Spirit Realm Chapter 428-437

Chapter 428: Burning the Voodoo Insects!

The explosion of the Terminator Profound Bombs instantly injured the two Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners. They had been charging at Qin Lie and Song Tingyu as their leader yelled for them to retreat.

Huge pits were now separating Qin Lie and Song Tingyu from the three Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners. The dense lightning, rumbling thunder, and distorted spatial energy mingled, making that particular area chaotic and unstable.

“He purposely pretended to be weak so that you would look down on him and then detonated the Terminator Profound Bombs while you were careless. What a ruthless, malevolent heart.” The leader’s serpentine eyes shone with a dark icy light. “Yu Xi, have you planted the voodoo toxin’s seed?”

“It has been planted!” The black robed martial practitioner smiled wickedly.

The explosions of the Terminator Profound Bombs had blown away their long, black robes. The black hats that connected to their robes has similarly been reduced to shreds.

It was in this way that two young faces were revealed.

Embedded in the center of each Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioner’s forehead was a tiny black centipede. Half of the centipede’s body was deep inside of their flesh, while the other half protruded from it. They wriggled every so often, as if absorbing the flesh blood of the foreheads they were in to nurture themselves.

These two could have been considered handsome, but they appeared unfathomably sinister because of the black centipedes in their foreheads.

The centipedes in their foreheads were voodoo insects that the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners raised. The voodoo insects were embedded into their foreheads to make it easier for the insects to absorb their mind energy.

These two were called Yu Xi and Yu Jie. They both came from an ancient family in the Black Voodoo Cult. For the longest time, this family passed down the evil inheritance of the Black Voodoo Cult, assisting Yu Xi and Yu Jie in breeding voodoo insects and refining voodoo toxin.

The disciples of this family were often sent to the Black Voodoo Cult at a young age to learn its bizarre spirit arts and serve the core disciples of the Black Voodoo Cult, treating them as their masters.

Upon deciding which master they wished to serve, voodoo insects were forcefully put into their foreheads.

Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners covered their faces and wore black robes to prevent others from seeing the voodoo insects in their foreheads. They did not want anyone to see how strange and scary they were.

“Good.” The leader raised his hand and gestured for his men to stand down and be patient.

They were waiting for the distorted, chaotic energies in the area to stabilize.

From her position at the base of an ancient tree near Qin Lie, Song Tingyu cried out, “Oh no! Qin Lie, you’ve been poisoned with the voodoo toxin! How could you be so careless?”

She could see black tendrils appear from within Qin Lie’s eyes. These tendrils were a sure sign of the voodoo toxin seeping into his True Soul.

“Voodoo toxin?” Qin Lie frowned. “That shouldn’t be possible.”

He immediately examined his mind consciousness. He could clearly see the black centipede with a hundred feet being blasted to dust by thunder and lightning. When had the voodoo toxin infected him?

“The centipede in your head is the voodoo toxin!” Song Tingyu said weakly.

Qin Lie’s face became grim. At this point, even he had realized the abnormality in his mind.

Wisps of black smoky began to appear in his mind once the centipede was eradicated. Just when Qin Lie thought that he had taken care of the enemy’s soul attack, the tendrils seeped into his True Soul without him realizing it.

The True Soul in Qin Lie’s Soul Lake, which looked exactly the same as Qin Lie and was the culmination of numerous soul imprints, was currently ensnared by a myriad of thin black soul threads.

These black threads were slowly but surely seeping even deeper into his True Soul!

“This voodoo toxin can corrupt a soul and forcefully expel a person’s life force at a rapid rate. Your body will begin weakening in every way once you are poisoned.” Song Tingyu’s expression was dim, and her eyes were filled with bitterness. “If I am unable to cure the voodoo toxin, you probably won’t be able to either. Sigh… why did you ignore my advice and forcefully clash with them? Just what do you want me to say?”

The situation had turned out how she said it would.

The moment Song Tingyu finished speaking, Qin Lie sensed the changes occurring within his body. He noticed that the energy in his blood gradually seeped out of the pores of his body against his wishes.

His soul aura also began to weaken bit by bit.

His True Soul slowly became indistinct.

These were the effects of the voodoo toxin.

It was only then that he realized how truly terrifying the Black Voodoo Cult was. He finally recognized the source of Song Tingyu’s fear and anxiety.

After a martial practitioner was infected with the voodoo toxin, their life force would fade and their True Soul would gradually dissipate. They could feel themselves get weaker every second, yet they were unable to stop it. This feeling could make many people immediately go insane.

The stronger a martial practitioner was, the harder it would be for them to face their inevitable weakening. Seeing their incoming death yet being unable to do anything but inch closer to it… such terror was truly frightening.

Qin Lie understood Song Tingyu’s fear and despair. He understood why Song Tingyu, who was usually confident and shrewd, would become depressed to the point of losing the courage to fight her enemies to the death.

As time passed, the distorted energy of the blast site between the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners and Qin Lie gradually stabilized.

The three Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners exchanged glances before standing up all at once. As they secretly scanned for any abnormalities around them, they took slow steps toward Qin Lie.

They all saw the black tendrils in Qin Lie’s eyes.

This put them at ease and made them think that, even if Qin Lie had the power to surprise them, it would be nothing more than a pathetic last ditch attack.

They were extremely confident in the voodoo toxin, and they believed that very few experts participating the Trial would be able to survive it.

Qin Lie and Song Tingyu obviously weren’t counted among them.

“There are no more Terminator Profound Bombs.” The leader of the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners, Yu Yuan, was in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm. He stopped thirty meters away from Qin Lie and stared at him wickedly, saying, “Your Terminator Profound Bomb seems to be of inferior rank, and its explosive power is too scattered… it isn’t concentrated enough. How unfortunate for you. If you were Terminator Sect’s Chu Li, then my two companions definitely would not have survived the explosion. Even I would have only been able to escape in defeat. However… you are not Chu Li.”

After a momentary pause, Yu Yuan gravely said, “So death is your only option!”

Qin Lie said nothing in return.

Yu Yuan waved his hands and leisurely said, “Have the voodoo toxin penetrate deeper.”

Yu Xi took out a Black Voodoo Cult token and activated the evil formation inside of it. The token suddenly began to wail.

The moment the wail began, Song Tingyu immediately cried out in pain, her face deathly pale. She writhed in terrible pain, clearly suffering.

Even Qin Lie noticed that the black tendrils digging into his True Soul began to constrict, torturing it.

The black tendrils felt like iron strings and sharp blades, cutting deep into his True Soul. Even Qin Lie trembled slightly because of the pain.

What was even scarier, however, was the speed at which the black tendrils seeped into his True Soul. It clearly grew faster as the token wailed

Qin Lie realized that he had to kill these Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners with his fastest, deadliest skill. Only then would he be able to focus on destroying the voodoo toxin.

He had to kill them while he could still fight.

The spatial ring in Qin Lie’s hand suddenly lit up, and the six spirit pattern pillars flew out. The Universal Celestial Sealing Formation took shape before Yu Yuan and the other two could react, descending upon them

The second the sealing formation was complete, Qin Lie’s eyes shone with a bloody light as he immediately summoned the three drops of Fire Qilin blood with his mind.

Three finger-sized blood crystals emerged from his chest, turning into sanguine streaks of light that shot toward Yu Yuan and his subordinates. Each one headed for their own target.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

As if sensing Qin Lie’s anger and killing intent, the fire inside of the Fire Qilin blood burned brighter and fiercer.

“Boom!”

The astounding three droplets of lifeblood essences suddenly transformed into the shape of three lifelike Fire Qilins.

Terrifying flames capable of reducing every creature in the world to ash surrounded the Fire Qilins, charging at the trapped trio with a soundless roar.

“Fire Qilins?! Fuck, why are there Fire Qilins!”

“Oh no!”

“I’m trapped!”

Layers of pitch black light shields covered and protected the three. Despite the lack of wind, their black robes flapped as the spirit armor underneath them unleashed all of the defensive energy they had.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

The three Fire Qilins snarled, growing increasingly larger.. Resembling giant fiery clouds, they flooded over the trio.

“Plink plink—ka-crack!”

The defensive light shields of the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners could not endure the Fire Qilin’s heat. Seconds later, the shields shattered into numerous rays of pitch black light and scattered.

In the same way, the spirit armor beneath their black robes could not protect their bodies. The countless flames of the Fire Qilins scorched their bodies.

Yu Yuan and his followers immediately became actual flaming men, screaming in terrible pain as their hair, faces, clothing, and blood were set alight.

“They truly are exceptional!” Qin Lie grew spirited.

Next to the heat of the searing flames, Song Tingyu’s dark gray eyes also seemed to regain a trace of excitement.

“The fiery soul of the Fire Qilin, a Rank Eight spirit beast!” Song Tingyu exclaimed.

“Leave one alive! Qin Lie, leave one of them alive!” she suddenly cried out to remind him.

Qin Lie came to a realization and formed a thought. The burning Fire Qilin wrapped around Yu Yuan immediately weakened the intensity of its flames.

Meanwhile, the terrifying flames completed evaporated the blood and water in the bodies of the other two Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners. They burned to death in short order, becoming as black as charcoal.

Since the intensity of the flames engulfing him had been reduced and he was powerful in the first place, the leader, Yu Yuan, was the only one to survive.

Yu Yuan’s black robes had been reduced to ash, and his body had been burned black. The surrounding air smelled of charred flesh.

After being scorched by the flames, Yu Yuan’s face looked unbelievably ugly and disgusting. Worse yet, the horrible centipede in his forehead actually wasn’t dead. It still writhed with life.

“Qin Lie! The voodoo insects on the foreheads of the other two are still alive!” Song Tingyu said, bringing the matter to his attention.

It was only then that Qin Lie noticed the hundred feet centipedes in Yu Xi and Yu Jie’s foreheads were still alive. Even though their hosts had been burned to cinders, they continued to squirm erratically. The life force of these insects was truly terrifying.

“Keep burning!”

The two fearsome clusters of flame immediately grew ferocious once more, burning the two voodoo insects with even greater intensity.

The two voodoo insects actually flapped their little wings and tried to slip away from Yu Xi and Yu Jie’s bodies, but they were tightly trapped by the Fire Qilins that burned with even greater heat than before.

Soon enough, the voodoo insects were slowly burned to death by the frightening heat.

“The young master will not let you escape! The young master will definitely torture you to death!” Yu Yuan’s screams were as terrible as a wraith’s.

Chapter 429: Eight-winged Centipede Queen

As Qin Lie burned the two voodoo insects with his Qilin fire, terrible cries rang throughout the forest every so often.

In a land of ancient trees over five hundred kilometers away from Qin Lie.

An intelligent looking youth stood in the center of seven Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners that had dark eyes and wore black robes.

The youth was thin, and his hair was styled modestly, tied up with a black band. The corners of his face were sharp, and his eyes resembled pitch black gemstones that shone with a scary, ruthless light.

“Argh!”

He suddenly clutched his chest with both hands and released a terrible howl, discharging a shocking aura to the dark gray forest around him.

“Rip!”

He tore at the clothing on his torso and exposed his chest. The skin around it was transparent, making it possible to see his heart.

There was a horrifying voodoo insect wrapped around his heart!

It was a pitch black centipede with one hundred feet—it was completely identical to the ones that had been embedded in Yu Xi, Yu Jie, and Yu Yuan’s foreheads!.

As a matter of fact, the centipede that had been in Yu Yuan’s forehead was a larva of the centipede wrapped around this youth’s heart!

This centipede was completely stuck to his red heart. Every one of its feet were like sharp blades that either pierced into the heart muscle or clung to its arteries.

As the youth’s heart continued to thump, the bizarre centipede expanded and contracted along with it.

It was as if it had become one with his heart.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

At this moment, the pitch black centipede trembled sporadically. Its sharp feet dug into the youth’s heart, making him scream constantly.

The dark eyes of the seven Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners all shone with a cold, harsh light.

“Yu Xi and Yu Jie are dead. The voodoo insects in their bodies were burned to death. Yu Yuan has probably suffered a grievous injury as well… his condition doesn’t look good.”

The youth would occasionally let out a terrible howl, his expression appearing savage and distorted. His pitch black gemstone-esque eyes, however, were so calm that it was disturbing.

It was as if he were able to keep his calm despite the pain, as if his judgement weren’t affected by the pain at all.

“Yu Feng, lead your men over there and find out what’s going on! Find the person who burned the voodoo insects! Remember—I want him alive!” the man yelled coldly.

“I shall go right away, young master!” A Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioner garbed completely in black robes saluted respectfully before swiftly departing with two of the men.

……

“Young master? Your young master should be Black Voodoo Cult’s Ye Yihao, right?” On the other side of the ancient forest, Qin Lie arrived beside Yu Yuan with a cold expression, staring at the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioner. He was on the verge of death, his body charred black. Qin Lie casually asked, “How do you cure the voodoo toxin?”

Having recovered some of her resolve, Song Tingyu walked over as well. She glared at Yu Yuan, a cold gleam in her eyes.

