Spirit Realm Chapter 545-546

Chapter 545: Blood Web!

Jiang Zhuzhe once turned all of the Land of Chaos upside down. He and his human-bloodsucking disciples created a bloody typhoon that swept across it, causing chaos among its forces and making them feel helpless.

After more than a thousand years of silence, Jiang Zhuzhe still remained one of the most terrifying people in the Land of Chaos.

Wasn’t it just a fool’s dream for Qin Lie, a martial practitioner who was just in the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm, to try opposing this lunatic?

“You want to fight me?” Jiang Zhuzhe laughed involuntarily and shook his head. “You’re not even a match for my son.”

He frowned slightly at Jiang Tianxing.

“Do you seriously believe that you will become the future of Blood Fiend Sect?” Jiang Tianxing laughed coldly, his expression dark. “Foolish brat… if you hadn’t been near Sea Moon Island… if you hadn’t snatched the Demon Sealing Tombstone from me… our plan would have been flawless. You and Senior Uncle Xue, the one who taught you the Blood Spirit Art, are simply obstacles in the way of Blood Fiend Sect’s growth!”

“Heavenly Blood Web!”

Bloody threads shot from the tips of Jiang Tianxing’s fingers, forming a web several acres wide. It hurtled toward Qin Lie’s position at the edge of the frozen lake like a large bloody net.

Every single bloody thread contained Jiang Tianxing’s cruel soul energy.

The blood flew over to Qin Lie and was now above his head, radiating strange fluctuations capable of making a person’s blood boil uncontrollably and binding one’s soul.

This was a miraculous spirit art that couldn’t be found in the first half of the Blood Codex.

“Break!” Qin Lie yelled, forming another Blood Weeping Ghost Claw.

It appeared above his head in a flash of demonic, bloody light, resembling a sharp, sanguine hook. It ferociously swiped at the Heavenly Blood Web descending upon him.

Two violent blood spirit energies, both of which originated from the same sect, clashed in midair.

In that instant, Qin Lie’s energy and Jiang Tianxing’s energy erupted at the same time.

“Papapapa!”

The bloody light of the Blood Weeping Ghost Claw was peerlessly sharp. It actually tore the Heavenly Blood Web into pieces.

The fiendish, ghastly claw struck toward Jiang Tianxing’s head. A terrifying, vicious aura surrounded it, one capable of destroying all living things and returning them to deathly silence.

This was an attack that Qin Lie had formed with his own power.

Over by Jiang Zhuzhe, the Blood Progenitor’s body mirrored Qin Lie’s actions and channeled the Blood Spirit Art, creating a Blood Weeping Ghost Claw as well.

An enormous bloody claw thousands of meters long suddenly appeared in the air. It radiated a terrifying, fiendish blood aura that nearly enveloped the entire Land of Buried Gods, one that surprised even Jiang Zhuzhe.

“This truly is the Blood Progenitor’s body…” Jiang Zhuzhe clicked his tongue in wonder. “To think that it still contained such terrifying power despite the fact that he perished so many years ago.”

“Fall!” Qin Lie shouted, swinging his arm downward.

Both Blood Weeping Ghost Claws, one gigantic and one small, followed Qin Lie’s movements and struck toward Jiang Zhuzhe and Jiang Tianxing respectively.

“You’re quite talented and your Blood Spirit Art is quite polished.” Jiang Zhuzhe smiled while shaking his head. “Unfortunately… your realm is too weak.”

As he spoke, the blood demon he had merged with copied Jiang Tianxing’s earlier motions and created another Heavenly Blood Web.

This bloody web blotted out the sky like an act of god.

All of this blood, which the blood demon unleashed, enveloped the Land of Buried Gods. It seemed capable of sealing the heavens themselves.

Sparkling bloody lights so dense that they might as well have been thick rivers of blood flowed through the sky in an eerie fashion. They were unspeakably wondrous and exuded a pungent stench of iron.

Then, all of a sudden, the Heavenly Blood Web constricted!

The web of blood instantly bound both the Blood Progenitor’s and Qin Lie’s Blood Weeping Ghost Claws.

