Chapter 88: Split Mobilization

“Nether Battlefield, Soul Devouring Beast, Rank Three, Rank Four…”

Qin Lie, Gao Yu, and the others listened attentively to Liang Zhong’s explanation, and as it went on, they became paler and paler.

Tu Ze, Zhuo Qian, Na Nuo, Yan Ziqian, and Xiong Ba seemed to know a bit where the Soul Devouring Beast came from and had heard about Nether Battlefield’s situation before. When Liang Zhong was halfway through his explanation, their hearts already felt cold and their faces were ashen. They were much more frightened than Qin Lie and Gao Yu.

“Sister Qian, do you… know something about the Nether Battlefield and Soul Devouring Beast?” Qin Lie asked in a low voice.

After Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian had arrived, he had moved to Tu Ze’s side so that he was now beside Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian.

He knew that Zhuo Qian was born in Dark Asura Hall and grew up there as well. Because of that, he presumed that Zhuo Qian should know a bit about the Nether Battlefield and Dark Asura Hall.

As expected, Zhuo Qian nodded lightly, worry evident on her face. “There are many scattered small dimensions around Spirit Realm. In these small dimensions, there are many evil beings, powerful races, terrifying beasts, and even more terrifying monsters. Those dimensions are said to rely on the Spirit Realm to exist, so there are passages between them and the Spirit Realm. Those powerful and evil beings, the terrifying other races and beasts are always looking for an opportunity to invade Spirit Realm in order to acquire its vast lands.

“Nether Realm is a small dimension on the edge of Spirit Realm, and there are evil beings active there. The Nether Battlefield is the passage between us and Nether Realm. To stop the evil beings of Nether Realm from coming through, Dark Asura Hall, Seven Fiends Valley, other black iron forces such as Dark Shadow Tower will send people into the Nether Battlefield to try to kill the evil beings that come through the Nether Battlefield into Spirit Realm.

“The Nether Battlefield is the passage that connects Nether Realm and Spirit Realm. In past centuries, black iron forces like Dark Asura Hall, Seven Fiends Valley, and Dark Shadow Tower have sent countless martial practitioners there. Inside the Nether Battlefield, the conflict between martial practitioners and evil existences have never stopped. Many martial practitioners have died…

“Soul Devouring Beasts are supposedly the spirit beasts of Nether Realm. It is a very frightening spirit beast that possesses an ability that allows it to rapidly evolve. As long it has enough souls to eat, the Soul Devouring Beast can quickly break through and enter new levels.

“Rank Three Soul Devouring Beasts possess the power to divide their souls and form many soul fragments that can hunt everywhere. If one can destroy the main body and primary soul of the Rank Three Soul Devouring Beast, the Rank Three Soul Devouring Beast’s soul fragments would die as well, so Rank Three Soul Devouring Beasts are still easy to kill.

“Once the Soul Devouring Beast enters Rank Four, however, it has an even more frightening ability: its soul fragments do not die even if its main soul is destroyed! Rank Four Soul Devouring Beasts become just that much harder to defeat. Even if we kill its main soul and body, as long as even a single soul fragment escapes, the Soul Devouring Beast can still make a quick recovery by consuming more souls!

“Therefore, it is still relatively easy to kill Soul Devouring Beasts when they’re Rank Three, but when they reach Rank Four, killing it becomes many times more difficult!”

Zhuo Qian’s voice wasn’t loud in the beginning. When she found that Liang Zhong had stopped and motioned for her to narrate the situation, her voice gradually became louder.

This was so everyone else could hear more clearly and gain a better understanding of the terrors of the Nether Battlefield and the Soul Devouring Beast.

“Rank Three Soul Devouring Beasts are not as strong and cannot directly take the souls of spirit beasts and martial practitioners. They can only split their soul to roam and absorb the souls of martial practitioners and soul beasts that have died,” Liang Zhong added. “Once the Soul Devouring Beast breaks into rank four, it can directly take the souls of low level martial practitioners and spirit beasts. If martial practitioners in the Refinement Realm, the Natal Opening Realm, and spirit beasts that are rank one or two do not cultivate special arts or have spirit artifacts that specifically protect the soul, they cannot resist at all and their soul would be instantly absorbed, resulting in immediate death!”

Once the words came out, everyone’s expressions became increasingly ugly as the terror became more evident.

“Let’s talk about it this way.” Liang Zhong inhaled deeply and said with a strange expression, “If we wait for this Soul Devouring Beast to become Rank Four, when it enters Icestone City, Crimson Flame City, Water Moon City, these three cities would become dead cities in only a few days. All the martial practitioners and ordinary citizens would die from having their souls eaten!”

Tu Ze, Na Nuo, Xiong Ba, and the others felt their bodies freeze in fear the moment the heard this.

—They finally recognized the true horror of the Soul Devouring Beast.

“Fortunately, this Soul Devouring Beast has not reached Rank Four yet,” Liang Zhong added. “Our mission this time is to kill this Soul Devouring Beast. Right now, it is in the depths of the stone forest…”

Liang Zhong gave a simple explanation and ordered the four factions, under Tu Ze, Na Nuo, Xiong Ba, and Yan Ziqian, to cooperate to exterminate the spirit beasts in the surrounding area. The more they killed, they more pressure that they could take off the main group.

