Devouring Soul Emperor

"Sir, this one’s the same! Zhao’s Three Heroes are in the top three!"

"This one too!"

"This one... holy crap! Sir, look! Zhao Hanfeng’s Military Merits just skyrocketed again! It’s 1,020 now!"

What?!

Liu Canghai’s face fell. He looked at the backup Assessment Token in his hand and, sure enough, saw that Zhao Hanfeng’s Military Merits were at the very top of the rankings, having reached a terrifying four-digit number!

’This... what in the world is going on?’

A drop of cold sweat beaded on Liu Canghai’s forehead. The Great Xia Dragon Guards’ Assessment Tokens and light screens had never malfunctioned before. In this anomaly, he sensed a conspiracy afoot.

’What should I do now?’

’The safest option would be to halt the assessment and this operation, and have everyone pull out.’

’But if I do that, my own Military Merits will go down the drain. Plus, the Grand Commander will see me as incompetent, unable to even manage a simple assessment.’

’What to do, what to do...’

Liu Canghai clutched the Assessment Token, his heart torn with indecision.

「In a valley within the Mist Forest.」

The Examiners were all dumbfounded. They completely stopped searching for Martial Artists from the Martial Soul Hall. Instead, they stood frozen in place, their eyes glued to their own Tokens. And then... their eyes slowly began to turn red... redder...

On the Tokens, the Military Merits of Zhao’s Three Heroes firmly held the top three spots. And every ten minutes or so, their Military Merits would surge once more.

Now, Zhao Hanfeng and Zhao Yunhao’s Military Merits had both reached over two thousand, while Zhao Tianjie’s had shot past two thousand to over three thousand!

Combined, their Military Merits already exceeded seven thousand!

Seven thousand Military Merits... what did that even mean?

That was equivalent to the reward for a level-six or even a level-seven Great Xia Dragon Guard mission. And level-six or level-seven missions involved level-six or level-seven Martial Spirits, or tasks of equivalent difficulty!

When Chu Qingyun had earned two thousand points in the second stage, it had already made the Great Xia Guard Captains green with envy, even causing them to cast aside their pride to deal with him.

And seven thousand Military Merits was enough to drive all the Great Xia Dragon Guards in the valley into a frenzy!

Even the Great Xia Dragon Guards outside the valley were starting to get red-eyed. Guard General Liu Canghai himself found his breathing growing heavy as he stared at the numbers on the Token...

Seven thousand Military Merits... even he would have to risk his life and fight for months to earn that much. And now, over seven thousand Military Merits were in the hands of three mere level-six and level-seven Martial Artists!

At that moment, the numbers on the Token jumped silently once more. Zhao Hanfeng’s Military Merits increased again, and the trio’s total broke past seven thousand, reaching eight thousand!

A suffocating greed began to sprout silently in everyone’s heart. Even Chu Qingyun was finding it hard to control himself.

’Eight thousand Military Merits. Eighty drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid. Added to what I already have, that’s enough to advance to a level-six Martial Artist, or even attempt a breakthrough to level seven!’

Just then, his ears twitched. He suddenly heard the sound of voices approaching, growing steadily closer.

A moment later, his Devouring Martial Soul began to thrum. From his high vantage point, he could vaguely make out a tall Martial Artist from the Martial Soul Hall approaching with about twenty others in tow.

Strangely, however, all the Martial Soul Hall members except for the leader moved forward with their heads bowed, swaying unsteadily as if they were drunk.

Moreover, the Qi emanating from their bodies was highly unstable, fluctuating constantly. At a glance, they looked extremely weak.

’A level-nine Martial Artist, leading a group of strange-looking guys...’

Countless thoughts flashed through Chu Qingyun’s mind in an instant. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up as a stroke of inspiration hit him.

’Thousand-faced Martial Soul, Thousand-Faced Illusion Body!’

For the first time, Chu Qingyun truly used the power of his Thousand-faced Martial Soul. He pictured the image of Zhao Yunhao in his mind, and the space around his body seemed to ripple, becoming distorted and blurry.

After two or three breaths, the Chu Qingyun in the tree was gone. In his place stood Zhao Yunhao of the Zhao Family, identical in every way, from his face and build to his clothes.

Chu Qingyun even muttered a few words to himself to confirm it—even his voice had changed to match Zhao Yunhao’s.

The only flaw was that Zhao Yunhao was a level-six Martial Artist, while Chu Qingyun’s Realm was one level lower—a fact that couldn’t be imitated.

However, it wasn’t an unsolvable problem. Chu Qingyun used the Hidden Qi Technique, directly suppressing his Qi to the level of a third-level Martial Artist.

There were no level-three Martial Artists in the valley, so even if the level-nine Martial Artist from the Martial Soul Hall grew suspicious, he would just assume that "Zhao Yunhao" had intentionally but poorly suppressed his Qi.

After jumping down from the tree, Chu Qingyun, in the guise of Zhao Yunhao, slowly walked toward the level-nine Martial Artist.

Although he wore an expression of casual surprise, he was extremely vigilant on the inside, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

Seeing "Zhao Yunhao" approach, the level-nine Martial Artist from the Martial Soul Hall frowned. "Zhao Yunhao, didn’t I tell you to wait by the pool? What are you doing out here?"

Chu Qingyun’s heart skipped a beat.

’The Zhao Family really is in collusion with the Martial Soul Hall! They have some kind of shady deal going on!’

He feigned a calm smile and said, "It was too boring waiting over there, so I decided to take a stroll."

"Where are Cyan Leopard and Black Teeth?" the level-nine Martial Artist asked, glaring irritably at Chu Qingyun.

Huh?

Chu Qingyun’s expression revealed a hint of surprise. ’Cyan Leopard? Black Teeth? How would I know who or what they are?’

A wry smile appeared on Chu Qingyun’s face. ’Looks like my cover is blown. I’m still too inexperienced at this impersonation thing.’

However, seeing Chu Qingyun’s expression, the level-nine Martial Artist just assumed he was afraid to speak. He waved his hand dismissively and said, annoyed, "Damn it, those two bastards must be slacking off again. They’d better hope I don’t catch them! What are you still staring at? Get killing!"

A sharp glint flashed in Chu Qingyun’s eyes. He looked again at the dozen or so Martial Soul Hall members and realized that even at this close range, they showed no reaction at all. They just stood there motionless with their heads bowed, like walking corpses.

"Hehe, killing... I’ll get right to it..."

Chu Qingyun chuckled, then abruptly drew the Thundercloud Sword from his waist.

"Profound Celestial Divine Pattern, Thunderbolt Flash!"

Chu Qingyun was already a master of both the Mysterious Sky Divine Pattern Secret Technique and the Thunderbolt Flash sword technique, and he executed them both the very instant he drew his blade.

Blinding lightning crackled to life. As he slashed out, the violent and ferocious aura it released left the level-nine Martial Artist utterly dumbfounded.

’What... is that!?’

Before he could even react, the level-nine Martial Artist was sliced in two. The distance was so close that his upper body was torn to shreds by the rampant bolts of lightning.

A level-nine Martial Artist, killed in a single strike.