Douluo Continent: Long Live the Spirit Hall

Yan sneered at Xie Yue's words, "Those restless nobles and princes want to take back power? What a joke."

As they spoke, they had reached the highest point of the city tower, where they could see a black line appearing on the southern land. As the black line drew closer, the entire Longxing City was inevitably affected and began to shake.

"A million-strong army hunting down the dragon, what a grand scheme! They're going to put up a last-ditch resistance and fight us to the death."

Standing on the edge of the city wall, Yan could see the million-strong army at the end of his line of sight more clearly. Their orderly steps, which seemed to blot out the sky, were truly awe-inspiring.

The throngs of people stretched as far as the eye could see, yet remained orderly amidst the fluttering flags. The Star Luo army, advancing in units of tens of thousands, moved across the vast plains like an unstoppable torrent of steel.

The first thing that came into Yan's view was the constantly fluttering banners. Heavy cavalry, with men and horses covered in thick armor, were in front of the army. On both sides were heavy infantry legions composed entirely of strong soldiers, and in the center was the largest infantry army.

At least ten light cavalry legions galloped back and forth on the perimeter of the main army, responsible for reconnaissance, scouting, and protecting the center. They marched forward in a mighty procession, and the surrounding earth trembled with their footsteps.

In the center of the army, one could see even more elite troops, while further back was a massive supply corps—for an army to move, its provisions must precede its advance. These logistical support troops alone numbered over 500,000, and the main force besieging Longxing City would be even larger.

The phrase "million-strong army" is not an adjective, but a fact. Xingluo mobilized all its resources for this battle, and the main force besieging Longxing City consisted of elite troops, numbering over a million.

To mobilize these troops, the Star Luo Empire began deploying local forces months ago, and at present, the cities within its borders are barely maintaining their rule. For this day, they have staked everything they have.

This time, the Star Luo Empire mobilized nearly three million regular troops, logistical support troops, and reserve troops, absolutely exhausting the nation's resources.

“We need to hold off or even eliminate their main force. Compared to Xingluo, the situation in Tiandou is not completely stable yet. If we allow them to join forces with the troops of those kingdoms and duchies, even with our support, it will be very difficult to continue fighting.”

On the city wall, Yan Yao gazed at the million-strong army with its banners waving, and calmly addressed the crowd. This great battle was inevitable today. Both the Spirit Hall and the Star Luo understood that this was the final decisive battle, and therefore both sides were prepared.

The Star Luo Empire had made advance contact with the Clear Sky Sect and some Soul Master forces to reach a cooperation agreement, planning to disrupt the selection conference of the Seven Great Sects and eliminate all the Soul Masters in Dragon Rising City through a coordinated effort from within and without.

Because of the selection conference of the seven major sects, Longxing City has gathered most of the high-end soul master combat power outside of the Spirit Hall.

If Xingluo and Haotian Sect's plans go smoothly, with Haotian suppressing them internally and a large army pressing in from the outside, these soul master forces might actually cooperate with them.

The Spirit Hall's greatest advantage over the Star Luo Empire lies in its Spirit Masters. If the Star Luo Empire were to truly incorporate the Spirit Masters of Dragon Rising City, they would barely be able to contend with the Spirit Hall in terms of high-end combat power.

Although the Heaven Dou Empire has been taken over by the Spirit Hall, it is temporarily unstable due to various policy reforms. Furthermore, Heaven Dou's military strength is already inferior to that of Star Luo. If the advantage of spirit masters is temporarily caught up, then this battle will be quite difficult.

It was precisely because Yan was clear about the Star Luo Empire's plans that he personally came to Longxing City to eliminate the hidden dangers posed by the Haotian Sect.

However, the matter of the Haotian Sect is easy to resolve, but the Xingluo army is the real trouble. It will not be easy to stop a million-strong army. The real test is just beginning.

"In terms of military discipline, Xingluo far surpasses Tiandou in such an elite and iron-blooded army."

Yan gazed at the army with its banners arrayed in the distance, sighing inwardly while constantly observing their positions and, in accordance with his plan, devising the necessary adjustments.

The million-strong army of Xingluo is indeed terrifying. Although Soul Masters are powerful, most of them are still human. Before reaching the Soul Saint realm, their physical strength and soul power are still quite limited, and they are easily killed when facing an army of ten thousand.

Before them stood an army of a million. Let alone a Soul Saint, even a Title Douluo would be unable to withstand it head-on. Once the numbers reached a certain proportion, no one could stand against this iron torrent.

"War, what an unfamiliar word."

Xie Yue and Tuoba Hong stood beside Yan, listening to his sighs. They shared the same feeling; in their era, the situation on the continent was easing, and there had been no large-scale wars for many years.

