Spirit Realm Chapter 412-419

Chapter 412: Survivor

“You came to me alone because you know that I cultivate the Blood Spirit Art and wish to talk to me about Blood Fiend Sect?” Qin Lie became cautious on the inside, subconsciously touching the spatial ring with a finger, ready to react to anything.

“Of course.” Bei Mo smiled.

He took one step after another toward Qin Lie, and when yellow rings began to appear on Qin Lie, he slipped past him and headed toward the inner regions of the Blood Cloud Mountain Range.

Qin Lie was surprised.

Bei Mo’s footsteps were easygoing as he showed his back to Qin Lie and walked in the direction of the inner regions of the mountain range on his own.

There were plenty of dried gray brown bones along the way. These dried bones once belonged to the disciples of Blood Fiend Sect. They were all killed more than a thousand years ago.

Bei Mo carefully avoided these bones. He did not step on the dried bones even once, seemingly afraid that he would disturb the slumber of the remains.

“More than a thousand years ago, there were several tens of thousands of Blood Fiend Sect disciples who cultivated the Blood Spirit Art. Very few of them—not even twenty percent—relied on consuming blood to survive.” Speaking as he walked, Bei Mo’s tone was calm. “Eighty percent of Blood Fiend Sect disciples never consumed human blood and only worked hard to temper their own blood energy. Women, the elderly, and the young were among those people. Some were babies who had never cultivated in their entire lives, and yet they too were struck by that disaster.”

Xue Li’s deep sigh resonated within Qin Lie’s mind.

“Follow him and hear what he has to say,” Xue Li advised.

Qin Lie immediately followed after Bei Mo.

“The three great families—the Xiahou Family, the Lin Family, and the Su Family—all knew about Blood Fiend Sect’s circumstances. They knew that eighty percent of Blood Fiend Sect’s disciples were innocent. However, they never told the other Silver rank forces this, instead telling those wolves that everyone in Blood Fiend Sect relied on consuming human blood to live… that all of them had fallen to evil ways.”

Bei Mo laughed coldly. “They naturally could not wait for Blood Fiend Sect to be slaughtered to the last person. When Blood Fiend Sect was strong, the three great families could only humbly obey them, afraid to put up even the slightest resistance. How could they possibly let go of the chance to free themselves and rise to the top when it was finally presented to them?

“Their poison made all of the Silver rank forces go mad with carnage. With their goal to exterminate all of Blood Fiend Sect, the Silver rank forces began a sweeping operation on the entire Blood Cloud Mountain Range. My senior said that, during that battle, Blood Cloud Mountain Range was stained with blood, and the many palaces that Blood Fiend Sect built atop the mountains were destroyed. Everywhere within five hundred kilometers was filled with cries of pain and death. It was an appalling sight.

“After the battle, every Blood Fiend Sect disciple in the Blood Cloud Mountain Range was killed. It didn’t matter if they’d consumed human blood before, if they cultivated the Blood Spirit Art, or if they were a child or not. All of them were slaughtered to the last man.

“Many years later, the three great families slowly rose to power. When the other Silver rank forces had already forgotten about Blood Fiend Sect, they were still sending experts to the other continents and secluded islands in the Land of Chaos to find martial practitioners who cultivated the Blood Spirit Art and relentlessly kill all of them.

“They are afraid that Blood Fiend Sect will rise to power once more. They are afraid that Blood Fiend Sect will return to the Heavenly Calamity Continent and take back everything that was rightfully theirs.”

Bei Mo suddenly stopped.

Qin Lie gave him an odd stare while frowning. “So you support Blood Fiend Sect?”

Bei Mo smiled faintly. “If the Blood Spirit Art you cultivated weren’t pure, I would not have wasted my breath. I wouldn’t have even said a sentence more to you.”

“I think that we’re of the same sect then.” Qin Lie chuckled.

Qin Lie did not need Xue Li’s reminder to see the truth. Just from Bei Mo’s attitude and abnormal actions alone, he could tell.

“Although Blood Fiend Sect was destroyed more than a thousand years ago, there are still people who survived that disaster.” Bei Mo did not deny it, and with narrowed eyes, he indifferently said, “Those who survived did their best to escape from the Heavenly Calamity Continent. They switched to new identities and cultivated other spirit arts to conceal themselves, struggling to survive while afraid of being discovered.

“There are very few people who would dare to return to the Heavenly Calamity Continent, much less come to the Blood Cloud Mountain Range because, every so often, the three great families would join forces and send their experts to scour the Blood Cloud Mountain Range. Any suspicious people would be killed on the spot.”

Bei Mo looked at him with a serious expression. “I have reminded you again and again to leave this place, but you simply refuse to listen. Now that I have explained everything to you, it would be best if you immediately departed as far from Blood Cloud Mountain Range as possible. There’s no telling if the experts of the three great families will patrol this area and discover your existence. It will be too late for regrets once that happens, and just like these dried bones, you will slumber here forever.”

“Go to the seventh mountain in front of us!” Xue Li suddenly cried out. “Bring this man along!”

This briefly stunned Qin Lie, who then frowned and said, “Follow me.”

As soon as he did, he started moving faster and slipped past Bei Mo like a breeze between the mountains. He went toward the seventh mountain.

Bei Mo’s eyes were filled with doubt. After a brief moment of hesitation, he finally obeyed his curiosity and followed Qin Lie.

The Blood Cloud Mountain Range was made up of fifteen connected mountains that were each several thousand meters tall. When Blood Fiend Sect had been powerful, grand palaces were built on all fifteen mountain peaks. Many Blood Fiend Sect disciples had lived and cultivated on every mountain.

Of the fifteen, the seventh mountain was at the center of the Blood Cloud Mountain Range and was more than ten thousand meters tall. Numerous clouds circled the halfway point of the mountain and shrouded its peak.

The seventh mountain was where Blood Fiend Sect had been located. It was the main mountain where the sect master of Blood Fiend Sect had lived.

The remaining fourteen mountains surrounded the main mountain in a ringlike pattern. Blood Fiend Sect’s elders, enforcers, and disciples would live in the belly of these mountains, and there were even blood pools inside of them that the disciples would soak in to temper their blood.

At present, all fifteen mountains were devoid of human life. There was only a sea of dried bones and corpses that had decomposed after being left untouched for more than a thousand years.

The palaces atop the mountains were in shambles, and the giant caves inside the mountains were either collapsed or destroyed. The massive amount of spirit materials that had been stored inside of them had long since been stripped clean by the Silver rank forces, the Xiahou Family, the Su Family, and the Lin Family.

Rotten bones were the only things that appeared along Qin Lie’s path.

These bones were all grayish-brown in color. They did not have the jade-like sheen of a dead expert’s remains. It was obvious that the ranks of the deceased had been incredibly low.

An hour later, Qin Lie stopped at the foot of the seventh mountain where there were several thousands of grayish-brown bone remains. These bones were either disintegrating or dismembered, and a tragic aura permeated the land beneath the blood red clouds.

“Many corpses of experts were collected by the clansmen of the three great families after their bodies rotted away. The remains of an expert were as translucent as jade, and they could be used as materials in artifact forging. The remains of Nirvana Realm and Imperishable Realm martial practitioners contain huge amounts of energy and can even be used as energy sources for many great formations. The three great families naturally did not want to leave such resources untouched.”

Standing still, Bei Mo looked at the piles of bones and spoke with a thoroughly icy tone, “The corpses of these low rank martial practitioners did not meet the requirements of artifact forging. Of course they were carelessly abandoned—no one could be bothered to bury them all.”

“Go up the mountain and find a cave that leads to the belly of the mountain,” Xue Li instructed.

Thus, Qin Lie climbed up the mountain.

The seventh mountain was ten thousand meters tall. Its body was huge, and its surface was bare. Not a single plant lived on it.

After climbing three thousand meters, Qin Lie arrived at the midpoint of the mountain. Under Xue Li’s constant guidance, he headed for a cliff at the mountain’s rear.

Bei Mo followed him the entire way, the confusion in his eyes continuing to grow. He got more and more curious about Qin Lie’s actions.

Another hour passed, and Qin Lie saw many giant caves in an area that faced away from the sun.

These caves were all connected to the belly of the mountain. Qin Lie randomly selected one to enter and found that the belly of the mountain was rather wide. As usual, corpses and remains could be seen everywhere.

It was obvious that the interior of this mountain had been carefully cleaned out in the past.

Every Blood Fiend Sect martial practitioner that had lived here had probably been found and slaughtered.

“Stop!” Xue Li exclaimed.

Qin Lie’s footsteps came to a halt.

Bei Mo, who had followed him all this way, also stopped and looked at Qin Lie with bewildered eyes.

“Release me,” Xue Li said quietly.

“But he’s…” Qin Lie was surprised.

“I wish to meet him,” Xue Li said.

This was the belly of the seventh mountain. It was close to the light that came from the cave entrance, so although this place was dark, their vision was not affected too badly.

If they continued to go deeper, it would get darker and darker, eventually becoming so dark that one would not even be able to see their own fingers.

“What do you want to do?” Bei Mo asked Qin Lie.

“Someone wishes to see you.” Qin Lie narrowed his eyes and unlocked the seal inside the Soul Suppressing Orb, releasing Xue Li from his containment.

A thread of bloody light flew out of Qin Lie’s forehead. Xue Li’s fragmented soul slowly condensed to form a bloody soul wisp.

Thinking that Qin Lie was going to attack him, Bei Mo’s expression changed. He was about to subconsciously move toward the cave entrance.

“Your surname should not be Bei, but Mo, right?” Xue Li spoke in the human language. In a deep tone he asked, “Who is Mo Jun to you?”

“Who are you? How do you know my father?” Bei Mo yelled.

“You are very similar to your father.” Xue Li let out a sigh. “Is your father… still alive?”

“He is alive.” Bei Mo’s curiosity was piqued. “I am actually called Mo Bei. Who are you? Why do you only have a fragment of your soul?”

“I am Xue Li. More than a twelve hundred years ago, I was once the newly appointed sect master of Blood Fiend Sect,” Xue Li said quietly.

“Senior Xue Li!” Mo Bei screamed all of a sudden.

Xue Li stared deeply at him, saying, “I have never cultivated the evil art, and I have never harmed my own kind. I believe that your father knows this.”

