Chapter 55: Touch of the Soul Rift

Luo Jie ate quickly, gulping down the heart whole; in a few bites he swallowed the entire heart.

After devouring the high-level vampire's heart, he slit open the chests of two other Mid-stage vampires and swiftly ate their hearts.

Lei En's scalp tingled, and he stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

After three hearts went down in succession, Luo Jie's complexion became round, and he radiated a strange, ominous aura, seeming to have gained a slight boost in power.

As for the hearts of the five ordinary vampires, he paid them no mind, perhaps because he couldn't eat any more.

Luo Jie wiped the blood from his mouth corner and said calmly, "Haven't you ever seen a demon hunter devour monsters?"

Lei En shook his head blankly.

Luo Jie sighed, "Devouring monsters—or their vital organs—is the best way for a demon hunter to increase strength. A vampire's power is mostly concentrated in its heart; eating them can at least substitute for two months of my cultivation."

He glanced at Lei En's strange expression and, as if indifferent, said, "Otherwise, why do so many people hate and fear demon hunters?"

Lei En nodded in realization, yet still found it hard to accept.

Even raw monster organs, let alone raw flesh and blood of common animals, are terrifying to ordinary people.

Not to mention many monsters have bizarre, horrific appearances, sprouting all sorts of disgusting things; the idea of eating their organs raw is unthinkable.

Anyway, for Lei En, even a short time makes him uneasy; the taste is just too intense.

He silently thanked that he never became a demon hunter.

Luo Jie said nothing more, took a black crystal from his waist pouch, and approached several vampire corpses.

The crystal glowed faintly, seeming to generate a suction that drew red specks of light from the corpses and contained them.

Lei En watched curiously.

It resembled soul harvesting, but it was clearly something else.

He remembered clearly that a teacher at the academy had said all Demons, including Demonkin, can only be truly killed within the Abyss.

Outside the Abyss, once a Demon's body is destroyed, its soul returns to the Abyss to revive.

Soul stones cannot capture a Demon's soul; the only way to prevent the soul from returning to the Abyss is not to kill it, but to imprison the Demon.

Some transcendent professions require merging a Demon's soul, so they must hunt Demons in the Abyss and then use soul stones to contain and bring them back.

Just now, Lei En discovered this while slaying those two ordinary vampires.

Their souls were indeed absorbed by the device, recharging him, but the souls didn't vanish entirely; a portion simply disappeared.

The remaining soul, carrying the vampire's self-awareness, returned to the Abyss.

Since he couldn't fully devour the souls, the two vampires supplied little power, raising his charge by only four units.

However, the dozen or so blood servants, being ordinary monsters rather than true Demons, each gave little power, but sheer numbers added up, giving Lei En twelve units of charge!

This demon‑hunting sortie directly doubled Lei En's strength, raising his charge to 31%.

However, Lei En also noticed a detail.

Any vampire struck by Luo Jie's silver sword had its soul unabsorbable, and Luo Jie also collected light specks from their corpses.

"Master Luo Jie, what are you doing?" he couldn't help asking.

"Collecting soul fragments."

Luo Jie explained without turning his head, "Silver swords of demon hunters above high-level can shatter a Demon's soul when killing it, creating soul fragments that remain in the corpse."

"Soul fragments are essential materials for demon hunters to craft many alchemy bombs and demonic elixirs,"

"For example, this 'Burst Flame'—its main ingredient is the soul fragment of a sulfur hound, mixed with fuel and several other materials."

"

Speaking, Luo Jie took an alchemy bomb from his waist and tossed it over.

Lei En jumped in fright, clumsily catching it.

His impression of alchemy bombs was strong; a single one demolished half a wall, several times more powerful than his own grenades.

The 'Burst Flame' in his hand was only egg-sized, as heavy as a stone, black like a pebble.

Upon close inspection, faint runes flickered on its surface.

Until now, Lei En had thought Ai Lun E Si lacked such explosive projectiles; it seems he had been narrow‑minded.

From Luo Jie's words, Lei En learned alchemy bombs come in many varieties, mostly designed to counter monsters.

For instance, the 'Silver Moon Dust' Luo Jie just used has no lethal force but can dispel a vampire's invisibility.

The myriad alchemy bombs make demon hunters the bane of Demons.

However, only when a demon hunter reaches high-level and merges with a creature called a 'Soul‑splitting demon spirit' to obtain the Touch of the Soul Rift Element does the silver sword gain the ability to shatter a Demon's soul and collect soul fragments.

Without soul fragments, alchemy bombs cannot be forged.

Aside from demon hunters, other transcendent professions rarely have similar means.

Lei En's eyes were opened; in terms of function and effect, alchemy bombs are clearly superior to grenades and more suitable for battles among transcendants, yet purely in maximum power they fall short of the various explosives on Diqiu.

Moreover, explosives aren't limited to transcendants, let alone the world‑ending 'nuclear flatten' weapons.

Both have their pros and cons.

