Chapter 31: The Demonic Soul Avatar and the Left Turn Sign

He attempted to move his fingers, only to find his body remained immobile.

‘It appears to be a form of psychic outburst.’

Su Qin fell into contemplation, his gaze rising to the faint, ethereal gray orb in the sky that emanated an immense psychic pressure.

A flicker of enlightenment crossed his eyes as he instantly grasped its nature.

‘So that’s it. This is an array designed to forge a demonic soul avatar.’

Under the Blood Demon’s scrutiny, countless souls were pulverized by an immense force, refined, and drawn upwards, all for the explicit purpose of forging a demonic soul avatar.

He now roughly understood the array’s principle.

The continuous grinding of souls into raw spiritual essence would then be absorbed by living cultivators, amplifying their emotions and subtly instigating further slaughter.

Once the number of souls reached a critical mass, the array would begin to extract and condense their spiritual vigor to refine a demonic soul avatar of the Soul Transformation stage.

Such highly concentrated soul energy would cause the souls of the remaining cultivators within the array to undergo a temporary leap in power.

It was seemingly under these very conditions that Gao Pei and Qi He realized the inherent danger and meticulously set this trap.

Indeed, the peril was profound; Su Qin felt the sharp sword intent at his back and the eerie malevolent energy before him, realizing it was truly capable of threatening his life.

His sole objective for the night was to eliminate the enemies without revealing his true identity.

Had he adhered to his original plan, Su Qin would have found this task nearly impossible, likely failing to manage the aftermath and consequently being besieged by cultivators.

To attempt to complete the mission under such an assault would have been nothing short of a fool’s errand.

Now, however, circumstances had shifted; with Chu Lingge’s assistance, and her promise to handle the public relations fallout, he was free to act without restraint.

Moreover, he had detected something amiss even before the two of them made their move.

From their bodies, the Blood Demon Spirit Body had not detected the pungent spice of rage, nor the bitter taste of fear, but rather the stale scent of a conspiracy.

He had been prepared all along. A flash of crimson light gleamed in the Blood Demon’s eyes.

In the next moment, the blood-red eyes, almost entirely covering the ground, flared to life, fully demonstrating another advantage of the Blood Dao’s beast taming — its astonishing rate of propagation.

The Immortal Slaying Array could not completely digest all matter; with such an abundance of flesh and blood, coupled with the prepared soul materials, and the simple structure of blood beasts, Su Qin could clone them in massive quantities.

Each blood beast served as a rune, and as the crimson light pulsed, a formidable array slowly materialized, setting off shrill alarms in the hearts of Qi He and Gao Pei.

“It is too late; you can no longer escape.”

A pillar of light, almost tangible in its intensity, descended from the heavens like a divine punishment, engulfing both their forms.

Gao Pei’s withered, yellowed eyes widened in shock; this familiar aura, it was unmistakable, precisely the same as the one that had abducted Qi Shuyue that day.

‘It’s Su Qin! From beginning to end, all of this—it was Su Qin’s doing!’

Qi He spat out a mouthful of blood, channeling all his remaining spiritual energy into his sword, causing the Clear River Sword to burst forth with brilliant light as it shot towards Su Qin.

Gao Pei’s face contorted with ferocity, his body radiating a ghastly white flame, forcefully amplifying the killing array at the cost of burning his soul and cultivation, seemingly tilting the situation back in their favor.

Yet, it was merely an illusion; no ripple of emotion stirred in Su Qin’s eyes.

He tilted his head slightly, and the Clear River Sword grazed his shoulder before flying off, embedding itself into the rock, as the demon’s cracked flesh rapidly regenerated.

Under the direct moonlight, the Blood Demon was an almost invincible entity.

Su Qin calmly watched as the green malevolent energy surged towards him from the front; the white mask suddenly emitted a dazzling glow, squarely bearing the brunt of the attack.

Though the mask shattered, he remained entirely unharmed.

This was the turning point brought by Chu Lingge, and with her assistance, he had truly gained an overwhelming advantage this night.

