Spirit Realm Chapter 478-480

Chapter 478: The Seven Spirits!

Feng Yiyou, Celestial Artifact Sect’s young sect master, explained some the Graveyard of Gods to the group. He also told them about the divine nature of the land.

“So the Graveyard of Gods is just a resting place where all of the elites from bygone eras were buried?” Du Xiangyang gradually understood. “Is it open to the public?”

“It can be considered as such. In ancient times, when certain experts perished, their relatives and friends would bury them here to prevent their corpses from being disturbed.

“There are instances in which a person’s lover perished and they didn’t have the time to look after the grave. As a result, the body was buried here so it would remain undisturbed.

“Furthermore, even the most powerful of forces would encounter times of growth and decline. In light of that, some families would bury their ancestors in this resting place instead of their own burial grounds. In the event that their families was taken over, or if the strength of their families ever weakened, this would prevent the possibility of enemies breaking into the graves of their ancestors and defiling their corpses!”

“……”

Feng Yiyou wore a dignified expression as he continued. “The Graveyard of Gods is an independent secret realm. It is extremely well concealed, and a series of formations seals it from the inside and outside. It is normally impossible for living people to enter. Upon entering this place of rest, dead practitioners no longer have to worry about people pillaging their corpses or the possibility of being found by evil practitioners and having their bones forged into spirit artifacts.”

“Who created the Graveyard of Gods?” Du Xiangyang asked. “I presume that a price must have been paid to create a place where the remains of elites could be laid to rest.”

A glimmer of light flashed through Feng Yiyou’s eyes as he nodded and replied, “I don’t know who created the Graveyard of Gods. Whoever did definitely had to pay a price. After all, ways in and out are sealed. Furthermore, it’s an independent secret realm specifically made to be used as a resting place. Whoever created it definitely made it with profit in mind.”

This entire time, Qin Lie had been silently watching Feng Yiyou’s eyes.

He saw the expression in Feng Yiyou’s eyes change at that very moment. Qin Lie surmised that Feng Yiyou was hiding some secrets and that he knew who had created the Graveyard of Gods.

It seemed like Feng Yiyou was determined to keep any matters regarding that person’s identity hidden.

“What are the seven spirits?” Du Xiangyang asked.

“The seals of the Graveyard of Gods are divided into two categories: inside and outside. Outside, the eight god corpses suppress the aura of the seals. This makes it nearly impossible for outsiders to find the entrance to the Graveyard of Gods and go inside.” Feng Yiyou laughed gently. “Furthermore, all of you might not believe it, but this secret realm is constantly changing. Because of that, the entrance… is always moving.”

“A constantly changing secret realm?” A strange glow emerged in Qin Lie’s eyes.

“Correct. Before the eight god corpses were bound, the entrance of the Graveyard of Gods was always moving. This was caused by the fact that the eight god corpses were in the depths of the sea. Since these god corpses were constantly releasing energy fluctuations from their positions, the Graveyard of Gods was always moving in the area between them. In addition to that, the entrance was also always changing,” Feng Yiyou explained.

“No wonder this Graveyard of Gods hadn’t been discovered after all these years. It was constantly moving, and its entrance is always changing. Since it never stays still, it would indeed be hard to search for,” Song Tingyu exclaimed in a small voice.

“Of course. It is only because we bound the god corpses together one by one that we were able to anchor its position, find the entrance, and get inside. The Graveyard of Gods was so difficult to find because the eight god corpses act as its outer seal!”

Feng Yiyou snorted, then continued. “With the eight god corpses as the outer seal, the seven spirits would be the inner seal of the Graveyard of Gods. Each spirit represents one of the great forbidden lands, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Ice, and Thunder. Their locations in the Graveyard of Gods form the shape of the Big Dipper.”

As Feng Yiyou spoke, he crouched down and used his fingers to accurately draw the the Big Dipper in the dirt.

Qin Lie and his group carefully watched him do so.

“The Northern Dipper is composed of seven stars: Celestial Pivot, Celestial Jade, Celestial Pearl, Celestial Balance, Jade Tube, Sun Opener, and Twinkling Brilliance. Of these, the Celestial Balance Star is located in the central position.” Feng Yiyou extended a hand as he spoke, pointing at where the Celestial Balance Star would be in the dirt constellation. “The true Land of Buried Gods is here.”

Shocked expressions appeared on everyone’s faces.