No one knows how this battle against a million-strong army will end, but for now, they have no choice but to fight, because it is the choice of the Star Luo Empire, and these people have entered their final frenzy.

"White Tiger Douluo, since you have already amassed your troops and are pressing on the border, why don't you show yourself?"

Yan gazed into the distance, his figure suddenly vanished, and reappeared above the central army of the massive force below. With a long roar, the rolling sound waves soared into the sky.

The deep, clear roar carried far and wide, spreading like an endless army across the land. This long roar reached every corner of the million-strong army below, and everyone heard it clearly.

His voice, far from waning, grew ever louder. The rolling roar, like crashing waves, shook the million-strong army below.

"Since the Holy Son has personally invited you, what harm is there in me meeting you?"

A deep and calm voice rang out from the million-strong army. A massive dragon chariot rose from the center of the army, and eight flying soul masters at the Soul Saint level carried the chariot into the air to a position level with Yan Ping.

Inside the dragon chariot with its fluttering curtains, the Star Luo Emperor calmly met Yan's gaze. He was the emperor who decided the decisive battle between Star Luo and the Spirit Hall, and also the father of Davis and Dai Mubai.

Yan had a blood feud with him for killing his son, but if Yan hadn't been constantly targeting Xingluo, he really wouldn't have wanted to take such a desperate gamble.

Chapter 454 Holy Light Charge

On the city wall of Longxing, Yan looked at the Star Luo Emperor in the center of the imposing army and said rather calmly, "Your Majesty doesn't seem to be in a good mood. Why aren't you making a move yet? Are you afraid of losing?"

"I know you're trying to stall for time, charge!" Emperor Xingluo was naturally furious at being humiliated by Yan. However, since this guy dared to use a million troops to surround Longxing City, he wasn't an impulsive person. After being provoked by Yan, he didn't charge out of the army himself, but instead commanded the army to rush towards Longxing City.

Yan gazed at the dark, towering waves in the distance, a hint of seriousness creeping into his eyes.

"This guy's got a sharp mind, this is a bit troublesome."

"Boss, what do we do? There are more people outside than the entire population of Longxing City. Even if we all attack together, we can't stop them." Tuoba Hong leaned close to Yan and asked in a low voice what they should do next. They had many strong individuals, but the opposing army was even larger.

The massive army was mobilized, and unless they had some kind of devastating attack that could terrify the enemy, their current force of a few hundred men was simply not enough.

"If he has arrangements, why shouldn't I?" Yan didn't care about Tuoba Hong's complaints. With a wave of his hand, a golden-red flame bloomed in the sky, and then figures quickly gathered at the south gate from various corners of Longxing City.

"This is... the Holy Light Knights." Xie Yue and Tuoba Hong were both very surprised when they recognized these people, because the number of people who had gathered so quickly exceeded ten thousand, and they were all Soul Masters. More importantly, their soul power auras were extremely similar.

The Holy Light Knights were a Soul Master unit formed by the Spirit Hall after Yan held the Holy Light Festival, which brought about a divine miracle. The members who became Soul Masters because of the miracle were recruited by the Spirit Hall.

The members of the Holy Light Knights are generally not very talented. Their initial soul power comes from the blessing of the gods. Over the years, not many strong individuals have emerged, but their numbers are sufficient.

The Spirit Hall has a strong foundation. After years of dormancy, it has nearly 100,000 elite spirit masters of level 30 or above under its command and has formed multiple spirit master legions.

However, most of these Soul Master legions have their own problems. Because if they are not related by blood, the difference in the Martial Souls of most Soul Masters is actually quite large. This means that even if they try their best to cooperate, the effect may not be the best.

To illustrate this with a simple example, in the original Soul Hunting Operation, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan was ambushed by the Spirit Hall and was at a significant disadvantage. However, the Spirit Hall ultimately suffered a total annihilation at the cost of more than twice the number of Soul Masters dying before completely destroying the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan.

The reason for this result is that most of the soul masters in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan are related to the dragon race, and their soul power aura is similar, so the soul master formation they are in charge of suffers less damage and has greater power.

Because most unfamiliar Soul Masters could not achieve the level of cooperation that a family could, the various Soul Master legions of the Spirit Hall mostly relied on sheer numbers to win. This situation only changed with the emergence of the Holy Light Knights.

The biggest difference between the members of the Holy Light Knights and the previous Soul Master legions is that their Soul Masters have undergone the baptism of light, and their Soul Power attributes naturally carry a certain holy light quality, making it easier for them to cooperate.

This natural advantage, coupled with the considerable number of Holy Light Soul Masters accumulated year after year, has made the Holy Light Knights of the Spirit Hall absolutely dominant in combat power after so many years of training.

