Devouring Soul Emperor

"Die!"

His position exposed, Chu Qingyun stopped hiding. He drew his sword in an instant, unleashing his Thunder Light Sword Qi in a single thrust toward the Sixth-level Martial Spirit.

The faint purple Sword Qi was incredibly striking against the pitch-black night.

"It’s you, Chu Qingyun!"

The signature Sword Qi naturally allowed the Sixth-level Martial Spirit to recognize Chu Qingyun at a glance, and he shouted without hesitation.

"Overlord Fist!"

Facing the Sword Qi, the Sixth-level Martial Spirit didn’t hesitate in the slightest. He immediately channeled his Primordial Power and threw his strongest punch, blasting it toward the faint purple Sword Qi.

At the same time, he activated a Secret Technique, and a massive amount of Primordial Power surged from his body to form a defense.

A cold sneer appeared on the Sixth-level Martial Spirit’s face. "Chu Qingyun, you dare attack me? I have to say, this is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made."

He knew exactly what he had to do. All he had to do was stall Chu Qingyun until others arrived. With a few more Sixth-level Martial Spirits, Chu Qingyun wouldn’t be able to escape even if he grew wings.

’A mistake?’

Chu Qingyun snorted. With a mere thought, the Sword Qi sheathing his Strange Sword instantly extended to a length of four meters.

The speed at which the Sword Qi extended, combined with Chu Qingyun’s forward charge, gave the man no time to react.

The sharp Sword Qi instantly shattered the Sixth-level Martial Spirit’s Overlord Fist. It then continued to extend, easily piercing his Protective Primordial Power and, with a SQUELCH, ran him clean through.

"Damn it!"

Struck by the Sword Qi, the man was instantly and grievously wounded, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"’Damn it?’ We’re not done yet."

Chu Qingyun sneered. The Sword Qi abruptly retracted, once again sheathing the Strange Sword. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he swung the sword down, chopping toward the man’s head.

The man hastily leaped back to dodge, but just as the Strange Sword swung down and its tip aimed for his chest, the Sword Qi abruptly extended again. SQUELCH! It pierced through his body once more.

This time, the sharp Qi tore several more bloody gashes around the entry and exit wounds, and fresh blood streamed out.

After mastering control over the length of his Sword Qi, he could definitely achieve unexpected results against his enemies.

Having been struck by the Sword Qi twice, a chill ran through the Sixth-level Martial Spirit’s heart.

He knew he was no match for Chu Qingyun and turned to flee.

But just then, he suddenly felt two strange powers boring into his body from his wounds.

Then, to his utter horror, he discovered that all the Primordial Power in his body was being thrown into chaos, surging uncontrollably toward those two powers.

"Wh-what is this stuff?"

The Sixth-level Martial Spirit was terrified. He desperately tried to control his Primordial Power to suppress the two streams of Devouring Power.

However, the Devouring Power erupted in full force. His Primordial Power was completely beyond his control, and even his flesh, blood, and bones began to rapidly decay from the inside out.

It took about a minute for Chu Qingyun to completely devour the Sixth-level Martial Spirit.

By then, he could faintly hear two figures rapidly approaching from the surroundings.

Without further hesitation, Chu Qingyun quickly left.

The commotion behind him grew louder, but with the help of his Hidden Qi Technique and Shadow Martial Soul, Chu Qingyun departed with ease.

After that, Chu Qingyun struck out frequently, taking down seven Fifth-level Martial Spirits and two more Sixth-level Martial Spirits, throwing the entire area into turmoil.

Those who were hunting Chu Qingyun also came to realize that now, they had become the prey.

Upon realizing this, many of the Fourth, Fifth, and even Sixth-level Martial Spirits stopped acting alone. Instead, they formed small teams to search for him.

This made it much more difficult for Chu Qingyun to make a move.

However, while Chu Qingyun was resting, hidden in a tree, he suddenly sensed a Sixth-level Martial Spirit enter his detection range.

Immediately after, the auras of one Sixth-level Martial Spirit after another followed.

In the end, Chu Qingyun detected the auras of nineteen Sixth-level Martial Spirits and one Fourth-level Martial Spirit constantly approaching him.

’It’s Tu Qiang and his men!’

Chu Qingyun thought for a moment, then suddenly put his Strange Sword into his Storage Ring and took out a longsword made of Hundred-refined Profound Iron.

Hundred-refined Profound Iron was a common material used by ordinary Martial Spirits to forge weapons. After all, the vast majority of Martial Spirits did not possess Spirit Level Divine Weapons.

Once the Strange Sword was inside the Storage Ring, it was effectively in another dimension, so it naturally wouldn’t have any connection with Tu Qiang’s sword.

Chu Qingyun held his breath, preparing to take out Tu Qiang with a single move and snatch his Treasure Sword when he passed under the tree.

He wasn’t confident about dealing with nineteen Sixth-level Martial Spirits right now, but instantly killing a single Fourth-level Martial Spirit, even without the Strange Sword, would be no problem at all.

However, what Chu Qingyun found very strange was that after Tu Qiang’s group of twenty reached the tree he was hiding in, they stopped and didn’t advance any further.

The twenty people slowly fanned out, surrounding the tree. Then, they all looked up and began carefully searching its branches.

As for Tu Qiang, he was constantly flanked by two highly vigilant Sixth-level Martial Spirits, giving Chu Qingyun no opportunity to strike.

’How strange. Could they possibly know I’m hiding in this tree? But that’s impossible...’

Chu Qingyun frowned, a sense of doubt growing in his mind.

Just then, the small insect that had been tracking Chu Qingyun circled the tree twice and then began to fly upward. Its target was the medicinal powder stuck to Chu Qingyun’s body.

However, a Sixth-level Martial Spirit suddenly shot out a hand and snatched the insect from the air.

"Chu Qingyun, come on out! We all see you. You’re in the tree, and you can’t escape!"

"Just hand over that sword, and we promise we won’t make things difficult for you."

Below the tree, two Sixth-level Martial Spirits craned their necks and shouted up.

’Have I really been discovered?’

Puzzled, Chu Qingyun thought for a moment before suddenly leaping from his tree to another, plunging deeper into the forest.

"There’s a dark shadow! After it!"

Tu Qiang and the other nineteen immediately gave chase.

However, there was no one as skilled as Lord Ming among their group of twenty. By simply changing direction a few times in the treetops, Chu Qingyun easily shook them off his trail.

However, it wasn’t long before the group of twenty found Chu Qingyun once again. They were so certain he was in a particular tree that one of them attacked directly, shattering it with a single punch.

Left with no choice, Chu Qingyun began to flee once more.

This happened four or five times in a row. No matter how Chu Qingyun fled, not long after shaking Tu Qiang’s group, they would find him again.

Moreover, Tu Qiang and his men were getting more experienced. They even thought to use Primordial Power for illumination and to spread out as they approached Chu Qingyun’s hiding spot.

This made his escape increasingly difficult.

’What in the world is going on...?’