It didn't take long before the Soul Hall members were fully armed and ready.
Soul tool weapons of all kinds were strapped to each person's body, along with a full set of defensive soul tools. Under the lead of Jiang Shengyu and his group, they made their way toward the Holy Spirit Cult's branch.
Speed was of the essence. Once they stepped out of the Soul Hall gates, Jiang Shengyu ordered everyone to use their flying soul tools for travel.
After the standard modifications for general use, anyone with a flying license could fly over Mingdu, so long as they avoided the skies above the imperial palace and other restricted areas.
For safety's sake, the Holy Spirit Cult branch was not located in a bustling district, but rather on the outskirts of the Mingdu urban area.
On the surface, this place looked like an ordinary residential area. But according to Nana's testimony, the underground beneath this neighborhood had long since been excavated and converted into the cult's base.
Following the operational map drawn by Nana, the Soul Hall strike team quickly split up upon arrival, descending to their assigned positions. Once they had located all the entrances, they awaited Jiang Shengyu's next command.
High above, Elder Hong extended his right hand, fingers spread. Five crystal pillar–shaped soul tools floated in his palm. In an instant, the five crystal pillars turned into streaks of light, shooting toward five different points to form a pentagram formation.
This was his self-developed rank-nine soul tool, and the very first one he had ever created—the Star Radiance Celestial Mirror.
Each crystal pillar of the Star Radiance Celestial Mirror was itself a rank-nine soul tool. The stronger the user, the more pillars they could control simultaneously, and the larger the area they could encompass.
Right now, he could control only five crystal pillars at once to form the Star Radiance Celestial Mirror, which was enough to cover this entire residential district. If an Ultimate Douluo were to operate it, their immense soul power could support an area of effect covering nearly half of all Mingdu!
Once the Star Radiance Celestial Mirror was fully deployed, a vast canopy of starlight slowly appeared above the entire neighborhood.
Elder Hong glanced down and confirmed, "You're certain there are no civilians here?"
Jiang Shengyu nodded. "We've already investigated. This place might look like it's inhabited, but in reality, the true residents were either driven away or captured to have their souls extracted. No one remains."
Hearing this, Elder Hong nodded, raising his hand to control the Star Radiance Celestial Mirror.
Under his command, each "star" in the canopy flared with brilliance and fired a beam downward. In the blink of an eye, thousands of starbursts bombarded the district below, reducing it entirely to rubble.
Several evil soul masters still stationed on the ground were caught in panic. They had no way to react to such an overwhelming bombardment—many were already dead before they knew what was happening.
Seeing the few survivors trying to flee into the underground tunnels, Elder Hong simply pointed at them. Several concentrated light beams from the Star Radiance Celestial Mirror pierced their bodies, ending their lives.
"I'll hold position here and cover you. Go on," Elder Hong said, looking down to Jiang Shengyu.
Jiang Shengyu nodded and gave the order: "Move out!"
Huo Yuhao activated his Spiritual Detection Sharing, linking the full-map vision to Xiao Hongchen, Nana, and the others.
The Soul Hall strike team rushed in through the entrances, multicolored soul tool beams blasting open the way. Some even brought along mounted soul tool shells for suppressive fire, launching one shell after another deep into the passageways.
"Steady! Don't collapse the tunnels!" Jiang Shengyu called out helplessly.
With his reminder, the team eased up slightly, keeping enough structural space to advance further.
The cultists inside were caught completely off guard. Coupled with Jiang Shengyu's team's "nuclear diplomacy" approach to opening the way, the enemy suffered heavy casualties before they even had a chance to engage in close combat.
Under Huo Yuhao's full-map coverage, even those attempting to hide and ambush were instantly exposed. A single mounted soul tool shell was enough to send them to meet their evil soul master ancestors.
With the advantage of preparation against an unprepared enemy, the strike force swiftly wiped out large swaths of the defenders, leaving only a few Soul Emperor–level cultists stubbornly resisting.
The moment these cultists spotted Nana standing beside Jiang Shengyu and Xiao Hongchen, their eyes went bloodshot.
"Traitor! How dare you betray the Holy Cult! Don't you want to see your parents again?"
"It's because of my parents that I'm doing this! All of you deserve to die!" Nana shouted, glaring at them with clenched fists.
One of the two Soul Emperors was instantly wreathed in black flames, his body swelling as he transformed from human form into a massive skull engulfed in ghostly fire.
The other dissolved into black mist, rushing toward the group.
In Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, this mist-form enemy had lost all physical shape.
But in Jiang Shengyu's eyes, this was nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree.
Looking at the flaming skull, Jiang Shengyu let out a cold laugh. "Playing with fire? I can do that too."
He spread his hands, and black and milky-white flames surged forth, a massive wave of heat sweeping outward. The moment this Ultimate Fire–level blaze ignited, it drove away all the foul miasma in the area.
A shriek came from within the black mist, which immediately retreated and condensed back into the cultist's humanoid form. Staring in fear at the flames in Jiang Shengyu's hands, he stammered, "You… what kind of fire is that?!"
Jiang Shengyu didn't answer.
He simply moved his hands, letting the Vacuous Devouring Flame and the Pure Lotus Demon Flame intertwine and dance, forming a yin–yang fish of black and white. The two colors fused, birthing a dual-colored Fire Lotus.
Sensing the dreadful energy pulsing from the Fire Lotus, the cultist stumbled back a few steps and shouted to the flaming skull, "Together! Let's kill him!"
They still didn't know Elder Hong was outside, watching over everything. They thought that as long as they took down Jiang Shengyu, they could turn the tide.
The two evil soul masters joined forces, charging at Jiang Shengyu.
With a push of his hands, Jiang Shengyu sent the Fire Lotus forward. Behind him, his crescent moon emblem flared again, a flash of cold light flying into his grasp—the Twilight Sword—unleashing a burst of Ultimate Ice.
The moment the two cultists sensed the extreme chill radiating from Jiang Shengyu after drawing the Tanhua Sword, their faces twisted in shock.
Impossible!
Just now he was using a fire attribute—how can it suddenly become ice?
What in the world is his martial soul?!
In their moment of stunned disbelief, the Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus was already upon them.
The sheer aura of destruction emanating from it made their very souls tremble.
No—we can't take that head-on!
Without hesitation, they both dodged to either side.
Jiang Shengyu's expression turned solemn as he leapt forward, Twilight Sword in hand, murmuring, "Let this moonlight illuminate every river and stream."
"Yuhao—assist me!!"
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