The two ghastly claws resembled a whale and a tiny fish that were caught in a sanguine fisherman’s net, instantly getting immobilized.

“Your realm is weak and your understanding of Blood Fiend Sect’s spirit arts is still lacking.” Jiang Zhuzhe performed a pulling motion with both hands, making the Heavenly Blood Web drag the two ghastly claws to the blood demon’s chest. “Blood Fiend Sect was enormous… but now I’m the only one capable of unleashing the progenitor’s true power.”

His hands abruptly clenched into fists.

“Bang! Bang!”

The Blood Weeping Ghost Claws erupted like tomatoes being crushed, scattering into countless bloody lights.

The blood progenitor stood still as if it weren’t affected at all.

Qin Lie, on the other hand, looked as if he had just taken a heavy blow. He grunted softly, a trace of blood trickling from a corner of his mouth.

“Since you cultivate the Blood Spirit Art and are my senior brother’s only disciple… as long as you sever your mental connection with the progenitor’s body, I’ll spare you,” Jiang Zhuzhe said sternly, a calm expression on his face. “Furthermore, as long as you are willing, I will teach you the secrets of the second half of the Blood Codex… and help you understand the true essence of the Blood Spirit Art.”

“The true essence of the Blood Spirit Art?” Qin Lie said, his face becoming grim. “You’re talking about sucking human blood?”

“You could say that.” Jiang Zhuzhe smiled, not bothering to deny it. “In reality… even the Blood Progenitor consumed human blood to cultivate! The Blood Refinement Art recorded in the second half of the Blood Codex, which I have in my possession, was written by the progenitor himself. The Blood Spirit Art that you consider so evil came from this half of the Blood Codex!”

Jiang Zhuzhe’s words shocked Qin Lie and Xue Moyan to their very cores.

Off in the distance, the expressions of Luo Chen and the others became even more serious. This revelation caused a strange look to appear in their eyes.

The Blood Progenitor sucked human blood to cultivate… and the second half of the Blood Codex actually had this shortcut recorded within it?

“There are only two differences between our respective Blood Spirit Arts. Both have their own advantages and flaws,” Jiang Zhuzhe explained patiently. “Those who cultivate using the blood of spirit beasts and refine them with worldly spirit energy don’t need to worry about repeated attacks from an inner demon, but their cultivation speed is slower. Meanwhile, those who consume human blood to cultivate risk being forced into a state of insanity and gradually losing themselves, but the speed of their cultivation is significantly faster.”

Jiang Zhuzhe paused, smiling softly before continuing.

“After a thousand years of research, I finally found a method to get rid of the flaws in cultivating with human blood. You could even say that consuming human blood to cultivate no longer has any drawbacks,” he proudly declared. “With your talent and skill, your future will be filled with boundless opportunities… so long as you are willing to follow me and cultivate my Blood Spirit Art.”

“How about it?” Jiang Zhuzhe asked. “Would you consider it?”

Like a devil trying to seduce a mortal, Jiang Zhuzhe patiently and systematically tried to tempt Qin Lie into abandoning the original Blood Spirit Art and cultivate his instead.

—He was trying to convince Qin Lie to suck human blood to cultivate.

“Allow me to look at the second half of the Blood Codex first. I would like to confirm if this method is truly recorded within it,” Qin Lie said calmly, his eyes narrowed. He clearly hadn’t fallen for Jiang Zhuzhe’s persuasion. “If it is truly recorded inside of the Blood Codex… I may consider it.”

From beginning to end, this entire story came from Jiang Zhuzhe. The supposed record of the cultivation method in the second half of the Blood Codex, his grudges against Xue Li and the others, and even his intent to revitalize Blood Fiend Sect had come from his mouth alone.

Qin Lie doubted his words. He didn’t believe there was truth to everything Jiang Zhuzhe said.

“You may look at it…” Jiang Zhuzhe spoke deliberately, looking at the rest of Qin Lie’s group in the distance, “as long as you are willing to consume the blood of any of those people and use the Blood Refinement Art. If you do that, I’ll let you see the second half of the Blood Codex. What do you think?”

“I can only make a decision after seeing the Blood Codex,” Qin Lie said indifferently.

