Devouring Soul Emperor

When he figured this out, Chu Qingyun couldn’t help but laugh to himself.

Thanks to Wen Yanlie’s small pointer, he had finally realized the true power of his Devouring Martial Soul!

’Teaming up? Coordination?’

’When you got right down to it, it was nothing more than combining the unique powers of different types of Martial Souls.’

But Chu Qingyun had the Devouring Martial Soul. He could have any Martial Soul he wanted, and he could even continuously raise their tiers.

’So, he was essentially a one-man team. He could assemble a combination of Martial Souls according to his own designs!’

Before, Chu Qingyun had only ever collected unique Martial Souls, like the Shadow Martial Soul and the Thousand-faced Martial Soul.

But now, this new epiphany had given him a clear direction: to assemble a set of Martial Souls perfectly suited to his own combat style!

"Chu? Chu?"

Chu Qingyun was lost in his sudden epiphany, his mind clearing completely. It took Wen Yanlie calling his name twice to bring him back to his senses.

He smiled, a little embarrassed, and asked, "Wen, what kind of Martial Soul do you have?"

Asking this was actually rather awkward and invasive, as you could tell a great deal about a Martial Artist from their Martial Soul.

However, Wen Yanlie was set on teaming up with Chu Qingyun and didn’t mind such details. He answered directly, "My Martial Soul is a Tier Three Defensive Type Martial Soul called Iron Wall. I’ve also cultivated a Secret Technique that’s defensive as well."

Chu Qingyun understood immediately. ’So this guy only specializes in defense. No wonder he’s looking for a partner.’

Chu Qingyun smiled and released his Ten-star Vine Martial Soul. "My Martial Soul is a Tier Three Control-type Soul called Ten-Star Vine. I’ve also cultivated a Sword Technique with power on par with a Tier Three attack-type Soul Technique."

Wen Yanlie’s eyes lit up when he saw the Control-type Soul.

Among all Martial Souls, Attack-type Martial Souls were the most common, making up over ninety percent of the total. Next came Defense-type Martial Souls, followed by Control-type Souls. Supporting Martial Souls were the absolute rarest.

Strictly speaking, Chu Qingyun’s Shadow Martial Soul and Thousand-faced Martial Soul would be classified as Supporting Martial Souls.

The two discussed for a moment and agreed to cooperate if they ran into each other inside. Then, Wen Yanlie left, satisfied.

Wen Yanlie had initially thought Chu Qingyun simply had great potential and was worth befriending. He hadn’t expected him to also possess a Control-type Soul—that was a pleasant surprise.

「That evening, inside Guard General Liu Canghai’s room at the City Lord’s Mansion.」

Liu Canghai sat at a table, two men standing respectfully to the side. They were the same two captains who had been reprimanded by Sun Daxiong earlier that day.

The scrawny and rather sleazy Zhang Haizi—Zhang Yunqiu—and the pale, plump Huang Feizi—Huang Ju.

"You both know what the third trial entails. Do you understand what you need to do once you’re inside?" Liu Canghai asked, his expression grim as he toyed with the lid of his teacup.

Zhang Yunqiu bowed, a sycophantic look on his face. "Lord Liu, rest assured. Once I’m inside, I’ll definitely kill that brat Chu Qingyun. And that Primordial Spirit Liquid will be all yours, my lord."

"Idiot!" Liu Canghai snapped, annoyed. "Do you think I care about those Military Merits like you two do? It’s his secrets! I want you to watch him. Finding out his secrets is what’s important. Hmph, the odds of him killing Ma Zhiyong by luck alone are far too slim..." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Two thousand Military Merits was a considerable sum even for him, but it wasn’t enough to make him openly turn against and rob an Examiner who was a Fifth-level Martial Artist.

"Yes, yes, of course! We will do our absolute best to uncover his secrets for you, my lord, and seize whatever opportunity he has!"

"Your foresight is truly remarkable, my lord! Short-sighted fools like us can only see the Military Merits and Primordial Spirit Liquid, while you are already looking so far ahead. We are truly unworthy of comparison."

The two hurriedly agreed, seizing the opportunity to lay the flattery on thick.

Flattery will get you everywhere, as they say.

Liu Canghai laughed heartily and waved a magnanimous hand. "Once this is done, those twenty drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid are yours. What’s more, if there truly is a great opportunity involved, I will have an even greater reward for you!"

"Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord..."

...

After a full day’s wait, on the morning of the third day, the Great Xia Dragon Guard announced the end of the second trial!

According to the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s count, out of the 372 people who participated in the second trial, a total of 156 had completed their missions and passed. Five people were disqualified for cheating.

As for the rest, they had not yet returned. It was unclear whether they had died on their missions, given up, or simply failed to finish in time.

Immediately after, the Great Xia Dragon Guards announced the details of the third trial.

Strictly speaking, this third trial was both an assessment and a real battle.

Not only would the Examiners participate, but so would the entire legion of Great Xia Dragon Guards who had come with them, including their captains. The Guard General, of course, would not be going.

And their target, the objective of the mission, was none other than the Martial Soul Hall!

To be precise, it was one of the Martial Soul Hall’s strongholds in Lianshan County, located deep within the Mist Forest!

Upon hearing the name Martial Soul Hall, the Great Xia Dragon Guards all remained calm, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

Most of the Examiners, however, were confused, having never heard the name before. A few, though, remained composed, suggesting they knew something about it.

Chu Qingyun, for his part, was slightly surprised. This was the first time he had heard the name Martial Soul Hall from an official source.

According to You Yun, the Martial Soul Hall was the common enemy of all human Martial Artists across the entire continent—the Four Directions and Eight Domains plus the Central State. This meant it had to be a colossal organization.

For such an organization to have strongholds in small, remote places like the Northern Domain, the nation of Great Xia, and Lianshan County... one could only imagine how deeply they had infiltrated the Martial World.

According to the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s intelligence, the Martial Soul Hall members gathered deep within the Mist Forest were all at the Martial Master Level, which was why this was being used as the third trial.

Like the second trial, this third one also came with rewards.

Before entering, everyone would receive a Token. This Token could sense and record the Qi of any Martial Soul Hall members they killed, thereby logging the Military Merits they earned.

Killing a ninth-level Martial Artist from the Martial Soul Hall earned 100 Military Merits.

Killing an eighth-level Martial Artist earned 50 Military Merits.

A seventh-level Martial Artist was worth 20 Military Merits, and any below seventh-level were worth 10 Military Merits each.

The top fifty Examiners in the final Military Merit rankings would pass the third trial and become official Great Xia Dragon Guards!

Of course, these reward values were for the Examiners. An official Great Xia Dragon Guard would only earn one-fifth of the Military Merits for the same kills.

In this way, the mission was also a form of reward and compensation, using Military Merits to offset the risks they were taking.

But the next rule the Great Xia Dragon Guard announced made the faces of the Examiners below fall.

"The Military Merits on an Examiner’s Token... are transferable!"