Douluo, my clone Groudon

Chapter 403 The Body Sect, which dug a tunnel for two and a half years

As Gula predicted, Jing Hongchen ultimately failed to leave behind even a single piece of his soul bone.

Despite his cursing, Xu Tianran was ruthless in confiscating the spoils of war, taking all the soul bones and damaged level-nine soul tools into his personal treasury. He needed to use these things to explain himself to the nobles and military who had pledged allegiance to him.

Jing Hongchen sighed inwardly. He had really lost out on this exchange activity; he was always cleaning up the mess that Gula had made.

Gula, however, didn't care at all.

He successfully received a full 50,000 jin of high-quality rare metals, which were piled up into a small mountain in the Senhai half-plane.

He had already planned how to use this windfall: First, after he advanced to the eighth level of Soul Master, he would use a small portion of the core materials to create a small number of even more powerful "Evil Buster No. 8".

The vast majority of the remaining armor will be forged day and night by the clones in the Senhai demiplane, with the goal of creating soul-guided armor that even the clones can wear and unleash formidable combat power—this can be considered the prototype of battle armor, specially prepared for the clone legion.

"Unfortunately, an avatar is not an incarnation and cannot share wisdom and inspiration. Cultivation insights can only be transmitted through the main body, so the efficiency is still a bit low."

Gula muttered to himself, pondering his next step, "The seed of the 'Flower of the Underworld,' the medium for the eighth incarnation, has been cultivated, but it lacks a sufficiently powerful energy source to accelerate its growth..."

"The reincarnated Snow Emperor under Mingde Hall is an excellent choice, but unfortunately, I am not confident in controlling the raging Extreme Ice, so I have to give up for the time being."

Gula shook his head. He could cultivate him slowly, even if it was a bit slow. He preferred quality over quantity. He couldn't wait for his avatar to be fully formed before slowly cultivating.

Time flies, and half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, Huo Yuhao went to Mingde Hall to study as usual.

As a child favored by destiny, through a series of coincidences and Jing Hongchen's carelessness, he actually gained the qualification to study in the core area of ​​Mingde Hall.

After six months of arduous training, his soul power remained at the fourth ring, but his talent in soul tools was extremely high, making him a qualified sixth-level soul master.

Just as he was about to enter Mingde Hall, a figure he hadn't seen in a long time approached him—Gu Tong.

"Senior Brother Gu? It's been a long time."

Huo Yuhao was somewhat surprised. In the past six months, he had been engrossed in learning about soul tools and had paid little attention to this Body Sect disciple who had hidden his identity.

Gu Tong nodded with a complicated expression: "It's alright. It's just... I really didn't expect that the Sun Moon Empire would develop soul tools to such a terrifying level."

His tone carried an undisguised sadness and bewilderment.

The Body Sect advocates developing one's own martial soul potential and regards soul guides as heretical and evil paths.

However, what he had seen and heard in the past six months severely impacted his understanding. A powerful soul tool that could easily kill a Soul Emperor or Soul Saint could be made by a skilled soul tool master in just a few days or even a few hours... This gap made him feel desperate.

Huo Yuhao understood his feelings and comforted him, "Senior Brother Gu, don't be discouraged. As long as we work hard to catch up, we will eventually reach their level."

Gu Tong shook her head, shaking off her negative emotions, and said seriously, "I have something important to discuss with you. Let's find another place to talk."

The two arrived at a secluded corner.

Gu Tong lowered her voice, her tone grave: "The sect is preparing to take action against Mingde Hall, in the next few days. You must not go near Mingde Hall recently, lest you get caught in the crossfire or be suspected afterward."

Huo Yuhao was taken aback: "Why would the Body Sect attack the Mingde Hall?" He hurriedly said, "But... but I'm already a student of the Mingde Hall. It would be more suspicious if I suddenly stopped going!"

"What?! You actually got into Mingde Hall?!" Gu Tong was dumbfounded. The longer he stayed in the Sun Moon Empire, the more he understood what Mingde Hall meant.

He paced anxiously for a moment, then said, "Then... then you'll have to be careful and protect yourself. This matter is a top secret of the sect. If you weren't considered half a disciple, they would never have told you. Remember, during your time in the Sun Moon Empire, never reveal your relationship with the Body Sect."

Huo Yuhao nodded heavily, knowing the seriousness of the situation.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but realized he was powerless to stop the Body Sect's actions.

In the end, he could only sigh, bid farewell to Gu Tong, and walk toward Mingde Hall with a heavy heart.

Three days later, inside Mingde Hall.

