Douluo Continent: The Book of Witness and Peerless Tang Sect

Long You's plan to immediately return to the Star Dou Great Forest ultimately failed, because they still needed to wait for the aura-collecting soul tool to return. The soul-guided drone responsible for carrying it had limited energy reserves, and if Long You and the others left now, the soul-guided drone carrying the aura-collecting soul tool would definitely not be able to catch up.

Since there was no rush to travel, Long You simply continued watching the "movie." Long You didn't plan to personally join in the excitement in Mingdu City, but if he had the chance to watch a battle between Title Douluos, Long You considered himself a qualified bystander and wouldn't miss such a spectacle.

According to his memory, this early nightfall wasn't the planned time for the operation, but Long You had set off a spectacular fireworks display not far from Mingdu City. Considering that the Holy Spirit Cult and the Sun Moon Empire had a tacit agreement in that direction, the sudden commotion made it impossible for Xu Tianran to completely ignore it, even if he suspected it was a diversionary tactic.

That's exactly what happened. After the Sun Moon Empire sent its imperial guards and soldiers to the palace, the commanders of the Star Luo Empire and the Body Sect decisively changed their action plans and the two sides rushed straight to the Sun Moon Empire's palace.

The battle between the titled Douluo was magnificent, and the entire Mingdu City was shrouded in terrifying pressure. However, although it should have been a sneak attack with the attacker having the upper hand, from Long You's perspective, it was clearly an ambush that the Sun Moon Empire had prepared thoroughly.

"It seems Elder Xuan hasn't made a move?" Zhang Lexuan's somewhat puzzled voice rang out beside Long You.

"Elder Xuan has gone to meet Yuhao. We can make money outside the city, but there are also opportunities to make money inside the city. Compared to the Holy Spirit Sect's reserve warehouse, which is used as a cover, the war reserve warehouse inside the city has more and more valuable items."

Yuhao's luck is pretty good. He found the entrance while exchanging knowledge at Mingde Hall, and now is a suitable time. However, now is not the right time to make Mingde Hall disappear. How much he gets depends on luck.

"A war reserve warehouse? It's unlikely that such a warehouse is in the hands of Mingde Hall! Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, Jing Hongchen wasn't there during the battle at the palace."

Having lived in Mingdu for over twenty years, Long Guozhang keenly noticed the loopholes in Long You's words.

No sooner had Long Guozhang finished speaking than another battle erupted in Mingdu City. Earth-yellow and gold-red halos suddenly rose into the sky, transforming the peaceful research facility of Mingde Hall into a mechanical fortress. The roar of the soul-guided devices being launched momentarily drowned out the sounds of battle from the Sun Moon Empire's palace, helping the clearly disadvantaged gold-red halos to regain their footing.

"You reminded Mingdetang? Why? Just because Mingdetang gave you the location of the Holy Spirit Church's reserve warehouse?"

Zhang Lexuan's tone revealed an undisguised sense of doubt. Although theft was hardly a respectable act, she couldn't find any reason to sabotage it if it helped weaken the enemy.

"It's very simple. Mingde Hall is not an enemy. Taking away the supplies from Mingde Hall's warehouses is not weakening Mingde Hall, but rather weakening the influence of the Hongchen family. This will not reduce the war potential of the Sun Moon Empire, but will only allow the Holy Spirit Sect to become more rampant in the Sun Moon Empire."

Jing Hongchen has no ambition to dominate the continent; he prefers to carry on his family's legacy and research soul tools. Because of this attitude, coupled with the major setback the Body Sect inflicted on Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen is no longer part of Xu Tianran's core team. The reason he hasn't completely lost his influence is solely because he still manages Mingde Hall, the Sun Moon Empire's most powerful soul tool research institution. If Xu Tianran wants Mingde Hall to cooperate, he must communicate with Jing Hongchen.

However, if Mingde Hall, under Jing Hongchen's jurisdiction, were to suffer another raid on its storage warehouse, Jing Hongchen would inevitably lose his position as the head of Mingde Hall, and his prestige would plummet. At that point, Mingde Hall, completely under Xu Tianran's control, would become a veritable engine of war.

In my opinion, Mingdetang is far better off in Jing Hongchen's hands than in Xu Tianran's. Research institutions should focus on conducting research and improving the quality of life for all citizens, rather than obsessively plunging into military research and development.

Of course, and most importantly, I despise the Holy Spirit Cult, and Jing Hongchen, who controls the Mingde Hall, would be a formidable adversary for them.

"So, you reminded Jing Hongchen to be careful of the warehouse guards, and then you reminded Yuhao to bring Elder Xuan along, lest he actually run headlong into Jing Hongchen's hands. What about the war reserve warehouse?"

While Long You's explanation and logic weren't without flaws, Zhang Lexuan only needed to ascertain that Long You wasn't trying to help the Sun Moon Empire. Her focus now was on the war reserve warehouse Long You had mentioned earlier. Long You was always one to leave with something; since he hadn't stopped Huo Yuhao's actions, he must have prepared compensation for Huo Yuhao in case the first objective failed.

"It's right there, just a wall away. Yuhao will definitely be able to spot it. Elder Xuan is moving in that direction. Soul Masters' battles are always incredibly powerful, so it's normal for there to be some friendly fire."

Having developed the new continent, the academy no longer lacked rare metals. What it lacked was the foundation for developing soul tools and readily available weaponry. The former couldn't be obtained by raiding warehouses, and the latter, more specifically, was military supplies. Coincidentally, that war reserve warehouse contained a large quantity of fixed-position soul-guided artillery shells, as well as a new type of integrated array soul tool newly developed by Mingde Hall, which had not yet been officially deployed to the army.

Returning to Mingdu, Huo Yuhao was fully activating the invisible soul tool on his body. The tight defenses of the Mingde Hall's supply warehouse had caused him some trouble. Subconsciously, the message that Long You had sent him that morning came to mind.

This is Mingdu, Xu Tianran's territory. Judging from the current situation in the Sun Moon Empire, this Crown Prince Xu Tianran is shrewd, powerful, and has a deep mind. So, are the plans of the Star Luo Empire and the Body Sect really not within Xu Tianran's expectations?

Yuhao, I suspect you have some designs on Mingde Hall, and you probably want to take advantage of the chaos while the Star Luo Empire and the Body Sect are at war. But like I said above, can the unexpected events in Xu Tianran's plan really cause enough chaos? Mingde Hall has already suffered a loss at the hands of the Body Sect once. Now that the Body Sect wants to make another move, do you think Mingde Hall will be on guard? The Body Sect also knows the location of that warehouse.

My advice is to have Elder Xuan accompany you. If your actions are hindered, Elder Xuan should distract Mingde Hall and gradually move towards the palace battleground. You can try to reach the back of Mingde Hall—Longyou>

"Elder Yi, did the guards over there really move along with it?"

As the message scrolled by, Huo Yuhao subconsciously gritted his teeth and hurriedly headed towards the location he had previously identified through mental detection.