“My father once told me that the person who descended into the path of evil was in fact your junior brother, Jiang Zhuzhe. Not long after you were imprisoned, Jiang Zhuzhe killed the old sect master, and in the process, the matter of him consuming human blood was quickly exposed. However, at the time there were already plenty of disciples who had been corrupted by him. There were even plenty of elders who lost their way and consumed human blood to cultivate.”

Mo Bei grew agitated as he explained in a loud voice, “It was uncontrollable! After more and more disciples discovered that they could use other people’s blood to cultivate faster, quickly accumulating their strength and rising in realm, they gradually went insane and began hunting countless martial practitioners belonging to vassal forces on the Heavenly Calamity Continent. They eventually went too far and enraged the Silver rank forces of the Land of Chaos. Blood Fiend Sect walked to its doom because of their evil deeds.”

“How many survivors are there?” Xue Li said, trembling.

“Jiang Zhuzhe brought a few trusted aides with him and actually managed to survive with Blood Escape. No one has heard about him since then, and no one knew where he went.” Mo Bei took a deep breath and said, “My father and your wife left Blood Cloud Mountain Range after the old sect master was killed. When the disaster happened to Blood Fiend Sect, they had actually been gone from the Blood Cloud Mountain Range for a very long time. That was why they managed to survive.”

“My wife! Is my wife still alive?” Xue Li’s soul began to shudder intensely.

“She is alive. In fact, you also have a daughter,” Mo Bei said softly.

Chapter 413: Half of the Blood Codex

“Lingye is still alive. Lingye is actually still alive. And I have a daughter…”

Xue Li’s bloody soul flickered in midair like a flame in the wind. He was so excited that he looked like he was about to disappear at any moment.

“Quickly, tell me of my wife Mo Lingye!”

It was only a while later that Xue Li finally regained control of his emotions. His pair of bloody eyes shone with an intimidating light as they stared straight at Mo Bei.

Mo Bei pondered for a moment before saying with a heavy expression, “Senior Xue Li, please calm down. Don’t be upset!”

Qin Lie’s eyes narrowed. He could guess from Mo Bei’s attitude that Mo Lingye’s condition was far from ideal.

“Tell me!” Xue Li’s soul appeared to have taken a deep breath. Although he didn’t need to breathe, he was doing it to rein in his emotions.

“I can accept whatever the situation might be as long as she’s still alive! It’s been more than a thousand years. After being imprisoned for such a long time and going through so many hardships, what else is there that I can’t endure?” Xue Li said with a bitter smile.

“When Aunt Mo discovered that Jiang Zhuzhe had wronged you and killed the previous sect master, she sought him out to fight a bloody battle. Jiang Zhuzhe dearly loved Aunt Mo, and during the battle he always showed mercy and never tried to actually kill her. In fact, he was preparing to imprison Aunt Mo.

“However, as they were fighting, Jiang Zhuzhe discovered that Aunt Mo was pregnant with your child. He then stopped showing mercy and went out of control, becoming insane.

“After that, Aunt Mo suffered a grievous injury. Nearly all of her nerves and blood vessels were damaged.

“It was my father who saved the severely injured Aunt Mo while Jiang Zhuzhe was still insane. He took Aunt Mo away from Blood Fiend Sect and traveled to the distant Heavenly Slaughter Continent.

“After arriving at the Heavenly Slaughter Continent, my father and a number of Blood Fiend Sect disciples who were still loyal to the old sect master had no choice but to employ the secret arts of Blood Fiend Sect, sealing Aunt Mo in a blood cocoon in order to preserve her life.

“In order to keep her life force from slipping away, Aunt Mo was only left with a simple soul consciousness inside of the blood cocoon.

“She should have been able to give birth to the child a long time ago. However, since her body was too weak and her injuries too severe, not to mention the fact that she had been sealed inside of the blood cocoon all this time, the child’s birth was delayed for more than a thousand years. She was only born twenty five years ago.

“If Aunt Mo had given up on the child and had not injected a large amount of blood energy and life force into the child’s body, Aunt Mo could actually have recovered sooner.

“However, she was determined to give birth to ‘Moyan’ even if it meant being sealed for more than a thousand years. As a result, the child was born successfully, but Aunt Mo’s condition has only worsened. Now, she can’t even form a simple consciousness, and her life force weakens every day.

“Although Aunt Mo’s body was wrapped inside of the cocoon and soaked in a special blood pool to preserve her life, her soul is so already so weak that it is incapable of communication.

“I risked entering the Heavenly Calamity Continent because I heard that a ‘Soul Mending Clover’ that is capable of gathering soul strands and mending the soul was being auctioned in the Lin Family’s Scattered Rain City. I hope to purchase it and see if it can help Aunt Mo regather her soul strands.”

Mo Bei softly sighed and thoroughly explained everything that had happened up until the present day to Xue Li.

“Jiang Zhuzhe! One day, I will devour your flesh and chew your bones!” Xue Li’s shrill howl was filled with sadness, pain, and bone-deep hatred.

“Xue Moyan was also searching for spirit herbs for Aunt Mo’s sake. She heard that the secret realm might contain some holy medicine capable of restoring the soul, so she resolved herself and will be participating in the Trial. She should’ve already made her way to the Heavenly Fissure Continent and prepared to enter the Trial.” Mo Bei was afraid that Xue Li would break under the stress, so he brought up the name of his daughter at an appropriate time to draw his attention.

It worked just as expected.

When he heard Mo Bei bring up “Xue Moyan,” Xue Li quickly regained his composure and muttered, “Her surname is Xue, which means ‘snow.’ She truly is my daughter. My original surname of Xue means snow, but since my master thought that it sounded too much like a woman’s surname, he forcefully changed it to the Xue which stood for ‘blood’ when I became his disciple…”

Xue Li changed the subject and yelled, “How is she? How is her constitution after all these years?”

“She…” Mo Bei sighed on the inside.

Xue Li grew tense and hastily asked, “She what exactly?”

“When Aunt Mo was pregnant, she was severely injured, causing the blood energy inside her to become incredibly weak. Since Aunt Mo was sealed within the blood cocoon for over a thousand years, Xue Moyan’s birth was also delayed for the same amount of time.” Mo Bei sighed deeply. “In reality, Moyan should not have survived. Aunt Mo forcefully went against the laws of the heavens by prolonging her pregnancy for more than a thousand years. Moyan’s life force gradually slipped away during that time. When she was born twenty five years ago, she was nearing her life’s end.”

“H-how can this be?” Xue Li’s roared at the top of his lungs, his soul trembling intensely.

“I do not know the exact situation, but I heard from my father that, at best, she might be able to live to thirty. She still has five years of time, and if a miracle does not happen during these five years, she will lose all of her life force at thirty years old and pass away,” Mo Bei said with a dejected look.

“I want her to live! No matter what kind of price I’ll have to pay, I want her to live as best as she can! I want both mother and daughter to be able to live peacefully!” Xue Li roared, sounding like he would tear his own heart and lungs from his chest.

“Since Blood Fiend Sect’s Blood Spirit Art had become a forbidden art, she was sent to Illusory Demon Sect of the nine great forces at a very young age. Her talents are extraordinary, and she is already at the peak of the Netherpassage Realm. This time she is the representative of Illusory Demon Sect. The members of Illusory Demon Sect know of her abnormal condition, and they also wish she will be able to have a fortuitous meeting in the Graveyard of Gods. They hope that she can cross that line… and live!” Mo Bei exclaimed in a low tone.

Inside of the cave, Xue Li constantly roared in anger, his bloody pupils filled with sadness.

A very long time later, Xue Li eventually calmed down and said, “I want to go into the Trial and see my daughter. I want to refine the Blood Progenitor’s body, and help Moyan find the holy medicine and survive this calamity!”

“Senior Xue Li, I don’t think you… will be able to enter,” Mo Bei suddenly said.

“Why not?” Xue Li’s eyes glittered with a bloody light.

“I heard that the secret realm named the ‘Graveyard of Gods’ has a soul barrier at its entrance. All martial practitioners stronger than the Netherpassage Realm, be it in soul or physical body, will not be able to pass through it,” Mo Bei said seriously. “The experts of the nine great silver rank forces once tried abandoning their physical bodies and splitting their souls to enter. They even tried using a Heaven Grade spirit artifact to hide their souls, but the barrier still prevented them from entering.”

Qin Lie momentarily froze.

Xue Li was similarly dumbfounded. “Even a Heaven Grade spirit artifact can’t help a soul pass through the entrance’s barrier?”

Mo Bei nodded with a bitter smile.

Xue Li’s bloody shadow began to intensely tremble again, showing his anxiety and worry.

Mo Bei looked at him helplessly.

Qin Lie frowned, unable to think of a better way to help Xue Li at the moment.

After a long time, Xue Li headed toward the deeper parts of the mountain. From the creeping darkness of the cave he said, “Wait for me here.”

Qin Lie and Mo Bei stayed where they were, unmoving.

“How did Senior Xue Li come to be with you?” Mo Bei asked.

“I discovered him in the spirit pattern pillars that he was sealed within…” Qin Lie gave a brief explanation of what had happened.

Mo Bei sighed deeply. “Aunt Mo was sealed inside of the blood cocoon for over a thousand years… to think that senior Xue Li went through the same thing. Sigh. The once prosperous Blood Fiend Sect, the ruler of the Heavenly Calamity Continent, has been gone for a long time, and its three lowly vassal forces have become the kings of this land instead. This is truly unbearable.”

“I will rebuild Blood Fiend Sect!” Xue Li’s voice echoed from deep within the caves.

Xue Li’s soul shrouded a bone fragment that resembled a bloody jade, suspending it above Qin Lie’s head.

“Keep this,” Xue Li instructed Qin Lie through his soul.

Qin Lie did not even so much as glance at the translucent bone fragment when he raised his hand, grabbed it, and stored it inside of his spatial ring.

“Mo Bei, please leave for a moment. There’s something I need to talk to him about,” Xue Li said.

Mo Bei respectfully walked out.