The three refind blood that resembled bloodstones withdrew into Qin Lie’s body once more and mingled with the blood on his palms.

Each of Qin Lie’s hands currently gripped a Heavenly Flame Crystal that was even larger than a fist. The three blood essences in his palms were currently absorbing the fire energy inside these Heavenly Flame Crystals.

The Heavenly Flame Crystals radiated a bright scarlet halo. Wisps of fiery energy continuously spread to his palms and were swiftly absorbed by the blood essences.

“You want to cure the voodoo toxin? Haha, dream on!” Yu Yuan laughed madly. “Only the young master and the ‘Eight-winged Centipede Queen’ around his heart can cure it! Just sit there and enjoy the taste of death as the young master absorbs your soul and life energy through the Eight-winged Centipede Queen every day, every hour, every minute, and every second!”

He pointed at Song Tingyu and laughed wickedly. “In less than half a month, your life energy will be completely exhausted. You will soon know exactly what kind of pain that has in store for you!”

“As for you…” he said coldly, looking at Qin Lie. “Even you have only a month of time left! Even if you aren’t hunted down and killed by our men, you will end up just like her! You will tread the exact same path of death that she has and die an agonizing death not unlike mine! Hahaha!”

“Splurt!”

A cold, sharp dagger stabbed into Yu Yuan’s thigh. The blade twisted and turned inside of his flesh, poking at the bones until they creaked.

Qin Lie stabbed the dagger upward, slicing from Yu Yuan’s thigh to his waist.

“I want the cure,” he said with a straight face.

The pain made Yu Yuan scream at the top of his lungs.

“Nothing but the Eight-winged Centipede Queen coiled around the young master’s heart and neutralize the toxin!” he cried out. “There is no other cure!”

Qin Lie, unconvinced by Yu Yuan’s words, drove the dagger further upward.

Yu Yuan’s eyes bulged and his cries of pain grew worse and worse. His body spasmed repeatedly as if his last breath would come at any moment.

Qin Lie glanced at Song Tingyu.

Song Tingyu understood the meaning behind that glance and immediately produced a Memory Fragment Crystal, pressing it against one of Yu Yuan’s eyes.

Suffering horribly from Qin Lie’s torture, Yu Yuan was unable to put up any resistance. By the time he noticed that a Memory Fragment Crystal had been pressed against his eye, it was already too late.

Song Tingyu’s eyes were filled with hatred as she slapped at Yu Yuan’s skull. His skull shattered, and the light in Yu Yuan’s eyes swiftly faded away.

Song Tingyu hurriedly unleashed her secret art as the Memory Fragment Crystal began absorbing Yu Yuan’s memories.

“The voodoo insect!” she suddenly exclaimed in a low tone.

After Yu Yuan’s True Soul faded away, the centipede embedded in his forehead flew out and attempted to escape.

Three bloody lights shot out from Qin Lie’s palm like lightning.

The larva of the Eight-winged Centipede Queen had barely flown a meter from Yu Yuan’s forehead before it was devoured by the three clusters of flame. The Fire Qilin’s terrifying flames burned it alive.

The small voodoo insect struggled and screamed amidst the burning flames, displaying a shocking vitality.

This last for a full hour before the voodoo insect was finally burned to ash, completely killed.

“The vitality of a voodoo insect is even more formidable than that of these three Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners. How scary!”

Song Tingyu stared at the voodoo insect that had been burned to ash. Fear lingered on her face and in her eyes.

Overall, three Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners and three voodoo insects were killed by Qin Lie.

……

“Yu Yuan is also gone.”

Deep within the forest, the Black Voodoo Cult youth had howled for a full hour. The pain only stopped when the last voodoo insect was completely dead.

The voodoo insects of Yu Yuan and the other three Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners had come from the Eight-winged Centipede Queen coiled around his heart. These insects were larvae of the Eight-winged Centipede Queen that he had embedded into their foreheads. Since he fed on their mind energy, they could assist him in releasing the voodoo toxin.

Everyone who was infected by the voodoo toxin would gradually lose their soul and life energy. These energies weren’t lost to the world—instead, they were consumed by him and the Eight-winged Centipede Queen.

The Eight-winged Centipede Queen fed on life energy, whereas the youth sought soul energy.

In this way, he would be able to increase his own soul energy at a tremendous rate. Through the slow deaths of the toxin-afflicted martial practitioners, he was able to nurture his own strength along with the Eight-winged Centipede Queen’s.

He could use this to grow stronger and stronger.

“Three larvae died in a row! Three! Do you know how much energy and effort it takes me to breed just one?” he scolded angrily.

All of the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners beside him were silent.

“If you clansmen of the Yu Family are dead, you’re dead. It doesn’t affect me much. All of you are utterly incomparable to a single larva!” the youth declared heartlessly, frowning at them. “Remember! If you know that you won’t be able to escape from a situation alive, immediately sever your soul connection with the voodoo insect so that the voodoo insect can escape!”

The Yu Family martial practitioners said nothing.

“I hope you understand that it was you, the Yu Family who chose to become my vassal force. The Yu Family will only become strong if I become strong! If anything happens to me and my strength decreases, then the entire Yu Family will also pay the price! Have I made myself clear?”

“We understand, young master.”

“If the situation looks bad, we will sever our soul connection with the voodoo insect to increase its chances of survival as much as possible.”

“We understand.”

All of them bowed their heads and expressed their subservience.

“Now this is what a professional vassal force looks like. You should know what comes first and obey the greater good.” It was only then that the youth nodded in satisfaction.

……

“Did you find anything?”

Beside the three charred corpses, Qin Lie removed their spatial rings and acquired three Black Voodoo Cult tokens. After examining them closely and finding no information about a cure for the voodoo toxin, he turned to ask Song Tingyu.

Song Tingyu gripped the Memory Fragment Crystal one one hand. She coincidentally finished her analysis on Yu Yuan’s memories right when Qin Lie spoke, releasing her grip on the crystal.

“What an evil, vicious spirit art… what a terrifying voodoo insect!” Having interpreted Yu Yuan’s memories, her expression became incredibly serious. “Their young master is Ye Yihao. He has an Eight-winged Centipede Queen coiled around his heart. He uses the Eight-winged Centipede Queen as the mother from which to breed larvae, controlling those larvae and releasing the voodoo toxin through them. Everyone who is infected with the voodoo insect’s toxin has their soul and life energy consumed by Ye Yihao and the Eight-winged Centipede Queen. He feeds on soul energy to strengthen himself while the voodoo insect feeds on life energy to strengthen itself.

“That truly is a terrifying spirit art.” Qin Lie’s expression changed. “Have you found a way to cure it?”

“Yu Yuan wasn’t lying.” Song Tingyu quietly sighed in disappointment, helplessness in her eyes. “A larva can only release voodoo toxin. It is incapable of doing anything else. The mother of the insect is needed to cure it. We will only be able to cure the voodoo toxin if the mother insect is dead or if we’ve obtained its blood. Aside from those, there is no other way.”

“So it’ll fine as long as we kill the mother insect?” Qin Lie’s eyes shone with tremendous killing intent.

“That’s correct. The moment the mother insect dies the voodoo toxin will automatically dissipate.” Song Tingyu shook her head and said bitterly, “I know what you’re thinking. To kill the other insect, one must first kill Ye Yihao. This person is extremely frightening. He is on an entirely different level compared to these four. Furthermore, the mother insect around his heart is an even greater weapon, I could sense significant fear toward the Eight-winged Centipede Queen from this person’s memories—as if the mother insect were stranger and more powerful than the martial practitioner.”

After a pause, she let out yet another deep sigh. “The most important thing is that the mother insect can speed up how quickly the voodoo toxin spreads and make it penetrate even faster than before. If we enter the mother insect’s range, it can stimulate the voodoo toxin and make it spread faster, killing us before we even get close to it.”

Chapter 430: Thunder and Lightning Soul Refinement!

“Does that mean there’s no way to survive?” Qin Lie asked, his brow furrowed.

“It’s possible that… there really isn’t,” Song Tingyu said with a sigh.

“There is no poison that cannot be neutralized! As long as we believe, there’s definitely a way!” Qin Lie already decided to actively oppose the people of the Black Voodoo Cult. He wanted to kill Ye Yihao and burn the Eight-winged Centipede Queen to death.

To that end, he took out a Black Voodoo Cult token and tied it to his waist, intent on waiting for the martial practitioners from Black Voodoo Cult to come find him.

“Don’t worry. We killed three of their people. They’ll come find us again,” Qin Lie said coldly. “Next time, that Ye Yihao might actually appear in person.”

“No, he won’t.” Song Tingyu shook her head. “He will arrange for people from the Yu Family to come for us. With his realm and identity, he wouldn’t consider us important.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Lie’s expression became even uglier.

In the following three days, he and Song Tingyu moved toward the area where the Black Voodoo Cult was.

In that time, Qin Lie did everything he could think of to try and eliminate the voodoo toxin in their True Souls, but none of the methods were effective.

Spirit power couldn’t purge the toxin, and normal antidote pills were also unable to get rid of it. Even when he used Frost Arts to freeze himself and Song Tingyu, it was still impossible to prevent the loss of soul and life energy.

He finally understood how terrifying the Black Voodoo Cult’s toxin was.

Three days later, Song Tingyu became even weaker. Her long, glossy black hair gradually lost its sheen, and her bright eyes became dim, still, and devoid of hope.

“I should only have about ten days left,” she said peacefully.

She had gradually accepted the situation as it was. She seemed to understand that her life was coming to an end and thus did not struggle.

“There’s still time!” Qin Lie shouted.

Song Tingyu gave him a tragic smile and shook her head. However, she did not say anything.

Qin Lie went silent as well.

The fourth day.

Qin Lie was sitting under the canopy of a great ancient tree with one hand caressing the token from the Black Voodoo Cult, probing it with his mind consciousness. He wanted to see if martial practitioners from the Black Voodoo Cult would come find him.

He found that his mind consciousness was gradually becoming scattered and it was difficult to focus.

His expression became extremely solemn. He knew that, in these four days, much of his soul and life energy had been lost.

This greatly decreased his fighting capability.

“This can’t go on! I need to find a way to at least slow the poison, otherwise I’ll lose the ability to fight before I even see Black Voodoo Cult’s Ye Yihao.”

Holding his head, Qin Lie’s expression was twisted as he thought of all kinds of extreme ways to fight the toxin.

“Heavenly Thunder Eradication! The five levels of Heavenly Thunder Eradication: Thunder Lightning Body Refinement, Thunder of the Ninth Heaven, Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement, Thunder Conception, Lightning Pool Refinement. After reaching the Netherpassage Realm, one can enter the third level of Heavenly Thunder Eradication,Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement, to temper the soul. The soul will gradually become able to tolerate thunder and lightning, and it will even be unaffected by lightning in the future!”

A spark flashed through his mind. His eyes lit up, and he decided to try this method.

Any ghosts, evil spirits, vengeful spirits, and wraiths who did not have tangible bodies considered thunder and lightning their nemeses. Even the souls of powerful martial practitioners were unable to endure being attacked by thunder and lightning.

Xue Li’s restored realm was powerful, and his soul was strong.

Yet even he had been imprisoned and suppressed by the lightning seal in the Soul Suppressing Orb, unable to escape.

If it were a soul, they would not dare to remain exposed to thunder and lightning. Xue Li was not an exception.

To use thunder and lightning to refine one’s body, to have the soul become able to endure thunder and lightning… this was the third level of Heavenly Thunder Eradication.

It was a level that he had to reach.

Only upon reaching the Netherpassage Realm, when the Soul Lake turned into the True Soul, could Qin Lie finally cultivate to this level of Heavenly Thunder Eradication.

Presently, he had finally reached this level and met the necessary requirement to cultivate it.

Under the ancient tree, tendrils of lightning emerged from Qin Lie’s body. A boom of thunder came from his chest and made Song Tingyu’s expression change slightly.

She turned to look at Qin Lie.

Lightning roamed Qin Lie’s body like snakes, moving from his limbs and chest to gather at his neck.

Blinding light that resembled silver metallic hoops clung to his neck.

Roars came from the lightning. Thunder energy was being compressed and shrouded by the lightning and slowly rose to the point right below his jaw.

Qin Lie’s face suddenly went completely red as if he were suffocating. His expression was frightening.

“Boom!”

Immediately after a muffled sound, slender threads of faint lightning shot from his neck, charging deep into his mind.

Appearing in his mind, the lightning carried heavenly thunder and slowly gathered at his Soul Lake.

Qin Lie’s Soul Lake became filled with flashes of thunder and roars of lightning. Thunder and lightning collided and exploded as they headed for the True Soul inside his Soul Lake.

“Bam!”

Under the barrage of thunder and lightning, the True Soul in his Soul Lake exploded.

Threads of soul imprints that had been pieced together, essence, memories, and thoughts scattered. They flew out of the Soul Lake and turned into wisps of light that spread to every corner of his mind.

The cultivation of Qin Lie’s Netherpassage Realm seemed to have taken a step back, returning to the Manifestation Realm.