“Here, in the Forbidden Land of Thunder, we are at the position of the Jade Tube Star, which is very close to the Land of Buried Gods.” Feng Yiyou began to laugh.

Since Qin Lie had spent a period of time at Armament Sect, he had a clear understanding of constellations so, he was able to understand after a brief moment of observation.

The locations of the seven great forbidden lands formed the Northern Dipper. Of them, Twinkling Brilliance, Sun Opener, Jade Tube, and Celestial Balance formed a straight line. Twinkling Brilliance was the Forbidden Land of Fire, Sun Opener was the Forbidden Land of Wood, and Jade Tube was the Forbidden Land of Thunder.

Once they passed through Jade Tube, they would reach the position of Celestial Balance, which was where the Land of Buried Gods was located.

“The Celestial Balance Star is the Forbidden Land of Ice. The Land of Buried Gods is in that exact area.” Feng Yiyou chuckled faintly, then continued. “To be honest, the seven forbidden lands are actually an ancient formation where each section is guarded by a spirit. These spirits could each be a cluster of souls, a fierce beast, or perhaps even a special creature. However, they all have one unique quality: they have the same characteristics as their respective forbidden land!

“The seven spirits preside within their corresponding forbidden lands and are responsible for maintaining the environment of those lands, just like the formation eye of strange formations. The seven great forbidden lands conceal the Land of Buried Gods by preventing outsiders from entering its depths, seemingly maintaining it.

“The seven spirits may have originally been very weak, but because they were born with inherent potential related to a specific attribute that matches their forbidden lands, they are able to control said lands. Furthermore, they are intelligent.

“Essentially, after such a long period of time, these originally weak spirits have definitely experienced a gradual change. Some spirits may have died for some reason, while others may have continued growing, gradually becoming powerful. After growing to a certain point, these spirits may have even decided that they no longer wanted to be bound to the Graveyard of Gods, harboring disloyalty and wanting to leave…

“These changes and betrayals of the seven spirits destroyed the balance of the Graveyard of Gods and the flow of the forbidden lands.”

Feng Yiyou’s explanation continued.

“The changes that have occurred to the seven spirits, their struggles and resistance, are the real reason why the eight god corpses emerged from the depths of the sea in the first place, finally revealing the Graveyard of Gods.”

“What about the people who created the Graveyard of Gods? Don’t they care?” Du Xiangyang asked, stunned.

“Them? It’s been far too long. In fact, all of them may have already died. The Graveyard of Gods is a land of secrets and mysteries. Even if some of their descendents survived, they might not even know that the Graveyard of Gods exists, let alone where it’s located.” Feng Yiyou shook his head. “However, it seems like the people who created the Graveyard of Gods always knew that, over time, the seven spirits would eventually progress to a point where the forbidden lands would no longer be able to restrain them.

“Therefore, they prepared a backup plan. Inside of the eight god corpses that form the outer seal, there seems to be something capable of sealing the seven spirits. Ten Thousand Beast Mountain and my Celestial Artifact Sect both searched for said thing, but we have yet to find it,” Feng Yiyou said regretfully.

Du Xiangyang and the other three inconspicuously glanced at Qin Lie.

It was obvious that the thing Feng Yiyou was talking about was the Demon Sealing Tombstone in Qin Lie’s possession.

“Regarding your request for help, what do you mean by cooperation?” Du Xiangyang asked, warmly laughing.

“This is the Forbidden Land of Thunder. The thunder spirit should be presiding in the violent lightning and thunder field behind us.” Feng Yiyou smiled slightly, then narrowed his eyes as he said, “The thunder energy there is extremely powerful, and there’s an extremely strong thunder barrier in place. We’ve tried to break through it, but failed repeatedly. I believe that if you join us and lend us your strength, we might be able to break through the barrier.”

“What’s behind the barrier? Just the thunder spirit?” Du Xiangyang furrowed his brow and waved a hand apathetically. “I don’t cultivate any thunder spirit arts, so this thunder spirit doesn’t interest me.”

“The thunder spirit isn’t the only thing behind the barrier, there are other fluctuations of life as well. Other than the thunder spirit, there may also be spirit artifacts. Other than the Land of Buried Gods, this place could be considered the second-most divine land within the Graveyard of Gods!” Feng Yiyou said confidently.

“Why do you say that?” Song Tingyu asked, curiosity piqued.

