Chapter 67: Jianmu

Jing Hongchen also roared, "Leave none behind." As he spoke, a burst of intense red light erupted from his body. Behind him, a mass of metallic radiance resembling a red lotus spun and coalesced rapidly. In an instant, over a thousand finger‑thin red metal tubes were aimed into the sky.

A crimson helmet appeared on Jing Hongchen's head, and a metal visor simultaneously covered his face. Countless red beams in the next instant rained down on the Body Sect's head in the sky.

The Mingde Hall elites who arrived with Jing Hongchen each deployed their soul guide devices, launching fierce snipes at the Body Sect's strongmen. Both sides clashed violently. For a moment, soul power surged throughout the underground base, repeatedly erupting in violent rumbling.

Mingde Hall underground base.

The intense rumble and the earth's tremor forced both sides to halt, each turning pale. If this place collapses, none of them could survive.

"Du Busi, why?" Jing Hongchen gritted his teeth and asked. Suddenly, as if realizing something, he shivered, roared, "Bastard. How dare you…" He then turned to sprint toward the interior of Mingde Hall, because he suddenly recalled the source of the earlier violent rumble.

But with the plan already more than half complete, why would the Body Sect let him intervene now? A terrifying green storm suddenly descended from the sky. Du Busi, spending his own primordial soul power, transformed into void, and countless dreadful silhouettes rushed toward the Mingde Hall elites.

That dazzling momentum was clearly meant to put Jing Hongchen to death, while ignoring attacks on the other powerful soul guide masters.

Forced to, Jing Hongchen could only turn and fight. He relied solely on a formidable ninth‑level soul guide device; in terms of power, he was far behind Du Busi. This extreme Douluo might be the continent's only one. At a peak of 99th level, if not for fearing the overturn of the entire underground world, the Mingde Hall elites here would have lost at least another third.

The battle was instantly reignited; amid the frenzied clash of both sides' elites, casualties did not rise significantly. After all, while they could not attack with full force, they could defend fully! Du Busi's goal was to stall the Mingde Hall elites, creating an opening for his own.

"Swoosh." Chen Qiye flashed out from the tunnel's end, appearing inside a passage.

The soul guide lights along both sides of the passage flickered continuously, indicating structural instability.

This must be inside Mingde Hall, right? But why is the Body Sect attacking Mingde Hall??

While pondering, he walked slowly, his spiritual detection fully activated, scanning ahead.

After moving a short distance, he suddenly felt a stir, darted into a left‑hand passage; a pitch‑black metal door opened silently, revealing a spacious interior—a laboratory.

At this moment, the laboratory was empty. Judging from the lingering aura, many of the Mingde Hall elites who rushed outside earlier must have exited through here.

Since he was already inside, Chen Qiye naturally wanted to look around. He stepped into the spacious laboratory.

The laboratory was huge; the circular chamber spanned over a hundred meters in diameter, with a height of thirty meters. When Huo Yuhao stepped inside, his gaze was immediately drawn to the massive object before him.

It was a gigantic humanoid metal construct, fifteen meters tall, its massive body entirely cast in metal. Though somewhat crude, the overall structure was complete; its chest was open, seemingly housing a seat or something inside.

After scanning, Chen Qiye discovered that this massive metal humanoid bore thousands of core formation arrays, many of which were of a precision he had never heard of. Even more terrifying, the giant metal body seemed to contain an extremely dreadful energy—the energy of the metal itself.

Chen Qiye instantly realized this must be the prototype of the Dou‑San Mech.

Chen Qiye's Number Two, without a word, "took" the mech away.

On the other side, Chen Qiye discovered something that shocked him—a Jianmu, and it possessed a massive life energy. Though brief, for Douluo Continent this is likely beyond even a divine rank.

Mingde Hall.

Standing within the underground base, Jing Hongchen nearly bit off a steel tooth; everything before his eyes was nothing short of shocking.

The entire underground base resembled freshly turned soil before sowing, a complete mess everywhere. Less than one‑third of the expensive experimental tables remained intact; the majority were shattered beyond recognition. Rare metals lay scattered throughout, and the base was now riddled with countless holes.