Lei En returned the 'Burst Flame' to Luo Jie, and footsteps echoed from the passage.

He turned his head; a tall, muscular man brandishing a massive axe charged into the hall. Behind him followed a man in leather wielding a soul gun, and a female swordswoman clad in exquisite silver armor.

The three were stunned by the scene in the hall.

"Who are you?" the axe‑wielding man, over two meters tall and as sturdy as a bear, asked gravely.

He wore only simple leather armor, his massive arms as thick as an adult's thighs, his muscle groups defined like a small mountain, seemingly brimming with terrifying power.

Luo Jie remained focused on collecting soul fragments, ignoring the three.

Lei En didn't reply; he recognized two acquaintances.

The man and woman who entered behind were Boluoke and Fuli Da, a ranger and a holy swordsman, respectively, who had searched his apartment weeks ago and claimed to be members of the Longshande Exorcism Bureau.

The first strong man to charge in was clearly a berserker.

The Demon Extermination Squad wasn't slow; they actually sensed the disturbance and rushed back so quickly.

Lei En thought to himself.

He noticed that Bo Luo Ke and Fu Li Da didn't seem to recognize him, their eyes still full of vigilance.

Bo Luo Ke stared at the tall man before him, his whole body stained red with blood, and at the other's companion, a white‑haired Demon Hunter, and roughly guessed what had happened here.

When he found several vampires among the corpses on the ground and identified their ranks, he couldn't help but gasp a cold breath.

"Eight vampires, and one of them is high‑level!"

Bo Luo Ke's eyelids twitched wildly; he hadn't expected Honeyton District to hide such a massive vampire nest—if his own squad had run into it, total annihilation would have been inevitable.

Fortunately, they had all already been eliminated.

Bo Luo Ke silently exhaled in relief; a transcendent being capable of killing so many vampires would have acted earlier if they harbored hostility toward him.

"Captain, a high‑level vampire!"

Holy Swordsman Fu Li Da let out a startled cry, but Bo Luo Ke waved her off, telling her not to get worked up, turned around and shouted, "Gentlemen, we are members of the Longshan Long Demon Extermination Bureau; I am Bo Luo Ke, and they are my squad members."

Bo Luo Ke introduced himself respectfully, keeping his demeanor very low.

Based on his experience, he judged that the main force that killed so many demons must have been that cold‑faced Demon Hunter.

The young man before him looked fierce, but that actually indicated his strength wasn't as great as imagined; otherwise he wouldn't be drenched in blood.

Moreover, among the many corpses on the ground, most of those killed by warhammer headshots were blood servants, and the majority of vampires were slain by silver swords.

Lei En also noticed Bo Luo Ke's gaze fixed on Luo Jue, and couldn't help but praise the Demon Extermination Captain's keen eye.

At that moment, Luo Jue finally finished collecting the soul fragments.

He gave no further explanation, his expression cold and unsmiling, and said, "Deliver the bounty to the Basil Tavern tomorrow."

"Understood," Bo Luo Ke replied without hesitation.

Then, courteously, he cleared the way to the exit.

Luo Jue didn't glance at them again, left the hall at an unhurried pace; Lei En hesitated briefly, scanned the three Demon Extermination Squad members with his eyes, and then followed them out.

When the two figures vanished, Bo Luo Ke finally relaxed his mind.

"Captain, who is that Demon Hunter?" the Berserker asked in a low voice.

"I don't know either," Bo Luo Ke shook his head, his eyes showing contemplation.

"It's just a high‑level Demon Hunter, what's there to be arrogant about," the Berserker said with a sour face, feeling embarrassed that his question had been ignored.

"Ha Geluofu, watch your words," Bo Luo Ke hummed, lecturing, "This one is not a high‑level Demon Hunter; to kill a high‑level vampire and two Mid-stage vampires without a scratch suggests he may be a legendary strongman."

"Legendary!"

Berserker Ha Geluofu nearly jumped up, craned his neck, his face turning frantic; the legendary Demon Hunter's senses are extremely sharp, and perhaps his complaints had already been heard.

Fu Li Da beside him was also very surprised, exclaiming, "So it's a legendary Demon Hunter; no wonder he's so strong."

"If he weren't legendary, how could he dare to breach a vampire's nest?"

Bo Luo Ke felt a wave of dread.

That night his squad was on patrol; they happened to hear an explosion nearby, rushed over at top speed, and unexpectedly barreled straight into the vampire's old lair.

Fortunately, the demons had already been eliminated, so no further danger remained.

He clapped his hands and ordered, "Stop standing around; quickly clear this vampire nest, and also investigate the background of that clothing shop upstairs to see if any other vampires remain."

"Yes, Captain."

The two immediately got to work, but saw Bo Luo Ke walking outward, and Ha Geluofu couldn't help asking, "Captain, where are you going?"

Bo Luo Ke replied, "Of course I'm applying for the bounty, completing the process overnight, and delivering the money to that legendary elder tomorrow morning."