Devouring Soul Emperor

Watching Fang Xin Neng leap from the battle stage, Chu Qingyun gently shook his head again.

’Without the Thundercloud Sword, the power of this Thunder Sword Momentum is so much weaker.’

’If I’d had the Thundercloud Sword just now, Fang Xin Neng would have been severely injured, if not killed. He wouldn’t have even had the strength to leap from the stage.’

However, as he was shaking his head, Chu Qingyun happened to glance over and suddenly noticed one of the vines from his Ten-Star Vine beside him.

In that instant, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Chu Qingyun’s mind, as if he had realized something.

’Thundercloud Sword... vine... sword... vine...’

Although he hadn’t needed to use the Ten-Star Vine earlier, Chu Qingyun had still deployed it just to be safe.

He never expected that this chance glance would spark such inspiration.

"Sword... vine... sword... vine... What is it...?"

Chu Qingyun’s eyes flickered. He felt as though he had grasped something crucial, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

It was a very uncomfortable feeling.

"Sword and vine... That’s right! A vine can also be used as a sword!"

After a moment of deep thought, an expression of sheer ecstasy suddenly appeared on Chu Qingyun’s face.

He hadn’t missed this opportunity; he seized upon that sudden burst of inspiration as if he’d had an epiphany.

He had always used the Ten-Star Vine as a tool to control his enemies, or at most as a whip for his attacks.

For an ordinary person, this was the normal and proper way to use it.

But for Chu Qingyun, that was completely and utterly wrong!

With his perfect control over his Martial Soul, he could wield the ten vines of the Ten-Star Vine just as his arms wielded a sword!

In Chu Qingyun’s hands, the Ten-star Vine Martial Soul wasn’t just a Control-type Soul; it could become a full-fledged Attack-type Martial Soul!

Below the battle stage, after retrieving his Token, Fang Xin Neng’s expression turned even uglier than Duan Feichen’s had been.

His wager with Chu Qingyun had been 700 Military Merits. Doubled, that was 1,400, but his Token only contained a little over nine hundred.

In other words, even if he transferred all his Military Merits to Chu Qingyun’s Token, he would still owe more than four hundred.

Until he paid off these four hundred-plus Military Merits at the dueling stage, his Token would be frozen, preventing him from either trading or spending Military Merits.

With Fang Xin Neng defeated as well, the hearts of the remaining men grew even heavier.

The few Silver Medal and Iron Medal Captains, in particular, wanted to give up on the spot.

’With our strength, if we go up on that stage, Chu Qingyun could easily defeat us whether he uses his Martial Soul or his Sword Technique!’

"At this point, there’s only one option left..." A vicious glint flashed in Meng Chengde’s narrowed eyes.

"What option?" The dozen or so men all looked toward him.

"For the upcoming fights, we’ll start with the Iron Medal Captains. You’ll go up one by one. When all the Iron Medal Captains have lost, the Silver Medal Captains will go. Even if you can’t defeat that Chu Qingyun, you are not allowed to surrender. I want you to exhaust as much of his Primordial Power as you can!"

"You’re all Level Nine Martial Artists, after all. Even if you can’t beat him, you should at least be able to drain some of his Primordial Power if you go all out."

"That way, the three of us Gold Medal Captains can go in at the end to clean up. As long as we can severely injure him, it won’t matter if we lose the Military Merits. We’ll have an explanation for Guard General Liu."

Meng Chengde said in a low voice.

Hearing this, the expressions of the several Silver and Iron Medal Captains changed at once.

’This is just telling us to be fucking cannon fodder! To risk injury, even severe injury, just to drain Chu Qingyun’s Primordial Power!’

"What, you don’t want to go? Could it be that you don’t wish to serve Guard General Liu?" Meng Chengde swept his gaze over them and said sinisterly.

"We... will go!"

They were all well aware of Liu Canghai’s vengeful nature; he would retaliate for the smallest slight.

Now that they were in too deep, they had no choice but to see it through to the bitter end. They had no one to blame but themselves for trying to suck up to Liu Canghai in the first place.

"After they’ve all lost, it’ll be your turn. I’ll go last to finish things," Meng Chengde said, looking at the two remaining Gold Medal Captains.

The two men exchanged a helpless glance and could only nod in agreement.

But the best-laid plans often go awry.

Just as Meng Chengde finished forcing the others to accept his plan, Chu Qingyun’s voice rang out from the battle stage. "Meng Chengde, do you dare come up for a fight?"

Standing at the edge of the battle stage, Chu Qingyun had actually called out to challenge Meng Chengde directly.

His reasoning was simple: Meng Chengde was the strongest among them.

Chu Qingyun had just had an epiphany: he could use his ten vines as swords to execute his Sword Techniques. Now, he needed an opponent to fight so he could put this new idea into practice.

If his opponent were too weak, he might accidentally defeat them while just casually practicing, which wouldn’t produce the desired effect.

Therefore, Chu Qingyun chose Meng Chengde.

"This..."

Meng Chengde was stunned. ’I just finished laying out the plan, how am I suddenly being challenged?’

"Meng Chengde, are you afraid to come up? Or do you not want to put forth an effort for Liu Canghai?" Chu Qingyun continued.

"I..." Meng Chengde grew even more frustrated.

He had just used Liu Canghai to threaten the others, and now Chu Qingyun was throwing the name right back at him.

If he refused to go up now, wouldn’t he be eating his own words?

But if he did go up, Meng Chengde was 100% certain he was no match for Chu Qingyun!

For a moment, he was caught in a dilemma.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so remaining captains were all gloating internally. ’Serves you right for threatening us with Liu Canghai’s name. Hoist by your own petard, aren’t you!’

In the end, Meng Chengde reluctantly stepped onto the battle stage.

After the referee announced the start, Chu Qingyun said nothing more. He controlled a single vine and whipped it toward Meng Chengde, attempting to channel his Thunder Sword Momentum as if it were a sword.

However, the attack was empty. There was no Thunder... and no Sword Momentum...

Meng Chengde, however, was incredibly tense, hastily summoning his Martial Soul to defend himself.

It was a Tier Three Martial Soul, the Water-Splitting Spirit Fork—a blue, tri-pronged fork over two meters long.

"Strange. I clearly infused both Primordial Power and Thunder Power into the vine. Why did nothing happen?"

A look of confusion and contemplation appeared on Chu Qingyun’s face.

Meng Chengde, however, held the fork with both hands, his expression grim, looking as if he were facing a formidable foe.

The power Chu Qingyun had displayed earlier made him terrified to attack. He remained on high alert, defending cautiously, terrified that a vine might suddenly shoot out from some unexpected angle.

’One more time!’

Chu Qingyun focused all his concentration on controlling a single vine. Once more, he channeled his Primordial Power and Thunder Power through it, trying to execute his Thunder Sword Momentum as if wielding a sword.

But the result was the same. Nothing happened.

"Was I wrong? Is this simply impossible? That can’t be right..."

"Maybe I should start by practicing with the most basic Sword Technique?"