area51novel Chapter 261 All I can do is offer a greeting.
Chapter 261 All I can do is offer a greeting.
After leaving the hilltop where the small village was located, the sky, which was already close to nightfall, became completely dark. Using the detection and interference soul tools to create a relatively safe space, Long You and He Caitou briefly discussed the matter and then began to check the various soul tools needed to set up the soul tool array.
First, a barrier-based soul tool is essential. The evil soul masters underground possess many puppets, and if these guys try to escape by cutting off their tails, the chances of them getting away are quite high. Therefore, from the very beginning, Long You wanted to turn that small mountain village into a complete dead end, a place where no one could enter or leave.
Secondly, there's the matter of powerful attack methods. Considering the element of surprise, the initial attack is always the most effective. Therefore, Long You decided to test his self-made burrowing fixed-position soul-guided cannonball. However, considering that his opponents were from the Sun Moon Empire, and were likely equipped with trigger-activated soul-guided defensive shields, and also had fearless puppets by their side, Long You didn't believe that the burrowing fixed-position soul-guided cannonball could deliver a fatal blow to these two rats.
Therefore, in Long You's design, the burrowing-type fixed-position soul-guided cannonball was just the prelude; the real killing move was yet to come, when those two rats thought they had dodged the first round of attacks and tried to emerge from underground. Because the environment the opponents were in was an artificially created enclosed space, Long You thought of borrowing the method Ma Xiaotao used in the original work to single-handedly defeat the Sun Moon Empire's genius in the finals of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament: using high temperatures to deal with harmful creatures.
"Thermite is a good idea, but it's not enough! It works too slowly; it can't fill the hole with high temperature in an instant."
Long You's idea was basically the same as He Caitou's idea, but He Caitou encountered difficulties in the specific implementation methods.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the entire small mountain village appeared even more eerie under the cover of night. However, there were always some people who were not afraid of this eerie atmosphere. Under the cover of the invisible soul tool of spatial law, Long You and He Caitou set up a spatial barrier soul tool around the small mountain village.
This soul tool is considered Long You's most mature application of spatial laws. As long as the energy supply is sufficient, Long You can create a temporary subspace by relying on the array of energy generators.
Evil Soul Masters employ a variety of methods, but they all share one thing in common: their effects are horrifying. Based on the feedback from the energy-detecting soul tool, the two evil soul masters hiding in this small mountain village were clearly no match for Long You and his companion. However, just to be on the safe side, Long You still opted for remote control.
The subspace generator requires real-time position adjustments due to Long You's manufacturing limitations, so only Long You and He Caitou can work on it themselves. However, for the rats hiding in the basement, Long You can use an unmanned soul tool to deploy combat soul tools.
First to be deployed was the ambush weapon, Thunder Hell. The lightning barrier generator was transported by Long You using a miniature earth-burrowing soul guide to the vicinity of the ancestral hall's basement wall. Next, Long You transported the thermite bomb and the experimental version of the Light Judgment bomb to the same location.
Next, Long You needed to launch the burrowing, fixed-position soul-guided projectiles, which had already undergone multiple rounds of testing, from an extremely long distance using a mortar launcher. The burrowing, fixed-position soul-guided projectiles would definitely not evade the rats' detection methods, but that didn't matter. Their existence was merely to destroy the rats' hiding places; the real killing move was already in place.
Like a shooting star, a streak of flame ripped across the sky, jolting the rats, who had been lost in their illusion of mastering their superhuman abilities, awakened from their slumber in the basement. However, their long-held beliefs led them to believe that the basement they inhabited could be their refuge, until a drill-like, fixed-position soul-guided cannon pierced the soil. Only then did the rats, their eyes wide, hastily command the puppets scattered throughout the basement to "layer" their defenses.
The loyal puppets faithfully carried out their "master's" orders, successfully withstanding the detonation of the fixed-position soul-guided cannon shell and blocking the red light generated by the thermite bomb's reaction. Through the puppets' fragmented bodies, the "rats" could only see the lightning and the blazing crimson flames of judgment emanating from the Thunder Hell.
