Soul Hall Has a Group Chat Too? Ji Changqing Impersonates Protector Wu

"Is he dead already?"

Ji Changqing scanned the surroundings in disbelief, but he could not sense any trace of Protector Wu.

Only the savage spatial rifts were slowly healing.

And a pitch-black Storage Ring floated in the air.

Ji Changqing panted heavily, his face somewhat pale as waves of emptiness washed over him from the depleted Dou Qi within his body.

He circulated the Great Five Elements Derivation Heaven Art. This cultivation technique had been the novice reward he received when he had first awakened the system, and it could continuously evolve alongside his cultivation realm.

The technique, only a sliver away from Heaven Tier, plundered the surrounding Dou Qi energy with the tyrannical force of a whale swallowing and a tiger crouching. Ji Changqing's complexion gradually regained its color.

"Was he really that weak?"

Ji Changqing muttered with a frown.

This was nothing like what he had imagined.

In the scene he had envisioned, he and Protector Wu would battle for hundreds of rounds, both ending badly wounded before he narrowly claimed victory.

But... he had actually killed him in an instant?

"Don't tell me this is a trick!"

Ji Changqing summoned the Blazing Banner.

The golden Blazing Banner circled within the formation's range more than a dozen times.

Only then did it draw in a trace of soul power. It subsequently transformed into a transparent torrent that surged into Ji Changqing's body, making his soul slightly more robust.

"Protector Wu really is gone..."

"Hm? The Blazing Banner can even feed soul power back to me?"

"Then the Jia Lie Family before this... their soul power must have been too weak."

After confirming that Protector Wu had been reduced to ashes, Ji Changqing finally relaxed completely.

"The Storage Ring of a Soul Hall Protector."

He cautiously poured his soul power into the Storage Ring.

Other than a pile of junk, there was nothing else inside.

He casually tossed the Storage Ring into the System Inventory, retrieved the Formation Flags, and headed home.

A few minutes later, Ji Changqing returned to the courtyard.

Yun Yun's room was still dark, and steady breathing came from within. There were no signs that the formation at his door had been triggered, so he returned to his room at ease.

Lying in bed, Ji Changqing tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Although he had successfully killed Protector Wu and had not made any mistakes upon reviewing the battle.

If he had to score himself, he could give himself an eighty-two. He would keep the other eighteen out of fear that he might become too proud.

But killing Protector Wu had brought consequences that left Ji Changqing unable to eat or sleep in peace.

Protector Wu had come to the Jia Ma Empire.

His purpose was nothing more than to seize the Tuoshe Ancient Jade from the Xiao Family.

If Soul Hall's higher-ups discovered that they could no longer contact Protector Wu, they would definitely send more experts to the Jia Ma Empire.

And when they investigated and found that Protector Wu had vanished at the Misty Cloud Sect.

The trouble would be enormous.

Still, even so, Ji Changqing did not regret killing Protector Wu.

That idiot had interrupted his cautious survival, after all.

[Disturb my cautious survival, weigh it carefully; scatter your bones to ash, splatter your eggs' yolks]—Scripture of Cautionary Survival.

Buzz, buzz—

Buzz, buzz—

At that moment, Ji Changqing, lying on the bed, suddenly shuddered.

His expression shifted, and he hurriedly drew the continuously vibrating token from the System Inventory onto the table.

This token was an item from Protector Wu's Storage Ring. It was entirely black, neither metal nor wood. One side bore the character Wu, while the other was as smooth as a mirror.

At this moment, lines of tiny words were slowly appearing on the mirror-like side of the token.

[Protector Tie (Earth Tier): Captured the souls of one Fifth-grade Alchemist and three Fourth-grade Alchemists. This month's task has been completed.]

[Protector Liu (Human Tier): Protector Tie, amazing!]

[Protector Yuan (Heaven Tier): Captured the souls of three Fifth-grade Alchemists and seven Fourth-grade Alchemists. This month's task has been completed.]

[Protector Liu (Human Tier): Protector Yuan is freaking incredible!]

Ji Changqing: "?"

Ji Changqing was a little dazed.

If he had not seen it wrong...

Was this fucking a group chat?!

Did something like this exist in the original plot?!

And Soul Hall Protectors actually had KPIs for capturing souls?!

