Devouring Soul Emperor

After a moment of hesitation,

Tu Qiang gritted his teeth.

"Go in!"

The chance of finding the other part of the Earth Seal Sword was already incredibly slim. If he missed this opportunity, he feared he’d never find it again.

For a Treasure Sword that might be a King-level Divine Weapon, this risk was worth taking!

Having made their decision, the group of twenty quickly entered the forest.

The hundred or so Earth Spirit Realm experts who had gone in first gradually spread out, searching for any sign of Chu Qingyun.

But they had made an agreement before splitting up.

Once they found Chu Qingyun, they would immediately let out a long, loud cry to signal the others.

They were all in favor of this, as none of them dared claim they could defeat Chu Qingyun alone and seize his Treasure Sword.

So they agreed: no matter what, they would first eliminate Chu Qingyun and get out of the forest.

As for who would get the Treasure Sword, they would decide that after leaving.

Chu Qingyun remained extremely cautious, so by nightfall, no one had found him.

A few of the unlucky hunters searching for Chu Qingyun had accidentally disturbed several Tier Three Demon Beasts.

Whenever a major commotion erupted, all Martial Spirit Realm cultivators who heard it would rush over. The Tier Three Demon Beasts were always quickly annihilated, but the humans suffered some losses as well.

Chu Qingyun saw this happen twice.

That was why, despite sensing a few lone individuals near him during the day, he hadn’t made a move. He was afraid of causing a commotion and being swarmed.

After dark, those searching for Chu Qingyun did not rest.

All who had entered the forest were Earth Spirit Realm experts. Going a few days and nights without rest was no great ordeal; a good sleep afterward would be enough to restore their energy.

As for Chu Qingyun, he was just beginning his hunt.

"Shadow Martial Soul!"

He unleashed his Shadow Martial Soul. A phantom over two meters tall materialized behind him, enveloping his body, as the Hidden Qi Technique concealed his aura.

It was as if Chu Qingyun had vanished completely into the pitch-black forest.

Empowered by his Shadow Martial Soul, Chu Qingyun fearlessly entered the very area where over a hundred Earth Spirit Realm experts were searching for him.

The first one he targeted was a Fourth-level Martial Spirit.

The Fourth-level Martial Spirit knew he was weak and was only hoping to take advantage of the chaos. He’d been sticking to the center of the large group, but he never imagined his luck would be so terrible that he’d be the first to run into Chu Qingyun.

Chu Qingyun hid in a tree. When the Fourth-level Martial Spirit walked beneath it, he suddenly leaped down and thrust out his palm. The Devouring Power erupted from it, instantly blanketing the man from head to toe.

A bloodcurdling scream shattered the forest’s silence.

Everyone nearby snapped their heads up toward the sound and charged over without a moment’s hesitation.

Yet in less than half a minute, the man had been completely consumed by the Devouring Power, leaving behind only a few unremarkable bone fragments on the ground.

Meanwhile, a bit more Primordial Liquid appeared in Chu Qingyun’s Qi Sea, and a dark red Elixir Pill condensed in his hand.

’It seems it’s not just the flesh and blood of Demon Beasts that can form these Elixir Pills. As long as it’s a creature of flesh and blood, it works...’

Chu Qingyun put away the Elixir Pill and, with a light leap, jumped to a large tree nearby. He pushed his Hidden Qi Technique to its absolute limit, concealing himself completely.

He didn’t leave right away, wanting to see how the situation would develop.

Soon, a series of WHOOSHES cut through the air.

One figure after another rushed over. They condensed Primordial Power in their palms and searched the area, but found nothing.

"What happened? I definitely heard a scream just now."

"No person in sight, not even a corpse. Is someone playing a prank on us?"

The men soon gave up searching for the source of the scream.

"Did you guys know? The Blood Wolf Gang’s Young Gang Leader, Tu Qiang, also entered the forest with nineteen Sixth-level Martial Spirits. They’re searching everywhere for that Chu Qingyun."

"And that’s not all. I hear some mysterious expert is also asking around about Chu Qingyun’s whereabouts."

After casually exchanging a few more rumors from the day, the men under the tree departed, some in pairs, others alone.

Up in the tree, hidden by his Shadow Martial Soul, Chu Qingyun smirked. ’So, Tu Qiang couldn’t resist coming after all. And a mysterious expert, too...’

In a flash, Chu Qingyun leaped from the tree and began searching for Tu Qiang and his men.

Meanwhile, Tu Qiang and his twenty men were following the insect, also searching for Chu Qingyun.

Since entering the forest, the small insect had been causing all sorts of problems. As a Tier Two Demon Beast itself, it was extremely sensitive to the auras, and even the scents, of other Demon Beasts.

The moment it sensed a Tier Three Demon Beast, the little insect would immediately make a detour or even freeze in terror on a tree, refusing to move, which greatly infuriated Tu Qiang and his men.

Fortunately, by nighttime, the activity of the hundred-plus Earth Spirit Realm experts had either killed or scared off many of the Tier Three Demon Beasts, and the small insect gradually returned to normal.

Soon, the insect, which had been flying steadily deeper into the forest, turned and began flying back toward the outskirts.

"Hm? Why the sudden change in direction? Don’t tell me that Chu Qingyun slipped past us and is trying to escape?"

Although puzzled, Tu Qiang and his men followed the insect back the way they came.

Meanwhile, Chu Qingyun was searching for Tu Qiang and his men.

He ignored the Fourth-level Martial Spirits he encountered along the way. Right now, the most important thing was to find Tu Qiang and take the sword he was carrying.

If he encountered a Fifth-level Martial Spirit, however, Chu Qingyun would still make a move, using his Devouring Power to consume them.

This was for two reasons: first, a Fifth-level Martial Spirit posed a slight threat to him, and second, he didn’t want to waste their Primordial Power.

After finishing off four Fifth-level Martial Spirits, Chu Qingyun finally ran into his first Sixth-level Martial Spirit.

The series of screams in the area had clearly made the Sixth-level Martial Spirit suspicious; he was concentrating hard, searching his surroundings carefully.

’A Sixth-level Martial Spirit, huh...’

Hiding in the shadows, Chu Qingyun didn’t rush to make a move. Instead, he began to slowly approach the man from behind.

Against Fifth-level Martial Spirits, Chu Qingyun would injure them with a direct palm strike before using his Devouring Power to consume their Primordial Power and bodies.

But against a Sixth-level Martial Spirit, he couldn’t be so careless.

Otherwise, if he couldn’t finish the fight in a single blow and got tied down, attracting a crowd, he’d be in deep trouble.

"Who’s there?"

With his concentration heightened, a Sixth-level Martial Spirit’s Spiritual Sense was clearly quite sharp.

Although he couldn’t sense Chu Qingyun’s aura or see him, his keen perception still picked up the faint sound of Chu Qingyun’s footstep on the ground.