Devouring Soul Emperor

"What’s the situation? Did Yu Mountain and Yu Hai capture that brat or not?"

The remaining ten Level 9 Martial Artists all stared at the gray-clothed servant in an instant.

At this moment, they no longer dared to be as certain as before that Chu Qingyun would be defeated.

The gray-clothed servant was panting violently. The endless shocks of the day, combined with his frantic sprints back and forth, were pushing his heart to its limits.

"Lord Shan and Lord Hai... they were both... both killed! Killed with a single sword strike!"

Those words.

They struck like a bolt from the blue, stunning all ten of them. They were left standing frozen on the spot!

To kill the Mountain and Sea Brothers... it took only a single strike!

’What kind of power is this?’

’Is this the kind of power a Level 8 Martial Artist is supposed to have!?’

A deathly silence followed the initial shock.

The only sound in the courtyard was the gray-clothed servant’s heavy panting.

The ten Level 9 Martial Artists were all wrestling with conflicting emotions.

’The power to kill the Mountain and Sea Brothers in a single strike... There’s no way we can fight against that. Any one of us who goes up there is guaranteed to be killed instantly!’ 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

But they were retainers of the Zhao Family. Not going was not an option.

The Zhao Family Ancestor was a genuine Martial Spirit Level expert, and they couldn’t afford to offend him either.

"How about we all just attack together...?" the man who had spoken earlier suggested again.

This time, everyone nodded silently. No one raised any further objections. Compared to their lives, their pride meant nothing.

After killing Yu Mountain and Yu Hai, Chu Qingyun didn’t leave. He simply waited.

Not long after he collected their two Tier Three Martial Souls, the gray-clothed servant hurried back. This time, he brought ten men with him!

Every one of the ten men wore a grim expression, their faces taut as they stared at the sword-wielding Chu Qingyun as if facing a formidable foe.

On the way over, they had learned what had happened earlier and that Chu Qingyun possessed a Spirit Level Treasure Sword.

"Ten... Ten Level 9 Martial Artists! Heavens, the Zhao Family is that powerful!"

"Ten Level 9 Martial Artists... Not even the City Lord’s Mansion or the City Guard Army has that many Martial Artists! What in the world is the Zhao Family planning?"

The appearance of ten Level 9 Martial Artists at once utterly stunned the guests.

Among their own factions, having even one Level 9 Martial Artist was enough to be considered first-rate. Many had no Level 9 Martial Artists at all.

And yet, the Zhao Family had ten Level 9 Martial Artists! And that wasn’t even counting the three who had died earlier!

To put it in perspective, even Liu Canghai, the renowned Guard General of the Great Xia Dragon Guard, only had nine Level 9 Martial Artists under his command!

"Chu Qingyun, surrender," one of the ten said slowly. "No matter how strong you are, you can’t possibly fight one against ten."

Even with ten of them attacking together, they still had no desire to actually fight.

They were confident they could win a ten-on-one fight, of course.

But based on Chu Qingyun’s performance so far, even if they won, they would likely pay a terrible price!

These words, once again, shocked the onlookers.

’From the sound of it, are all ten of them planning to attack together!?’

"Damn, that’s shameless! Two against one wasn’t enough, and now they’re ganging up on him ten to one."

"They’ve thrown away all their pride just to win!"

"It just goes to show how strong that Chu Qingyun is, forcing the Zhao Family to resort to a ten-on-one!"

Suddenly, a wave of discussion erupted from the crowd.

The faces of the ten Level 9 Martial Artists burned with shame.

They didn’t dare announce their names or titles now; it would be utterly humiliating!

However, faced with ten Level 9 Martial Artists, Chu Qingyun’s expression remained unchanged, as placid as ever.

It was as if he were facing not ten Level 9 Martial Artists, but ten Level 9 Warriors.

"Are the ten of you ready?" Chu Qingyun asked with a light chuckle.

All ten of them were taken aback.

’Judging by his tone, he’s actually going to fight!’

Meanwhile, the eyes of the onlookers lit up, and they could feel their blood boiling with excitement, as if they themselves, not Chu Qingyun, were about to face ten Level 9 Martial Artists alone!

"Chu Qingyun, don’t push your luck! Do you really think the ten of us are afraid of you?" one of them snarled, his face dark.

"Hah. If you’re ready, then let’s begin!"

Ten-Star Vine!

With a low laugh, Chu Qingyun struck first.

He activated his Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul. A dark green vine shot out with lightning speed, snaring the Level 9 Martial Artist who had just spoken.

"It’s a Tier Three Martial Soul! Help me!"

Caught by the vine, his Primordial Power surged around his body, yet he couldn’t break free in the slightest!

"Help?"

"Too late!"

"Thunderbolt Flash!"

Chu Qingyun barked. The vine rapidly retracted, dragging the man before him.

He swung his sword, and a dazzling arc of Thunder Aura pierced through the man’s head!

Another instant kill!

"Damn it! Let’s give it everything we’ve got!"

"Charge! I refuse to believe ten of us can’t take him down!"

These Level 9 Martial Artists weren’t without tempers of their own.

Chu Qingyun’s provocation had undoubtedly pushed them over the edge, forcing them to fight with their lives on the line.

But Chu Qingyun didn’t care in the slightest.

Their power levels were on completely different planes.

For Chu Qingyun, this was an absolute slaughter.

The remaining nine men all had Attack-type Martial Souls. In an instant, nine offensive Soul Techniques materialized, howling as they hurtled toward Chu Qingyun.

The onlookers couldn’t help but cry out in alarm.

Faced with such an assault, even a Half-Step Martial Spirit would be hard-pressed to defend, let alone a Level 8 Martial Artist!

However, Chu Qingyun was about to show them the meaning of perfect Martial Soul control.

The ten vines of his Ten-Star Vine moved with the flexibility of his own arms, slapping, coiling, and piercing to perfectly intercept all nine Soul Techniques from every conceivable angle, leaving no blind spots!

Back in the valley during the third trial, he had flawlessly defended against dozens of Martial Artists from the Martial Soul Hall. Nine of them were nothing by comparison!

Everyone present, including the nine Level 9 Martial Artists, was completely frozen in stunned silence.

’How could anyone control a Martial Soul so perfectly?’

’It’s practically... an art form!’

"Are you done staring?" Chu Qingyun sneered after a moment, his eyes fixed on the nine men.

They instantly snapped back to their senses, remembering they were still in the middle of a fight.

"Now that you’re done spacing out, you can die!"

With a cold cry, Chu Qingyun surged forward.

Although the Profound Celestial Divine Pattern covering his body was still only at the First Layer, with the exception of his right arm.

But when he unleashed his power, his speed was no less than that of these Level 9 Martial Artists.

SCHLICK!

With a single swing, without even using a Sword Technique, Chu Qingyun relied on the sharpness of the Thundercloud Sword to shatter a Level 9 Martial Artist’s Protective Primordial Power and kill him instantly.

One strike after another.

With every swing of his sword, another Level 9 Martial Artist fell dead!

The once-imposing Level 9 Martial Artists were instantly reduced to lambs for the slaughter, scattering in a panic as Chu Qingyun relentlessly hunted them down one by one!

With his perfect control over the Ten-Star Vine, they had absolutely no way to escape!

From start to finish.

In less than a minute.

All ten Level 9 Martial Artists were dead!