"You better not come over here!!!" Jing Hongchen's eyes widened.
He could feel the terrifying power.
Countless shields unfolded one after another.
But as the massive fist, burning with pitch-black flames, swung down, the shields cracked inch by inch. The black flames seemed to melt everything, but under the immense force, the shields shattered even without the need for the melting property.
His expression showed slight fear. This attack was definitely comparable to a full-strength strike from a Super Douluo! How on earth did he do it?! Could it be… a Martial Soul fusion skill?
This is too freakish!
"I can't hold back anymore, this little brat did it on purpose!" Jing Hongchen gritted his teeth in anger.
With a wave of his hand, a golden light column shot into the sky.
As a Level 9 Soul Engineer, he naturally had his own means.
The golden light enveloped the entire area. The two forces immediately clashed, and the whole city of Mingdu seemed to shake like an earthquake, producing a loud roar.
The dust settled.
Jing Hongchen spat and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
With his Super Douluo strength, it was just a light injury, but he also knew that the kid hadn't even used his full strength...
What the heck is going on...
He shook his head in frustration.
But from this, he also realized that his capture had probably been deliberate.
Should have thought of that earlier!
"Hum!"
Accompanied by a humming sound, silhouettes quickly gathered towards this location.
At the forefront was Lin Jiayi. Since this area was the closest to the Royal Academy of the Sun and Moon Empire, he naturally arrived first.
"Hall Master!" When he saw Jing Hongchen, his expression was slightly panicked. Even the Hall Master had been injured—what kind of existence could have done this...
Jing Hongchen glanced at the place where the two had disappeared, helplessly: "A Super Douluo appeared, but they've already left. Activate the first-level alert. Be on guard in case they show up again."
"Yes!"
...
Zhang Lexuan carefully carried Xu Cheng back to the dormitory.
She placed him on her bed and looked at Xu Cheng's pale face due to severe soul power exhaustion, feeling a little flustered.
Why did he lift my cloak before falling unconscious, and then freeze for a moment, seeming to murmur "little aunt"...
Why did we have a Martial Soul fusion...
Why did he help me...
Xu Cheng's soul power was severely depleted, and she was not much better off, but she still mustered the strength to carry him back to the dormitory.
Zhang Lexuan sat quietly in a chair, looking at Xu Cheng's handsome, fair face lying on the bed, and her heart unexpectedly felt a strange sense of intimacy.
In the past, she had only thought that the prince was quite handsome, but after the fusion just now, she felt a natural closeness to Xu Cheng.
"Ha..."
Looking at the discomfort on Xu Cheng's face, she impulsively fetched a basin of hot water, dampened a towel, and gently wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Seeing Xu Cheng's complexion improve, she seemed to relax a little.
Just as she was about to turn and leave, preparing to make a bed on the floor, she suddenly heard Xu Cheng murmur "little aunt."
Zhang Lexuan turned around sharply, staring at Xu Cheng's face.
She saw that he seemed to be speaking in his sleep, and her expression slightly relaxed.
"Little aunt?" She pondered.
Why call me that?
Could it be because I look like someone?
With how vast Douluo Continent is, it's normal to have people with similar appearances.
But... the Martial Soul fusion...
Zhang Lexuan fell silent for a moment.
What had happened tonight was truly hard to comprehend.
"Ugh…"
She suddenly gasped in surprise, and then her body lost balance. Xu Cheng grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms.
"You!"
Zhang Lexuan's thoughts were interrupted. She fell onto the bed, awkwardly lying in Xu Cheng's arms, her face full of embarrassment and anger. Just as she was about to scold Xu Cheng, she looked up and saw that Xu Cheng had tightly embraced her. The discomfort on his face disappeared, replaced by a relaxed expression as he fell asleep.
She froze for a moment.
As they embraced, their soul powers instinctively began to circulate, and the familiar sense of intimacy became even stronger. Zhang Lexuan looked at Xu Cheng's face, and for some reason, she no longer had the urge to push him away.
Was it because the young man was so attached to her, or...
"Ha…" She sighed helplessly.
She gently pulled the blanket up, unconsciously stroking Xu Cheng's hair.
For a moment, she felt a little dazed.
This young man was barely fifteen years old.
In her eyes, he was the same age as the junior disciples who died at the hands of a Hundred thousand-year-old soul beast, the ones who used to call her Senior Sister...
She gently patted Xu Cheng's back, as though calming a sleeping baby.
