Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 606 True Demon

This time, the group did not seek out gathering places of True Demons, but instead focused on hunting scattered ones. Each of these True Demons had wings, and their speed was more than ten times that of the lower-ranked demons. After clashing with them, the group gained a rough understanding of the True Demons’ strength.

The three disciples from the Wuji Immortal Palace, leveraging their strength at the fourth layer of the Martial Emperor Realm and a slight comprehension of Attribute Energy, could each kill a True Demon in single combat. However, they would struggle against two, being reduced to passive defense. If they faced three at once, death would be the only outcome. Xiao Xiao now displayed strength at the third layer of the Martial Emperor Realm. With her ten-star Vermilion Bird Holy Soul, her combat power was even greater than that of the three disciples. However, Ye Qingchen could tell that she had yet to reveal her full strength.

Ye Qingchen approved of Xiao Xiao’s approach. After all, knowing when to hide one’s capabilities and bide one’s time was a wise strategy for self-preservation for any Martial Artist. Even though Xiao Xiao was the team leader, with Ye Qingchen present, there was no need for her to reveal her trump cards prematurely.

After assessing their collective strength, Ye Qingchen and his companions concluded that hunting scattered True Demons on the periphery of the battlefield’s second layer was too inefficient. It would be better to venture deeper and find smaller True Demon nests, which would significantly increase the speed at which they could acquire points. Ye Qingchen’s proposal was quickly agreed upon. He was now unquestionably the strongest member of the team, and since his intentions were clearly for everyone’s benefit, no one objected.

In fact, beyond accumulating points more quickly, Ye Qingchen had another motive for venturing deeper into the battlefield. Zhang Guangling had been gone for quite some time. If the Saint Heir had arranged for experts to be here, they should have already joined forces by now. Yet, there had been no move from Zhang Guangling, which suggested two possibilities. The first was that Zhang Guangling was wary of the Wuji Immortal Palace disciples and didn’t want to attack Ye Qingchen in front of them. The second was that the battlefield’s outer ring had too many people and prying eyes, making the Saint Heir hesitant to order Ye Qingchen’s assassination there. After some analysis, Ye Qingchen concluded that regardless of the reason, they had to venture deeper into the battlefield to lure their enemies out.

The group hunted True Demons as they made their way deeper. Ye Qingchen had already activated his Dual Pupil Martial Soul to observe his surroundings, and he communicated with the atmospheric Spiritual Energy, hoping to detect any abnormalities. He wanted to find a suitable spot to accumulate points while waiting for Zhang Guangling to appear.

After about three days of searching, the group finally found a True Demon gathering place. From Ye Qingchen’s observations, there were fewer than a hundred True Demons present. Furthermore, they were spread far apart, making a scenario where they could be surrounded, like on the first layer, unlikely.

Regardless, Ye Qingchen wasn’t taking any chances. He instructed the others to wait ten miles away while he went ahead alone to draw the True Demons’ attention. The rest of the group highly approved of this tactic. Given the ferocity of the True Demons, only someone as formidable as Ye Qingchen would dare to venture so deep among them. Although Ye Qingchen wouldn’t be killing them himself, his contribution was undeniably the greatest.

Ye Qingchen flew alone to the outskirts of the True Demon gathering place and then descended. After all, with wings on their backs, True Demons were capable of flight. If he tried to lure them while hovering in the air as he had on the first layer, he would just become a target for them all.

He cautiously approached the gathering place and had not gone far before he sensed the presence of two True Demons. These True Demons had somewhat larger wings compared to the Demon Clan expert who had forced the Wuji Immortal Palace’s Saint Heir to abandon his companions and flee. This stirred some doubt in Ye Qingchen’s mind.

With his current perception, Ye Qingchen could tell that the Saint Heir’s strength had only reached the third layer of the Martial Emperor Realm during the sect’s newcomer competition, and he had not yet grasped Attribute Energy. The Demon Clan expert who defeated him had wings much smaller than these True Demons, which implied his strength should have been inferior. Yet, that expert had easily defeated the Saint Heir. Logically, since the current Wuji Immortal Palace disciples could slay True Demons, the Saint Heir’s strength should have been far greater than theirs. How could there be such a vast difference? The only explanation was that the Demon Clan expert who defeated the Saint Heir was actually stronger than these True Demons. This aligned with his experience on the first layer of the battlefield, where he had encountered lower-ranked demons that had not yet grown wings. Their combat power was only equivalent to that of a cultivator in the lower levels of the Martial Emperor Realm.

It seems I still don’t know enough about this Demon Clan. When I have time, I need to go to the Demon-Hiding Pavilion and trade for some intelligence on them. It’ll be a great help for earning points more quickly in the future.

Despite being lost in thought, Ye Qingchen’s hands moved rapidly, launching an attack that struck one of the True Demons.

True Demons were far more intelligent than the lower-ranked ones. While the latter only knew how to slaughter indiscriminately, True Demons were much more cautious. Despite being hit, the True Demon did not strike back directly. Instead, it let out a piercing shriek, seemingly relaying a message to its nearby companions. The other True Demon radiated Demonic Qi, ready to attack Ye Qingchen at any moment.

Uncertain of the True Demons’ habits, Ye Qingchen feared their signals might attract all the True Demons in the gathering place. That would be difficult to handle. With that in mind, he continued to attack both of them. This time, the two True Demons worked together to block his assault. At the same time, he sensed several more True Demon auras rushing toward his position.

Ye Qingchen did not dare to linger. He turned and ran back the way he came. The two True Demons behind him, thinking he was fleeing in fear, had no intention of letting him escape. They shrieked piercingly while flapping their massive wings in pursuit. During the chase, several more True Demons appeared and joined the pursuit.