Unrivaled Martial Emperor-Chapter 1546 - Warped Soul

“Hahahaha, how truly unexpected. I only followed you on a whim, yet it led me straight to the Purple Underworld Ghostfire Lotus in!”

An ecstatic voice rang out behind Chen Fan.

“Who is it?”

Alarm bells went off in Chen Fan’s mind. He spun around, searching for the source.

There stood a figure, cloaked entirely in a shadowy, grayish-black robe. The stranger’s eyes were sharp as an eagle’s, radiating an icy, unsettling aura. His face twisted in a grin, equal parts ecstasy and cruelty.

Sensing the intruder’s faint aura, Chen Fan’s expression also changed. He was a peak fifth-level Immortal Platform realm expert!

More troubling still was the fact that Chen Fan had no idea when this formidable opponent had started stalking him. He hadn’t sensed a thing, not the tiniest fluctuation, nor the barest whisper of pursuit. If this shadowy figure hadn’t revealed himself, Chen Fan would have remained blissfully unaware. The consequences of a surprise attack would have been unimaginable.

Suddenly, cold sweat covered Chen Fan’s back.

Chen Fan had always prided himself on his keen immortal will. Even the slightest disturbance in the air never escaped him. Yet, this stranger’s sudden appearance hit him like a hammer to the head.

“Who are you?”

Chen Fan looked at him warily.

Peak fifth-level Immortal Platform realm, just a step away from stepping into the sixth-level Immortal Platform. He was close to the level of Shark Crown Prince, Young Master Hai Long, and the others.

Right now, Chen Fan stood no chance against such an adversary.

“Others refer to me as the Blood-Hand Slaughterer!

The man glanced at Chen Fan indifferently, as if the latter were already a dead man in his eyes.

“But does it really matter if a dead man knows my name? I’ll be taking your head!”

Chen Fan’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Blood-Hand Slaughterer Shan Qiu!”

Gongsun Jing had given Chen Fan a great deal of information about the Chaotic Demon Sea, including some notorious figures and their legends. Among them was Blood-Hand Slaughterer Shan Qiu.

According to rumors, although he was technically of human descent, he carried the blood of the poison crocodile tribe—a lineage brimming with power. Yet, because he bore human blood as well, the poison crocodile tribe refused to acknowledge him; to them, he was a stain upon their noble heritage.

Shan Qiu endured a childhood steeped in discrimination, his personality gradually warped by the constant scorn, until he came to hate the human race. In the Chaotic Demon Sea, he hunted human race experts like a madman and collected their heads, hoping to earn the poison crocodile tribe’s recognition.

Over the years, he slaughtered countless humans, earning him his infamous title; within the Chaotic Demon Sea, he was feared by all, second only to prodigies such as the Shark Crown Prince and Young Master Hai Long.

“Haha, I didn’t think you would know of me. Perfect, then. Face your death obediently. No one has ever escaped my clutches!” Shan Qiu laughed eerily, his voice ear-piercingly sharp, sending chills down people’s spines. “Just stand there and don’t resist. Let me take your head, and you’ll suffer less.”

Shan Qiu’s expression twisted between madness, cruelty, bloodthirst, and so on. His aura alone could scare others out of their minds.

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes. A sharp glint shone within, and he said coldly, “Hmph, born of the sea tribe yet possessing the human bloodline, the crocodile tribe shuns and rejects you, but we humans never showed you such prejudice. You, beast that you are, repay our acceptance by butchering our people. How truly despicable!” 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

For overlords of the sea, like the crocodile tribe, it wasn’t uncommon to capture humans as slaves. Many human women were seized and defiled, leading to the birth of mixed-blood children such as Shan Qiu.

Yet, few grew up like him: instead of despising the sea tribes for their cruelty, he slaughtered the very humans who would have accepted him.

“What do you even know, you little beast!” yelled Shan Qiu.

Chen Fan’s words hit Shan Qiu’s sore spot. His aura immediately went berserk, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

An invisible aura locked onto Chen Fan, promising relentless pursuit even to the ends of the earth.

“If my mother hadn’t been captured by the noble crocodile tribe, I wouldn’t have become a despised half-breed among the sea tribes. I hate it! Why do I have to carry the blood of the human race? Why am I cursed with such a lowly bloodline? I’m part of the noble sea tribes, the noble crocodile tribe. The human bloodline has simply stained my bloodline. So, you lowly human worms deserve to die, all of you!”

Shan Qiu’s expression twisted severely in madness. Chen Fan could see the disfigurement of his soul.

In Shan Qiu’s eyes, the human bloodline was the source of his suffering and rejection; everything, he believed, was the humans’ fault. And of course, the unforgiving environment of the Chaotic Demon Sea only made his already warped soul grow even more twisted.

“Kill, kill, kill! I’ll slaughter every one of you wretches and use your ‘tainted’ blood to purify my own. One day, I will be accepted by my tribe and undergo a bloodline baptism and finally become part of the noble sea tribes!”

Chen Fan shook his head with pity on his face and said, “You’re hopeless. Your soul is completely twisted. If you remain in this world, you’ll be nothing but cancer. That’s why someone like you must die!”

“Hahahaha!” Shan Qiu laughed maniacally, mocking Chen Fan for overestimating himself. “A lowly worm like you wants to kill me? I have killed human worms much stronger than you. I’ve killed at least eight hundred, if not over a thousand, human worms, and they all said something similar. Now... their heads are part of my collection.”

With a casual sweep of his arm, Shan Qiu summoned a mountain of skulls—hundreds of severed heads, all from humans.

Furthermore, he didn’t simply kill these people. He trapped their souls in their skulls, denying them the possibility of rebirth.

Such depravity was unimaginable.

Seeing this gruesome sight, Chen Fan trembled with fury.

He was human. How could he feel anything but rage and sorrow, witnessing these souls eternally imprisoned by Shan Qiu?

“Ahh, you hear this? Such beautiful music!”

Shan Qiu seemed very satisfied with his creation. Hearing the wails of the souls in those souls was like music to his ears.

“You bastard, you deserve to die a thousand times over!” Chen Fan said, gritting his teeth.

Boom!

For a brief moment, Shan Qiu froze. Then, his aura exploded like a storm, shattering the grisly mountain of heads and obliterating the souls trapped within.

The cruel smile on his face vanished, replaced by madness, anger on the verge of insanity!

The word “bastard” was a spike in his heart; a taboo he could never tolerate.