The Storm City, as the capital of the Stormlands Dukedom, was home to several hundred thousand people and was a rather big city.
At least, when it was being compared to the cities of similar stature across the region.
Not to those in the Heaven Dou Empire or Star Luo Empire, where something like a Storm City would barely count as a Provincial Capital. Contrary to the usual busy Storm City, this time, the city looked very different.
The army of the Stormland Dukedom was already on full alert, standing on the walls of the Storm City, and most of them looked grim and serious. When everyone learned that the Spirit Hall had attacked them, it caused enormous shock, which was then followed by a feeling of dread.
The Spirit Hall was unquestionably accepted as the strongest and most powerful faction on the entire continent. The fact that the Spirit Hall was attacking them was deeply disturbing because this was a faction that even the two great Empires feared.
Even the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire depended on all of their might and underhanded methods to resist the influence of the Spirit Hall, and even then, it wasn't working every single time.
Duke Lei Tianlang stood on the walls of the city, looking even worse than his men, because the time that the Spirit Hall's forces arrived was shorter than he had anticipated.
Much shorter than he anticipated.
He predicted that the forces of the city would reach in several hours, not just one.
Even though he managed to mobilize the forces of Storm City and enter defensive mode, it wasn't enough, and they were just halfway through preparing some traps and countermeasures against the siege machines.
Either way, Storm City was at a disadvantage against the invading army of the Spirit Hall.
He hoped to have some more time to prepare against the invading army of the Spirit Hall, and now, he could only hope that the reinforcements from his allies would arrive as soon as possible, or else the Stormland Dukedom would become part of history.
"Prepare for the defense!"
Lei Tianlang shouted as he looked at the incoming siege machines of the Spirit Hall, though what was disturbing for him was that he couldn't see any of the Titled Douluo Level Combatants of the Spirit Hall.
Which meant that they were hiding.
Though whom he was able to see was the crimson-haired young man who stood in the position of power among the Knights Templar of the Spirit Hall. He didn't know the concrete identity of the young man, but he could clearly see that he was most probably the one who was commanding the entire Crusade.
Lei Tianlang was also pretty smart to see that this was most probably just a pre-prepared trap for him. The moment he attempted to attack or kidnap the commander, who seemed to be just Spirit King, the Titled Douluos of the Spirit Hall would strike and finish him in a few moves.
Looking at the Knights Templar that were surrounding the Storm City, the Duke of Storms couldn't help but become nervous, because the quality of the Knights Templar was far better than the elite legions in the two great Empires.
This was the first time that the Spirit Hall had showcased their strength, aside from some occasional Titled Douluos fighting here and there. The other forces of the Spirit Hall were always rather unknown, not making moves for a long time.
The last time the Spirit Hall deployed some of their forces was several tens of years ago, when the Spirit Hall launched a huge operation to destroy the Blood Fiend Sect, which was a sect of the Evil Spirit Masters.
But that was many decades ago, and not many remembered it.
Now, it was the first time in a few centuries that the Spirit Hall was once again showing their might to the wider population of the Douluo Continent.
As someone whose territory was close to the Spirit City, he was aware of the terrifying foundation of the Spirit Hall and their might. Not many could stand up to their might, and even fewer could do so and live to tell the tale.
***
Hun Tiandi observed the siege that was commencing with a certain degree of fascination in front of his eyes as he was coordinating the communication and coordination between the forces of the Spirit Hall.
With his Spiritual Power being at the peak of the Spirit Abyss Realm in the normal state, and if he pushed himself a bit, he could unleash even the full might of his Soul; it wasn't any kind of problem for him.
Sang Mandeok already ventured off to the frontlines and was fighting against the experts of the Stormland Dukedom, and it seemed that he was rather enjoying himself, because he managed to kill the fifth Spirit Emperor from the enemy faction.
Considering the overall strength of the Stormland Dukedom, this was rather a considerable loss. The entire Duchy didn't have a lot of powerful Spirit Masters in the first place, and every single one that was lost was a tremendous loss for the Dukedom.
Hun Tiandi only observed the situation and coordinated the forces, because he was waiting for the Duke Lei to make a move and also for the rats to appear. During the past hour or so since the siege started, he had already noticed several concealed auras at the Titled Douluo, who he knew were from the Clear Sky Clan.
Three, to be more precise.
Two Average Titled Douluos and one Super Douluo have arrived at the battlefield.
Spirit Rank 91, Spirit Rank 92 and Spirit Rank 95.
Just based on this, Hun Tiandi had some idea who had already arrived to reinforce the Stormland Dukedom.
Though there was also a certain possibility that these people were from different factions, because he could only analyze the strength of the people, not to discern their origin, unless he unleashed his entire Spiritual Realm.
Nevertheless, he believed that they would show themselves sooner or later.
The siege machines of the Spirit Hall that were being operated by the Spirit Guard Army were progressing smoothly to the city walls and through some of the siege towers; some Knights Templar were already fighting on the walls of the Storm City.
Hun Tiandi himself was rather tempted to make a move himself.
