The gray Crystal Ball shattered, but Chu Qingyun's Soul-Imbued Talisman remained perfectly intact.
That could only an one thing: Chu Qingyun had killed the monster!
Everyone in the room, from the Military Lords and Grand Commanders to Xia He and the three other captains, stood stunned for a full minute before anyone began to snap out of it.
"Holy crap! He actually killed a monster that no one else could even scratch! Even with mastered Sword Qi, there's no way he should be that ridiculously strong!"
"Hahaha! We finally completed one! The heavens bless the Great Xia Dragon Guards! The heavens bless the Great Xia Dragon Guards!"
"Celestial Wind, congratulations! This mission's success is all thanks to your Celestial Wind Army. If not for you, we of the Lianshan County Dragon Guards would have been utterly disgraced…"
The group of Military Lords and Grand Commanders all burst into hearty laughter.
Normally, for a mission where all Six Armies were dispatched simultaneously, they should have been rivals, competing to see who could complete it faster and more effectively.
And at first, that was exactly how it was.
However, as the other Five Armies were annihilated one by one, their attitudes underwent a massive shift.
Any thought of competition had long been cast aside.
By the end, they had only one hope left: that just one team, any team, could complete the mission.
Thus, Chu Qingyun's success in killing the monster left every Military Lord and Grand Commander from all Six Armies overjoyed and deeply satisfied.
The affair was settled, yet no one left. They all remained, waiting to welco Chu Qingyun back in person…
At the bottom of the cliff.
Chu Qingyun awoke at first light.
After eating so food from his Storage Ring, Chu Qingyun used the tendrils of his Ten-Star Vine to climb the cliff, a journey that took him a little over twenty minutes.
The ascent took only twenty minutes. The descent, however, had turned into a grueling, three-hour ordeal of being dragged up and down the cliff face during his struggle with the monster.
After reaching the top of the cliff, Chu Qingyun noticed the ground was littered with clothing and other miscellaneous items.
It was all loot left behind by the three hundred-plus Level 9 Martial Artists from the Martial Soul Hall. Xia He and his n had left in such a hurry they hadn't had ti to collect any of it.
The spoils of a Level 9 Martial Artist were certainly worth a look.
Besides, while over three hundred Level 9 Martial Artists had died here recently, there was also the wealth from the hundred-plus killed during the first major battle.
After a thorough sweep, Chu Qingyun had made a small fortune.
He found over one hundred and twenty drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid alone. The rest of the miscellaneous items weren't especially valuable on their own, but their sheer quantity made for a considerable haul.
All in all, the trip had been incredibly fruitful.
Xia He and his team had only taken one Giant-winged Goose, leaving the other for Chu Qingyun.
On the way back.
As he rode the Giant-winged Goose, a thought suddenly struck Chu Qingyun. 'If the other five squads ran into a monster like that,' he mused, 'what are the odds they could actually complete their missions?'
After considering several possibilities, Chu Qingyun simply shook his head.
'If it were them, they'd have absolutely no chance of completing this mission!'
This wasn't re arrogance on Chu Qingyun's part.
Against that monster, Chu Qingyun had unleashed his Ten-Star Vine, Thundercloud Sword, Thunder Light Sword Qi, and the Third Layer of his Profound Celestial Divine Pattern. Even with the addition of Xia He's Tier Four Flying Soul Technique, they had only managed a stalemate.
And which of the other five teams possessed such an overwhelming arsenal of power?
'If they've all failed... then I might as well finish the jobs for them…'
Lost in thought, Chu Qingyun couldn't help but smile.
'If I can sweep through the Martial Soul Halls in the other five towns, I'll definitely reap another massive harvest.'
'Setting everything else aside, just considering the Tier Three Martial Souls... assuming I can harvest the Martial Soul Power equivalent to three Tier Three Martial Souls from each monster, killing five of them would net fifteen!'
'That would be enough to upgrade my most-used Martial Soul, the Ten-star Vine, to Tier Four!'
'It's not every day you find targets that yield Tier Three Martial Souls... Let's do this!'
'I rember, of the five remaining mission sites, the closest one is Qu Liang Town!'
Chu Qingyun tugged a specific feather on the Giant-winged Goose's neck. The massive bird imdiately changed course, flying toward Qu Liang Town.
The six mission towns weren't actually that far apart.
About two hours later, Chu Qingyun arrived outside Qu Liang Town.
It was still early morning, but a long line had already ford at the entrance to Qu Liang Town. It was packed with families carrying their luggage, all desperate to leave, completely blocking the road.
After asking around, Chu Qingyun learned what had happened.
Apparently, the Qu Liang Town Mayor's Mansion had been attacked last night. Rumor had it that a massive, terrifying monster was among the assailants.
After a huge battle within the town, the monster had charged straight out, destroying swaths of houses in its path. Many people were injured, and so even lost their lives.
And after the monster escaped, many of the esteed Martial Artists had given chase.
These people were all terrified and were planning to head to a bigger city or hide out in the countryside to wait for the trouble to blow over before returning.
Chu Qingyun could easily guess what had really happened.
'The Great Xia Dragon Guards must have stord the town. The Martial Soul Hall's Martial Artists, unable to win or unwilling to suffer heavy losses, unleashed one of those monsters.'
'The Dragon Guards couldn't defeat the monster, so they were all killed or forced to flee.'
'But now the Martial Soul Hall has lost control of the monster. It escaped, and they're chasing after it, trying to bring it back.'
Having pieced it all together, Chu Qingyun followed the trail of destruction left by the monster.
Sure enough, it didn't take long to find them on a barren mountain near the town: the Martial Artists of the Martial Soul Hall, and a monster.
This monster was completely different from the one he had fought before, but it was just as disgusting and twisted. One look at it made you want to annihilate it.
At that mont, one of the monster's two crab-like arms was holding a Level 9 Martial Artist from the Martial Soul Hall, whom it was eating bite by bite.
Across from it stood a man who was likely the leader of the Qu Liang Town's Martial Soul Hall. He was sweating profusely and making anxious whistling sounds, as if trying to communicate with the monster.
There weren't many Martial Soul Hall mbers around—only twenty or so.
After surviving a sneak attack by the Great Xia Dragon Guards' elite squad, and then a rampage from this monster, even a force of several hundred Level 9 Martial Artists had been decimated.
Especially when the monster went berserk; it cut them down like grass.
'Just over twenty of them…'
Chu Qingyun let out a cold smile. Using the Hidden Qi Technique, he suppressed his aura to the level of a Level 8 Martial Artist and walked over.
User Comments
0 comments from readers