Devouring Soul Emperor

Standing below the battle stage.

Watching Chu Qingyun test his sword on the stage, Yin Feiyang’s face flushed bright red before instantly turning deathly pale. He was clearly livid.

He could also see that Chu Qingyun’s strike had been completely unintentional. It would be impossible for him to execute it again.

’If I had just waited a moment longer on the stage and used my Soul Techniques again, I could have defeated Chu Qingyun in one fell swoop!’

But instead, a single sword strike from Chu Qingyun had scared him so badly that he’d scrambled off the stage in a panic.

It was utterly laughable!

However, despite his fury, he had already stepped down and couldn’t very well go back up.

After all, so many geniuses were watching, not to mention Princess Qingyou. To go back up now would be far too shameless.

After a few more attempts, Chu Qingyun still couldn’t replicate the power of Sword Intent and had no choice but to give up for the time being.

His mind, however, was racing with a thousand thoughts. He had many new speculations and ideas about the realm beyond the Realm of Qi that he needed to sort through.

These kinds of thoughts were what was known as insight. Right or wrong, they were an invaluable treasure.

On the path of the Martial Dao, one might occasionally experience a so-called "epiphany"—a sudden moment of inspiration or realization, triggered by a phrase or an event, that allows one to break through a bottleneck.

But an epiphany doesn’t just happen for no reason.

It is the culmination of long and steady accumulation.

Only through diligent cultivation, focused combat, and the gradual accumulation of sufficient experience and insight can one achieve a so-called epiphany.

Just as before, a single sentence from Yin Feiyang had inspired Chu Qingyun to unleash the Thunder Sword Intent, allowing him to touch the threshold of Sword Intent.

But if he hadn’t spent the past twenty-odd days painstakingly studying the final Chapter of the Thunder Sword Manual, it wouldn’t have mattered even if Yin Feiyang had repeated that sentence ten times.

Eager to sort through his insights, and with no one else around the stage looking to challenge him, Chu Qingyun leaped down and prepared to head back.

Just then, Princess Qingyou suddenly blocked his path. "Chu Qingyun, I have to admit, I underestimated you before," she said. "How about we cooperate to get through the Blood-soaked Land? Not as my subordinate, but as equal partners."

Chu Qingyun shook his head. "I have no intention of cooperating with anyone. Your Highness should find someone else."

Without another glance at her, Chu Qingyun turned and walked away.

’This guy...’

Watching Chu Qingyun’s departing back, Princess Qingyou bit her lip, a trace of regret welling up inside her.

Chu Qingyun’s previous room had been completely destroyed, so he switched rooms with the fourth-level Martial Spirit who had wrecked it.

Having been severely injured by a single move from Chu Qingyun, the man now knew his place and didn’t dare say a word.

After returning to his new room, Chu Qingyun closed the door and once again immersed himself in studying the final Chapter of the Thunder Sword Manual.

Meanwhile, back at the battle stage, many of the geniuses from the various commanderies began sparring with each other after Chu Qingyun’s departure. By clashing with peers of similar strength and talent, they all discovered many of their own shortcomings and gaps in their abilities.

The Ninth Prince, full of his own importance, naturally had no interest in "condescending" to spar with them. After watching for a while, he left with his entourage.

"Your Highness, I didn’t expect Chu Qingyun’s strength to have grown so formidable. What should we do?" one of his men asked worriedly on the way.

The Ninth Prince shot him a glance and snorted coldly. "What do you mean, ’what should we do’? He’s not going to make a move on us while we’re on this Flying Ship, is he? Once we reach the Blood-soaked Land, we can do as we please. We’ll all team up and just kill the brat!"

"A genius? Hmph, so what if he’s a genius? A dead genius is less than nothing!" A vicious glint flashed in the Ninth Prince’s eyes.

His repeated, unsuccessful attempts to cause trouble for Chu Qingyun had actually stirred up true killing intent in his heart.

Of course, what he didn’t know was that Chu Qingyun had also promised Xia He that he would kill him before becoming a Sect Disciple...

The next two months or so aboard the Flying Ship were relatively calm.

Chu Qingyun also calmed his mind and devoted himself to comprehending the final Chapter of the Thunder Sword Manual, but the results were less than ideal.

The Flying Ship continued on its journey at high speed. Along the way, Chu Qingyun and the others twice spotted what must have been flying Spiritual Treasures from other dynasties. One was a colossal black warship flying rapidly through the sky; the other was a massive, sword-shaped Spiritual Treasure, on which they could faintly make out many buildings.

However, the Great Xia’s Flying Ship only passed them by without any interaction.

Approximately two and a half months later, the Flying Ship arrived at its destination.

The Blood-soaked Land was an incredibly vast region.

Therefore, the sects had set up over a dozen reception points along its border, allowing the candidates from the Hundred Dynasties to choose the nearest one.

According to the sects’ rules, Spiritual Treasures from the various dynasties, such as the Flying Ship, were absolutely forbidden from entering even a single step into the Blood-soaked Land.

All candidates had to rely on their own abilities to cross the Blood-soaked Land and reach Celestial Martial City.

Stopping at the edge of the Blood-soaked Land, the Flying Ship slowly descended. Lord Lan, Prince Duan, and a number of Imperial Guards and Great Xia Dragon Guards escorted the one hundred and thirty-plus geniuses from the Great Xia nation, who were there for the assessment, off the Flying Ship.

Three rather old Martial King Realm experts were in charge of this particular reception point.

With their sharp eyes, they could naturally tell that Lord Lan and Prince Duan possessed extraordinary strength, so no incidents of bullying the weak occurred.

While the few Martial King Level experts chatted idly, a dozen or so Celestial Spirit Realm cultivators from the sects checked the strength of the Great Xia candidates one by one. After confirming that each person was indeed in the Martial Spirit Realm, they would issue them a thumb-sized, golden Command Arrow.

As for the candidates’ ages, they paid little attention, merely giving their appearance a casual glance.

On a matter of such importance, they trusted that the dynasties wouldn’t dare send anyone over the age of twenty-five to deceive the sects. If such a thing were exposed, it would mean instantly offending all the sects at once.

No one would be so foolish.

After everyone’s Realm had been checked and all the Command Arrows distributed...

A Martial King Level expert from one of the sects stepped forward, cleared his throat, and said, "Everyone, I am Rong Yun, an Outer Sect Steward of the Stone Spirit Sect. I will now explain a few rules to you all."

Hearing this, all one hundred-plus genius candidates began to listen with serious expressions.

"The first thing to mention is time."

"Because you candidates from Great Xia spent four months on the road, you now have only eight months. You must cross the Blood-soaked Land and reach Celestial Martial City within these eight months. Otherwise, you will be considered to have failed the assessment."