Even though he was "just" a Spirit King, his real combat prowess could reach that of peak Spirit Emperors, not including his Spiritual Power that he could use during the crucial moments.
He even dared to fight a Spirit Saint, even though the Martial Soul True Body would be rather problematic to deal with, he was confident in fighting most of the ordinary Spirit Masters at the Spirit Saint Realm as long as their Martial Souls were not overly powerful.
In which case, the Martial Soul True Body would give them a tremendous advantage and power boost.
On the other hand, his physical body was comparable to the Spirit Saint, which was a tremendous achievement, but it also came at the cost of countless resources consumed and the presence of the Nihility Devouring Flame Bloodline that was passively refining his physique.
Even though the Nihility Devouring Flame Bloodline wasn't activated in his body, just the passive Devouring of Spirit Energy to strengthen the body was already considered a tremendous benefit.
Unfortunately, Hun Tiandi now seemed to hit the wall and wouldn't be able to increase the strength of his physical body unless he ascended to the Peak Spirit Emperor or to the Spirit Saint Realm and condensed the Soul Core to have sufficient Spirit Energy.
Nevertheless, he refrained from making a move for the time being, because there were still a lot of Soul Douluos in the open, and there were even Titled Douluos waiting to make a move on the forces of the Spirit Hall.
The plan was rather simple.
Hun Tiandi would personally lead the final push once most of the powerhouses were occupied and once it was safe.
He wasn't arrogant enough to think that he could survive the might of the Titled Douluo, but once all of the Titled Douluos were fighting against the Elders of the Spirit Hall, and the Soul Douluos were also occupied, Hun Tiandi, with his heaven-defying combat prowess, would be like a reaper incarnate on the battlefield.
He could then storm through the battlefield, and he also had with him his Independent Martial Soul, Austin Griffin. Even though Hao Yue has reached the Spirit King Realm in terms of Spirit Rank and absorbed the 4 Spirit Rings, commanding three Elements, he possesses might comparable to a peak Spirit King.
***
On the walls of the Storm City, Sang Mandeok was literally warping through he walls of the Storm City at staggering speed, as he wielded the God's Blade Martial Soul. The God's Blade Martial Soul possessed the Ultimate Space Attribute, which allowed him to manipulate Space itself.
Something that even the Titled Douluos were envious of, including the Limit Douluos.
Sang Mandeok, as someone who possessed such Martial Soul, knew best how strict, rigid, and powerful the Laws of the Douluo Continent were. Ultimate Martial Souls had another advantage over the other Martial Souls.
Aside from the fact that they were more powerful, they allowed the Spirit Master to start comprehending the Laws of the said Element. Something that gave the bearers of the Ultimate Martial Souls greater chances to attain Godhood than any other kind of Spirit Master.
Some even said that having the Ultimate Martial Soul was like having a Divine Inheritance of God, but in the age where the connection with the Douluo Divine Realm was severed, or better said, it was extremely restricted, the Ultimate Martial Souls represented the best possibility of reaching Godhood.
If the innate talent and comprehension of the Spirit Master were high enough, they could achieve Limit Douluo Rank with ease and even start attaining Godhood.
Sang Mandeok devoted everything to bringing the potential of the God's Blades to the extreme.
Every single Spirit Ring that he had attached to the Martial Soul was of the Space Attribute and high age, attaining the maximum compatibility between the Martial Soul and Spirit Beast.
He warped once again, appearing behind the armored Spirit King of the Stormland Dukedom, and with a slash of the two blades that he was wielding, he severed his head. Before anyone could react to what had happened, he warped once again to the next Spirit King, and the process was repeated.
His task was to kill as many Spirit Kings and Spirit Emperors as possible before retreating; he was also specifically targeting the commanding officers in charge of the Stormland's Army to create chaos within their ranks.
Among the Spirit Masters dispatched to the Crusade, he was the one who was most problematic to deal with. Solely because of the Teleportation and Warping Abilities of his Martial Soul, Sang Mandeok was very fast and with the space-related abilities, it was very hard to counter him or to capture him.
Something like that was possible only for the Spirit Masters who reached the Titled Douluos.
Titled Douluos, if created, Soul Core could use their overwhelming Spirit Energy to seal a small part of the space, where the Spirit Master won't be able to use their Martial Soul.
Of course, this was working only for the Tilted Douluos who reached either the Spirit Rank 98 in the traditional way or became Super Douluos while cultivating the Celestial Spirit Mantra.
The white-haired Spirit Emperor appeared in front of another Spirit Emperor and slashed towards him with his twin blades, but much to his surprise, the Spirit Emperor of the Stormlands Dukedom managed to block it.
Which was a rather surprising truth to be told.
Instead, he grinned as this was the first time that somebody from the Stormland Army managed to survive his assassination attempt as he slashed with his weapon once again, aiming at the vital spots of the opponent.
The man whom he was fighting, instantly summoned his Martial Soul, a Beast-Type Martial Soul, as the Spirit Emperor obtained the appearance of a Lion, but was cracking with lightning. Sang Mandeok thought that the man was most probably a member of the Lei Lineage, because he was rather young.
