If Spirit Hall succeeded in carrying out this completely illicit "Soul Hunting Operation," then there would be no issue. They would only need to claim the matter had nothing to do with them and publicly condemn the supposed mastermind.
However, if the Soul Hunting Operation failed, things would become extremely awkward.
No matter what, Spirit Hall could not admit that the attacks on the two great Clans were their doing. Therefore, even if the attacking force they dispatched was completely wiped out, they could only swallow their bitterness. They would even have to publicly congratulate the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan for thwarting the mastermind.
Under these circumstances, Spirit Hall naturally would not acknowledge the identities of the thousand-plus Spirit Masters who had surrendered. In other words, these thousand-plus surrenderers were doomed to be abandoned.
After a brief discussion, the high-ranking members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan understood the predicament of these surrendered Spirit Masters and quickly made arrangements for them.
First, the members of the Four Lower Clans and Spirit Hall's loyal direct lineage were executed immediately. People of this background were destined enemies and could not be kept, even if they had surrendered.
As for the remaining Spirit Masters, one Elder suggested absorbing them to replenish the strength lost during the Soul Hunting Operation. However, because their loyalty was difficult to determine, the final decision was to completely destroy their Spirits.
After dealing with the surrendered personnel from Spirit Hall, the high-ranking members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan moved on to other matters. After the Soul Hunting Operation ended, there was truly a mountain of work waiting for them.
In this way, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan successfully survived the Soul Hunting Operation.
So, what was the situation like for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, which ranked above the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan among the Upper Three Clans?
Several hours earlier.
Unlike the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, which had not arranged sentries outside its territory, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had deployed a large number of personnel outside its Clan grounds. They treated the matter with extreme seriousness, ensuring that no disturbance could escape their eyes.
Sure enough, Spirit Hall's forces, which had come to attack the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, were discovered immediately.
After all, Spirit Hall had dispatched far too many people. They had also mobilized ten thousand people to attack the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
When there were too many people, accidents were bound to happen. Not to mention, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan was already in a state of high alert, so Spirit Hall's exposure was inevitable.
After discovering Spirit Hall's attack, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan quickly sent out a signal, continuously recalling their personnel while fighting and retreating as they waited for support.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan was a massive organization, originally possessing more than five thousand Spirit Masters. However, after Yu Tianlin's warning, they had carried out an internal investigation and rooted out quite a few moles and people colluding with Spirit Hall.
This inevitably reduced the number of Spirit Masters in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. They now had only around four thousand five hundred people, though this was still slightly more than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Moreover, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had more Support-type Spirit Masters than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, making them more suited for large-scale battles of this nature. Because of this, their resistance was relatively easier, and they successfully retreated into the Clan fortress without suffering major losses, holding their ground there.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan was immensely wealthy, and they had managed their fortress extremely well. Its defenses were astonishingly strong, and Spirit Hall's black-clad army was temporarily unable to break through.
Faced with this situation, the Titled Douluo Elders who had accompanied Spirit Hall's forces prepared to take action.
If Titled Douluo personally launched the attack, there was a high chance that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's fortress would be breached.
Naturally, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan would not stand by and watch Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo attack their fortress. Therefore, Clan Master Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo Chen Xin, and Bone Douluo Gu Rong stepped forward, intending to restrain Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo.
This time, Spirit Hall had sent a total of four Titled Douluo to attack the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. In fact, the original plan had also been to send four Titled Douluo to attack the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but because Ghost Douluo had insisted on going, he had been added to that team.
Among the four Titled Douluo sent by Spirit Hall to attack the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, aside from three ordinary Elders, there was also an Enshrined Elder, the Sixth Enshrined, Thousand Jun Douluo.
Thousand Jun Douluo and Demon Subduing Douluo were biological brothers. Their Martial Souls were both Coiling Dragon Rods, and their cultivation levels were both rank ninety-six. This time, the two had been dispatched separately to oversee the attacks on the two great Clans and prevent accidents.
If the Soul Hunting Operation had not been so crucial to Spirit Hall, and if failure had not been unacceptable, it would not have been easy for Bibi Dong to enlist the help of the two brothers.
At this moment, the four Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall were facing Chen Xin and Gu Rong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. With Ning Fengzhi providing amplification from behind, Chen Xin and Gu Rong's strength increased greatly, allowing them to fight two opponents each.
The high-level battle was locked in a fierce stalemate.
As for the middle and lower level battlefield, since no Titled Douluo had intervened and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's fortress was indeed sturdy, Spirit Hall's army simply could not break through.
"Why haven't the insiders acted yet?"
Watching their offensive continuously falter, Platinum Bishop Salas's expression turned grim.
"How long are they planning to wait?"
Spirit Hall had three great Platinum Bishops, stationed respectively in the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, the capital of the Star Luo Empire, and Spirit City. Salas was the Platinum Bishop stationed in the Heaven Dou Empire's capital.
Since the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan was near Heaven Dou City, Salas naturally participated in this Soul Hunting Operation against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. Because Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo had to deal with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's Titled Douluo and could not command the army, command authority over Spirit Hall's army fell to Salas, who held the highest status apart from the Titled Douluo.
Bearing such a heavy responsibility, Salas was naturally very dissatisfied that they had been slow to achieve results.
"If these insiders delay opening the gate any longer, they will have failed their mission!"
Salas thought this to himself.
Just as Salas was thinking this, the gate of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's fortress suddenly opened.
"It finally opened. Not bad."
This thought flashed through Salas's mind, and he immediately shouted, "The gate is open! Everyone, charge!"
Seeing this scene, Spirit Hall's morale instantly soared. A massive black swarm surged forward like a tide toward the gate of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's fortress.
Just as seven or eight hundred people from Spirit Hall successfully rushed into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's fortress, seemingly on the verge of breaching it, an extremely heavy steel plate suddenly dropped from the fortress entrance.
Because it happened too suddenly, not many people reacted in time. Several unlucky Spirit Hall members were even crushed to death by the steel plate.
With the steel plate falling, the inside and outside of the fortress were separated once more.
The soaring Aura of Spirit Hall's army outside instantly stalled.
Had they fallen into a trap?
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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