In the Manifestation Realm, the soul was not cohesive, it was scattered. The essence, memories, and thoughts were disorganized and chaotic.

Martial practitioners would usually be seriously injured after their True Soul collapsed. They would lose their combat ability and would even be unable to recover for a lifetime.

However, Qin Lie did not feel weak at all.

It was the opposite for him. To his surprise, he discovered that, after his True Soul exploded, the feeling of weakness in his soul and life force had miraculously disappeared.

Qin Lie became excited.

The voodoo toxin from the Black Voodoo Cult had permeated his True Soul. By corroding the True Soul, it had slowly consumed his soul and life force.

Since his True Soul had just exploded, the voodoo toxin naturally scattered as well.

Qin Lie hurriedly searched through his mind. As expected, he found black threads that remained in the center of the lake. They were like poisonous snakes calmly waiting for his True Soul to gather again.

It was as though the voodoo toxin would immediately infect and consume his True Soul if he formed it again. It would devour all of its power.

Qin Lie did not rush to reform his True Soul.

Instead, he channeled Heavenly Thunder Eradication, gathering the thunder and lightning to attack the voodoo toxin.

The black threads did not react to the ferocious assault of thunder and lightning!

This greatly astonished Qin Lie.

“The poison of the voodoo toxin is not formed from the soul… it’s an actual poison! It’s a tangible existence!” Qin Lie finally understood the problem.

Thunder and lightning had absolute destructive power against things in soul form, but it didn’t have any way of dealing with a poison like this.

“The blood of the Fire Qilin!” A new idea floated into Qin Lie’s mind.

The blood of the Fire Qilin could purify the voodoo insect and burn it to dust. Would it be able to eliminate the voodoo toxin that it had left in his True Soul?

When Qin Lie thought about this, he realized that the three blood essences that had been sleeping within his blood vessels had flowed to the artery at his neck, easily reaching the depths of his mind.

The three blood essences took the shape of the Fire Qilin, appearing above his Soul Lake.

A terrible scalding heat filled his mind. It was so hot that his Soul Lake was almost unable to withstand it.

Qin Lie hesitated.

He did not know what the consequences of throwing these flames shaped like the Fire Qilin into his Soul Lake would be.

Yet, as he hesitated, he was surprised to find that the voodoo toxin seemed to recognize the current situation was not good for it.

Before Qin Lie could hurl the flames into the Soul Lake, the black toxin actually flew out of it and fled from his mind.

“Just as I suspected… the Fire Qilin’s blood has purifying effects!” Qin Lie exclaimed in realization.

The balls of flame resembled enormous Fire Qilins that flew into his mind and killed the voodoo toxin.

The threads of voodoo toxin were purified by the Fire Qilins before they could escape.

The poison was burned to dust!

Qin Lie opened his eyes. No black threads remained in his body!

He had completely purified the voodoo toxin!

“I’m fine.” Qin Lie looked at Song Tingyu and gave her a wide smile, his expression completely relaxed.

“You… really?” The light of hope appeared in Song Tingyu’s eyes once more.

“I really am okay, I’ve purified the voodoo toxin,” Qin Lie said confidently.

Chapter 431: Chance

Qin Lie’s eyes no longer held any hint of black smoke and were once again full of energy.

His soul and life energy had stopped seeping away. None of the voodoo toxin remained in his mind.

The voodoo toxin had been purified by the Fire Qilin’s blood.

“So… can I also do this? Can I also cure myself?” Hope welled inside of Song Tingyu. She urgently asked, “How did you do it?”

“I…”

Qin Lie opened his mouth but suddenly froze. His brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” Song Tingyu detected his anxiety.

“I first used thunder and lightning to attack my True Soul and destroy it, then used the Fire Qilin’s blood to slowly purify the voodoo toxin.” Qin Lie’s expression was solemn. “I don’t know if you can use this method.”

Song Tingyu’s face paled, and then she shook her head bitterly. “My True Soul is already very fragile. I won’t be able to even tolerate one strand of lightning. I am not the same as you. I have not cultivated thunder and lightning spirit arts. My True Soul cannot endure lightning—it would just be destroyed.”

“Sit down. I will try using the Fire Qilin blood to see if it can force the voodoo toxin out of you.” Qin Lie did not give up and instead prepared to try another method.

Once Song Tingyu was ready, Qin Lie used his mind consciousness to manipulate the Fire Qilin’s blood. Three drops of crimson blood emerged from his chest and transformed into burning flames.

Three flames shaped like Fire Qilins slowly approached Song Tingyu.

Bathed in red by the light of the fire, Song Tingyu’s face seemed like she had recovered.

“How is it? Is there any change?” Qin Lie asked.

“No. The voodoo toxin is deep inside my True Soul. It hasn’t reacted at all.” Song Tingyu sighed.

Qin Lie manipulated the blood essences to approach Song Tingyu until they threatened to burn her clothes.

“Don’t move them any closer. I fear that I’ll be burned to dust by the fire before the voodoo toxin is forced out.” Song Tingyu’s face was full of helplessness.

Qin Lie had to recall the blood essences.

“It’s no use. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m going to die.” Song Tingyu smiled weakly.

Qin Lie was silent. A long time later he said, “Are you not able to destroy your True Soul?”

“Destroy my True Soul?” Song Tingyu was shocked.

“Mn, if your True Soul is destroyed, your essence, soul, memories, and thoughts will be scattered. You will fall from the Netherpassage Realm to the Manifestation Realm. This might force the voodoo toxin that has penetrated your True Soul to be exposed.” Qin Lie tried to find the words to explain. “If that happens, I can try to use my True Soul to attract the voodoo toxin and absorb it from your mind into my True Soul. Once I’ve done that, I can refine it. Do you think this could work?”

“I don’t know how to destroy my soul.” Song Tingyu said with a furrowed brow, thinking. A long moment later, she shook her head helplessly.

She then said, “Didn’t you destroy your soul? How will you lure the voodoo toxin away?”

“I can gather and reform my soul after destroying it. I actually cultivate a kind of spirit art that refines the soul with thunder and lightning. In the early stages of this, my True Soul was continuously destroyed and reformed. This process is repeated over and over. It is difficult for the True Soul to get used to the attacks of thunder and lightning, so I needed to go through it incrementally,” Qin Lie explained.

“I don’t know how to destroy my soul.” Song Tingyu understood what Qin Lie was saying, but she could not do it. Her mood worsened even more.

Qin Lie knew that his method of destroying the soul was not suitable for Song Tingyu. She did not cultivate thunder and lightning spirit arts, so she was unable to tolerate the attacks of thunder and lightning.

Qin Lie went silent once more.

Later, after a long time had passed, he still didn’t have a good solution. He could only stand up and say, “I’m no longer affected by the voodoo toxin. I will find Ye Yihao as fast as possible and kill the Eight-winged Centipede Queen coiled around his heart and cure you!”

“Don’t! You’ll just end up dying as well. That Ye Yihao is terrifying and much stronger than his followers. The voodoo insect at his heart is evil and strange. You are no match for him. Don’t worry about me…”

“I have to do this!”

“To tell you the truth, I am already content with just seeing you in the last moments of my life and having you keep me company.”

“That’s not enough! It’s far from enough!”

Another two days passed.

Song Tingyu’s situation became even worse. It was even difficult for her to channel spirit power.

Qin Lie was stubborn. He carried her on his back as he charged in the direction that Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners were gathered.

“Ding!”

A pleasant tone rang clearly from the sword token at Qin Lie’s waist. This meant that people from Heavenly Sword Mountain were nearby and had detected his position with sword tokens of their own.

Qin Lie did not pay any attention to it. He didn’t care who they were and continued to travel in the direction of Black Voodoo Cult.

Yet the owner of the sword token was very curious and came looking for them.

Six hours later, a woman in blue robes with a simple ponytail suddenly appeared in front of him.

The woman wore no makeup, and her clothing was plain. Her appearance could only be considered pretty, not outstanding.

She held a sword token. She stood in front of Qin Lie, brow furrowed, and carefully examined him. Then she suddenly asked, “Are you Qin Lie from the Scarlet Tide Continent?”

Qin Lie stopped. “Are you He Wei?”

“I am He Wei.” The blue-robed woman nodded slightly. She focused on him and Song Tingyu, then became serious when she saw the black threads writhing in Song Tingyu’s eyes. Sighing, she asked, “Have you been poisoned with Black Voodoo Cult’s voodoo toxin?”

“Mn.” Qin Lie confirmed.

“Ah…” He Wei sighed again and said, “Nine days ago I saw another woman that had been poisoned with the voodoo toxin. She was from Scarlet Tide Continent just like you. When I saw her, she was almost dead.”

“Jingxuan! That was definitely Jingxuan,” Song Tingyu said weakly.

He Wei’s expression went still. “Are you Song Tingyu of the Scarlet Tide Continent’s Profound Heaven Alliance?”

“I am. What happened to the woman you saw?”

“I could not save her. She accepted her fate and left by herself. She said she was going to find a quiet place to wait for the end,” He Wei said, her tone calm. “Counting the days… she should have passed away by now.”

Qin Lie and Song Tingyu’s eyes dimmed.

“Ye Yihao is the leader of the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners participating in the current Trial. He has a profound mastery over the voodoo toxin. The Eight-winged Centipede Queen coiled around his heart is one of the most famous voodoo insects of Black Voodoo Cult. It is very powerful. If one isn’t careful when fighting against a member of Black Voodoo Cult, the voodoo toxin will permeate the True Soul and they will only be able to wait for death. It is rare for people to survive.”

Worry was evident on He Wei’s face as she spoke. It was clear that she also feared the voodoo toxin.

“One can either obtain a drop of fresh blood from the voodoo insect or kill it. Otherwise, the person afflicted with the poison can only wait for death.”

Qin Lie’s expression was grim. Just as he was about to respond, his eyes flickered and he looked into the forest behind He Wei.

“He Wei, are you done mincing words?” A man emerged from the woods, impatience obvious on his face. “Don’t waste time, my junior brother is badly poisoned. I need to find Ye Yihao, that son of a bitch!”

This person looked to be about twenty seven or so. His figure was athletic, and he was dressed in the robes of Terminator Sect, the chest of which was embroidered with an insignia of the Terminator Profound Bomb

Beside him were three martial practitioners from Terminator Sect. One of them had black threads in his eyes, having clearly been poisoned as well.

That person appeared to be even worse off than Song Tingyu. The veins in his face bulged, and his expression was twisted.

If this person did not receive the antidote in five days, they would die even faster than Song Tingyu.

“What are you in a hurry for, Chu Li? Do you know where Ye Yihao is? Do you know the location of the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners?” He Wei turned to glare at him.

Chu Li?

Qin Lie’s expression shifted and he examined Chu Li seriously, raising his guard.

Chu Li of Terminator Sect, just like Luo Chen and Ye Yihao, was one of the ringers from the nine great forces. Terminator Sect was famous for its strength in the Land of Chaos, and the people of that sect had fiery tempers.

Nan Zhengtian, Forefather Terminator of Terminator Sect, was famous for his protective nature. The Terminator Profound Bombs that Terminator Sect forged were divided amongst the members of the sect of various realms so that they could do as they pleased.

People in the Land of Chaos rarely dared to offend member of the Terminator Sect, afraid that doing so would cause endless trouble for them.

They were all afraid that Forefather Terminator would go crazy, charge into their sect, and activate a Terminator Profound Bomb to turn the world upside down.

“You’re searching for Ye Yihao of Black Voodoo Cult too?” Qin Lie’s interest was piqued.

“Yes, I’ve been looking for that bastard for a long time,” Chu Li snarled. “If I find him, I’ll destroy that insect of his and crush his bones to dust!”

“Then you definitely need a Black Voodoo Cult token.”

Qin Lie touched his spatial ring and four Black Voodoo Cult tokens appeared in his hand. He threw one of them to Chu Li.

“Not bad, kid! You killed four of those Black Voodoo Cult scum?” Chu Li’s eyes lit up.

“Mn.” Qin Lie nodded and indifferently said, “I will continue to kill them until everyone from Black Voodoo Cult is dead. I will only stop when I kill the voodoo insect that released the toxin.”

“Wonderful! It seems that we cut from the same cloth!”

Chu Li and the others had been searching for the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners for some time now.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t pinpoint the location of the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners and also didn’t have a Black Voodoo Cult token to do so. This made their search inefficient to the point where it could just be called mindlessly roaming through the forest.

In addition to that, the martial practitioner in their number that had been afflicted with the toxin gradually worsened and became unable to resist it.

That person only had five days left.

If Chu Li could not find Ye Yihao within five days and kill the Eight-winged Centipede or get a drop of its blood, his poisoned junior brother’s True Soul would dissipate. His junior brother would die.

This was why Chu Li was in a rush and did not want to chat more with He Wei and Qin Lie—he did not have time to waste.

However, when Qin Lie took out a Black Voodoo Cult token and threw it into his hand, Chu Li’s impatience and restlessness disappeared along with the arrogance on his face.

“We’re cut from the same cloth!” Chu Li exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.