Every member of the Lei Family possessed Lightning-attribute Martial Soul, regardless of whether the Martial Soul was of the Tool-Type, Beast-Type, or other type. Based on the age of the opponent, he correctly predicted that the Spirit Emperor must be a member of the Lei Family and was most probably one of the core disciples of the Lei Family.
"4th Spirit Skill: God's Blades Counsel!"
His 4th Spirit Skill: God's Blades Counsel allowed the user to conjure countless small blades that surrounded them before guiding the blades towards the enemy. The blades were flexible enough to slip through small openings and strong enough to pierce through metals and rocks.
The Lei Spirit Emperor instantly used his greatest advantage, which was his speed, to try to outrun the blades that were flying towards him, but he underestimated the power of the God's Blades Martial Soul.
Seeing that the opponent wanted to dodge the Spirit Skill, Sang Mandeok grinned as he clapped his hands.
"Self-Created Spirit Skill: Blade Control!"
Through mastery and some luck, some people can develop their own techniques and Spirit Skills. Sang Mandeok obviously was able to do so, but then again, creating some Self-Created Spirit Skills wasn't actually that rare within the Spirit Hall.
Many among the Elders of the Spirit Hall created the Self-Created Spirit Skills, but the stronger the Martial Soul was, the harder it was to create the Self-Created Spirit Skills.
Even the two Cardinals that accompanied them to the battlefield, Snake Lance Douluo She Long and Devil Bear Douluo Xiong Shi, possessed each several Self-Created Spirit Skills that they developed over the years.
Together with the Celestial Spirit Mantra, it became much easier for the Spirit Masters to create and use Self-Created Spirit Skills. Not to mention, due to the cultivation of the Celestial Spirit Mantra, the Spirit Masters could use their Spirit Skills more often and with much greater power.
Suddenly, the blades that were flying one way turned their direction, and with full speed, they followed the direction where the Lei Spirit Emperor went, and a few of them managed to strike him.
Fortunately for the Spirit Emperor of the Lei Family, his armor that he was wearing managed to block a few of them, but unfortunately for the man, there were too many of the floating blades created from the Spirit Skill.
In mere moments, several tens of blades pierce through the armor, creating huge dents in the armor.
Obviously, Sang Mandeok didn't waste the time, as he warped once more, appearing in front of the Spirit Emperor of the Lei Family, using the window of opportunity as he stabbed one of the blades through his stomach.
That blow was more than enough to kill a Spirit Emperor in one hit, but he used another Spirit Skill to make sure that the man really died.
"Sixth Spirit Skill: Space Vibration!"
In a split second, the black-colored Spirit Ring around Sang Mandeok shone with power as he executed his Sixth Spirit Skill, which was his strongest Spirit Skill.
Space Vibration.
Using this Spirit Skill, he could make a Space itself, releasing a Vibration that had extremely strong destructive prowess and was able to cut through any defense.
As long as he was able to supply the Spirit Energy for the Spirit Skill and had enough understanding of the Space, the power of this Spirit Skill could be considered as one of the strongest on the current Douluo Continent.
The Spirit Emperor of the Lei Family didn't even have time to react, as countless tiny Space Vibration erupted in his stomach, instantly destroying his internal organs and his heart in mere milliseconds.
Not even a second later, his entire upper body exploded into the bloody mixture of magnles flehs and blood that splattered all around the place.
Immediately afterwards, he warped out of the walls, because he was running out of the Spirit Energy, as he appeared amid the ranks of the Templar Knights and took a few Pills to recover spent Spirit Energy.
The Spirit Energy Recovery Pills were something that became standard among the forces of the Spirit Hall, but because of the insufficient resources in terms of Spirit Herbs and Immortal Herbs, only the Knights Templar were given some.
And even then, it depended on their Rank within the Knights Templar and Spirit Rank.
***
"Hmm... Sang managed to kill Duke's son and a good number of Spirit Kings and Spirit Emperors on the walls; their first line of defense should start collapsing soon enough."
As he observed the situation, he suddenly felt a Titled Douluo aura appear on the battlefield, bearing a distinctive Lightning Attribute. This meant that the siege of Storm City was entering the final phase of the siege.
Titled Douluos were about to start clashing.
Evidently, the death of the Heir of the Storm Duke wasn't unnoticed, and Hun Tiandi sent an overwhelmingly powerful Lightning-attributed Spirit Energy burst from the depths of the city...
It seemed that Duke Lei Tianlang had gone berserk.
Well, it was understandable because Lei Tianlang had only one son and one Heir.
"One, two, three and... four? Well, this could be rather troublesome..."
Suddenly, one of the Titled Douluos appeared in the skies, cracking with lightning as he scanned through the battlefield and searching for the murderer of his son, but before he could do anything, a shadow appeared in front of him.
It was Snake Lance Douluo who appeared in front of Duke Lei Tianlang, wielding his Martial Soul, Snake Lance, and aimed at the heart of Lei Tianlang, hoping to kill him in one hit.