Lin Xiao abruptly turned around, the first and second soul rings around his body lighting up simultaneously. He raised his right hand high, and dozens of dark red streams of light shot out rapidly. Before they could even hit their target, they transformed mid-air into branches and leaves that spread out like a massive net, covering downward.
At the same time, in a place where no one else noticed, a faint shadow had already slipped out from within Lin Xiao's body.
The Illustrious Virtue Hall was originally built underground, relying on illumination soul tools for light. The recent explosion had destroyed many of the lighting soul tools, leaving the underground naturally dim.
Because no one had noticed, the surroundings in the entire Illustrious Virtue Hall seemed unnaturally dark.
The Nightmare Douluo's martial soul wasn't very effective against fellow Titled Douluo opponents, but against those whose cultivation was lower than his, the strangeness of the Nightmare Demon was enough to make anyone affected disappear without a trace.
At this moment, although the Nightmare Douluo, now in soul form, no longer had his martial soul, his combat experience as a Titled Douluo remained. Borrowing Lin Xiao's enormous spiritual power, an invisible wave had already spread throughout the entire Illustrious Virtue Hall.
In the instant of the recent explosion, nearly a hundred people had rushed into Illustrious Virtue Hall. And right after Lin Xiao released the Nightmare, some people with cultivation around the seven-ring level inexplicably began attacking those around them, regardless of friend or foe.
The gazes that had been falling on him immediately lessened. When he looked closely, the branches and leaves that had just fallen had already enveloped a figure within.
As soon as the branches and leaves of the higanbana flower came into contact with the figure, they instinctively took root in his body. The figure under the black clothes shriveled up visibly to the naked eye, and only the branches and leaves of the other shore flower clinging to his body became more prosperous.
In just a few breaths, Lin Xiao had already exchanged blows with several Honored Body Sect soul masters. Lin Jiayi was protected behind Lin Xiao, watching him with a slightly dazed expression.
He hadn't expected that the disciple who had always been gentle in front of him would be so ruthless when he struck.
Although he had long known Lin Xiao's origins, it was only when he personally saw Lin Xiao's attack drain that Honored Body Sect soul master into a desiccated corpse that he truly felt it firsthand.
The Honored Body Sect's attacks were extremely fierce, but as the continent's strongest soul tool research institution, Illustrious Virtue Hall wasn't completely without means of resistance.
A piercing alarm finally sounded. The usually gorgeous and elegant circular dome slowly opened, and massive soul tools emerged from within. Blue-purple beams of light shot out wildly, as if they had eyes of their own, heading straight toward the Honored Body Sect members.
The entire Illustrious Virtue Hall was filled with the roar of thunder. Even the several Titled Douluo from the Honored Body Sect gradually stiffened after withstanding a dozen attacks, frozen in place and unable to move.
"Teacher..."
Lin Xiao spoke softly, but was interrupted by Lin Jiayi. "No need to say anything. I already knew. Hurry, follow me."
As he spoke, Lin Jiayi charged forward once more. Even though Illustrious Virtue Hall had suffered multiple explosions, he was still very familiar with the environment here. After turning left and right, he had already ducked into a not-so-wide passageway.
"Boom—"
Another explosion rang out behind them. Lin Xiao glanced back briefly and saw a wisp of cold moonlight piercing through the darkness laid by the Nightmare, shining into Illustrious Virtue Hall.
Lin Xiao knew clearly that although Jing Hongchen wasn't in Illustrious Virtue Hall, there were still many experts here. The one who had just released that wisp of moonlight was likely Kong Deming, the closest person in the Sun Moon Empire to becoming a level 10 soul engineer.
Lin Jiayi clearly hadn't noticed as much as Lin Xiao and just kept rushing deeper into the passageway.
Some of the defenses here had already been destroyed by the earlier explosions. Lin Jiayi yanked open a metal door that was about to collapse, looked up at the massive object before him, and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Lin Xiao followed closely behind Lin Jiayi. Upon seeing what was in the room, his footsteps also paused slightly.
He had already guessed when Lin Jiayi mentioned it earlier, but only now, seeing it with his own eyes, did he understand the kind of shock this thing could bring to a person.
It was an enormous humanoid metal body, over fifteen meters tall. The massive frame was entirely cast from metal, with some joints flickering with specks of light that added a touch of unique color.
What was even more shocking was the astonishing power contained within it. Just standing nearby, one could feel the faint pressure emanating from this giant.
"Thank goodness no one has found this place yet." Lin Jiayi let out a slight breath of relief and turned back to look at Lin Xiao. "What you're seeing is the culmination of all soul tool technology in the entire Illustrious Virtue Hall. Its codename is Project N°1."
"Do you remember the mechanical arm I had you help test back then? That was just one part of Project N°1."
"If someone were to obtain this soul tool, it would practically mean obtaining all of Illustrious Virtue Hall's technology. So no matter how dangerous it gets, I have to come here and protect it."
Lin Xiao slowly withdrew his gaze and nodded.
Even though he had memories from his previous life, this thing still gave him quite a shock. For some reason, he even felt an impulse to try piloting it himself.
Lin Jiayi seemed to come here often. While explaining to Lin Xiao, he quickly ran a few steps to a metal platform and took a starlight sapphire larger than the palm of his hand into his hand.
Six star lines flickered on it, and simultaneously, a blue light lit up on the head of the massive metal humanoid. The entire room was illuminated in pale blue. The next moment, "Project N°1" completely vanished.
"Alright, let's go. We need to leave here quickly." After doing this, Lin Jiayi's expression calmed considerably. He was breathing slightly heavily, clearly, storing "Project N°1" had consumed a significant amount of his soul power.
"Mm."
Lin Xiao nodded. Just as he was about to leave, a figure suddenly appeared in the passageway.
"Who's there?"
Lin Jiayi also saw the newcomer and shouted from afar, but the figure didn't stop at all. A pair of arms like pincers reached out toward Lin Xiao.
"Get lost!"
The voice boomed like thunder. Two yellow, two purple, four black, eight soul rings alternated and shone. Those arms, already thicker than average, became even more muscular.
Lin Xiao's expression changed. His left arm shot out, and a sharp blade condensed into form. However, the instant it collided with the person's arm, it actually produced a sound like clashing metal.
Feeling the tremendous force transmitted to his arm, Lin Xiao quickly retracted his left arm and retreated smoothly. He raised both hands, the Higanbana Flower spinning continuously in his palms.
The soul core in his dantian rotated, and soul power instantly surged through his meridians. However, before Lin Xiao could attack again, the figure that had just charged in seemed to completely ignore him and simply continued rushing forward.
Only when he saw that there was only a huge empty room ahead with no other passages did he finally stop.
Even though his face was partially covered, Lin Xiao could still see his ugly expression.
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