“I apologize for being dramatic.” Feng Yiyou chuckled softly. “I’m only telling you four after all. The Forbidden Land of Thunder is different from other forbidden lands. This place isn’t just a forbidden land—it’s also a smelting pool! The land behind us, the one in which the thunder spirit resides, is also a smelting land!”

“What does that mean?” Du Xiangyang asked, his brow creased.

“Haha, don’t be so anxious. As we cooperate and delve into its depths, all of you will gradually come to understand.” Feng Yiyou narrowed his eyes. “What I have told you is already more than enough.”

“How do you wish to cooperate?” Qin Lie interrupted.

Feng Yiyou glanced at Qin Lie, then quickly withdrew his gaze and turned to Du Xiangyang once again, saying, “We just need to work together to break through the thunder barrier.”

It was clear that Feng Yiyou held no regard for Qin Lie.

“How are we going to break through it?” Du Xiangyang asked as he inwardly laughed.

“This requires everyone to think up their own ways.” Feng Yiyou furrowed his brow. “Everyone should be well aware of the terrifying, destructive effect of thunder energy on souls. The thunder barrier is covered in thunder and lightning. As soon as any of it enters your consciousness, your soul will be promptly extinguished.”

“Your Celestial Artifact Sect has been here for quite some time. Have you found any weak points yet? Has there been any progress at all?” Song Tingyu asked.

“We have yet to find a way to crack it. Why don’t you go and study it? Perhaps you can find a good way,” Feng Yiyou said, his expression full of helplessness.

“I will go and take a look at it,” Qin Lie said out of the blue.

Without even glancing at him, Du Xiangyang, Song Tingyu, and Xie Jingxuan immediately nodded in agreement.

“By yourself?” Feng Yiyou asked, stunned.

“Mn. I’ll just go over there and observe the situation.” Qin Lie smiled casually, his solitary figure starting its trek toward the area behind them where thunder and lightning flared.

“This…” Zhang Sheng’s expression went cold.

“It would be best if all of you went with him. Just him by himself… may be a little too dangerous,” Feng Yiyou benevolently suggested.

“No need. If he wants to go by himself, let him do so.” Du Xiangyang laughed as he shook his head.

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan also wore calm expressions.

“Ah, I think kind of understand now.” Zhang Sheng began to laugh coldly. “It seems like the rest of you stopped seeing eye to eye with this person at some point and can’t wait for him to die, right?”

“What do you mean? Do you believe that, in entering the thunder barrier, he’s sentencing himself to death? ” Song Tingyu’s pretty face suddenly turned icy. “Are you trying to get us to go in together because you want all of us to go in and die? Do you want us to just kill ourselves?”

Du Xiangyang and Xie Jingxuan coldly glared at Zhang Sheng.

Zhang Sheng realized that he had said something he shouldn’t have.

“Shut your mouth!” Feng Yiyou shouted, his expression incomparably cold.

“I was only messing around, don’t mind me.” Zhang Sheng apologized, lowered his head, and stopped speaking, yet his eyes still harbored treachery.

Chapter 479: Thunder Lagoon

All by himself, Qin Lie moved directly toward the area of raging thunder and lightning.

Behind him, Song Tingyu and Zhang Sheng had already stopped quarrelling, and Feng Yiyou and the rest had gone silent. Everyone’s eyes were glued to his back.

Cold light emerged in the eyes of the Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioners as all of them secretly sneered in their minds.

It was as if they considered Qin Lie a goner.

Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, and Du Xiangyang all wore indifferent expressions on their faces and weren’t very worried about Qin Lie. They knew that Qin Lie was skilled in the power of thunder and lightning, and that he had just tempered his soul with it.

Of all the people in the Graveyard of Gods, Qin Lie would be the one person who would be safe and sound within a storm of raging thunder and lightning.

Song Tingyu and the others were well aware of the fact that Qin Lie had no equal when it came to enduring the attacks of thunder and lightning on one’s soul. Even the martial practitioners of Terminator Sect, who were proficient in the power of thunder, couldn’t compare.

In light of this, all of them were quite relaxed.

“Zzt zzzt zzt! Boom boom boom!”

Bolts of lightning violently flashed in every direction as thunder furiously rumbled. The lightning bolts mingled together to form countless connections between the sky and the ground, increasing in ferocity and intensity.

A specific area with an incredible amount of of thunder and lightning gradually came into Qin Lie’s field of view and slowly grew clearer.

