Supreme Swordsman of the Nine Heavens

Chapter 976

Soul Style Scheme

While Mu Yu did not know where his brothers were and was worried for them, Zhang Gan could not appreciate a brother who trusted him. Mu Yu chose to interfere for he saw through Zhang Gan’s deception the entire time; Zhang Gan’s smiles were not the smiles of a senior brother taking care of his junior brother. On the other hand, Wen Li could be seen genuinely respecting his senior.

In spite of Mu Yu and his brothers’ paths diverging, they always had each other’s backs. Xiang Nan protected his family. Lie Shang never abandoned him and cleaned up after him. Cheng Yan ensured there was always a home for them to return to. Sure, they would bicker, but they would agree to disagree. Never did any of them even think of sticking a knife in the other. That was why Zhang Gan struck the wrong nerve.

“Have a candied haw to cool down,” offered Xiaoshuai, albeit Mu Yu just giving Xiaoshuai a head scrub. “Relax. This happens every day, everywhere. You can’t save all of them.”

“I didn’t want to save him since I don’t have any desire to save cultivators. It’s just that I couldn’t help it when I thought about what I would do if he was my brother.”

Wen Li came back looking haggard. “Thank you for saving me.”

Mu Yu saw Gan Zhang limping away, indicating Wen Li spared his senior brother, so Mu Yu let it be.

“No need to thank me.”

“Might I be able to ask for your name?”

“That’s not important. Explain to me what soul points are.”

Wen Li jolted straight up. “You do not know what they are?”

“Why would we ask if we knew?” Xiaoshuai blasted.

“Y-yes, you are right. I do apologise. Soul points are a system Ultimate Immortals Hall created to encourage us to slay elemental demons. In a nutshell, it is a formation that will display a number on our palm whenever we kill an elemental demon.” Wen Li showed the number in the white ring in his right palm, the white clearly being soul energy. “This is the soul point tracker. The more one kills, the more soul points they accumulate. Slaying a Yellow Level elemental demon earns us one point. Slaying a Black Level elemental demon earns us five points. Slaying an Earth Level elemental demon earns us fifty, while slaying a Heaven Level earns us five hundred soul points. Soul points can be exchanged for an assortment of items from Ultimate Immortals Hall.

“According to my senior brother, the point system works similarly between humans. The eight great sects have admitted it to be a flaw in the system and forbade it, promising to punish those who break the rule. However, my senior brother found a way to work around it…”

“Understood. How long has it been since the last invasion at Martial Hill City?”

“Invasions are quite frequent. Many humans die in each battle, though our casualties are less than the enemy’s. We are always eager to fight as the rewards justify the risks,” answered Wen Li, perplexed as to why Mu Yu seemed ignorant.

“Where are those with the eight great sects? I didn’t see any of them around.”

“They are at Ultimate Immortals Hall, which is the location they use as their headquarters.”

“You can leave now.”

“Thank you for saving my life.” Wen Li gave a bow before departing.

“Third Heaven Palace really do have countless magic tricks,” commented Xiaoshuai.

“Gramps is even more impressive. I can’t believe how accurate his predictions are; it borders on foresight. Anyway, the scheme existed since Elder Helian Kong’s era, except they didn’t use Soul Style. Back then, Formation-Talisman Sect set up a tracker formation to record the kills. The current version is but a rehashed version, adding on the feature of killing cultivators for soul points to promote even more murder.”

“Man, it’s safer to kill cultivators than to kill elemental demons, then. That Bai Jie is bloody diabolic. People will eventually opt just to kill humans now.”

“Not entirely. Remember what Wen Li said? Killing cultivators ranked high will give you points, but the other way around is a waste of time. Plus, what do you think the odds of someone weaker killing some stronger are?”

“Oh, true. I guess they’ll have to pull Zhang Gans, then. Damn, you can’t trust anyone, then.”

“Sowing discord is Third Heaven Palace’s plan. As long as cultivators are sceptical of each other, the suspicions of Third Heaven Palace will be suppressed, allowing them to continue controlling cultivators.”

Supreme Swordsman of the Nine Heavens

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