“Four Black Voodoo Cult tokens!” Surprise shone in He Wei’s bright eyes, her opinion of him rising.

Behind Qin Lie, the three members of Terminator Sect that held themselves arrogantly were inwardly shocked.

They knew exactly how difficult it was to deal with martial practitioners of Black Voodoo Cult and knew how strange and malevolent the Yu Family clansmen were.

Having obtained four tokens and killing four Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners, Qin Lie immediately won a sliver of their respect.

“Senior Brother, take the Black Voodoo Cult token and find the position of those Black Voodoo Cult scum!” a member of the Terminator Sect shouted. “Ren Peng doesn’t have much time left!”

“I know.” Chu Li gripped the token and probed it with his mind consciousness, his expression solemn.

“Qin Lie, put me down,” Song Tingyu whispered into his ear.

“Wait,” Qin Lie replied. He was waiting for Chu Li’s response, his brow deeply furrowed.

He Wei of Heavenly Sword Mountain walked over to Qin Lie out of curiosity. She looked at him and Song Tingyu closely, asking in a small voice, “Did you two really kill four Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners?”

“I didn’t do anything.” Song Tingyu’s expression was indifferent. “Qin Lie killed them by himself.”

He Wei was even more surprised.

After a moment of thought, she said in a soft voice, “Be wary of Luo Chen. Before entering the Trial, he declared that he would make trouble for you.”

“Du Xiangyang told me the same thing.” Qin Lie’s expression was disdainful.

“You encountered Du Xiangyang?” He Wei asked in surprise.

“We met and fought once. He’s very powerful,” Qin Lie said.

“Of course he’s powerful. He originally had a high chance of being Heavenly Sword Mountain’s ringer in this Trial. If Luo Chen had not taken part, he would be the leader of Heavenly Sword Mountain’s participants. Such a pity…” He Wei shook her head slightly. After a short pause, she then asked, “Since you fought Du Xiangyang… who won?”

“He did.”

Qin Lie narrowed his eyes and thought back to the fight in the land of fire. When Du Xiangyang formed the Burning Soul Firebeam, Qin Lie had to use Blood Escape to avoid it.

He had been the loser.

However, he hadn’t understood the power of the Burning Soul Firebeam at the time. He also hadn’t refined the three drops of Fire Qilin blood into blood essences.

Upon meeting Du Xiangyang a second time, Qin Lie wanted to have a rematch.

Du Xiangyang, however, did not indulge him.

When Du Xiangyang encountered Qin Lie for a second time, he had hid far away and considered him bad luck. He hadn’t wanted to waste time and energy on him.

“Yes, I thought that would be the case.” He Wei chuckled softly as if that were the way things ought to be.

She was familiar with how powerful Du Xiangyang was. She knew that Du Xiangyang was only slightly less powerful than Luo Chen.

—and Luo Chen was the most terrifying Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner in Heavenly Sword Mountain!

“However, I’ll admit that you’re pretty strong as well. You were able to kill four Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners, which is more than enough proof of your ability to protect yourself in the Graveyard of Gods.” He Wei’s voice took on a low tone and she advised, “Come with me. You cannot fight Black Voodoo Cult alone. Ye Yihao is even more frightening than Du Xiangyang. You definitely can’t measure up to him. Only by coming with us will you be able to help your friend.”

Qin Lie looked at He Wei in suspicion.

He felt this He Wei was very strange. This woman was from Heavenly Sword Mountain but was close to Chu Li. Furthermore, she had been friendly to him since the beginning.

This puzzled Qin Lie.

“What is this woman planning?” Qin Lie thought inwardly.

As if she could see Qin Lie’s hesitation and suspicion, He Wei thought to herself for a moment and then, in an even softer voice, she said, “Uncle Mu and my father are very close. I heard Uncle Mu talk about you. You also have a recipe to forge the Terminator Profound Bomb, right? That came from Uncle Mu…”

Qin Lie gaped in shock.

“My dad… is from Terminator Sect. Since I like practicing swordsmanship, and because he is a good friend of Uncle Mu, my father sent me to Heavenly Sword Mountain to learn the way of the sword,” He Wei explained.

Qin Lie nodded, finally understanding, and said, “So that’s how it is.”

No wonder this He Wei had been friendly to him since the moment they met. She was not like Du Xiangyang who had only stopped acting against Qin Lie after discovering that he was powerful after fighting him.

She was acting this way because of Li Mu.

“I cannot find any trace of Black Voodoo Cult movements. They probably aren’t anywhere within a fifty kilometers of us.” Chu Li shouted in irritation. He stopped scanning the surroundings and pulled at his hair out of stress.

“We know the general direction they are in,” Qin Lie said in a timely manner.

Upon hearing him say this, Chu Li, He Wei, and the other martial practitioners looked at him in surprise.

“Take out the Memory Fragment Crystal,” Qin Lie said softly.

Song Tingyu immediately handed it over.

“See for yourself.” Qin Lie gave the Memory Fragment Crystal to He Wei. “Sealed within this Memory Fragment Crystal are the memories of a Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioner. If you examine it, you can discern the general direction that the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners are in and figure out where they gather.”

“Good!” Chu Li was elated. “You did pretty good, little brother!”

He Wei took the Memory Fragment Crystal, and instead of handing it to Chu Li, she examined it herself.

Ten minutes later, He Wei opened her eyes and gave it back to Qin Lie. She then pointed in the same direction that Song Tingyu had specified earlier. “Over there!”

“Go!” Chu Li shouted. He nodded at Qin Lie and asked, “Want to come with us? You’re trying to cure your woman. If Ye Yihao and that voodoo insect are killed, she will definitely be fine.”

“I…” Song Tingyu’s pale cheeks faintly flushed red.

She wanted to say that she wasn’t Qin Lie’s woman, but Qin Lie already nodded and firmly shouted, “Gladly!”

“Let’s go!” Chu Li ordered.

So Qin Lie carried Song Tingyu on his back, joining Chu Li and He Wei’s group in heading toward the gathering place of Black Voodoo Cult.

The second day.

Qin Lie and He Wei’s sword tokens softly rang at the same time. The ringing gradually intensified.

“Five sword tokens… which means five people from Heavenly Sword Mountain. Definitely Luo Chen’s group.” He Wei touched her sword token to sense the situation then prepared to ignore it. “We will continue. Don’t stop for them.”

Qin Lie didn’t respond and simply continued to carry Song Tingyu in silence.

“Ding! Ding!”

Qin Lie’s and He Wei’s sword tokens continued to chime more and more frequently. This meant that people with their own sword tokens were constantly sending messages and quickly approaching them.

“So irritating!” He Wei frowned, her face full of anger. “They know that we’re going to ignore them, yet they’re still going to pursue us. What are they trying to do?”

“Aside from you, Du Xiangyang, and those of us from the Scarlet Tide Continent, every other Heavenly Sword Mountain martial practitioner in the Graveyard of Gods follows Luo Chen. If we were also on Luo Chen’s side, we would have met up with them. Since we were in such a hurry to get away from them, they can definitely tell who we are. They should be coming for me.” Qin Lie’s gaze was filled with murder.

“Luo Chen’s people?” Chu Li turned to look back at He Wei from his position at the front, an irritated expression on his face.

“Mn, it’s definitely them.” He Wei nodded.

“They won’t leave us alone?” Chu Li asked.

He Wei nodded again.

“Stop for now.” Chu Li waved his hand and came to a halt. His face was grim and he sneered, “I want to see what they want to do when they get here!”

“This is none of your business! They’re coming for me!” Qin Lie yelled.

“This was none of my business before you gave me the Black Voodoo token and the Memory Fragment Crystal.” Chu Li’s brow furrowed. “Now, however,, you’re coming with me to kill people from Black Voodoo Cult. From now on, your business is my business!”

Chu Li waved a hand, stopping Qin Lie just as he was about to speak, and said, “Don’t waste your breath. I want to see what they really want to do!”

His face was full of disdain as he scoffed, “I hate people that fight their fellow martial practitioners the most! This Luo Chen is the ringer of Heavenly Sword Mountain, but he doesn’t understand how to unite people and only wants to use the Trial to eliminate others. This kind of person… ha! I despise people like him!”

“Don’t worry, Qin Lie,” He Wei said, trying to comfort him. “Nothing will happen. Even if Luo Chen appears, he wouldn’t dare to try anything with Chu Li here.”

“I don’t have anything to be afraid of.” Qin Lie shook his head, not bothering to explain further. He knew that Chu Li and the others had good intentions.

“Let’s wait!” Chu Li shouted irritably.

An hour later.

A group of five people burst out of the woods. The person leading them was Luo Chen.

Luo Chen was dressed in white, and his gaze was as sharp as a sword. Almost in a flash, he arrived in front of Qin Lie’s group.

Behind him, along with two other Heavenly Sword Mountain martial practitioners, were Zhao Xuan and Zhang Chendong.

“Chu Li! He Wei!”

Upon arrival, Luo Chen swept his gaze across Qin Lie. His main focus, however, was on the other two, and he couldn’t help but shout.

Chu Li snorted coldly and didn’t respond.

He Wei frowned and impatiently asked, “What are you in such a hurry to do, Luo Chen? Are you taking action against us?”

Luo Chen had an icy expression on his face. He shook his head and nonchalantly said, “I have no grievances with you.”

“Then why have you come?” He Wei asked coldly.

“I came for him!” Luo Chen pointed at Qin Lie, releasing a sharp blade-like presence. “I have some business with this person! If you do not interfere in the matter between the two of us, you can just leave. I definitely won’t say another word.”

“He Wei, look after her for me.” Qin Lie calmly put Song Tingyu down and walked toward Luo Chen.

Before he could go far, however, a figure suddenly moved to block him.

It was Chu Li.

With his back to Qin Lie, Chu Li faced Luo Chen and provoked him, “I want to interfere! What are you going to do about it?”

Luo Chen’s face became cold as he suddenly became silent.

Qin Lie was shocked.

After a moment, he moved past Chu Li and said, “This is between me and him.”

“I already told you! Since you offered that Black Voodoo Cult token and the Memory Fragment Crystal, your business is now my concern!” Chu Li snorted in a domineering manner. His figure flashed, and he appeared next to Qin Lie once more. He impatiently shouted, “I have so much pent up anger and didn’t have someone to vent it on! Since these people came searching for us, don’t blame me for using them to vent! In this Graveyard of Gods, a person can do whatever they want if they’re powerful enough. The more people die, the better!”

Chu Li had been feeling wretched as his junior brother slowly weakened. Since he hadn’t known how to find the people of Black Voodoo Cult, he needed an outlet for his emotions.

The arrival of Luo Chen and the others gave him that outlet Regardless of whether or not he had a close relationship with Qin Lie, Chu Li was going to take advantage of this opportunity.

He was clearly kicking up a ruckus on purpose.

Qin Lie froze. Looking at this murderous person whose eyes were filled with fighting spirit, he was stunned.

From Chu Li’s actions alone, even if he didn’t have anything to do with Luo Chen, it was clear that he was ready to make trouble. Luo Chen just happened to come at such an inopportune time.

Chapter 433: Meeting

“Chu Li, why must you poke your head into our business?”

Luo Chen was extremely angry with Chu Li. He did not wish to provoke Terminator Sect and clash with him so early, but Chu Li’s obvious provocation made him incredibly frustrated.

This was especially the case considering that Zhao Xuan and Zhang Chendong were right behind him.

If he, Luo Chen, backed down in front of Zhao Xuan and Zhang Chendong, they would doubt his abilities and no longer respect him.

This was something that Luo Chen definitely didn’t want to see.

“That’s right, I want to poke my head into your business. What are you going to do about it?” Chu Li said forcefully.

Several silver metallic balls suddenly flew out of Chu Li’s spatial ring. These metallic balls were only the size of walnuts, and exquisite patterns that resembled lightning were etched into them. They faintly radiated powerful, thunderous energy.

They were none other than the Terminator Profound Bombs!

The Terminator Profound Bombs that Chu Li held were one size smaller than Qin Lie’s, but the patterns on each of their surfaces were denser and more complicated. The thunder energy contained within them were several times more powerful as well.

There were nine metallic balls in total, and the thunderous light they discharged made them look like nine bright little suns.

The nine metallic balls floated around Chu Li, circling him as the thunderous energy inside of them intensified.

“I want to interfere with your business and meddle. What are you going to do about it?” Chu Li asked scornfully, taunting Luo Chen as he walked toward him step by step. His eyes brimmed with tremendous fighting spirit.

There was no way that Luo Chen could back down from this.

Luo Chen’s cold eyes shone clearly as a longsword, the blade of which was about two fingers wide and as thin as a cicada’s wing, slowly appeared from inside of his right sleeve.

Luo Chen had been using his skin and flesh to nurture this longsword. Carved from a special kind of jade, it was translucent, shiny, and nearly see-through.

Luo Chen prepared for combat.

“Oooooooo!”

It was at this moment that the tokens around Luo Chen’s and Qin Lie’s waists began to howl strangely.

Everyone looked at the two of them.

