Du Busi stared at Lin Xiao in disbelief for a long time. He saw that Lin Xiao's breathing was steady, and he indeed did not appear to have expended much energy.
Lowering his head, he saw that the secondary awakening state on his body had already receded. Others might not understand what exactly had happened in that instantaneous collision just now, but as the one who had taken Lin Xiao's attack head-on, he understood it better than anyone.
That was the combined power of a soul master's strength and a soul tool. Du Busi could not recognize the humanoid soul tool on Lin Xiao's body, but the source of the power was crystal clear; it was not a soul skill, but an attack from a soul tool.
As someone from the Heavenly Soul Empire, which among the three great empires rejected soul tools the most, the battle where Heavenly Dou City was lost had allowed many to witness the might of soul tools. Yet Du Busi, as a rank 98 Super Douluo, naturally carried the pride of a soul master.
However, now, the other party had relied precisely on the soul tool that he somewhat looked down upon in his heart to defeat him fair and square.
This was also an advantage unique to soul tools that differed from martial souls.
For soul masters, even Mu En, who had consecutively defeated Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui back then, could not completely pass on his abilities to others due to the limitations of martial souls.
But in the Sun Moon Empire, after Kong Deming created a soul tool capable of gathering other people's strength into one body, others could imitate and utilize similar devices.
Although the combination of the Starry Sky and the River of the Underworld on Lin Xiao's body was far inferior to Kong Deming's tenth-level soul tool, and its power could not compare, both being ninth-level soul tools still gave him the strength to fight Du Busi head-on, and even faintly suppress the opponent.
The Snow Emperor's figure hovered beside Lin Xiao. Merely with a glance, she caused the other titled Douluo from the three great empires to momentarily not dare to approach.
The aura of a 700,000-year soul beast could not be faked. Though it was hard to believe, some people had already vaguely connected the Snow Emperor beside Lin Xiao with that Heavenly King of the Extreme North.
The surroundings were gradually turning cold. The moisture in the air condensed into tiny ice shards that fell, as if a light snow was descending.
On the ground, the endless undead army showed no fear of the cold. They formed a battle formation standing in the center of the battlefield. Behind the formation, gray mist permeated, within which several vague figures seemed to loom, blocking the way to Heavenly Dou City like a natural moat.
Among the three great empires, quite a few people had already developed thoughts of retreat.
Even Du Busi had fallen into a disadvantaged position. With such great power, could ordinary soul masters like them truly break through it?
Moreover, this was only one person taking action from the other side. If the Sun Moon Empire took the opportunity to dispatch troops now, the three great empires would have absolutely no means of resistance.
"We are inferior to the Sun Moon Empire. Pass down my order, withdraw the troops."
"Your Highness—"
Someone beside Xu Jiujiu stepped forward slightly, about to persuade again, but was interrupted by Xu Jiujiu speaking.
"Do we have to watch these soldiers completely lose their will to fight before you will admit our defeat?"
"First, withdraw and regroup. No matter how powerful the opponent is, there is only one person. Pass the order to the other fronts, hold the defensive lines firmly."
"Yes." The person beside Xu Jiujiu finally accepted the order and left.
Xu Jiujiu raised her head and looked toward the distant walls of Heavenly Dou City. Even without using a telescopic soul tool, she could guess what the people of the Sun Moon Empire looked like right now, because their cheers had already carried over from far away.
"Marshal…"
Although the people of the Sun Moon Empire were all shouting, the expressions on everyone's faces were different. Besides Juzi, whether they were people who had seen Lin Xiao before or those who had not yet met him, what they were thinking at this moment was not merely this easy victory, but also pondering the methods Lin Xiao had used.
Juzi clenched her fist slightly. In her mind, she could not help but recall the words Kong Deming had once said: under the overwhelming might of such experts, the victory or defeat on the battlefield no longer seemed so important.
"Marshal?"
Another call brought Juzi back to her senses as if she had just awakened from a daze. "Lord Calamity is our Sun Moon Empire's State Preceptor. Have everyone calm down, await orders from all fronts, and prepare to eliminate the remaining forces of the three great empires."
With that, she glanced at Lin Xiao once more, then turned and walked down from the city wall.
No matter what, with Lin Xiao's power, the battlefield that had been in a stalemate for nearly two years would likely come to an end soon.
Inside Heavenly Dou City, ordinary citizens were all hiding in their homes. Some of the bolder ones were quietly peeking outward through the windows.
Although they could not see the specific details of the titled Douluo battles in the sky, seeing that the Sun Moon Empire's army on the streets was not overly panicked, they could more or less guess the outcome of the battle.
For a moment, they themselves could not distinguish exactly what feeling was in their hearts.
Back when Heavenly Dou City was about to be breached by the Sun Moon Empire, many members of the imperial family, along with a group of ministers, had fled the city. Some people who had received advance notice had also long prepared to escape.
In the end, those left in the city were only the uninformed or ordinary people who had nowhere to go or could not escape.
While they were awaiting the Sun Moon Empire's disposition, after the Sun Moon Empire entered Heavenly Dou City, there was no destruction or slaughter at all. On the contrary, they brought countless soul tools.
Those were things ordinary people had never come into contact with before.
At first, the people who remained in Heavenly Dou City still disdained those soul tools. But over nearly two years, unconsciously, these soul tools had already become part of their lives.
The Sun Moon Empire had proven to them that soul tools were not something exclusive to soul masters or soul engineers, nor were they only tools for destroying in battle.
Some people whose lives had originally been difficult even obtained quite decent residences after part of the population fled Heavenly Dou City.
Nowadays in Heavenly Dou City, even at night, illuminating soul tools would light up. Many people, for the first time, went out at night and experienced a night scene unlike anything they had ever seen before…
When Juzi led the army passing through the streets, she did not conceal anything from the surrounding citizens. Some people boldly stepped forward to ask about the situation outside the city.
And the news that the three great empires' allied army had been repelled by the State Preceptor alone gradually spread to every household.
Vaguely, it seemed that something intangible had quietly changed, yet at the same time it seemed as though nothing had changed.
At night, Juzi stared at the sand table in front of her for a long time, until she was suddenly interrupted by a messenger soldier who entered from outside.
"Has the State Preceptor arrived?"
The messenger soldier immediately knelt. "Reporting to the Marshal, the State Preceptor is not in his room."
"Not there?"
Juzi looked outside upon hearing this. It was already deep into the night, and many illuminating soul tools had been set up around, even covering the moonlight in the sky.
"I understand. You may withdraw."
"Yes, Marshal."
Juzi frowned slightly, then suddenly sat to the side, seemingly losing any further interest in preparing battle plans.
On the other side, in the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest, Lin Xiao was lightly tapping the branch of a giant tree with his toes, raising his head to look at the sky.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are chapters available on Patreon."
"From Douluo to Godhood by Defy 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo: Far North Invincibledo 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo Peerless: Living as an Evil Soul Master 40 Advance chapters."
"Douluo Dalu 2:Peerless Tang Sect Dawn of Sun and Moon 40 Advance chapters."
[email protected]/facficmax10--------(@→a)