“What I gave you is the first volume of the Blood Codex, the very foundation of Blood Fiend Sect. Not only does it document the pure, complete version of the Blood Spirit Art, it also contains all kinds of offensive skills and extraordinary blood formations that complement the Blood Spirit Art!” Xue Li had somehow managed to dig half of the Blood Codex out of the cave. His eyes glittering with a bloody light, he solemnly said, “It is said that the Blood Codex was written on a piece of bone from the Blood Progenitor himself. Do not let its size fool you—the words stored inside of it are as plentiful as the stars, and its secrets are immeasurable!”

“Why did you give this to me?” Qin Lie asked softly.

“Even if I am not by your side, you will be able to use this to cultivate the greatest spirit art of the Blood Fiend Sect. This item should also help you collect the Blood Progenitor’s body!” Xue Li said seriously.

“Are you going to leave my side?” Qin Lie came to a realization.

“Since I cannot enter the Graveyard of Gods with you, I can only leave for a while. I think it is time that I see my wife anyway.” Xue Li’s tone was sad. “If you meet my daughter within the Graveyard of Gods, I hope that you will do your best to help her. As for whether or not you tell her about us… that is up to you.”

Qin Lie nodded quietly.

“Put down the spirit materials you gathered back then to build the teleportation formation. I will have Mo Bei carry them. Once we reach the Heavenly Slaughter Continent, I will attempt to connect to the ultimate blood ground.” Xue Li looked at the walls of the cave and sighed. “I originally wanted to build the teleportation formation here. Unfortunately, the three great families probably won’t allow it, so I’ll have to settle for a different place. When you’ve obtained the Blood Progenitor’s body for me and I’ve refined it into my main body, we will consider rebuilding Blood Fiend Sect and the Blood Cloud Mountain Range.”

“How will I find you after I exit the Trial?” Qin Lie asked.

“It should be fine if you just talk with Mo Bei and confirm a location later on,” Xue Li said.

“Alright. Take care of yourself.” Qin Lie pressed the spatial ring and took out the Phantasm Stones, Froststar Stones, Fate Crystals, Ethereal Jades, and the fresh blood of Scarlet Spirit Turtle, putting them on the ground.

“Qin Lie! If you meet my daughter when you enter the Graveyard of Gods, you must take care of her on my behalf!” Xue Li requested solemnly.

“Mn.”

Chapter 414: Lost Contact

Xue Li followed Mo Bei and left.

Mo Bei was originally going to Scattered Rain City to help Xue Li’s wife, Mo Lingye, by buying the Soul Mending Clover. Since Xue Li could not enter the Graveyard of Gods with Qin Lie and also desperately wanted to see his wife, he simply left after they agreed on where to meet up in the future.

Once Xue Li and Mo Bei left, Qin Lie sat in the belly of the seventh mountain alone. After some thought, he took out the half of the Blood Codex that Xue Li had given him.

The bone fragment was the size of a palm.

It was extremely heavy and was translucent while it shone with a bloody glow, as if it had been forged from carnelian.

According to Xue Li’s explanation, this half of the Blood Codex had been written on a small piece of the Blood Progenitor’s bone. The secret arts of Blood Fiend Sect were stored it, and its mysteries were difficult to fathom.

Qin Lie attempted to put a wisp of his mind consciousness into the Blood Codex.

“Boom!”

A shiny ball of bloody light gushed out of the bone fragment, pushing his mind consciousness away from it.

His wisp of consciousness was actually unable to seep into the fragment.

“Huh!”

Softly crying out, Qin Lie’s eyes quietly lit up as he channeled the Blood Spirit Art.

The thick scent of blood spread from his pores and formed a thin blood mist. Then he gathered refined blood energy into his mind consciousness.

Qin Lie once again attempted to soak his consciousness into the Blood Codex!

He did not encounter any obstacles this time, and his mind consciousness slipped straight into the Blood Codex like a long thread of blood.

He suddenly found himself falling toward a sea of bloody symbols.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

The hundreds of thousands of bloody symbols and words inside of the blood bone resembled red, translucent gemstones, yet they flew like bloody butterflies and spirit birds.

The bloody symbols were of fantastic oddities of every description. Furthermore, they constantly transformed, making them truly difficult to fathom.

As he floated amidst the sea of bloody symbols, Qin Lie felt a large amount of information flood into his mind, all of it rebounding toward the True Soul in his Soul Lake.

“Blood Arts: Explode!”

“Blood Arts: Soul Shackle!”

“Blood Weeping Ghost Claw!”

“Blood Demon Art!”

Qin Lie’s mind consciousness lingered within the sea of bloody symbols. Memories and thoughts leaped into his mind like numerous bloody lights, allowing him to learn the numerous cultivation secrets of Blood Fiend Sect.

“This truly is amazing!”

Qin Lie focused his mind and allowed himself to freely soar through the sea of bloody symbols, examining the many magical spirit arts of the blood.

“Blood Spirit Art! Blood Spirit Art!”

Thousands of giant symbols that resembled translucent gemstones formed a distinct river of blood amidst the bloody sea. The sanguine symbols flipped and turned as if someone were flipping a book.

Qin Lie concentrated and learned.

Time swiftly passed.

An unknown amount of time later, Qin Lie gradually awakened as his eyes, which had been closed, opened.

Very carefully, he stored the translucent bloody bone back into his spatial ring. He wore a complicated expression on his face.

“Cultivation of the Blood Spirit Art is pretty dangerous. No wonder Jiang Zhuzhe and the others fell to evil ways,” Qin Lie muttered with a serious expression.

To put it bluntly, cultivation of the Blood Spirit Art was the condensation of one’s blood and the use blood energy to temper one’s bones, nerves, and flesh. Not only did it allow the practitioner to possess a powerful physique, it also allowed their blood to store a terrifying amount of energy.

The method of speeding up the cultivation of the Blood Spirit Art and building the blood pools were recorded in that half of the Blood Codex. After filling a blood pool with the blood of spirit beasts and adding all kinds of spirit herbs, a practitioner could soak their body in it and absorb the essence of the blood energy within the pool, gradually merging the essence with their own. This tempered their body, enhanced their blood energy, refined their blood…

This was the regular way one would cultivate the Blood Spirit Art.

The blood of spirit beasts did not contain a tangled mess of memories and thought fragments. The cultivation method recorded inside of the Blood Codex used blood pools and added spirit herbs to them to clean the worthless residual thought fragments in the blood, giving them a miraculous blood purifying effect.

Through this method, the practitioner would not absorb the thought fragments and diverse memories when tempering their body with blood energy, enhancing the spirit energy of their blood.

As a result of this, they would not experience a fiendish rebound, lose control when channeling the Blood Spirit Art, or lose their sanity.

On the other hand, the path that Jiang Zhuzhe and his people walked was a shortcut.

—They did not rely on blood pools or the blood of spirit beasts. Instead, they absorbed blood directly from a martial practitioner’s body!

In fact, to a disciple of Blood Fiend Sect, the fresh blood of a human was more suitable for cultivation compared to the fresh blood of a spirit beast. The fresh blood of a human did not need to be purified by spirit herbs, cultivated with a blood pool, or absorbed through one’s pores. A disciple could just drink it like water.

Blood from one human was similar to another’s, after all, but beast’s blood wasn’t. Therefore, it needed to be purified through a complicated process.

While using human blood was more preferable than beast blood, doing so also had a huge flaw—humans were highly intelligent, and their blood contained many thought fragments, confusing memories, and negative emotions.

Although directly absorbing human blood for cultivation purposes could swiftly increase one’s strength, it also meant that one would absorb thought fragments, memories, and negative emotions into their own blood.

The more human blood a practitioner absorbed, the more thought fragments, memories, and negative emotions they would accumulate.

The impurities inside of Jiang Zhuzhe’s and Jiang Tianxing’s bodies caused them to lose control of their bodies during battle. When the thought fragments, memories, and negative emotions within one’s blood erupted, they would take direct control of the practitioner’s body, leading to the host itself being controlled by blood!

According to the accounts in this half of the Blood Codex, the people who cultivated using this method would accumulate more and more thought fragments, memories, and negative emotions inside of their blood. In fact, they could even give birth to a terrible blood soul. As the blood soul grew stronger and stronger, it would ultimately devour their own cultivator and replace the main soul of the body.

When that happened, the person who cultivated this type of Blood Spirit Art would no longer be themselves. In fact, they would no longer even be considered human. They will have completely transformed into a “Blood Demon”!

This cultivation method meant that the practitioner would ultimately cultivate to the point of completely losing themselves. It was the same as breeding a monster with a confused soul in their own blood that would ultimately devour them.

This was a tragic ending. However, the moment that a cultivator fell to this evil path, discovering that this cultivation method would allow them to improve at a ridiculous speed, they wouldn’t be able to control their thirst for human blood.

Just like being hooked on drugs, they would forever lose themselves in the act.

After clarifying the differences between the two types of cultivation arts, Qin Lie made up his mind to never cultivate by directly absorbing human blood. He had no intention of losing himself and being devoured by a blood soul, ultimately turning into a blood demon.

He did not know if Jiang Zhuzhe and the others were aware of this consequence. He also did not know what their reaction would be if they realized that they would lose their soul if they cultivated this path to the very end.

Qin Lie was not in a hurry to leave.

In the belly of the mountain, he researched and tested the many secret arts that were meant to complement the Blood Spirit Art, such as Blood Arts: Explode, Blood Arts: Soul Shackle, Blood Weeping Ghost Claw, and Blood Arts: Escape, attempting to simplify them.

Ten days later, he understood how to unleash them and etched them deep into his memory. Only then did he leave the Blood Cloud Mountain Range.

Qin Lie rode the Cloud Sailboat on a scheduled return journey and went back to Black Jade City.

He returned to Black Jade City about ten days later and headed to the small house in North City.

He hadn’t even gotten close to the house before he came to a stop with a grim face.

Numerous martial practitioners were gathered around the house. Many people were whispering and gesturing toward it.

Qin Lie said nothing, staying a fair distance away from the crowd and listening to their conversation.

As he learned more and more about what happened, he grew quieter by the second.

He eventually understood what was going on.

Not long after he left, some martial practitioners in North City were attracted by the beauty of Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, and Tang Siqi and attempted to humiliate them by sneaking in at night.

A bloody battle erupted immediately afterward.

During the battle, Feng Rong unleashed the Blood Spirit Art and slaughtered many of the attackers.

She did not know that the Blood Spirit Art was a forbidden art in the Heavenly Calamity Continent. When someone recognized the Blood Spirit Art she cultivated, they immediately screamed.