Qin Lie calmly looked at his waist and lifted up a token. He frowned and said, “It’s the Xiahou Family.”

Luo Chen also lifted up his token and looked in a certain direction, his eyes and face cold.

“Brother Luo,” Zhao Xuan suddenly interrupted, lowering his voice. “This is not the right place to fight them to the death. Let us… take care of the other troubles first, shall we?”

“Let’s deal with Xiahou Yuan first,” Zhang Chendong also advised.

They seemed to hold a grudge against Xiahou Yuan, and the moment that Luo Chen realized that the Xiahou Family was nearby, murder shone from his eyes.

After a moment of consideration, Luo Chen’s blade-like eyes stared intensely at Qin Lie before he suddenly moved in the direction of the Xiahou Family, saying, “I’ll let you go this time, Qin Lie! I know that the tombstone is once more in your possession. I also know that you’re the one playing dirty tricks from the shadows!”

“You’re letting me go?” Qin Lie shook his head with a strange chuckle. “I can’t wait for you to act right now!

Chu Li also chuckled. “Same here!”

“Brother Luo!” Zhao Xuan exclaimed.

Just as he was about to give in to their taunts and turn to fight them, Luo Chen forcefully suppressed the anger in his heart and left the area as quick as lightning.

Zhao Xuan and the others followed closely behind him as they left like the wind, vanishing from sight as quickly as they had arrived.

They were gone in an instant.

Once they left, Qin Lie said, “Thank you, Brother Chu.”

Chu Li waved his hands. He actually appeared rather disappointed that he did not get to fight Luo Chen. “Let us continue on our way. There’s no need to bother with them.”

“Mn. There’s no need for us to fight Luo Chen and the others. This is actually better for us.” He Wei let out a sigh of relief and said, “We cannot waste too much time here. Both Ren Peng and Song Tingyu’s… conditions… are extremely dire. It would be best for us to find Black Voodoo Cult’s Ye Yihao as soon as possible.”

“Let’s go!” Chu Li exclaimed in a low tone.

And just like that, their group and Luo Chen’s group went their separate ways.

Qin Lie carried Song Tingyu on his back once more and followed Chu Li and the others. He continued to madly dash in the direction in which the Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners were gathered.

“If it weren’t for Chu Li, Luo Chen would never have let you go. This Chu Li… may be somewhat arrogant and imposing, but he is a person that one can befriend.” Song Tingyu gently said, lying against Qin Lie’s shoulders. “Has your True Soul reformed yet?”

“It will soon,” Qin Lie answered casually.

The third stage of Heavenly Thunder Eradication, Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement, required its practitioner to continuously temper their True Soul by blasting it with thunder and lightning. The True Soul initially wouldn’t be able to endure the thunder and lightning and would constantly shatter.

Qin Lie’s True Soul would slowly get used to the thunder and lightning during this period, shattering and reforming repeatedly. Once it was finally able to endure the onslaught, he could gradually enter the more pleasant stage in which he would actually temper, nurture, and strengthen his True Soul!

Yet another day passed.

“Uaahhhhhh!”

The Black Voodoo Cult tokens around Qin Lie’s and Chu Li’s waists emitted shocking, shrill howls at the same time.

Song Tingyu and Ren Peng, having both been poisoned by the voodoo toxin, covered their ears and simultaneously cried out in pain. The rate at which the black tendrils deep in their eyes spread grew a bit faster.

“Found them!” Chu Li exclaimed in excitement.

Qin Lie’s eyes also became filled with a harsh light.

“Over there!” Chu Li pointed in a specific direction.

Their group rushed in that direction as quickly as possible.

An hour later.

Three Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners led by Yu Feng suddenly appeared before Qin Lie’s group. Although partially obscured by his bamboo hat, Yu Feng’s eyes were icy cold.

He was just about to send out the order to slaughter the illegitimate Black Voodoo Cult token holders, but then suddenly discovered that, instead of Qin Lie, Chu Li was the one howling madly and charging toward them.

“Chu Li! It’s Terminator Sect’s Chu Li!” Yu Feng screamed, quickly changing his mind ordering, “Retreat! We must return to the young master! We are no match for him!”

The three Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners were very familiar with how difficult it was to deal with Chu Li. They quickly turned around, trying to escape even faster than they had arrived.

“Fuck you! If I let you escape, I’ll write my name upside down from here on out!”

Three walnut-sized Terminator Profound Bombs flew toward Yu Feng and his group like silver bolts of lightning, their speed nearly imperceptible.

At the same time, bright stars appeared from within Chu Li’s silver robe.

Powerful star energy discharged from every pore of Chu Li’s body as he flashed before Qin Lie’s eyes like he was riding on starlight.

“Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!”

Three destructive explosions resounded from the direction that Yu Feng and his group fled. The explosive power of the thunderous energy seemed to rend the sky itself, destabilizing even the thick barriers isolating the secret realm.

Chaotic, distorted, explosions continuously erupted in three different directions.

Dragons made of lightning swam through the air, writhing in three different directions like living, sentient creatures.

Qin Lie narrowed his eyes as he sensed the explosions of the three Terminator Profound Bombs. Surprise leaped to his face.

“The explosions of Chu Li’s Terminator Profound Bombs are immense and not scattered. It’s so strange that such a powerful explosion can be focused entirely on the target. Every lightning bolt and massive wave of thunder seems to lock onto the target’s location as if possessing minds of their own,” Song Tingyu said in surprise as she examined the scene with her senses as well. “These explosions… all the thunder and lightning, everything instantly hones in on their target! How frightening. It’s as if these Terminator Profound Bombs possess rudimentary intelligence of their own, knowing which target to hunt down and kill!”

Qin Lie was also shocked and scared by that revelation.

He walked forward in an attempt to get a closer look at the power of the Terminator Profound Bombs. He wanted to see just how terrifying and miraculous Terminator Sect’s godly thunder was.

“It’s better if you don’t go. The shockwaves will continue for some time, and you will be affected if you go now.” He Wei raised her hands to stop Qin Lie, casually smiling. She said, “Relax. Those three Black Voodoo Cult fellows should not be able to escape Chu Li’s onslaught.”

“Oh.” Qin Lie obeyed her words and stopped.

He could not see Chu Li’s battle, but he could hear his angry roars. “Fuck you! How dare you poison someone from Terminator Sect. If I don’t fucking kill all of you fucking Black Voodoo Cult bitches, my name ain’t Chu Li!

“Do you know how to do anything other than use voodoo toxin? Come on, fight me! Show me what you got!

“What, we’re done already? You died this quickly? You trash!

“Get up!”

In the area filled with thunderous rumbling and intense, chaotic waves of energy, Chu Li’s angry roars resounded every so often.

Soon enough, Chu Li stopped shouting. It was obvious that he had killed the three Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners.

“Hey y’all! Come and take a look! There are still three voodoo insects alive! Holy shit, their masters are already dead but these voodoo insects are still alive! They sure are tenacious!” Chu Li shouted, making a big fuss.

“Voodoo insects!” Qin Lie frowned and rushed over.

Chapter 434: Joining of Multiple Forces

Qin Lie knew just how scary those voodoo insects were and was worried that something would happen to Chu Li. That was why he was rushing toward him.

Last time, Qin Lie had been able to burn Yu Xi and the other Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners to death with the blood essences, but the voodoo insects themselves were actually able to survive the heat. Their tenacity was enough to make Qin Lie feel anxiety.

It ended up taking almost an hour to envelop the voodoo insects with the blood essences and refine them to ash.

The three Fire Qilin blood essences exhausted a huge amount of energy to refine the voodoo insects and were only able to slowly recover that energy after consuming a dozen or so Heavenly Flame Crystals.

From this alone, one could see just how powerful the voodoo insects were.

And these were just larvae of the Eight-winged Centipede Queen…

“Senior brother, be careful of the voodoo insects! They’re very powerful!” a Terminator Sect martial practitioner hastily warned as he rushed over.

He Wei screamed, “Chu Li! You mustn’t get too close to the voodoo insects!”

“What’s there to be afraid of? Do you really think these putrid worms could hurt me?” Chu Li’s tone was full of disdain, clearly indicating that he didn’t think much of their warnings.

In reality, Chu Li wasn’t afraid of the voodoo insects. As Terminator Sect’s ringer and the most talented youth in the entire sect, he had many hidden trump cards and the confidence to face any danger.

The three voodoo insects flapped their wings and released a strange whistling sound, circling Chu Li and searching for an opportunity to attack him.

Since their soul connections with Yu Feng and his flunkies had been broken beforehand, they were freely moving about.

Yu Feng had decided to do this because of Ye Yihao’s order for them to release the voodoo insects and allow them to escape if they knew that they wouldn’t survive an encounter.

Ye Yihao was the person the Yu Family chose. The Yu Family could only remain strong as long as Ye Yihao did.

Therefore, even if they did not like Ye Yihao, they could only grit their teeth and preserve the Yu Family’s future by sacrificing their own lives to protect the voodoo insects.

This was why the three voodoo insects were able to completely avoid the explosions of the Terminator Profound Bombs.

“Come on, you smelly insects, show me what you’re made of!” Chu Li laughed madly.

Mysterious starlight shone from within his silver robes. A powerful defensive energy field completely covered him, forbidding any external energy from penetrating it.

The voodoo insects circled around him, but no matter where they were, they couldn’t find an opening.

Chu Li simply grinned in the meantime, constantly waving his hands. Rays of starlight that resembled sharp blades or rainbows continuously shot from him.

“Pak pak pak!”

The voodoo insects were blasted by the starlights until sparks flew everywhere. The tiny exoskeletons of the insects trembled in midair.

Yet in the end, they were not eliminated.

The tenacious life force of the voodoo insects became evident to Chu Li, shocking him on the inside.

“God damn it, just how were these voodoo insects cultivated? I can’t believe that they’re so hard to kill.” Chu Li’s gaze gradually turned serious.

Considering his level of power, the starlight that Chu Li released would definitely blast the soul of a martial practitioner at the same rank as him to smithereens if they took his attacks repeatedly.

The tiny bodies of these voodoo insects, however, just trembled after weathering the attacks. In fact, they were tirelessly looking for an opportunity to break through his guard and bite him to death.

This revelation finally made Chu Li stop underestimating Black Voodoo Cult.

“Stop!”

A thought suddenly occurred to Chu Li during his brawn and wit battle with the voodoo insects. He immediately cried out, “Stay back! It’s dangerous, don’t come any closer!”

He finally realized it, but it was unfortunately a little too late.

Qin Lie, He Wei, and the other two people of Terminator Sect had rushed over, anxious to see what was happening.

Having tried to attack Chu Li for so long yet being unable to find any opportunities to do so, the voodoo insects immediately switched targets upon sensing new prey—they charged at Qin Lie and the others.

Chu Li’s expression changed as soon as he noticed that the situation changed, and he loudly yelled, “Be careful of the voodoo insects! These smelly insects are dangerous!”

“Poof poof poof!”

The bodies of the voodoo insects emitted strange sounds, almost as if they were discharging gas. Black mist made up of pitch dark motes as tiny as grains of sand suddenly spread from them.

These black motes quickly shot through the mist and spread toward Qin Lie and He Wei.

The three voodoo insects continuously released shrill howls. They opened their mouths, bared their blade-like mandibles, and flapped their wings, charging directly into the center of Qin Lie’s and He Wei’s group.

“Not good!” Chu Li rushed over, his face grim.

“Ugh!”

“Ah!”

“I’ve been bitten!”

“Something is seeping into my soul!”

Amidst the harsh howls of the voodoo insects, the scattering black motes, and the spreading black mist, He Wei and the other two Terminator Sect martial practitioners cried out in surprise.

The moment Chu Li heard those cries, he realized that he was too late. His expression became extremely ugly.

As the voodoo insects howled, three bloody lights shone from Qin Lie’s body amidst the black mist.

The bloody lights flew out into the open and turned into three burning flames shaped like Fire Qilins. The three clusters of flame burned the mist until crackling noises came from it.

The mist was swiftly driven away.

The three howling voodoo insects had been heading for the foreheads of He Wei and the two Terminator Sect martial practitioners, but as soon as they saw the burning flames heading their way, they immediately flapped their tiny wings and fled..

It was as if they could sense the aura of their natural enemy.

The voodoo insect closest to Qin Lie wasn’t able to escape in time and was caught by one of the Qilin flames.

That voodoo insect shrieked in pain, charging left and right from within the flames, but it ultimately was unable to escape.

When the remaining two voodoo insects noticed that the situation had turned bad, they fled even faster, resembling two rays of black, warping light.

However, black threads could already be seen in the eyes of He Wei and the other two Terminator Sect martial practitioners.

This was the clearest sign that they had been infected with the voodoo toxin.

“Damn it!” Chu Li had rushed over, but two of the voodoo insects had unfortunately escaped already, and He Wei and the others had been poisoned. This made Chu Li feel so frustrated that he nearly lost control of himself. “I was too stupid! God damn it, I should’ve warned you guys to stay away from the very beginning! This is all my fault!”

“Prak!”

