The six teachers were protecting the five students. Eleven of them stood together, fighting to resist the enemy.Facing these people who clearly wanted them dead, the group's killing intent surged. Each strike they unleashed was ruthless, without the slightest bit of mercy.
This ambush was obviously premeditated. The attackers had sent more than a hundred mechas, among which were two red-grade units. Each bore a skull insignia on its chest—a sign that they belonged to some organization.
In terms of both numbers and quality, the enemy's mechas had the advantage over those of the Star Luo Empire. If not for the Federal powerhouses who had intervened, the Star Luo forces would already have been routed.
"Boom, boom, boom…"More than twenty mechas climbed higher into the air and began carpet bombing. Round after round of powerful soul-guided shells rained down, exploding violently.
The attackers had chosen their battlefield wisely. Hidden among the mountains, movement was difficult. With their aerial superiority, they could bombard at will. For those who could not fly, this was nothing less than a disaster.
"Ahhhh!"Agonized screams rang out. After all, soul masters who could fly were few; most could not, and those unfortunate ones were caught in the blasts.
Explosions swept the area with waves of fire. The ground became a blazing hellscape, with nowhere to hide.
Yunze controlled his phoenix to absorb the flames, but there were simply too many fires at once. It was impossible to eliminate them all immediately.
"Still not planning to come out?" Ditian growled. Then, in the next instant, his figure flashed hundreds of meters forward, and he struck at the empty air with a single punch.
Boom!A terrifying collision erupted, unleashing violent energy. Winds howled, trees swayed, and soul masters shuddered in dread.
A figure was forced into view, knocked back hundreds of meters by Ditian's blow.
"Lord Yuntian truly is formidable," said the man. Cloaked in black robes, with a chilling and sinister face, he gave off an aura that made one's skin crawl. Stabilizing himself, he sneered coldly.
"Not all that formidable," Ditian replied, his tone taunting. "But… I am stronger than you."
"Is that so? Then today I'll see for myself!" the man said with a strange excitement, even licking his lips as though he'd just seen a rare delicacy.
"I was thinking the same," Ditian said calmly. A resounding dragon's roar shook the sky as a massive black dragon appeared behind him. Six red and three orange rings rose into view.
To conceal his true identity, he didn't reveal the golden eyes of his martial soul—only its normal black ones.
A dreadful aura burst forth, deep and oppressive like a bottomless abyss. The nearby space itself warped and grew heavy.
Those standing too close suddenly felt their bodies weighed down, their hearts crushed, their soul power thrown into disorder. Horrified, they quickly fled, not daring to linger anywhere near powerhouses of this level.
Sensing this energy, the black-robed man's face grew grim—but his excitement only grew stronger. This was the kind of opponent he craved.
If he could devour this one's blood, perhaps his power would advance another step. Maybe…
The thought stoked his killing intent. Though Yuntian was terrifying, in a direct confrontation, he couldn't be sure of victory. But—this man had weaknesses. If they could seize those two by his side, wouldn't Yuntian be forced to submit?
That was the real reason he dared to target such a supreme being. He intended to use those two youngsters' lives as leverage.
Truthfully, Yunze was also one of his goals—but Yuntian was the main prize.
The black-robed man suppressed the urge to glance at Yunze and Gu Yuena, for fear that Yuntian would detect his intent and grow vigilant.
"Remember this name—the one who kills you is the Ghost Emperor!" he declared coldly. The sky darkened, and from the clouds emerged an enormous purple skull.
Beneath him, one after another, soul rings rose into view: four black, four red, and one orange. Nine rings—each extraordinary.
As his martial soul and rings were released, his aura surged skyward, nearly equal to Ditian's own. Clearly, he too was a Quasi-God level powerhouse, and one with immense foundations.
"Kill me? You think too much," Ditian sneered. Without wasting another word, he flashed forward and slashed with his dragon claws. His arms had already transformed, scaled and massive, radiating indestructible force.
The Ghost Emperor retreated rapidly, dodging. Behind him appeared swarms of small skulls, each glowing with eerie green light.
They moved like living creatures, with green flames flickering in their sockets, jaws opening and snapping as their bones scraped with shrill sounds.
"Cack-cack-cack…"The skulls screeched as they surged toward Ditian, a flood so dense it piled as high as a four-story building, threatening to bury him completely.
"Break!" Ditian roared. His fist shot forward, shattering the air. A vacuum ripped open, and a dragon-shaped blast of energy tore into the skulls.
"Boom, boom, boom…"Skulls exploded in droves, like green fireworks bursting across the sky.
The shockwaves of their battle were catastrophic. Trees shattered, mountains quaked, boulders rolled down. Soul masters fighting below were flung away, many injured by the collateral force.
Ditian pressed the attack fiercely, deliberately shifting the battlefield higher into the sky to avoid further casualties. Of course, his main concern was keeping Yunze and Gu Yuena safe. The others were merely incidental.
The Ghost Emperor cooperated—after all, he too wanted to draw Yuntian away from those two.
Thus, their clash quickly soared to an altitude of a thousand meters, where they engaged in all-out combat.
The heavens resounded with thunderous detonations, as though the sky itself was a colossal drum beaten for all to hear.
Purple and black energies clashed again and again, dyeing the clouds with their colors.
"Ghost Emperor!" Shrek Academy's Cai Yue'er was stunned, staring at the heavens in shock.
When she first heard the name, it sounded familiar. After thinking a moment, she remembered.
Judging from his martial soul and strength, he was unmistakably one of the Two Emperors of the Holy Spirit Cult—the Ghost Emperor himself.
Her mind flashed back to the battle between Yun Ming and this very Ghost Emperor. That battle had been unimaginably fierce, and even now recalling it made her heart tremble.
Yun Ming had managed to claim a narrow victory, but only just. For someone to force him to go all-out, and lose only by the smallest margin, spoke volumes of this man's terrifying power.
"Thank goodness Yuntian is here," Cai Yue'er thought with relief, cold sweat running down her back.
If they hadn't had a quasi-god powerhouse at their side, facing the Ghost Emperor would have meant certain death.
She had heard of his methods before. Even with her firm will, just imagining those inhuman techniques made her shiver involuntarily.
(End of Chapter)