Chapter 175: Interception (Seeking Subscriptions, Seeking Monthly Votes!)

Although the Tian Dou Empire also has some large bandit groups, their information is also very well-informed; even a troop like this could be attacked, what are they relying on?

Moreover, looking at the falling rocks on the mountain, it is obvious that this was prepared in advance, not done unintentionally.

And precisely because these falling rocks seemed to have been prepared in advance, the Royal Knight Corps gradually began to be unable to withstand them, and some especially huge stones have already smashed into the midst of the troop.

And at this time, it demonstrates the strength of the Soul Masters.

The elites from the various high-level Soul Master academies of the Tian Dou Empire showed no panic at all; each released their own martial soul, placing the support-type Soul Masters inside, while the assault-type and defense-type took the front.

When stones flew in, the Soul Masters would immediately shatter them; even such dense and prepared falling rocks did not even affect the speed of the troop's advance and retreat.

Seeing that the stretch of road between the two hills was about to be passed, the rear Royal Knight Corps also began to cover the retreat.

Just then, a loud whistle sounded from somewhere unknown, and suddenly thousands of black-clothed people appeared on the mountain ridges on both sides, moving in perfect order and charging down at astonishing speed.

At this moment, while the Royal Knight Corps was still in the process of retreating, the Soul Masters from the fifteen academies could only rely on their own strength to protect themselves.

Various brilliant lights began to appear on the Soul Masters' bodies, martial souls released, soul rings shining; they had already prepared for battle.

Although there was basically no coordination between the academies, each academy had formed a small group, and the appearance of the enemy instead aroused their fervor.

They did not retreat but advanced, needing no organization, and they swiftly charged toward the enemy.

However, an unexpected situation occurred for these young Soul Masters; when they thought they could easily crush the opponent, they were instead dealt a heavy blow.

After all, in their eyes these people were basically just ordinary humans; although they had the advantage in numbers, in absolute strength the Soul Masters clearly held the edge.

The teachers and students of the fifteen academies together numbered over two hundred, while the "bandits" coming down from the mountain amounted to about fifteen hundred.

At the instant the two sides made contact, these bandits surprisingly displayed astonishing coordination, basically three or four people surrounding each Soul Master, with simple yet powerful attacks that instantly caught the Soul Masters off guard.

After all, the combat experience of these academy Soul Master students is built mainly on fighting with few numbers; a large-scale battle like this was still their first.

Brilliant soul skills began to appear, but those black-clothed people were extremely cunning; relying on their decent speed and coordination, even ordinary first- and second-level soul skills could hardly affect them.

Moreover, among these black-clothed people there actually existed Soul Masters, at least over fifty Soul Masters of rank fifty or above leading the groups.

Whenever a powerful soul skill appeared, they would immediately step up to counter it, with an average of two Soul Masters assigned to each academy; thus the bandits' wolf-pack tactics played a considerable role, and the situation fell into a complete stalemate.

The appearance of so many powerful Soul Masters among the bandits made the academies' teachers more certain of their speculation: this was an organized attack.

After all, fifty Soul Masters of rank fifty or above, plus several Soul Saints leading them, is not a strength that just any faction could possess.

In this world, how many Soul Masters are there? The total is no more than a hundred thousand, and those above rank fifty certainly do not exceed five thousand.

Five thousand sounds like a lot, but if distributed across the entire continent it would be pitifully few.

For a bandit group to launch such an organized attack while also possessing so many high-level Soul Masters is almost unimaginable.

Fifteen hundred people besieging the fifteen academies meant each academy faced roughly a hundred enemies, and each had at least two Soul Kings leading them.

Those few Soul Saint powerhouses surveyed the whole battlefield, going wherever a Soul Saint-level Soul Master appeared, showing extremely strong organization.

As soon as the battle began, everyone noticed a problem: the quality of those black-clothed people was obviously far superior to that of ordinary people.

At this time, the Tian Dou Royal Academy, Seven Treasure School, and Heaven Water Academy had gathered together; Gu Xuan stood behind, protecting the three girls without moving, because he already knew the origin of this so-called "bandit" group.

Earlier Gu Xuan had been wondering whether the Spirit Hall would actually make a move, but now it seems his speculation was unnecessary; after all, in this lifetime Tang San has revealed strength even greater than in the original work, giving the Spirit Hall no reason not to act.