Huo Yuhao was focused on creating a complex level-six soul tool core array when a sudden, inexplicable palpitation made his hand tremble, almost causing him to make a mistake with his carving knife. He instinctively released his shared mental detection and scanned downwards—

"There are so many soul-guided bombs buried underground!" His expression changed drastically, and he was about to shout a warning—

Rumble, rumble—! ! !
A deafening explosion suddenly erupted from beneath our feet.

The entire floor of Mingde Hall collapsed instantly, and the violent shockwave and flames engulfed countless precious experimental equipment and data.

Screams, gasps, and explosions mingled together!
Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, a massive crater was revealed. Immediately following, a maniacal laugh rang out: "Proceed according to plan! Leave no one alive!"

Poison Undying was the first to rush out, followed closely by dozens of powerful disciples of the Body Sect.

They were like tigers among sheep, killing anyone they saw and wreaking havoc on everything in Mingde Hall.

Gula was also in Mingde Hall. He easily dodged an attack from a disciple of the Body Sect and said calmly, "I am an exchange student from Shrek Academy and have nothing to do with the Sun Moon Empire."

The disciple paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant, but then hardened his heart and continued his attack.

Gula wasn't going to tolerate him. With a casual strike imbued with the power of extreme fire, he sent the disciple flying, crashing into a section of ruins.

This immediately caught the attention of Du Busi, who was confronting Jing Hongchen.

Jing Hongchen had just arrived when he saw the Mingde Hall reduced to ruins. His eyes turned red with rage, and he instantly covered himself with a magnificent level-nine soul tool shield. Countless cannons lit up and poured firepower at Du Busi.

"You're asking for it! You won't die!"

Poison Undying replied, "Who is Poison Undying? Don't call me that."

Although he did not use his martial soul to avoid revealing his identity, he managed to fight the well-equipped Jing Hongchen to a standstill thanks to his powerful physique and unpredictable combat skills.

The two fought fiercely, with soul-guided beams and terrifying energy blasts flying everywhere.

Gula was relieved. He glanced around and found that Huo Yuhao had disappeared in the chaos. He knew that Huo Yuhao must have gone to find his opportunity.

"I can't have come all this way for nothing," Gula thought to himself.

Huo Yuhao could only take away the two most important items. Beneath the ruins of Mingde Hall lay the pinnacle of the Sun Moon Empire's soul guidance technology, and high-grade rare metals and semi-finished products were definitely plentiful. With a thought, he immediately created more than a dozen clones in the Senhai demiplane, each cloaked in black robes, and like ghosts, silently infiltrated the ruins and various warehouses that had not yet completely collapsed, beginning to plunder valuable metal materials and finished and semi-finished soul guidance devices.

Gula specifically instructed: only take the hardware, do not touch any blueprints or documents, lest Jing Hongchen really become desperate and do something rash.

After doing all this, Gula looked at Mirror Red Dust and Poison Undying fighting fiercely in the distance and suddenly had a mischievous urge.

He quickly made a simple recording device with the scraps he had on hand, recorded a powerful cheer, and then accurately tossed it behind a rickety boulder.

Amidst the shouts of battle, explosions, and the clash of soul skills, a clear and excited cheer rang out incongruously: "Go Sun Moon Empire! Mingde Hall will win! Dean is mighty!"

Jing Hongchen, Du Busi, their disciples, and surviving students, who were locked in a life-or-death struggle, all paused subconsciously, feeling utterly absurd and ridiculous, as if their life-or-death battle had become a performance to entertain some bored audience.

Poison Undying forced Jing Hongchen back with a single punch, then angrily cursed, "These are the students of your Sun Moon Empire? What a bunch of lunatics! They don't even care about the lives of their own classmates!"

Jing Hongchen's already extremely pale face turned even blacker, and he roared, "Gula! I recognize your voice! You are now a student of the Sun and Moon Academy, and you have an obligation to fight against external enemies!"

He knew that Gula's strength was definitely more than just that of a Soul Emperor; he could at least save some people.

In a moment of desperation, he had a sudden inspiration and shouted, "If you save one person, I'll give you five hundred... no! A thousand catties of rare metal!"

Before he finished speaking, Gula appeared as if by teleportation next to a student who was about to be hit by a boulder. With a casual wave of his hand, the boulder turned into dust.

"As you wish, my Dean." Gula smiled slightly, his dazzling angelic martial spirit unfolding behind him, holy light dispelling the dust. With a wave of his flaming longsword, he forced back a charging Body Sect disciple, and rebuked him firmly:
"What kind of skill is it to kill a few student soul masters? Soul tools are an inevitable trend and will not be stopped by the ignorant opposition of a few people. No one can stop the tide of the times."