The remaining voodoo insect burned intensely, enveloped in the Fire Qilin’s flames.

It continued to unleash shrill howls capable of piercing one’s eardrums.

He Wei and the other two martial practitioners that had been poisoned by the voodoo toxin suddenly went silent as sadness clouded their eyes.

The three of them wordlessly sat where they were and closed their eyes. All of them were trying to purge the voodoo toxin with their own unique methods.

A terrible killing intent shrouded Chu Li as he constantly muttered, “I’m going to kill all of those Black Voodoo Cult bastards! I’m going to break every bone in that bastard Ye Yihao’s body!”

Two blood essences reverted back to their bloodstone form and returned from off in the distance.

Qin Lie extended his hands and returned them to the blood of his palm. He took Heavenly Flame Crystals out of his spatial ring and used them to replenish their energy.

The other lifeblood essence was still in the form of Fire Qilin flames and refining the remaining voodoo insect.

One hundred and fifty kilometers away, Ye Yihao was seated on the floor. He clutched at his nearly transparent chest, screaming in terrible pain as he watched the mother insect coiled around his heart.

It was only when Qin Lie had completely refined the voodoo insect that his terrible screams gradually stopped.

Beside Ye Yihao, Xiahou Yuan and a group of men and women were gathered, chatting amongst each other and occasionally looking at Ye Yihao.

After Ye Yihao stopped screaming, his expression returned to normal and he walked to Xiahou Yuan and the others as if nothing had happened, saying, “Brother Xia, Brother Lin, and Sister Su should be well aware of the relationship your great families share with Black Voodoo Cult, right?”

The three people that Ye Yihao called, “Brother Xia,” “Brother Lin,” and “Sister Su” were none other than the Xiahou Family’s Xiahou Yuan, the Lin Family’s Lin Dongxing, and the Su Family’s Su Yan. They were the ringers of the Heavenly Calamity Continent’s three great families.

Each of the three had five to six clansmen with them. The three families had always maintained a friendly relationship with each other and used arranged marriages and mutual benefits to keep it that way.

Although they were raised by different families, Xiahou Yuan, Lin Dongxing, and Su Yun had grown up together. They had an established relationship with each other, and shared a mutual understanding.

“Of course we’re aware of it.” Su Yan giggled. She was born beautiful and her figure was seductive. She had peachy doe eyes, and every move she made was provocative. “If it weren’t for Black Voodoo Cult, our three families could not have become Silver rank forces. Without Black Voodoo Cult, we would still be Blood Fiend Sect’s vassal forces and have to obey their every whim. Hehe, it was also thanks to Black Voodoo Cult that we were able to acquire a rich amount of spirit materials after Blood Fiend Sect perished. We have always been grateful to Black Voodoo Cult.”

“It is wonderful that you understand.” Ye Yihao nodded. “More than a thousand years ago, Blood Fiend Sect was Black Voodoo Cult’s greatest enemy and competitor. The reason we, Black Voodoo Cult, were able to encourage all the Silver rank forces to eliminate Blood Fiend Sect in one fell swoop is because you, the three families, found their weakness. Of course we wouldn’t treat you poorly.”

“Big Brother Ye, just tell us what you need us to do.” Su Yan winked at him and smiled. “We will do whatever you say.”

“Another of the voodoo insects I released has been eliminated. It is likely that the enemy is Terminator Sect’s Chu Li.” Ye Yihao’s expression was grave. “Chu Li is not easy to deal with and will come to us very soon. It would take a lot of twists and turns for me to kill Chu Li alone. I need your help.”

After a pause, Ye Yihao said, “I hope that Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families will be the only ones to survive until the Trial’s conclusion. I hope that not a single person of the other forces will remain when that time comes!”

“That just so happens to be what our seniors planned for us as well.” Xiahou Yuan chuckled.

“Everybody that isn’t from Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families will die!” Ling Dongxing exclaimed in a low tone.

“I will do as you say, Big Brother Yen,” Su Yan said.

“Very well! With your help, no one will be our match in the Graveyard of Gods!” Ye Yihao was extremely satisfied with their attitudes as he promised, “Don’t worry. Black Voodoo Cult will not keep anything that we acquire in the Graveyard of Gods from you!”

“Thank you, Big Brother Ye.” Su Yan smiled seductively.

“Now go and prepare. When Chu Li arrives, he will be the first one we kill!” Ye Yihao snorted coldly.

“Heavenly Sword Mountain’s Luo Chen is also nearby. Although we’ve managed to throw him off our tail for the moment, he will definitely find us if they keep looking.” Xiahou Yuan frowned.

“We will kill whoever comes to us first!”

“All right!”

Chapter 435: Winning Respect!

The voodoo insect was ultimately burned to ash, refined by the blistering hot flames of the Fire Qilin.

Chu Li wore an expression of irritation. He constantly growled in a low tone like a bloodthirsty animal.

An hour later, He Wei and the two Terminator Sect martial practitioners opened their eyes one after another and stood up.

Their eyes were dull.

All three of them had given up on trying to cure the voodoo toxin.

“It cannot be cured.” He Wei’s expression was dim. “Our soul and life energy are gradually fading, and although we can’t stop it at all, we can clearly sense it happening… This is the kind of despair that is felt when you see your own death, but have no choice but to walk toward it.”

“I finally understand how Ren Peng feels,” a Terminator Sect martial practitioner said.

“I’ll go check on Song Tingyu.” Qin Lie wasn’t sure what to say when he looked at these people. He was worried about Song Tingyu, so he turned and left.

“This Qin Lie actually wasn’t poisoned by the voodoo toxin,” a member of the Terminator Sect said in realization.

“It’s really strange. This person’s realm is average, but not a single one of the voodoo insects dared to go near him while they were rampaging,” another person said.

“He even refined a voodoo insect to death. Even I have no way to deal with the voodoo insect. I also can’t think of a way to refine them to death.” Chu Li sucked in a deep breath. “This Qin Lie is very powerful. It appears that I will truly need him to kill Ye Yihao.”

“Chu Li. Qin Lie… more or less shares a subtle connection with Terminator Sect,” He Wei suddenly said.

Chu Li went blank, staring at her in surprise and waiting for her to explain further.

“He knows how to forge Terminator Profound Bombs. He should have some in his possession,” He Wei explained.

All three of the Terminator Sect martial practitioners were surprised when they heard this.

“What? He knows how to forge Terminator Profound Bombs? But… how did he learn to do so?” Chu Li cried out in surprise.

“The blueprint in his possession is the one that my father gave to Uncle Mu. Uncle Mu then passed it down to him,” He Wei said, somewhat embarrassed.

“But that was just a forging blueprint. Did he have a detailed blueprint of its spirit diagram combination?” Chu Li frowned.

“Of course not. My father would never be that careless. He would never give out a detailed blueprint of the Terminator Profound Bomb’s spirit diagram combination,” He Wei cried out.

“He managed to forge Terminator Profound Bombs with just this spirit material forging blueprint?” Chu Li couldn’t believe it.

“It’s true. Uncle Mu told me this, so it’s shouldn’t be a mistake,” He Wei said in confirmation.

“This guy…” Chu Li’s eyes were filled with shock and doubt.

In the other area.

Leaning against an ancient tree, Song Tingyu and Terminator Sect’s Ren Peng appeared dispirited.

Seeing Qin Lie walking over, Song Tingyu softly asked, “How is everything?”

Ren Peng also looked at him.

Qin Lie’s face was grim as he shook his head and sighed, “It’s very bad.”

Song Tingyu and Ren Peng’s expressions changed.

“Aside from Chu Li, everyone has been poisoned by the voodoo toxin. The situation is grave,” Qin Lie said honestly.

Ren Peng opened his mouth and weakly cried out. His eyes were filled with despair.

Song Tingyu let out a quiet sigh.

The fact that He Wei and the other two Terminator Sect martial practitioners had been poisoned by the voodoo toxin meant that they would not be able to participate in the attack on Ye Yihao.

Everyone afflicted by the voodoo toxin would be detected by the mother insect coiled around Ye Yihao’s heart. If they got within range of the mother insect, not only would the voodoo toxin spread faster, an unforeseen event could happen as well.

This meant that Qin Lie and Chu Li were the only ones who had managed to preserve their combat power.

Just how were they going to fight against Black Voodoo Cult, kill Ye Yihao, and cure everyone of the voodoo toxin?

Both Ren Peng and Song Tingyu felt hopeless.

“You’ll be fine.” Qin Lie said softly, trying to comfort Song Tingyu. “Don’t worry. I’ve been making preparations to face all of Black Voodoo Cult by myself since the beginning.”

Song Tingyu shook her head, a distressed look on her face. “Forget about it, Qin Lie. Seriously, don’t push yourself any more. In order to cure the voodoo toxin, you had to fall to the Manifestation Realm. No matter how you look at it, you are not Ye Yihao’s match right now. You will only add to the death toll if you go.”

He Wei lost control of herself and cried out, “What? Qin Lie was previously poisoned by the voodoo toxin?”

She, Chu Li, and the others had come over, and when she heard Song Tingyu’s words, she was incredibly shocked.

Chu Li, Ren Peng, and the other two Terminator Sect martial practitioners that had been poisoned by the voodoo toxin wore strange expressions, their eyes wide with disbelief.

“There isn’t a trace of black threads in your eyes at all. Your soul and life energies are incredibly vigorous!” He Wei sucked in a deep breath, clearly growing excited. “You’ve actually cured the voodoo toxin! How did you do it, Qin Lie? Quick, tell me!”

He Wei could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The eyes of Ren Peng and the others who had been poisoned by the voodoo toxin also lit up as they grew excited.

Chu Li was both shocked and doubtful. “Qin Lie, you seriously cured the voodoo toxin?”

“I did,” Qin Lie said earnestly.

“How did you do it?” Chu Li grew lively. “Do you have a way to cure He Wei and the others too?”

“If I did, Song Tingyu would’ve already been cured. I would’ve treated her a long time ago.” Qin Lie smiled bitterly.

As soon as he said this, the excited crowd cooled down like someone had poured buckets of ice water over their heads.

Song Tingyu’s condition was obvious to everyone. If Qin Lie could truly cure the poison, would she be looking like this?

“But Qin Lie, how’d you do it? Just tell us. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be able to copy you.” He Wei was not willing to give up just yet.

“Well… first I destroyed my True Soul with thunder so that it would shatter and my realm would fall to the Manifestation Realm. The voodoo toxin was forced from my True Soul when this happened. Then I poured flames into my mind and gradually refined the voodoo toxin just like how I used flames to refine the voodoo insect just now…” Qin Lie explained the process in great detail, serious and sincere. “If you can use the same method that I did—destroying your True Soul with thunder and enduring my flames—then maybe you will be able to cure the voodoo toxin and return to normal.”

When he finished explaining, he noticed that everyone had grown silent. Everyone, including Chu Li, was staring at him as if they had seen a monster.

“What’s wrong?” Qin Lie wore a look of confusion.

The crowd was still silent.

After a long time, He Wei quietly said, “You destroyed your own True Soul in order to cure the voodoo toxin? You poured fire into your mind and burned the voodoo toxin with it?”

“Yes.” Qin Lie nodded.

“Your determination is formidable!” Chu Li sighed and shook his head. Then, with a complicated expression, he said, “Even if I had a way to shatter my True Soul, I would never do such a thing so confidently. Shattering one’s True Soul means the fall of one’s realm. We may never recover our full strength, or our souls might just explode and die right there and then. This kind of destruction… might be even scarier than slowly being eaten alive by the voodoo toxin.”

“For a martial practitioner, the fall of one’s realm and strength, the possibility that one might not recover in their entire lives, can sometimes be even harder to accept than death itself!” He Wei finished.

When they looked at Qin Lie again, there was a bit more respect in their eyes. They all thought that this guy was terrifyingly insane.

“He’s a ruthless character,” Chu Li thought.

It was only now that Qin Lie finally won a place of respect in his heart. It was only now that he truly considered Qin Lie a person worthy of respect.

A person who could decisively shatter their own soul and use a near suicidal method to cure the voodoo toxin was, in Chu Li’s opinion, truly terrifying.

“If you can shatter your own soul and endure fire seeping into your own mind, then I can help you cure the voodoo toxin. What do you think?” Qin Lie’s gaze swept across their faces.

He Wei and the others who had been poisoned by the voodoo toxin shook their heads repeatedly, their faces pale.

“F-forget about it. That’s impossible for us. Our souls could not endure lightning, and our minds could not endure those flames either.”

“Those flames killed even the voodoo insects. What are we compared to them?”

“I may have been poisoned, but I am currently alive. I have no intention of dying right away.”

Qin Lie looked around and found that all of them were shaking their heads and waving their hands. He had no choice but to helplessly say, “Then I have no way of helping you.”

“Killing Ye Yihai and eliminating the mother insect is still the easiest method of curing the voodoo toxin,” Chu Li exclaimed.

“I guess so,” Qin Lie agreed.

“Let’s go.”

Six hours later.

Qin Lie’s expression changed and he suddenly said, “We should not be far from Ye Yihao.”