Soon enough, Feng Rong realized from the screams that the Blood Spirit Art was considered an evil art and that anyone who used it would be mercilessly killed.

She also learned from those people just how merciless the Xiahou Family, the Su Family, and the Lin Family of the Heavenly Calamity Continent were toward the people who cultivated Blood Spirit Arts.

Feng Rong panicked.

After realizing the truth, they killed all of the attackers and escaped using the Xiahou Family’s teleportation formation before they could react.

Not long after they left, some people arrived and recognized that the severe injuries of the deceased were marks unique to the Blood Spirit Art.

These people immediately reported this to the Xiahou Family.

As a result, the elites of the Xiahou Family in Black Jade City immediately mobilized to search the entire city for Feng Rong and her group.

They quickly discovered that, while they were still unaware of everything, Feng Rong and the others had already left the Heavenly Calamity Continent through the teleportation formation. They had gone to the Heavenly Fissure Continent.

The Xiahou Family, the Su Family, and the Lin Family sent many martial practitioners, who were said to have also gone to the Heavenly Fissure Continent, to kill Feng Rong’s group to the last person.

After quietly listening for a moment, Qin Lie shrank into a hidden corner and put on the fox skin mask. Then he quietly left the area.

He prepared ready to leave the Heavenly Calamity Continent as soon as possible.

However, not long after Song Tingyu and the others were forced to leave, Qin Lie encountered a problem—he did not have enough spirit stones to teleport to the Heavenly Fissure Continent.

It costed one thousand Earth Grade spirit stones to teleport to the Heavenly Fissure Continent using the teleportation formation here. However, Qin Lie only had about two hundred Earth Grade spirit stones in his spatial ring.

Song Tingyu was originally going to pay for him, so he had not paid much attention to the matter.

Since Song Tingyu and the others had left in a hurry and the Trial in the Graveyard of Gods was about to start, Qin Lie needed to gather enough spirit stones as soon as possible to leave this place.

After spending a day’s time, he figured out that another group of people had harbored ill will toward Tang Siqi and the others.

When these people rushed to the house during the latter half of the night that Tang Siqi and the others were attacked, they discovered that another group of people had gotten ahead of them. However, this first group of people had been killed. It was the second group of people who noticed the traces of the Blood Spirit Art on the bodies and reported the news to the Xiahou Family, receiving three thousand Earth Grade spirit stones as reward.

At midnight, Qin Lie visited these people at the house in North City.

An explosion roared in the dead of night, engulfing the house. Four Terminator Profound Bombs had blown that group of martial practitioners into smithereens.

Qin Lie then took their spatial rings and quietly left.

He had acquired funds to pay for his journey to the Heavenly Fissure Continent.

Chapter 415: Floating Island

At the Heavenly Fissure Continent.

A stalwart figure abruptly appeared from the blossoming light of a large-scale, altar-shaped teleportation formation.

“Are you here to participate in the Trial, sir?” At a corner of the teleportation formation, a Fragmentation Realm martial practitioner with the burning furnace emblem of Celestial Artifact Sect sewn into the chest area of his clothing asked loudly.

Qin Lie lowered his head, looked at him, and said, “Yes.”

“Which force do you represent?”

“Heavenly Sword Mountain.”

“Please produce your token and allow me to have a look.”

Qin Lie raised his sword token.

After glancing at it and probing it with his soul consciousness, the practitioner nodded slightly and said, “Stand there and don’t move. I will send you to the Trial’s location.”

Qin Lie stood in silence.

He realized that he did not need to pay a single spirit stone to teleport from the Heavenly Wither Continent to the Heavenly Calamity Continent.

This was because the sword token he held represented Heavenly Sword Mountain, and the large-scale teleportation formation in the Heavenly Wither Continent was under Heavenly Sword Mountain’s control. Therefore, a Heavenly Sword Mountain participant could use the teleportation formation without paying.

The teleportation formation in Black Jade City was controlled by the Xiahou Family. Since Qin Lie wasn’t a member of the Xiahou Family, he had to pay one thousand Earth Grade spirit stones to use it.

The teleportation formation in the Heavenly Fissure Continent belonged to Celestial Artifact Sect.

Since Celestial Artifact Sect was the main organizer of the current Trial, the teleportation of participants became their duty. As a result of this, he was not required to pay any spirit stones.

As he pondered, Qin Lie was flooded by a strong light. Amidst dizziness and the colorful bursts of light, he was teleported away yet again.

When he appeared once more, he discovered that he was on a giant island. The island was noisy, filled with crowds of martial practitioners from all kinds of forces.

“Come out!” a Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioner yelled.

Qin Lie stepped out of the teleportation formation and examined his surroundings with narrowed eyes. He looked at the martial practitioners of the nine great Silver rank forces who were here to participate in the Trial.

Qin Lie wanted to seek out Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan to confirm their circumstances. He wished to know if Gao Yu and the others were safe and sound.

“Qin Lie!”

Candid laughter suddenly rang in his ears, causing his body to abruptly shake.

He turned around and saw a lazy figure behind him. A large wolf that was white as snow crouched beside the man—it was the Icestone Snow Wolf King.

“Uncle Li!” Qin Lie yelled.

Li Mu nodded with a smile and beckoned to him, “Come with me.”

Qin Lie excitedly followed.

The large wolf’s snow white fur glowed with a translucent, gentle light. Its eyes were filled with intelligence. It also appeared to be much more majestic than before.

The Icestone Snow Wolf King had become even stronger.

Qin Lie was currently in a giant plaza on the island. There were all sorts of martial practitioners gathered in the plaza, and all of them were looking at a jade platform several hundred meters tall with excitement.

All of the people were in heated discussion.

“Each of the nine great forces produced three Earth Grade spirit artifacts, three spirit pills, and three spirit armors as rewards for this Trial! That’s a total of twenty seven treasures. Any participants who manage to survive the Graveyard of Gods will be eligible to receive some of these twenty seven treasures!”

“That’s right! As long as they are able to hold out for a year, not only will anyone who exits the Graveyard of Gods a year later be able to claim anything from the Graveyard of Gods as their own, they will also be able to acquire some of the twenty seven treasures!”

“As the main organizer of this event, Celestial Artifact Sect has produced three Earth Grade Five spirit artifacts! This includes a Specter Jadeflame Shuttle, a Lunar Fulfillment Ring, and a Demon Slaying Blade. These are things that many Fragmentation Realm martial practitioners desire!”

“Ten Thousand Beast Mountain also wasn’t stingy. They offered three Rank Six spirit beasts, all tamed. The first beast is a Rank Six Golden Winged Luan that can travel fifty thousand miles a day. The second beast is a Blue Blooded Qilin that has extraordinary combat abilities. The third beast is a Fire Crow King that can command thousands of Fire Crows. Even in Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, these three Rank Six spirit beasts are rare creatures. They truly aren’t afraid to splurge!”

“Heavenly Sword Mountain has also taken out three precious Earth Grade swords. The sword will of each sword is said to be able to communicate with spirits. These are also incredibly precious treasures!”

“The Terminator Sect has produced three ‘Seven Apertures Mind Nurturing Pills.’ It is said that they are capable of nurturing one’s True Soul and have an amazing effect on the growth and recovery of one’s True Soul!”

“The three rare sets of armor from the Illusory Demon Sect are also incredibly precious.”

“……”

The martial practitioners were deep in discussion as they excitedly stared at the tall jade platform.

Qin Lie looked up and realized that the jade platform was wrapped in layers of rainbow light. Many shiny spirit artifacts, sets of spirit armor, and spirit pills kept in jade vases were atop of the platform.

Since the three spirit beasts from Ten Thousand Beast Mountain were living things, they were kept somewhere else and looked after by specialists.

Hearing the discussions, Qin Lie was similarly moved and shocked by the generosity of the nine great Silver rank forces.

Normally speaking, a Profound Grade spirit artifact and spirit armor was enough for martial practitioners in the Manifestation or Netherpassage Realms.

Earth Grade spirit artifacts were meant solely for Fulfillment Realm and Fragmentation Realm martial practitioners. Netherpassage Realm martial practitioners weren’t able to unleash the essence and power of an Earth Grade spirit artifact.

For example, even though Qin Lie had acquired the twelve spirit pattern pillars, he wasn’t able to use all of them. To this day, he still couldn’t unleash the magics of the Universal Celestial Sealing Formation.

However, a Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner would eventually step into the Fulfillment Realm and the Fragmentation Realm one day. They would have to purchase Earth Grade spirit artifacts when that happened.

It was very common for a normal Earth Grade spirit artifact to cost around several tens of thousands of Earth Grade spirit stones. Only martial practitioners of powerful families could possibly own an Earth Grade spirit artifact.

Many disciples of the nine great forces would not be able to obtain a suitable Earth Grade spirit artifact without the accumulated wealth of their fathers and ancestors.

For this Trial, the nine great Silver rank forces had produced three Earth Grade spirit artifacts, three Earth Grade spirit pills, three Rank Six spirit beasts, and three sets of rare Earth Grade armor. It could be considered a most generous offer.

All the youths of the nine great forces who were confident in their own strength still decided to participate in the Trial in spite of knowing about its risks and extremely high mortality rate.

—They had all been blinded by the twenty seven treasures.

“Alright, that’s enough. If you survive a year in the Graveyard of Gods, at least one of these twenty seven treasures will belong to you,” Li Mu turned around and yelled with a smile. He said, “Come on, your friends are waiting for you.”

“My friends…” Qin Lie’s eyes suddenly lit up.

After that, Qin Lie’s footsteps sped up. The two of them quickly left the central plaza of the island and arrived in a secluded place.

“Let’s go!”

Holding Qin Lie’s arm, Li Mu instantly vanished into the air above the island like a soaring blade.

Deep within the clouds.

An island that was several tens of thousands of acres wide quietly floated within a sea of clouds.

On it there were bejeweled jade palaces, white jade palaces, celestial cranes, spirit turtles, and clear streams. It resembled a paradise or a dreamland.

“This is my flying spirit artifact, Floating Island. I personally prefer silence, so there are very few people here.” Li Mu smiled and landed on the island.