After all, Tang Hao had caused the Spirit Hall so much trouble; now knowing that Tang San is Tang Hao's son, there is naturally no reason not to act.

Of course, Gu Xuan also did not let his guard down; what if the Spirit Hall's target was not only Tang San? What if it affected them as well?

However, in order not to draw the attention of the hidden Titled Douluo who were still scouting, Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan did not act, for once they did they would expose themselves.

The opposing side had originally come to assassinate geniuses; if they saw Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan, two geniuses with ten-thousand-year fourth soul rings, and became interested, that would be no fun.

Therefore, to avoid drawing fire upon themselves, Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan simply refrained from acting.

After all, Yang Po Jun, Ma Bao, Zuo Yan, Shui Bing'er, and Li Li had no problem dealing with the sneak attacks of those little Karami.

Furthermore, the Seven Treasure School indeed had a Soul Douluo holding the fort, but under Gu Xuan's indication this Soul Douluo did not act, instead silently guarding beside Gu Xuan and Ning Rongrong.

In contrast to Gu Xuan's concealment, Tang Shrek Academy's Tang San was already killing frenziedly.

Blue Silver Grass spread out across the ground and rushed swiftly toward the enemy; any opponent who approached would immediately be entangled by the Blue Silver Grass.

For the first time facing so many opponents, Tang San felt a surge of hot-blooded excitement.

It allowed his already astonishing strength to be fully displayed; his entangling skill targeted only the opponents' legs, and at the same time he began to assume the command role for Shrek Academy's side.

Moreover, Gu Xuan also noticed one thing: the enemies facing Shrek Academy were more numerous than those facing the other academies……

"Draw the string." A low, deep shout rang out; after using Blue Silver Grass to hinder the enemy's movements, Tang San did not rush to attack, but instead directed his teammates to counterattack.

A dark little box appeared in the grasp of the Shrek Six Monsters; the six people, extremely taciturn, each aimed at a different direction, quickly completing the action of drawing the mechanism's string.

Once the mechanism was loaded, Tang San shouted loudly: "Release!"

In the clashing metallic explosion sound, six Zhuge Divine Crossbows spewed forth the aura of death; each person had sixteen bolts, over a hundred in total, spraying out and intertwining into a great net filled with the breath of death.

Shrieks rang out incessantly; before the formidable piercing power of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow, the black-clothed "bandits" displayed massive lethal range.

After all, the proportion of Soul Masters among these black-clothed people is not high; the Zhuge Divine Crossbow is a weapon capable of dealing with low-rank Soul Masters, and against ordinary people it is a dimensionality-reducing strike.

"Nobody move, prepare your defenses." Tang San gave a cold laugh; after saying that, his body had already shot forward.

At this moment the other academies were all under siege, no one paying attention to his side; only Tang San's arms moved in an illusory rhythm, countless crystalline lights flashing from his fingertips, and in that instant it seemed as if he had eight arms.

At this moment he was like a thousand-armed Asura born for hidden weapons, continuously bringing the breath of death to the enemies.

Once he determined the opponent to be an enemy, he would show no mercy.

This is a rule from the Tang Sect General Outline; how could Tang San forget it? No matter who these masked people are, they clearly did not come with good intentions.

Most of the hidden weapons Tang San used were various flying needles, because their small volume makes them harder for opponents to block and also easier to carry.

From the ordinary steel needle, to bone-piercing, armor-breaking, and hegemony needles, various sizes different yet all astonishingly powerful flying needles continuously streamed from his hand.

Purple-gold light sprayed from his eyes, everything around him within his six senses' grasp; almost every time he struck, someone would immediately fall.

In Tang San's Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlit Night, the countless hidden weapons prepared were being consumed at high speed.

The Shrek Six Monsters also saw for the first time Tang San unleashing his full power; although they were extremely familiar with Tang San, at this moment they could only see bright sparkling light continuously radiating from his body.

And within a thirty-meter radius of Tang San, enemies fell like wheat being cut down; whoever fell could never get up again.

In just a short while, not only were the low-level bandits on Shrek Academy's side cleared out, but even some of the surrounding black-clothed bandits were affected.

Tang San's hidden weapons are truly terrifying—penetrating any defense, silent and unseen; by the time opponents react, they are often already struck by poison needles.

