Devouring Soul Emperor

「On the third floor of the main hall.」

In a hidden cultivation room, the Dark Moon Dynasty’s Ninth Prince, Huo Yuchen, was cornered by his fifth brother, the Fifth Prince, Huo Yuguang.

"F-Fifth Brother, what are you doing?" Huo Yuchen said, terrified.

Huo Yuguang sneered. "What am I doing? Ninth Brother, that’s a question I should be asking you."

"Lately, you’ve spent all your time fawning over that Chen and trying to win over the few Level 7 Martial Spirits under my command. Do you take me for a blind man?"

Looking at the cold, sinister smile on Huo Yuguang’s face, Huo Yuchen understood. He was going to kill him!

Ever since arriving in Blood Abyss City, Huo Yuchen had actually been very wary of Huo Yuguang. He had almost never acted alone, giving Huo Yuguang no opportunity to quietly get rid of him.

But this time, because the three strongest teams—including Huo Yuguang’s—had all declared that fighting was strictly forbidden inside the main hall, he had dared to act alone, sending all of his own men away.

"Huo Yuguang, you can’t kill me! If you do and my blood spills, what if the mummified corpses in this hall come back to life? You’ll die too, without a doubt!" Huo Yuchen threatened coldly.

However, Huo Yuguang’s expression didn’t change. He still wore that same cold, sinister smile.

"Ninth Brother, don’t be naive. The others wouldn’t dare make a move. Besides, if it’s just you who dies, a little blood like that won’t be enough to revive the mummified corpses."

As he spoke, Huo Yuguang attacked Huo Yuchen without hesitation.

He grabbed the hand Huo Yuchen was reaching for the sword hilt at his waist and squeezed. With a CRACK, he snapped the entire wrist.

At the same time, his other hand shot out in a fist, shattering Huo Yuchen’s throat.

With his wrist snapped and his throat crushed, and suppressed by Huo Yuguang’s Celestial Spirit Realm power, even the Primordial Power in his body couldn’t circulate properly.

Huo Yuchen had lost the ability to resist or even cry out. All he could do was glare furiously at Huo Yuguang, his mouth opening in an inarticulate gurgle as he spat out a fleck of bloody foam.

"Ninth Brother, you always thought you were so clever. A pity you never truly understood one thing: in the end, the world of Martial Artists is a world where strength reigns supreme!"

Huo Yuguang sneered, pressing a hand against Huo Yuchen’s chest. A burst of dark energy erupted, penetrating his body and instantly shattering his heart.

Huo Yuchen’s body convulsed, about to cough up blood in his final moment.

But Huo Yuguang was prepared. He grabbed his chin and tilted his head back, forcing him to swallow the mouthful of blood.

With his heart shattered, he was as dead as could be.

Huo Yuchen’s life force rapidly faded.

Huo Yuguang took everything of value from Huo Yuchen’s body, then laid him on his back, doing everything possible to prevent any blood from leaking out.

After finishing, Huo Yuguang nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave.

However, what he didn’t know was that not even half a minute after he left, a trickle of blood flowed out of Huo Yuchen’s mouth. It streamed down his neck and onto the floor of the third level.

As if drawn by some unseen force, the blood silently seeped through the cracks in the floorboards down to the second level, and from the second level down to the first.

Finally, it flowed beneath the first floor.

Blood continuously poured from the corners of Huo Yuchen’s corpse’s mouth. It didn’t look like the blood he had failed to cough up was being squeezed out; rather, it was as if all the blood in his body was draining out...

「On the second floor, by a hidden wall.」

A Level 5 Martial Spirit was clutching a thick, oversized, blood-red secret manual, meticulously searching the wall inch by inch for the three-drop blood insignia.

Just then, a hand suddenly shot out from behind him, clamping over his mouth.

At the same time, a powerful wave of Primordial Power suppressed him, making it impossible for him to muster even a shred of Primordial Power or strength.

The man struggled in terror. He looked back and saw that the person who grabbed him was, surprisingly, a man of the Matai People from the No-Life Gang!

"Heh heh, you ungrateful bastard. I offered you a spot in the No-Life Gang and you said you needed to ’consider it’...? Did you really think you could join the Celestial Sword Sect or the Saint Extreme Sect?"

"The Ten Thousand Spirits Sacred Form is mine!"

The Matai man stared at the secret manual in the man’s arms, his eyes burning with fervor.

"Mmmph... Mmmph..."

The man, his mouth covered, seemed to be trying desperately to say something.

"Hm? What are you trying to say? Let me guess..."

"Are you trying to say that I agreed that fighting was strictly forbidden in the main hall? Heh heh, sorry, I lied. I’m making my move."

"Are you also trying to say that killing you will revive the mummified corpses in the hall? What a shame. I already tested it in a side hall. Killing one or two people won’t bring the mummified corpses back to life at all!"

Before the last word had even left his lips, the Matai man’s arm tightened. With a SNAP, he broke the Level 5 Martial Spirit’s neck.

"Pah! A piece of trash like you wanting the Ten Thousand Spirits Sacred Form? Pathetic..."

The Matai man spat on the corpse, yanked the Ten Thousand Spirits Sacred Form from its arms, and stored it in his Storage Ring. Then, without a care in the world, he kicked the body into a dark corner.

As a member of the No-Life Gang, killing someone was as trivial to him as eating a meal or drinking water.

However, the Matai man also failed to notice that a trickle of blood soon flowed from the dead man’s mouth and began to seep down to the lower floors.

On the first floor, between two wooden shelves, two Level 6 Martial Spirits hid the body of a Level 5 Martial Spirit in a corner and took the three Spirit Level secret manuals he was holding.

On the second floor, in a small crawlspace, a Level 7 Martial Spirit was stuffing the body of a Level 6 Martial Spirit inside.

...

Many people in the main hall knew that the deaths of one or two people wouldn’t be enough to revive the mummified corpses.

And every person who made a move believed they were the only one in the entire main hall attacking someone else.

While everyone was searching for the three-drop blood insignia, silent assassinations that drew no one’s notice were taking place on the first, second, and third floors of the great hall.

A dozen or so corpses were secretly hidden in the dark, inconspicuous corners of the main hall.

However, no one noticed that in even more obscure places, trickles of blood were converging. From the third floor down to the first, all the blood gathered together and dripped beneath the main hall’s first floor.

Beneath the very center of the main hall, under the first floor, there was a hidden basement.

Inside were nearly twenty mummified corpses!

At this moment, the mouth of one of the mummified corpses was wide open. From above, a stream of blood flowed down, dripping precisely into its mouth.

As the blood flowed in, the body, which had been desiccated for over a thousand years, began to undergo a silent, drastic transformation.

Chu Qingyun, who was on the second floor, suddenly felt an inexplicable panic grip his heart.

His nostrils twitched. He seemed to have caught the faint scent of blood.