Devouring Soul Emperor

Chapter 357: Chapter 357: Calling to Account

"Hm? What is it?"

His enjoyment interrupted, the Sub-Palace Master of the Martial Soul Hall frowned in displeasure.

"My lord, Mu’s Soul-Imbued Talisman... it shattered!"

Gazing at the Soul-Imbued Talisman, broken into three pieces in the man’s hand, the Sub-Palace Master’s hand, which was raising a teacup, froze in mid-air.

The teacup then fell to the floor, shattering with a CRASH.

An extremely oppressive aura slowly filled the entire hall.

"Mu... his Soul-Imbued Talisman shattered... Mu’s Soul-Imbued Talisman... why did it shatter?!"

The Sub-Palace Master shot to his feet, kicking the table before him to smithereens. An incredibly powerful and terrifying aura surged from his body, and it felt as if a monstrous tidal wave was roiling through the hall.

The dozen or so dancers and singers, all low-level Martial Artists, couldn’t withstand such a terrifying aura. Under its overwhelming pressure, they exploded one by one in despair, dissolving into clouds of Martial Soul Power.

Even the Earth Spirit Realm expert was prostrate on the floor, his body trembling instinctively, unable to even twitch!

"Mu... why did Mu have to die?!"

"Mu! My Mu!!"

The face of the Lianshan County Martial Soul Hall’s Sub-Palace Master was etched with grief and fury. He raised his arms high, roaring in rage again and again.

Back when he was still in the Spirit Realm, he had personally converted Mu from a little boy with a Tier Three Martial Soul.

Because their physical composition was different from humans, the people of the Martial Soul Hall were completely incapable of reproduction. They could only convert humans who possessed Martial Souls to create more of their kind.

Therefore, the Sub-Palace Master had raised Mu from a young boy, always treating him as his own child.

To him, even though Mu was only a Level 3 Martial Spirit, his place in his heart was more important than an Earth Spirit Realm, a Celestial Spirit Realm, or even a King Realm Expert!

Otherwise, he never would have given Mu that Divine Sword capable of autonomously condensing Sword Qi!

Mu’s death plunged the Martial Soul Hall’s Sub-Palace Master into a bottomless rage.

For several days straight, everyone in the abandoned town, all the members of the Martial Soul Hall—from the high-and-mighty King Realm experts down to the lowliest Martial Artist Realm fodder—walked on eggshells, terrified of igniting the Sub-Palace Master’s wrath.

「Four days later.」

Two Level 2 Martial Spirits who had been lucky enough to escape the battle in the valley finally made their way back to the abandoned town, riding Flying Demon Beasts. They looked wretched as they brought a detailed report of that day back to the Martial Soul Hall.

When he heard that Mu had died at the hands of a Level 1 Martial Spirit from the Great Xia Dragon Guard, the Martial Soul Hall’s Sub-Palace Master roared in fury again, "Mu is dead, so why are you still alive?!"

With a sudden palm strike, he instantly killed the two Level 2 Martial Spirits!

The entire town seemed to tremble slightly!

"The six of you, get out here!"

"I’m going to Lianshan County City, to the Great Xia Dragon Guard, to demand an explanation!"

A few minutes later, seven Tier Three Flying Demon Beasts shot out from the abandoned town, flying toward Lianshan County City at extreme speed.

On the back of each Demon Beast was a figure, some sitting, some standing.

The aura of each one of them was almost imperceptible, but if one tried to sense it carefully, they would feel an unfathomable depth, like an abyss or a prison.

The leader of the seven was, of course, the Sub-Palace Master of the Lianshan County Martial Soul Hall.

And these seven were the strongest seven members of this sub-palace—seven Martial King Realm experts!

On this day, the sun shone brightly over Lianshan County City, and everything was as peaceful as usual.

However, seven Tier Three Flying Demon Beasts suddenly shot into the city, circling high above the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s encampment.

"Jingtai, get out here!"

The Martial Soul Hall’s Sub-Palace Master let out a furious roar. The overwhelming aura of a Fifth-level Martial King surged forth, blanketing the entire Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment in an instant!

Within the encampment, all those in the Martial Master Realm instantly felt immense pressure. Every one of them turned deathly pale, their legs trembling uncontrollably.

Those in the Small Spirit Realm and Earth Spirit Realm fared slightly better, but they still felt extremely uncomfortable, as if a massive boulder was pressing down on their hearts.

The only ones who could still move about normally were likely the Celestial Spirit Realm experts.

After all, while the aura and Momentum of a Martial King Realm expert were incredibly powerful, their intensity was naturally diminished when spread out over the entirety of the vast Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment.

In that instant, everyone outside looked up at the seven Demon Beast silhouettes in the sky, their faces filled with horror.

Outside the Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment, it also caused a huge panic.

The furious roar from before had reverberated across more than half the County City.

Furthermore, the terrifying aura of a Martial King Level expert had attracted the attention of countless powerful figures in the city. The King Realm Clan Leaders of the Ye, Zhou, Jin, and Xiao—the Four Great Clans—all looked toward the Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment, their expressions thoughtful.

More Celestial Spirit Realm and Earth Spirit Realm experts also stepped out of their rooms, gazing toward the Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment from afar with grim faces.

Soon, from the depths of the Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment, another incomparably tyrannical aura slowly spread out as if it were gradually awakening. It actually managed to force the Sub-Palace Master’s aura back!

"Profound Snake, since when did the skulking cowards of the Martial Soul Hall dare to cause trouble at my Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment?!"

A voice that seemed to be suppressing boundless fury boomed from within the Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment.

An old man in a black robe with gold trim, riding a Tier Three Flying Demon Beast, slowly ascended into the sky to confront the seven from the Martial Soul Hall.

The seven King Realm experts from the Martial Soul Hall had not only charged into Lianshan County City but had also blanketed the entire Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment with their King Realm auras.

This was practically like stepping on the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s necks!

It was a blatant, public humiliation!

Right after the old man in the gold-trimmed black robe, two more Flying Demon Beasts took to the sky.

The three King Realm Lord Chief Managers of the Lianshan County Great Xia Dragon Guard and the seven King Realm experts of the Lianshan County Martial Soul Hall had come face-to-face above the Great Xia Dragon Guard encampment!

The Martial King Realm, much like the Martial Spirit Realm, is also broadly divided into three smaller stages.

The Human King Realm, the Earth King Realm, and the Celestial King Realm.

First-level to Third-level Martial Kings are in what is known as the Human King Realm. Fourth-level to Sixth-level Martial Kings are in the Earth King Realm, and Seventh-level to Ninth-level Martial Kings are in the Celestial King Realm.

On the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s side, Grand Chief Steward Jingtai—the old man in the gold-trimmed black robe—was a Fifth-level Martial King, a super-expert of the Earth King Realm. The other two were Human King Realm experts.

On the Martial Soul Hall’s side, in addition to Sub-Palace Master Profound Snake, a Fifth-level Martial King, they had two Fourth-level Martial Kings. This brought their total to three Earth King Realm experts and four Human King Realm experts.

Even though they had more than double the numbers, in reality, the King Realm strength of both sides was merely on par with each other.

After all, within the same realm, the strength of Martial Soul Hall members was generally weaker than that of human Martial Artists.