Jiang Zhuzhe finally lost his patience. He frowned, the look in his eyes becoming grim and harsh.

“Stupid brat! You’re even more long-winded and blunt than my senior brother!”

The Heavenly Blood Web that covered the sky suddenly descended and began enveloping the Blood Progenitor.

Jiang Zhuzhe ultimately desired the body of the Blood Progenitor, the Bloodthirsty Dragon, and the first half of the Blood Codex.

He wasted so much time talking because he hoped to get Qin Lie to surrender willingly. If he managed to do so, he wouldn’t have had to waste even more time and energy on severing the connection between Qin Lie and the Blood Progenitor.

If Jiang Zhuzhe managed to convince Qin Lie that his path was the right one, he might have even been able to turn him against Xue Li. Such an outcome would have dealt a severe blow to Xue Li’s cause.

Unfortunately, Qin Lie was a lot more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

Qin Lie had a stronger will than expected and hadn’t fallen for any of his tempting.

He no longer wanted to waste time trying.

“Blood Dragon’s Roar!”

A violent bloody dragon emerged from the forehead of the blood demon with an angry roar. With the Heavenly Blood Web binding the Blood Progenitor’s body, the bloody dragon turned to attack Qin Lie.

Jiang Zhuzhe sought to break the connection between Qin Lie and the Blood Progenitor as soon as possible.

To that end, he needed to hurt both of them at the same time.

At that instant, dazzling godly chains of light emerged from inside the Demon Sealing Tombstone once more.

“Swoosh swoosh swoosh!”

These chains headed toward Jiang Zhuzhe.

The Demon Sealing Tombstone had just been standing by and watching as Qin Lie attacked the Jiang father-son duo. It didn’t do anything because Qin Lie was the attacker.

However, it took action the second Jiang Zhuzhe attacked Qin Lie.

It seemed unwilling to let that happen.

Chapter 546: Soul Pagoda

The Demon Sealing Tombstone moved to interfere with Jiang Zhuzhe’s assault!

Seven prismatic lights descended from the sky like starry rivers from the Ninth Heaven, immediately pouring down onto Jiang Zhuzhe.

A restrictive power ten times stronger than that of the Heavenly Blood Web rippled through the sky as the seven godly lights struck Jiang Zhuzhe’s body.

Before six of the seven spirits were sealed and their respective forbidden lands exploded into smithereens, a restrictive power kept high realm martial practitioners from entering the Graveyard of Gods.

—Only beings in the Netherpassage Realm and below were allowed inside.

However, after the colossal collapse from earlier tore that restrictive power apart…

Jiang Zhuzhe was able to enter.

Yet at this moment, the Demon Sealing Tombstone unleashed its sealing power, causing its seven prismatic godly lights to fall through the sky.

The restrictive power that seemed to have vanished… appeared once more!

“Boom!”

A vast, chaotic power gushed into Jiang Zhuzhe’s body like the flood of a broken dam. He instantly felt as if he had been bound by countless chains.

Jiang Zhuzhe suddenly found himself immobilized.

“Bang!”

The fiendish, ten-meter-tall blood demon exploded upon being targeted by the Demon Sealing Tombstone.

Shock flashed across Jiang Zhuzhe’s face the moment he noticed that the situation had gone awry, and he took out the second half of the Blood Codex once again.

The fiendish blood demon, which had been scattered in every direction like a shower of blood, flew toward the sanguine bone fragment in Jiang Zhuzhe’s hands like bloody butterflies.

The blood demon had exploded, but its bloody light hadn’t gone to waste. All of it soaked into the second half of the Blood Codex.

Jiang Zhuzhe’s demonic eyes shone with a bloody light as his confident, dignified temperament slowly transformed.

His body gradually unleashed a tyrannical aura that enveloped the sky, continuously condensing and becoming more potent.

Jiang Zhuzhe grew stronger with each passing second!

“Something’s wrong!” Qin Lie had a strange feeling, his expression growing incredibly serious.

In his eyes, Jiang Zhuzhe currently looked like he were slowly increasing his strength in preparation for something. It was as if he were undergoing some sort of metamorphosis.

