Chapter 11: Collecting Some Interest First

At this moment, the Spirit Saint was quite relaxed, his eyes wandering, clearly not paying much attention to protecting Princess Lingyang.

In fact, it was understandable. After all, this was the outskirts of Heaven Dou City, the emperor's domain, where there were few evildoers. If someone really did make a move, he only needed to hold them off for a moment, and in less than three minutes, reinforcements from Heaven Dou City would arrive.

Moreover, in all these years, no one had ever dared to attack them.

But just as he was lounging against the carriage, taking a nap, he seemed to hear a faint sound of something cutting through the air. He instinctively stood up and shouted loudly.

"Who's there?"

"What's wrong, Uncle Ma? What happened?" Princess Lingyang asked impatiently. His shout had almost caused her to drop her flower. In her heart, she decided she would have her father severely punish this coachman when they returned. She couldn't understand why her father kept him by her side; he wasn't even good at driving the carriage.

But at that moment, with a sudden thud, the coachman fell to the ground, startling Princess Lingyang.

A few guards went over to check the situation, only to find a thumb-sized hole in the center of his forehead, with blood continuously flowing out, mixed with some brain matter.

The guards were just about to say something when they felt a sudden tightness in their throats, rendering them speechless. Soon after, their vision darkened, and their consciousness faded away.

They, too, had a hole in their foreheads, just like the coachman.

Of the more than a hundred people present, only Princess Lingyang remained standing, now thoroughly terrified.

Aside from the Spirit Saint, the others had no spirit power; they were ordinary people. The guards' spirit power levels were not high either. Thus, dealing with the remaining people was an easy task for those accompanying Qin Hua.

"Who are you? I'll have you know, I'm Princess Lingyang of the Heaven Dou Empire, the most beloved daughter of Emperor Xue Ye. Don't be so reckless..." Princess Lingyang stammered, backing away in fear as Qin Hua and his group approached.

The figures behind Qin Hua had no intention of making a move; instead, they stood guard, making it clear they were letting Qin Hua deal with Princess Lingyang.

Looking at the boy in front of her, who appeared to be no more than six or seven years old, Princess Lingyang was puzzled. Was this boy their leader? She couldn't recall ever seeing him before.

"Thud!"

Qin Hua applied spiritual energy on his body, his legs kicked off the ground propelling him behind the stupefied princess swiftly.

With two swishes through the air, Princess Lingyang's leg tendons were severed, causing her to collapse to the ground in pain. Her eyes filled with terror as she looked at Qin Hua.

She hadn't expected this child to be so ruthless. Despair filled her heart.

"My father is Emperor Xue Ye. Whatever you want, I can give it to you!"

"I want your life!"

Qin Hua stepped forward, slashing down once again with his blood-stained blade. Princess Lingyang's wrist was cut open, and blood gushed out, quickly pooling around her feet.

She struggled to get up, but it was futile. Qin Hua had not only severed her leg tendons but had also cut her wrist tendons, leaving her writhing on the ground.

As time passed, Princess Lingyang's face grew paler, and she was on the verge of losing consciousness. At that moment, Qin Hua summoned his martial spirit.

What is he doing? The Spirit Hall members were puzzled.

As Qin Hua's martial spirit appeared, a transparent shadow was pulled from Princess Lingyang's body—it was her soul. Without spiritual power, her soul was weak and had no resistance against the Soul Devourer Martial Spirit.

The Soul Devourer opened its maw wide and swallowed Princess Lingyang's soul in one gulp. Qin Hua felt his power increase slightly.

However, something strange happened. Qin Hua's mind was flooded with fragmented memories. These memories were unfamiliar yet somehow familiar.

This was the downside of the Soul Devourer Martial Spirit: when it devoured an opponent's spirit, it also absorbed part of their memories. These fragmented memories would reside in Qin Hua's mind until he fully processed them, only then could he proceed with another devouring.

Currently, Qin Hua's strength was still relatively weak, and fully refining a person's soul wasn't easy. But with time, this process would become much shorter.

After a moment, Qin Hua opened his eyes. Devouring an ordinary person's soul had increased his spiritual power by nearly half a level, which made Qin Hua very excited. It seemed his golden finger was extraordinarily powerful.

Witnessing the entire process of Qin Hua devouring Princess Lingyang's soul, the members of the Spirit Hall exchanged looks of horror. They hadn't expected Qin Hua to be so ruthless.

They were used to killing, but they only took lives. Qin Hua, however, not only killed but also devoured their souls, which was unimaginable. (No hope for reincarnation. Permanent end to the cycle of life.)

"Let's go," Qin Hua said calmly.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

...

In the evening, Emperor Xue Ye was enjoying the scenery in his garden when a guard ran in, panic-stricken. Emperor Xue Ye was immediately displeased.

"What's the rush? Speak slowly!"

"Princess Lingyang went to the Xingyue River to fish this afternoon and hasn't returned by evening. We sent people to investigate and found everyone dead, including Princess Lingyang!"

"What?"

Hearing this, Emperor Xue Ye's eyes widened in shock! Someone dared to make a move near Heaven Dou City and killed his daughter, a princess of the Heaven Dou Empire? This was outrageous.

"Bring their bodies back. Investigate this thoroughly and get to the bottom of it!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Half an hour later, the enraged Emperor Xue Ye saw the bodies of Princess Lingyang and her guards. When he saw the identical wounds in their foreheads, a name popped into his mind.

The Spirit Hall!

This clean and efficient method was too reminiscent of the Spirit Hall's actions. His intuition told him that this was indeed the work of the Spirit Hall. It might even be Qin Hua's doing, seeking revenge for the destruction of his family.

Then he noticed the wounds on Princess Lingyang's limbs, and his heart trembled. Her blood had been completely drained, leaving him to imagine the torture and pain she must have endured before her death.

The feeling of life slowly draining away must have been excruciating!

"Go to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and invite Sect Leader Ning to come!