Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 444 Feint to the East, Attack in the West

It wasn't that Ji Lin was overly compassionate; rather, since he had given someone hope for life, he had to take responsibility. Otherwise, he shouldn't have saved them in the first place. Since he had saved them, he had to bring Feng Ling out of Sunrise City alive.

It wasn't for any other reason than Ji Lin thought that giving up on Feng Ling like that would be too low, not cool at all, and not to his liking.

Without the threat of the high-altitude soul tool, Ji Lin's entry into the city was countless times easier than before.

As soon as Ji Lin flew into Sunrise City from high altitude, he clearly saw that in the north, dark blue lights were rapidly descending from the sky near the northern city. Although there were only a few hundred of these dark blue lights, they gave Ji Lin a sense of oppression.

Upon seeing these dark blue figures, Ji Lin showed curiosity. Although he had seen a glimpse of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Corps at the All-Continent Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Competition, he could not discern the strength of the Sun Moon Empire's strongest Soul Master Corps. However, the hundreds of dark blue figures before him, according to Ji Lin's spiritual perception, possessed an aura and oppressive force far exceeding those of the Soul Master Corps stationed outside the city.

It should be noted that the two regular Soul Master Corps of the Sun Moon Empire are stationed outside Sunrise City. The only ones stronger than them are the five Soul Master Corps, which are known as the Guardians of the Sun Moon Empire. I wonder which Soul Master Corps has come this time.

The Sun and Moon Royal Soul Master Corps is tasked with protecting Mingdu and will not act rashly unless the emperor travels there. Therefore, the dark blue figures before them are clearly one of the other four Beast King-level Soul Master Corps under the protection of the nation. Whichever one of them encounters the hostages and rescue team, it will undoubtedly inflict devastating damage on the hostages.

The two 500-strong Soul Master regiments stationed around Sunrise City are mainly composed of Soul Masters with strength around the second or third ring. Their entry threshold is the second ring. The reason why their overall strength is so great is largely due to the cooperation and coordinated combat of Soul Tools, Soul Tool positions, and so on.

The Beast King-level Soul Master Corps is composed entirely of experts at the Soul Master level or above. Each of them can use flying Soul Tools, capable of both air and ground combat. Moreover, the corps leader is a Level 9 Soul Master. Among the three hundred members, there are indeed many powerful individuals! The explosive power and combat strength of a Beast King-level Soul Master Corps can even surpass several heavy armored knight corps with a strength of ten thousand.

Their direct combat strength is already terrifying, and with their mobility, once a pursuit begins, how far can the hostages run if they want to break through and escape?

"Damn it! How are you holding the hostages?"

The Second Elder looked at the three Zhongli brothers in front of him and shouted angrily.

This time, the three Zhongli brothers dared not cause any more trouble and all obediently lowered their heads. The evil soul masters who had regrouped behind them were also trembling with fear.

This time, it was indeed their fault for not supervising properly. Even if they took it to the sect leader Zhongli Wu, they would not be in the right, and Zhongli Wu might not be on their side. Therefore, they dared not offend the Second Elder again.

The Second Elder and the Fourth Elder both had rather ashen faces.

They had just returned from the North City. Upon arriving there and seeing the massive explosion outside the city, they couldn't help but gasp in shock. According to their assessment, it was at least the destructive power of an eighth-level fixed-position soul-guided cannon. The entire soul master position in the North City was wiped out, with at least two hundred soul masters killed. Only some soul masters with higher cultivation levels and quick reflexes managed to escape.

The east and west city walls were also damaged at the same time. The second and fourth elders were both experienced and shrewd people. They immediately judged that someone was using a feint to attack from the east while targeting the hostages.

So they returned to Nancheng immediately, but they were too late. They saw the hostage escape, but the three Zhongli brothers didn't even dare to give chase. They just waited for them to return. How could they not take advantage of the situation to make a move?

Zhong Litian said with a wry smile, "Second Elder, it's not that we don't want to pursue them, but as you know, there are over five hundred hostages, all at least at the fourth ring cultivation level. There are also a large number of Soul Douluos, Soul Saints, and Soul Emperors. If we chase after them, we'll only be throwing our lives away!"

The Fourth Elder angrily retorted, "Didn't you say the Soul-Destroying Powder was always in sufficient quantity? How did they find the antidote? Only the Sect Leader possesses the antidote for this Soul-Destroying Powder, and it only loses its effect when the dosage is insufficient. How were you holding the hostages?"

Zhong Litian said with a wronged expression, "Fourth Elder, you can't wrong your subordinate! You can ask these people below. We used a lot of Soul Extinction Powder. Those hostages were like timid shrimps before."

Zhongli Di, standing behind Zhongli Tian, ​​murmured, "If it weren't for Second Elder instructing us to provide food for those hostages, how could they have had the strength to escape!"

"Shut up!" Zhong Litian suddenly turned around and glared fiercely at Zhong Lidi.