"Holy Light! Judge them!" Outside the south gate of Dragon Rising City, the sky was clear and cloudless, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Just as the commotion in the distance was becoming more and more obvious and frequent, the south gate of the city suddenly burst open. Accompanied by countless shouts, a torrent of knights, overflowing with the aura of holy light, suddenly attacked.

"Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap..." Outside the South City Plain, the two cavalry forces were rapidly approaching each other. Just when everyone thought a fierce battle was about to unfold, countless fire snakes suddenly spewed out from the southern city wall of Longxing City.

The gleaming bullets clattered and slammed against the brick wall. This long-prepared metal storm cut off the central cavalry of the Star Luo Army from a distance of over a thousand meters. At this moment, the two cavalry forces were less than fifty meters apart, and a massacre ensued.

"Judgment." All the Soul Masters of the Holy Light Knights simultaneously activated their Martial Souls, and the aura of tens of thousands of people seemed to be one. Brilliant light instantly shone from the earth. Ten thousand Soul Masters releasing their Martial Souls at the same time was an absolutely magnificent scene.

Countless spirit rings flashed with yellow, purple, and black colors, and the sudden surge of terrifying aura became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

The numerous Soul Masters of the Holy Light Knights adjusted their formation during the movement, and the tens of thousands of people seemed to be one, with the Soul Kings and Soul Emperors at the forefront as the vanguard, forming a golden arrow of light that pierced straight into the enemy's center.

This golden light instantly overwhelmed and swept past the vanguard cavalry of Xingluo, rushing towards the central army banner at an extremely fast speed.

"Stop them! Stop them!"

"Useless trash! Charge, you bunch of useless trash!"

"What are you doing! Charge forward and hold them off!" The Star Luo vanguard collapsed instantly under the Spirit Hall's combined attack, with hundreds of thousands fleeing in panic. This destructive power was far more terrifying than hundreds of thousands of pigs.

Although many of the powerful nobles in the Star Luo Empire are veteran generals, this time the Star Luo Emperor is leading the expedition in person, and most of the regular generals are commanding their troops near the central army, so they are unable to effectively convey orders in a short time.

Furthermore, these guys' armies are basically just ordinary elite troops, and the difference between them and the Spirit Hall's Soul Master troops is enormous.

On the Spirit Hall's side, it was still the Soul Kings and Soul Emperors who were leading the team. However, all of these leaders were crammed into the central army, thinking about how to perform. There was a big difference between me leading the team and me leading the team. When this incident happened, everything went upside down.

A million-strong army may seem impressive and powerful when things are going well, but once problems arise, it's difficult to coordinate and resolve them quickly, leaving one helpless to watch the situation collapse.

"Send the order down: the central and rear armies are to disperse and fire arrows to hinder the enemy's advance. All generals are to make their own deployments and ensure that the impact of the rout is minimized." Emperor Xingluo was also extremely troubled by the chaotic situation in front of him. He quickly sent out the order while directing the central army to disperse to both sides.

Banners fluttered in the wind. Even though the Star Luo Emperor reacted quickly, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the vanguard had been lost in this battle. Even if they were gathered back, they would not be able to go back to the battlefield today.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh..." The Star Luo side had a large army, and naturally, many archers as well. Countless arrows rained down like a storm, covering the Holy Light Knights who were charging forward.

While these arrows were not as powerful as the bullet storm Yan had arranged, their sheer number and dense attack would have turned an ordinary Soul Master into a pincushion if they were to slip up, but they were no threat to the Holy Light Knights.

"Holy Light Shield!" The members of the Holy Light Knights simultaneously activated their first soul skill, and beams of light flashed and condensed into a Holy Light Shield. The auras of the many shields were connected, and an even larger shield was placed over the entire army.

"Clang clang clang clang clang clang..." A dense rain of arrows fell rapidly, but they were just ordinary arrows after all, and they were of no use against the Holy Light Shield. As the vanguard was completely engulfed by the Holy Light, the Star Luo's central army also faced the edge of the Holy Light directly.

"Sword of Holy Light Judgment! Judgment!" All the Holy Light Knights simultaneously drew their longswords and released their second martial spirits. Holy light condensed on the blades of their knights and shot out simultaneously, with tens of thousands of holy light sword energies striking out at the same time, merging in mid-air into an even more dazzling and terrifying sword beam.

The golden sword light swept across the sky and earth, instantly obliterating everything in its path and sweeping away countless banners of the million-strong army.

The third soul skills of ten thousand Holy Light Knights flashed simultaneously, and the terrifying light merged into one, like a tidal wave of light sweeping across, completely engulfing everything outside the south of Dragon Rising City.

