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Boom! Boom! Boom!
At Dai Weisi's command, the soldiers ignited the fuses and fired the cannons. In an instant, dozens of cannonballs roared through the sky in rapid succession!
There were a total of one hundred cannons, divided into five groups of twenty. As soon as the last group fired, the first was already reloaded—allowing for continuous fire and wide-area coverage.
With a range of over three thousand meters, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo were well within their reach. As the saying goes: Honor is found only on the edge of a sword, but truth is found only within the range of a cannon.
And now, with one hundred cannons at his command—Dai Weisi was the truth!
"Damn it!" Yue Guan cursed under his breath. In the blink of an eye, twenty cannonballs screamed toward him. He tried to dodge, but the spread was too wide—there was nowhere to run. He had no choice but to gather his soul power to withstand the bombardment.
"Hmph, just a few solid iron balls? Let's see what power they really hold. Can they truly wound a Soul Douluo? Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum!"
Yue Guan tilted his head back and roared. His seventh soul ring flashed, and a magnificent Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum blossom materialized in his hand, radiating a brilliant golden light like a miniature sun.
"Sixth Soul Skill: Golden Stamens' Radiant Flow!"
With a great shout, the chrysanthemum's petals transformed into countless golden flying blades, shimmering with a dazzling light.
With the cannonballs nearly upon him, Yue Guan didn't use the blades to attack. Instead, he formed them into a shield before him and said coldly:
"Hmph! Today, I'll see just how powerful these little toys are to have given you such arrogance!"
Boom—
As if to answer his challenge, a cannonball slammed directly into his shield of blades.
A deafening explosion rang out. The tremendous impact sent a numbing shock through Yue Guan's hands.
"Such powerful force!" His expression changed as he muttered, "Even a Defense-type Soul Douluo would be injured by a direct hit. But I am a Titled Douluo—a little trick like this can't hurt me!"
He smiled confidently, but as more cannonballs flew toward him, his smile quickly vanished.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions were relentless. Yue Guan was forced back again and again, gritting his teeth as he desperately held on.
He had originally thought that with his soul power as a rank 95 Titled Douluo, withstanding the cannon fire would be a simple matter. Now he understood just how naive he had been.
It was true that at the beginning, his profound soul power allowed him to block the blasts with ease. But after deflecting more than a dozen shells, he was beginning to feel the strain.
By now, his soul power had dropped to just over forty percent. Looking down at the military formation below, a chill of terror crept into his heart.
If a sustained bombardment from a mere one hundred cannons possessed such might, what would a thousand be like? Or ten thousand? What unimaginable destruction would that unleash?
Driven back by the barrage, Yue Guan glanced at Ghost beside him and saw that he, too, was struggling, his soul power nearly depleted.
"Old Ghost! Let's use our Martial Soul Fusion Skill!"
"No!" Ghost shook his head. "The cannonballs are coming too fast! We won't have time to activate the Two-Pole Static Domain before they hit us. We'll be dead before we finish!"
As he spoke, Ghost continuously unleashed his fifth soul skill, Ghost Shadow Earth Hands, summoning countless spectral hands from the dark ground below to intercept the cannonballs.
"But their firepower seems endless! What are we supposed to do?!"
Ghost's face was grim, and his tone was cold as he said, "We use our ninth soul skills! They are both large-area attacks. They can block these cannonballs and give us a chance to retreat!"
"Re-retreat?" Yue Guan's face twisted in panic. "Old Ghost, are you serious? If we retreat, what about His Holiness the Pope…"
"Our soul power is almost gone. Si Long and Ci Xue won't be able to take down those two elders anytime soon!"
As he spoke, Ghost glanced at Si Long and Ci Xue locked in their fierce battle. While a victor had not yet been decided, it was clear their side was losing ground.
Ci Xue's poisonous Martial Soul allowed him to hold his own against the Sixth Elder, but Si Long was already being pushed back. His Serpent Lance was a Tool Soul, and how could any Tool Soul compare to the world's number one Tool Soul, the Clear Sky Hammer?
Both Si Long and the Fifth Elder were rank 92 Power-type Titled Douluo. The difference in their Martial Souls' quality was enough to decide the outcome.
With Si Long already at a disadvantage, his defeat was only a matter of time. Afterward, Ci Xue would stand no chance against two Titled Douluo alone.
Ghost's expression was terrifyingly dark as he ground out through his teeth, "If we retreat now, we'll face some physical punishment at worst. But if Si Long and Ci Xue are defeated and killed, do you think Her Holiness will forgive us for losing two Titled Douluo?
"If we stay here, our soul power won't last. It's better to live to fight another day! So listen to me. This battle is lost. We retreat now!"
Glancing at Dai Weisi's smiling face, Yue Guan seethed with rage. Three assassination attempts, all failures. He was unwilling to accept it, but the situation was decided. He had to save himself first and plan for the future.
"Hmph! Then witness my ninth soul skill: Chrysanthemums Wither, the Ground is Wounded, When Petals Fall, Hearts are Broken!"
Yue Guan detonated his remaining soul power. Countless Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum petals flew into the air, forming a golden tornado that shot to the sky, intercepting the incoming cannonballs!
"Ninth Soul Skill: Hell Wraiths!"
Countless massive, pitch-black ghostly hands erupted from the earth, stretching hundreds of meters high to form a dark wall that blocked the cannonade.
"Not good, it's their ninth soul skills!" Dai Tianxing muttered, immediately maneuvering the Netherworld White Tiger to shield Dai Weisi and the others in case Yue Guan and Ghost made a final, desperate attack.
But they did no such thing.
Instead, Ghost directed the enormous spectral hands to smash into the valley walls. The solid rock crumbled like paper before the immense power.
Landslides surged down from both sides as countless boulders and uprooted trees rained down, forming a massive wall that blocked the White Tiger Legion's path.
"Si Long, Ci Xue, the mission has failed! We're leaving!" With that, Ghost and Yue Guan turned without a backward glance and fled in the direction of Spirit City.
Though deeply reluctant, Si Long and Ci Xue had no choice but to follow and retreat from the battlefield.
After the four had departed, Dai Tianxing breathed a sigh of relief. He deactivated the Martial Soul Fusion Technique and walked over to Dai Weisi. "Dai Weisi, are you alright?"
Dai Weisi shook his head. "I'm fine, Grandpa."
"Good, that's all that matters. But with Chrysanthemum Douluo and the others failing their mission, things will only become more dangerous for them when they return to Spirit City."
Dai Tianxing sighed heavily. "Perhaps we should turn back. Spirit City… it's too dangerous!"
(End of Chapter)