Devouring Soul Emperor

"Damn it!"

"Three useless fools!"

Watching Chu Qingyun easily kill Tu Qiang and his two men and snatch the sword, Lord Ming couldn’t help but roar in fury.

He desperately wanted to intercept and pursue Chu Qingyun.

But the Black-Maned Demon Wolf King, enraged by its injuries, was growing more and more furious. Its attacks became increasingly ferocious, forcing Lord Ming into one perilous situation after another. He didn’t dare to divide his attention, let alone give chase.

When Tu Qiang’s other two subordinates, both level-six Martial Spirits, saw that their young master had been killed, their faces instantly turned ashen, and their lips paled with fright.

The two exchanged a look before simultaneously erupting with all their might. They recklessly took down the two Black-Maned Demon Wolves before them, then rushed over, grabbed Tu Qiang’s corpse, and desperately charged out.

With Tu Qiang dead, they were undoubtedly finished.

But if they could bring his body back, perhaps the Blood Wolf Gang would spare their families.

The rest of the battle ended quickly.

Since Chu Qingyun had already taken the sword and disappeared, Lord Ming no longer saw a reason to hold on. He forced the Wolf King back with a final, all-out effort and chose to retreat, quickly vanishing into the forest.

He had hoped Tu Qiang’s two subordinates could buy him some time, but he hadn’t expected them to die at Chu Qingyun’s hands in a single exchange.

After Lord Ming fled, the Black-Maned Demon Wolf King led the remaining Demon Wolves in a frenzied slaughter against the surviving Earth Spirit Realm Martial Artists, venting its rage.

After a desperate chase, out of more than a hundred Earth Spirit Realm experts, fewer than ten managed to escape the forest alive.

Around dawn, Tu Qiang’s two subordinates, dragging their heavily injured bodies, brought Tu Qiang’s corpse back to the Blood Wolf Gang headquarters in Black Blood City.

Not long after, an incomparably tyrannical Qi and a furious roar suddenly erupted from within Black Blood City.

However, the aura quickly subsided, leaving only a man in a secret chamber, gritting his teeth as he stared at Tu Qiang’s corpse...

At daybreak, Chu Qingyun emerged from the forest. He had already skirted around Black Blood City and was heading toward the next city on his planned route.

On the road, Chu Qingyun drew the sword he had taken from Tu Qiang.

The sword from Tu Qiang was also incomplete. It looked as if both sides had been shaved off, leaving only the middle section. It was a strange longsword with no edges on either side, only a point.

However, the hilt of this sword was one piece with the blade, and on the hilt were carved two words: "Earth Seal."

’Earth Seal... Could this sword be called the Earth Seal Sword...’

Chu Qingyun took out his own Strange Sword and brought it near the Earth Seal Sword. As a result, the closer the two swords got, the more violently they trembled.

Finally, before they could even touch, they shot toward each other with a CLANG and stuck together.

As the two swords clung together, streams of earthy-yellow power flowed at their junction. A few seconds later, they had fused into one. The hilt of the Strange Sword was pushed off, replaced by the other’s.

The new Strange Sword, or rather, the Earth Seal Sword, looked much more complete than before. However, it was still damaged, seemingly missing a third of its form, and still had only a single-sided blade.

But after fusing with the middle section, a hint of its power began to emerge. A hazy yellow light would occasionally flow across the blade.

After the Earth Seal Sword finished fusing, Chu Qingyun spent four days traveling to the next city, Linchuan City.

Upon entering the city, he went straight to the Assassin Alliance to ask if there were any assassination missions for Tu Qiang of Black Blood City. As it turned out, in Linchuan City, there were three contracts out for Tu Qiang’s life, totaling 15 Contribution Points and over two thousand drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid.

Chu Qingyun accepted the missions and immediately handed over Tu Qiang’s head.

Strictly speaking, this was a violation of the rules.

However, plenty of people in the Alliance did the same thing, so the staff usually turned a blind eye.

Chu Qingyun couldn’t care less about the Primordial Spirit Liquid; what he really wanted were the Contribution Points. The Assassin Alliance in Linchuan City had Thunder Light Crystals for sale, but he didn’t have enough points.

Left with no choice, Chu Qingyun accepted a few missions to assassinate Earth Spirit Realm experts both inside and outside the city. He gathered enough Contribution Points and bought a Thunder Light Crystal.

A Thunder Light Crystal was a fist-sized purple crystal that looked incredibly brilliant.

The Thunder Light Power within a Thunder Light Crystal was also purer and more potent than that of a Thunderlight Stone.

After Chu Qingyun infused the power of the Thunder Light Crystal into his Thunder Light Sword Qi, the five-meter-long blade of Qi, when fully activated, turned a shimmering purple, filled with faint violet patterns.

After dealing with the Thunder Light Crystal, Chu Qingyun bought two swift horses and continued on his way.

Although he still had more than seven months, which should be plenty of time to reach Celestial Martial City, this was the Blood-soaked Land. Who could guarantee a safe journey?

Moreover, after learning that the very same Lord Ming was relentlessly hunting him, Chu Qingyun felt a sense of urgency.

With his current strength, he was stronger than most level-six Martial Spirits, but Chu Qingyun still wasn’t confident about facing Lord Ming. After all, that man was someone who could go head-to-head with the Black-Maned Demon Wolf King.

But as long as he reached Celestial Martial City, the problem would be solved.

Celestial Martial City was the territory of the great sects. Even if Lord Ming, as a member of the Martial Soul Hall, grew ten times bolder, he wouldn’t dare cause trouble in Celestial Martial City.

In the Blood-soaked Land, unless one was exceptionally powerful or possessed a Tier Four Flying Demon Beast, people generally wouldn’t ride a Tier Three Flying Demon Beast.

This was because the easily tamed Tier Three Flying Demon Beasts were too weak. The Blood-soaked Land was a very turbulent place; if they were ambushed in the sky and the Flying Demon Beast was killed, it would be a disaster.

Therefore, Chu Qingyun also traveled on horseback.

Traveling continuously like this for over two months, nearly three, Chu Qingyun crossed almost half of the Blood-soaked Land.

During this time, he encountered some trouble, but always managed to resolve it without any real danger.

He also witnessed the sternness of the sects firsthand. In Beishan City, three Sect Disciples descended into the city, riding on ferocious-looking Tier Four Flying Demon Beasts.

One of the three attacked and effortlessly killed a Martial King Realm expert in the city because that expert had taken action despite the Forbidden King Order issued by the sects.

A powerful Martial King Realm expert had been utterly helpless before a Sect Disciple, killed by a single palm strike!

Chu Qingyun witnessed this with his own eyes. It left a considerable impact on him and gave him a direct understanding of what the power of a sect truly meant.

If he wanted to become a true expert, to truly roam the Northern Domain unhindered, his only path was to join a sect.

A little over three months later, on the road to Blood Abyss City, Chu Qingyun ran into trouble again. He was being robbed by two men.

Since entering the Blood-soaked Land, he had encountered this sort of thing no fewer than thirty times.

But this time, there was something strange about the two men.