An enormous, bowl-shaped hole with a vast quantity of thunder of lightning intertwined at its lip became visible. Blindingly bright bolts of lightning as thick as water buckets crisscrossed like giant vines, rising directly from the earth of the Forbidden Land of Thunder and reaching into the heavens.

At a glance, it was as if a waterfall of lightning were descending from deep within the clouds and collecting in that abyssal hole, forming a lagoon.

It also looked as if a tornado of thunder and lightning were continuously twisting and clashing, rotating as it went straight into the clouds.

This thunder lagoon covered an area of about sixty five square meters and was connected to the heavens by lightning. The surrounding lightning coiled around it, forming a ferocious thunder barrier.

As Qin Lie stood beside the thunder lagoon and carefully looked around, he could feel his skin constantly spark with electricity. He knew that the power of thunder gathered at the top of this thunder barrier was enough to shatter and extinguish the soul of a Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner.

Qin Lie turned around and looked behind him.

Feng Yiyou and the rest of the people from Celestial Artifact Sect wore cold expressions, traces of excitement flickering through their eyes.

It seemed as though they were secretly expecting something to happen.

Puzzled, Qin Lie calmed himself as he tried to release his soul consciousness.

A strand of soul intent flew out from his Soul Lake and silently touched the thunder barrier.

“Zzzt!”

Sparks of electricity splashed from the top of the thunder barrier as his soul intent attempted to merge with it.

Then, out of nowhere, Qin Lie’s eyes lit up and he immediately sensed something he wasn’t familiar with. Only then did he realize just how marvelous the Third Stage of Heavenly Thunder Eradication was.

If a martial practitioner of Terminator Sect that was proficient in thunder spirit arts wanted to use their soul consciousness to feel out the thunder lagoon by touching the violent thunder barrier, their soul intent would have instantly been annihilated.

Their soul intent definitely wouldn’t have been able to survive the violent fluctuations of thunder and lightning.

And this would have only been the case for martial practitioners proficient in thunder spirit arts.

If a member of Celestial Artifact Sect, Du Xiangyang, or one of the others had sent strands of their soul consciousness out to touch this thunder barrier, theirs would have been annihilated even faster.

Only Qin Lie’s soul consciousness was capable of surviving something like that. His soul consciousness had endured thunder and lightning assaults, gaining a thunder imprint through that baptism. In addition to that, his True Soul had been electrostatically tempered, and his soul origin contained the power of thunder and lightning.

Furthermore, since his soul consciousness and soul origin had the same type of energy and source, his soul consciousness was able to touch the thunder barrier without harm. It entered the barrier like a river meeting the sea.

In all of Terminator Sect, only one person was capable of and would dare to temper their soul with thunder and lightning in a similar way—Forefather Terminator. He was probably the only other person who could use his soul consciousness to observe this place.

“The Forbidden Land of Thunder is definitely a blessed land for me! I can control it even better than Ye Yihao could control the Forbidden Land of Wood!”

The corners of Qin Lie’s mouth rose, a happy smile appearing on his face. He released a few more strands of soul consciousness that probed the thunder barrier like invisible tentacles, attempting to further investigate the mysterious nature of the thunder lagoon within.

“Eh?” Qin Lie’s head turned all of a sudden.

Inside of the barrier formed from ferocious thunder and lightning, Qin Lie’s strands of soul consciousness could feel something other than the terrifying power of thunder that acted as a thick curtain sealing the thunder lagoon.

Closing his eyes, he sat down beside the thunder barrier and began to carefully examine it.

The thunder barrier resembled a tornado made up of violently twisting lightning. This made the magnetic field inside of the barrier extremely chaotic, releasing extremely distorted waves of energy.

There shouldn’t have been any physical things or other fluctuations inside the field that the barrier surrounded.

However, the strands of Qin Lie’s soul consciousness that had flown inside of the barrier encountered several urns filled with bone ash. There were a total of fourteen urns, each of which had the unique mark of Celestial Artifact Sect on it—the word “furnace.”

The fourteen bone ash urns were semi-translucent, and released a dark, icy glow reminiscent of moonlight. The material they were made of was unknown as they were neither gold nor jade.

Of these fourteen, nine of them each had a soul cluster sealed inside.

They were the True Souls of nine Netherpassage Realm martial practitioners!

The fourteen urns which constantly glowed, ignoring the twisting, turning lightning and thunder that whirled around inside of the thunder barrier.

However, a faint wave would occasionally move back and forth between them. It was clear that they were connected in a mysterious way.