“Haaaah! Haaaaaaah!”

Jiang Zhuzhe panted heavily as his tyrannical pupils glittered with bloody light.

His fingernails grew abnormally long and became as sharp as bloody blades. His body gradually became thin, and sanguine hair began sprouting from his flesh.

He seemed to be transforming into a beast!

“He’s gathering the tyrannical aura inside of the blood!” Xue Moyan screamed. “He’s using it to transform his own body into a blood demon!”

Bloody lights that resembled sanguine bolts of lightning flashed across Jiang Zhuzhe while he unleashed a sharp, frenzied howl.

A terrifying aura surged skyward like mountains or seas accompanied by bloody rays of light!

“Prakprakprak!”

The restrictive power that bound Jiang Zhuzhe like invisible chains were instantly torn apart.

Jiang Zhuzhe regained his mobility.

The dazzling prismatic lights in the Demon Sealing Tombstone shook intensely, and a strange wave that resembled burning flames spread from its surface.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

The eight god heads that had been searching for the ice spirit rushed back to the Land of Buried Gods from afar and swiftly gathered around the Demon Sealing Tombstone.

The god heads received the summons of the tombstone and had no choice but to temporarily give up their search for the ice spirit. They rushed over to help the Demon Sealing Tombstone suppress Jiang Zhuzhe.

“Thud!”

Xue Moyan fell from the sky, crashing into the ground with so much force that the impact left her dazed. Blood spilled from the corners of her lips.

The instant Jiang Zhuzhe began transforming, losing his rationality, the bloody ribbon of light he bound Xue Moyan was forcibly withdrawn.

The light binding Xue Moyan dissipated, and she fell from the sky. Having regained her ability to move, she immediately flew to Qin Lie’s side.

Arriving beside Qin Lie, Xue Moyan gritted her teeth, preparing herself to oppose Jiang Zhuzhe with him.

“Go back up to the edge of the frozen lake!” Qin Lie yelled gravely.

“Why?” Xue Moyan asked in surprise.

“Because even Jiang Tianxing has retreated from here…” Qin Lie wore a grim expression.

Qin Lie had noticed that Jiang Zhuzhe suddenly going insane had taken Jiang Tianxing by surprise. Intense fear and panic were visible in his eyes.

Immediately after that, he snuck away, retreating from the frozen lake at the first opportunity he had.

Jiang Tianxing was Jiang Zhuzhe’s son. Even he retreated the moment that Jiang Zhuzhe underwent his insane transformation.

“Why don’t you leave too?” Xue Moyan asked softly.

“Both the Demon Sealing Tombstone and the body of the Blood Progenitor are here,” he answered.

Xue Moyan looked at Jiang Zhuzhe for a long moment, secretly examining the violent energy coming from him before turning back to Qin Lie and nodding.

“Then I’ll be heading up first.”

This time, Xue Moyan kept her wits about her and didn’t act recklessly.

Since she had already lost control of herself, angrily charging in and getting herself captured, she now kept calm and understood that she needed to retreat.

When Xue Moyan retreated, the expressions of Luo Chen and the others at the edge of the frozen lake twisted with shock.

They had noticed that Jiang Zhuzhe looked strange. They also sensed a terrible killing intent permeating the blood energy that enveloped the Land of Buried Gods.

“Jiang Zhuzhe’s current aura is probably no weaker than Forefather Terminator or our sect master!” Pang Qianqian exclaimed softly, her face pale. Du Xiangyang and the others had awakened and helped her some time ago.

“No one could’ve imagined this fellow would be so terrifying,” Du Xiangyang said. “Judging from the current situation, he didn’t go crazy and unleash his true strength because of Qin Lie… he did that because of the Demon Sealing Tombstone!”

All of them were talking amongst each other as they retreated in explosive bursts of speed.

Feng Yiyou and Yu Men had hidden themselves long ago.

Jiang Tianxing had vanished as well. He was the first one to ascertain the situation, notice that everything had gone awry, and retreat.

Aside from the massive corpses of ancient elites, only a few beings remained in the Land of Buried Gods—

—Qin Lie, Jiang Zhuzhe, the Demon Sealing Tombstone, and the bodies of both the Blood Progenitor and the Voodoo Progenitor.

