Devouring Soul Emperor

Although Chu Qingyun killed a level-nine Martial Artist in a single blow, that didn’t mean level-nine Martial Artists were weak.

It was simply because the man had not a single shred of defense, and Chu Qingyun possessed the Thundercloud Sword, making his instantaneous burst of power far too strong!

This level-nine Martial Artist had met Zhao Yunhao twice before, so he had a relatively deep impression of him.

But after Chu Qingyun used the power of his Thousand-faced Martial Soul, his transformation was so realistic that the level-nine Martial Artist completely let down his guard. He was killed in a single, fatal sneak attack.

And that was the terrifying aspect of the Thousand-faced Martial Soul!

After all, who could remain constantly vigilant against someone they knew well, or were even close to?

And even with the drawback that high-level auras were difficult to imitate, who would constantly focus their energy on sensing and probing the auras of others?

After killing the leading level-nine Martial Artist, the remaining dozen or so Martial Soul Hall Martial Artists still hadn’t reacted. Chu Qingyun showed no mercy, swinging his sword and cutting them all down.

By killing nearly twenty Martial Soul Hall Martial Artists in a row, Chu Qingyun gained 530 Military Merits. Added to his previous 660, his rank rose to fourth, and his score was several times higher than the person in fifth place.

Normally, this would have been considered a strange occurrence. Gaining over six hundred Military Merits was enough to make anyone green with envy.

But in reality, neither the Great Xia Dragon Guard and Examiners in the valley, nor the people watching from the outside, paid much attention to Chu Qingyun. This was because the scores of Zhao’s Three Heroes, who occupied the top three spots, were simply too outrageous.

At this point, two of the three had over three thousand Military Merits each, and the highest, Zhao Hanfeng, had already surpassed four thousand. The combined Military Merits of the three had broken ten thousand!

In a hidden courtyard near the West Gate, members of the Zhao Family continuously rushed to the outside of a secret chamber to report on the assessment’s progress.

"Reporting to the Ancestor! The three young masters now all have over four hundred Military Merits and have taken the top three spots!"

"Reporting to the Ancestor! Young Master Tian Jie’s Military Merits have surpassed one thousand!"

"Reporting to the Ancestor! Young Master Han Feng’s Military Merits have reached two thousand!"

...

Inside the secret chamber, the Zhao Family Ancestor smiled, nodding gently with a self-satisfied air. He looked like a master strategist who had everything under control.

The other three men held back for a long time before one finally couldn’t resist asking, "Zhao Guang, what on earth are you doing? How are the Military Merits of those three little guys rising so quickly?"

The Zhao Family Ancestor’s smile widened. "Because I’m continuously sending my men for them to kill. Naturally, their points are soaring."

"You, Zhao! What is the meaning of this? We thought you deliberately exposed your position to lure the Great Xia Dragon Guard here to deal with them, but you’re having your own people killed?" another of the three men demanded furiously.

"Foolish!" The Zhao Family Ancestor shot him a glance and sneered, "Do you really think that my subordinates alone could handle an entire corps of the Great Xia Dragon Guard, plus over a hundred elite Martial Artist Examiners?"

The three fell silent. After a moment, the man who had just spoken said, "If you were to act yourself, it wouldn’t be hopeless."

"Hmph. Do you think Liu Canghai is just for show? If I make a move, Liu Canghai will certainly make a move as well. When Martial Spirit Level experts fight, it will only draw more of the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s attention to our Martial Soul Hall!"

A hint of anger crept into Zhao Guang’s voice. Forcing him to act personally was an absolutely disastrous idea.

The man who had been quiet the whole time stepped in to smooth things over. "Hehe, calm down, calm down. We’re all from the Martial Soul Hall, we’re on the same side. But Zhao, if you really do have a strategy, why not share it with us? We have quite a few subordinates ourselves. If necessary, it wouldn’t be impossible for us to lend you a hand."

’Lend you a hand?’ Zhao Guang couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

’Such nice words, but they’re just trying to steal the credit.’

"There’s no need for help. I’ve been planning this for a long time and I’m completely confident it will succeed. As for my plan... let me ask you, if this assessment were to proceed normally, what would happen?" Zhao Guang put on a mysterious air, clearly intending to show off his scheme.

"Normally... the Great Xia Dragon Guard would suffer some losses, but your handful of men would definitely be wiped out. The stronger individuals would get more Military Merits, the weaker ones would get fewer, and the top fifty would join the Great Xia Dragon Guard."

Zhao Guang wasn’t angered by the contempt shown for his subordinates.

He knew himself that although the Great Xia Dragon Guard and the Examiners were slightly outnumbered by his men, their respective strengths couldn’t be compared at all.

A level-eight Martial Artist from the Great Xia Dragon Guard could probably handle one of his level-nine Martial Artists.

"Hehe, well said. The key lies in the Military Merits! Under normal circumstances, the strong get more Military Merits, and the weak get less. And even the ’more’ isn’t all that much. But now... hehehe."

Zhao Guang trailed off, saying no more.

But the other three weren’t idiots. They understood his meaning in an instant.

Concentrating almost all the Military Merits on three weak level-six and level-seven Martial Artists could only lead to one result: envy. Extreme envy.

Everyone would set their sights on Zhao Hanfeng and the other two, wanting to seize their Military Merits.

And once the snatching began, the already concentrated Military Merits would become even more so. As more and more merits piled onto a single person, the temptation would become unbearable for anyone.

The entire Great Xia Dragon Guard and all the Examiners would turn on each other for those Military Merits.

Although trading Military Merits didn’t require killing—only snatching the opponent’s Token—when fighting over such a massive fortune, no one would show mercy.

If you show mercy and your opponent doesn’t, you’ll be the one to die!

To use such a strategy, he was sacrificing nearly all of his subordinates, along with Zhao’s Three Heroes. Afterward, it was even likely that the Zhao Family itself would be targeted by the Great Xia Dragon Guard, facing the danger of being completely wiped out.

One had to admit, this Zhao Guang was truly ruthless!

"Brilliant, truly brilliant! This way, you’ll not only wipe out a corps of the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s Martial Artists but also take down over a hundred Examiners with them. The credit for that would be substantial, indeed!"

Although the other three were all Martial Spirit Level experts, even they couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy at this moment.

"Hehe, not at all, not at all. What I’m doing here is just small stuff. You three are the ones pursuing truly great things. If you ever manage to capture the Vermilion Bird one day, that would be a true ascent to the heavens, an achievement beyond measure."

Though Zhao Guang spoke humbly, a proud smile spread across his face.

"Tch, that’s easier said than done. The entire Martial Soul Hall has been trying to catch it for years, and they haven’t found so much as a feather. This time, we heard the Vermilion Bird appeared in Qingshan City, but it still ended in nothing. We were almost discovered by Qingshan City’s City Lord, too."