Poison Undying was struck on a sore spot by these words and roared, "Gula, I know you. You are from the Douluo Three Kingdoms. Are you just going to stand by and watch the Sun Moon Empire invade your homeland with soul tools?"

As Gula casually rescued another student, he shrugged and said, "What's the point of killing a few students? If you have the guts, go and wipe out the entire Sun Moon Royal Family. The Sun Moon Empire will fall into chaos on its own."

His casual remark sent chills down the spines of the students he had saved. Jing Hongchen cursed him inwardly as a madman.

Poison Undying's heart skipped a beat, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that such a sneak attack was a one-time thing, so he sneered, "Good kid, you're crazy! But you'll have to survive first!"

As he spoke, his offensive intensified suddenly, forcing Jing Hongchen to activate his soul tool for defense with all his might.

The battle between the two intensified, with energy raging, making it difficult for Gula to intervene and save them.

He simply stopped, since his clones had already reaped a considerable harvest, and he himself had also rescued fourteen students.

"Fourteen thousand catties of rare metal, a profit." He nodded in satisfaction.

Just then, an extreme chill suddenly erupted from the depths of that huge cave.

The Snow Empress's soul, having failed to transform and lost her body, burst out of the Conferred God Platform that had imprisoned her, carrying endless anger and sorrow, and charged straight up to seek revenge against all of humanity.

A terrifying aura of extreme ice swept out, causing even Poison Undying and Mirror Red Dust to feel palpitations, forcing them to temporarily join forces to resist this terrifying cold current.

Gula, along with the rescued students, quickly retreated to a corner and watched the expected battle with great interest.

Ultimately, the Snow Empress, having lost her physical body, suffered a significant loss of soul power. Under the combined suppression of Jing Hongchen and Du Busi, she unwillingly chose to self-destruct.

A terrifying energy storm swept through the ruins of Mingde Hall once again.

Only Gula knew that Xue Di's true core soul had quietly entered Huo Yuhao's body, which was hidden somewhere.

The target self-destructed; even if the poison didn't kill him, he didn't linger and shouted, "Retreat!"

Leading the disciples of the Body Sect, they retreated swiftly into the underground passage and disappeared like a receding tide.

"Where do you think you're going!" Jing Hongchen was furious and chased after them with the Mingde Hall members and guards who were still able to move.

A tremor and a collapse sound came from underground.

Gula stopped paying attention and quietly left the ruins, blending into the panicked crowd.

The unrest continued into the night.

At night, members of the Royal Inspectorate came to the door. The leader was a Soul Master from a branch of the Royal Family, and also a high-ranking member of the Inspectorate.

His face was grim as he directly questioned, "Gula, we suspect you stole important items from Mingde Hall during the chaos. Now, immediately hand over your storage soul tool for inspection."

Gula didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, only uttering one word: "Get lost!"

The powerful spiritual energy erupted like a blazing sun, directly shaking the group so badly that those with weaker cultivation levels fainted.

"How dare you arrest me! You must be feeling guilty!"

The Soul Douluo officer surnamed Xu was both shocked and furious. Eight soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and four black—rose beneath his feet. His Sun Martial Soul erupted, and a scorching aura swept over him as he prepared to take down Gula.

Gula didn't bother arguing with him, since he had indeed taken quite a lot.

The Angelic Martial Soul reappeared, its holy flames colliding with the opponent's solar rays.

The absolute suppression of attributes was immediately apparent. Gula's ultimate light easily overshadowed the opponent's top-tier solar martial soul light. The blazing holy flames forced the opponent to retreat repeatedly, leaving him in a sorry state with an extremely ugly expression.

Just as the conflict was about to escalate, Jing Hongchen arrived.

He looked tired and haggard; the destruction of Mingdetang had been a huge blow to him.

He stepped between the two men and said to the officer surnamed Xu in a deep voice, "Release him. Gula has been within my sight the whole time and has saved many students. I haven't had time to do anything else."

The officer surnamed Xu was extremely frustrated. How could he release the person before even arresting him? But Jing Hongchen had long held considerable power, and he dared not confront him directly.

Jing Hongchen then turned to Gula, his gaze sharp, carrying an unprecedented warning:
"Gula, you'd better behave yourself. I'm in a really bad mood right now, and I'm not going to listen to any of your bullshit threats!"

Gula could sense the extreme anger and heartache emanating from Jing Hongchen, and knew what the destruction of Mingde Hall meant to him.

Especially since Huo Yuhao took away the super-sized humanoid soul tool, and he also obtained a lot of high-grade rare metals, it is estimated that Mingde Hall will have to tighten its belt for a while in the future.

So this time he didn't refute, but just nodded lightly, which was considered giving face to the dean who had suffered heavy losses.

(End of this chapter)