The Second Elder glanced at Zhong Lidi with icy eyes, "So, it seems I was wrong after all."

"Second Elder, please forgive me. My second brother spoke without thinking. Please be magnanimous and don't hold it against him."

Zhong Litian lowered his head, his face full of sincerity. Although Zhong Lidi was unconvinced, he did not dare to go against his elder brother, so he also lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

The Fourth Elder said coldly, "Go, get some water from the water dungeon and check the concentration of the Soul-Extinguishing Powder. I want to see if we've really wronged you."

"Alright, Fourth Elder," the Second Elder said in a low voice, "Now is not the time to pursue responsibility. The most urgent task is to bring the hostages back. Let's act immediately. Although there are many strong people among those hostages, no matter what, after being in the water prison for so long, their physical condition cannot be perfect. We should pursue them immediately. As long as we can hold them off until the Soul Master Corps reinforcements from the Sun Moon Empire arrive, none of them will be able to escape."

The three Zhongli brothers were, after all, servants of the sect leader Zhongli Wu. Even when beating a dog, one should consider its master. He did not want to break ties with the three Zhongli brothers, as that would not benefit anyone.

"Alright, everyone, follow me and give chase."

The Fourth Elder also calmed down. He knew that pushing the Zhongli brothers too far would not do them any good. The three brothers were of one mind and were a unified force. Their combat strength was no less than that of a Title Douluo. There was no need to make them mortal enemies.

"Walk!"

The Second Elder, along with the Fourth Elder and the three Zhongli brothers, the five powerful figures simultaneously took to the air and chased after the city.

When they flew out of the city wall, the faces of the two elders and the three Zhongli brothers immediately turned ugly, because everything outside the city seemed to have returned to calm. The hundreds of hostages had vanished without a trace, leaving only the completely destroyed Soul Master position.

"This is impossible! They've only been gone for less than a quarter of an hour, how could they be so fast..." The three Zhong brothers were completely dumbfounded.

No matter what, the outer defense is a Soul Master position composed of three hundred Soul Masters! Among them are Level 6 and Level 7 Soul Masters, and even the commander is a Level 8 Soul Master. Even if they can't stop the enemy, their defense should be able to hold out for a while.

Little did they know that Wang Qiu'er and her group launched a surprise attack, throwing the Soul Master Corps' formation into chaos. How could they possibly withstand such a large number of ferocious hostages?

The area surrounding Sunrise City is all plains. Although it would be difficult, it was still possible to break out of the city with the hostages. Before setting off, the strategists of the various forces had already made their assessments. However, the most troublesome thing was how to escape after breaking out. How easy would it be to escape in the vast plains? Especially since the hostages had all suffered some injuries, a long-distance escape was definitely not an option.

As a result, all the major powers made a bold and costly decision.

In plains areas, there's only one way to quickly escape the enemy's sight: speed!

Only by relying on astonishing speed can they escape the pursuit in the shortest time. How can the hostages increase their speed? Of course, it's through flying soul tools.

This time, all the rescue teams brought a large number of flying soul tools, almost a thousand, which is the result of the full support from Shrek Academy, Douling Empire, Xingluo Empire and Tianhun Empire.

These thousands of flying soul tools were pre-positioned in the open field by Nan Qiuqiu and her team, who were splitting up to carry out the operation. As soon as the hostages broke through the encirclement, they immediately put on these flying soul tools.

Although many of these hostages were resistant to soul tools, most of them had some experience with flying soul tools. After all, who wouldn't want to try experiencing flight at the fourth ring level? Therefore, flying soul tools were one of the most frequently used soul tools by soul masters. There were some who had never used them before, like Nan Qiuqiu at the beginning, but such people were a minority. Soul masters were quite adaptable to flying soul tools, and even if they had never used them before, they could use them after a little practice.

Each flying soul tool was equipped with a map; the next step was to disperse and evacuate.

All the hostages, organized by sect and academy, flew away in different directions, but their destination was the seaside. In the current Sun Moon Empire, only by flying to the seaside could they safely break out.

At the same time, they also decided on a rendezvous point. However, escaping separately was not a perfect plan. Although escaping separately would allow most people to escape, some unlucky ones would be caught. If someone was caught, it was hard to say whether the rendezvous point could be saved. But if they did not escape separately, the movement of the main force would be too conspicuous, and they would soon be blocked by the Soul Master Corps of the Sun Moon Empire. In that case, even fewer people would be able to escape.

However, all the major forces were prepared. Whether the pursuers could find the rendezvous point was not important. What mattered was that the hostages could escape to the rendezvous point. Once they got there, they would be safe.

Besides Shrek Academy, the team responsible for receiving the hostages included experts from the Body Sect, as well as powerful individuals selected from various sects and academies to which the hostages belonged. It was a team composed of more than ten Title Douluos, as well as countless Soul Douluos and Soul Saints.

(End of this chapter)