What the battling Western Sea Legion soldiers didn’t expect was that, inside the southern section of the wall, another group of over twenty people was quietly approaching the central castle.
It was the team led by Yao Yang.
Although these soldiers only had soul power in the fifties, relying on the cover of the stone houses, the darkness, and Yao Yang’s concealment from his Fifth Soul Skill, they easily approached the castle completely undetected.
This was the terrifying aspect of mental-attribute soul masters.
Without specialized spiritual detection soul tools, even Soul Douluo-level powerhouses would find it hard to sense anything amiss.
Yao Yang observed the battle between Wang Xiao and Hai Xiao in the sky, then glanced at Qiu Ying, who was pinned down by four or five Imperial Dragon Soul Emperors.
Everything was going smoothly according to plan.
“It seems the majority of the Western Sea Legion’s elites are engaged in the fight right now.
The number of people left guarding the castle shouldn’t be high.
Once we breach the castle, follow the pre-arranged battle plan: wipe out the castle guards as quickly as possible.
After rescuing Zi Huang, we’ll use the high ground here for stationary soul cannon bombardment to annihilate the rest of the Western Sea Legion.”
Xu Zihuang’s identity was too sensitive.
They could not allow any news of this to leak out, even if it meant paying a heavy price.
“Yes!” the men assented.
Although Yao Yang wasn’t technically part of the Imperial Dragon Legion, his formidable strength had completely won them over.
Moreover, this was Wang Xiao’s direct order.
At the front entrance of the castle, a dozen or so Western Sea guards were highly alert, nervously monitoring the battlefield at the eastern port, fully geared up and ready to provide backup at any moment.
The squad captain swallowed hard as he looked at the massive casualties on their side.
He couldn’t imagine how a mere twenty Imperial Dragon soldiers could possess such terrifying combat power.
If the complete legion had arrived, it truly would have been their doomsday.
While his mind was racing, his body suddenly stiffened.
He sharply snapped his gaze toward the southeast side of the castle.
“Ene—”
But before he could finish his sentence, his eyes seemed to lose focus, and his knees went weak as he collapsed onto the ground.
More than twenty figures gradually revealed themselves near the flowerbed at the main entrance.
At the front, Yao Yang frowned slightly, the purple third soul ring glowing brightly around him.
He clearly couldn’t understand how this captain—whose soul power was only in the fifties and who couldn’t even project his spiritual power externally—managed to detect their presence.
What he didn’t know was that this captain merely had a special martial soul that made him highly sensitive to temperature changes in his surroundings.
No matter how strong Yao Yang’s spiritual power was, it couldn’t mask body heat.
Yao Yang subconsciously pondered this for a second but didn’t dwell on it.
He gestured slightly to the men behind him, and they led the charge straight into the castle’s first-floor hall.
Lit by soul tools, the spacious hall looked resplendent and magnificent, but the team obviously had no time to admire the decor.
Sweeping the hall and confirming their direction, they charged straight up the stairs.
The dense sound of footsteps echoed endlessly.
The entire castle was instantly thrown into chaos.
The situation at the front entrance would be discovered very soon.
There was absolutely no need to hide their figures anymore.
Their primary objective now was to rescue Xu Zihuang in the shortest amount of time possible.
Before they even reached the second floor, a flurry of approaching footsteps and crisp armor clanking sounds echoed from the corridor.
“You take them to the other floors.
Leave this to us!” A white-haired old man, who was only half a step behind Yao Yang, flashed a sharp glint in his cloudy eyes.
He and five other men overtook the main group.
Two yellow, two purple, and one black—five soul rings suddenly appeared under the old man’s feet as his body radiated an emerald green soul power light.
The black fifth soul ring lit up the moment he spoke.
Countless verdant bamboo swords erupted from the floor at the stairway entrance, piercing deep into the granite ceiling and creating irregular cracks all over the surrounding walls.
Several Western Sea soldiers who had just rushed over were impaled on the spot, blood and shattered organs spewing everywhere.
“Enemy attack!” The remaining seven or eight Western Sea soldiers who luckily survived had their pupils shrink in terror.
They hastily released their martial souls and various soul tools.
Yao Yang nodded silently, bypassed the old man, and led the rest of the group continuing up the stairs to the third floor.
Similar scenes played out on the third and fourth floors.
The limited guards left inside the castle simply couldn’t stop them.
While eliminating the Western Sea soldiers, the team thoroughly searched every floor for Xu Zihuang.
“Elder Yu, the Western Sea guards on the second floor have been entirely eliminated.” A youth wearing the standard dark purple Imperial Dragon armor respectfully approached the panting white-haired old man.
The man he called Elder Yu was exactly the old man who had volunteered to intercept the majority of the guards on the second floor.
“I really have to admit I’m getting old.
If it were back when I was young, crushing these little brats wouldn’t have left me this exhausted.” Elder Yu blushed slightly.
He subtly placed his right hand over a scratch on his abdomen and glanced back from the corner of his eye.
“Almost lost my dignity in my old age.
I can’t let this hard-earned image be ruined like this.”
Seeing the youth still standing still behind him, Elder Yu snapped in exasperation, “What are you standing there for?!
Hurry up and look for the young master!”
He himself also quickly walked down the corridor to search carefully.
“Click—” The door at the end of the second-floor corridor suddenly opened.
The team’s nerves tensed instantly.
They quickly regrouped behind Elder Yu and aimed their soul tools toward the door.
To everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t a Western Sea soldier that stepped out, but ten beautiful young girls.
Seeing Elder Yu’s group looking ready to kill at a moment’s notice, the girls unconsciously clung to each other tighter.
Only the cold and glamorous blonde girl leading them, noticing the dark purple dragon armor on Elder Yu’s group, clenched her fists in hidden excitement.
“It really is the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion.”
“Ziyue—” A blue-haired girl with a proud figure nervously shook Yin Ziyue’s arm.
Although they were all nobles, they were spoiled since childhood.
Facing those dangerous-looking soul cannon barrels naturally instilled fear in them.
Yin Ziyue revealed a flawless smile, gently patting the blue-haired girl’s arm to comfort her.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine.”
However, as she said this, a nearly imperceptible coldness flashed deep in her eyes.
Immediately after, Yin Ziyue looked up at Elder Yu in the front and introduced herself gracefully.
“We have nothing to do with the Western Sea Legion.
We were just selected by His Highness the Prince today.
Could you allow us to meet with His Highness later?”
The crowd cast an inquiring look at Elder Yu.
Elder Yu hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked up to Yin Ziyue and smiled.
“I will pass on your message.
But for now, I ask that you ladies return to your room to rest.”
Although his expression was mild, his tone brokered no refusal.
“As we should.” Yin Ziyue gave Elder Yu a deep look, then led the others back into the room.
Someone couldn’t help but lower his voice and remind Elder Yu, “Elder Yu, the Commander ordered to leave no survivors.”
“Everything is subject to the young master’s decision.
Do I really need to teach you this?” Elder Yu replied indifferently, glancing at the ten girls sitting on the sofa inside the room, his eyes carrying a hint of warning.
“You two guard here.
The rest of you, come with me to continue searching for the young master.”
(END CHAPTER)