The waves released by the nine bone ash urns that contained True Souls were especially intense, as if the True Souls were constantly being prodded. It seemed like the purpose of the urns was to make the True Souls go insane until they ultimately exploded.

“Th-this is…” Qin Lie’s expression went cold.

Since he was also an artificer, one that could personally forge Terminator Profound Bombs, he was knowledgeable about many terrifyingly powerful spirit artifacts.

The fourteen bone ash urns which casually flew around the interior of the thunder barrier were most likely artifacts similar to the Terminator Profound Bomb, an explosion type spirit artifact. The difference, however, was that these urns didn’t use the explosive power of thunder and lightning, and they weren’t crafted from spirit materials of those kinds.

Instead, the main component of these spirit artifacts were souls!

Souls would be sealed into the bone ash urns and then constantly be tortured by vicious fluctuations of energy so that they would enter a crazed state.

The souls within each urn would ultimately self destruct, increasing the explosive strength of the urn.

Each urn would store the power of a soul’s explosion, and the sudden and complete release of that power was an extremely terrifying prospect.

Perhaps this power would be enough to tear the thunder barrier apart!

Qin Lie understood Celestial Artifact Sect’s plan. The bone ash urns had definitely been put here by Feng Yiyou, and the nine souls imprisoned with them were probably the “allies” who had been recruited by Celestial Artifact Sect just like they had recruited Qin Lie’s group. These so-called “allies” were merely sacrifices.

Yet Feng Yiyou had no idea about Qin Lie’s proficiency in the power of lightning and thunder. He also didn’t know that Qin Lie’s True Soul had been tempered with thunder and lighting, and that his soul consciousness could penetrate the thunder barrier and search for information.

As a result, Feng Yiyou had not been the slightest bit concerned about someone discovering the secret within. Feng Yiyou was probably gloating silently, waiting for Qin Lie to die to the thunder barrier and have his True Soul sealed within a bone ash urn as another sacrifice.

“So that’s how it is.” Qin Lie understood the entirety of Feng Yiyou and Celestial Artifact Sect’s plans.

Now he knew why they weren’t in a hurry to recover their soul consciousness and check the traps that Feng Yiyou had placed. Qin Lie concentrated his soul and consolidated his dispersed wisps of soul consciousness.

Having put all the pieces together, Qin Lie slowly used his soul consciousness to pass through the thunder barrier and fly deeper into its depths.

When he did, he suddenly sensed several faint soul fluctuations, making him extremely excited.

The numerous souls that the fluctuations came from were extraordinarily ancient, devoid of memories, consciousness, or residual thoughts. They were just a cluster of pure, flawless souls that, like a pool of crystal clear water, contained no impurities.

Qin Lie knew exactly what this meant—these soul crystals might be of the highest grade possible!

When he had been hunting spirit beasts with Xie Jingxuan in the past, Liang Zhong taught Qin Lie about soul crystals.

Soul crystals and spirit stones were similar in function. While spirit stones contained spirit energy, soul crystals contained soul energy.

Higher realm martial practitioners were more attracted to the possibility of obtaining soul crystals that could nourish their soul since they could be of enormous benefit to their cultivation.

From the Netherpassage Realm onward, martial practitioners also had to cultivate their True Souls. Every realm after it represented a qualitative growth of the soul.

Improving the quality of a soul was many times harder than increasing spirit energy and also much slower. There were many ways to increase spirit energy, but very few ways to improve the quality of a soul.

Soul crystals were one of the few ways in which one could improve the soul. These crystals originated from the souls of powerful beasts and living beings which, after being refined, could be condensed into a crystal that contained their soul energy.

If a soul crystal wasn’t pure, their insides would be muddled with impurities or residual memories. Even soul consciousness could linger. Therefore, impure soul crystals were a lot of effort and trouble to use and also required the user to cleanse themselves twice after each use. It would waste a lot of time and energy.

Souls crystals devoid of memories, consciousness, and residual thoughts, however, were truly precious.

Like drinking water, a True Soul could directly use this kind of soul crystal. Energy extracted from such a soul crystal would be absolutely pure.

If a Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner were to use such a pure soul crystal to nourish their True Soul with soul energy, breaking through to the next realm definitely wouldn’t be a dream.

“I’m afraid that, in this world, only thunder and lightning this violent could possibly refine soul crystals this pure!”