Chu Li looked at He Wei.

Having roughly figured out where Ye Yihao was using the Memory Fragment Crystal, He Wei nodded and said, “He should definitely be close.”

“He Wei, you guys find a spot to hide,” Chu Li said with a helpless expression. “Since you’ve been poisoned with the voodoo toxin, you guys can’t get close to the mother insect. I cannot bring you with me.”

“I understand,” He Wei said bitterly.

On the other side of the group, Qin Lie put Song Tingyu down and said with a low voice, “Relax. I’ll make sure that you’ll be fine. Just stay with them for the moment, okay?”

“Qin Lie, you can choose not to go, you know? I… don’t want be a burden.” Song Tingyu sighed quietly.

“I’ll be fine.” Qin Lie waved his hands.

“You guys watch yourselves, okay?” Chu Li instructed.

“Relax, we still have some combat strength for now. Plus, we have already been poisoned by the voodoo toxin. No one would care about someone already slated for death,” He Wei said in dismay.

Chu Li said nothing more. After glancing at Qin Lie, he took his leave first, leading the way.

Qin Lie followed closely behind him.

Two hours later.

Stepping into a lush forest, Chu Li’s expression suddenly changed as he yelled, “Someone is rapidly approaching us!”

He had just finished speaking when two women dressed in Illusory Demon Sect attire, each with a bloody hole in their foreheads, suddenly attacked Chu Li and Qin Lie.

The eyes of these two women were strange and overflowed with an inhuman light. Their bodies were icy cold and lacked heat like a corpse would.

However, they were as swift as lightning, and when they moved, all kinds of realistic illusions materialized out of thin air.

In an instant, it was as if there were a dozen women charging toward Qin Lie and Chu Li from every direction.

An evil, freezing aura enveloped Qin Lie, making every hair on his body stand on end.

This feeling was extremely disturbing to say the least.

“Chu Li! Guard your mind and beware of the voodoo toxin! Voodoo insects have bored into their brains and are controlling them!” Qin Lie cried out.

At the same time, his three blood essences flew out into the open.

Keeping one of them nearby to protect himself, Qin Lie sent the others into the air and had them charge at the two women.

“Buzz buzz buzz!”

The moment the two voodoo insects detected the Fire Qilin aura, they let out a shrill cry.

They immediately understood that they’d run into Qin Lie once more. Almost instantly, they flew out of the women’s foreheads and escaped before the flames could catch them, howling all the while.

The Fire Qilin’s flame captured and burned the two Illusory Demon Sect women alive, but they were one step too late.

The voodoo insects had escaped once more.

“Over there! I saw Little Die and Little Wan running over there. Sister Xue, come quickly!”

At the same time, a feminine cry came from in front of Qin Lie and Chu Li.

A couple of Illusory Demon Sect women swiftly moved through the forest and appeared in front of them.

They saw the burning visages of their companions as soon as they arrived. Their eyes immediately turned bloodshot.

Qin Lie and Chu Li exchanged glances and saw the bitterness in the other’s eyes. They both inwardly lamented their bad luck.

Chapter 436: This is a Misunderstanding!

The voodoo insects had flown away earlier, and the two Illusory Demon Sect girls were currently being burned by the flames. The bloody holes at the center of their foreheads had been scorched black. The entry wounds could no longer be seen.

Meanwhile, the newly arrived Illusory Demon Sect disciples had only seen their fellow disciples getting burned to death, so they did not understand what actually happened earlier.

Qin Lie and Chu Li could not be absolved of the blame even if they jumped into the yellow spring.

The five Illusory Demon Sect girls wore bright yellow dresses. They had bright eyes, white teeth, and skin like snow. They were as beautiful as flowers.

They were all in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm.

The eyes of all five girls were currently filled with angry light. They surrounded Qin Lie and Chu Li almost immediately.

“Sister Xue! This way!” someone cried out.

A person could be heard moving swiftly through the forest. Another woman was heading their way.

“It’s not what you think,” Chu Li awkwardly said, attempting to explain.

“Do you think we’re blind?” a girl with an oval face asked with eyes that might as well be spitting fire. “We have eyes. We can see what happened! Stop your babbling!”

Chu Li’s face darkened, and became irritated, no longer attempting to explain. “Whatever.”

Qin Lie frowned and inwardly lamented his bad luck. He wasn’t sure how to deal with this.

The voodoo insects had already flown away, so he was only wasting the fiery energy of his blood essences by keeping them burning. In light of this, he hurriedly drew them back into his body.

The two Fire Qilin shaped flames flew from the charred corpses of the two Illusory Demon Sect girls and transformed into translucent drops of blood in midair. They obediently returned to Qin Lie’s side.

“It’s him!”

Every one of the Illusory Demon Sect girls focused their hateful gazes on Qin Lie’s person.

The situation was now plain for all to see. The two girls had been burned to death and the Fire Qilin blood droplets had flown to Qin Lie. Who else could have done it but him?

The three blood essences sank into Qin Lie’s palm. He took out several Heavenly Flame Crystals to replenish their fiery energy.

Since the leader of the Illusory Demon Sect martial practitioners hadn’t arrived yet, he tried to think of a way to explain the situation and avoid a fight.

The Illusory Demon Sect’s ringer was none other than Xue Moyan, Xue Li’s biological daughter.

Xue Li was aware that he had a daughter, Xue Moyan, and knew that she would be participating in the Trial, so he had urged Qin Lie to think of a way to help Xue Moyan. Xue Li wanted Qin Lie to do his everything he could to find the holy medicine that would cure Xue Moyan’s soul.

To that end, Xue Li had even given Qin Lie half of the Blood Codex.

Qin Lie had long since decided to act according to Xue Li’s wishes and do his best to help Xue Moyan if he did run into her in the Graveyard of Gods.

But he could never have imagined that his meeting with Xue Moyan would turn out like this.

He still couldn’t think of a good way to explain the matter after a long while.

Qin Lie had a terrible headache.

“Sister Xue!” the oval-faced girl cried out.

A tall girl with snow white skin dressed in a bright yellow dress suddenly appeared before their eyes.

She stood right beside the burned corpses.

The girl looked to be about twenty years old. She had a pair of long, artistic eyebrows and a pair of eyes that resembled pools of crystal clear water.

“Chu Li.” The girl raised her head and looked at Terminator Sect’s Chu Li. Her eyebrows furrowed softly, and her voice was crisp and pleasant. “You killed them, didn’t you?”

She didn’t even spare Qin Lie a glance.

Chu Li snorted coldly and didn’t bother explaining. He knew that it would be pointless to try since they wouldn’t believe him anyway.

“It wasn’t Chu Li, it was him!” the oval-faced girl gritted her teeth and glared at Qin Lie, her eyes full of hate.

It was only then that Xue Moyan looked at Qin Lie.

Her eyebrows were still furrowed, but now there was a hint of doubt in her clear eyes. “Who are you?”

She did not recognize Qin Lie.

Xue Moyan had investigated all the martial practitioners of the other eight great forces before the Trial began. She hadn’t investigated just ringers like Chu Li either—every person from every force who was even remotely notable and powerful had their realm and appearance roughly investigated.

For example, even though Du Xiangyang and He Wei were not chosen as Heavenly Sword Mountain’s ringer, they were powerful enough to be included in her research.

It could be said that the glaring, dangerous individuals of every force had caught her eye.

Qin Lie obviously had not been one of them, indicating that he was not qualified worthy of Xue Moyan’s attention.

Furthermore, he was not wearing the uniform unique to Heavenly Sword Mountain. In addition to that, even though he was obviously working with Chu Li, he wasn’t wearing Terminator Sect’s uniform. Therefore, he did not seem to be a member of Terminator Sect either.

This was why Qin Lie’s identity and background made her doubtful and confused.

“My name is Qin Lie. I hold a sword token of Heavenly Sword Mountain and am representing them in this Trial. I hail from the Scarlet Tide Continent,” Qin Lie said, introducing himself.

This introduction did not lessen Xue Moyan’s confusion and instead made it worse. She shook her head and said, “I’ve never heard of such a person in Heavenly Sword Mountain or the Scarlet Tide Continent.”

In her heart she had already put Qin Lie in the category of small fries who were not worthy of notice.

“I don’t care if you believe me or not, but I will still explain myself regardless. Your companions died at the hands of the Black Voodoo Cult’s voodoo insects. Their deaths have nothing to do with us.” Qin Lie ultimately decided to try and explain anyway. “This is really just a misunderstanding!”

“He’s lying, Sister Xue! There are no voodoo insects at all!” the oval-faced girl said harshly, pointing at Qin Lie. “We only saw him unleashing his flames and burning Little Die to death!”

Xue Moyan nodded slightly and decisively ordered, “Take them out!”

Including Xue Moyan, there were a total of six girls from Illusory Demon Sect. When they moved, they created numerous beautiful illusions that looked exactly like them. The illusions even possessed life and soul auras.

It was impossible to distinguish which ones were real.

The six girls and their illusions moved at the same time, resembling beautiful fairies who were about to overtake Qin Lie and Chu Li in an instant.

“Indiscriminate women!” Chu Li snorted coldly.

Bright silver Terminator Profound Bombs suddenly appeared in Chu Li’s hand. Terrifying thunderous rumbles immediately resonated from within them.

Since Chu Li couldn’t be bothered to explain himself, he planned to blast his way out with the Terminator Profound Bombs, step over the corpses of the Illusory Demon Sect girls, and leave.

“Leave Chu Li to me!” Xue Moyan cried out softly.

The five Illusory Demon Sect girls paled and moved away when they saw Chu Li take out the Terminator Profound Bombs.

They knew exactly how powerful they were.

Xue Moyan was the only one who continued to circle Chu Li like an ephemeral fairy, continuing to create more and more illusions.

“Brother Chu, please don’t kill her!” Qin Lie suddenly screamed.

Chu Li was just about unleash the Terminator Profound Bombs and help Qin Lie when he froze and looked at him with eyes full of doubt.

Qin Lie smiled bitterly. “Brother Chu, please give me face this once and don’t fight them. Let us leave this place and speak later.”

“I need a reason!” Chu Lie yelled.

“I will give you a reason once we leave!” Qin Lie answered solemnly.

“I can leave, but can you?” Chu Li snorted coldly.

“Of course.” Qin Lie took out a Terminator Profound Bomb that he had refined himself and tossed it, yelling, “Explode!”

An Illusory Demon Sect girl was in the direction that he had tossed the Terminator Profound Bomb. Her expression changed as she hastily moved out of the way.

An intense shockwave exploded from that direction, and Qin Lie charged through the terrifying lightning and explosive shockwave.

“Stop him!” the oval-faced girl screamed.

“I have a lot of Terminator Profound Bombs!” Qin Lie snorted.

Just as he said, many more Terminator Profound Bombs the size of fists appeared in his left hand. Based on how they looked, they did not seem to be any weaker than the ones in Chu Li’s hand.

The Illusory Demon Sect girls all paled at the sight.

As a result, Qin Lie charged out of the encirclement by threatening to indiscriminately destroy everything with the Terminator Profound Bombs, frightening the girls and making them cautious.

“Brother Chu! Give me face and don’t fight with them now. I’ll explain everything later!” Qin Lie cried out from afar.

Chu Li snorted and dazzling starlight shone from his clothes just as Xue Moyan’s illusions charged at him.

Amidst the blinding light, Chu Li actually used his spirit armor and flew up into the sky. Once he was in the air, he vanished with a flash.

Xue Moyan wasn’t able to touch him.

“After them!” she ordered.

The girls of Illusory Demon Sect attempted to chase after the two like numerous yellow butterflies.

Using the spirit armor, Chu Li flew into the air and immediately ascertained Qin Lie’s position. He dove toward the ground and arrived beside Qin Lie.

“Let me carry you!” Chu Li yelled.

“Okay!” Qin Lie responded.

Chu Li quickly moved to Qin Lie and grabbed his shoulders. Since the girls of Illusory Demon Sect could only move along the ground, Chu Li and Qin Lie were able to fly into the distance and leave.

It was in this way that the two of them escaped from the curses and attacks of the girls, ultimately disappearing from sight.

“Bang!”

Having been released by Chu Li, Qin Lie fell from the sky and landed in some thorny bushes.

Chu Li did this to vent his frustration.

Considering how tough Qin Lie was, the thorns of this bush did no other damage than tearing his clothing.

“What happened back there?” Chu Li snorted. “Have you never seen a woman before? Were you so confounded by their beauty that you would let them slaughter you however they pleased?”

Qin Lie smiled bitterly. “About that…”

Just as Qin Lie was about to explain, he suddenly remembered that Xue Moyan was the daughter of Mo Lingye and Xue Li and had intimate ties to Blood Fiend Sect—

—the Blood Fiend Sect that was a taboo in the Land of Chaos.

If Xue Moyan’s identity were accidentally exposed because of his explanation, wouldn’t Xue Moyan be in great danger?

Qin Lie could not tell Chu Li the truth!

However, since Chu Li was still waiting for an explanation, it would probably be difficult for them to work together if Qin Lie could not appease him.