Qin Lie jumped down from the clouds and landed on the island. His eyes were filled with amazement that he was not afraid to voice, “Uncle Li, just what is the grade of your flying spirit artifact? This is infinitely better than Profound Heaven Alliance’s Flowing Gold Firecloud Tent or Joyful Union Sect’s crystalline war chariot!”

“Compared to this Floating Island, our Profound Heaven Alliance’s Flowing Gold Firecloud Tent is practically out of fashion.” Song Tingyu’s figure appeared from inside of a white jade palace.

“Senior Li.”

“Senior Li.”

Gao Yu and Xie Jingxuan both emerged from two luxurious palaces beside Song Tingyu’s.

When they saw Li Mu, their expressions were respectful, and their eyes contained sincerity.

They had suddenly been found by Li Mu when they were being hunted down by the Xiahou Family in the Heavenly Fissure Continent.

There had been a Fragmentation Realm expert among the people who came after them at the time. They couldn’t see any hope for survival.

The floating island had appeared amidst thick clumps of clouds and white fog during a critical moment.

Li Mu took them up onto the island and sneakily slipped away while the Fragmentation Realm martial practitioner from the Xiahou Family was disoriented.

“Where are Mo Hai and the others?” Qin Lie asked.

“They were not qualified to participate in the Trial, so I did not bring them here. Don’t worry, they’re somewhere safe,” Li Mu explained with a smile.

“Thank you, Uncle Li.” Qin Lie bowed and thanked him sincerely.

Li Mu waved his hands to indicate that Qin Lie did not need to be so polite, then led the group to the palace at the center of the island.

“Come, sit down.” Li Mu smiled.

The group sat on a warm white jade futon inside of the white jade palace and looked at him.

“Gao Yu, you got a participation token?” Qin Lie asked in surprise.

“Mm. I got a token from a pursuer from the Xiahou family. It has ‘Xiahou’ inscribed on it.” Gao Yu nodded slightly.

“Kid, you seem to have caused quite the commotion on the Scarlet Tide Continent, haven’t you?” Li Mu said, taking out a wine jug with a smile and serving himself. Not only did he not look angry, he even appeared to admire Qin Lie.

“The only reason I accepted you at Li’s Shop at that time was because I thought the spirit diagrams you inscribed were quite interesting. I never would have thought that your courage would rival the heavens, and that your luck would be just as extraordinary. You were actually able to come to an understanding with a clan of the Horned Demon Race in the Nether Realm and even forcefully teleported them to the Nether Continent.”

Li Mu smiled and said, “I gave you the Eye of Frost in hopes that you would one day unseal the Giant Spirit Race. I thought that it would take you at least a dozen years or so to achieve that, but who would’ve thought you would do it in just five or six. Haha, I really owe you one.”

“You owe me one?” Qin Lie was surprised.

“Haha.” Li Mu smiled and did not answer.

Without Qin Lie, Li Mu would not have been able to earn the trust of the Horned Demon Race and establish a trade route with them.

This alone greatly enhanced Heavenly Sword Mountain’s strength. It allowed Heavenly Sword Mountain to acquire a stable trading partner, and also allowed them to trade for a lot of extraordinary items that were unique to the Nether Realm.

Nether Hell Demonic Fruit, Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus, and Black Jade Soul Essence weren’t things that could be bought with spirit stones. It was exactly because they had acquired the Horned Demon Race’s trust that Heavenly Sword Mountain had managed to acquire some of them through trading.

Of course, Li Mu did not tell Qin Lie about such sensitive details.

“Return the Eye of Frost to me, and I will give you a jade token. This jade token belongs to a friend of mine who asked me to unseal the Giant Spirit Race. By helping me achieve this, he now owes you a favor. If you encounter danger in the future, you can use this jade token to seek him out.”

Li Mu handed Qin Lie a jade token and said, “Unlike me, this fellow is a free man. I belong to Heavenly Sword Mountain. As a result, I cannot act without considering many things beforehand. He isn’t afraid to offend others. As long as you are in the Land of Chaos, no matter how much trouble you encounter, none will dare to kill you as long as he is by your side.”

Li Mu paused and grinned, saying, “Even if the fact that you cultivate the Blood Spirit Art were exposed, as long as you are able to seek him out with the jade token, not even the nine great Silver rank forces would dare to harm you.”

Chapter 416: The Top Nine Genius Ringers!

Before Qin Lie could answer, Song Tingyu and the other two were the first to cry out with surprised looks on their faces.

After experiencing the huge change at Black Jade City, they understood the situation and knew that any martial practitioners who cultivated the Blood Spirit Art would be met with deadly force if they dared to operate in the Land of Chaos.

The elites of the Xiahou Family, the Su Family, and the Lin Family had chased them all the way from the Heavenly Calamity Continent to the Heavenly Fissure Continent after they discovered that Feng Rong used the Blood Spirit Art. They pursued and bit at them like rabid dogs.

Those who cultivated the Blood Spirit Art were every continent’s common enemy. All of them needed to be exterminated.

And Li Mu had just given Qin Lie a jade token and said that, even if the fact that he was cultivating the Blood Spirit Art were exposed, the nine great Silver rank forces would not dare to harm him as long as he could find that person and make use of the token.

Was this person so powerful that even the nine great Silver rank forces had to give him face?

Qin Lie was secretly shocked on the inside.

He looked downward and carefully examined the palm-sized jade token. A hornless dragon was inscribed into the front of it, clawing and biting. A violent, overbearing aura radiated from it, making people regard it with fearful respect.

The back of the token was inscribed with just a single ancient word—”Duan.”

However, this word alone was capable of causing pain to one’s eyes. It could make them feel uncomfortable, as if needles were piercing their entire body.

—It had an edge to it that was as sharp as a blade.

In Qin Lie’s senses, several bolts of light abruptly exploded from the word “Duan” and spread in every direction.

When he closed his eyes and used only his True Soul to look at it, he discovered that the word on the jade token resembled a blazing sun through the lens of his soul perception. It shone with rays of harsh, dazzling, divine light.

Qin Lie hastily stored the jade token into his spatial ring, and with a look of lingering fear, he softly said, “What a powerful mind consciousness!”

“Hehe, that person is even harder to locate than I am. If he hadn’t left a powerful soul intent on the jade token, it would be impossible for you to find him,” Li Mu said with a smile.

“How am I going to find him then?” Qin Lie was surprised.

“It’s pretty simple.” Li Mu sipped a mouthful of wine and smiled. “If you find yourself at a dead end one day, take out the jade token. Use a wisp of refined soul consciousness to enter it, then speak your name and explain your predicament.”

“And then?” Qin Lie was very interested.

“Then he will help you solve your predicament,” Li Mu instructed. After that he smiled and said, “But you must remember that this jade token can only save you once.”

Qin Lie nodded, pondering for a moment. Then he changed the subject and asked, “Blood Fiend Sect’s Jiang Zhuzhe and his son Jiang Tianxing have close ties with Celestial Artifact Sect. Furthermore, Jiang Tianxing is a disciple of Celestial Artifact Sect. They are the true masterminds behind the the Blood Spirit Art incident. Is their involvement really unknown to everyone?’

Song Tingyu and the other two were surprised, growing curious.

Li Mu frowned and thought for a moment before answering, “This is a complicated matter that also involves quite a few parties. It’s not that nobody cultivates the Blood Spirit Art in the Land of Chaos. They are just very careful and would not recklessly reveal it. As for you… well, just be careful and try your best not to use it in front of someone. If you do, make sure you leave no trace of it…”

Qin Lie was shocked.

“Alright, that’s enough thinking. Just prepare for the Trial,” Li Mu said with a lazy expression.

“Uncle Li, my grandfather…” Qin Lie started saying once more.

“Hoho.” Li Mu smiled again. “I arranged for you to participate in the Trial specifically because of this matter.”

Qin Lie immediately became attentive.

“The martial practitioner who entered the Graveyard of Gods went insane, and his soul quickly diminished afterwards. The people of Celestial Artifact Sect isolated his memories and sealed them inside of a Memory Fragment Crystal so that they could be viewed by all parties…” Li Mu’s expression turned serious. “I was one of the lucky ones who were allowed to examine that Memory Fragment Crystal, but I didn’t find anything extraordinary in it. Little Ice, however, discovered something.”

Qin Lie looked around but did not see the Icestone Snow Wolf King. It was probably still at the island on the ground below.

“Where is your wooden sculpture?” Li Mu suddenly changed the subject.

Slightly confused, Qin Lie took out his wooden sculpture.

Li Mu did not ask to see it. Instead, he just glanced at it from afar before saying, “Is your grandfather the one who carved that wooden sculpture?”

Qin Lie nodded.

Li Mu went silent.

“What’s going on, Uncle Li?” Qin Lie quickly asked.

“In the Memory Fragment Crystal, I saw a corpse that was covered in dense fog. The corpse’s face was indiscernible, but beside the corpse was that same exact wooden sculpture. It was the same size as the one in your hands and looked just like it, so it should have also been carved by your grandfather.” Li Mu frowned. “I do not recognize the wooden sculpture, but Little Ice does…”

Qin Lie went pale as fear promptly appeared from deep within his eyes. “That’s impossible. That couldn’t possibly be my grandfather. That can’t be…”

“As I said, the corpse’s face was indiscernible and it might not actually be your grandfather,” Li Mu pointed out, sighing softly. “However, it did have a wooden sculpture that was identical to yours. If he isn’t your grandfather, then in my opinion, he must be related to him in some way. In light of this, I summoned you to the Land of Chaos to participate in the Trial to get to the bottom of this.”

“It can’t be him! It definitely isn’t him!” Qin Lie shook his head repeatedly. “Anyone above the Fulfillment Realm cannot enter that Graveyard of Gods. All of you have tried! My grandfather is definitely stronger than the Fulfillment Realm. If he can’t even enter, how could he possibly be inside?”

“That corpse definitely isn’t new. It has definitely been there for many years already.” Li Mu nodded.

“Qin Lie, it hasn’t been more than ten years since your grandfather left, has it?” Song Tingyu once carefully investigated Ling Town and Herb Mountain. She knew that it hadn’t been long since Qin Shan left Qin Lie, which was why she interrupted the conversation.

Qin Lie, who had suddenly become anxious and worried, gradually calmed down. After sorting out his thoughts, he relaxed once more and nodded. “It is not my grandfather.”

