Xu Yuan's fifth soul ring, which he had never used, now shimmered. A blood-energy doppelgänger condensed, overlapping with the mech suit, emitting a heart-stopping fluctuation.
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