Journey to the Jia Ma Empire

Ding!

[Devouring]

A screen appeared before Xie Tianxiao's eyes.

As an electronic synthesized voice rang out, the sub-hall's vice hall master's body began to rapidly dissolve!

"Damn it, what's going on?!"

"Ah!"

...

[Ding, devouring complete!]

Host: Xie Tianxiao

Realm: Half-Saint (Intermediate)

Soul Realm: Spirit Realm, Early Stage (Self)

Devoured Heavenly Flame: Yin-Yang Twin Flame

Overall Strength: Half-Saint (Intermediate)

!

"System?"

"You're awake?!"

Seeing the data screen before him, Xie Tianxiao could not help widening his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

Ding!

[Because the host's soul power had not previously reached the Spirit Realm, the system remained dormant and could not display the host's various data.]

The system responded mechanically.

"No wonder the system was so weird before. Turns out my soul power wasn't enough."

Hearing this, Xie Tianxiao could not help cursing, though excitement appeared on his face.

"Then what abilities do you have, System?"

[This system is known as the Devouring System! The host can strengthen their soul power and physical cultivation through devouring special lifeforms, spiritual treasures of heaven and earth, and the like!]

"So powerful!"

Xie Tianxiao's eyes lit up, but he then asked doubtfully, "I know about spiritual treasures of heaven and earth—they're nothing more than things like Heavenly Flames and Heavenly Lightning.

"But what do you mean by special lifeforms? Things that are neither human nor ghost, like that Soul Hall fellow?"

Ding!

[Special lifeforms are beings whose soul, constitution, attributes, and other aspects have reached their limits. Soul Hall members, for example, possess extremely strong dark attributes, yet are not lifeforms entirely independent of the flesh.]

The system explained.

"So if I devour everyone in Soul Hall, wouldn't I become invincible?"

Xie Tianxiao's spirits soared.

Ding!

[Those being devoured must not be too weak and must meet the system's requirements. They must also be in a near-death state, or devouring cannot be carried out.]

"Got it. No wonder you didn't give me any prompts for those Soul Hall envoys I killed when I came in. They were too weak."

Xie Tianxiao nodded in understanding.

Simply put, the system could devour anyone who met its requirements, as well as spiritual treasures of heaven and earth such as Heavenly Flames and Heavenly Lightning, then convert them into improvements to his soul power and strength!

Naturally, the weaker the target, the less help devouring them would provide.

"Hmm, looking at it this way, the system is pretty good. It's just a pity that I devoured the previous owner's soul."

"Otherwise, judging by his soul power, it shouldn't have been this weak..."

"Still, devouring this vice hall master let me advance from the peak of the Mortal Realm to the Spirit Realm, and I also figured out the system's issue. That was an unexpected gain."

Xie Tianxiao did not feel much disappointment over his weak soul power, only a sense of emotion.

After all, being able to fuse with a Half-Saint expert was already quite good. He could not possibly ask for too much.

All he could say was that coming to this sub-hall had been the right choice.

"Alright, matters here are settled."

"After wasting so much time, it's time to set off for the Jia Ma Empire."

Xie Tianxiao quietly made up his mind and prepared to leave.

Originally, he had only wanted to pick up some cultivation resources before heading to the Jia Ma Empire to see how far the plot had progressed—whether Xiao Yan had broken off the engagement yet, and so on.

Who would have thought that Soul Hall's appearance and the system would keep him here for so long?

"Let me think. The Jia Ma Empire should be in that direction." Xie Tianxiao muttered.

He then calmed his mind. With a flash, he transformed into a streak of light and flew toward the horizon, vanishing beyond the skies in the blink of an eye.

At the border of the Jia Ma Empire.

On a plain not far from the Mulan Empire, several groups of soldiers were locked in battle. Blades, spears, swords, and halberds clashed without end, while screams rang out and blood splashed everywhere.

"Ah!"

With a miserable cry of pain, an armored knight was sent flying. A spear had pierced through his chest, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

Splat!