Since Jiang Zhuzhe had gone insane, the only living being that could be considered human… was Qin Lie.

Another round of clashes between the Demon Sealing Tombstone and Jiang Zhuzhe began, causing a world-shaking commotion in the Land of Buried Gods. The first voodoo creature, which had quietly hidden itself within the body of the Voodoo Progenitor, had snuck away, seemingly afraid of showing its face. However, Qin Lie had a rough idea of where it was hiding.

The Blood Progenitor’s body stood beside Qin Lie and didn’t move an inch. No trace of soul fluctuations could be sensed on it.

At that moment, Qin Lie suddenly sat down in front of the Blood Progenitor’s Body and began examining the multitude of exquisite, complicated bloody patterns on it.

Countless spirit diagrams covered the Blood Progenitor’s body.

These mysterious, unfathomable spirit diagrams were the source of the miraculous connection between Qin Lie and the Blood Progenitor’s body.

Jiang Zhuzhe had actually been mistaken. Qin Lie didn’t not share even the slightest of mental connections with the Blood Progenitor’s body. The only thing that connected the two of them were these spirit diagrams.

Qin Lie examined these spirit diagrams closely, trying to unravel their secrets.

The moment he began doing so, he entered a meditative state where he ignored the battle between Jiang Zhuzhe and the Demon Sealing Tombstone, the Viridian Blood Toad that was in hiding, and the ice spirit that might’ve been scheming from the shadows.

He simply looked at the spirit diagrams on the Blood Progenitor’s body.

A while later, he raised his right hand to the Blood Progenitor’s body and pointed his index finger at a spirit diagram engraved on it.

His finger softly pressed against it and moved, a wisp of mind consciousness entering the Blood Progenitor’s Body and following his finger’s movements.

All of a sudden, Qin Lie’s eyes bulged as an expression of absolute shock covered his face. His finger began trembling as well!

His soul had actually gone out of control and flowed out of him through his finger!

“Fwoosh…”

Qin Lie’s soul escaped from his Soul Lake and sea of consciousness, actually journeying into the Blood Progenitor’s body in an instant.

Qin Lie could clearly sense his soul shoot through the translucent, gemlike blood vessels of the Blood Progenitor’s body like a meteor. In an unimaginably strange way, he eventually reached the Blood Progenitor’s head.

His True Soul had actually entered the Blood Progenitor’s sea of consciousness!

This sea of consciousness resembled a boundless sea of blood. It felt like it could have been the real world and emanated a fiendish blood aura that reached the skies.

Qin Lie’s True Soul quietly floated above this vast sea of blood, and he realized that countless dense bloody lights filled the interior of this ethereal space like a spider’s web. These threads of bloody light stretched to every corner of this space that he could see, from the infinite sea of blood to the boundless sanguine sky.

It was at this moment Qin Lie finally understood that the spirit diagrams and ancient diagrams hadn’t been engraved on just the Blood Progenitor’s skin. The rest of his body—even the depths of his sea of consciousness—had been dominated by these diagrams!

An immeasurably large sanguine pagoda quietly sat on the surface of this vast sea of blood. It seemed to be made out of a mountain of bloody bones and looked as translucent as jade.

At the top of the bloody bone pagoda sat a sparkling bone fragment.

It was none other than the first volume of the Blood Codex!

This pagoda was the same color a blood jade. Every single one of its seven levels were made of translucent bloody bones. It resembled a lofty mountain that sat atop the sea of blood, emanating a terrible, fiendish blood aura capable of dominating the world.

All of a sudden, Qin Lie’s True Soul shuddered uncontrollably.

A sealed memory floated from the depths of his True Soul and appeared within his mind.

“This is a soul pagoda!” Qin Lie thought.

This sanguine seven-level soul pagoda that sat within the Blood Progenitor’s head seemed to contain unfathomable wonder.

His previously sealed memory told him that this was a soul pagoda, something that he clearly knew was extraordinary.

However, when he tried to delve deeper into what a soul pagoda was, he realized that he didn’t actually know what kind of wonders one contained.