“It seems… this boy harbours no small secrets.”
Soul Devouring Venerable murmured to himself. In that hoarse voice, a trace of icy killing intent finally emerged, along with a barely perceptible greed.
To enable someone in the Human Immortal realm to slay a seventh-grade Heavenly Immortal across tiers, this was absolutely not something an ordinary opportunity could achieve!
Perhaps it was some heaven-defying inheritance?
Or some supreme treasure even he had never seen?
“Venerable lord! That Chen Ping is utterly arrogant. He clearly holds no regard for you!”
“He must be searching everywhere for you now! Please emerge from seclusion at once, venerable lord. With your supreme divine abilities, crush that little beast, extract his soul and refine it, to vent this hatred in our hearts!”
Seeing Soul Devouring Venerable seemingly stirred to killing intent, Hun Sha hurriedly fanned the flames.
At these words, Soul Devouring Venerable’s two red glows swept over Hun Sha, instantly plunging him into an icy abyss.
“Does this venerable one require your instruction in handling matters?”
The cold voice made Hun Sha tremble like a sieve. He kowtowed repeatedly. “I dare not! This disciple dares not!”
“Hmph.”
Soul Devouring Venerable snorted coldly. “This venerable one will naturally deal with that Chen Ping. But not now.”
He slowly rose from the Myriad Souls Throne. With his movement, the demonic qi throughout the entire hall seemed to boil and pay homage!
A soul pressure far deeper, vaster, and more evilly terrifying than that of Old Man Ghost Bone permeated the air!
Within that pressure lingered auras of devouring, chaos, decay, despair, and all manner of negative great daos. It was as if he were the source of all malicious thoughts and soul suffering in the world!
“This venerable one’s injuries have recovered ninety percent. I need only absorb the final batch of living soul essences from this Myriad Souls Blood Pool to fully recover, and even… surpass my former self!”
Soul Devouring Venerable’s voice carried an indifference of controlling everything. “When that time comes, let alone one Chen Ping, even experts from the Twelfth Heaven will prostrate trembling at this venerable one’s feet!”
Hearing this, Hun Sha was overjoyed. He hurriedly said, “Congratulations, venerable lord! Felicitations, venerable lord! With your divine arts perfected, you are invincible under heaven!”
However, the instant his words fell,
“Boom——!!!”
A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering explosion suddenly came from the periphery of the Myriad Souls Demon Sect’s main altar!
Followed by continuous blasts, screams, sounds of collapsing buildings, and the piercing wail of the sect-protecting grand array being forcibly torn!
“What is happening?!”
Hun Sha’s face changed in horror.
Soul Devouring Venerable’s two red glows also sharpened abruptly, gazing towards outside the hall.
A blood-soaked demon sect deacon with one arm severed stumbled and crawled into the hall. His voice distorted from extreme fear.
“Sect… Sect Master! Venerable lord! Disaster! Someone… someone has invaded!”
“It… it is Chen Ping! He has killed his way in! The outer arrays were cleaved by his single sword. Countless patrolling disciples dead or wounded! He… he is killing towards the Myriad Souls Hall!”
“What?! He… how dares he?! How did he find us so quickly?!”
Hun Sha was scared out of his wits. He instinctively looked towards Soul Devouring Venerable.
Soul Devouring Venerable’s black robe billowed without wind. Those two red glows blazed fiercely. An even colder, more violent killing intent erupted!
“Good! Very good! This venerable one had not yet sought him, yet he delivers himself to the door!”
Soul Devouring Venerable’s voice was like chill wind from the ninth abyss. “Since he is so eager to die, this venerable one… shall oblige him!”
“Hun Sha, activate all restrictions in the main altar. Summon the remaining disciples. At any cost, hold him back for this venerable one!”
“Once this venerable one completes the final recovery, I shall personally act and crush this annoying fly!”
“Yes! Venerable lord!” Hun Sha hurriedly complied, scrambling out of the hall to make arrangements.
Though fear filled his heart, thinking of Soul Devouring Venerable’s imminent full recovery reignited a sliver of hope.
Soul Devouring Venerable’s figure flickered, turning into a pitch-black soul shadow. He submerged into the depths of the Myriad Souls Hall, into the Myriad Souls Blood Pool emitting thick bloody stench and wails of resentful souls.
He would complete the final breakthrough before Chen Ping arrived!
…
Periphery of the Myriad Souls Demon Sect’s main altar.
Now it was a scene of devastation, as if ploughed by a rampaging primordial ferocious beast.
Most of the originally sinister and terrifying buildings had collapsed. The ground was everywhere scarred with massive sword gouges and traces of burning.
Countless corpses of demon sect disciples lay scattered, some cleaved into pieces by sword qi, some burned to charcoal by chaotic true fire, others as if their souls had been drained, leaving only desiccated husks.
Chen Ping held the Dragon Slaying Sword, stepping over ruins and corpses at an unhurried pace towards the core area of the main altar.
Faint chaotic radiance swirled around him. All approaching demonic qi, yin souls, and even sneak attacks of poison curses or yin thunder silently annihilated upon nearing within three feet of him.
Along the way, he encountered scarcely any meaningful resistance. Those demon sect disciples fortunate to survive had already been terrified out of their minds by his few swords outside the mountain gate. Seeing him from afar, they fled in madness, not daring to block him.
Occasionally, a few cornered demon sect elders tried activating restrictions or self-detonating to hinder him, only to be casually resolved by a strand of chaotic sword qi from Chen Ping.
Soon, he arrived at the most core area of the Myriad Souls Demon Sect. He saw the towering and hideous Myriad Souls Hall, and before the hall on the square, the churning thick blood plasma of the “Myriad Souls Blood Pool,” constantly bubbling with agonised faces.
Beside the blood pool, Hun Sha led the final batch of trusted elders and elite disciples, forming a ragged Myriad Souls Grand Array, awaiting in strict formation.
Yet their faces were paler than the last, eyes filled with unconcealable fear. The array light flickered uncertainly, clearly devoid of any fighting spirit.
Seeing Chen Ping approach leisurely, Hun Sha’s eyelids twitched wildly. He forced a stern shout. “Chen Ping! This is the forbidden ground of our Myriad Souls Demon Sect, the place of the venerable lord’s seclusion! You trespass upon the sect, slaughtering countless. Your crimes deserve ten thousand deaths!”
“Withdraw at once, or disturb the venerable lord, and you shall surely die without burial!”
Chen Ping’s gaze did not even linger on Hun Sha. He looked past him directly into the depths of the Myriad Souls Hall, to the centre of the blood pool where demonic qi was densest.
He could clearly sense a familiar yet loathsome, powerful and evil soul aura rapidly rising and condensing there, as if some terrifying existence was about to emerge from seclusion.
“Soul Devouring Venerable, no need to hide.”
Chen Ping’s voice rang out calmly, yet carrying a strange penetrating power that transmitted directly into the depths of the Myriad Souls Hall. “I know you are in there. Come out. It is time we settled our accounts.”