At this moment, Tang San is the handsomest guy here; Gu Xuan sees this and can't help but laugh, originally he was afraid that taking action would expose himself.

Now… with Tang San, this little expert who draws soul power, the Spirit Hall folks can't help but target him.

Tang San, using hidden weapons, becomes exceptionally confident now; for him, the soul skills of the Blue Silver Grass have completely become auxiliary, so those black-clad bandits simply cannot get close.

He doesn't even need to use the Heavenly Hammer, because the strongest among this group are only Soul Elders; any experts above Soul King level have been restrained by Fúlándé and his group.

Watching Tang San unleash his might, suddenly three figures lunged at him simultaneously; the moment they appeared, Tang San instantly felt that his previous smooth, flowing feeling vanished.

Although these three didn't release their martial souls while lunging, the pressure they exerted on Tang San was considerable.

Just as they closed to within ten meters of Tang San, the three black-clad figures released their martial souls and soul rings, confirming Tang San's guess by the number of their soul rings.

Two yellow, two purple, four black; two yellow, three purple, two black; three yellow, two purple, two black—these are the soul ring configurations of the three black-clad figures.

One Soul Douluo, two Soul Saints!

Fúlándé and Liu Erlong also felt a jolt in their hearts.

Their opponents were two Soul Masters over level fifty, extremely slippery in battle, both assault-type, and still not defeated; seeing the three strong appear, those two Soul Kings turned and fled without any hesitation.

The faces of everyone from Shrek Academy turned grim.

One Soul Douluo, two Soul Saints, two Soul Kings—such a combination's terror is all too clear to them.

If Grandmaster were here, he, Fúlándé, and Liu Erlong could perhaps resist by unleashing their Golden Iron Triangle's triple-body martial soul fusion technique, but given this power disparity, it's obviously impossible to withstand.

But at this point, who could retreat? Hoping for outside help is impossible; other Soul Master academies are pinned down, the Royal Knight Corps rushing to aid are also blocked by a group of black-clad bandits, and at least in the short term no one will come to help them.

Moreover, these neighboring institutes are rivals; even if they could spare a hand, they might not help.

Soul Douluo above level eighty are near the pinnacle of the Soul Master world; can such opponents really be resisted by them? But what if they can't resist?

Fúlándé and Liu Erlong quickly came to support, blocking the two Soul Saints.

Fúlándé, though also a Soul Saint with soul power nearing seventy-nine, is a powerful existence among Soul Saints; his opponent is a Winged Tiger Soul Saint, and their battle unfolds directly in the air.

Liu Erlong's opponent is an Iron Armor Turtle Soul Saint.

One attacks, the other defends, the fight is deadlocked; Liu Erlong's attacks are fierce, but her opponent's defense is equally impregnable, both stuck in a stalemate.

These two masked Soul Saints seem aimed at Liu Erlong and Fúlándé; though their martial souls may not necessarily counter the two Soul Saints of Shrek Academy, delaying them is no problem.

At the Soul Saint level, both sides can use many soul skills; defeating an opponent of similar rank is certainly not easy.

The black-cloaked masked Soul Douluo's gaze fell directly on Tang San; the light in his eyes turned sinister instantly, he let out a long cry, soared up, and lunged at the remaining Shrek Academy members.

In his eyes, at this moment only Tang San exists.

Golden light burst from the black-cloaked masked Soul Douluo's body; his arms shook in the air, turning into a pair of golden wings, a larger golden shadow loomed behind him, his clothes replaced by golden feathers, revealing his martial soul's true form.

His martial soul is a golden great eagle.

As his wings formed, his arms detached from the wings and turned into two sharp eagle talons, while his body began to rapidly shrink and change, becoming ever more like the golden eagle phantom behind him.

The faces of the Shrek Six Monsters changed; the immense pressure in the air, though not enough to make them collapse, a Soul Douluo powerhouse attacking them—whose strongest are only Soul Ancestors—is undoubtedly a dimensional strike.

But run? Trying to flee from a flying Soul Master is hardly easy; even with Oscar's flying mushroom sausage assistance, it's utterly impossible.

Tang San's expression now carries a hint of sigh, because these people are clearly targeting him.

Is it because of talent? Or because of the Heavenly Hammer?

Tang San doesn't know, but he has no intention of waiting to die; since no one can save him now, only they themselves can save them.

ps: Correct the typos first, then revise.

(End of chapter)