"What's going on?" Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun had just washed up and were about to sleep when waves of screams rang out outside. They didn't even have time to put on armor and rushed out in their nightclothes.
"Your Highness, it's bad! An invisible troop is slaughtering people throughout our camp. Anyone with even a bit of rank—from centurions to generals—they're sparing no one!" A panicked soldier dropped to his knees to report.
"What? Where are the three Titled Douluo?" Dai Weisi roared.
"Fire Dragon Douluo and Mad Bull Douluo have gone out searching, but Twin Serpent Douluo is missing."
"Could Twin Serpent Douluo have been killed?" Dai Weisi thought instinctively.
"Zhuyun, you stay here. I'll go take a look around."
"Alright. Be careful." After a quick reminder, Zhu Zhuyun returned to her room and changed out of her black gauze nightdress. She knew there was probably going to be a tough battle tonight.
Just as she finished changing, a pitch-black figure suddenly lunged at her.
"Second soul skill, Nether Hundred Claws!"
Zhu Zhuyun's six soul rings—two yellow, two purple, two black—flared as she immediately counterattacked. Her opponent, however, merely met her with a soul-power-infused palm. In the end, Zhu Zhuyun was blasted back to the edge of the tent while the attacker didn't take a single step back.
Even using a soul skill, she was at a disadvantage. It was obvious the intruder's strength far surpassed hers. If the other party had also used a soul skill earlier, Zhu Zhuyun would likely already be dead.
"Zhu Zhuyun, it's been years. Seems your strength hasn't improved much."
"That voice—you're Zhu Zhuqing? No… impossible. Zhuqing is already dead." Zhu Zhuyun was incredulous. Back then, Zhu Zhuqing had severed her own heart meridian, and Zhu Zhuyun had even struck her to shatter her heart. How could she still be alive?
Zhu Zhuqing lifted her mask and looked at Zhu Zhuyun. "You're not wrong. The old Zhu Zhuqing is dead. That life was given by your Zhu family—taking it back was only natural. But this new life comes from my two best friends. I'm not here for revenge tonight—only for two things: first, to settle the score with you; second, for my friends, to defeat your Star Luo!"
"Given by friends?" Zhu Zhuyun was shocked. Back then, it was Ning Rongrong and Jun Tianlin who took Zhu Zhuqing's body away. They actually had the ability to bring someone back? No wonder Jun Tianlin made that bet with Dai Weisi.
Damn it, the Star Luo Empire had been completely played by Jun Tianlin.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on it. The enemy was at the gates, and the current Zhu Zhuqing was entirely different from before—confident and powerful, a true life-long nemesis.
"If you had used a soul skill just now, you could have killed me," Zhu Zhuyun said.
"I told you—I want to settle this fair and square, so I won't use sneak attacks. That palm was only to test your strength. But now, you won't have another chance." Zhu Zhuqing released her soul rings: two yellow, two purple, four black—Soul Douluo.
She had barely returned when Tianlin used Illusory Water Thunderstorm to help her break through, stabilizing her at level 80 with her newly acquired soul ring.
Now Zhu Zhuqing outclassed Zhu Zhuyun by two major realms. Killing Zhu Zhuyun would be easy. But beyond her own reasons, both Ning Fengzhi and Tianlin had instructed: in the Star Luo camp, kill whoever you can, but try to capture Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun alive. Star Luo's clan policies did cultivate successive generations of exceptional heirs, but it also had a major flaw.
Previously no one dared offend Star Luo, so that flaw never surfaced.
"Zhuqing, you've really become strong." Zhu Zhuyun was terrified inside, but on the surface she remained calm. Her pride wouldn't allow her to show fear before someone who had once been the loser.
"Nether Slash!"
They unleashed the same move. Two blades of shadow collided, and the fierce saber aura ripped the tent to shreds.
…
Elsewhere, after searching around, Dai Weisi finally found Twin Serpent Douluo's corpse—head severed, martial soul shattered, the death gruesome.
"Damn it—who did this? They dare kill a Titled Douluo of my Star Luo Empire!" Dai Weisi raged.
Fire Dragon Douluo and Mad Bull Douluo arrived and examined the body. "Old Snake died from a sneak attack, cut down by a sword. The assailant severed his right arm first, then used overwhelming attack power to split his tool-type martial soul true body, and finally decapitated him. I suspect it's a powerful sword-type martial soul user. In this world, only two people could do this."
"Sword Dao Chen Xin and Sword Lord Jun Tianlin!" Dai Weisi blurted out. Among Titled Douluo who wield swords, it was those master and disciple.
Fire Dragon Douluo shook his head. "No, it wouldn't be them. They pursue the pinnacle of the sword. Even if they wanted to kill Old Snake, they wouldn't use a sneak attack. Even if Old Snake was fully prepared, he couldn't block a single sword from them. They wouldn't destroy their reputations."
"The assailant is extremely fast, tremendously strong in offense, and proficient in assassination. Strange—I've roamed the continent for decades and never heard of such a figure."
"Honored Douluo, debating this is pointless now. The priority is finding the killers. They're roaming freely through our camp, slaughtering at will. They're so fast we haven't caught a single one, and no one has even seen their faces clearly," Dai Weisi urged.
"Hmph. If searching one by one won't work, then use wide-area attacks and destroy this whole sector. I'll see where they can run." Mad Bull Douluo possessed the Titan Mad Bull and prepared to cut the Gordian knot.
Fire Dragon Douluo hurried to stop him. "No, Mad Bull, we can't do that! Our soldiers and officers are here. You'll get them killed."
"Relax, Wu Zhao. I already issued secret orders and quietly relocated a portion of important officers. The ones left in camp are minor officers and common soldiers." Mad Bull Douluo was simple, not stupid. If he had a strategy, he'd make preparations.
"Are the lives of minor officers and ordinary soldiers not lives?" Fire Dragon Douluo demanded.
"Honored Douluo, we can't worry about that now. Mad Bull's plan is sound. Casualties of a few thousand won't cripple us. They'd die to those assassins anyway. Dying for the country is a worthy end. I'll posthumously honor them as heroes," Dai Weisi said, persuading Wu Zhao, then nodding to Mad Bull to proceed.
Mad Bull didn't hesitate. His sixth soul ring lit. "Sixth soul skill, Mad Bull Quake!"
In an instant, violent tremors wracked this section of the camp. The ground split open; countless soldiers fell into the fissures.
Bai Chenxiang and the others hadn't expected the Star Luo people to be so ruthless. You can't evade such indiscriminate, large-scale attacks with speed alone.
With no choice, the Speed Clan members flew high, which exposed them all.
"In the sky—Needle-Tailed Swift martial souls—it's the Speed Clan!" A sharp-eyed soul master recognized them.
Dai Weisi's gaze went cold. "Hmph, the mere Speed Clan dares attack my Star Luo army. All troops, seize them! Kill all who resist!"