The demon stood silently, its awe-inspiring, demonic countenance radiating an indescribable majesty.

Elder Gao and Qi He were already half-dead from the impact, their clothes tattered, bodies scorched, and their spiritual energy completely dispersed.

‘It’s useless. The Blood Demon Spirit Body is almost the strongest demonic physique, practically invincible.’

‘While a few other demonic physiques might slightly surpass his, combined with an assassin playstyle and mastery of combat, he could easily beat the others into submission.’

“Cough, cough…”

Elder Gao was now exhaling more than inhaling, only his murky eyes remained wide and round, as if intent on tearing Su Qin to shreds.

“Su Qin! What cruel methods you wield! What enmity do I bear with you that you would slaughter my Bone Painting Hall and conspire to trap me?”

“You and I are both elders of the Demonic Sword Sect. Why do you disregard sect laws and butcher your fellow disciples?”

Su Qin’s expression remained unchanged, tinged with a hint of exasperation.

‘Now that you know you can’t win, you resort to reason. Why did you not speak of reason when you held the advantage?’

‘Moreover, from the very beginning, wasn’t it you who first sought to destroy Silver Blossom Hall?’

The conference manipulated public opinion, incited Su Qin to enter the Soul Refining Furnace, and upon learning of Su Qin’s plan, ambushed him with a killing array.

Every move, from start to finish, had been designed to kill Su Qin and carve up Silver Blossom Hall.

Now, they dared to question Su Qin.

Su Qin remained silent, his expression utterly calm, which only further agitated Elder Gao.

Within this grand array, even the slightest thought of fear would instantly cause one to lose all will to fight.

‘Hesitation leads to defeat, while a direct confrontation is merely throwing one’s life away.’

Gao Pei’s Dao heart shattered, and this decrepit old man lost every shred of his dignity, weeping uncontrollably.

However, crying still consumed time.

In Su Qin’s hand, the spiritual wood slowly transformed, its tip coiling and hardening into the shape of a circular disk.

The Blood Demon’s exclusive weapon: the Left Turn Sign.

With each step Su Qin took, he dragged the plank, resembling a road sign, across the rocky ground, and with every scrape, Gao Pei trembled uncontrollably.

Finally, the wooden sign sharpened, and the demon raised it high with both hands.

“Su Qin! How dare you!”

With no emotion in his eyes, the demon brought down a heavy slash, and the old man’s head rolled a dozen meters away.

But he did not continue his assault; instead, he listened intently, detecting no heartbeat, no spiritual energy fluctuations, nor any ripple of a soul.

‘Gao Pei, he must be truly dead.’

Su Qin continued to wield his blade, pulverizing the old man’s withered body into fragments, then commanded his blood beasts to incinerate the remains, scattering the ashes to the wind.

‘It wasn’t that Su Qin was cruel, but rather that the unspoken continuation of “leaving a thread of possibility for future encounters” was “if no thread is left, then let us never meet again, even in death.”‘

‘Many demonic cultivators possess unheard-of life-saving techniques, just like Su Qin’s Blood Corpse Wanderer from the Blood Dao.’

‘Who knew if the Bone Dao wouldn’t conjure some Bone Painting Corpse (TL Note: A hypothetical type of corpse puppet similar to the Blood Corpse Wanderer) or something similar, only for it to feign death and then ambush Su Qin.’

Next, it was Qi He’s turn.

Su Qin slowly approached Qi He, who, lacking Gao Pei’s bone arts, had every muscle and bone in his body fractured, making even standing a struggle.

The demon raised the wooden sign high with both hands, when suddenly, a somewhat chaotic voice echoed through the valley.

“Qi He, as a sect master, why are you in such a pathetic state?”

Su Qin flipped and leapt away, crouching low, dropping the road sign, and warily scanning his surroundings.

Almost simultaneously, he released his divine sense to investigate, but found nothing, causing Su Qin’s heart to sink.

‘Damn it. He knew there might be a second phase tonight, and the opponent’s cultivation was clearly above his!’