Qin Lie examined the pure soul fluctuations coming from the thunder lagoon and was certain that there were soul crystals inside of it. This realization immediately made him jump for joy.

At this time, the soul consciousness he had released already began to show signs of fatigue.

Qin Lie gradually retracted his soul consciousness without venturing deeper into the thunder lagoon. After all, he was in no hurry to fight the thunder spirit.

Qin Lie stood up, opened his eyes, and turned around to look at Celestial Artifact’s Feng Yiyou and those beside him.

“This place is too dangerous. I’m afraid I can’t think of any way to enter. I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ll be able to cooperate.” Qin Lie’s expression was solemn as he shook his head and sighed. “Let’s give up here, Du Xiangyang.”

“Okay. If it’s too dangerous, let’s forget about it,” Du Xiangyang agreed, nodding his head.

He knew that Qin Lie had definitely discovered something.

“Let us take our leave. We will withdraw and entrust this area to our friends from Celestial Artifact Sect for exploration.” Qin Lie began to walk away.

“Young Sect Master!” Zhang Sheng raised his head, his eyes cold and dark.

The other martial practitioners of Celestial Artifact Sect all looked at Feng Yiyou, killing intent clearly cascading from their bodies.

“My friends, don’t be in such a hurry to leave!” Feng Yiyou shouted.

Chapter 480: Breaking the Facade

“Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, we can continue negotiating. You mustn’t give up halfway.”

Feng Yiyou frowned, his expression deteriorating severely. He looked at Qin Lie, confusion surfacing in his eyes.

Qin Lie was actually unscathed?

Feng Yiyou had been paying attention to that area the entire time. He saw Qin Lie take a seat next to the thunder barrier and had even witnessed Qin Lie release his soul consciousness.

To his knowledge, if anyone touched the the thunder barrier with their soul consciousness, it would instantly be reduced to ash. There was no way of escaping it.

In addition to that, the thunder barrier could even adjust to the owner of the soul consciousness and assault them with terrifying thunder and lightning.

In other words, Qin Lie should have already been blasted to death by the violent energy that pouring from the thunder barrier.

His soul should have also been instantly absorbed by those bone ash urns, converted into a sacrifice.

Feng Yiyou sensed that something was definitely amiss.

He wanted to know what had happened to Qin Lie why he was safe and sound.

“Let’s head over there. I wish to discuss how profound this place is with you.” Feng Yiyou walked over to Qin Lie.

Qin Lie had initially prepared to turn away, having told them the he wanted to leave with Du Xiangyang, Song Tingyu, and Xie Jingxuan, yet he couldn’t help but stop his feet when he saw Feng Yiyou approaching.

He had stopped right next to the thunder barrier.

Du Xiangyang and the two others suddenly looked at Qin Lie, their eyes questioning whether or not they should head over as well.

Qin Lie shrugged, signaling that it didn’t matter.

Only then did Du Xiangyang and the others move closer.

In just a few moments, the seven martial practitioners of Celestial Artifact Sect and Qin Lie’s group arrived next to the thunder barrier.

“Your name is Qin…?”

“Qin Lie.”

“Oh, Qin Lie.” Feng Yiyou nodded, barely taking note of his name just then. “I saw you sense the barrier with your soul consciousness earlier. Did you find anything? Everyone here can have an open conversation, and we might be able to find a way to pass through the barrier that way. What do you say?”

“I didn’t find anything. My wisp of soul consciousness was exterminated by thunder and lightning the instant it entered.” Seeing that Du Xiangyang and the others had arrived, Qin Lie hurriedly informed them. “The three of you must not attempt to do this. The thunder and lightning here… they’re deadly. If you don’t want to die, it would be best if you didn’t carelessly release your soul consciousness.”

Du Xiangyang, Song Tingyu, and Xie Jingxuan were all frightened.

When they came over, they had released their soul consciousness out of habit and prepared to investigate the profoundness of the thunder barrier.

The moment they heard Qin Lie say that it could be deadly, they no longer dared to be careless.

“You released a wisp of soul consciousness and had it enter the barrier?” Zhang Sheng’s face was one of confusion.

The martial practitioners of Celestial Artifact Sect all wore expressions of suspicion, finding his testimony to be strange.

They had spent a very long time studying the thunder barrier. Of the people that came before Qin Lie’s group, every single one that released so much as a strand of their soul consciousness had been instantly annihilated.

Every person who attempted to explore the thunder barrier would immediately be killed by the violent thunder energy within.

There was no exception to this!