“Mn. It is probably just related to your grandfather.” Li Mu looked at him seriously. Then, with narrowed eyes, he gently said, “The corpse is not your grandfather, yet whoever it is had your grandfather’s wooden sculpture and has been dead for many years. In that case, your grandfather… has definitely lived for a very long time. He might be older than Heavenly Sword Mountain.”

“I will go and find out!” Qin Lie exclaimed solemnly.

“The Trial will begin in five days. Once it does, you guys can go in together,” Li Mu said with a smile. “You can still stay on my floating island for five days. Once the time is up, I will send you to the entrance. The rewards for this Trial are pretty impressive, so work hard, everyone.”

“If we survive for a year, will we obtain the rewards?” Song Tingyu asked.

Li Mu nodded. “Those who come out alive can take some of the twenty seven treasures. The less people there are, the more they get.”

“They are encouraging the participants to slaughter each other,” Xie Jingxuan said calmly.

“It has always been like this.” Li Mu frowned. “Say your prayers and watch your backs. Since you’ve decided to participate, you must be prepared to be killed. Less than ten percent of the participants survived the previous Trial.”

Everyone’s expressions changed slightly.

“Rest well and prepare yourselves for the bloody feast in five days. If you come out alive, you may become a core disciple of Heavenly Sword Mountain if you want.” Li Mu smiled. “Even if you do not join Heavenly Sword Mountain, proving yourself in the Trial means that you will be known throughout the Land of Chaos and be able to choose to join any great Silver rank forces you like.”

Once he said this, Li Mu leisurely stood up and left the four of them to converse amongst themselves.

“What have all of you learned about this Trial?” Qin Lie asked.

“How did you fare at Blood Fiend Sect?” Song Tingyu asked.

“Oh, it was nothing.” Qin Lie gave an ambiguous answer and asked, “Did you guys figure out who the important participants from the nine great Silver rank forces are?”

“Of course.” Song Tingyu smiled beautifully.

“The genius ringer of Heavenly Sword Mountain is that Luo Chen guy we met on Sea Moon Island. He seems to be the grandson of one of the five Heavenly Swords, Luo Nan. This guy is a sword arts genius, and it is rumored that his body contained a harsh sword intent from the moment he was born. A person like him who was born with natural sword intent is practically a monster, and at the peak of the Netherpassage Realm, Luo Chen will be a character that’s extremely difficult to deal with.

“On the side of Black Magus Cult, the leader of their participants is called Ye Yihao. This person is skilled in the mysterious, eerie voodoo arts of the Black Magus Cult. It is rumored that, when he was just in the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm, he once used a bizarre voodoo art to make three Fulfillment Realm experts bleed from their seven orifices all at once and die! What’s scary is that the three were five hundred kilometers away from him at the time. They never realized who killed them, not even at the moment of their deaths.

“The leader of Illusory Demon Sect’s participants is called Xue Moyan. This woman is skilled in the illusory arts of Illusory Demon Sect, and it is rumored that she can transform herself into a dozen different appearances. This woman is the scariest out of all of them. Not only can she transform whenever she wants, she can even transform her soul aura, her mind intent, and even her smell to be exactly the same as that of the person she chooses to impersonate. If we meet her after getting scattered, she would be able to transform into anyone of us and assassinate us when our guard is down. She could kill us, and we would never know that she was the one who attacked us.

“The proud son of the Terminator Sect is called Chu Li. This person has a terrible temper, and he always carries a large number of Terminator Profound Bombs with him. It is said that the Terminator Profound Bombs he uses can kill even Fragmentation Realm martial practitioners. He is extremely dangerous. If he gets angry, everyone within a radius of a few kilometers could be blasted to smithereens.

“The Xiahou Family’s Xiahou Yuan, the Su Family’s Su Yan, and the Lin Family’s Lin Dongxing might be weaker than those people. The period in which the three great families ascended to become Silver rank forces was too short after all, and their accumulated wealth is lacking compared to that of the others. However, these three great families are similar to Profound Heaven Alliance in that they are quite united. In fact, Xiahou Yuan, Su Yan, and Lin Dongxing grew up together, and the three of them have a solid alliance. If they are together, then they truly won’t be afraid of anyone.

“The participant of Celestial Artifact Sect is called Feng Yiyou. He has a boatload of artifacts on him at all times, and it is said that all ten of his fingers are decked out in spatial rings. His father, Feng Yi, is Celestial Artifact Sect’s sect master, and he loves his son to death. It is said that Feng Yiyou is literally armed to the teeth. Anyone who encounters him will probably be turned into dust by his spirit artifacts.

“Ten Thousand Beast Mountain’s participant is called Yu Men. Since he was young, he has been capable of communicating with spirit beasts using his soul and commanding them to do his bidding. The spirit art he cultivates is extremely special, allowing him to transform into a beast with an extremely tough body. Furthermore, he can summon a spirit animal from his body to fight with him. He is famous for being a difficult character to deal with.”

The more Song Tingyu explained to Qin Lie, the worse her expression became. She had a feeling that the light at the end of the tunnel had disappeared.

“These are the elite ringers that are the hopes of the nine great Silver rank forces. They are all at the peak of the Netherpassage Realm!” Xie Jingxuan added. “It is rumored that any one of them, even the weaker Xiahou Yuan, Su Yan, and Lin Dongxing possess the strength to battle those beyond their realm!”

“They don’t just ‘possess’ the strength to battle those beyond their realm. They really can!” Song Tingyu smiled bitterly. “I’ve checked with people. Before these nine participants were chosen, they had to go through many stages of selection. Furthermore, these nine participants battled early and middle stage Fulfillment Realm martial practitioners within their sect. Apparently those freaks were actually victorious! That is how they managed to secure their core positions!”

Chapter 417: Things Unknown

Five days later.

The floating island moved toward the islands in the sea below at a steady rate.

Qin Lie and the others had taken five days of rest on the floating island. Each of them honed themselves, using the spirit stones, pills, and medicines to get in their best condition.

They did not need to worry that others would spy on them here, so Qin Lie dared to cultivate the Blood Spirit Art and tried to use the strange methods recorded in the Blood Codex.

“Your token was obtained from a dead Xiahou Family member. The Xiahou Family could recognize you. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, do not be in a hurry to enter. Wait for the participants of the Xiahou Family, the Lin Family, and the Su Family to enter before you,” Li Mu said softly.

“Wouldn’t they be mistakenly believed to have cultivated the Blood Spirit Art, Uncle Li?” Qin Lie asked.

Song Tingyu and the others had been staying with Feng Rong. Feng Rong’s Blood Spirit Art had been discovered, so Song Tingyu and the others might be considered remnants of Blood Fiend Sect.

“It’s fine.” Li Mu smiled. “They haven’t really cultivated the Blood Spirit Art. If they can come out of the secret realm alive, they will be qualified to enter Heavenly Sword Mountain. The three great families on the Heavenly Calamity Continent naturally wouldn’t dare to say more.”

Qin Lie nodded.

A short while later, the floating island came to be suspended above a part of the sea. Qin Lie and the others looked down and saw the island they had once left.

Many youths were gathered in the south side of the island. They all seemed alert and in peak condition.

The people of Celestial Artifact Sect and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain in the same area were shouting something, seemingly maintaining order.

At dusk, an enormous whirlpool suddenly appeared in the water south of the island.

Bright lightning could seen in the depths of the whirlpool. The whirlpool was deep, and there was no telling where it led.

“That is the entrance,” Li Mu said with narrowed eyes.

Qin Lie and the others became alert. They examined the entrance intensely and prepared.

“Do not rush. Let other people enter first. This entrance will be open for two hours,” Li Mu reassured them.

Everyone calmed down.

“There is something you need to remember. Even if all of you go in together, you might not be together when you reach the Graveyard of Gods,” Li Mu warned them, suddenly remembering something important. “In other words, every participant can be thrown to different parts of the secret realm the moment they enter. The moment the four of you enter, there is a possibility that you will be separated. It would not be a surprise for you to end up tens of thousands of miles apart.”

Qin Lie was shocked.

“The sword tokens that Heavenly Sword Mountain forged can detect each other within a distance of one hundred miles. This was done to make it convenient for the participants to communicate.” Li Mu explained the feature of the sword tokens. “You can only find other members of Heavenly Sword Mountain that are within one hundred miles of you. However, Luo Chen is the leader of Heavenly Sword Mountain’s participants. This was done to make it easy for Luo Chen to gather everyone. In light of that, the people that you detect within a hundred miles of you might not be you four.”

Li Mu frowned and then said, “Oh, that’s not exactly right. Gao Yu has a token from the Xiahou Family. After you enter, it would best for you to immediately throw the token away. Otherwise, the Xiahou family will target you.”

Gao Yu nodded slightly.

“The rest of you…” Li Mu looked at Qin Lie, Song Tingyu, and Xie Jingxuan. After a moment of thought, he gravely suggested, “It would best for you three to also throw away the tokens after you enter.”

“Why?” Xie Jingxuan asked.

“To lessen the risk.” Li Mu sighed and said, “The nine great Silver rank forces forged similar tokens that can communicate with each other. This has it benefits, but also has its disadvantages…”

After pausing for a moment, he continued to explain, “Since people like Ye Yihao of Black Voodoo Cult, Xue Moyan of Illusory Demon Sect, Chu Li of Terminator Sect, and others are strong enough, they will take the tokens after killing martial practitioners of other forces. They will have tokens from various factions and try to sense their targets within the Graveyard of Gods. They will constantly eliminate others and decrease the number of participants inside.

“In the end, the strongest participant will have tokens from the nine forces and use them to find prey. If you have tokens, they will be able to track you within one hundred miles and kill you.

“Unless you are confident that you can fight them, throw away your tokens after entering. Find a remote place and hide. If you are not found in one year, you will be considered to have successfully survived and will receive a reward when you come out.”

“I’m not going in to hide.” Qin Lie shook his head.

“Neither am I,” Gao Yu declared.

The two of them belonged to the group of participants with the lowest realms, yet their eyes flashed with viciousness and ambition.

This made Li Mu smile, shake his head, and laugh. “Two people who are unfamiliar with the world.”

“How large is the Graveyard of Gods?” Song Tingyu suddenly asked.