What depressed Jing Hongchen most was that, due to the tremors from the earlier high‑intensity battle, the terrain of the underground base had become unstable, and collapse was a real possibility. He was now directing people to reinforce the base, stabilizing it first.

Since its founding, Mingde Hall had never endured such a heavy blow. Aside from personnel casualties, the loss of hardware was astronomical. Mingde Hall wasn't his personal property—it was the Sun‑Moon Empire's soul guide device research base, also tasked with producing high‑end soul guide devices. Even with his standing in the Sun‑Moon Empire, such a massive incident made him wholly responsible; the royal court would place enormous pressure on him.

"Body Sect, Body Sect!" Jing Hongchen's eyes blazed. The previous pursuit yielded no result; midway, the head of the Body Sect, Du Busi, collapsed the tunnel. The Body Sect's members vanished into the void.

Jing Hongchen immediately mobilized troops and imposed city‑wide martial law. Yet he knew deep down it was of little practical use; the Body Sect's strongmen were beyond any army's capacity to stop. "Hall Master," Lin Jiayi's voice trembled as he approached Jing Hongchen, head lowered, unwilling to meet his gaze.

"What's the situation?" Jing Hongchen tried to calm himself as much as possible.

Lin Jiayi, still bowing, said, "The warehouse is fine; nothing was lost, all the stored high‑level soul guide devices are present."

Hearing that, Jing Hongchen let out a long sigh, finally receiving good news. It seemed the Body Sect's objective was that 100,000‑year soul beast embryo. They dared to marshal the entire sect for a raid; this grudge must be avenged.

"But…" The two words Lin Jiayi uttered tightened Jing Hongchen's heart again. He snapped his head around, looking at his capable subordinate: "But what? Don't beat around the bush, speak clearly."

Lin Jiayi gritted his teeth, his voice trembling, "But Experiment Subject No. 1 has disappeared…" "What?" Jing Hongchen felt his vision blacken, his body sway nearly causing a fall; Lin Jiayi hurried forward to steady him.

Jing Hongchen felt as if the heavens were collapsing, his chest constricted, grief overwhelming as if death were imminent.

"Y‑you say it again." This time, even his voice trembled.

Lin Jiayi, voice shaking, said, "Experiment Subject No. 1 has disappeared, Hall Master."

Jing Hongchen let out a "Wha—" and spewed a mouthful of fresh blood, collapsing into Lin Jiayi's arms.

What does Experiment Subject No. 1 signify? It represents Mingde Hall's pinnacle achievement in soul guide device research; though still a prototype, it equals the crystallized results of the Sun‑Moon Empire's millennia‑long soul guide device research!

Jing Hongchen's pallor deepened as he looked at Lin Jiayi; fear filled his eyes. If the Mingde Hall raid and its heavy losses could be mitigated by his prestige in the Sun‑Moon Empire, the theft of Experiment Subject No. 1 was something he could never bear. This now threatened the very safety of the nation.

He drew a deep breath, forcing his surging blood to subside, and whispered, "Who else knows about this?"

Lin Jiayi quickly shook his head, saying, "I personally inspected Laboratory 1. Upon discovering Experiment Subject No. 1 missing, I immediately sealed Laboratory 1's main door, changed the access code, and reported to you."

Jing Hongchen, barely calming himself, said, "Well done. This must not be known to anyone."

"Understood," Lin Jiayi replied promptly.

Jing Hongchen's complexion flashed red then white; his hatred for the Body Sect boiled. His only hope now was that Experiment Subject No. 1's technological content was so advanced it couldn't be used casually. Moreover, if the body were dismantled, a self‑destruct device would trigger instantly. This was designed to prevent theft, and in hindsight the original choice was sound.

Even so, the loss of numerous precious metals remained astronomical. Fortunately, Mingde Hall enjoyed great autonomy; as long as the matter stayed concealed, there was still hope of recovery.

He forced himself upright; Jing Hongchen's previously volatile emotions calmed in the face of the crisis.

