Devouring Soul Emperor

Not far from the gates of Qingshan City, Chu Qingyun turned his head and cast a wistful glance back at the city gate.

’The Blood Wolf Gang has been wiped out, the villagers have all settled into the city, and Ye Qi has gone to Lianshan County City with the Ye Family. It’s time for me to leave too. Qingshan City... I wonder when I’ll ever be back...’

Chu Qingyun reflected for a moment, then turned his horse around and slowly rode away.

Just then, a middle-aged man, also on horseback, caught up to Chu Qingyun. He asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Young brother, where are you headed so early in the morning?"

Chu Qingyun glanced at him. He felt something was a bit off, but he didn’t overthink it and answered casually, "Flame City."

The middle-aged man smiled. "What a coincidence! I’m also headed to Flame City. Why don’t we travel together? We can look out for each other on the road."

Chu Qingyun frowned but didn’t say anything more.

After leaving Qingshan City, his plan was to make Flame City his first stop to inquire about the Zhao Clan.

Although the Zhao Clan probably wouldn’t care much about a mere Zhao Yishui, Chu Qingyun still felt uneasy. He wanted to be absolutely sure before he could travel farther away with peace of mind.

Since he wasn’t in a rush, Chu Qingyun rode forward at a leisurely pace.

The middle-aged man didn’t seem to be in a hurry either, and he followed along at the same unhurried pace.

While on horseback, Chu Qingyun took out a drop of the Primordial Spirit Liquid he had gotten from Qi Gang, opened the container, and swallowed it.

After entering his stomach, the Primordial Spirit Liquid transformed into a massive amount of incredibly pure Primordial Power. It circulated through Chu Qingyun’s nine major meridians a few times before converging in his Qi Sea.

Previously, the Primordial Power in Chu Qingyun’s Qi Sea had already filled it by half.

After about ten minutes of Refining the power of this drop of Primordial Spirit Liquid, the Primordial Power in his Qi Sea had noticeably risen by a small amount.

’As expected of Primordial Spirit Liquid, something used by Martial Spirit experts.’

Before, when he cultivated with Top-Grade Primordial Stones, he felt almost no change in his Qi Sea. But with Primordial Spirit Liquid, the effect was so obvious.

However, even so, Chu Qingyun realized with a sense of helplessness that even if he used up all the Primordial Spirit Liquid he had, it still wouldn’t be enough to advance to Tier Four Martial Artist.

’The resources needed to cultivate a Qi Sea ten thousand meters wide are just too immense!’

"Ahem, young brother, was that Primordial Spirit Liquid you just used? Tsk tsk, impressive. Only a Tier Three Martial Artist, yet you possess something so valuable," the middle-aged man behind him suddenly said.

Chu Qingyun’s brow furrowed, his expression turning wary. He said slowly, "Brother, I’m suddenly a bit tired and want to rest for a while. Why don’t you go on ahead?"

"Is that so? What a coincidence, I’m a bit tired too. Let’s rest then," the middle-aged man said.

Chu Qingyun: "..."

"PFFT... HAHAHA! Chu Qingyun, you’re hilarious! Did you really not realize it was me this whole time?"

The middle-aged man suddenly couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. This time, however, his voice had changed into a woman’s—and a very familiar one at that.

It was... You Yun!

Chu Qingyun was utterly speechless. "You Yun, why are you following me? And what’s with this disguise?"

Speaking of which, Chu Qingyun was suddenly a little curious about You Yun’s real appearance. The woman went straight from a mask to a disguise; he had never once seen her true face.

"I got bored of Qingshan City, so I thought I’d tag along with you for some fun. By the way, you were just going to leave without saying goodbye? That’s not very friendly of you."

"I didn’t think you were into that sort of thing."

The two of them set off again, but this time, Chu Qingyun was much more relaxed. With a stranger following him before, his nerves had been constantly on edge.

"Hey, weren’t you tired? Don’t you want to rest?" You Yun said with a teasing smile.

Chu Qingyun: "..."

He realized that ever since they’d left the Martial King’s Tomb, You Yun’s attitude toward him had changed significantly. She was no longer as cold and aloof as before.

’Perhaps... it’s because I obtained that Fragment, and now I’m worthy of her attention.’

Since he had You Yun with him—a free Protector he’d be a fool not to use—Chu Qingyun took out one of the Fiery Red Lotus plants he had obtained in the Martial King’s Tomb, preparing to cultivate the Second Layer of the Profound Celestial Divine Pattern.

The Second Layer of the Profound Celestial Divine Pattern was called the Fire Pattern. It required using the power of a Fire Element Spiritual Medicine to inscribe Fire Patterns onto the body.

Seeing the Spiritual Medicine in Chu Qingyun’s hand, You Yun frowned and said, "Chu Qingyun, are you going to use that Spiritual Medicine to cultivate a Secret Technique?"

"Yes," Chu Qingyun nodded.

"If you want to die, go right ahead. The aura of that Spiritual Medicine is impure. There’s a violent energy hidden inside it; something is definitely wrong with it. Who gave you this Spiritual Medicine?" You Yun explained.

’A violent energy?’

Chu Qingyun instantly thought of the Fire Poison he had suffered from in the Four-direction Illusionary Fire Array.

It seemed Fatty Qian had infused the Fire Poison into the four Fiery Red Lotus plants that served as the Array Bases. That was how the Fire Poison had spread throughout the entire Grand Array, affecting everyone.

Sure enough, after having You Yun inspect all four Spiritual Medicines, he found that all of them were tainted with Fire Poison.

"Does that mean these four Spiritual Medicines are all useless?"

Chu Qingyun felt it was a real shame. The Fiery Red Lotus was a Tier Three Spiritual Medicine, perfect for him to cultivate the Second Layer of the Profound Celestial Divine Pattern. He never expected that after going to such lengths to obtain them, they would all be ruined by Qian Sanpang.

"Not necessarily. Fire Poison is also a type of Fire Element power. If you can get your hands on some Ice Element Demon Cores, I can help you neutralize the Fire Poison. But they have to be Ice Element, not Water Element," You Yun said after a moment of thought.

Chu Qingyun pondered for a moment, then said, "In that case, let’s head to the Mist Forest outside Flame City first. It’s on the way, and there are plenty of Demon Beasts there."

Demon Cores were the very essence of a Demon Beast and were needed for everything from concocting certain Secret Medicines to forging Divine Weapons.

Moreover, not every Demon Beast had a Demon Core inside it.

Once they had their direction set, Chu Qingyun once again began to comprehend the King-rank Sword Technique, the Thunder Sword Manual.

In Chu Qingyun’s mind, a purple shadow appeared once more, demonstrating the Mystical Technique of the first sword form of the Thunder Sword Manual over and over again.

Flashes of purple light flickered in his eyes, and a sharp Sword Intent slowly began to emanate from his body.

"Cultivating even while traveling. Is it necessary to be so extra...?" You Yun muttered, bored.

Chu Qingyun smiled and said, "Flame City is one of the top-ranked major cities in Lianshan County, after all. Even though it can’t compare to the County City itself, its overall power is certainly far beyond Qingshan City’s. With my current strength, I probably won’t amount to much there, so I have to work hard." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

「After about three days of riding at an unhurried pace, the two arrived outside the Mist Forest.」

The Mist Forest was shrouded in a faint mist all year round. Only at high noon, when the light was at its brightest, would the thick fog dissipate slightly.

A few hundred meters into the Mist Forest, both horses suddenly seemed to take fright, constantly rearing up and absolutely refusing to go any further.