“I don’t know. No one knows.” Li Mu thought to himself and then said, “If you go in and walk through all of the Graveyard of Gods, maybe you’ll find out.”

“What about the previous secret realms?” she asked.

“Some were as large as the Scarlet Tide Continent, others were as small as an island. There were also those that were bigger than the Land of Chaos.” Li Mu’s eyes narrowed and his expression became grim. “Remember! Everything about this secret realm is unknown. The only person who has entered before has already died, and his soul was destroyed. Those with high realms are restricted from entering and cannot even detect anything with their souls!”

Li Mu took a deep breath. “Highly intelligent races and powerful beasts might be in there!”

When these words were spoken, everyone paled and looked terrified.

“In the past, the Land of Chaos found a passageway to a secret realm and they held a Trial. The end result was the death of every participant.” Li Mu grimaced and sighed deeply. He said, “That secret realm was the present Asura Realm.”

“The Asura Realm that just formed an alliance with Terminator Sect?” Song Tingyu shrieked.

Li Mu nodded.

“Heavens!” Song Tingyu gaped.

There were many spatial passageways in the Land of Chaos that led to different sub worlds.

Asura Realm was like the Cloud Realm that the Gray Wing Race lived in. It was a separate sub world that the extremely bloodthirsty, vicious Asura Race lived in.

Seven hundred years ago, the Asura Race invaded the Land of Chaos. The great Silver rank forces banded together to fight back and both sides paid a heavy price.

In the end, Forefather Terminator of Terminator Sect used the combined apocalyptic power of nine terrifying Terminator Profound Bombs to destroy the strongest invaders of the Asura Race. This was a heavy blow to the Asura Race, and they were forced to make a non-aggression pact with the Land of Chaos.

This was similar to how Qin Lie had used the Terminator Profound Bombs in the past, killing the strongest of the five Copper rank forces.

The Asura Race respected those that were stronger than them. They feared the Terminator Profound Bombs of Forefather Terminator. Rather than holding a grudge, they instead sought out Forefather Terminator and requested an alliance with Terminator Sect who desired a business relationship.

Terminator Sect became powerful through the rare spirit materials that flowed to them through the Asura Race from the Asura Realm. This single sect controlled an entire continent—the Heavenly Silence Continent.

“Asura Realm was the secret realm for the Trial after it was discovered?” Xie Jingxuan’s gaze became complex.

“Yes. Many great people were among those that participated then. There were even people that were stronger than me. It’s a pity that their luck wasn’t good. They didn’t even manage to last three months before they were all killed.” Li Mu sighed. “The Asura Race managed to force them to reveal the spatial passageway that led to the Land of Chaos, invading and creating a storm of blood.”

“I hope that we won’t be that unlucky.” Song Tingyu could only pray on the inside.

“That usually isn’t the case. However, the Graveyard of Gods is also wondrous. Be careful after entering. If you encounter highly intelligent races that are alive… then flee as far as possible,” Li Mu reminded them with good intentions.

Everyone went silent.

“I’ve said what needs to be said. I can only wish you good luck in surviving. The time is about right, you can enter.” Li Mu manipulated the floating island. This island slowly descended from the clouds.

“The floating island! Are you Elder Li Mu of Heavenly Sword Mountain?” someone on the island below shouted.

“Mn, I’m sending off some people who are participating in the Trial.” Li Mu smiled.

Qin Lie and the others took out their tokens and raised their hands.

That person looked at the token Gao Yu had. Curiosity showed on his face, but he did not say anything. “You are the only ones remaining. Please enter as soon as possible so I can seal the passageway from the outside.”

“Go,” Li Mu urged.

Qin Lie and the others jumped directly into the spatial passageway and disappeared.

Chapter 418: Graveyard of Gods!

There were no stars in the sky, nor was there a sun. Instead, fire blazed through the air.

Falling from the sky like meteors, long trails of fire burned through the sky as they descended.

Like a meteor shower, the fire continuously fell. The terrifying fiery power contained within it was enough to instantly reduce Fulfillment Realm and Fragmentation Realm martial practitioners to dust.

Streams of fire erupted from burning volcanoes in an area low elevation. The lava resembled waterfalls as it flowed down toward the base of the volcanoes in long streams.

The crimson ground was filled with a dry, burning, suffocating flame aura. The curving, winding streams flowed with with terrifying lava.

All of the rocks that were visible were red. They were surrounded by the lava on the ground and the flames in the sky.

Neither vegetation nor weak individuals could survive in such an extreme environment.

A figure suddenly appeared at the base of a volcano.

Upon appearing, this figure exclaimed, “This is the secret realm called the Graveyards of Gods?”

Qin Lie landed on a giant red boulder. He felt as though his shoes were going to spontaneously combust any second. Smelling the stench of sulfur in the air, his expression became extremely grim.

He did not feel any spirit energy in the dry, hot air!

This meant that there was no spirit energy in all of the Graveyard of Gods to help him recover spirit energy and continue cultivating.

This also meant that, once all of his spirit energy was used up, he would be as weak as an ordinary mortal and would not be able to tolerate the cruel environment.

“Spirit stones! Surely I have spirit stones!”

He immediately reacted and hurriedly inspected his spatial ring to see how many spirit stones he had.

After using his mind consciousness to check, he felt reassured and his expression became slightly better.

Luckily, before he left the Heavenly Calamity Continent, Qin Lie used Terminator Profound Bombs to flatten a compound and take some spirit stones to gather what was needed to use the teleportation formation.

More than seven hundred Earth Grade spirit stones were in his spatial ring.

These spirit stones would be vital to the recovery of his spirit energy in the Graveyard of Gods!

“Whoosh!”

A bright, fiery meteor fell from the sky. Its fiery presence filled the sky as it descended.

The skyfire meteor was several dozen meters away from him, yet an overwhelming wave of burning heat washed over him. It made all of his clothing and flesh start to burn.

Qin Lie was astonished.

He did not care about preserving his power and had to channel his Frost Arts. He used the three frost natal palaces in his body and formed a glowing shield over of his skin.

The power of the ice emerged and its cool aura immediately made him feel comfortable.

He quickly calmed down.

Seeing that the skyfire meteor was about to land near him, he grew frightened and hurriedly moved away so he wouldn’t be affected.

“Boom!”

The flame meteor landed in a stream of lava with a splash. Drops of burning liquid sprayed in every direction, carrying a shocking light.

The enormous crimson boulder that Qin Lie had landed on was hit by one of the burning beams of light and immediately shattered.

As it shattered, many pieces of it flew through the air. Five of the pieces were as clear and luminescent as cornelian. When they spun in the air, they released a bright prismatic light that was beautiful and eye-catching.

“Heavenly Flame Crystal!

When Qin Lie flew away in retreat and saw the enormous boulder get hit by the beam of fire, he shouted as it promptly exploded.

His eyes became bright as he looked at the five wondrous, clear crystals that seemed to have flames flickering inside of them.

Those crystals resembled the best, brightest cornelians. Their red sheen was intoxicating.

This was an Earth Grade spirit material. Heavenly Flame Crystal was a very rare source of fire used for forging. Those that cultivated the power of fire could absorb this rare fire crystal directly to increase their spirit power.

A Heavenly Flame Crystal the size of a walnut would be worth one thousand Earth Grade spirit stones in the Land of Chaos!

“What a wondrous place. It doesn’t have any worldly energy, but it has produced Heavenly Flame Crystals!”

Qin Lie sighed in wonder. Watching the ripples of lava and the lights die down, he hurriedly flew in the direction that the Heavenly Flame Crystals had fallen.

Two of the five Heavenly Flame Crystals had fallen into the stream of lava. The burning heat from this stream made it something that Qin Lie did not dare to touch, so he had to give up.

There were three other Heavenly Flame Crystals. The two smaller ones were each the size of a fist. One of them would be worth at least twenty five hundred Earth Grade spirit stones. The biggest piece was the size of a person’s head. It would be worth at least ten thousand Earth Grade spirit stones!

If he sold these three Heavenly Flame Crystals in the Land of Chaos, they would be worth fifteen thousand Earth Grade spirit stones in total. Qin Lie would be able to buy an Earth Grade one or two spirit artifact.

Putting the three Heavenly Flame Crystals into his spatial ring, Qin Lie’s gaze turned to the stream that was spitting burning flames.

A Heavenly Flame Crystal was at the bottom of that stream. If he squinted his eyes, he could make out a blurry shape.

Taking a deep breath, he channelled his Frost Arts at full power. His left hand immediately became covered in a layer of hard ice. This ice gradually thickened to cover his arm.

Cold white mist rose from his arm. If he used the Frost Arts in this burning land, the expenditure would be great.

The burning heat could melt the ice energy on his body, so he had to constantly channel frost energy to support it.

“People die for riches, and birds die for food! I’ll do it!” Qin Lie gritted his teeth. His left hand darted out like lightning and entered the stream of lava.

He immediately grabbed the fist-sized Heavenly Flame Crystal and threw it into his spatial ring.

“Ssssssss!”

Qin Lie’s left arm was covered in cold mist. The ice melted at a terrifying speed, as if it were soaking in boiling water.

The drops of lava that were on him were a horrifyingly high temperature. The flame power quickly permeated the ice he created using Frost Arts, meaning that it would not last long.

In a flash, the ice that had been several inches thick was almost completely melted.

Qin Lie started to shout and wave his hand to shake off the drops of lava.

He finally managed to clean off the drops of lava from the stream before the ice on his arm had completely disappeared. He went slightly pale.

“There is one more Heavenly Flame Crystal. How about…” He looked toward another spot, his gaze was filled with hesitation.

A long time later, he took a deep breath. Using the same method, he took the other Heavenly Flame Crystal out of the fiery liquid.

He shook his arm furiously.

Several drop of lava accidentally flew onto his chest while he hastily shook his arm.

“Sssssss!”

The thin glowing shield covering his body was not able to withstand this and immediately melted.

His chest was instantly burned by the fiery liquid. The drops of lava also had a corrosive property. After his initial fright, Qin Lie decisively used a blade of ice to carve that piece of flesh from his chest.

This finally stopped the fiery corrosion from spreading!

“Motherf***er!”

Qin Lie’s expression was ugly as he panted. He looked at the fiery meteors that were falling out of the sky, the long, winding streams of lava, and the flickers of flame that came out of the volcanoes that could erupt at any moment.

