Mingdu was also in chaos.
Inside the War God Hall, Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi both collapsed onto the ground.
Even the mighty Vast Sea Douluo, Chen Xinjie, and Godpen Douluo, Yu Guanzhi, found themselves unable to stand when faced with the sight of two completely empty warehouses.
The War God Hall experts behind them fared no better—each and every one of them had fallen to the ground, stunned.
"Seal off all information. Even the Federal Council must not be informed. Otherwise, it will cause panic. We must keep this matter confidential and investigate it slowly." Chen Xinjie, regaining his composure, issued his orders immediately.
"Hall Master, the tracking devices on the two Godkiller Fixed Soul Guidance Missiles have sent a signal. They are currently moving at high speed in the northwest direction, approximately 3,500 li from our location," a War God Hall expert suddenly reported.
"Pursue them! Even if we die, we must retrieve those Godkiller Fixed Soul Guidance Missiles!" Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi did not hesitate in the slightest. They immediately led all the War God Hall experts in pursuit.
At this moment, in the Cangshan district, the black night sky had unknowingly turned gray. The grayness spread downward, covering everything in its wake. Everything beneath this gray shroud seemed to vanish into oblivion.
Under the influence of this gray color, the entire world seemed to have transformed.
The ground trembled, soil churned, and one by one, crooked figures began to emerge from underground, staggering as they moved outward in all directions.
They were none other than countless skeletons, zombies, and other strange creatures. Their entire bodies were enveloped in gray. In less than a minute, the Cangshan district had already turned into a land of death.
"Enemy attack! Someone has come to rescue Tang Sect's Zang Xin!" A soldier from the Central Army Corps, responsible for guarding Zang Xin, shouted. Without hesitation, they launched an all-out attack on these undead creatures.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the illegitimate child of the Sun-Moon Federation, the Central Army Corps was the best-equipped among the eight major military corps, even surpassing the Sea God Army Corps.
Although the Central Army Corps had suffered repeated heavy losses recently, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.
The moment these undead creatures appeared, a ferocious bombardment engulfed them entirely.
Yet, even the exploding soul-guided shells, upon contact with the gray mist, turned the same color. In the next instant, all sounds of explosions vanished completely.
In the blink of an eye, the armored vehicles behind them were submerged by the eerie gray creatures.
Yet, in front of them, those strange undead beings suddenly parted to the sides, revealing a passage.
At the far end of the passage, a lone figure appeared, walking slowly towards the direction of the first exploded vehicle.
His pace was neither fast nor slow, but steady and rhythmic. However, in just the blink of an eye, he had already arrived in front of Zang Xin.
He wore gray armor, a gray cloak, and his armor was crystalline, reflecting a bizarre glow. His appearance was exceedingly handsome and delicate. His long black hair cascaded down his back, but his face was deathly pale, devoid of any hint of blood, making his stunning features appear eerily unnatural.
In his hand, he held a slender cross-shaped sword, gray and transparent like his armor. A faint gray mist flickered around its surface.
His armor had no helmet, but on his forehead, there was a gray diamond-shaped crystal with countless facets that refracted light.
No matter how one looked at him, he did not resemble a human. Instead, he looked more like a Death God from the underworld.
With a slight flick of his slender gray sword, the incoming artillery shell was instantly sliced in half. His elegant brows furrowed slightly, and he sighed softly.
"Come forth, Netherworld Reincarnation."
Clusters of gray flames erupted from his body, instantly spreading outward. Every eerie creature was suddenly engulfed in flames, and the entire gray world became suffused with a sinister aura.
"You are the Netherworld King Douluo, Harosa!"
A red mecha descended from the sky, and a voice filled with disbelief rang out from within—Dong Zi'an.
Originally, the Central Army Corps was under Yu Guanzhi's command, but since Yu Guanzhi had gone to the War God Hall, Dong Zi'an, as a high-ranking military figure, had to take charge.
Dong Zi'an had expected that Cao Dezhi might send someone to rescue Zang Xin, but he had never imagined that Cao Dezhi would seek the aid of the Holy Spirit Cult.
"Fierce Wolf Douluo, you are not my match. I will take away the Amorous Douluo, and you cannot stop me. If you don't want your soldiers to die in vain, then get as far away as possible."
The Netherworld Emperor snorted coldly. He was also a quasi-god, one from the same era as Chen Xinjie. A single Dong Zi'an was nothing in his eyes.
"Hmph, I admit that I cannot stop you if you wish to leave. But this is Mingdu. Do you really think you can take the Amorous Douluo away in front of everyone's eyes? Aren't you a bit too confident?" Dong Zi'an coldly observed the Netherworld King Douluo, Harosa, and asked, "Since when did the Tang Sect need the Holy Spirit Cult to rescue them?"
