Devouring Soul Emperor

"Devouring Power, unleash!"

Chu Qingyun let out a low roar, and the Devouring Power around his body erupted with its full might.

Countless black filaments practically covered the entire space, shooting out in every direction and leaving no corner untouched!

And from the rift torn open by the Devouring Power, even more Devouring Power continuously poured out from the Devouring Martial Soul, gathering around Chu Qingyun’s body.

The surrounding Demon Beasts struggled helplessly and shrieked miserably under the Devouring Power.

Meanwhile, Chu Qingyun suddenly accelerated, rushing toward the stone platform in the center of the square.

The Illusion Realm grew more terrifying. The vibrations in the surrounding space intensified, and more Demon Beasts materialized out of thin air.

But they were completely incapable of stopping Chu Qingyun in the slightest!

A massive amount of Devouring Power had gathered around him. With just a casual wave of his hand, the erupting Devouring Power could annihilate the Demon Beasts in a large area!

If these were real Demon Beasts of flesh and blood in the real world, they certainly wouldn’t be so terrified of the Devouring Power.

But because they were created by the Illusion Realm, and the Illusion Realm itself feared the Devouring Power, they were also completely and utterly suppressed by it!

After rushing to the center of the square, Chu Qingyun didn’t immediately try to grab the golden medal.

Because as soon as he touched the golden medal, his trial would end. His consciousness would be kicked out of the Illusion Realm and return to his body.

Chu Qingyun searched around carefully twice, but he found nothing. In the center of the square, apart from the stone platform, there was only the floating golden medal.

’Strange... This shouldn’t be right...’

Chu Qingyun frowned.

The Illusion Realm’s reaction was so extreme; it was even willing to break the rules of the trial to stop him from approaching the central stone platform.

This showed that a great secret of the Illusion Realm was definitely hidden here!

’Right, the Devouring Power!’

Chu Qingyun’s eyes lit up.

He suddenly remembered that what the Illusion Realm wanted to stop wasn’t him, but the Devouring Power!

Chu Qingyun grabbed a ball of Devouring Power and gently pressed it onto the man-high stone platform in the center of the square.

Wisps of black power seeped into the stone platform. Under the effect of this power, cracks slowly began to spread across its surface.

Chips and chunks of stone continuously peeled off and fell from the platform.

As the stone platform crumbled, the surrounding space began to vibrate violently. In many places, huge, abyss-like fissures even appeared!

All the Demon Beasts around those fissures were silently annihilated.

The entire Illusion Realm was collapsing!

The remaining Demon Beasts, even more enraged and terrified, surged toward Chu Qingyun like a tide.

However, in the face of the Devouring Power, their only fate was to be reduced to a pile of withered bones!

’So the problem really is inside the stone platform!’

Amidst the collapsing world of the Illusion Realm, Chu Qingyun’s expression was grim. He injected even stronger Devouring Power into the stone platform, and the speed at which it shattered abruptly increased.

BANG!

After holding on for about half a minute, the stone platform finally couldn’t take it anymore and exploded with a BANG.

Amidst the rubble flying in all directions, Chu Qingyun saw it.

Where the stone platform had been, a small, rectangular Light Card condensed from multicolored light now floated in mid-air.

The colors of the Light Card were identical to the ball of light he had seen on the stone bed before entering the Illusion Realm!

This was the core of the entire Illusion Realm!

The very thing that not even the Great Xia Dragon Guards could figure out!

In the surrounding space, the fissures grew larger and larger. In many areas, the sky-rending fissures connected, and vast swathes of the region collapsed and disintegrated.

Chu Qingyun had no time to think. He reached out and grabbed for the Light Card.

The Light Card didn’t move, but Chu Qingyun’s hand passed right through it.

The Light Card was like a hologram; it couldn’t be grasped at all.

"Hmph!"

Chu Qingyun snorted softly. Black Devouring Power flowed, wrapping around his hand like a glove, and he reached for the Light Card again.

This time, he felt a distinct sensation in his hand.

With the help of the Devouring Power, Chu Qingyun snatched the Light Card!

The Light Card was in Chu Qingyun’s hand, removed from its original spot.

Instantly, the entire Illusion Realm began to collapse violently. The abyss-like fissures in the sky spread at a rapidly increasing rate.

In the blink of an eye, more than half of the entire space had collapsed!

The collapsed area was like a primordial behemoth, rapidly devouring the remaining space!

’It’s about to be completely destroyed!’

Chu Qingyun’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly leaped up and snatched at the golden medal floating in mid-air.

...

Inside the Merit Assessment Office, in the room with the stone bed.

About two hours after Chu Qingyun had fallen asleep and entered the Illusion Realm, a tall, thin middle-aged man walked in.

Seeing this man, the few staff members around all smiled and greeted him.

"Zhang Hujun."

"Zhang Hujun, you’re here again today..."

The middle-aged man smiled and nodded. When he saw Chu Qingyun on the stone bed, a smile spread across his face. "This kid, he’s finally here."

This was Zhang Nian, a Guard General in the Celestial Wind Army who served directly under the Celestial Wind Army Master.

Following the Celestial Wind Army Master’s orders, he had come to the Merit Assessment Office every day for the past ten days to wait for Chu Qingyun.

As soon as Chu Qingyun passed the Difficult Level trial, he was to take him to have the permissions on his Token changed, giving him Army Guardian Level access.

"Zhang Hujun, you’ve waited nine days for nothing. If you’d known, you should’ve just come on the tenth day."

The head of the Merit Assessment Office said with a hint of teasing.

They had seen him every day recently and had gotten to know him a little.

"Haha, I couldn’t do that. The Lord Military Commander’s orders can’t be taken lightly, not even for a moment." Zhang Nian laughed, not minding the few days of waiting in vain at all. He continued, "But this kid is really patient. I thought he’d be too restless to wait and would show up on the first day. But he actually dragged it out until the very last day." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Zhang Hujun, do you think he can pass the Difficult Level trial on his first try?" a staff member asked.

Zhang Nian pondered for a moment before saying, "It’s possible. To be valued so highly by the Lord Military Commander as a mere eighth-level Martial Artist, he must have something extraordinary about him."

Hearing this, the staff members of the Merit Assessment Office looked at each other and laughed.

"Zhang Hujun, it’s not that I, Old Dong, want to speak ill of the Lord Celestial Wind Army Master."

"In the decades since this Merit Assessment Office was established, out of all the talented captains from the Six Armies, not a single person has ever passed the trial on their first try—not even on the easy level, never mind challenging the Difficult Level from the start."

"This task the Celestial Wind Army Master has given is simply impossible to complete."

the head of the Merit Assessment Office said, shaking his head.

Hearing this, Zhang Nian also felt uncertain.

When he was still a captain, he had also taken these trials. It had taken him nearly ten attempts to progress from the easy level all the way to the Difficult Level, so he knew full well how hard the trial was.

Just then, Chu Qingyun, who had been lying fast asleep on the stone bed, suddenly sat bolt upright, took a deep breath, and woke up.

Nearly two days had passed in the Illusion Realm, but in reality, it had only been two hours.