Devouring Soul Emperor

"The Military Merits on the Examiners’ Tokens can be traded with one another!"

This single rule made the atmosphere on the training grounds rather tense. Even among the Examiners who had already agreed to cooperate and gathered together, gazes began to shift and flicker.

Of course, "trade" was just a pleasant-sounding term.

After all, if I could trade Spiritual Medicine and Treasures for your Military Merits, I could just as easily trade your life for them. Of course, that sort of behavior is more commonly known as... robbery.

Furthermore, it wasn’t just the Examiners whose minds started turning; even the Great Xia Dragon Guards began to show calculating looks in their eyes.

Aside from the captains, the regular Great Xia Dragon Guards hadn’t known the specific rules for the third trial beforehand.

Although the rule didn’t say the Great Xia Dragon Guards’ Tokens could be traded with the Examiners, every rule has its loopholes...

The corners of some Great Xia Dragon Guards’ mouths curled into faint smiles, and their gazes toward the Examiners became fraught with meaning.

In this third trial, the Military Merits the Examiners could obtain were five times their own. Killing a single Ninth-level Martial Artist granted a hundred points of Military Merits, rivaling the reward for the weakest Middle Level mission. It was truly enough to make anyone green with envy!

Once the rules were announced, all the Great Xia Dragon Guards and the Examiners lined up and departed from the city together.

For this third trial, not only did the Great Xia Dragon Guards not prohibit the people of Flame City from watching, they actually set up a massive light screen outside the Mist Forest by the West Gate. On it were the names of all 156 Examiners, ranked from top to bottom according to their points.

Of course, since the trial hadn’t started yet, everyone’s points were at zero, and the order was completely random, so nothing could be discerned from the board.

The crowd that had followed to see them off stopped at the light screen outside the Mist Forest. Meanwhile, the Great Xia Dragon Guards and Examiners participating in the operation, led by the nine captains, advanced into the depths of the Mist Forest.

The third trial was about to begin, so there was no longer any need for the captains to remain silent. Along the way, they shared everything they knew.

The location for this mission was a large valley deep within the Mist Forest, where many Martial Artists from the Martial Soul Hall were said to be hiding.

Their mission was to surround the valley and then annihilate everyone from the Martial Soul Hall within it.

With hundreds of Martial Artists gathered together, even without anyone deliberately releasing their aura, their combined Momentum was astonishing. Nearly all the Demon Beasts along the way were scared off.

Occasionally, one or two that were slow-witted or overly confident would leap out, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, only to see the massive group and run away, scared out of their wits with their tails between their legs.

The Martial Artists moved quickly, arriving outside the mission’s valley in just over two hours.

According to the rules of the third trial, the nine captains broke up the Examiners and the Great Xia Dragon Guards, having them advance from two sides. They dropped off one person at set intervals to form a perimeter and surround the entire valley.

This way, no matter how well they had planned beforehand, it was impossible to form teams from the start. This would truly fulfill the purpose of the examination and prevent opportunists from simply riding on the coattails of others.

From the moment they entered the Mist Forest, the two captains, Zhang Yunqiu and Huang Ju, had been lingering around Chu Qingyun. Sometimes near, sometimes far, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind—in short, they never strayed more than a hundred meters from him.

Chu Qingyun, of course, noticed this and couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. ’They must have colluded with Liu Canghai to deal with me during the examination.’

However, Chu Qingyun wasn’t particularly worried.

Although he was only a Fifth-level Martial Artist, he had many tricks up his sleeve. Even if he couldn’t defeat two Ninth-level Martial Artists, escaping would certainly be no problem.

When they began to form the line to encircle the valley, Zhang Yunqiu and Huang Ju, as if by prior agreement, positioned themselves one in front of and one behind Chu Qingyun, sandwiching him between them.

"Ahem. Two captains assigned to this one area... isn’t that a bit excessive?" Chu Qingyun coughed lightly, a mocking expression on his face.

The nearby Great Xia Dragon Guards and Examiners looked at Chu Qingyun with a hint of sympathy, feeling a measure of contempt for Zhang Yunqiu and Huang Ju in their hearts.

As captains, they had not only shamelessly threatened an Examiner on the training grounds for the sake of Military Merits, but were now deliberately arranging their positions to rob him in plain sight. It was utterly shameless.

"Brat, what nonsense are you spouting? This captain has determined this to be a key sector, likely to be highly dangerous, which is why two captains have been assigned!" Zhang Yunqiu glared at Chu Qingyun and snapped.

Chu Qingyun scoffed. "Captain Zhang, we haven’t even stopped moving yet. We don’t know which sector we’ll end up in, but you already know it’s a ’key’ one? How prophetic of you."

The ranks immediately erupted in laughter, while Zhang Yunqiu’s face flushed beet-red as he gritted his teeth in furious humiliation. ’You little animal, be smug while you can. Just wait, I’ll skin you alive later!’

"All of you, shut up! What’s so funny!? The arrangements are our responsibility and right as captains. Chu Qingyun, if you have a problem with it, you can withdraw from the examination and go plead your case with the Lord Guardian! Otherwise, shut your mouth!" Huang Ju said with a cold face, pulling rank.

Chu Qingyun snorted and ignored him, silently beginning to plan. ’What should I do after I enter the valley?’

Zhang Yunqiu was in the rear of the formation, so he was the first to stop.

Next was Chu Qingyun. He continued with the group for another hundred meters or so before stopping.

Huang Ju wanted to stay close to Chu Qingyun, but he didn’t dare break the rules of the Great Xia Dragon Guards. He had no choice but to continue another hundred meters before stopping. In this way, the two captains once again had Chu Qingyun positioned between them.

’As soon as we’re inside, all we have to do is converge toward the middle, and we’ll catch Chu Qingyun!’

"Chu Qingyun, let me give you a piece of advice! Get your ass over here right now and obediently tell us what Lord Liu wants to know. Otherwise, once we’re inside, I swear I’ll skin you alive!"

They were separated by more than a hundred meters, with dense fog and trees obstructing their view of each other, but their voices could still be heard with perfect clarity.

Besides, the main group had already dispersed, and there were only a few people in their immediate area. Zhang Yunqiu couldn’t be bothered to care anymore, so he shouted his threat.

"Chu Qingyun, we don’t really have any deep-seated hatred for each other. It’s just been a few squabbles. How about this: you tell us how you killed Ma Zhiyong, and not only will we not kill you, we’ll even help you pass this third trial. What do you say?" Huang Ju’s voice then drifted over from the other side.

One playing good cop, the other bad cop. Chu Qingyun couldn’t help but sneer.

As if he were that naive. Liu Canghai already hated him to the bone; there was no possibility of reconciliation between them.

"Zhang Yunqiu! Huang Ju! You two old bastards, if you’ve got the guts, come and kill me right now! If you’re cowards, then stop wasting my damn time!" Chu Qingyun roared, his voice infused with Momentum.