Dong Zi'an's gaze grew heavier.
Not long ago, the Sun-Moon Federation had received news that all the high-ranking members of the Heaven Dou City Blacksmith Association had vanished.
A group of powerful figures had just been dispatched to investigate.
Then, the War God Hall issued a red-level emergency alert, and Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi had rushed back.
Now, with Mingdu's defenses weakened, the Holy Spirit Cult's Netherworld King Douluo appeared to rescue Zang Xin.
This series of events made it hard for him not to suspect that the Tang Sect and the Holy Spirit Cult had already joined forces.
A single Tang Sect was already difficult to deal with, but if they had allied with the Holy Spirit Cult, then the Sun-Moon Federation would be plunged into chaos.
That night, the entire city of Mingdu activated its full-scale linked soul-guided defense array.
From the sky, one would see that Mingdu was enveloped by a massive, semi-transparent protective dome.
However, in the direction of the Cangshan district, there was a breach in this dome.
The explosion at the Tang Sect's underground weapons factory had destroyed the entire Cangshan district, including its linked soul-guided defense array.
This was one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit Cult dared to openly enter Mingdu.
Even so, they did not dare to enter other districts protected by the soul-guided array.
Dong Zi'an could sense the presence of powerful soul fluctuations at the district's edge—proof that Holy Spirit Cult experts were battling Mingdu's defenders.
With the city's strongest fighters occupied, he knew reinforcements were not coming.
"Hahaha! Our work for the Tang Sect isn't limited to rescuing Zang Xin. You must be trying to contact Vas Sea Douluo, Chen Xinjie, and Godpen Douluo, Yu Guanzhi, right? Haha! They won't come! Not just them—every Limit Douluo in Mingdu won't be coming!"
The Netherworld Emperor laughed wildly. The diamond-shaped crystal on his forehead suddenly glowed.
In an instant, the entire gray space trembled.
Twelve gray portals appeared around him.
From these twelve portals, twelve armored figures emerged.
Each of them wore heavy, full-body armor, with only their glowing dark-blue eyes visible.
Each carried a shield and a greatsword. Their shields bore the visages of monstrous creatures, all distinct from one another.
They stood at an imposing four meters tall. The aura they emitted was suffocating.
What struck Dong Zi'an with terror was the fact that each of them bore a three-word battle armor domain ring beneath their feet.
These twelve were all equivalent to Super Douluos!
"Take Zang Xin and break through!" the Netherworld Emperor commanded.
"They are my Twelve Death Knights. They have evolved from mere skeletal forms to their current level. Each one of them is equivalent to a Hyper Douluo." The Underworld Emperor coldly gazed at Dong Zi'an. With a firm swing of his slender sword, a gray flame condensed into a blade of light, instantly slashing toward Dong Zi'an.
Most of the Central Legion's high-ranking officers had perished in the explosion at the Cangshan District. There was no way they could be a match for the Underworld Emperor's Twelve Death Knights.
As long as the Underworld Emperor could repel Dong Zi'an, they could break out as quickly as possible.
The Underworld Emperor's blade of light wasn't large, but Dong Zi'an knew his own limits. Without even possessing a four-word battle armor, he didn't dare take it head-on. He could only maneuver his red mecha and deploy a massive energy shield in front of him.
However, the gray blade of light silently vanished upon contact with the energy shield. In the next instant, the eerie grayness seeped through the red mecha and enveloped Dong Zi'an's body. His face turned ashen as if he had seen a ghost, and he hastily retreated.
Seizing the moment of Dong Zi'an's retreat, the Underworld Emperor swiftly stepped back as well. Suddenly, hundreds of sword blades burst forth from his hand. Though each individual blade wasn't as powerful as the one he had just used against Dong Zi'an, every single one locked onto an officer of the Central Legion.
"Ah… Ah… Ah…"
A chorus of agonized screams echoed through the battlefield as the Central Legion suffered yet another devastating blow. The Twelve Death Knights seized the opportunity and instantly broke through the Central Legion's defensive lines.
They quickly disappeared into the night.
At the same time, the other powerhouses of the Holy Spirit Cult also vanished into the darkness.
"No need to chase them." Lingmou Douluo Xu Cangyu stopped the Mingdu powerhouses who were about to give chase.
With Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi absent, they had no way to stop the enemy.
Besides, the Ghost Emperor had yet to reveal himself. If they gave chase, it was uncertain who would end up killing whom.
Meanwhile, Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi had pursued the stolen Godkiller Fixed Soul Ammunition for an entire night, yet they failed to retrieve them. When they finally received the news that Zang Xin had been taken away by the Holy Spirit Cult, both men couldn't suppress their rage and let out furious roars toward the heavens.
"Tang Sect, you and I cannot coexist!"