Devouring Soul Emperor

When the flames vanished, the true face of the area once enveloped by the Four-direction Illusionary Fire Array appeared before everyone.

It was a massive plaza, roughly two thousand meters in diameter.

The plaza floor was crisscrossed with grooves that formed a network of paths, strikingly similar to the passages they had navigated through the Sea of Fire.

They had just spent hours winding through the Sea of Fire, only to realize they had been walking in circles on this very plaza!

In the exact center of the plaza stood a colossal statue, over ten meters tall.

The dark grey statue stood proudly. It was a statue of the master of this tomb: the Canglang King.

Looking at the statue, Chu Qingyun found it incredibly familiar. Aside from its color and size, it was nearly identical to the white jade statue he had seen upon first entering the tomb.

’The inheritance for the King-tier Sword Technique must be inside this statue!’

Hearts burning with fervor, Jintai, Ye Can, and Zhou Li were the first to rush toward the colossal statue.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ning Xue followed them.

However, the four of them circled the statue several times and came up with absolutely nothing. They made no discoveries at all.

Chu Qingyun, true to his word, didn’t try to claim the King-tier Sword Technique for himself. He simply stood at a distance, watching them search.

’I wouldn’t be able to snatch it even if they found it,’ he thought, ’so I might as well stay out of this mess.’

Soon, however, he discovered to his dismay that the black ring on his hand was beginning to heat up again.

The temperature rose rapidly, as if it were incessantly urging him forward.

Resigned, Chu Qingyun had no choice but to slowly and cautiously approach the massive statue, one step at a time.

Fortunately, the other four were preoccupied with examining the statue, patting and knocking on its surface in search of hidden mechanisms or secret doors.

The moment Chu Qingyun stepped within a hundred meters of the statue, the ring on his hand abruptly cooled to its normal temperature. At the same time, an almost unnoticeable glint of light flashed in the statue’s eyes.

After the light faded, the statue began to tremble.

RUMBLE. The commotion was immense, causing the entire plaza to vibrate in response.

"What’s happening? What did you touch?"

"I don’t know. I just knocked on the statue’s temple, and it seemed to move."

"No, it was me! I just stomped on the top of its head. That spot is special and well-hidden, there must be a mechanism there!"

Jintai, Ye Can, and Zhou Li began to argue loudly, though none could be certain who had triggered the mechanism.

As for Chu Qingyun, he was the furthest thing from their minds; they paid him no attention whatsoever.

Only Ning Xue shot Chu Qingyun a peculiar glance.

’He seems a little closer than before...’

The statue’s tremors grew more and more violent until the four could no longer hold on. They leaped down, joining Chu Qingyun, the five of them now scattered around its base.

Just as the five of them stood there, baffled, five beams of light suddenly shot out from the statue.

The five beams arrived in the blink of an eye, instantly enveloping everyone. Not even the enigmatic Ning Xue had a chance to evade them.

Engulfed by the light, all five felt the space around them twist and warp. Then, with a WHOOSH, they all vanished at once, disappearing along with the beams of light.

No one saw that in the instant the light vanished, a slender, violet gleam, like a bolt of thunder, shot from the statue’s eyes and merged into the beam of light surrounding Chu Qingyun.

After everyone had vanished, the statue crumbled with a great RUMBLE, breaking into massive chunks of stone that scattered across the ground.

After a moment of silence in the empty plaza, the ground in an inconspicuous spot suddenly began to bulge upward.

Soon, a large rat, two meters long with two golden stripes on its back, tunneled out from that spot.

If Chu Qingyun were still here, he would surely recall the strange sensation he’d felt in the mines of the abandoned Yuan Stone Ore Vein when he had first begun his cultivation.

The large rat rose up on its hind legs, puffed out its belly, and placed its paws on its hips, glaring resentfully at the scattered remains of the statue.

"Damned Canglang King! I never thought he’d have one last trick up his sleeve. Teleporting all five of them to random locations... He’s certainly looking out for his chosen successor."

"I was hoping to catch all five in one fell swoop. Now, it looks like I can only go after one of them..."

"So be it. I’ll go kill Ning Xue. Among the five, her talent and strength are the greatest. Hmph. Chu Qingyun, consider yourself lucky this time. Sooner or later, I’ll get the information about the Vermilion Bird from you."

The large rat made its decision. It plunged its head into the ground and swiftly burrowed into the earth, heading off in pursuit of Ning Xue.

The moment the light around him vanished, Chu Qingyun felt a wave of dizziness. He didn’t know how much time had passed before he suddenly felt solid ground, landing with a THUD.

A slender violet gleam silently burrowed into Chu Qingyun’s mind.

Chu Qingyun froze as if struck by lightning, rooted to the spot in a daze.

A flood of information suddenly poured into his mind.

Thunder Sword Manual!

Three huge, purple words appeared in his mind. A moment later, these words shattered, transforming into a set of Sword Formulas that floated in his consciousness.

After just a quick scan with his consciousness, the profound and complex Sword Formulas were seared into his memory, impossible to forget even if he wanted to.

After he had committed the Sword Formulas to memory, all the small purple characters shattered once more, coalescing into a violet, faceless figure.

The figure waved its right hand, and a purple longsword materialized in its grasp. Right there in Chu Qingyun’s mind, it began to perform a sword dance, demonstrating the Thunder Sword Manual for him, move by painstaking move.

It performed the entire sequence three times, and Chu Qingyun committed every action and every detail to memory.

Once this was done, the figure faded away, and everything vanished.

Chu Qingyun let out a long sigh, his heart filled with a swirl of emotions.

He had only been moved to give the Canglang King three bows upon entering, and yet, he had unexpectedly received such a massive stroke of fortune.

It was obvious now: the Storage Ring was the key to the Canglang King’s legacy.

The Puppet Primordial Stones, the Array Bases for the Grand Array, and even this final Thunder Sword Manual—all of it had been left by the Canglang King for his chosen successor.

And the criterion for choosing this successor wasn’t talent or power, nor was it family background. It was simply a heart that respected the dead.

And yet, that was the most difficult part.

In the face of endless temptation, who would bother to pay respects to the dead?

If Chu Qingyun had entered earlier instead of being one of the last, he probably wouldn’t have bowed either. He would have undoubtedly rushed straight in.

But that, precisely, was his good fortune, his destiny.

After running through the Thunder Sword Manual in his mind one more time to confirm he had it perfectly memorized, Chu Qingyun opened his eyes.

"Huh? Why is she here...?"

Chu Qingyun was surprised to see Ning Xue, clad in her green robes, sitting cross-legged not far from him. Her face was flushed, and her expression was twisted in pain.