Another breakthrough, Second Rank Middle Stage

Then!

Chu He stamped his foot!

An invisible ripple emerged beneath his foot. It was his soul power. Recently, his powerful soul power had allowed him to devise quite a few means of attack, all impossible to guard against.

At this!

Even Chu He was somewhat amazed.

After all:

Throughout the entire Great Qian Empire, there were very few methods for cultivating the soul.

Those in circulation had little offensive power. Even the Demon Suppression Bureau possessed only a handful, none particularly powerful.

Because!

Martial artists were born with weak souls, often several levels below their martial cultivation. In other words, if a Second Rank martial artist could easily crush a First Rank martial artist to death, why bother laboriously attacking with a First Rank soul?

But Chu He!

Had easily comprehended many offensive and support secret arts. He suspected this had something to do with that unknown soul. Of course, it also had to do with his excellent talent, outstanding comprehension, handsome looks...

"Ah..."

The innocent-looking girl, who had been kneeling on the ground questioning him, felt an unbearable stabbing pain deep in her soul. She collapsed onto the ground, screaming wildly.

"Being a naive little sweetheart is fine, but nobody else is obliged to indulge you." Chu He turned and said coldly, "Consider this a lesson from your company commander. No need to thank me."

With that!

His figure vanished into the alley.

Seeing Chu He leave, everyone hurried forward and asked with concern:

"Junior sister, what's wrong...?"

"Junior sister, are you all right?"

Only after ten full breaths.

Did the innocent-looking girl feel the pain in her soul disappear. By then, she was drenched in fragrant sweat, but she paid it no heed and abruptly turned to look at Uncle Lan.

However.

Uncle Lan was already beyond the troubles of the mortal world.

"Was I really wrong?"

The innocent-looking girl sat dejectedly on the ground. Her name was Meng Chuan. Her parents and family had cherished and protected her since childhood. She had a very good disposition, never arrogant or overbearing, and was very reasonable in everything she did.

She had spent the first dozen or so years of her life happily. Yet everything that happened today had completely overturned her outlook on life.

She had been hunted down while robbing the rich to help the poor!

After being rescued, she had been robbed and insulted!

Demons had attacked before the tournament even ended!

After finally being rescued again, the steward who had accompanied her had died.

At the same time.

She had also been taught a harsh lesson!

Now!

She felt the outside world was too cruel and only wanted to go home.

In truth!

With her personality, she would have been very popular in a peaceful age. Unfortunately, this was a fantasy world.

Demons roamed everywhere, and wars never ceased. Who would give their treasures away to save someone else's life? Watching someone die without helping was perfectly normal.

If anyone was to blame!

They could only blame themselves for being too weak.

Only the strong could control their own destinies. Everyone else could only be shackled by the world's rules.

Elsewhere.

Bang!

Chu He crushed the head of a severely wounded Second Rank Peak Stage demon beneath his foot. The system's voice rang in his ears again:

"Ding! Congratulations, host, on slaying a Second Rank Peak Stage demon. Your skill at ambushes and picking up scraps keeps improving. Keep up the good work. Demon Points obtained: fifty. Current total Demon Points: two hundred and twenty."

"System, add points to the Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Art."

"Ding! Points successfully added. Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Art upgraded to the middle level of the Second Rank. Two hundred Demon Points consumed."

Boom...

As the system's voice faded.

Chu He's presence surged violently. He instantly broke through to the Second Rank Middle Stage, and his status panel refreshed again:

Name: Chu He

Position: Demon Suppression Bureau company commander

Cultivation: Second Rank Middle Stage

Soul: Second Rank Peak Stage

Martial arts: Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Art, second level, middle stage (upgradeable), Nine Netherworld Controls (great perfection), Thunder Saber (great perfection)

Skills: Pupil of Illusion Breaking, Soul Drill

Weapons: Demon-Suppressing Saber, one copper coin

Demon Points: 10

Nothing else had changed. Only his soul power had advanced another stage along with his breakthrough, and a skills category had appeared.

It looks like the system places great importance on the soul. Otherwise, it wouldn't list it separately. That makes sense. As my soul grows stronger, my skills will strengthen along with it, perhaps even surpassing the Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Art.

Chu He thought to himself.

In the future!

His true killing move might very well come from the soul.

And!

That would be extremely difficult to guard against!

Shaking his head.

Chu He stopped dwelling on it. His figure flashed as he sped toward another distant location where he sensed a Second Rank Peak Stage demon.

A hundred breaths later.

Chu He stood coldly on a rooftop, one foot planted over a humanoid corpse lying peacefully beneath him.

"Only twenty points? That's a drop of more than half in one go. Breaking through to the Second Rank Late Stage requires four hundred Demon Points. I'll need to kill at least twenty Second Rank Peak Stage demons."

Chu He frowned slightly.

It was not that he lacked the strength. For him now, killing twenty Second Rank Peak Stage demons was merely a matter of time.

In fact!

He did not even need to look for severely wounded ones anymore. As long as one was alone, he could easily kill it with a sneak attack. But that required time.

However.

Time was precisely what he lacked most!

Nine Nether Town was in chaos, with demons rampaging everywhere. Six Demon Suppression Bureau camps were stationed here, and the Heavenly Origin Sect was here as well. None of them were simple, and they very likely all had grand plans.

Once!

Their plans were put into action, no matter which side won, there would never again be such a good opportunity!

So!

He had to seize this opportunity and strive to earn enough Demon Points for the Second Rank. To do that, he had to kill Third Rank demons.

At this thought!

Chu He looked around.

To the east were the six Demon Suppression camps. Endless thunderous crashes and bursts of light erupted from that direction. Clearly, brutal fighting was underway.

Going there would obviously be unwise.

To the west was the Heavenly Origin Sect's encampment. He had just shown off over there, too. Going back now could easily get him surrounded and attacked.

The south was unusually quiet. He might well find nothing there, and he had no time to investigate. That left only the north.

Over there!

Near the city gate, some people from the sects attending the tournament would likely be trying to escape. There should be no shortage of demons, either.

At the same time!

The true elites had long since been trapped by the demons. Those who could flee to the city gate would not be particularly strong, so there certainly would not be many Third Rank demons there. Most likely, there would only be one or two, just right for him to pick up... kill.

At the city gate!

At that moment!

Several hundred sect disciples were charging desperately outward. Most had not entered the ranks, and there was only one Third Rank martial artist among them.

Blocking their path were two full-fledged Third Rank demons, both wolf demons with particularly fierce combat prowess.

"Sect Master Zhang is holding off two wolf demons alone. There's no way he can last much longer. We need to think of something else."

"Right. We can't break through like this. We have to deal with those two wolf demons."

As it turned out!

Although the sole Third Rank martial artist was holding off the two Third Rank demons, he could not keep them completely occupied.

One of the Third Rank demons was blocking the city gate, whether intentionally or not. Together with the other demons obstructing them, it left them unable to fight their way out.

"In that case, stop holding back, everyone! Use whatever life-saving measures you have, or we can all wait to die here together."

The young man shouted again.

Hearing this, the others nodded as well. They pulled all sorts of secret treasures from their robes and waited for an opening to throw them at the Third Rank demons.

At that moment!

Atop a tall building beside the city gate!

Chu He stood with saber in hand, calmly watching the slaughter below. "Keep killing. It needs to get a little fiercer."