Soul Emperor Martial God

Elder Xue's Martial Soul was of the Green Rank.

After Xiao Yi absorbed it, he distinctly felt the Fire Control Beast within him strengthen slightly.

The color deepened slightly as well.

Then, he thoroughly inspected Elder Xue's corpse.

As expected, Elder Xue's physical strength was formidable.

It was approximately around the Earth Element First Layer.

Clearly, he had practiced Body Refining Techniques.

However, this Body Refining Technique paled in comparison to the Asura Battle Body.

After all, it wasn't a true Asura Battle Body.

It was merely a Body Refining Technique developed by successive Valley Masters of Blood Mist Valley after deducing the last three layers themselves.

Thereafter, Xiao Yi explored Elder Xue's body a bit more.

He found a high-level Qiankun Bag.

Upon opening it, he noticed,

it contained silver notes and some miscellaneous items,

along with a vast quantity of Demon Beast Essence Blood.

Besides that, there were no Spiritual Artifacts, Cultivation Techniques, or Martial Techniques.

Looking at the Qiankun Bag brimming with Demon Beast Essence Blood.

The weakest were Level 5 Essence Blood, amounting to thousands of bottles.

There were over a hundred bottles of Sixth-level Essence Blood.

The strongest was Seventh-level Essence Blood, amounting to three bottles.

A Sixth-level Demon Beast matched the strength of the Earth Origin Realm.

A Seventh-level Demon Beast, on the other hand, corresponded to the Heavenly Element Realm.

Xiao Yi nodded and muttered to himself, "It seems this modified Body Refining Technique."

"Also relies on absorbing Demon Beast Essence Blood for strength."

However, the Essence Blood carried the brutish aura of Demon Beasts.

Human Martial Artists couldn't absorb it indefinitely.

For each bit absorbed, one must first remove the brutish aura before absorbing more.

Otherwise, at the lighter end, one's disposition drastically changes; at the severe end, one risks deviating and dying.

Yet Xiao Yi was an exception; the existence of the Ice Phoenix Sword and the Taiyin and Taiyang Eyes.

Effortlessly quenched the brutish aura.

Allowing him to endlessly consume Demon Beast Essence Blood.

...

After taking the items from the Qiankun Bag, he placed them in a Universe Ring.

By the way, Xiao Yi now owned two Universe Rings.

However, he generally wore only one on his hand.

The next second, Xiao Yi's figure flashed and vanished from the spot.

He didn't leave this forest.

Instead, he absorbed the Martial Souls of the Blood Mist Valley assassins he had previously killed stealthily.

Earlier, to compress the Purple Flame and Ten Realms Annihilation Fire ahead of time,

Xiao Yi temporarily disregarded these corpses.

Moreover, since the Fire Control Beast now had a Green Rank Martial Soul,

Martial Souls below Green Rank were no longer of any use to it.

Absorbing more would be futile.

It needed at least Green Rank or higher to be useful.

Most of these Blood Mist Valley assassins had Green Rank Martial Souls,

and some were only Yellow Rank Martial Souls.

The Taiyin and Taiyang Eyes flickered continuously.

In less than an hour, the Martial Souls of nearly a hundred assassins had been fully absorbed.

However, the Fire Control Beast remained Green Rank.

At most, its color deepened a bit.

To progress, it needed to absorb a significant number of Green Rank Martial Souls.

After all, the gap between Green Rank and Blue Rank Martial Souls is vastly immense.

...

While absorbing the Martial Souls,

Xiao Yi also inspected their corpses.

Indeed, these assassins' physical strength.

Was also stronger than ordinary Martial Artists.

Those Earth Element Realm Gold Medal Killers' physical strength reached the Mystic Breakthrough Realm.

Normal killers in the Mystic Breakthrough Realm had physical strength that reached the Mysterious Profundity Realm.

No wonder Blood Mist Valley had become the prime assassin force of the Flame Martial Kingdom.

The inherent foundation aside,

the strong Body Refining Technique developed from the Asura Battle Body was the major factor.

Martial Artists wield True Qi in battle, causing fluctuations of Spiritual Energy.

But if only utilizing physical strength, it could be completely silent.

The assassins of Blood Mist Valley, using their exceptional physical strength,

either in infiltration or assassination, vastly surpassed ordinary Martial Artists.

Xiao Yi took the Qiankun Bags from these assassins,

each containing copious amounts of Demon Beast Essence Blood.

Altogether, the Level 5 Demon Beast Essence Blood amounted to tens of thousands of bottles.

Three thousand bottles of Sixth-level Essence Blood.

Three bottles of Seventh-level Demon Beast Essence Blood.

Having finished everything, Xiao Yi departed in an instant.

He passed through this forest and completely left the territory of Northern Mountain County.

By the way,

in the Earth Origin Realm, there is a notion of "person perished, elixir destroyed."

Earth Element Golden Core is a substance connected to one's own essence.

This marks an Earth Origin Realm Martial Artist.

Should an Earth Origin Realm Martial Artist die, their Earth Element Golden Core would automatically wither,

termed "person perished, elixir destroyed."

Thus, Xiao Yi couldn't absorb the power of these Golden Cores.