Yet, after Qin Lie released his soul consciousness, he was still standing here alive and well. This clearly made no sense.

“I tried earlier and realized that there’s really no way to breach this barrier. I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can be any help.” Qin Lie wore a look of regret. He sighed, then helplessly declared, “I believe it’s time for us to leave.”

“Can’t we have a calm, peaceful negotiation?” Feng Yiyou’s expression became grim.

“We really can’t be of any help to you,” Qin Lie said with a shake of his head, announcing their intention to leave.

“Young Sect Master!” Zhang Sheng shouted.

Feng Yiyou pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, “I’ve explained just how profound the Graveyard of Gods is to you, told you so many secrets, yet you suddenly want to leave? Isn’t that a little too inappropriate?”

“Too inappropriate?” Du Xiangyang smiled. “What’s inappropriate?”

“I refuse to have told you people so many things for nothing in return.” Feng Yiyou became even less polite than before. “Since you’ve have learned about all of that, you must participate. You suddenly want to leave? That’s no longer possible!”

Qin Lie chuckled. “Now you’re forcing others into becoming your allies?”

“Young Sect Master, since the easy way didn’t work, why don’t use the hard way? Stop wasting your breath on them already!” Zhang Sheng smiled coldly.

The other five martial practitioners from Celestial Artifact Sect had looked rather humble earlier. Upon seeing that they were about to break the friendly facade they had put up, the eyes they were looking at Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan with promptly filled with lust.

Zhang Sheng included, the eyes of the six people revealed an immoral light. Their gazes were like the venom released by a snake, rushing toward the bewitching bodies of the two women.

“Heh… it needs to be said; although they hail from Copper rank forces, these beauties sure are excellent. Even in Land of Chaos, women with such top tier beauty and body figures are extremely rare finds.” One of them took the initiative to tease them.

“It would definitely be a waste if they died too quickly. Right, Young Sect Master?” Zhang Sheng laughed dryly. He subconsciously licked his lips, intense lust flowing out of his eyes.

Feng Yiyou frowned, but did not speak up.

It looked like he was about to let the vulgarity of his subordinates loose.

The moment they saw Feng Yiyou’s attitude, Qin Lie and Du Xiangyang instantly understood. They knew that this short period of peace had already disappeared.

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan’s faces both turned ice-cold. A sharp, cold glow radiated from their charming eyes. The two understood that a bloody battle was about to unfold.

“Qin Lie, I shall ask you one last time. What did you discover inside?” Feng Yiyou snorted coldly.

“I discovered fourteen bone ash urns and nine sealed souls. Those nine souls were chaotic could explode at any moment,” Qin Lie said with a grin. He couldn’t be bothered to waste his breath on Feng Yiyou either. “Are we supposed to become four new souls to be sealed in those urns?”

“How did you find out?” Feng Yiyou face twisted into a grave expression.

The other martial practitioners of Celestial Artifact Sect looked at Qin Lie in shock, their expressions turning grim as well.

“You think I’d tell you?” Qin Lie wore an indifferent expression.

“I know what that is! It’s the Consecutive Soul Splitting Formation!” Du Xiangyang shouted harshly. “By using fourteen artifacts to seal fourteen souls, the artifacts force the souls into a frenzied state. Once the souls are pushed to the utmost limit, they’d explode at the same time, instantly erupting with terrifyingly destructive power! You’ve been attempting to breach the barrier this entire time, but you just don’t have enough sacrifices! We’re the sacrifices you’re looking for, aren’t we?”

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan’s expressions changed.

Nine people before them had apparently fallen for Feng Yiyou’s scheme already, and after their bodies were disintegrated, their souls were absorbed by the artifacts.

These bastards from Celestial Artifact Sect had essentially been searching for nearby martial practitioners non-stop, and with the pretense of becoming allies, would lure people in by revealing the profoundness of the thunder lagoon. Those people would then be murdered, turning them into sacrifices for their artifacts.

“Feng Yiyou! You’re undeniably evil!” Flames of fury burned within Du Xiangyang.

“You have truly exceeded my expectations.” At this moment, Feng Yiyou wasn’t sending so much as another glance in Du Xiangyang’s direction, but was instead sizing Qin Lie up. “I’m very interested in the mysteries dwelling within your body. I’m not going to let you die too quickly.”