"Gulp." On the top of Longxing City, many powerful figures from the Spirit Hall were stunned by this scene. Tuoba Hong, who was next to Yan, even swallowed his saliva subconsciously and said incredulously, "Is the Holy Light Knights really that powerful? They seem even more terrifying than Title Douluos."

"Your feeling isn't wrong. A force of tens of thousands of Soul Masters, if they can unleash all their advantages like they did just now, is indeed more terrifying than a Title Douluo, and might even be able to destroy a city." Yan looked at the magnificent sea of ​​light below, his eyes showing little emotion.

"Even the strongest Title Douluo are still human, not gods. As long as they are human, the power of a single person is ultimately limited. But when hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people simultaneously unleash the same soul skill in coordination, that's a completely different level of power. If the soul power of so many people could be fused into one, even a god would feel fear. However, this task is too difficult; at least it's impossible now. Take this formation in front of us, for example. At most, it uses soul power resonance to create similar fluctuations, which doesn't quite qualify as a unified force, but the power it unleashes is stronger than most Title Douluos. Of course, for such a team to unleash such power, it requires a long period of preparation; the right time, the right place, and the right people are all indispensable. This time, it was because the opposing side didn't have many powerful soul masters and failed to receive advance intelligence that they suffered such a crushing defeat. If they had been prepared and reacted in time, targeting the key commander of the Knights, it could have caused coordination problems within the Knights..."

"So that's how it is. No wonder you've been secretly mobilizing troops all this time, boss." Tuoba Hong nodded in sudden understanding, and the others also looked at him with approval and admiration, clearly impressed by the Holy Son's brilliant strategy.

Yan was not complacent because of Tuoba Hong's praise. He kept a close eye on the battlefield. The Holy Light Knights on the Spirit Hall's side were powerful, but they were too few in number. The enemy's million-strong force was not a million pigs, so it was not so easy to completely defeat them.

As they were talking, figures darted out from the fleeing troops and quickly converged, soon gathering several thousand people.

These people were all Soul Masters. They were able to gather together in the midst of the chaos, and their cultivation levels were not low. After they gathered together, they acted quickly and moved towards the flank of the Knights, preparing to launch a targeted attack.

Although all members of the Holy Light Knights are Soul Masters, there are very few truly powerful ones. There are only a few Soul Emperors, dozens of Soul Kings, and the rest are Soul Sect Masters or Soul Venerables.

Although the Star Luo Empire does not have the Three Upper Sects, it is still a warlord empire, and it must have gathered tens of thousands of Soul Masters, whose quality is also higher.

Chapter 455 The Zhu Family's Backstabbing

"Stop talking nonsense. They've realized what's going on. This battle is far from over." On the top of Longxing City, Yan noticed the Star Luo Empire's targeted actions and reminded the Spirit Hall members to be prepared. After all, the Star Luo Empire was going all out in this battle, and they wouldn't be so easily defeated.

“Your Highness, the Star Luo Empire is acting tyrannically and barbarically. My Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School has long been disgusted by their behavior.”

"My Elephant Armor Sect is also willing to be a pioneer for the Spirit Hall."

"Although the Wind Sword Sect is located in Xingluo, it is also a group of Soul Masters."

"The Fire Leopard Sect has suffered much oppression from the Star Luo Royal Family, and today we will fight them to the death."... Before Yan could even give the order to act, a group of Soul Masters from Dragon Rising City spontaneously came to help. The Soul Masters from the original seven major sects took the lead, and other large and small Soul Master forces and independent cultivators also joined in.

Although most of them were just opportunists who changed sides with the wind, the smart ones could see that the Star Luo ship was doomed and the Spirit Hall would rule in the future.

The Spirit Hall has developed rapidly in recent years, and the status of spirit masters in Douluo Continent has been significantly improved. Everyone has their own standards, and now they naturally know how to choose.

Didn't you see that even the Haotian Sect group rushed over? Although they didn't shout as loudly as the other seven major sects, they were very proactive and took the lead. Isn't that a sign of being sensible?

On the top of Longxing City, Yan Meng waved his hand, and the many Holy Light Knights below received the order to shrink their formation and preserve their strength. The soul masters who rushed out of Longxing City also acted quickly and soon engaged in a fierce battle with the soul masters of Xingluo outside.

Numerous Soul Masters, led by their respective powerful figures, clashed in a chaotic battle, their various soul lights intertwining and flashing. This clash was not a one-sided massacre, but the situation was still dire for the Star Luo side.

Ultimately, the Star Luo royal family's influence in the soul master world is limited. The Spirit Hall is still the dominant force in this field, and only the Spirit Hall can gather thousands or even tens of thousands of soul masters for legion-level professional training.

The two groups of Soul Masters currently locked in combat do not employ this method. Although the Star Luo side has also trained and cooperated, their opponents are not entirely unorthodox.