“We have set up a formation that can kill the Soul Devouring Beast where it is currently residing, but that caused the natural spirit energy of the world to become more abundant and has attracted many spirit beasts. This was something we did not expect. Now, we need to activate the formation as the Soul Devouring Beast is leveling up and use the formation to exterminate it when it is using all its power at the crucial moment of evolving into rank four.”

“The spirit beasts that have gathered there have blocked all the roads. We cannot waste too much energy on cleaning out the spirit beasts. Due to this, we need your aid to lead the spirit beasts away or kill them. In short, before we act, we need the number of spirit beasts in that area to be greatly reduced to create an opportunity for us to enter. This is so we do not need to expend great amount of effort on the spirit beasts in order to reach the Soul Devouring Beast.”

Liang Zhong outlined the situation clearly and then divided the labor among the four factions.

“Before entering, we do not have anything to do, so can we also go clear out some spirit beasts?” Qin Lie asked Liang Zhong.

Liang Zhong looked to Xie Jingxuan, and upon seeing her nod, he said, “You can.”

So Qin Lie and Gao Yu went with Tu Ze’s group to one of the places that the spirit beasts were gathering, following the martial practitioners of Dark Asura Hall for their extermination mission.

“Milady, should we help? If we help, the efficiency will be very high. Most of the young ones are in the Refinement Realm, and there aren’t many in the Natal Opening Realm. It will be very difficult for them to complete this mission,” Ban Hong asked.

Xie Jingxuan sighed lightly and said with a shake of her head, “I’ve been observing just now and have found that the Soul Devouring Beast can start its evolution at any moment. It may start in just a bit, no one can predict it. If you participate, you will waste spirit energy and physical power that cannot be recovered quickly.”

“When I begin the formation, I need you to protect me with all you have, so you all must be at your best conditions. If you waste your energy on the spirit beasts and the Soul Devouring Beast starts to break through right then, your power will not have recovered when I open the formation which means I will not be able to successfully activate the formation. This would cause this mission to fail.”

“Understood!” Ban Hong’s was ashamed. He nodded and then ordered his subordinates, “Sit and meditate to maintain your best condition. Prepare to fight to the death at any moment!”

……

“Zhuo Qian, you’ve lived for a while at Dark Asura Hall, do you anything about who that woman is?” Tu Ze suddenly asked on the way to the depths of the stone forest.

Qin Lie, Kang Zhi, and the others also looked at her.

“I don’t know.” Zhuo Qian shook her head. “The Department of Internal Affairs is the most mysterious organization within Dark Asura Hall. Even within Dark Asura Hall, there are not many that know the internal situation. When I was little, my father would scare me by saying that people from the Department of Internal Affairs were coming to arrest me. Internal Affairs… it is a place that even the martial practitioners of Dark Asura Hall would fear if they heard it, so not many dare to investigate what goes on inside.”

“That woman is really beautiful.” Kang Zhi’s chubby face had a smile that asked for a beating. “If I can marry her, it’s worth it even if I die.”

“Yes, yes. If I can marry this woman for a day, then it’s worth it for a lifetime,” Han Feng agreed.

“You might all die, but you definitely cannot touch that woman…” Zhuo Qian looked coldly at them. “Every person that has a high position in the Department of Internal Affairs has gone through cruel and bloody torture! The people or inhuman evil beings that woman have killed are possibly more than you have ever seen!

“Even the most average General of the Department of Internal Affairs would have stayed in the Nether Battlefield for more than two years. That Ban Hong is a small leader of the department, and even he calls her milady… I don’t know how many years she’s been fighting on the Nether Battlefield with those evil beings.”

Zhuo Qian snorted and said, “The next time you see her, keep your gazes clean. Be careful so that you aren’t randomly killed! The people of Internal Affairs can kill Generals of Dark Asura Hall without even needing a reason, much less you who are from a subordinate force.”

Kang Zhi, Han Feng, Chu Peng, and the others shuddered at her words and finally regained clarity.

“Qin Lie, you should also be careful of that woman, do not offend her for any reason. No matter what kind of reason she has for needing your aid, you need to treat it seriously. Do not make her unhappy.” Zhuo Qian turned her head and continued seriously, “Even if she was in a bad mood and kills you without a reason, Nebula Pavilion has no way to get justice for you.”

Qin Lie’s face shuddered lightly and said bitterly, “I know.”

At the side, Gao Yu’s eyes showed terror upon hearing this as he thought he finally recognized the terrifying nature of the Department of Internal Affairs.

“Awoo!”

The howl of a spirit beast suddenly came from the stone forest in front of them. The sour smell unique to spirit beasts also came.

“Roar!”

“Aooo!”

The different howls sounded out one after another. The frantic howling of Rank Two spirit beasts caused the expressions of Qin Lie, Tu Ze, and the others to greatly change.

“Just listening to the howls, there are at least six Rank Two spirit beasts. Are you kidding me, h-how can we clean them out?” Kang Zhi paled dramatically.

Everyone hurriedly stopped, their hearts afraid as they looked in terror at the direction the howls came from.