Soul power: Second Rank Late Stage

"Something's wrong. Something's wrong with this corpse!"

The moment a company commander touched the old man's corpse, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and he quickly felt different parts of the old man's body.

"What's wrong?"

Tie Jun asked.

"My lord, look." The company commander lifted the old man and shook him hard from side to side twice. "This corpse clearly has only one fatal wound, in the heart, yet his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and all four limbs have been ruined."

They saw it then.

As the company commander shook him, the old man's corpse swayed from side to side. His arms and thighs were limp, and his facial organs, arms, and thighs had already taken on a dull gray color.

This detail:

Made the many Demon Suppression Guards present frown deeply. They had seen these gray patches before; they only formed after damage to the soul. That made the battle just now rather intriguing. The most likely possibility:

It was not that Chu He had killed the old man with a surprise attack using the Dragon Elephant Earth-Suppressing Art, but that he had slowly tortured him with soul power before finally killing him with a single slash of his Demon-Suppressing Saber.

"I remember!" A squad leader slapped his thigh and quickly said, "The last time I went to the Technique Repository at Yun Province headquarters, I saw a cultivation art that primarily attacked the soul. Could Chu He have cultivated that?"

"Take the corpse back first."

Tie Jun waved a hand and said, "Whatever it was, as long as Chu He followed procedure throughout, it's fine."

"Yes!"

The Demon Suppression Guards answered.

This was the rule of the Demon Suppression Guards. Everyone might have some hidden means; as long as they did not violate the rules, it did not matter.

If they truly insisted on digging to the roots, there were even people among the Demon Suppression Guards who cultivated sinister arts and secret techniques. In the words of the Demon Suppression Bureau's founder:

Cultivation arts were neither good nor evil; only the user's heart was!

Of course!

Arts that required slaughtering large numbers of living beings or violated the harmony of heaven were absolutely forbidden by the Demon Suppression Bureau.

The Chu residence, Green Mountain Commandery!

Chu He let the five still-bewildered men, Lu Feng among them, do as they pleased, while he headed toward his own cultivation room!

On the way!

Chu Nan was coming out of the study with a cultivation manual. Upon seeing Chu He, he instinctively moved to hide it, but a moment later, he held it openly in his hand instead. "Brother, you're back. Did everything go smoothly?"

"It was just a little demon. I killed it with a casual stroke. Don't be impatient with your cultivation. Take it step by step."

Chu He glanced at the book in Chu Nan's hand and said, "Unless a method leaves no lasting harm, don't try it. Give me a year, and I'll definitely restore your arm."

"There's no need to rush, Big Brother. I've long since gotten used to it." Chu Nan waved his left arm. "Books say using your left arm often helps develop your brain. Since I'm so smart, this counts as a blessing in disguise."

Chu Nan smiled. "Big Brother, go about your business. I'll head back to sleep."

With that,

He walked toward his quarters. As he passed a servant carrying something with both hands, a trace of longing flashed deep in his eyes, vanishing in an instant.

"It's only been one night, yet your brother has grown so much stronger again. If there weren't no trace of evil demon Qi inside him, I'd suspect he was an evil demon in disguise."

Elder Meng's voice rang through Chu Nan's mind.

His tone was filled with shock. Clearly, he was astounded that Chu He's strength could improve so greatly in a single night.

"Don't be surprised. My brother has never been someone you can judge by common sense."

A trace of admiration flashed in Chu Nan's eyes.

Elder Meng: "Tell me."

Chu Nan: "When we first came to Green Mountain Commandery, my brother and I had no one to turn to and not a coin to our names. We fought dogs for food to stay alive. Back then, I thought that was how the rest of our lives would be.

"But in just three years, my brother established the Chu family in Green Mountain Commandery, with immense wealth and hundreds of servants. At the time, he was only thirteen. Even then, he wasn't satisfied. He said the environment was limiting his development."

Elder Meng: "..."

Good grief, your brother really knows how to show off. Still, from this brief account, he had gained a glimpse of Chu He's prowess.

Building such a vast family fortune in a commandery city at thirteen was far from as simple as one might imagine. He could be called a legend of his generation!

After all:

This was not modern society. Here, there were martial artists who could pluck stars and seize the moon at the top, and martial-world practitioners below them. For a child with no one to turn to, holding on to immense wealth was far too difficult.

Elder Meng: "Would you mind telling me how you lost your arm? I've asked several times, but you never say."

Chu Nan: "For the person dearest to me, I traded an arm for a life. No regrets."

Chu He watched Chu Nan walk away and thought, Don't worry. I'll definitely restore your arm, even if I have to slaughter gods and slay Buddhas.

Then,

He strode into the cultivation room and took off his outer clothes:

Fine cracks appeared across his chest, spreading upward little by little, though not quickly.

Even after breaking through to the Second Rank Early Stage, his physical strength still could not accommodate his rapidly growing soul.

"At its current rate of growth, my body can only hold out for another month at most. I can't slow down my breakthroughs."

Chu He muttered.

As his cultivation increased, he could clearly sense the rate at which his soul strengthened, and could also calculate the limit of what his body could withstand.

"Still, though this was a little risky, the gains were decent. Not only did my cultivation break through to the Second Rank Early Stage, but my soul combat methods have reached a new level again."

Chu He extended one hand. A copper coin spun above it. Each time it swept past, it was not only fast and highly concealed, but also carried a trace of a special power: soul power.

At the same time!

He looked at the attribute panel, which had just undergone a slight change:

Name: Chu He

Position: Demon Suppression Bureau squad leader

Cultivation: Second Rank Early Stage

Soul: Second Rank Late Stage.

Martial arts: Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Art, second layer early stage (upgradable), Nine Netherworld Controls (major perfection), Thunder Saber (major perfection)

Weapons: Demon-Suppressing Saber, one copper coin

Demon points: 10

"There's an extra soul entry. Presumably, it means my current soul strength is comparable to the Second Rank Late Stage, two stages above my cultivation."

Chu He frowned slightly at the newly added soul field.

He knew why his body could not accommodate his soul: his soul far exceeded his body's strength.

One had to understand.

Because of the soul's special nature, many martial artists' souls were considerably below their cultivation. For martial artists at the Second Rank Early Stage, most souls were only at the late first grade, and even the mid first grade was normal.

It could be said:

Chu He's soul power was stronger than that of most middle third grade martial artists. Moreover, it possessed powerful offensive capabilities, allowing him to unleash far greater strength with his soul power than martial artists could.

However, using soul power frequently would accelerate its growth. Thus, unless he had absolutely no other choice, Chu He rarely used his soul power at high intensity.

Shaking his head,

Chu He stopped thinking about this and looked at his demon points instead:

"Only ten left. Following the normal logic, breaking through to the Second Rank Middle Stage should require ninety-six demon points."

"And killing a Second Rank Middle Stage demon would give fifty points. No, that's not right. Now that I've broken through to the Second Rank Early Stage, the demon point rewards will decrease. Getting those ninety-six demon points might require quite a few demons."

Chu He's mind raced, and finally, he muttered:

"Looks like I still need to kill higher-level demons above my rank. Only fighting bosses will let me level up quickly."