Chapter 572: Soul Trade, the Emperor's Wrath

Yuwen Tuo gripped Tuoba Yu'er's neck, making it difficult for her to breathe; if this continued, Tuoba Yu'er would naturally suffocate to death.

However, Yuwen Tuo would not kill Tuoba Yu'er easily, because there were still some matters later where he would need to make use of her.

For instance, right now, he needed Tuoba Yu'er to provoke Chen Jingchou.

Although the system mission required him to beat this Earth Emperor soundly, the current Chen Jingchou did not have a shred of strength, making it somewhat hard to strike; if the mission had been to kill him, it would have been much simpler.

Although Chen Jingchou currently lacked strength, as the Earth Emperor, there was some power hidden within his body that could be triggered.

Added to that was the fact that the Taotie Inner Core had just entered Chen Jingchou's body; it was unclear if it was an accident or a coincidence, perhaps this was the deviation caused by the change in the trajectory of fate.

Although he had easily killed the Taotie, it did not mean the Taotie was weak, especially since all of its essence of magic power was in the inner core; as long as one fused with the inner core, one would instantly possess thousands of years of magic power and strength.

An ordinary person might not have a chance, but Chen Jingchou, who possessed the Earth Emperor destiny in this life, was capable of turning decay into magic.

"You villain!"

Tuoba Yu'er cursed and struggled with all her might.

However, the gap between their strengths was too great; no matter how Tuoba Yu'er counterattacked, it was futile.

Yuwen Tuo looked at Chen Jingchou, who was lying on the ground, and said slowly:

"Didn't you always say you were the Earth Emperor? Look, now you don't even have the strength to protect one person."

"If it weren't for this girl using the Kunlun Mirror to trade for my chance to kill the Taotie, none of you would be alive."

Chen Fu's expression was ugly, and Chen Jingchou stared fixedly at Tuoba Yu'er.

It was clearly this woman who had caused such a great catastrophe to occur at Fumo Mountain, but seeing her uncomfortable appearance at this moment, he actually felt a vague sense of distress in his heart.

"Yuwen Tuo, let Yu'er go, if you have the guts, come at me!" Chen Jingchou shouted.

"Come at you? What sense of accomplishment is there in killing a piece of trash? And with your strength, don't dream of becoming the Earth Emperor.

Even if I gave you the Xuanyuan Sword, you still couldn't win," Yuwen Tuo said.

"You, ah!"

Chen Jingchou was burning with rage, smashing the ground bitterly but feeling powerless; he had never needed strength as much as he did this time.

Why, why was he so weak?

Every time he needed someone to protect him? Letting others get hurt for his sake.

He looked at the scattered Fumo Mountain villagers who had survived the disaster, his fellow disciples who had been severely injured, and his master who had lost a leg; these were all caused by protecting him.

If, if only he could protect everyone, how could it have turned into this situation?

Damn it!

"Do you want power, young man!"

"Do you want power!"

At this moment, a hoarse, deep voice, as if coming from the Nine Netherworlds, emerged in Chen Jingchou's mind.

This voice sounded extremely evil, making one's hair stand on end, and was filled with baleful energy.

In his mental world, Chen Jingchou discovered that his inner self had turned blood-red; a blood moon hung in the sky, and the lake of the heart beneath his feet was the same, as if hellfire were burning within it.

Chen Jingchou looked up and discovered that thick, baleful black mist had condensed, and from it appeared a massive monster head, especially the sky-piercing horns that caught his eye.

"Taotie!" Chen Jingchou was horrified; why was this monster inside his body?

Right, Master said the Taotie's inner core flew into his dantian.

The Taotie was not dead.

"This seat can give you power to kill the man before you," the Taotie said.

"You were killed by Yuwen Tuo yourself; wouldn't using your power just be a dead end?" Chen Jingchou subconsciously retorted.

"..." Taotie.

"That is because this seat had just broken the seal and my flesh was weak, with all my magic power in the inner core. If this seat were in my prime, if this person wanted to kill me with the Xuanyuan Sword, he would need at least two more strikes," the Taotie said.

The Xuanyuan Sword was one of the top three ancient divine artifacts, peerlessly sharp, second only to the Pangu Axe, and was the nemesis of fierce beasts.

The Taotie's defense was too fragile for the Xuanyuan Sword, and its strength had no room to be displayed at all.

The key was that the Taotie, as a fierce beast after the creation of the world, was different from the later Demon Race; the Taotie was shackled by the Heavenly Dao, unable to undergo Transformation, and its power was limited by its flesh, with limited exertion.

If it could transform into human form, it could use all sorts of profound supernatural powers, rather than just charging blindly in its beast form.

"Two more strikes, what difference does that make?" Chen Jingchou said.

"Hmph, foolish human, you do not know the power of this seat. But without the power of this seat, you cannot save anyone," the Taotie said.

"Master said that there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. If you lend me power, you must need me to pay something; I'm not that stupid," Chen Jingchou said.

"Well said, but do you have a choice? This seat needs your soul; as long as you are willing to hand your soul over to this seat, this seat will lend you the power. Even if you cannot kill Yuwen Tuo, saving the people before you will be no difficult task," the Taotie said.

A look of contemplation appeared in Chen Jingchou's eyes; he was only weak in strength, but not stupid.

If he gave his soul to the Taotie, wouldn't he cease to exist? Becoming a Puppet, wouldn't that be like a walking corpse?

"Give you my soul? Am I that stupid? What if you try to steal my nest? At most, I'll give you one-tenth of my soul, and we will sign a contract, swearing to the heavens; if you go back on your word, you will be struck by five thunders, turned to ashes, and finally cast into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, never to be reincarnated," Chen Jingchou said.

"..." The Taotie was speechless; this kid looked like a loser, but he was too cautious.

Originally, it had indeed wanted to possess Chen Jingchou, but upon entering his body, it discovered that this kid actually had the Earth Emperor destiny.

The Earth Emperor was also the Savior of the Earth, the one to save the world from the future great catastrophe; he was favored by the heavens and possessed a strand of Heavenly Dao power protecting him within his body.

Of course, this Heavenly Dao power was not an active skill, but a passive one, also to ensure that the Earth Emperor could survive.

If the Taotie forcibly tried to Devour him, it would certainly be backlashed by the Heavenly Dao power, and it might just end up benefiting Chen Jingchou with thousands of years of magic power for nothing.

But if the Earth Emperor voluntarily offered his soul, the result would be different.

The Taotie could have completely chosen someone else to possess, but a mysterious instinct told it.

If it devoured the Earth Emperor's soul, it might be able to undergo a Transformation, thereby transforming into a human and gaining liberation.

The Earth Emperor's soul was one in ten thousand, a rare existence like a Phoenix feather or unicorn horn.

After thinking for a moment, the Taotie agreed to Chen Jingchou's conditions; one-tenth was one-tenth, sooner or later it would obtain the entire soul.

In the outside world, in order to provoke Chen Jingchou.

Yuwen Tuo's expression sank, and with a thought, he controlled the long sword on the ground to pierce directly through Tuoba Yu'er's chest.

"Urgh?" Tuoba Yu'er's face was filled with shock as she looked at the long sword dripping blood from her chest.

Yuwen Tuo was expressionless, a cold sneer at the corner of his mouth as he said:

"Now, you two can go down together as father and daughter to reunite."

In the mental space, Chen Jingchou saw the scene unfolding in the outside world, felt his heart shatter, his pupils dilated and turned completely blood-red, and he roared:

"Power, Taotie, give me power!"

"Very well, young man!"

"Hehehe!"