Devouring Soul Emperor

Chu Qingyun activated his Shadow Martial Soul, vanishing from sight as he raced toward the spot where Mu Xiaoxiao and Dai were waiting.

Along the way, he encountered two wandering Mutants but didn’t stop, simply hurrying past them.

The two Mutants, however, seemed to sense something.

But since they couldn’t see anything, they didn’t react strongly.

When he returned to the place where they had split up, Chu Qingyun saw that Mu Xiaoxiao and Dai had built a fire. Seeing the two of them sitting there, safe and sound, he inwardly sighed in relief.

"Who’s there!?"

In the darkness of the night, Mu Xiaoxiao was clearly still on high alert.

"It’s me."

Chu Qingyun said, slowing his pace as he walked over.

A flicker of joy appeared in Mu Xiaoxiao’s eyes when she saw it was Chu Qingyun. She waved him over, saying, "Chu Qingyun, hurry! I have something important to show you!"

"Huh? Important... I have something important to say, too."

Chu Qingyun paused, walking over as he spoke. He doubted that Mu Xiaoxiao and Dai, who had just been sitting here, could have possibly found something more important than the creature he had just seen.

"Let me go first! Come take a look!"

Mu Xiaoxiao seemed very excited. She pulled Chu Qingyun over to her side to look at the Scroll from before.

After Chu Qingyun had left, Mu Xiaoxiao waited for a bit. Out of boredom, she began to look through the Scroll.

She discovered that after the section on Sword Dao insights, the Scroll contained some rather disorganized notes detailing the situation of the Blood Sect remnants in the Blood-soaked Land back in the day.

She also discovered that the author of the Scroll was a reclusive Elder of the Blood Sect—a supreme expert at the Martial Sect Realm!

"Look here. In the latter part of the Scroll, the elder who wrote it recorded that for some unknown reason, some disciples among the Blood Sect survivors contracted a strange disease, turning into crazed, bloodthirsty madmen."

"Their bodies became as hard as iron, their blood turned a viscous, dark red, and they gained immense strength. Even their Primordial Power turned blood-red."

"At the same time, however, they lost all reason. They became frenzied, bloodthirsty, and extremely aggressive."

"At first, the leadership didn’t pay it much mind. But the strange disease spread more and more virulently, becoming increasingly severe until it finally spun out of control. Over 80% of the people were infected."

"It was then that the remaining survivors made a startling discovery: in the very mountains where they were hiding, some of the Demon Beasts had also contracted the same strange disease."

"This discovery sent shivers down the spines of the remaining Blood Sect members."

"They couldn’t imagine how terrifying it would be if this strange disease were to completely overrun the Blood-soaked Land, let alone spread to the Land of Hundred Dynasties and the territories of the major sects!"

"This was a future that none of the surviving Blood Sect members wanted to see!"

"And so, under the leadership of this Sect Level expert, the survivors took action."

"First, they expended vast resources and wealth to deploy an immense and incredibly sturdy Six Imperial Demon-Sealing Array around a large section of the mountain range that served as the Blood Sect’s hiding place, completely sealing off the entire region."

"Then, they began to deal with the infected humans and Demon Beasts within the sealed area."

"Most of those who remained were experts at the King Realm or higher. Led by several Emperor Realm experts, they began to purge the Demon Beasts that had contracted the strange disease."

"However, they had still underestimated the strength of the Mutated Demon Beasts."

"In the end, all the Mutated Demon Beasts were purged—killed and their bodies burned."

"But the last of the Blood Sect’s experts paid a terrible price. With the exception of that one Martial Sect expert, every single one of them died in the battle!"

"As for that Martial Sect Realm expert, he had fought three Mutated Tier Five Demon Beasts head-on. Combined with his advanced age and decaying Qi Blood, he was left gravely injured and on the verge of death."

"The Mutants who contracted this strange disease had abnormally tenacious Life Power. Sometimes, they wouldn’t even die after being stabbed through the head. Killing the King Realm and Emperor Realm Mutants, even after completely suppressing them, required an enormous amount of effort."

"The gravely injured, dying Martial Sect expert no longer had the strength to eliminate the Mutants one by one."

"So, he casually dispatched the Mutants below the Martial King Level."

"As for the King Realm and Emperor Realm Mutants, he suppressed them and brought them back to the Blood Sect’s encampment. There, he used the existing Palace Protection Arrays of the main and side halls as a foundation to establish new seals, imprisoning them within."

"Here, look... before he died, the elder wrote that because he didn’t know if those infected creatures would ever truly die, he was warning anyone who came later. If you accidentally stumble into the Blood Sect ruins, you must never break the seals on the main and side halls!"

Mu Xiaoxiao huddled close to Chu Qingyun, pointing at the Scroll as she gave him a rough summary of its contents.

But because her head was bowed over the Scroll the entire time, she didn’t see the ugly expression that had crept onto Chu Qingyun’s face, nor the cold sweat beading on his forehead.

’Clearly, the Sect Level expert’s fears had been justified.’

’Sealed for over a thousand years... those infected Mutants hadn’t died at all. They just entered a state of suspended animation, like dried-up corpses, waiting for a chance to revive!’

’The main and side halls in the Blood Sect ruins... they’re filled with those sealed, desiccated corpses.’

’And all of them are at the King Realm!’

’There are even some at the Emperor Realm!’

’If all those desiccated corpses were released, if they all revived...’

A sudden chill ran down Chu Qingyun’s spine.

"I can’t believe the Blood Sect ruins were hiding such a huge secret. But it’s been nearly two thousand years. Even a Sect Level expert can’t live that long. Those sealed things must have turned to dust by now."

"To think it drove a Martial Sect expert to his wit’s end... It’s hard to imagine just how terrifying that strange disease must have been."

Mu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but sigh with emotion after she finished.

Chu Qingyun, however, just gave a bitter, helpless smile. "No need to sigh about it. I’m afraid you’ll be able to see it for yourself before long."

"What do you mean?" Mu Xiaoxiao’s head snapped up, her eyes fixed on Chu Qingyun.

"A little while ago, I went to kill someone and passed by one of the side halls..."

Chu Qingyun held nothing back and told her everything that had happened.

By the time he finished, Mu Xiaoxiao’s pretty face was ashen with fear.

"Chu Qingyun, are you saying... that two Martial King Level Mutants are already out, and they’re running around sucking people’s blood!?"

Terrified, Mu Xiaoxiao clung tightly to Chu Qingyun’s arm, her body trembling slightly. In that moment, she looked nothing like a Celestial Spirit Realm expert, but more like the girl next door who’d just been told a scary ghost story.

He felt a soft, supple pressure against his arm.

But this was no time to be thinking about that.

Chu Qingyun sighed. "I’m afraid it’s more than just two. With so many main and side halls throughout these mountains, and so many people barging in this time..."