Devouring Soul Emperor

"Hurt you?"

"I’m going to kill you!"

"Thunder Sword!"

Chu Qingyun also unleashed a strike, his blade meeting Lord Feng’s.

The dazzling golden longsword clashed with the one wreathed in thunder. A brilliant gold light spilled out as lightning surged, and the powers imbued in the two blades began a violent struggle, grinding against each other.

After a brief stalemate, the golden light proved no match for the thunder and was completely worn away. The golden Martial Soul Long Sword dimmed in response.

Yet, at that moment, Lord Feng suddenly laughed. "Brat, you’re dead!"

The words had barely left his lips when Chu Qingyun felt his body tighten. He glanced down to see that, at some point, five tentacles had sprouted from each of Lord Feng’s legs, binding his own legs and waist!

’A Control-type Soul, is it? Don’t forget, I have one too.’

To Lord Feng’s surprise, Chu Qingyun showed no signs of panic. Instead, he directed the ten vines of his Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine to bind Lord Feng’s legs and waist in turn.

"Bind me?" Lord Feng sneered. "Brat, I have to say, you’re dumber than a bag of rocks. Now, die!"

With that, Lord Feng raised a fist and sent it smashing toward Chu Qingyun.

He had secretly used his tentacle Martial Soul to trap Chu Qingyun precisely because he was confident in his nearly invincible defense. He wanted to force a close-quarters fight to leverage his greatest advantage.

’And now Chu Qingyun was making a clumsy attempt to copy him, binding him as well. If that wasn’t stupid, what was?’

Facing Lord Feng’s punch, a peculiar glint flashed in Chu Qingyun’s eyes. He didn’t hesitate to meet the blow with a punch of his own.

BAM!

As their fists collided, a powerful gust of wind erupted.

At that very instant, however, Chu Qingyun endured the jarring impact in his arm, suddenly unfurling his fist into a palm and grabbing Lord Feng’s own fist.

’Devouring Power!’

Chu Qingyun commanded silently. A surge of Devouring Power erupted from his palm, snaking up Lord Feng’s arm and spreading throughout his body.

Simultaneously, the Devouring Power concealed within the vines also burst forth, invading Lord Feng’s body through the wounds previously inflicted by the Thunder Sword.

Assailed by the Devouring Power from within and without, Lord Feng’s Primordial Power and Martial Soul Power were instantly thrown into chaos, becoming dangerously unstable.

"Wh-what’s happening!?"

Lord Feng, who had been so calm and confident, finally revealed a look of terror.

He felt as if his body was about to fall apart!

Back during that special mission in Lianshan County City, Chu Qingyun had gained experience dealing with opponents who used a Mixed Martial Soul.

If he relied on his Devouring Power to attack from only the outside or the inside, their resistance would make it very difficult to succeed.

But if it erupted from both the inside and outside simultaneously, it was a different story. Their Primordial Power and Martial Soul Power would instantly destabilize, and the defense they took such pride in would crumble in a moment.

Of course, Chu Qingyun had no intention of explaining any of this to Lord Feng.

"Die!"

Once the Devouring Power shattered Lord Feng’s defense, Chu Qingyun flipped his longsword. The Earth Seal Sword, wreathed in a shimmering purple Sword Qi, slashed toward Lord Feng.

Without Lord Feng’s power to support it, the golden Martial Soul Long Sword grew even dimmer. Chu Qingyun’s blade sliced it in two before the Earth Seal Sword continued on, tearing through Lord Feng’s body and biting deep into his shoulder!

"No, th-this is impossible!"

Lord Feng couldn’t believe his eyes. Before, the terrifying thunder had only managed to wound him in three places, yet this single sword strike had torn his body asunder!

"Die!"

"Thunder Sword!"

With the Earth Seal Sword still embedded in Lord Feng’s body, terrifying thunder erupted in an instant, blowing his entire upper body to smithereens!

At the same moment, Chu Qingyun seized the opportunity to retract his Devouring Power.

For the current Chu Qingyun, Lord Feng’s mixed Tier Three Martial Soul Power and even the Primordial Power of a level-six Martial Spirit were negligible. They held no real appeal for him.

"S-so strong... Big Brother is so strong..." Dai stammered, dumbfounded from a short distance away.

Mu Xiaoxiao, standing beside him, nodded, equally stunned.

Initially, when Chu Qingyun had warned her to be careful of Lord Feng, she had dismissed his concerns. ’How powerful could a level-six Martial Spirit from the Martial Soul Hall possibly be?’ she had thought.

However, after they actually clashed, she realized just how terrifying a man like Lord Feng truly was.

She and Dai had joined forces and could barely hold their own against him—and that was before he had even used his Martial Soul or Soul Techniques!

Yet this incredibly powerful man had been defeated by Chu Qingyun in just a few moves.

’Is Sword Intent really that powerful? It looks like I need to comprehend Sword Intent as soon as possible...’ Mu Xiaoxiao thought to herself.

She hadn’t seen the Devouring Power, so she naturally attributed Chu Qingyun’s ability to kill Lord Feng to his Thunder Sword.

The battle was over. With the deaths of the surrounding Martial Soul Hall members, the Martial Soul Power they left behind began to slowly dissipate.

"Chu Qingyun, we need to hurry!"

Mu Xiaoxiao had many questions about the battle that had just unfolded, but she was too impatient to ask, urging Chu Qingyun to get moving.

But her intended direction wasn’t down the mountain as before, but up!

"Hm? Where are you going?" Chu Qingyun asked.

"To stop the Martial Soul Hall, of course! They’re about to break the seal! If this horrifying plague spreads into the Blood-soaked Land, it won’t be long before the whole place is doomed!"

Mu Xiaoxiao said anxiously, her small hands clenched into tight fists.

Chu Qingyun’s expression grew grave. "And what do you plan to do? How are you going to stop the Martial Soul Hall?"

Mu Xiaoxiao froze. Then, blue veins bulged on the backs of her pale, delicate hands.

’Yes, how could she do it?’

’Even though she knew the Martial Soul Hall’s plan, these ruins were massive, and they knew nothing about the Six Imperial Demon-Sealing Array. How could they possibly stop the Martial Soul Hall?’

"Mu Xiaoxiao, don’t be impulsive," Chu Qingyun said. "Since the Martial Soul Hall has already made their plans, Lord Feng’s group can’t be the only people they’ve snuck in here. The three of us alone can’t possibly be everywhere at once."

"Besides, if this plague really does get out, it will absolutely draw the attention of every sect in the Northern Domain."

"King-rank and Emperor-rank desiccated corpses, not to mention this plague, are things we are completely powerless against. But for the sects of the Northern Domain, they will surely have a way to deal with them."

"Therefore, the most logical course of action is to ensure our own survival and get word of this out as quickly as possible."

Chu Qingyun said, looking at Mu Xiaoxiao with great sincerity.

Mu Xiaoxiao pouted and hesitated for a moment, but then a flicker of determination appeared in her eyes. "Yes, you’re right, that is the most logical choice. But I can’t just stand by and do nothing while the Martial Soul Hall breaks the seal."

"Dai, let’s go!"

Mu Xiaoxiao called out to Dai, and the two of them charged off together into the depths of the mountain range.