Devouring Soul Emperor

’Cooperate?’

Chu Qingyun sneered inwardly, remaining silent.

Liu Tianhu’s eyes flickered, his expression filled with malice. He clearly had ill intentions.

He called it cooperation, but in reality, he just wanted to use Chu Qingyun’s Puppet as a shield to cover his own escape.

He might even be thinking about killing Chu Qingyun after they got out and taking all of his Primordial Spirit Liquid and the Puppet for himself.

Cooperating with someone like that without enough strength to protect oneself was undoubtedly like asking a tiger for its skin.

"Haha, Liu Tianhu, you’ve been robbing and plundering for years. Your reputation is in tatters. How could a young hero like Chu possibly cooperate with you?"

"Chu, I am Zhou Qing of the Lianshan County City’s Zhou Family, and I would like to recruit you. Just give me all your Primordial Spirit Liquid, and I guarantee you a spot in our Zhou Family’s Outer Sect. How about it?"

The leader of the Zhou Family group suddenly laughed heartily.

"Hmph, the Zhou Family’s Outer Sect? They’re just the Zhou Family’s lapdogs. Who would want to be one!?"

"Chu Qingyun, I’ll get straight to the point. You obtained six drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid. Give me four, use your Puppet to help me fight, and this time, my Jin Family will protect you!"

The leader of the Jin Family group also began trying to win over Chu Qingyun.

At this, the thirty-odd people at the entrance grew restless. The individuals inside were, in fact, far stronger than them.

However, the people inside were busy scheming against one another—a tray of loose sand—which was the only reason the group at the door had become the largest faction.

If the people inside began to form alliances, their advantage would vanish in an instant. They would immediately become the weakest party and would likely be the first to be eliminated.

After a moment of discussion, one of them stepped forward and said, "Chu, if you want to leave, we won’t stop you. You just have to hand over five drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid to us!"

No one was a fool. It was easy to see that Chu Qingyun was the key to the situation.

The members of the three great families were evenly matched in strength and had been competing for years. They wouldn’t discard their families’ honor to cooperate over a few mere drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid.

Liu Tianhu was notorious, yet very strong. No one wanted him on their side.

As for Chu Qingyun, his own strength was low, and he had only survived this long thanks to his Puppet, making him seem easy to control.

More importantly, he had obtained six drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid all by himself—a number that made everyone in the grand hall burn with envy.

Of course, Chu Qingyun himself was well aware of this.

They all spoke pleasant words, but their calculations were all roughly the same: first, use his Puppet, then snatch his Primordial Spirit Liquid.

However, he had his own plan as well.

Every time someone spoke and drew the others’ attention, Chu Qingyun would silently move a few steps closer to the inner door.

He was now quite close to the door. If he burst forward with all his might, he could rush through it in less than ten seconds.

Everything that needed to be said had been said. All eyes were now fixed on Chu Qingyun, waiting for his decision.

Chu Qingyun, however, felt helpless. On the surface, it seemed he was in a great position, with everyone vying to recruit him, but only he knew the true agony of his predicament.

No matter which option he chose, it was a dead end!

In a situation like this, his only choice was to forge a new path for himself!

"Everyone, what’s the point of all this scheming? Why don’t I... just give you all a drop of Primordial Spirit Liquid!"

After speaking, Chu Qingyun took out a drop of Primordial Spirit Liquid and, with a flick of his finger, sent it flying toward the entrance of the grand hall.

Instantly, everyone was stunned, not understanding what Chu Qingyun was doing.

But stunned or not, the Primordial Spirit Liquid was real. Almost everyone surged forward in a mad scramble to claim it.

Meanwhile, Chu Qingyun seized the opportunity, erupting with his full speed and charging toward the inner door with his Puppet.

"Damn it, we’ve been tricked! Chu Qingyun is getting away!"

"Quick, stop him!"

"Chu, don’t go in there! It’s a dead end!"

Seeing Chu Qingyun about to escape, the few Level Seven Martial Artists were furious. The prize that was right within their grasp was getting away!

Halfway there, Chu Qingyun’s scalp suddenly tingled, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

Without a second thought, he directed the Puppet to block the way behind him.

BANG!

BANG! BANG! BANG...

A series of impacts rang out as more than twenty attacks of Primordial Power struck the Puppet’s back one after another. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The heavy, sturdy Puppet was knocked into the air. It slammed into Chu Qingyun, sending him flying as well, and they both tumbled through the doorway.

’A bunch of lunatics!’

Chu Qingyun cursed inwardly.

After passing through the door, Chu Qingyun’s vision blurred, as if the space around him was constantly shifting.

Before long, man and Puppet landed on the ground with a pair of THUDS.

This was a world of fire.

As far as the eye could see, there was a sea of fire. Raging flames burned everywhere, casting the entire world in a fiery red glow. Even each breath he took was scorching hot.

Looking closely, however, he could faintly make out paths running through the sea of fire, like a maze.

Chu Qingyun and his Puppet were now standing within that sea of fire, on one of the flame-free paths.

Seeing no immediate danger, Chu Qingyun placed a hand on the Puppet and stored it in his Storage Ring.

’After all, even a single step from the Puppet consumes several Upper Grade Primordial Stones...’

The paths to the left and right looked identical, so Chu Qingyun randomly chose a direction and headed left.

An ordinary person wouldn’t last long in such a scorching environment; they would quickly be roasted into a dried corpse.

But Chu Qingyun was a Martial Artist with Primordial Power protecting his body. The intense heat alone was no problem for him, merely consuming a negligible amount of his Primordial Power.

After walking for about two minutes, a fork appeared in the path ahead.

Chu Qingyun continued to choose the left path.

After another minute, another fork appeared, and Chu Qingyun once again went left.

He kept going like this, always turning left at every fork.

At first, he tried to carefully memorize his route, but the surroundings were completely identical—the same flames everywhere.

After a few turns, Chu Qingyun was completely lost. He had no idea where he was or how far he had walked.

He began to panic. ’This sea of fire is more than it seems.’

Just then, from the flames beside the path ahead, a Fire Beast made of fire and shaped like a wild boar suddenly charged out.

The Fire Beast roared, spitting a jet of flame over a meter long as it lowered its head and charged at Chu Qingyun.

"The aura of a Level One Martial Artist!"

Chu Qingyun could tell with a single glance that this Fire Beast’s strength was only at the level of a Level One Martial Artist.

"Gale Sword!"

He snorted disdainfully, his longsword leaving its sheath as he swept a blade of Sword Aura forward.

This was the sword technique he had created by merging all seven techniques of the Gale Seven Swords. Not even Ye Xiaohai, using his Eight Extremes Hell, had been able to block it.

Chu Qingyun was confident that he could shatter this Level One Martial Artist-grade Fire Beast with a single strike!

However, to his astonishment, the Sword Aura passed right through the Fire Beast’s body, striking the sea of fire behind it and vanishing without a trace!