Steal her away? Steal what? If Gu Yue ever finds out about the experiment we did, she'll call Di Tian and the others down in minutes and scatter our ashes to the winds.
Nan Fusheng snapped irritably.
"Besides, wasn't Gu Yue here in the first place because of her wager with Na'er? With Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline attracting her, who could possibly steal her away? Haven't you noticed? Aside from Tang Wulin, she treats everyone else with the same distant indifference. And more importantly, I'm not interested in saving soul beasts or rebelling against humanity. At most, I just covet her body." Nan Fusheng curled his lips in disdain.
To him, soul beasts weren't particularly valuable. Parasitizing a ten-thousand-year soul spirit actually provided fewer anchor points than an ordinary adult human—utterly absurd.
But he quickly reasoned it out. The saying "Man is the measure of all things" wasn't just for show. Soul beasts might be fighting for their species' revival, but Nan Fusheng had no interest in that struggle.
Boom—Boom—Boom!
Nine deafening explosions shook the sky as Nan Fusheng and Gu Gu Buwai turned their gazes toward the arena. Wu Zhangkong was dueling against the two fighters from Hailu Academy.
A freezing chill instantly swept across the arena, forcing shivers from every spectator. Brilliant colors rose into the sky as elemental energies surged wildly, saturating the entire stadium with overwhelming fluctuations.
At the same time, shrill alarms rang throughout the Tianhai Coliseum. The Tianhai Alliance Tournament had been held countless times, and never before had anyone dared cause such chaos in the middle of it—doing so was tantamount to declaring war against the entire Alliance.
In the skies above the arena, three Soul Emperors clashed. With each soul power collision, dazzling light burst forth. Yet Wu Zhangkong still stood proudly in midair, his white robes fluttering untouched, as if untainted by mortal dust.
Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng had both been forced back over ten meters, their faces dark with strain. Long Huantian fared slightly better—his face only pale—while blood was already trickling from the corner of Zhang Zhenpeng's mouth.
Furious, Long Huantian bellowed,
"Who are you, to dare disrupt the Tianhai Alliance Tournament!"
Wu Zhangkong simply looked at him coldly, saying nothing. The sword-light of the Heavenfrost Sword flickered in his grip, his aura still surging ever higher. All six of his soul rings shone with blinding radiance.
Even though both sides bore six rings, even though it was two against one, Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng felt their bodies tightening under his oppressive might, their soul power circulation sluggish.
Fortunately, Wu Zhangkong made no move to press the attack. Instead, he drifted above Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, glancing down at his two disciples with a faint frown.
The golden cocoon below radiated intense life energy. Though its interior was obscured, Wu Zhangkong could sense clearly two distinct life fluctuations within. At least that proved—they were both alive.
Suddenly, piercing roars echoed from above. Colossal figures descended into the Tianhai Coliseum.
A fleet of mechas, each over ten meters tall, dropped from the skies—more than forty in total.
At their head stood a massive violet mecha radiating a forceful aura. Behind it followed three more violet mechas, then ten yellow mechas, and finally twenty-six white mechas.
Though similar in size, the power radiating from them varied drastically. The combined energy of all the rear mechas didn't match the force of the four violet ones leading the charge.
Like soul rings or soul spirits, mechas were also divided by color:
White-class Mechas – Basic models, used for teaching and policing. Short-term combat ability, no soul power integration, purely manual operation. Even ordinary people could pilot them.
Yellow-class Mechas – Standard military mechas. Stronger, dual energy drive (soul power + conventional energy), able to perform basic coordination with soul spirits. Still manually operated.
Violet-class Mechas – High-level, custom-designed mechas, tailored to their pilot's martial soul. Strong compatibility, capable of perfect cooperation with soul spirits. Purely manual operation, but vastly superior in combat.
In a flash, the white mechas raised their three-meter-long soul cannons, encircling Wu Zhangkong, while the violet mechas hovered at the front.
Each violet mecha carried at least the battle power of a Soul Emperor, with ample energy reserves to suppress even a Soul Sage. Now, with four of them surrounding him, the pressure was immense.
"What's going on?" Nan Fusheng asked Gu Gu Buwai, startled.
"It must be because I attacked the Water Dragon Team earlier. The high command of the Tianhai Alliance must've reinforced their tournament security."
Nan Fusheng shook his head.
"No, that's not what I'm asking. Why only four violet mechas? With Evil Soul Masters powerful enough to rival Title Douluo on the loose, they didn't deploy even a single black-class mecha? Is the Tianhai City defense force really this weak?"
Black-class Mechas—Super mechas. Built with rare materials, uniquely designed, soul spirits fused into them, becoming an extension of their pilot's body. Each one could only have a single master. Without that master, a black-class mecha was useless to anyone else.
To pilot one required at least Soul Emperor cultivation and Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power, enabling full synchronization and advanced combat maneuvers.
With sufficient strength, a mecha master partnered with a black-class mecha could fight on par with an eight-ring Soul Douluo, and even contend against a Title Douluo.
Gu Gu Buwai sighed:
"Black-class mechas aren't common. In Tianhai City, the most the defense corps could muster was violet-class. Black-class mechas are practically family heirlooms, given their astronomical cost and the fact that they must be tailor-made for each pilot.
The four violet mechas here were already pulled from across Tianhai City on emergency mobilization."
Nan Fusheng nodded. "True enough. But if it's only four violet mechas… they won't be able to stop Wu Zhangkong."
Sure enough, Wu Zhangkong slowly raised his head, eyes cold, the Heavenfrost Sword gleaming in his hand.
From his lips fell two chilling words:
Tian—Bing. (Heavenly Ice)