Devouring Soul Emperor

"Devouring Martial Soul!"

"Devouring Power!"

Chu Qingyun let out a low cry and unleashed his Devouring Martial Soul. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Just as before, once the Devouring Martial Soul was unleashed, only Chu Qingyun could see it. It was completely invisible to others.

This time, however, was different. A mass of profound, dark power appeared in Chu Qingyun’s hand—a force that seemed to swallow even light itself.

It was an intimately familiar power, one he had once used in the Illusion Realm.

This was the Devouring Power!

Chu Qingyun glanced around before his eyes landed on a large tree, roughly a meter in diameter. With a flick of his arm, the Devouring Power shot out as a black line, striking the tree with pinpoint accuracy.

As the Devouring Power seeped into the tree, its leaves began to yellow and fall. The bark cracked and dried, and the massive tree rapidly lost all its vitality.

At the same time, streams of vibrant, emerald-green energy flowed from the Devouring Power back into Chu Qingyun’s body.

Although he hadn’t sustained any obvious wounds while facing the monster, his body had inevitably accumulated some minor, hidden injuries.

Nourished by this vibrant energy, those hidden injuries healed rapidly. Chu Qingyun felt his body being refreshed from the inside out!

In less than a minute, the Devouring Power had completely plundered the decades, even centuries, of life force the large tree had accumulated.

This power was simply too tyrannical!

"Hahahahaha..."

Chu Qingyun couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh. With the Devouring Power, his strength had risen by a whole new level. Moreover, its practical applications were absolutely beyond imagination!

Once the excitement faded, waves of exhaustion washed over him.

He had fought three major battles that night, culminating in a life-or-death struggle against that monster. The physical fatigue could perhaps be remedied with Primordial Power or the energy he had just devoured.

But the mental and emotional exhaustion was much harder to replenish.

He wasn’t in a hurry to return to the County City.

Chu Qingyun used his Ten-star Vine Martial Soul to quickly circle the area and set up a few simple wards. Then, he casually pulled out a couple of pieces of clothing, laid them on the ground, and fell asleep.

In a frantic rush, Xia He and the other three pushed the Giant-winged Goose to its limits, shortening the nearly ten-hour journey by almost two-thirds. They arrived back at the Great Xia Dragon Guard headquarters in Lianshan County City in just over three hours.

They landed back in the same courtyard as before. Upon landing, Xia He’s vision went black and his body went limp; he nearly collapsed.

While constantly expending his Martial Soul Power and Primordial Power for over three hours wasn’t as draining as a fierce battle, it had still severely overdrawn his reserves.

Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and endured as Huang Yinghao helped him down.

The commotion in the courtyard alerted the Military Lords and Grand Commanders inside. They rushed out at once, every single one of them with a grim expression on their face.

When the Celestial Wind Army Master and the army’s Grand Commanders saw Xia He and the others return, their faces lit up with joy. But that joy quickly faded when they realized Chu Qingyun was not among them.

"Why are only the four of you back? How did the mission go? Where’s Chu Qingyun?" Grand Commander Chu Yu couldn’t help but ask.

"Our captain... he..."

In a somber tone, Xiao Feng recounted everything they had experienced in Shilin Town from his perspective.

"My lords, it was a complete setup! That monster... even a full-power strike from Chen Yu could only pierce its skin! If our captain hadn’t comprehended Sword Qi, we wouldn’t have even been able to injure it!"

"Against a monster like that, forget the five of us—even an army of hundreds or thousands in the Martial Master Realm would have been utterly slaughtered!"

After he finished speaking, Xiao Feng couldn’t help but voice his complaints.

"The Soul-Imbued Talisman... check the captain’s Soul-Imbued Talisman..."

Just then, Chen Yu, who had been unconscious for the entire journey, stirred and spoke in a weak voice.

Though he had been gravely wounded and knocked unconscious by a single swipe of the monster’s claw, he still remembered that Chu Qingyun had used his vines to save him at the last moment.

"Don’t worry. As of a moment ago, Chu Qingyun’s Soul-Imbued Talisman was still perfectly intact!"

Hearing this, the eyes of Xia He, Xiao Feng, and the other two lit up with excitement.

’More than three hours have passed, and Chu Qingyun is still alive!’

’Could he have escaped from that monster?’

The group hurried into the room. However, one look at the table left Xiao Feng and the other three utterly flabbergasted.

Before they had set out, the Soul-Imbued Talismans for all six elite squads from the Six Armies had been placed on the table.

But now, aside from the five talismans belonging to their Celestial Wind Army squad, the Soul-Imbued Talismans of the other Five Armies were all shattered!

In other words, besides the five of them, the other five elite squads had been completely annihilated!

"Lord Military Commander, this..."

Xiao Feng couldn’t believe his eyes. ’The strongest warriors of the Martial Master Realm from the Six Armies...’

He had thought his squad was just unlucky to have encountered a monster, but now it seemed the others had met the same fate.

The Celestial Wind Army Master’s expression was grave. He nodded and said, "That’s right. The other five squads have all been wiped out. Those six Crystal Balls must be the Soul-Imbued Talismans for the type of monster you described."

"If I’m not mistaken, they must have encountered those monsters as well. It’s just that... none of them had an expert as strong as Chu Qingyun on their team."

The atmosphere in the room grew incredibly oppressive.

Although the Celestial Wind Army’s elite squad had been lucky to escape, the fact remained that the Six Armies had been deployed, yet not a single squad had completed its mission. The best outcome was barely escaping with their lives.

An incident like this was a tremendous blow to the dignity of the Great Xia Dragon Guard and to the morale of its members.

And the Martial Soul Hall would almost certainly exploit this incident in the future!

The situation was looking very grim...

Just then, a crisp sound suddenly echoed through the utterly silent room.

CRACK.

At this sound, the expressions of all the Military Lords and Grand Commanders changed in an instant.

Over the past day and night, they had heard that sound far too many times. Each crack signified the death of a member of the six elite squads.

The Celestial Wind Army Master and Grand Commander Chu Yu both sighed inwardly. ’So, Chu Qingyun couldn’t escape his fate after all...’

Taking a deep breath, they exchanged a glance, each seeing the helplessness reflected in the other’s eyes.

’To have found an unparalleled genius, only to lose him just like that.’

However, as they turned to look at the Soul-Imbued Talismans, they realized something was wrong. Every person they looked at was staring, completely dumbfounded.

Some looked so shocked their eyes seemed ready to pop out of their sockets.

’What’s happening?’

When their gazes landed on the Celestial Wind Army’s Soul-Imbued Talismans, they, too, were struck dumb.

The five Soul-Imbued Talismans of the Celestial Wind Army’s elite squad remained neatly arranged, completely undisturbed.

What had cracked was the gray Crystal Ball placed in front of the five talismans!