Devouring Soul Emperor

Chu Qingyun was rather surprised by Zhou Ling's attitude.

He had assumed Zhou Ling would take this opportunity to draw him into an alliance against Zhu Tianyun and Li Ruoguang, but he never expected her to think this way.

Just then, Zhu Tianyun sneered and said, "Focus on your alchemy? Too late!"

"Some punk from the Great Xia Dynasty dares to join the Celestial Martial City Pill Battle Conference? Today, I'll show you what a true genius looks like!"

With that, Zhu Tianyun split off another strand of Soul Power and sent it hurtling toward Chu Qingyun's Pill Cauldron.

In any case, Zhu Tianyun was still on the first step. He only needed to use his Soul Power to stabilize the extracted Essence of Spiritual Medicine, so he didn't have to be on high alert.

But it was a different story for Chu Qingyun and Zhou Ling.

They were at the most critical second step, a stage that allowed for no mistakes.

Chu Qingyun's expression darkened at the impact of Zhu Tianyun's Soul Power. He, too, split off a strand of his own Soul Power, forming a barrier to block the attack.

A silent, formless collision.

Those standing a bit farther away didn't notice the collision at all.

Zhu Tianyun's expression, however, changed drastically. He was so shocked that he almost lost control of the Martial Soul Fire in his own Pill Cauldron.

When they collided, his strand of Soul Power was like an egg hitting a stone—it shattered in an instant!

After all, the strength of Chu Qingyun's Soul Power had passed the "Array of Cauldrons" trial set by that senior.

That senior was a supreme expert from the Central State.

The trial he'd given Chu Qingyun was undoubtedly based on the standards of the legendary, vast Central State—an incredibly rigorous test.

And even then, Chu Qingyun had passed it perfectly!

Therefore, in a contest of Soul Power, Chu Qingyun was far superior to genius Alchemists of the Northern Domain like Zhou Ling and Zhu Tianyun.

However, despite easily blocking Zhu Tianyun's Soul Power assault, Chu Qingyun's expression turned grim.

Before the attack, he had been fully immersed, concentrating all his energy on refining the elixir.

The sudden sneak attack had caused him to make two unavoidable, minor mistakes within his Pill Cauldron where his control over the Martial Soul Fire faltered.

These mistakes weren't enough to cause a cauldron explosion, but refining an Upper Grade elixir was now likely out of the question.

'Those two wretched fools...'

Chu Qingyun was seething inwardly.

There wasn't much time left after he'd emerged from the Illusion Realm, so he had planned to refine an Upper Grade Youthful Appearance Pill in one go.

But now, that plan was ruined by a single Soul Power assault from Zhu Tianyun!

Chu Qingyun didn't like to stir up trouble, but that didn't mean he was afraid of it!

Chu Qingyun had dared to stand his ground and argue his case before Martial Emperors and Martial Kings. He certainly wasn't going to back down from the likes of Zhu Tianyun and Li Ruoguang, two mere Martial Spirit Realm Alchemists!

Chu Qingyun gently closed his eyes. A massive amount of Soul Power began to rapidly converge between his brows.

To refine the Youthful Appearance Pill, Chu Qingyun hadn't even been using his full Soul Power—at most, he'd used a quarter of it.

After just two breaths, Chu Qingyun's eyes snapped open.

A silver glint flashed in the depths of his pupils.

Two immensely powerful streams of Soul Power suddenly poured forth from between his brows, surging forward like a mighty tide toward Zhu Tianyun and Li Ruoguang.

The formless Soul Power even kicked up a faint breeze as it passed through the air.

The strands of Soul Power that Zhou Ling and the other two had been clashing with were utterly insignificant before the two streams Chu Qingyun unleashed.

They were all instantly crushed, shattering into nothingness!

"How is this possible!?"

"Such powerful Soul Power!"

Zhu Tianyun and Li Ruoguang were so shocked their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. They couldn't believe their own Spiritual Sense!

But after crushing their opponents' Soul Power, the two streams were not retracted. Instead, they continued to surge majestically toward Zhu Tianyun and Li Ruoguang.

'Oh no, the kid's fighting back!'

A shiver went through them both, and they hurriedly mustered their Soul Power to defend against Chu Qingyun's assault.

However, their pitiful amount of Soul Power was nowhere near enough.

Powerless to resist, Zhu Tianyun and Li Ruoguang's defenses crumbled in an instant!

Wherever Chu Qingyun's Soul Power passed, their own was smashed to pieces and scattered in all directions.

The Soul Power rolled over both of their Pill Cauldrons.

Immediately, the Martial Soul Fire within their two Pill Cauldrons spun out of control.

BOOM!

BOOM!

The loudest cauldron explosions since the start of the event echoed from the high platform.

Violent explosions erupted from within both Zhu Tianyun's and Li Ruoguang's Pill Cauldrons.

The immense power of the Spiritual Medicine and Martial Soul Fire blew the lids clean off. The Martial Soul Fire within the cauldrons shot out, flaring more than ten meters into the air!

As for the two of them, they were completely unprepared. Still reeling in shock at the strength of Chu Qingyun's Soul Power, they were caught in the blast, left covered in soot and ash with their hair standing on end.

After a moment of silence, the area around the high platform erupted with unstoppable waves of laughter.

Even many of the people in the adjacent tower couldn't help but laugh.

A cauldron explosion is a common occurrence for an Alchemist.

But getting blown up by your own cauldron, left covered in soot with your hair standing on end, was not a common sight—especially not in a high-level competition.

That kind of thing was more common among novices.

The expressions of the people from the Tianya Sect and the Purple Cloud Sect turned ugly.

They couldn't understand it, though. This was their fourth attempt. With their skill, they should have succeeded in refining the Youthful Appearance Pill by now.

Even if they failed, it shouldn't have resulted in a cauldron explosion, let alone one that left them in such a sorry state...

"You're Chu Qingyun, right? I owe you one for this. If you're ever in trouble, you can use my name—Zhou Ling of the Saint Extreme Sect!"

Seeing Zhu Tianyun and Li Ruoguang looking so miserable and still utterly bewildered, Zhou Ling couldn't help but giggle.

"Don't thank me. I just didn't want to be disturbed," Chu Qingyun said.

Then, he frowned slightly and said, "You're about to reach the most difficult part of refining this Youthful Appearance Pill. Withdraw half of the Martial Soul Fire from the left third of your Pill Cauldron, or you'll definitely fail."

Zhou Ling's concentration had already been disrupted, making it nearly impossible for her to refine an Upper Grade elixir.

Besides, the fact that she hadn't wanted to drag Chu Qingyun into her dispute with Zhu Tianyun showed that Zhou Ling was a decent person.

Therefore, Chu Qingyun didn't see her as a rival and casually offered her a piece of advice.

P.S. As requested by some of you, I'll try to release four chapters at once from now on. I'll aim to post future updates around midnight to make it easier for everyone to read during the day, though I might be late sometimes if something comes up (just giving you a heads-up). These four chapters are for Sunday, the 9th. The next update will be shortly after midnight on Monday, the 10th.

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