Devouring Soul Emperor

"Bastards! Go to hell! I’ll take you all on!"

After being besieged and relentlessly attacked for so long, Chu Qingyun could finally take it no more.

He let out a furious roar. The four Iron Walls erupted with their last ounce of strength, violently shaking and temporarily forcing back the surrounding Demon Beasts.

His Sinking into the Mire Soul Technique was useless at this point.

Chu Qingyun drew his Thundercloud Sword. Pushing the Profound Celestial Divine Pattern to its absolute limit, he gripped the sword with both hands and slashed forward with all his might!

"Thunder Sword Momentum!"

The power of the Spirit Level Divine Weapon exploded. Rampant Thunder Power surged from the longsword, and a single strike annihilated five or six Cyan Wind Wolves in front of him!

But without the defense of his Iron Wall Martial Soul, the Demon Beasts on the other three sides swarmed him in an instant, baring their sharp teeth and claws.

"All of you, die!"

Chu Qingyun roared. He pushed his ten vines to their limit, unleashing a continuous barrage of Thunder Sword Momentum that constantly blasted back the Demon Beasts on the three sides.

However, the sheer number of Demon Beasts was too overwhelming. The Ten-star Vine Martial Soul wasn’t a dedicated Defense-type Martial Soul, after all, and it simply couldn’t hold them all off under these circumstances.

Soon, many more gruesome wounds appeared on Chu Qingyun’s body. He was covered in blood from head to toe.

After cutting down an Elemental Ore Rat that had leaped at him, Chu Qingyun suddenly thought of a method—one he had used before in the Elemental Ore Rat burrows of the Yuan Stone Ore Vein.

He controlled the ten vines, using them like stilts to lift himself up. He wanted to use the vines as legs to rush to the center of the square.

If he could just touch that golden medal, he would complete the trial.

But less than two seconds after lifting himself, he realized with a sense of defeat that it wouldn’t work at all.

The Elemental Ore Rats back then had been weak; it took them many bites to chew through a vine.

But now, both the Elemental Ore Rats and the Cyan Wind Wolves were greatly enhanced by the Illusion Realm. When many of them pounced at once, they could easily tear the vines to shreds.

The speed at which they grew couldn’t keep up with the speed at which they were being devoured!

’It’s over... In the end, no one can pass this in one go...’

Facing the dark, pressing tide of beasts below, Chu Qingyun felt dejected and hopeless. He had already given up on passing the trial.

To have lasted this long against a beast tide of this scale was already a near-perfect performance from Chu Qingyun.

The other Great Xia Dragon Guard Captains who had chosen all three paths incorrectly would often not even last five seconds in this final square before being completely submerged by the massive number of enemies.

The moment he began to fall, Chu Qingyun let out a great shout.

"Thunder Sword Momentum!"

Another slash boomed out!

Even knowing death was certain, he would die fighting!

With one slash, another group of Demon Beasts was blasted to smithereens!

But Chu Qingyun’s own body also suffered countless attacks. In several places, the Demon Beasts’ sharp teeth and claws had torn open gashes deep enough to reveal bone!

Watching a giant palm whistle as it slapped toward his head, Chu Qingyun gave a bitter smile and slowly closed his eyes.

After putting all his strength into that last slash, he didn’t even have the power to defend against a single palm strike from the Ice Demon Ape.

He knew that dying here only meant failing the trial and his consciousness returning to his body.

But with death imminent, a sense of despair still filled his entire consciousness.

It was the instinct of all living things.

And just then, from the ground beneath his feet, wisps of a dark and profound power—a power that seemed to devour even light—slowly began to seep out.

The moment these wisps of power appeared, all the surrounding Demon Beasts reacted as if they had seen something utterly terrifying. They uniformly ceased their attacks, trembling as they continuously backed away.

Those wisps of black power seemed to tear through the ground of the square bit by bit. The fissures grew larger, and the power seeping through grew stronger.

All of the black power crept up Chu Qingyun’s legs and slowly clung to his body.

’Why has everything gone quiet? Have I "died" already? Has my consciousness returned?’

The surroundings fell silent in an instant. Chu Qingyun opened his eyes in confusion, only to see a shocking sight.

The rampaging Demon Beasts that had been so aggressive just moments before were now all trembling nonstop. Some were even so terrified they had fallen to their knees, pressing their heads firmly against the ground.

"What... is this stuff!?"

Chu Qingyun glanced down and suddenly saw streams of a dark and profound power continuously emerging from the ground where he stood.

This black power had already enveloped both of his legs and was still spreading upward.

"This power... it feels so familiar. This is... Devouring Power!"

Chu Qingyun suddenly remembered. This was the same Devouring Power that had been released from his Devouring Martial Soul back when he was being suppressed by someone’s aura!

Although the Devouring Power had appeared on its own before, it had always been confined to the meridians within his body and had never been under his control.

But now, the Devouring Power had actually appeared outside his body!

’That’s not right. This Illusion Realm didn’t simulate the Devouring Martial Soul at all. So where is this Devouring Power coming from?’ Chu Qingyun looked at the ground in confusion.

Suddenly, he had a bold guess.

The Illusion Realm was powerful, capable of simulating the various Martial Souls in his Qi Sea, and even his Spirit Level Divine Weapon and Storage Ring. But the Devouring Martial Soul was something it fundamentally could not simulate.

In other words, this Devouring Power had come from his original body, penetrated the Illusion Array, and appeared here in the Illusion Realm!

The truth was more or less what he had guessed.

Chu Qingyun’s consciousness, which had entered the Illusion Realm, had been filled with the despair of death.

This despair had stimulated his body and the Devouring Martial Soul in his Qi Sea. As a result, the Devouring Martial Soul released its Devouring Power, tearing through the Illusion Array and forcibly descending into this Illusion Realm.

He lightly swept his right hand through the Devouring Power, and a ball of dark energy levitated above his palm.

This Devouring Power was now under his control! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Seeing the fear this power instilled in the surrounding Demon Beasts, the corners of Chu Qingyun’s mouth curled up into a cold smirk.

"You’ve been bullying me for so long. Now, it’s my turn to get revenge!"

Clutching a ball of Devouring Power, Chu Qingyun walked step by step until he stood before an Ice Demon Ape.

The once ferocious and brutal Ice Demon Ape was now trembling violently from head to toe, not even daring to lift its head.

"Die!"

Chu Qingyun thrust his palm forward, slapping the Devouring Power onto the Ice Demon Ape.

Instantly, the Ice Demon Ape let out an incredibly blood-curdling shriek.

Chu Qingyun could see it clearly.

From his palm, the Devouring Power transformed into countless thin black threads that continuously spread deep into the Ice Demon Ape’s body.