The Unrivaled Tang Sect Volume 45, Chapter 612.3: Pressure

However, what would happen if there was no link? Could these soul engineers pool their strength? Their fighting strength would fall significantly. A soul engineer, unless he was Class 9, couldn’t possibly fight a Titled Douluo.
The Sun Moon Empire had quite a number of Class 9 soul engineers. However, this number was still smaller than the number of Titled Douluo in the three empires.
Furthermore, without any linked attacks or defenses, the Sun Moon Empire’s soul engineer legions were no longer invincible.
Because of this, Xuan Ziwen had decided to research the destruction of linked soul tools.
He had finally succeeded not long ago, and even turned his idea into reality. All the advanced-tier soul engineers in the Tang Sect were now involved in the production of such special soul tools.
He had decided to call them stationary interference shells.
It possessed the long-range characteristic of stationary shells. At the same time, it could cover a huge region, and last for a long time.
Stationary interference shells were all-round devices. They generated strong yet chaotic undulations which were sufficient to interfere with the aerial surveillance soul tools of the Sun Moon Empire. Most importantly, all linked soul tools would be disrupted through the undulations that were generated.
The only thing that Xuan Ziwen was regretful about was that his research had come too late. If he had succeeded when the war had just begun, the Sun Moon Empire would not have destroyed the Heavenly Soul and Dou Ling Empires. With the fighting strength of the soul master armies of the three empires, they would have been able to restrain the soul engineers.
It was war-defining research! Linked soul tools were weak in the face of stationary interference shells. Of course, the Sun Moon Empire might be able to come up with interference-resistant soul tools in the future, if given enough time. However, that wasn’t something that could be completed in a day or two.
Interfering was easy. Resisting the interference was much more difficult.
“Fire!” The White Tiger Duke had not been so excited for a long time. When he saw the linked attacks being fired in all directions, and that chaos had descended upon the soul engineer legions, he grew excited.
All this while, the Star Luo Empire had been under the restraint of the Sun Moon Empire. As Marshal of the army, he felt helpless because of this. Today, he finally got to raise his fist because of this stationary interference shell. He could finally combat his enemies.
Beams of light rose from Star Luo City. There were more than ten of them, and they were all headed towards the Sun Moon Empire’s soul engineer legions.
Every beam of glaring light was very powerful. Almost every soul engineer legion had to face the attack of one such beam of light.
All the aerial surveillance soul tools were a mess now. This was why they couldn’t possibly judge how strong these beams of light were. The Star Luo Empire’s counterattack had finally begun.
These beams of light were the last remaining Class 9 stationary shells that were left in Shrek City, the Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire!
The White Tiger Duke had decided to use his last trump card in this first wave of attack.
He had no choice. The stationary interference shells would be very effective at the start. This time was also when the Sun Moon Empire’s army was at its messiest. Class 9 stationary shells were able to unleash their greatest strength without any linked defenses around. If they succeeded, the entire situation of the war would change.
Ju Zi had already rushed out from her tent by now. With the help of her guards and advanced-tier soul engineers, she quickly rose into the sky. She watched as the glaring lights shot towards them.
It was too late to stop them now. She couldn’t even use sound transmission soul tools to give orders to the soul engineer legions.
Right now, she was even panicking, although she was always one to stay composed. She hadn’t expected the Star Luo Empire to come up with such a powerful soul tool to interfere with the linked and surveillance soul tools. She was a little frantic. Now, the Sun Moon Empire could only rely on the responses of their various soul engineer legions.
After all, the Sun Moon Empire had a strong foundation. The strength of soul tools and the command abilities of the various legion commanders had been well-demonstrated within the short amount of time they had.
First, the five soul engineer legions of the Hand that Protects the Nation made a move. Beams of light fired from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion.
These beams of lights were indeed not a part of any linked attack. However, they still congregated together in the air and transformed into an attack. They weren’t a linked attack, but the beams of light were still very close to one another as they fired at the Class 9 shell coming towards them.