The intertwined flames concealed the filthy brilliance of the soul skill, as well as the brewing killing move. A frantic scream erupted at that moment; the rats, whose entire demonic power rested on their "puppets," were unable to save them. The next instant, these already broken "puppets" also failed to save their "rat" masters.
The terrifying heat became even more horrifying in the confined environment. The frantic screams grew increasingly pitiful under the scorching heat. The Soul Masters' robust physiques allowed the "rats" to endure the heat—enough to silence an ordinary person—for much longer. But it didn't matter; the agonizing screams eventually stopped. As long as the screams ceased, the longer they lasted, the happier Long You and He Caitou were.
"There's no sound. What's the next step? Should we go and check the scene?"
"No rush, let's burn them with napalm first. We can't be sure what these 'rats' have special abilities right now, so it's best not to leave anything that could become a medium for evil spirit masters' abilities in the place we're about to go."
"Very well, I don't want to see that village's tragic state again. Let the villagers' wronged souls be purified in the flames."
After He Caitou finished speaking, Longyou had already completed the loading of the napalm bomb. The tail flame streaked across the night sky, and the raging flames burned in the subspace barrier, turning the entire subspace barrier into a giant lantern, and allowing the high temperature to thoroughly purify the area surrounded by the subspace barrier.
"Let's go find a place to rest. We'll go in and check the situation again tomorrow morning after the subspace barrier fails. Although there's probably no problem, who knows what tricks those rats might have up their sleeves."
Shifting the perspective, Zhang Lexuan, who was rushing forward, looked up slightly, and the firelight on the distant mountain peaks reflected in her pupils.
At first, when they split up, Zhang Lexuan was worried that everyone might lose their composure, so she slowed down and followed for a while. However, after a little over a day, Zhang Lexuan realized that her worries were unfounded. So, without the pressure, Zhang Lexuan unleashed her near-Title Douluo strength and sped towards their destination. After all, ahead of the main force, there were two smaller groups rapidly advancing using the power of their soul tools.
Although they set off a little late, Zhang Lexuan still managed to witness the trail of flames streaking across the sky as Long You and He Caitou launched their first attack. Based on her knowledge of soul tools, Zhang Lexuan realized that this level of firepower was probably not just Long You and He Caitou playing around, but rather that they had truly encountered an opponent they needed to fight.
Although judging from the density of soul tool launches, the opponents Long You and the others were facing shouldn't be too powerful, it was still a battle, and Zhang Lexuan still wanted to get there as quickly as possible, acting as a backup. However, before Zhang Lexuan could even arrive, the flames that had illuminated half the sky had already begun to burn.
"Looks like the battle's over. Anyway, it's not far, let's go check it out. If Xiao You's campsite isn't set up well enough, I might have to join the game myself!"
A subtle, enigmatic smile played on her lips, and a gleam of keen interest flashed in her eyes. Zhang Lexuan's figure slowly vanished from her spot, and she quickly headed towards the battleground as planned.
Because the target was very conspicuous, Zhang Lexuan went straight ahead and arrived at the subspace barrier.
"Still burning? Judging from the intensity of the previous battle, these two kids probably started this fire on purpose. What are they trying to burn that would take so long to burn? And what is this? Ordinary barrier-generating soul tools cannot produce this kind of effect."
Upon arriving at the artificial lantern created by Long You and He Caitou, Zhang Lexuan's mind was filled with questions after only a brief observation. She decided to investigate. Zhang Lexuan was now considered a half-step Title Douluo, a level of cultivation that might not yet allow her to roam freely across the continent. However, the creations of Long You and He Caitou were clearly not yet capable of causing her unbearable damage.