After a moment of consideration, Feng Yiyou indifferently issued orders. “Kill Du Xiangyang first, then you can capture the two girls alive. I’ll give you six hours with them once they’ve been captured. After six hours, clean them up as best as you can and have their souls thrown into the thunder barrier. As for this Qin Lie… I want you to imprison him and store his memories with a Memory Fragment Crystal. I want to know what he’s gone through!”

“Please be at ease, Young Sect Master. We’ll definitely deal with everything properly!” Flames of lust burned in Zhang Sheng’s eyes. He licked the corners of his lips again, pointed at Song Tingyu, then said, “I like this girl, she suits my tastes!”

“You have six people, while they only have four. There shouldn’t be any problems,” Feng Yiyou impatiently said with a wave of his hand. “Deal with them quickly. With the addition of the four of them, we’re still lacking a soul. There are still matters for us to attend to.”

“Yes!”

A fierce light shone in the eyes of Zhang Sheng and the other five Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioners. Surging with killing intent, they retrieved their spirit artifacts from their spatial rings. The place was suddenly filled with the dazzling light of treasure as exquisite, eye-catching spirit artifacts appeared one after another.

The types of spirit artifacts that were present included machetes, swords, long spears, silver tridents, shields, and bone pikes. All of them had been forged by master artificers of Celestial Artifact Sect, and every single one of them seemed to be around Earth Grade One and Two. All of them had exquisite, refined spirit patterns that carried dense spirit energy fluctuations.

As expected of Celestial Artifact Sect, they were indeed the richest and most lavish force in the Land of Chaos.

Zhang Sheng alone was wearing dark azure spirit armor. This spirit armor was engraved with a turtlesnake pattern and flashed with a dim, azure glow.

He held a spirit artifact in each hand, a shield and a pike. The spirit energy that poured from his body had a fascinating resonance with the shield and pike, as though the spirit artifacts perfectly complemented the spirit art that he cultivated.

The other five people wore unique spirit artifacts as well, with each of them wielding one or two spirit artifacts each. Intense spirit energy fluctuations continuously emanated from their bodies.

“What the hell! Using their spirit artifacts to suppress people, they’re bastards of Celestial Artifact Sect alright!” Du Xiangyang cursed in a low voice.

“The thunder and lightning fluctuations here are extremely turbulent!” A loud roar suddenly resounded from a distance.

“Such dense thunder fluctuations. The thunder spirit of the Forbidden Land of Thunder is definitely here!” Yu Men’s voice rang out.

The expressions of Feng Yiyou and his men instantly changed.

Qin Lie was also stunned.

“There’re people here. Investigate them with the token!” Yu Men of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain commanded.

“Zzng zzng zzng! Whoo whoo whoo!”

Strange whistling sounds rang out from a few of the tokens at Qin Lie’s and Song Tingyu’s waists. The same thing occurred in a few of the at Feng Yiyou’s waist.

“Heh! Things have gotten interesting.” Niu Shaojun laughed dryly.

Yu Men and the crowd accompanying him had also slaughtered several martial practitioners. They had many tokens on them—

—just like Qin Lie and Feng Yiyou over on this side.

In using their tokens to investigate, it caused a chain reaction of whistles to erupt from the tokens with Qin Lie, Feng Yiyou, and the rest. They immediately understood that subtle implications of the situation.

With the appearance of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain’s Yu Men and his group, the two groups of people that were originally going to start trading blows abruptly stopped.

After a few minutes, Yu Men, along with Niu Shaojun and the rest of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain martial practitioners, rushed over, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.

“Feng Yiyou!” The moment Yu Men arrived, he grinned strangely, and an intense desire to do battle flowed from his eyes.

Both Ten Thousand Beast Mountain and Celestial Artifact Sect resided in the Heavenly Fissure Continent. As the most talented members of the two forces’ younger generation, Yu Men and Feng Yiyou had fought many times, both out in the open and in secret.

Whenever, it often meant a new battle would take place. There hadn’t been a single exception to this in many years.

“Du Xiangyang! Qin Lie!” When Niu Shaojun came over, he was momentarily stunned. Then a strange, sinister smile spread across his face as well.

“Eh? You people know each other too?” Zhang Sheng clearly surprised.

“Indeed! Of course we know each other!” Niu Shaojun smiled coldly as he retrieved a Ten Thousand Beast Mountain token from his waist. Using his mind consciousness to contact another person, he said, “Situ Tong, you can come over here now.”

“Situ Tong!” Feng Yiyou’s expression went ice-cold.