The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer was undoubtedly one of the strongest forces in the world now. Every soul engineer had a cultivation equivalent to a Class 8 soul engineer, and they were strengthened by human-shaped soul tools. Although there were only three hundred of them, their combined attack still managed to detonate the Class 9 shell. At the same time, these soul engineers all activated their individual protective barriers. They let the shockwaves hit them and remained firm in their positions.
The other four beast lord-ranked soul engineer legions used the same method. They were all located in different directions, and were each facing a Class 9 shell too.
The Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion managed to successfully down one Class 9 shell. However, their overall abilities were still rather inferior compared to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion. Some of the soul engineers were flung away from the resulting shockwaves. Close to a hundred people fell from the sky. These people had been all standing at the front of the soul engineer legion.
The Terrorclaw Soul Engineer Legion fared about as well as the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion. They had always been known for their defense. About fifty or sixty of them fell from the sky.
But the Evileye Tyrant and Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legions were in a worse state.
The Evileye Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion was known for their speed. Furthermore, it was once battered by Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong. Although their members were quickly replaced, the new members weren’t as good as the ones before!
The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion was in a similar situation as the Evil Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion. It was under the command of the royal family. After Ju Zi gained authority, she suppressed the royal family. Along with the huge losses sustained by the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion many years ago, as well as the death of their legion commander, it was no longer as strong as it had been.
This was why both soul engineer legions suffered heavily as they were caught off-guard. Only a third of their soul engineers survived.
The situation on the ground was even more tragic.
The ordinary soul engineers were much weaker compared to those from the Hand that Protects the Nation. Even though some of them tried to resist, it was very difficult for them to aim under the effect of the stationary interference shells.
Balls of glaring light blew apart in the air. A terrifying energy storm instantly raged.
However, just as this round of explosions detonated, eight beams of light also shot from afar. They formed a barrier in the air that managed to protect some of the soul engineers.
Stationary interference shells could disrupt linked soul tools, but they couldn’t affect the attack and defense of a single soul tool.
These eight beams of light came from the high-energy compression array soul tools that the Sun Moon Empire’s army had brought.
These soul tools were directly operated by Kong Deming. Once he discovered the frightening effects of the stationary interference shells, he immediately reacted.
Although he couldn’t determine their exact positions through the aerial surveillance soul tools, he relied on his own experience and memory to quickly fire the compression array soul tools.
They were capable of attacking and defending, and he now used them to defend. This was because any attack would be futile right now, since Star Luo City was still far away. Intercepting the stationary shells required accuracy, but the aerial surveillance soul tools weren’t working. As a result, using the compression array soul tools to defend now was the best option.
Kong Deming’s timely use of the soul tools was a blessing for the Sun Moon Empire.
Terrifying explosions shook the entire sky. Lights of different colors flashed all around Star Luo City. The booms that resonated caused the soldiers to temporarily lose their hearing. Even the sky was painted with all types of colors as the sunlight dimmed.
This series of explosions lasted for fifteen minutes before they slowly stopped.
Ever since this war had started, this was probably the most intense moment. More than a dozen Class 9 stationary shells had been fired at the same time! How terrifying was that? Even the Sun Moon Empire couldn’t afford to attack so luxuriously.
The battlefield became clear again after fifteen minutes.
The defensive strength of the compression array soul tools was rather impressive. Although the protective barriers didn’t completely shield the soul engineers in the face of so many Class 9 shells, they still helped to a large extent.
Four protective barriers were left intact. The other four were completely crushed. On the ground, five out of the original twelve soul engineer legions had been wiped out. The other seven soul engineer legions had also sustained heavy losses.
This round of attacks had caused the Sun Moon Empire’s soul engineer legions to lose a third of their fighting strength! This was the heaviest loss they had sustained since the war had begun.
Ju Zi clenched her fists tightly as she drifted in mid-air. Even when the energy storm was at its most intense, she didn’t descend to avoid it. She hadn’t expected something like this at all.