Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 603: Chapter 603 Absorbing Demonic Qi

Zhang Guangling hadn’t wanted to make things so ugly, especially with Xiao Xiao present. He had only lured a few lower demons to give Ye Qingchen a show of force while also gauging his true strength. However, to his surprise, Ye Qingchen dispatched the lower demons with such ease that he didn’t even see how it was done.

In other words, if Ye Qingchen had attacked me back then, I might have been in real danger.

Ye Qingchen’s final words left Zhang Guangling feeling humiliated, and a sliver of fear began to creep into his heart. To kill thirty cultivators at the intermediate Martial Emperor Realm all by himself inside the Secret Realm... he’s certainly not simple!

Seeing Zhang Guangling’s frustrated and resentful expression, Xiao Xiao’s mood brightened considerably. Zhang Guangling was her team leader, but throughout their journey, he had leveraged his superior strength to intentionally or unintentionally defy her orders. He would even make disparaging remarks to her face, which she found deeply repulsive. Now that he had met Ye Qingchen, Zhang Guangling had not only been rude to her young master but had even schemed against him. Xiao Xiao’s disgust for the man had reached its peak.

Seeing her young master take such a powerful stance felt even more satisfying than if she had taught Zhang Guangling a lesson herself.

After Zhang Guangling left, Xiao Xiao’s earlier worries vanished. She excitedly ran up to Ye Qingchen, arched her brows, and said cheerfully, ”Young Master, we haven’t been apart for long, but your swordsmanship has improved so much! I’m afraid you’ve left me far behind.”

Ye Qingchen affectionately ruffled her hair. ”Silly girl, I have to be strong to protect you. Go with the others and lure some more lower demons over. We need to accumulate points as quickly as possible so we can enter the second level of the Demon Clan battlefield.”

Now understanding the extent of his power, Xiao Xiao knew Ye Qingchen was anxious to reach the third level of the battlefield and secure a spot with one of the Ten Great Ancient Clans. She nodded obediently and flew off toward the lower demons’ gathering area.

A short while later, the other three disciples from the Wuji Immortal Palace returned, leading more lower demons. They genuinely wanted to test Ye Qingchen’s strength, so each of them had only lured two demons back, since the ability to handle two lower demons at once was considered the minimum qualification to join their team. But when the three of them saw the demon corpses already littering the ground, they were all taken aback.

Did he already kill several lower demons in such a short time? If so, his strength is terrifying! The three of them knew they couldn’t have killed so many so quickly.

However, what happened next left them no room for doubt. Ye Qingchen moved like a blur, wielding his Double Pupil Sword and constantly shifting his position. With every swing, another lower demon collapsed. Within a few breaths, all six lower demons they had brought back were slain.

Looking at their astonished faces, Ye Qingchen cupped his fists toward them. ”My thanks to the three of you. Could I trouble you to bring some more?”

His tone was gentle this time, containing no mockery. The three disciples from Wuji Immortal Palace, still in shock, simply nodded and flew back toward the demon gathering place.

Ye Qingchen could tell that the lower demons they brought were not even close to evolving. This meant that, unlike Zhang Guangling, the three of them genuinely wanted to see if he would be a liability and had no intention of targeting him. Their actions were understandable. When a new teammate with a much lower cultivation realm suddenly joins, it’s only natural to want to gauge their strength to see if they’ll hold the team back. Ye Qingchen certainly didn’t hold it against them.

Ye Qingchen had only used Fire Spirit Charm Shadow and Sword Dusting the Wind. Though his movements seemed incredibly fast to the three disciples, they had no idea he was deliberately holding back.

As he was killing the lower demons, he had fully activated his Dual Pupil Martial Soul. He could clearly see wisps of Demonic Qi drifting from the corpses of the slain demons and entering his Sea of Consciousness. It was only now that Ye Qingchen was certain the energy he’d used for his last breakthrough had been refined from this very Demonic Qi.

What he couldn’t understand, however, was why the Demonic Qi split into two different types of energy when he refined it. One was a pure spiritual energy that he absorbed for his breakthroughs. The other was an energy that he was completely unable to use, which was subsequently stored in the gray jade disc. Later, during the Inner Sect Disciple assessment, he had accidentally obtained the stone egg, which had then actively absorbed that unusable energy.

Back then, he had only found it strange. But now, knowing the energy’s origin, he felt an even greater sense of shock and confusion.

That unusable energy must be the native energy of the Demon Clan from the Demon Realm. If the stone egg can absorb Demon Clan energy, doesn’t that mean it’s related to the Demon Clan? But why would something connected to the Demon Clan appear in the Trial Secret Realm of Central Celestial Academy?

Just as he was pondering this, the stone egg in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly stirred. The Demonic Qi that had been absorbed into the gray jade disc automatically split into two streams. One flowed into the stone egg, while the other entered Ye Qingchen’s own sea of energy, enhancing his strength.

In about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the recently absorbed Demonic Qi was completely assimilated by the stone egg, and Ye Qingchen could feel his own cultivation realm had slightly improved.

This development left him baffled once more, but after a moment of thought, a shocking hypothesis formed in his mind.

Could this stone egg be a Spirit Beast Egg from the Demon Clan? It must be absorbing Demonic Qi so it can hatch!

The thought shook Ye Qingchen to his core. If my guess is right, it means I’m carrying a demon’s egg with me! In that case, should I hand it over? It is, after all, a thing of the Demon Clan! And right now, the human race is facing an invasion from the demons, a war to the death!

But Ye Qingchen quickly shook his head, clearing his thoughts. That’s just a guess. What if the stone egg isn’t a demon artifact at all? What if it’s just like me, capable of absorbing Demonic Qi? After all, the Demonic Qi from the slain demons splits in two, and I absorb one part of it myself. By that logic, if there’s something wrong with the egg, doesn’t that mean there’s something wrong with me, too? Am I also one of the Demon Clan? No, I can’t rashly reveal that the stone egg can absorb Demonic Qi.

Thinking this, Ye Qingchen took a deep breath. The true nature of this stone egg still needs verification. For now, at least, I can benefit from it and enhance my strength, sparing myself from arduous cultivation. This means that in the future, on the Demon Clan battlefield, as long as I keep killing powerful demons, my own power can grow by leaps and bounds. I can earn points while increasing my strength. It’s killing two birds with one stone!

At the same time, a part of him was filled with anticipation, wondering what would emerge from the stone egg when it finally hatched.

While Ye Qingchen was lost in these thoughts, Zhang Guangling returned, flying toward them with more than a dozen lower demons in tow. Ye Qingchen didn’t hesitate. He activated Fire Spirit Charm Shadow and moved like lightning, beginning the slaughter anew. A moment later, all dozen-or-so lower demons lay dead.

Zhang Guangling gasped for breath, staring at Ye Qingchen in disbelief. What kind of monster is this guy? In his hands, a dozen lower demons are no different than toys!