Soul Emperor Awakening

At the question, the twin brothers exchanged a look and took their piece of the map out of a Storage Ring. Just as Lin Xuan had expected, there was indeed a small clump of soul on it.

The Fox King’s soul was attached to it, but it was fragmented, which was rather bizarre. Lin Xuan guessed the previous Fox King must have drawn the map himself. It must have been so important to him that his lingering attachment after death caused his soul to cling to the map.

The material used to make the map was extraordinary in itself; it would be nearly impossible to destroy unless one used extremely powerful Elemental Power.

"We don’t mind showing it to you, but what’s in it for us?" the twin brothers said. "We can’t just let you look for free. We went to a lot of trouble to find this."

"How about we trade maps?" Lin Xuan took out his own piece of the map and said with a faint smile, "The maps are different. Since we’ve both memorized our own, why don’t we exchange them for a look?"

Wei Song looked like he was about to say something, but he held his tongue. ’In any case,’ he thought, ’there’s no point in us keeping this map. Trading with them is a good choice.’

"Alright, we’ll bring it over now." The twin brothers started to walk over, but Lin Xuan stopped them with a wave of his hand.

"As the saying goes, you can’t be too careful," Lin Xuan said. "No need to come over. We’ll count to three and toss the maps to each other."

"Fair enough. We don’t know each other, after all, so it’s normal to be cautious. We’ll do it your way and toss the maps on three." The twin brothers had no objection.

After counting to three, they tossed the maps to each other. The moment Lin Xuan caught it, he activated the Soul Pearl within his body and absorbed the small clump of soul into it. A fragment of memory instantly flooded his mind, revealing not only how to navigate the area on the map but also the traps that lay in wait.

This was as good as having the entire region laid bare before him; he knew the details of every brick. Such was the power of soul memory, something a mere map could never compare to. What he had wanted from the trade was this soul, not the map itself.

"Well, no problems on our end. We’ll head on ahead," one of the twins said, speaking with an air of great righteousness. "If you two have a change of heart, just find us and let us know. Working together would be far more efficient, and we have absolutely no intention of harming you." They appeared completely sincere, maintaining a friendly attitude.

They cupped their fists at Lin Xuan and his companion, then continued deeper into the ruins. The moment they disappeared from sight, one of them whispered, "Bro, are we really just leaving? Shouldn’t we get rid of them? We’ll lose out if they get the treasure."

"Let them get the treasure? Hmph," the other brother snorted. "I *want* them to find the treasure. Then we can just take it! But those two fools are surprisingly wary. If I didn’t think the Demon Fox Ruins were too vast and wanted more people to scout ahead, I would’ve killed them already!" The two spoke no more, their figures gradually melting into the surrounding darkness.

Meanwhile, things were no different on Lin Xuan’s side.

"Brother Lin, it was a wise move not to associate with them," Wei Song said, frowning. "Those two are definitely professional killers. It would be a disaster if they decided to stab us in the back. By the way, Brother Lin, your senses are incredibly sharp. I couldn’t detect a thing earlier."

"Of course. I would never team up with them," Lin Xuan said, his eyes glinting. He had caught the stench of blood on the two—an extremely heavy one. They must have taken countless lives.

The key point was their preference for concealment, only appearing when they attacked. For that reason alone, Lin Xuan would never trust them.

They then briefly examined the map they’d received. It was quite different from their own piece, but it looked like the two could be fitted together. This formed a more complete map, though it was still clearly missing pieces.

They immediately set off, moving quickly. With the twin brothers clearing the way, they didn’t have to worry about any Demon Beasts up ahead. After traveling a good distance, they finally emerged from the narrow passage. Outside, it was pitch-black; night had fallen.

The darkness didn’t affect them. As Lin Xuan took in his surroundings, a wave of sorrow washed over him. All the buildings around them were destroyed. They hadn’t been luxurious structures—just simple stone houses—but now they were in ruins, with some even pockmarked by deep craters.

From the state of the architecture, one could imagine its former glory, now reduced to rubble. ’No race stays glorious forever,’ he reflected. ’The moment one shows weakness, it gets completely overthrown. This is truly survival of the fittest.’

They had just emerged, and they concealed their auras as they cautiously scanned the area. There were no Demon Beasts in sight, only vast tracts of ruined buildings. The territory of the Demon Fox Race had been quite expansive, but now it seemed not a single house remained whole.

It was proof of the old saying: people would dig three feet into the ground to get their hands on treasure. Who knew if the Secret Treasure had been found, but as it stood, there was nothing of value in sight.

"According to the map, we need to go this way." Lin Xuan led Wei Song toward the map’s destination. Thanks to the soul memory, he took no detours, heading straight for his target: the Demon Fox Holy Hall!

The Demon Fox Holy Hall was the sacred temple of the Demon Fox Race, the place where the Fox King once resided. But now, it was also nothing but ruins. Aside from piles of stone, there were only scraps of corroded cloth, making the scene all the more desolate.

"We follow the stairs underground..." Lin Xuan muttered, looking at the staircase leading down. ’As I thought, places like this have been looted clean. The secret passage is just left wide open.’ This was all within his expectations.

They descended the stairs, heading straight for the bottom level. As soon as they stepped off the staircase, the space opened up before them. Beneath the Demon Fox Holy Hall lay a vast, open area, but it too was now riddled with deep pits, a truly terrible sight.

More importantly, the twin brothers were also there. However, they were in a standoff not with Lin Xuan, but with a different group. This new group was small, consisting of only three people, but their Cultivation was all at the Seventh Layer Essence Pill Stage or higher. Their leader had the highest Cultivation, having reached the Essence Pill Stage Eighth Layer.

No truly powerful experts were likely to appear here anymore; they had already come and gone when the ruins were first discovered. The ones left were cultivators of a decent level, hoping to get the leftovers—to "drink the soup," so to speak. The problem was, there wasn’t even any soup left. Instead, tensions were running high, and it looked like a fight was about to break out.