Devouring Soul Emperor

"Look, this must be the topographical map of the ruins the Matai People told us about."

The three of them searched the map for a while.

Soon, they found the six Array Bases of the Six Imperial Demon-Sealing Array. Just as the Matai People had said, they were located near the main hall.

"We should be... here," Chu Qingyun said, pointing at the map to confirm their direction. "We’re closest to this Array Base. Let’s go check it out."

"Okay. Chu Qingyun, thank you," Mu Xiaoxiao said gratefully.

The Martial Emperor Level mummies had all awakened, but Chu Qingyun was still willing to join her in stopping the Martial Soul Hall. Mu Xiaoxiao was incredibly grateful for this.

The trio wasted no time, immediately heading for the Array Base.

According to the map, the distance wasn’t great. At their pace, they should have been able to reach it in two or three hours.

However, the strange disease was now spreading rampantly throughout the ruins.

Although the trio did their best to avoid any confrontations, their progress was severely hampered. They didn’t arrive near the Array Base until dusk.

The sun sank in the west, its fiery glow dyeing half the sky a deep, blood-like red.

A blood-red dusk. It felt like an ill omen...

For some reason, a sense of heaviness settled in the hearts of both Mu Xiaoxiao and Chu Qingyun.

The Blood Sect had established the Array Base for the Six Imperial Demon-Sealing Array within an artificial valley. They had also surrounded it with numerous Defensive Array Restrictions to prevent Demon Beasts from stumbling upon it by accident.

Now, however, all the Array Restrictions had been utterly destroyed.

The trio pushed their Hidden Qi Technique to the absolute limit, concealing all traces of their Qi as they silently advanced toward the core.

Hiding behind a copse of trees, the three of them got a clear view of the scene ahead.

The core of this Array Base was an Array Platform roughly ten meters in diameter, constructed from a vast quantity of Demon Cores, Primordial Stones, and various other Crystal Stones.

A thick pillar of light rose from the Array Platform, seemingly connected to the dome-shaped seal high above the ruins.

The section of the pillar closest to the Array Platform shone with a dazzling radiance, emitting astonishing fluctuations of Primordial Power.

But the higher it rose, the fainter its light grew. At about a hundred meters up, it became as transparent as the seal in the sky.

Chu Qingyun could also faintly make out shimmering Runes drifting out from the Array Platform one after another. They floated up through the pillar of light, eventually merging invisibly into the seal.

Of the twenty-some people from the Martial Soul Hall, six were seated cross-legged around the Array Platform. From time to time, they would wave their hands, sending a bolt of Primordial Power into the pillar of light.

Clearly, they were attempting to use some method to dismantle this Array Base of the Six Pillar Demon Sealing Seal.

A truly powerful expert could, of course, destroy the Array Base directly with brute force.

But evidently, these sixth-level Martial Spirits from the Martial Soul Hall were not yet capable of such a feat. Thus, they could only resort to this method—accumulating power bit by bit to destroy the Array Base.

In addition to the six people working on the seal, another dozen or so sixth-level Martial Spirits from the Martial Soul Hall stood guard around the Array Platform.

A man who appeared to be their leader roared impatiently, "All of you, hurry it up! Destroy this damned Array Base! I have important things to do!"

After roaring, the man turned and faced in Chu Qingyun’s direction.

’It’s him!’

Seeing the man’s face, Chu Qingyun’s heart skipped a beat.

’It’s Lord Ming from the Martial Soul Hall, the one I ran into right after entering the Blood-soaked Land! I can’t believe he not only chased me to Black Blood City but pursued me all the way to Blood Abyss City, and now to this place.’

Lord Ming, for his part, was also feeling quite frustrated.

Back in the forest outside Black Blood City, after shaking off the Black-Maned Demon Wolf King, he had immediately left the woods and taken the most direct route toward Celestial Martial City to hunt down Chu Qingyun.

Unfortunately, Chu Qingyun hadn’t stopped for over three months, and Lord Ming had never managed to catch up.

It wasn’t until he reached Blood Abyss City and heard about the Blood Sect ruins that Lord Ming guessed Chu Qingyun would be unable to resist the temptation and enter.

So, he too had laid low in Blood Abyss City, waiting for his chance to enter the ruins.

Not everyone possessed a Devouring Martial Soul that would automatically give a warning when members of the Martial Soul Hall drew near.

So, when members of the Martial Soul Hall went into hiding, it was difficult to expose them—as long as they were careful and no one noticed they didn’t bleed when injured.

He had waited for days, but instead of finding Chu Qingyun, he himself was found by the local Martial Soul Hall contingent.

As a result, Lord Ming was conscripted, becoming one of the "Lords" tasked with leading a team into the Blood Sect ruins to destroy this Array Base.

And what he really wanted to be doing, of course, was hunting down Chu Qingyun.

Over three months of relentless pursuit had only deepened his killing intent toward Chu Qingyun. Besides, once Chu Qingyun reached Celestial Martial City, or even just left the Blood-soaked Land, Lord Ming feared he would lose his chance entirely.

Lord Ming wouldn’t dare enter a sect’s territory, not even if he had ten times the courage.

’This guy just won’t give up. I need to find a chance to take care of him for good...’ Chu Qingyun thought, watching Lord Ming.

It wasn’t a good feeling, being constantly hunted.

"Chu Qingyun, what should we do?" Mu Xiaoxiao whispered from beside him.

Chu Qingyun frowned. He pondered for a moment, then sighed and said, "There doesn’t seem to be a good solution."

Dealing with the Martial Soul Hall members, even with Lord Ming present, wouldn’t be a problem for the current Chu Qingyun.

The problem was that, aside from the people from the Martial Soul Hall, there were also dozens of infected and mutated humans and Demon Beasts near the Array Platform.

They were all at the Earth Spirit Realm, but remembering their terrifying Life Power and frenzied aggression gave even Chu Qingyun a headache.

What confused the trio even more was that these mutated creatures completely ignored Lord Ming and his dozen or so followers.

They were all standing close together, with the mutated creatures just milling about, yet the two groups acted as if the other didn’t exist!

Just then, Dai’s head suddenly felt a bit itchy, and he reached up to scratch it.

The movement instantly caught the attention of two Mutated Demon Beasts. They whipped their heads around to stare at the trio, letting out low, guttural growls.

Then, more Mutants and Mutated Demon Beasts spotted them, and even the members of the Martial Soul Hall noticed the disturbance.

"Boss... Sir... I..."

Dai’s hand was still on his head, his expression dazed. He seemed to realize he had just messed up badly.

Mu Xiaoxiao frowned, shooting him a sharp glare.