A flash of moonlight appeared on her right hand, and when she looked again, Zhang Lexuan had materialized her arm armor. People from Shrek Academy are known for their arrogance, but aside from a very few old drunkards, those who manage to rise to the top at Shrek Academy are all intelligent geniuses. Although the probability of something going wrong was low, Zhang Lexuan still cautiously added an extra layer of protection for herself.
"It feels cool to the touch, with no sensation of being roasted by flames. Hmm? It looks like there's no resistance, but in reality, it's impossible to actually pass through it?"
Wait a minute, this thing looks like just a thin film to the naked eye, but it actually seems to contain something more. Spatial laws? Is this an application of the spatial laws that Xiao You mentioned? It seems that not only invisible soul tools, but also barrier soul tools are quite compatible with this powerful force of laws!
"The power of laws is truly wondrous. What I can currently display is merely the tip of the iceberg. To truly unleash the full power of laws, one must at least reach the Soul Saint level."
There's no need to be so tense. It's us, Senior Sister. You don't think we'll just set a fire here and then leave it at that, do you? Overall, such a conspicuous sign should attract some worthwhile targets to greet.
However, now that we've brought you here, we can only offer our greetings.
Putting away the spirit ring that had begun to glow, Zhang Lexuan rubbed her forehead with a hint of helplessness.
"Stop being silly and come out now."
Zhang Lexuan's tone was not good. After all, this was the middle of nowhere, and a place where a battle had just taken place. It was hard not to be frightened when voices suddenly appeared so close to her. What made Zhang Lexuan even more resentful was Long You's spatial law invisibility soul tool. At such close range, she couldn't even sense someone approaching. If she didn't have a countermeasure, she wouldn't feel safe even in the academy.
"Uh, Senior Sister, you misunderstand. The spatial law invisible soul tool doesn't have such a strong effect. With your cultivation level, even if you can't see it, you would definitely be able to sense us if we were this close to you."
The device you are speaking to right now is just a small speaker covered by an invisible soul tool. My senior brother and I are still at the campsite.
After all, we set a fire late at night, so we weren't so careless as to rest near the enemy. As mentioned before, we've set up surveillance around the area, and this small speaker is part of that surveillance system. It's only because you were near the monitor that it had this "speaking right next to your ear" effect.
“I see. But since you knew there might be danger, why did you still set a fire? If it was just to deal with some traces, I'm sure you had a quieter, more discreet way of doing it.”
"If I had to put it into words, I would say that only such intense heat and flames could purify the evil here."
This small mountain village was attacked by evil spirit masters. When my senior brother and I flew here, the ground of the entire village was no longer in any complete human form. Every drop of blood had been drained by those two evil spirit masters.
However, perhaps it was the protection of the villagers' spirits that allowed my senior brother and I to arrive just in time. The two evil spirit masters were still digesting the benefits of the blood pool and had not yet left the village, which gave us the opportunity to act.
During the battle, we discovered that the two evil soul masters' main abilities lay in controlling puppets. This type of soul master, regardless of whether they are righteous or evil, possesses profound knowledge of the soul. We feared that simply destroying their physical bodies wouldn't be thorough enough, so we used a subspace barrier soul tool to envelop the entire village before setting it on fire.
Without the protection of their bodies, ordinary souls would quickly crumble under the scorching heat of flames. Unless their souls were infused with the power of laws (god-level), I personally don't believe that the souls of the evil spirit masters that my senior brother and I could easily deal with possessed that kind of strength.
No sooner said than done, sometimes things just happen by chance! Just as Long You's voice fell, the subspace barrier not far from Zhang Lexuan suddenly bulged outward, and upon closer inspection, it revealed a soul engulfed in blood flames.
A closer look reveals that while the layer of blood flames enveloping the soul can withstand the scorching heat of the surrounding flames, it has become extremely thin over time. If the soul cannot escape this sea of fire, it may be reduced to ashes in the next five minutes.
Zhang Lexuan didn't hide her presence too much. The Blood Flame Soul, which had tried several times to break through the subspace barrier, finally noticed Zhang Lexuan's presence and turned around.