"Vice Captain!"

Seeing his comrade fall, another knight's eyes immediately turned red.

"Don't be afraid, brothers! We're here!"

At that moment, a young border commander of the Jia Ma Empire roared from the distance.

"High-tier Yellow Class Dou Technique, Mountain-Cleaving Palm!"

He struck a Mulan Empire soldier in the chest with his palm. With a thunderous boom, the soldier's chest exploded, sending him flying.

"Charge! Follow me and reinforce our brothers!"

Immediately afterward, more than a hundred soldiers in yellow armor, armed with longbows and sharp blades, charged into the crowd behind them and joined the slaughter.

At that moment, more than a hundred Mulan Empire soldiers looked at the people rushing toward them from afar. One of them shouted, "Retreat! Jia Ma Empire reinforcements have arrived! If we keep fighting, we'll only throw our lives away for nothing!"

"What?!"

All the soldiers were shocked upon hearing this. If they continued fighting, death would be their only end.

Thus, without the slightest hesitation, they turned and fled back the way they had come.

In an instant, their morale collapsed and their formation crumbled.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At this moment, two figures with Dou Qi wings—one yellow and one green—swept across the sky and slowly descended onto the battlefield.

The two figures stood ten meters apart, one on the left and one on the right. One was an old man of around seventy or eighty, dressed in a coarse robe.

The other was a woman in her twenties. A plain green dress wrapped around her voluptuous, delicate figure, and she held a longsword glowing with green light. Her dark green hair was arranged into a noble phoenix-style coiffure.

The two maintained their distance, both watching the battlefield.

"Wind's Extremity: Sunset Radiance!"

The woman in the plain dress suddenly swung her sword. Streaks of sword light formed from green Dou Qi arrived in an instant, shooting toward the Mulan Empire soldiers fleeing in all directions below.

Splat, splat.

After several successive sounds, squads of Luoyan Empire soldiers were struck down and killed.

The sight immediately stunned the remaining Jia Ma Empire soldiers on the battlefield.

But when they saw the enormous pair of wings behind the attacker, they all came to their senses and bowed their heads. "Thank you for your aid, Your Majesty the Dou Emperor!"

"Rise. There is no need for such ceremony."

The woman in the plain dress smiled.

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Dou Emperor!"

The Jia Ma Empire soldiers rose to their feet, their eyes filled with deep reverence.

"Look, look! A Dou Emperor expert smiled at me."

"Wow, I actually got to see a Dou Emperor expert! I can brag about this for the rest of my life!"

"Yeah, yeah—and there are two Dou Emperors!"

A Dou Emperor was an absolute powerhouse in the Jia Ma Empire. In a remote borderland like this, Dou Emperors were practically gods in the hearts of these soldiers—beings they could only ever look up to!

Now that they had personally witnessed a Dou Emperor come to their aid, how could they not be excited?

"Sect Master Yun, impressive indeed. The power of this Sunset Radiance is far greater than before."

The old man in coarse robes smiled as he spoke to the woman in the plain dress beside him.

"Not at all. Elder Jia is flattering me."

The woman in the plain dress gave a radiant smile, then looked into the distance. "For some reason, the Mulan Empire's attacks on our Jia Ma Empire border have become increasingly frequent lately. Even many small cities have seen Mulan Empire people emerge within them."

"Mm. They have come with ill intent."

The old man in coarse robes nodded slightly before saying, "Besides our Jia Ma Empire, I have also learned that the Chuyun Empire, as well as several nearby nations without Dou Zong experts, have suffered attacks and infiltrations from the Mulan Empire."

"So serious?"

"Could they have some backing?"

The woman's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and she looked somewhat puzzled.

The old man in coarse robes shook his head. "I don't know either. But judging by the Mulan Empire's actions these past few days, they seem to be urgently searching for something."

Something?

Hearing this, the woman's beautiful brows knitted slightly. "That really is strange."