Qin Lie thought about it then sighed. He forced himself to lie and began spouting nonsense, “Illusory Demon Sect’s Xue Moyan is actually my fiancée. Our marriage was set up by her father and my grandfather, but we’ve never seen each other before. I came all the way from the Scarlet Tide Continent and participated in the Trial to seek her out and see what kind of a woman she is…”

“It’s that complicated?” Chu Li’s expression twisted in confusion.

“Er… I didn’t expect to cause such a huge misunderstanding with the voodoo insects during our first meeting. I can’t say anything if she believes that I am the killer, so I’m waiting for her to calm down and figure out the truth before explaining our relationship in the future. Please forgive me, Brother Chu.” Qin Lie smiled bitterly.

“What’s your relationship with Song Tingyu then?” Chu Li asked, rubbing his chin.

“Ahem… I am a man… and a man sort of lacks self-control when it comes to these matters. You understand, right?” Qin Lie laughed dryly.

“Oh, right, I understand. I understand completely.” Surprisingly, Chu Li actually patted Qin Lie’s shoulders in a friendly manner and even smiled. There was no trace of the anger from earlier. “Kid, we’re similar in that we both want to kill Ye Yihao. I didn’t think we’d be similar in this way as well!”

“Brother Chu, you too?” Qin Lie asked in surprise.

Chu Li laughed proudly, a look of satisfaction on his face, and said, “Brother Lie, if we set aside other matters and compare notes on this alone, then I am definitely qualified to be your elder brother! Hahahaha!”

“Big Brother Chu is amazing.” Qin Lie saluted Chu Li.

“Oh, it’s nothing, I’m just average.” Chu Li waved his hands humbly. “It’s only three or five women. It’s nothing, haha! Totally nothing.”

Chapter 437: Illusory Demon Orb!

Xue Moyan and the five Illusory Demon Sect girls could only curse, having been forced to give up on pursuing Qin Lie and Chu Li upon seeing that they could not catch up.

“That person was acting very strange just now. He stopped Chu Li from using the Terminator Profound Bombs even though he obviously wanted to stay and fight. He went so far as to warn us before he threw out a Terminator Profound Bomb.”

A round-faced Illusory Demon Sect girl swore for a while after they stopped pursuing the two, but when she calmed down, she noticed something strange and thought that something about the situation was somewhat odd.

“He must have known that he wasn’t our match and pretended that he did not want to fight us. Humph!” The oval-faced girl named Huang Zhuli seemed absolutely certain that Qin Lie was the killer.

“Yet that guy showed us mercy in every way,” the round-faced Pan Qianqian said.

“What’s wrong with you, Qianqian?” Huang Zhuli asked in irritation. “Didn’t you see that Little Die and our sister were obviously burned to death? That guy is just some nameless small fry at the early stage of Netherpassage Realm. How could someone as weak as him possibly show us mercy?”

Pan Qianqian was momentarily unable to say anything.

All of them were able to use their True Souls to sense that Qin Lie’s realm was weak. It seemed like he hadn’t even completely formed his True Soul yet.

If a small fry like him didn’t have Terminator Profound Bombs, he would literally be someone they could kill with a flip of the hand.

Yet Pan Qianqian still thought it was strange. She was used to observing other people, and from Qin Lie’s reaction, helplessness, bitter smile, and small movements, she suspected that things might not be as clear cut as they seemed.

However, it was true that she did not have any actual proof to support this.

In the end, she chose to keep quiet.

“That wasn’t how Chu Li would usually act.” It was at this moment that the ringer of Illusory Demon Sect, Xue Moyan, spoke up. She frowned and spoke with a crisp voice, “I may not have encountered this Chu Li before, but I have heard about his personality. This person isn’t afraid of anyone in the Land of Chaos. He literally shares almost the exact same personality as Forefather Terminator and loves causing trouble. If anyone argues with him, he would immediately fight them. He is a stranger to tolerance.”

All the girls who had previously heard of Chu Li’s character nodded slightly and agreed, “Chu Li is definitely that arrogant.”

“Yes, Chu Li’s actions today were kind of unusual compared to what he’s known for.” Pan Qianqian’s bright eyes shone with the light of doubt. “Lili, weren’t you with Little Die and Little Wan today? Why were you suddenly separated from them?”

Huang Zhuli’s expression was somewhat unnatural. “I… I needed to relieve myself and left them for a moment. When I came back, I heard their screams and chased them all the way here. When I arrived I saw them burn to death…”

“Let us go and investigate Xie Die and Xie Wan’s corpses.” Shock and doubt began to creep into Xue Moyan’s clear eyes as well. “Illusory Demon Sect and Black Voodoo Cult are both situated in the Heavenly Slaughter Continent. Both sides have never stopped fighting, either openly or in secret. We all know how terrifying Black Voodoo Cult is, and we know that high rank voodoo insects can burrow into a person’s brain and directly control that person.”

“Mm. Black Voodoo Cult is frightening, and Ye Yihao is the most talented voodoo insect and voodoo toxin user among the younger generation. We must be careful,” Pan Qianqian said.

“Let’s go. When we return, we’ll carefully check the bodies,” Xue Moyan ordered.

The group of Illusory Demon Sect girls went back to the site that their sisters had been burned to death in an attempt to reveal the truth.

“Buzz buzz buzz!”

However, just when they were about to return to the bodies, the eerie howls of the voodoo insects rang out.

The two voodoo insects that had been forced to leave after being burned by Qin Lie’s blood essences had not actually gone very far. When they discovered that Qin Lie had left and no longer sensed any aura of strong fire in the area, they returned once more.

“Voodoo insects! Two voodoo insects!” Pan Qianqian cried out in surprise. “I don’t think that guy lied! He said that there were voodoo insects in the area, and now there are exactly two of them!”

As soon as the Illusory Demon Sect girls saw the two charging voodoo insects, they immediately came to that realization.

The dirt on Qin Lie’s person was washed away just like that.

“Be careful! They are the larvae of the Eight Winged Centipede Queen, one of the scariest voodoo insects of Black Voodoo Cult!” Xue Moyan cried out softly, warning the others.

The two voodoo insects locked onto Xue Moyan and Pan Qianqian before charging at them.

The voodoo insects flew toward them and released bizarre howls, black motes of light, and thin black mist gushing from their flapping wings..

“Don’t let them get near your foreheads!” Xue Moyan cried out.

The moment those words left her mouth, she suddenly tossed an orb the size of a peach into the air.

The orb should have been translucent, yet it appeared somewhat misty. The haze inside of the orb portrayed continuously changing images, transitioning between sceneries of celestial palaces, visages of terrifying beasts, a glaringly bright sun, and the faces of numerous people.

It was as if the orb hid a small yet real world within it. It was mysterious and unfathomable.

This orb was called the Illusory Demon Orb. It was one of five such orbs, the five major components of Illusory Demon Sect’s most renowned spirit artifact, the “Illusory Demon Sphere.” The Illusory Demon Sphere was the spirit artifact of Illusory Demon Sect’s sect master. The Illusory Demon Sphere contained a world that had its own unfathomable secrets and mysteries.

The five Illusory Demon Orbs could communicate with the Illusory Demon Sphere and, as components of the Illusory Demon Sphere, they also contained extraordinary power and astounding abilities.

The Illusory Demon Orb that Xue Moyan currently held was one of the five Illusory Demon Orbs. Yu Lingwei had personally given the orb to her and taught her how to use it since she was participating in the Trial as Illusory Demon Sect’s ringer.

The Illusory Demon Orb suddenly glowed with bright colors.

The light immediately illuminated the area and made thin, clear, white mist appear out of nowhere, instantly transforming the area into a celestial domain.

In an instant, Xue Moyan became the ruler of this domain.

Even the tiniest wave of energy in this area was unable to escape her perception. While she was borrowing the extraordinary power of the Illusory Demon Orb, Xue Moyan was able to control the world under its influence.

“Withdraw!” Xue Moyan exclaimed in a soft tone.

The Illusory Demon Orb’s light suddenly retreated.

The dream-like scene instantly vanished like a mirage. The five Illusory Demon Sect girls abruptly returned to reality.

They didn’t understand what was going on, but they did notice that Xue Moyan now had two voodoo insects in her hands.

Furthermore, the voodoo insects directly moved into the Illusory Demon Orb and were captured as the light went out.

“Qianqian! Qianqian… you!” Huang Zhuli screamed.

Everyone looked at Pan Qianqian and saw that black threads were seeping from her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Pan Qianqian herself had not noticed anything.

“Y-you’ve probably been poisoned with the voodoo toxin,” Huang Zhuli exclaimed.

Pan Qianqian’s expression changed, and after she examined herself for a while, her eyes went dim. “H-how was I poisoned? I didn’t feel anything.”

“Sister Xue!” The rest of the girls immediately looked to Xue Moyan.

“We will find Ye Yihao!” Xue Moyan gripped the Illusory Demon Orb tightly and observed the two voodoo insects inside of it, saying, “We will exchange these two voodoo insects for a drop of the mother insect’s blood! Ye Yihao will perform the exchange! It is incredibly difficult to raise a voodoo insect, and each one is definitely more precious than a drop of the mother insect’s blood. He should know what to do.”

“That damned Black Voodoo Cult!” Huang Zhuli yelled angrily.

“Let’s go.”

……

Meanwhile, within a forest of thorn-ridden foliage.

Qin Lie and Chu Li were chewing through dried meat. Each held a wine jar. They were eating.

The two of them were beginning to call each other “Little Brother Lie” and “Big Brother Chu.” They seemed to have gotten quite close to each other.

“I’ve heard about that girl, Xue Moyan, before. She’s not a simple martial practitioner. Even if you hadn’t stopped me earlier, I may not have necessarily been able to beat her.”

Chu Li chewed his dried meat with a savage look before guzzling down a mouthful of alcohol. Then he said, “I heard that Illusory Demon Sect’s sect master personally gave her an Illusory Demon Orb. That orb is incredibly powerful, and if she had used it earlier, the power of the shockwave caused by my Terminator Profound Bombs would have been reduced by nearly half. I would not have been able to hurt her at all.”

“An Illusory Demon Orb? What’s so special about it?” Qin Lie asked, a surprised look on his face. The corner of his mouth was stained with alcohol.

“The Illusory Demon Orb can connect to the Illusory Demon Sphere and borrow power from it. The orb would then change its surroundings into an extraordinary domain. Within that domain, the senses of that girl become several times stronger than before, enabling her to detect even the slightest wave of energy. Furthermore, that domain automatically reduces her enemy’s power and forces them on the defensive. She would be aware of everything they do before they do it.”

Oddly enough, Chu Li grew increasingly serious as he spoke. “If she used the Illusory Demon Orb’s spirit art and set up a trap beforehand, turning herself into your closest companion, you might not know what truly happened even upon death…”

“Be more specific,” Qin Lie said.

“Let me put it this way. If she had gone to Song Tingyu and He Wei and seen them beforehand, she would be able to borrow the Illusory Demon Orb and flawlessly take on their appearances. With the illusion art of the Illusory Demon Orb, she would be able to transform herself into either one of them. If you and I had accidentally entered her domain, we would have assumed that we got lost and returned to Song Tingyu’s and He Wei’s side for some reason.”

Chu Li rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. Then he smiled bitterly and said, “If it were you, she would take on Song Tingyu’s appearance. If it were me, she would take on He Wei’s appearance. If this happened, then she would toy with us until we died, or until she reverted to her actual appearance. Otherwise, both of us would assume that Song Tingyu and He Wei killed us, unable to rest in peace.”

“Is it really impossible to tell what’s real and what isn’t?” Qin Lie grew shocked.

Chu Li shook his head and said, “Unless your realm, soul perception, insight, and instinct are better than hers, it would be incredibly difficult to do so. You would not know who really killed you even after you died.”

Qin Lie looked like he had been overcome with caution.

“You don’t have to worry too much.” Chu Li slapped his shoulders and carelessly said, “She’s your fiancée, right? Just tell her about your relationship and you should be fine.”

“If she uses Song Tingyu’s appearance to kill me, I wouldn’t have any idea that it’s her. What should I do then?” Qin Lie asked.

“Oh. I guess you can just kiss yourself goodbye then,” Chu Li said dryly.

“What about you? Aren’t you afraid of her?” Qin Lie asked in surprise.

“Of course I’m scared, but it wouldn’t be that easy to kill me.” Chu Li chuckled. “I would ignite all of the Terminator Profound Bombs on me before I die. Since you can forge Terminator Profound Bombs, you obviously understand that it only takes a thought to trigger their detonation. Heh… Xue Moyan would have to be near me if she wanted to kill me. Even with the Illusory Demon Orb, she wouldn’t necessarily survive if I ignited all of the Terminator Profound Bombs on me at the same time!”

In a fit of madness, Chu Li declared, “I’ll definitely take someone down with me when I die!”

“I guess lunatics really are everywhere in the Land of Chaos!” Qin Lie smiled bitterly on the inside.

What he didn’t realize was that, in Chu Li’s eyes, he was also a lunatic.