Devouring Soul Emperor

By the next morning, Chu Qingyun had been in the valley for nearly a full day. In that time, he had only encountered a total of seven Martial Artists from the Martial Soul Hall, and only one of them was a level-eight Martial Artist.

After killing all seven of those Martial Artists, his Military Merits had only reached 130. This was despite Chu Qingyun possessing the dual advantages of the Hidden Qi Technique and the early warnings from his Devouring Martial Soul.

And unbelievably, a meager score of 130 Military Merits actually placed him third among all 156 Examiners!

Killing only seven people in nearly a day and still ranking in the top three was simply unimaginable. According to the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s intelligence, there were at least five hundred Martial Soul Hall Martial Artists hidden in this valley. Otherwise, the Great Xia Dragon Guard wouldn’t have dispatched an entire corps for this.

Wen Yanlie, a ninth-level Martial Artist, had 40 Military Merits, placing him in the upper-middle ranks. Xia He, also a ninth-level, was doing even worse with only 10 Military Merits. Even so, he was still ranked in the seventies.

More than half of the Examiners hadn’t even earned a single point of Military Merit!

Strange. It was all just too strange!

Hiding in a large tree, Chu Qingyun chewed on some dry rations, frowning as he stared at his Token. He was truly baffled.

’Where did all the people from the Martial Soul Hall go? Did they all run away?’

Just then, the Token flashed as a name on the rankings changed. Chu Qingyun’s heart leaped, and he was so startled he nearly fell out of the tree.

Zhao Tianjie, who originally had zero Military Merits and was tied for last place with dozens of others, had suddenly shot up to the very top—first place!

And the Military Merits next to his name were... 490!

The previous first place holder only had 150 Military Merits, twenty points higher than Chu Qingyun—the equivalent of one extra level-seven Martial Artist.

But with this one jump, Zhao Tianjie had surpassed the previous number one by more than threefold!

The points on the Token refreshed once every minute. That meant that in the single minute that just passed, Zhao Tianjie had personally killed Martial Soul Hall Martial Artists worth 490 Military Merits!

But Zhao Tianjie... he was only a sixth-level Martial Artist!

"What’s going on? Could the Token be malfunctioning?" Chu Qingyun couldn’t help but mutter to himself in confusion.

Soon, however, he remembered. Long before the Great Xia Dragon Guard assessment, both You Yun and Qin Ya had solemnly warned him to be wary of the Zhao Family.

And during the second stage of the assessment, the Zhao Family had indeed sent two level-eight Martial Artists from the Martial Soul Hall to kill him. He hadn’t reported it to the Great Xia Dragon Guard, however, because it was related to his Devouring Martial Soul.

’If the Zhao Family has a connection to the Martial Soul Hall, that would explain it... But why...?’

Chu Qingyun racked his brains, but he felt he was just on the verge of understanding, just one step away...

It wasn’t just Chu Qingyun. The other Examiners were also stunned speechless when they saw Zhao Tianjie’s name suddenly shoot up the ranks.

Everyone was both confused and indignant. What was going on? They were all running around like headless chickens, unable to find a single trace of anyone from the Martial Soul Hall, yet Zhao Tianjie had racked up 490 Military Merits in a single minute!

Staring at that glaring three-digit number, a fiery glint appeared in the eyes of every Examiner.

Military Merits... Even converted into Primordial Spirit Liquid, that was nearly five drops.

Never mind the Martial Artists without powerful backgrounds; even those from wealthy families couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.

Don’t forget, back in Lianshan County City, even the young masters of the Four Great Clans found it painful to part with twenty drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid. As for the ordinary younger generation of those clans, they would risk their lives for it.

Chu Qingyun, however, managed to remain calm. After all, he had been fabulously wealthy at his peak, once possessing forty-six drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid and over a hundred thousand Top-Grade Primordial Stones.

Even now, he still had twenty drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid in his Storage Ring.

But then, he glanced at the Token again and was stunned once more. His eyes went wide, and the piece of dry ration in his mouth fell out.

Following Zhao Tianjie, Zhao Hanfeng’s ranking also shot up in a flash. He was even higher than Zhao Tianjie, with his Military Merits reaching 510! He had directly replaced him at the top!

’This... What is happening!?’

Everyone’s mind was filled with questions.

Outside the Mist Forest, things had long since exploded into chaos.

The moment Zhao Tianjie’s name first shot up, people had started shouting, clamoring for someone to check if the Light Screen Token was malfunctioning. Others were yelling that someone was cheating.

Not long after their uproar began, Zhao Hanfeng’s name also shot up, breaking the record once again.

This time, even those who had managed to remain calm, or who thought it was just an accident, began to have their doubts.

Members of the same family, both with the surname Zhao, had leaped from last place to first. Their points far exceeded everyone else’s—in fact, the others’ scores combined didn’t even add up to one of theirs!

The crucial point was that they were only a sixth-level and a seventh-level Martial Artist. How could they possibly kill Martial Soul Hall Martial Artists worth five hundred points in a single minute?!

In an instant, the theory that the Zhao Family had colluded with the Great Xia Dragon Guard to cheat quickly became the prevailing view.

Even if it was a mistake, it wouldn’t happen twice in a row, right? And even if it did happen twice, it couldn’t possibly be a member of the Zhao family both times, could it?

If you tried to explain it away as a coincidence, it was just too much of one!

The increasingly agitated crowd caught the attention of Guard General Liu Canghai, who was standing not far away. He frowned and said to a Great Xia Dragon Guard beside him, "Go and see what’s going on." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The man acknowledged with a "Yes, sir," and hurried over. After seeing the rankings on the light screen, he froze on the spot, completely stunned.

Although the surrounding crowd was furious, the Great Xia Dragon Guard held immense authority and power, so no one dared to cause too much of a scene. Otherwise, being casually branded a traitor would be more than they could handle.

"My lord... My lord, look at the Assessment Token!" The man snapped out of his daze and, not daring to delay for a second, sprinted back to shout at Liu Canghai.

Liu Canghai’s brow furrowed. He picked up a spare Assessment Token and glanced at it. Then, he shot to his feet.

"How can this be!? The three from the Zhao Family have taken the top three spots, and their scores are several times higher than fourth place!" Even the Lord Guardian, a mighty Martial Spirit Strong Person, couldn’t help but cry out in shock.

This situation was a world away from any of the possible scenarios he had anticipated.

"Three of them? Wasn’t it just two?"

The Great Xia Dragon Guard was confused, but then he heard another series of shouts from the direction of the light screen. He realized what had happened: the last of the Zhao clan, Zhao Yunhao, had also shot up the ranks...

"Check the other spare Assessment Tokens," Liu Canghai said, his voice heavy and his brow furrowed.

A heavy feeling settled in his heart. It was an indescribable, deeply unsettling sensation, as if a massive boulder was pressing down on him—oppressive and weighty...