At this age, it was the time when maternal instincts were most likely to kick in. Of course, with Zhang Lexuan's personality, she wouldn't have acted like this unless it was for the events that happened today...
...
Zhang Lexuan seemed to have slept the most comfortable sleep of her life.
The two's soul powers circulated together the entire night.
When they woke up in the morning, they were both at their peak once again.
"You…"
Zhang Lexuan looked at Xu Cheng suddenly pulling away from her embrace, his face full of vigilance. She felt a sudden emptiness in her heart, but quickly suppressed the feeling and said indifferently: "You insisted on sleeping with me last night. Your soul power was exhausted, and I couldn't break free."
Xu Cheng let out a faint laugh in his heart. This woman was contradictory. How could he not know what happened last night?
But he simply took a deep breath and stared at Zhang Lexuan with a complex expression.
It was as if he wanted to engrave her image into his mind.
Then, he slowly walked towards the door.
"Wait." Zhang Lexuan's hesitant voice rang out.
"I won't tell anyone about your matter..." Xu Cheng said coldly.
"I meant… what did you mean by 'little aunt' last night?" Zhang Lexuan let out a sigh of relief before continuing to ask.
Xu Cheng stopped in his tracks.
His voice was cold: "You don't need to know."
With that, he walked straight out.
"…"
Zhang Lexuan pondered the events of last night. She was certain that this was Xu Cheng's true nature. The usual authority or playful demeanor he displayed were just facades.
As expected, a royal prince had to possess deep scheming to compete with his brothers.
But he was only fifteen...
And about the "little aunt" he mentioned...
Could it just be because she looked like someone?
She gently bent down, sniffed the pillow where Xu Cheng had slept, and smiled softly.
It felt like discovering a young boy's secret. She wasn't bothered by Xu Cheng's coldness. Instead, she felt a little excited, and her mood lightened.
"Heh heh heh…"
...
"Damn it, I'm so jealous of the Phoenix's firepower…"
"I heard His Highness approved it, and they added a mech battalion, seventy initial-generation mechs, with a combat power comparable to two traditional battalions. Doesn't that mean the Phoenix has five battalion-level powers now?"
"No way, they're an elite unit, so better treatment is expected."
"We can't even be elite. Even if we can't, she gets the meat, can't we at least have the soup?"
"Dream on. Right now, the Phoenix and the Evil King get the meat, the Royal Soul Engineer Corps and the Terror Claws get the soup, and our Blue Dragon... we're lucky to get scraps. Our battalion commander picked the wrong side, what can we do?"
"Sigh~~~"
Mingdu Mountain Range.
The Fire Phoenix's first, third, and fourth battalions, the Royal Dragon's fourth battalion, and the Evil King's second and third battalions were stationed here.
Everyone has a bit of pride, and since this isn't really a strategic secret, the Fire Phoenix trained with the mech battalion, and other battalions quickly got the news and were envious.
After all, it's like having two battalions' worth of combat power appear out of nowhere. Who wouldn't be jealous of such good things? But because they pledged allegiance too late and didn't help out in time, their late aid wasn't worth much.
"Hum hum…"
At the peak of the mountain.
A mech slowly opened its hatch.
Juzi stepped out.
Behind her, seventy red mechs followed closely.
In just a month's time, the once gentle look on Juzi's face had hardened, showing a trace of coldness.
War comes with killing.
Mingdu Mountain Range was the site of frequent skirmishes between the Sun Moon Empire and Star Luo Empire, and this was something she had seen in the reports that were handed to her. However, only after experiencing it herself did she understand the intensity of these "skirmishes."
The war deaths on both sides had led to deep blood feuds.
Whether it was the death of family members or close comrades killed by the enemy, it all triggered emotional turmoil.
And the borders between the two countries were still disputed, so when patrols met, it often escalated into small-scale battles.
Both sides' military departments had issued warnings, hoping to prevent a full-scale war, but the soul engineer corps of the Sun Moon Empire had a structure like the various feudal lords. The military officials in Mingdu were mostly powerless and many battalion commanders didn't take them seriously.
With the emperor's silence, the Phoenix's former commander had often been lenient with her troops.
One of her blood relatives had died at the hands of the enemy...
In just a month, both sides had lost twenty soldiers, and seventy others had been injured to varying degrees.
Her own battalion had suffered no deaths, thanks to the high defensive power of the mechs...
(End of Chapter)