The more Chu Qingyun thought about it, the more plausible the idea seed.
As a Tier Three Demon Beast, the Thundercloud Lion possessed strength comparable to a Martial Spirit Level expert and was certainly an Overlord in this part of the Mist Forest.
Yet when the Cao Family found it, it had already been driven out from the depths of the Mist Forest, escaping to the outer edges with nearly fatal injuries.
Among all the powers in Fla City, big and small, those capable of severely injuring a Tier Three Demon Beast were few and far between.
And the mysterious Martial Soul Hall was clearly one of them!
Viewed this way, many things started to make sense. The Martial Soul Hall must have clashed with the Thundercloud Lion over territory in this valley, leaving it severely wounded.
However, the Thundercloud Lion's strength was not to be underestimated. It had fought desperately to escape, only to be unluckily discovered by the Cao Family while recuperating—all of which ultimately benefited Chu Qingyun.
'The Thundercloud Sword is actually reacting faintly. Could there be sothing else here?'
Chu Qingyun thought for a mont. Since he had lost his bearings anyway, he figured he might as well follow the sensation from the Thundercloud Sword.
Sheathing the Thundercloud Sword, Chu Qingyun followed its guidance, continuing to feel his way forward through the dense, impenetrable fog.
After walking for over half an hour, Chu Qingyun couldn't suppress a growing sense of impatience.
This kind of place, where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, was naturally oppressive. With no way to tell direction, Chu Qingyun even began to suspect he was just walking in circles!
However, just then, his ears twitched. He had heard the faint sound of footsteps.
'Soone's here!'
Chu Qingyun quickly crouched down, carefully concealing his presence while concentrating, trying to identify the source of the sounds.
The footsteps grew more distant. Chu Qingyun didn't hesitate, carefully trailing behind them.
Although he didn't know if they were friend or foe, in a place oppressive enough to drive a man mad, simply finding soone was a way out.
As the distance between them closed, Chu Qingyun could faintly sense that the other person was a Ninth-level Martial Artist.
As he drew even closer, the Devouring Martial Soul within his Qi Sea suddenly began to tremble faintly.
'A Ninth-level Martial Artist from the Martial Soul Hall!'
'I thought all the Martial Artists from the Martial Soul Hall had been killed. I can't believe there's still one here…'
A grin spread across Chu Qingyun's face as he silently continued to follow.
Chu Qingyun was far less wary of a Ninth-level Martial Artist from the Martial Soul Hall than he was of the captain-level Ninth-level Martial Artists from the Great Xia Dragon Guard.
The Great Xia Dragon Guard recruited only geniuses, so their Martial Artists were much stronger than outsiders of the sa level!
"Who's there!?" The man from the Martial Soul Hall up ahead suddenly stopped and shouted warily.
Chu Qingyun's heart tightened, and his hand instinctively went to his sword hilt.
'Have I been exposed? That shouldn't be possible…'
However, another voice imdiately called out from farther ahead, "Cyan Leopard, is that you? It's Black Teeth! What took you so long?"
"Dammit, I ran into three waves of the Great Xia Dragon Guard and nearly got hacked to death! Good thing I didn't run into anyone Captain Level…"
Hearing a familiar voice, the man called Cyan Leopard audibly relaxed. He grumbled as he walked forward, his footsteps growing much louder.
Trailing behind him, Chu Qingyun thought to himself, 'The power of the Thousand-faced Martial Soul lets transform into any human Martial Artist. I wonder if I can change into one of the Martial Soul Hall mbers…'
'It's worth a shot!'
Chu Qingyun decided to take the risk. He quietly quickened his pace while activating his Shadow Martial Soul, making his already obscured figure even harder to perceive.
He got close enough to clearly sense Cyan Leopard's aura, close enough to feel the man's physical presence right in front of him. At that mont, Cyan Leopard seed to hear or sense sothing and suddenly whipped around.
Chu Qingyun stood perfectly still, just over a ter away from Cyan Leopard.
Cyan Leopard frowned, straining to peer behind him, but he saw nothing. Nor did he sense any unusual presence.
"Cyan Leopard, hurry the hell up, or I'm leaving you!" Black Teeth's voice rang out again from up ahead.
Cyan Leopard shook his head. "It's nothing! Coming now."
With that, Cyan Leopard turned and continued walking, figuring he'd just been spooked and was getting paranoid.
But in that instant, two dark-green vines shot through the mist. One bound his waist, the other coiled around his neck, and they violently yanked him backward.
"Nngh—"
Cyan Leopard had just started to cry out when Chu Qingyun clamped a hand over his mouth. More vines sward forward, binding him tightly.
Before Cyan Leopard could recover from his terror, Chu Qingyun whipped out a long-unused black dagger from his Storage Ring and plunged it into the man's neck.
The Thundercloud Sword and Thunderbolt Flash were too conspicuous. Chu Qingyun feared that using them would alert Black Teeth up ahead.
The vines suddenly went slack. Cyan Leopard's body instantly vanished, transforming into a large, cyan mass of Martial Soul Power that was consud by Chu Qingyun's Devouring Martial Soul.
Tier Two Martial Soul: Cyan Leopard. Soul Technique: Frenzied Leopard Strike.
This kind of ordinary Attack-type Martial Soul and its Soul Technique were not only less powerful than his Thundercloud Sword's Thunderbolt Flash, but they also required him to activate the Martial Soul, which was a hassle.
Therefore, Chu Qingyun never bothered keeping them, instead using them directly to strengthen his Devouring Martial Soul.
He had absorbed a fair number of Tier Two Martial Souls, but the strengthening progress for his Devouring Martial Soul remained at zero. After it had advanced to Tier Three, the Martial Soul Power from Tier Two souls had a greatly diminished effect.
If he wanted to keep advancing his Martial Soul, finding Tier Three Martial Souls was the only viable path.
"Thousand-faced Martial Soul, Thousand-Faced Illusion Body!"
After finishing off Cyan Leopard, Chu Qingyun imdiately activated his Thousand-faced Martial Soul without a mont's hesitation.
The space around his body distorted, and in the span of just two breaths, Chu Qingyun had transford into Cyan Leopard's exact likeness—from his face and build down to his clothes.
The only flaw was his aura.
The Thousand-faced Martial Soul couldn't replicate the aura of a Ninth-level Martial Artist like Cyan Leopard. At best, it could only maintain Chu Qingyun's own aura as a Fifth-level Martial Artist.
"Cyan Leopard, what's wrong?" Black Teeth called out from ahead, hearing so kind of commotion and growing wary.
"Nothing, nothing, just tripped on a vine!" Chu Qingyun hastily replied and started running forward.
Soon, he saw the other Ninth-level Martial Artist from the Martial Soul Hall. The man was obese and brawny, and his teeth were all black—a rather disgusting sight. This had to be the fellow who called himself Black Teeth.
Black Teeth looked "Cyan Leopard" up and down. He felt an inexplicable sense of strangeness but couldn't put his finger on the problem, so he could only shake his head in resignation. 'Damn it all,' he thought, 'the Great Xia Dragon Guard are going to give a nervous breakdown…'
As for aura, no one maintained the high level of concentration needed to sense another person's presence at all tis. It was too exhausting, unless one was in combat.
"Let's pick up the pace and regroup. The more of us there are, the safer we'll be. According to the plan, the Great Xia Dragon Guard should be going crazy right about now."
Black Teeth gestured, and the two continued onward, making small talk as they walked.
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