The winds of capitalism had reached the Dou Qi Continent!

Ji Changqing panicked.

Could someone tell him what he was supposed to do now that he had taken Protector Wu's token?!

Should he just ignore it and lie low?

The instant that thought crossed Ji Changqing's mind, the token began vibrating again.

[Venerable Qin Tian: Why is Protector Wu not speaking?]

[Protector Liu (Human Tier): Protector Wu, Venerable Elder is talking to you. Hurry up and reply!]

Ji Changqing: "..."

Qin Tian had appeared in the original plot.

He was one of Soul Hall's Venerable Elders and possessed the strength of a Three-star Dou Zun.

Xiao Yan had followed Yao Chen's soul imprint and encountered Qin Tian, who guarded Yao Chen's soul. Qin Tian had destroyed Xiao Yan's soul avatar with a single palm strike.

[Venerable Qin Tian: Could Protector Wu have met with an accident? If you still do not speak, I will assume something has happened to you. To prevent information from leaking, I will remove you from my team.]

[Venerable Qin Tian: Protector Yuan, go to the Jia Ma Empire and take over Protector Wu's assignment.]

Ji Changqing's brow twitched.

Protector Yuan, a Heaven Tier Protector?

He was definitely far stronger than Protector Wu!

He had just killed a wolf, and now a tiger was coming?

No, absolutely not!

Ji Changqing hurriedly picked up the token and tried writing on it, but it was completely useless.

Then he suddenly recalled how the Blazing Banner had fed Protector Wu's soul power back to him.

So Ji Changqing cautiously injected soul power into the token. With a thought, he sent out two words.

[Protector Wu (Earth Tier): I'm here.]

[Venerable Qin Tian: Good. It is good that you are fine. The Corpse Soul Mountain Range Branch Hall is in need of people right now.]

[Protector Liu (Human Tier): What a relief!]

Ji Changqing wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Remembering the reports the two Protectors had just made, he imitated them and casually sent a message.

[Protector Wu (Earth Tier): Captured the souls of one Fifth-grade Alchemist and two Fourth-grade Alchemists. This month's task has been completed.]

[Protector Liu (Human Tier): Protector Wu, amazing!]

[Protector Liu (Human Tier): I only collected the soul of one Fourth-grade Alchemist this month! Three senior Protectors, please look after your little brother!]

Protector Tie and Protector Yuan said nothing.

Ji Changqing figured that in an underworld organization like Soul Hall, every employee was surely gloomy and heartless.

Protector Liu was so talkative that he was probably a new employee whose humanity had not yet been completely extinguished.

Like fresh graduates entering the workforce, always brimming with energy at the beginning.

[Venerable Qin Tian: Protector Wu, how is the task I gave you progressing? Do you need me to send someone to assist you?]

At that moment, Ji Changqing's mind raced wildly.

The answer most in line with the path of cautious survival was definitely that he did not need help.

But upon careful consideration, that was not the case.

He could not actually go to the Xiao Family and seize the Tuoshe Ancient Jade.

That damned thing was entangled with far too much karma.

Ji Changqing would stay as far away from it as possible.

But if the task assigned to Protector Wu showed no progress for too long, Qin Tian sending other experts to the Jia Ma Empire would only be a matter of time.

By then, Protector Wu's death could no longer be concealed.

He would truly be left passive.

A trace of struggle flashed through Ji Changqing's eyes.

Why not...

Take the initiative into his own hands!

From this token group chat, he could roughly infer that each Soul Hall Venerable Elder had several Protectors under him, and their teams likely did not overlap with those of other Venerable Elders.

If he lured them over one by one and killed them all...

Wouldn't that solve everything?

"Damn Soul Hall, you forced my hand!"

To avoid being exposed and to continue lying low in peace, Ji Changqing had no choice but to take another risk.

He deliberated for a long while, took a deep breath, injected soul power into the token, and sent a message.

[Protector Wu (Earth Tier): Thank you for your consideration, Venerable Elder. Protector Yuan's task is demanding, so please trouble Protector Tie to make a trip to the Jia Ma Empire.]

When writing fanfiction, you still have to expand the plot a little to make it more interesting and fresh. But don't worry, dear readers, everything that needs to be written will be written.