The last time he was able to absorb Old Monster Yougu's Golden Core

was because Yougu forcefully severed his connection with the Golden Core.

Furthermore, he had released the Golden Core.

Normally, an Earth Origin Realm would not dare do so,

as doing this is akin to courting death.

Their Earth Origin Realm Cultivation would also instantly drop to Mystic Breakthrough Ninth Layer.

But Old Monster Yougu was careless then, and because he had to sustain the Ten Realms Destruction Formation, it was a forced choice.

Thus, even though he died last time,

the Earth Element Golden Core had already cut off the connection.

In other words, the aura of the Earth Element Golden Core did not connect with the deathly aura of Old Monster Yougu.

Thus, it did not wither.

This turned out to be advantageous for Xiao Yi.

He was able to absorb the power within.

However, the assassins now, including the Elder Xue of the Heavenly Origin Realm,

The Golden Core had long withered.

Naturally, Xiao Yi could no longer absorb it.

...

Time flew quickly.

After leaving the forest, Xiao Yi sped all the way to the Royal Capital.

In just a few days, he crossed 8 counties.

Reaching Nine River County.

Nine River County has an extremely large area,

anticipating it might even be much larger than several Northern Mountain Counties combined.

Nine large rivers flow through it, with turbulent waters.

As they say, living alongside the water.

Water, the source of life from the beginning.

Thus, at the end of the nine big rivers,

Lies an immensely vast Demon Beast Forest.

Within it, demonic beasts reign supreme.

In terms of danger, it far exceeds the Demon Beast Forest in the Eastern Desolate of Northern Mountain County.

The range is also much larger.

The nine big rivers meet here.

The strength and numbers of the demonic beasts are beyond imagination.

Nine River County stands in distant opposition to this forest.

Each year, it must resist the Beast Tide.

...

Xiao Yi arrived here and did not enter the city.

He casually found a cave outside the city to dwell in.

His injuries had not yet recovered.

He needed proper recuperation.

Additionally, he needed to ingest the large batch of Demon Beast Essence Blood to enhance his strength.

Five days later, using the Crane Form and Elixirs,

Xiao Yi's injuries finally healed.

He then began to ingest the Demon Beast Essence Blood.

In the Earth Element Realm, the body's strength,

The most effective Demon Beast Essence Blood should be of the Sixth-level and above.

Below the sixth level,

the effect of Level 5 Demonic Beast Essence Blood greatly diminishes.

And Essence Blood from a Fourth-level Demon Beast is completely useless.

After ingesting tens of thousands of bottles of Level 5 Demonic Beast Essence Blood,

His physical strength shot up by two stages.

Reaching the Earth Element Third Layer.

Downing three thousand bottles of Sixth-level Essence Blood,

His physical strength then rose another two stages,

Reaching the Earth Element Fifth Stage.

The swift advancement in his cultivation,

While seemingly terrifying,

In truth, it required an astronomical amount of Demon Beast Essence Blood.

Although the presence of the Ice Phoenix Sword had eliminated the berserk aura.

It was also because of the Ice Phoenix Sword,

That his regular Martial Arts Cultivation was repeatedly unable to break through to the Earth Origin Realm, staying stuck at the Mystic Breakthrough Ninth Layer.

This is the dual nature of the situation.

It can also be considered as the price to pay.

Of course, the enhancement of physical strength allowed him greater self-protection.

At least, now his ability to fend off the pursuits from Blood Mist Valley was growing stronger.

He knew that his recent killings of many Blood Mist Valley assassins,

Including an elder,

Would surely further enrage Blood Mist Valley.

The dangers he would face in the future would also increase.

"Earth Element Fifth Layer," Xiao Yi clenched his fist, feeling the immense power.

He then left the cave.

Heading toward the county seat of Nine River County, Nine River City.

Nine River County, with ten Demon Hunting Halls.

A Sub Hall Master presides over Nine River City.

Xiao Yi came here to submit his tasks.

He did not merely speed along his journey.

Along the way, he also took on some demon hunting tasks.

...

Inside the Demon Hunting Hall.

Xiao Yi took a glance around.

The layout and furnishings inside were not much different from those in the Demon Hunting Hall in Northern Mountain County.

He went to the Task Department.

Xiao Yi handed over his Token to the staff.

The staff took the token, looked at it, and a look of surprise flashed across his face.

"Huh, a Demon Hunter from Northern Mountain County?"

"That's quite far from Nine River County."

"Wow, and you're a Chief Steward too."

The staff member spoke without any respect for Xiao Yi.

It was as if he didn't see Xiao Yi, the Chief Steward, as significant.

The status as Chief Steward of the Demon Hunting Hall, or even a Sub Hall Master,

Is acknowledged worldwide.

Wherever Xiao Yi went to any Demon Hunting Hall, he would have the privileges of a Chief Steward.

Even dismissing some staff members and shifting the Law Enforcement Team.

"Well, you did complete quite a few demon hunting tasks," the staff member said.

"Your Task Points have been recorded, and your reward has been given as well."

Saying this, the staff member returned the token to Xiao Yi.

...

...

Second update.