Devouring Soul Emperor

It seemed that no matter what he chose for the third option, the outcome would have been the same—he’d be teleported to this plaza.

The only difference was the number and type of Demon Beasts he had to face.

Having come this far, Chu Qingyun had a general understanding of the Illusion Realm’s rules.

If he had taken that sinister path from the very first choice, he probably would have only needed to kill a few Cyan Wind Wolves on the way to reach this plaza.

Then, after taking down a few more Cyan Wind Wolves at most, he could have easily obtained the golden medallion.

This was likely the path to success for those team captains who had attempted the trial several times.

Even if the Illusion Realm was perfectly realistic and presented difficult choices, one would build up an immunity to it after experiencing it many times.

Besides, after making the wrong choice so many times, the guilt from choosing to leave someone to die would be greatly diminished.

If he had taken the sinister path at the second choice, the plaza would probably only contain Cyan Wind Wolves and Elemental Ore Rats.

But Chu Qingyun had gotten all three choices wrong. As a result, not only was the full roster of Demon Beasts present—Cyan Wind Wolves, Elemental Ore Rats, and Ice Demon Apes—but their numbers were also at their absolute maximum.

Each area was packed to the brim!

’So many Demon Beasts. If they all swarm me at once, there’s no way I can win,’ Chu Qingyun thought. ’I’ll have to see if there’s a clever way out of this...’

Chu Qingyun took a deep breath and suddenly unleashed his Ten-star Vine Martial Soul. A single vine shot out at full speed, lunging toward the golden medallion on the central stone platform.

AWOOO!

SKREEE!

ROAR! ROAR ROAR!

The instant the Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul was used, all the Demon Beasts in the three areas erupted as if on signal.

Every single Cyan Wind Wolf, Elemental Ore Rat, and Ice Demon Ape let out furious howls, bared their fangs and claws, and lunged at Chu Qingyun!

’Damn it! So much for a shortcut!’ 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Iron Wall!"

"Stealth!"

"Sinking into the Mire!"

Cursing under his breath, Chu Qingyun activated the Soul Techniques of four Martial Souls in the blink of an eye!

The ten vines of the Ten-Star Vine struck first, attacking the surging tide of beasts.

The four steel walls of the Iron Wall Martial Soul materialized around his body, ready to defend at a moment’s notice.

He activated his Stealth Soul Technique, causing his figure to become much blurrier.

And at this critical moment, the Swallowing Mud Worm Soul’s technique, Sinking into the Mire, played a crucial role.

Starting from Chu Qingyun’s feet, a vast mire deep enough to come halfway up an adult’s shins rapidly spread outward.

The Demon Beasts that charged into the mire lost their balance, stumbling and falling into the mud.

They, in turn, tripped the beasts behind them, throwing the entire forefront of the beast tide into chaos.

"A perfect chance! Thunder Sword Momentum!"

While channeling the Sinking into the Mire Soul Technique, Chu Qingyun couldn’t attack directly, but he used his ten vines to unleash the Thunder Sword Momentum, reaping the lives of the Demon Beasts at the front, one by one.

The situation stabilized, for now.

But this state of affairs didn’t last long.

The Demon Beasts in the mire quickly adapted to the terrain underfoot, struggled back up, and resumed their charge toward Chu Qingyun.

Meanwhile, many of the beasts in the rear simply trampled over the bodies of those in front, leaping forward and diving down from mid-air to attack Chu Qingyun.

"Damn it! Iron Wall, block them!"

Chu Qingyun gritted his teeth and controlled the four iron walls. Like a firefighting squad, he moved them wherever a Demon Beast lunged, knocking them back for a moment.

However, he was facing a relentless, seemingly endless wave of Demon Beasts.

Even though his Ten-star Vine Martial Soul could instantly kill any single one of them, the frenzied slaughter from all ten vines at once had no discernible effect on the horde.

Soon, Chu Qingyun was completely surrounded by the three types of Demon Beasts. The number of creatures around him kept growing, and the frequency of their attacks rose higher and higher!

At first, the Iron Wall Martial Soul was constantly moving to defend against the pouncing Demon Beasts.

But as the number of beasts increased, this defense became increasingly stretched thin.

Demon Beasts were everywhere, attacking with fangs and claws from all directions.

Amid the chaos, Chu Qingyun had already sustained many wounds. A few of them had even come dangerously close to vital spots!

Finally, with no other choice, Chu Qingyun could only arrange the four iron walls into a box around himself. His Ten-Star Vine’s ten vines extended out from the top, striking randomly without even looking.

The outside was swarming with Demon Beasts anyway; there was no way he could miss.

But this was a desperate solution that couldn’t last long.

The force battering the Iron Wall Martial Soul was simply too great. Although Chu Qingyun controlled it with all his might, he still couldn’t withstand the constant assault from such a massive number of Demon Beasts.

This was especially true for the side where the Ice Demon Apes were concentrated; their strength was the greatest of the three Demon Beast types.

Under their continuous, roaring assault, that iron wall scraped shrilly against the two adjacent walls as it was relentlessly battered and pushed toward Chu Qingyun!

The other three sides were also in grave danger.

After all, the Iron Wall Martial Soul was only a Tier Three Martial Soul; its durability was limited.

The numerous Cyan Wind Wolves and Elemental Ore Rats attacked with their fangs and claws at an incredible frequency, shaving away the steel wall layer by layer, like a carpenter planing wood.

Even though Chu Qingyun poured in his Primordial Power with all his might to repair and maintain the iron walls, the rate of repair was far slower than the rate at which the Demon Beasts were tearing them apart.

The nearly thirty-centimeter-thick iron walls were thinning at a steady rate.

Chu Qingyun’s heart sank into despair.

He knew perfectly well that once the four iron walls gave way, there would be only one outcome for him: to be instantly torn to shreds by the surging tide of beasts.

These three types of Demon Beasts held an absolute advantage in numbers, completely overwhelming Chu Qingyun.

No matter how powerful his Soul Techniques or Sword Technique were, he couldn’t possibly contend with so many fearless Demon Beasts.

Unless he could break through and become a Martial Spirit Level expert right now, perhaps then he could use absolute power to annihilate these hundreds, even thousands, of Demon Beasts!

SHUNK!

A muffled thud followed.

The iron wall that had been taking the most frequent attacks finally couldn’t hold on any longer.

Directly in front of Chu Qingyun, a gleaming wolf claw pierced through the iron wall and poked inside.

With this major breakthrough, a series of excited wolf howls immediately rang out from outside.

Meanwhile, on the side facing the Ice Demon Apes, the iron wall had been pushed so far back it was about to slam into Chu Qingyun!

The situation had deteriorated to its absolute worst!

"You bastards! Go to hell! I’ll fight you to the death!"