"Jiayi, convey my orders: everyone present today must keep silent; anyone who dares spread today's events will be executed without mercy."

"Send agents to all major auction houses, including those in our nation, monitor every high‑end auction; if Experiment Subject No. 1 appears, acquire it at any cost and retrieve it."

"In Mingde Hall's name, issue kill‑orders to all mercenary and assassin guilds. Place a high bounty on the heads of every Body Sect member."

He paused slightly, then said, "Except for injured Mingde Hall disciples, all healthy Mingde Hall members enter emergency mobilization, sparing no expense to swiftly repair the underground base. Tell the elders to rebuild Mingde Hall's defenses; this time there must be no blind spots, understood?"

"Understood," Lin Jiayi replied promptly. Seeing Jing Hongchen regain composure, his own mind settled.

Jing Hongchen seemed to recall something, asking urgently, "How are the exchange students from Shrek Academy, especially the one named Huo Yuhao? Did any of them suffer casualties in this battle?"

Lin Jiayi, also meticulous, had long anticipated Jing Hongchen's question and had already investigated.

"At Shrek Academy, Fan Yu and He Caitou went out for soul guide device testing, so they were not in the base. The other students were also around the outer experimental zone; the initial explosion didn't affect them. They were very cunning, retreating at top speed to a safe area, and did not take part in the earlier fight. A few were injured, but none seriously. Huo Yuhao was among the injured. Our medical soul guide master examined him; he is in a coma but his body wasn't severely damaged, likely just stunned, and will recover after some rest."

"As for Chen Qiye, he hasn't been found yet."

Jing Hongchen exhaled, "What, issue orders to take good care of them; no problems may arise."

"As for Chen Qiye, expedite the manpower; find Chen Qiye alive or dead."

……

Lin Jiayi hesitated for a moment, then said: "Hall Master, do you think this could be collusion between Shrek Academy and the Body Sect? How could the Body Sect possibly determine the location of our underground base so accurately, especially where Experimental Subject One and the hundred-thousand-year soul beast embryo are located? Moreover, they could forcibly break through the defenses around that hundred-thousand-year soul beast embryo. There must be a mole!"

Jing Hongchen glared at him fiercely and said: "Idiot. I already know there's a mole. But it definitely wasn't Shrek Academy that did it. What's in your head? Do you think Shrek Academy people would know where our hundred-thousand-year soul beast embryo is? They couldn't even get into the true core area of the Hall of Bright Virtue. Moreover, Huo Yuhao is still a hostage with me; Shrek Academy isn't that stupid. Maybe they'd cheer upon hearing this, but it certainly wasn't them. Do you think they're on such good terms with the Body Sect?"

"Alright, hurry up and do as I instructed, minimizing the negative impact of this incident as much as possible. I need to go to the palace immediately. It seems I really have to pay a visit to the Crown Prince. Truly, it's heaven's will!" Saying this, Jing Hongchen forced himself to stay energetic and strode away.

Even though the Hall of Bright Virtue is trying its best to suppress the news, how could something this big be kept secret? Within a few days, the news of the Hall of Bright Virtue suffering a surprise attack and heavy losses had spread across the continent. Although the Sun Moon Empire officials didn't say who did it, the fact that the Hall of Bright Virtue immediately issued a death order against the Body Sect shows their target.

Immediately, the continent trembled. All three kingdoms originally belonging to the Battle Spirit Continent couldn't help but cheer. Although they didn't know the extent of the Hall of Bright Virtue's losses, to them this was absolutely a good thing! Upon hearing this, the Sun Moon Emperor, whose health was already poor, flew into a rage and his condition worsened. The Hall of Bright Virtue's Hall Master, Jing Hongchen, received a severe punishment, his dukedom stripped. If it weren't for Crown Prince Xu Tianran speaking up for him, the penalty would have been even harsher.

As soon as the news of the Hall of Bright Virtue's attack broke, the price of high-level soul tools on the continent plummeted, while rare metal prices surged. For a time, the matter was broadcast far and wide.

(End of Chapter)