He gradually realized that, even if the people from the nine great Silver rank forces weren’t hunting him, it would be a luxury to manage to survive in this secret realm.

“I first need to find somewhere to recover spirit energy!”

In this little bit of time, one of his three frost natal palaces had nearly run out of frost power.

Qin Lie had been jumping on rocks and avoiding the skyfire meteors. He had also used a lot of spirit energy when he had fished out the two Heavenly Flame Crystals.

Also, he had to continuously to gather his power to form the ice shield while in this area of flame to keep the flame power from getting to him.

At this time, thirty percent of his power had been used up.

In this place, he could encounter martial practitioners from the nine forces at any time. If he used up too much power, he wouldn’t be able to fight at full power when he encountered an enemy.

“Ding!”

The clear sound of a bell suddenly rang out from the sword token at his waist. Qin Lie, who had been preparing to find a place to recover using spirit stones, suddenly wore a serious expression.

The sword token on him wouldn’t do that for no reason. Someone else with a sword token must’ve been within a hundred miles of him, feeling out the surroundings and ascertaining his presence and position. That was probably what triggered the sword token.

“Who could it be?” Qin Lie’s brow was deeply furrowed. He raised his guard and prepared for battle.

Chapter 419: Friend or Foe?

Qin Lie quietly sat atop a dark red rock. He held six Earth Grade spirit stones, three in each of his hands.

Wisps of thin smoke rose from the translucent spirit stones. The spirit energy inside them was slowly being absorbed into the nerves in his palms, which were like strings that led straight to his dantian’s spirit sea.

Absorbing a spirit stone’s energy obviously felt kind of different from absorbing worldly spirit energy. The energy of a spirit stone was considerably thicker and more refined than worldly spirit energy, and it was also much easier and more comfortable to absorb.

The six Earth Grade spirit stones contained a huge amount of spirit energy, and when he absorbed it all at once, he could clearly sense his dantian’s spirit sea once again filling with energy.

Qin Lie was completely absorbed in the process.

“Ding!”

The sword token at his waist continuously rang with the crisp sound of a bell as if heralding his death. It could definitely frustrate and bother someone.

Qin Lie, however, was unmoved by it.

As the urgent ringing sound grew louder and louder, he knew that a martial practitioner with a sword token was swiftly heading in his direction.

This person could be Song Tingyu or Xie Jingxuan, but it was more likely to be a talented youth from Heavenly Sword Mountain.

Qin Lie needed to recover his spirit energy as soon as possible to be able to deal with this potential trouble. He needed to be in peak condition!

As he absorbed the spirit stone’s power, Qin Lie attempted to release his mind consciousness and sense if there was any soul activity in the area.

However, he was quickly disappointed, realizing that his mind consciousness was greatly affected by this burning land.

It was incredibly difficult for his mind consciousness to search an area that had no worldly spirit energy. It was like a breeze blowing through the depths of a jungle—it would encounter with many obstacles and be greatly slowed.

When Qin Lie realized that his mind consciousness could not spread as far as it was capable of in the outside world, he became calm and quietly waited for the person to arrive.

The power contained within the spirit stones was easier and more convenient to absorb. Although it wasn’t capable of instantly restoring one’s strength like pills could, it was still a lot faster than normally recovering with the world’s spirit energy.

The translucent and shiny surfaces of the six Earth Grade spirit stones slowly dimmed as the energy within them faded.

With that, the spirit stones gradually became grayish white.

The three frost natal palaces inside his dantian’s spirit sea were now filled with power.

“Prak! Prak!”

The sound of feet thudding against stone could already be clearly heard.

Qin Lie opened his eyes.

They blazed with dazzling lightning, and the icy barrier covering his body radiated a powerful icy energy.

He sat still atop the rock, coldly staring ahead.

Large rocks that had rolled down from the mountains beside the twisting rivers of lava were in front of him. Many of these rocks were covered in lava and were as red as hot iron. They emanated with shocking heat.

Qin Lie did not dare to stay on these red rocks for too long. When he passed them earlier, he had immediately jumped away the second he stepped on them.

However, a young man was currently stepping on these crimson rocks, calmly walking toward him.

The young man was not in a hurry, and sometimes he would even look to the side and pause to crouch, gazing into the streams of lava.

“Splash!”

The young man suddenly stuck his hand into a stream and held up a shiny Heavenly Flame Crystal.

“Here’s another one!” Du Xiangyang grinned and carefully put the Heavenly Flame Crystal into his spatial ring. His eyes shone with a light of satisfaction.

The sword token around Du Xiangyang’s waist that shook every so often was proof of his identity as a Heavenly Sword Mountain martial practitioner.

He was very lucky.

As a cultivator of a fire spirit art, the first place he was thrown into after going through the passageway was a land of flames.

In this place, skyfire meteors would crash every so often, the sky constantly burned, and the small volcanoes continuously spewed liquid flame like fire dragons.

Fire, streams of lava, and fire ponds formed from liquid flame were everywhere.

This place was incredibly dangerous for many people, and most had to form a light barrier to protect themselves from the corrosive fire.

Du Xiangyang, however, did not have this trouble at all.

On the contrary, he found the heat in this place incredibly soothing. Breathing in the dry, hot air, he felt as if every pore of his body were singing.

What amazed him even more was the discovery of the Heavenly Flame Crystals!

He knew better than anyone exactly how useful a Heavenly Flame Crystal was to someone who cultivated a fire spirit art like him!

He had found seven Heavenly Flame Crystals along the way, and his eyes had been burning with desire for a long time now. He increasingly felt better, and excitement shone in his eyes more and more.

When he learned that there was another Heavenly Sword Mountain participant in this area using the sword token, he grew even more excited.

However, when he finally made his way over and found that the fellow with a sword token was a complete stranger, he suddenly froze.

Du Xiangyang and Qin Lie were several hundred meters away from each other, separated by flowing streams of lava and bubbling fire ponds.

Du Xiangyang examined Qin Lie from head to toe before smiling. “I know who you are now.”

Qin Lie frowned. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“You are called Qin Lie, right?” Du Xiangyang did not move closer. With narrowed eyes, he calmly said, “Heavenly Sword Mountain forged fifteen sword tokens in total. Five of them were sent to the Scarlet Tide Continent to be held by Qin Lie, Xie Jingxuan, Song Tingyu, Zhao Xuan, and Zhang Chendong. I already saw Zhao Xuan and Zhang Chendong before entering the Graveyard of Gods, and among all the participants, there are only three people I haven’t met yet. That would be you and the two women.”

After a momentary pause, Du Xiangyang said, “You’re obviously not a woman.”

“That’s correct. I am Qin Lie.”

When he was at Sea Moon Island, Qin Lie once saw Luo Chen bring seven trial-goers with him. Li Rong was only one of them.

Five of the fifteen sword tokens were distributed to the Scarlet Tide Continent. When Qin Lie was at Sea Moon Island, he had encountered the other eight Heavenly Sword Mountain participants including Luo Chen. Du Xiangyang was not among them. He was clearly one of the remaining two people that Qin Lie hadn’t seen.

“Heh, you’re lucky that you ran into me.” Du Xiangyang smiled. “Luo Chen already told everyone to kill you the moment they found you after entering the Graveyard of Gods. Luckily for you, I find Luo Chen disagreeable…”

After a moment of surprise, Qin Lie suddenly grinned and laughed oddly. “I was ready for a war.”

“Oh?” Du Xiangyang lifted his eyebrows and nodded, saying, “Since you’re ready to fight… we might as well give it a go then!”

Just as he finished speaking, Du Xiangyang’s handsome white face abruptly turned crimson.

Hot, fiery waves shot out of every pore of his body. His eyes resembled a pair of blazing bonfires, and it was as if his entire person had instantly turned into a fireball.

He slapped toward the giant, fiery crimson rocks on both sides of him.

The fiery rocks that were the shape of discs rose from the bed of the lava river and rolled toward Qin Lie under the command of Du Xiangyang’s fiery power.

“Whoosh whoosh!”

The giant rocks rolled through the air, burning like two enormous fireballs.

Qin Lie was still.

His eyes suddenly burst with thunderous light, and if someone were to look closely, they would see numerous dense, crisscrossing lightning bolts.

“Rrrmb!”

A deafening roar resounded from within Qin Lie’s body. He stood still as he watched the two burning rocks roll toward him. Then he threw his fists forward.

“Crak crak!”

Bolts of dazzling lightning that were the size of human arms blasted the fiery rocks with a booming rumble.

The two giant rocks were shot down by the lightning bolts, and the fire on them dispersed.

The fiery power surrounding the rocks was completely purified by the lightning.

However, the rocks themselves were still rolling toward Qin Lie with tremendous force!

Du Xiangyang wore a calm expression, never looking away from Qin Lie.

He had no ties with Qin Lie whatsoever. From the bottom of his heart, he believed that the participants from the Scarlet Tide Continent—Qin Lie, Zhao Xuan, Song Tingyu and the others—were unworthy. Du Xiangyang even thought that Qin Lie and the others had completely wasted five of their slots for nothing.

“Rather than letting you be killed by martial practitioners of other forces and have them look down on Heavenly Sword Mountain’s strength, I might as well kill you myself!”

That was what Du Xiangyang thought.

If Qin Lie was weak, then he would show no mercy and kill him immediately.

He believed that was better than allowing him to shame Heavenly Sword Mountain!

“Get out of my way!”

Qin Lie roared and thrust his palms out in front of him. The terrifying physical strength concentrated in his palms erupted outward.

“Crack! Crack!”

After losing their fiery energy, the two giant disc-shaped rocks instantly shattered when they were slapped by Qin Lie’s palms.

They exploded into rocky shards and fell to the ground.

Qin Lie had tempered his body for a very long time. He had used only the eruption of his physical strength and a small amount of the Blood Spirit Art’s energy to shatter the rocks.

Du Xiangyang’s eyes widened as the giant rocks exploded.

He looked surprised. He did not see the light of spirit energy light come from Qin Lie when he slapped the rocks.

This meant that Qin Lie had relied on pure physical strength to shatter them!

To think that an early stage Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner was capable of destroying the rocks he threw with his physical body alone…

Du Xiangyang was kind of surprised.