Spirit Realm Chapter 579-580

Chapter 579: Provocateur!

It had been a long time since Qin Lie entirely focused on cultivating Heavenly Thunder Eradication.

The moment he channeled that spirit art and roused the thunder and lightning inside of his body, he saw violent reactions occur within the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood.

Streaks of lightning began to arc through the slabs, spreading from the bottom up like exponentially growing vines. A dazzling yet serene blue glow radiated from the slabs of wood as they discharged intense waves of thunder and lightning energy.

“Boom boom boom!”

Thunder rumbled from every pore of his body, echoing off of the slabs of Thunderblitz wood and surging deep into the sky.

All of this happened atop the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix, above the clouds at an extremely high altitude.

The thunder grew louder, intensifying to become much clearer and more frenzied. It made the tips of the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood send electricity arcing into the sky.

“Krak krak ka-krak!”

Thunderous explosions rang out from the depths of the skies, making the True Souls of many people on the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix tremble.

Within the hidden room of Xiang Xi’s residence, Xiang Xi, Bo Boze, and the other treacherous martial practitioners temporarily halted their discussion.

“The weather’s about to change,” Bo Boze muttered.

None of them actually went out to investigate what was happening, so they didn’t know that it was Qin Lie that had caused the thunder in the skies.

Whenever they had secret meetings, they would strictly forbid their subordinates from disturbing them or coming in to deliver news.

Adding to the fact that the hidden room they were in could block many sounds and all kinds of energy fluctuations, they weren’t aware that Qin Lie had erected the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood. They were practically pillars that stretched into the sky.

The extremely violent booming thunder made them feel as if something were strange.

However, the occasional change in weather didn’t worry them. Whether it be flashing lightning, rolling thunder, wild winds, or torrential rain, all of these things were quite common under the endless sea of clouds, so they didn’t think much of it.

They interpreted the thunder as a typical change in weather.

Xiang Xi and the rest of the people in the hidden room continued their important discussion amidst the booming thunder.

This Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix had long since separated from the Xing brothers and was now quietly floating within the clouds.

The other Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix carrying two other enforcers hovered nearby.

The fire phoenix of the Xing brothers was at least a few kilometers away.

Without warning, a world-shaking boom reverberated from the depths of the sky. Thick swathes of lightning descended like an electrical waterfall, targeting the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix in the clouds.

Qin Lie’s eyes flung open. He raised his head and saw the streaks of lightning striking downward from the gloomy sky above, inwardly shocked.

Him cultivating Heavenly Thunder Eradication with the help of the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood had triggered a much bigger reaction than ever before.

Amidst the roaring thunder and berserk bombardment of lightning, he felt an extremely wonderful feeling sprout within his True Soul…

“Clap clap clap!”

Streak after streak of lightning shot through the sky like dragons and snakes, all charging toward Qin Lie’s wooden building. Lightning struck the area in the middle of the slabs of Thunderblitz wood, immediately dispersing into them.

“Boom!”

Violent heavenly thunder descended upon everything in sight.

A three story building exploded into pieces amidst the violent electrical assault.

The few martial practitioners loyal to Xiang Xi were in that building, a blast of heavenly lightning burning them to a crisp.

The survivors rushed out of the wreckage, vomiting blood and yelling, “We’re under attack! Enemies! Enemies are attacking!”

Their cries of alarm left many people stunned. One martial practitioner after another came running from every direction, strange looks coming over the ones that noticed what was happening over at Qin Lie’s building.

Du Xiangyang, Gao Yu, and Luo Chen had left their wooden building long ago and were now looking toward Qin Lie in shock.

As soon as they saw Qin Lie sitting on the roof with the eight upright slabs of Thunderblitz wood around him, sparking with thunder and lightning energy, they understood what had happened.

The three of them had gone through all sorts of trials with Qin Lie. They were well aware of his amazing control over thunder and lightning.

Qin Lie had clearly set off all of the heavenly lightning and explosive thunder descending from the skies above.

“What is he doing?” Du Xiangyan asked in astonishment.

“It can’t be…” Luo Chen responded, his brow furrowed. “Does he suddenly not want to continue living? Is he trying to go out with a bang?”

In their opinion, if Qin Lie were to suddenly turn on the Xing Family, he ought to be doing so back on the ship.

The eight god corpses were hidden deep within the sea. As long as he summoned them, Qin Lie would be able to slaughter Gold Sun Island like he did with the Pan Family.

Qin Lie was currently aboard a fire phoenix floating through the air. He was nowhere near the sea, so his current course of action didn’t make any sense.

After observing the situation for a while, Gao Yu came to a different conclusion.

“All of this is a result of Qin Lie cultivating,” he said indifferently. “He, himself, probably didn’t know he would cause such a spectacle.”

His guess was correct.

At this moment, thunder and lightning filled the sky, becoming more and more terrifying with each passing moment.

Qin Lie had just wanted to cultivate, and this shocking scene stunned him to his very core.

After breaking through to the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm, he seriously hadn’t expected to cause such a scene by simply using the Thunderblitz wood to temper his True Soul with thunder and lightning.

Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, and Xue Moyan had stopped cultivating as soon as the chaos began. All three of them stood right next to windows in their three-story wooden building.

Concentrated bolts of lightning occasionally flashed before their eyes and struck right outside the building with violent booms, startling them.

They had no idea what in Spirit Realm Qin Lie was doing.

Finally realizing that things were only getting worse, Qin Lie prepared to store the slabs of Thunderblitz wood to stop the thunder and lightning from gathering.

So he put one of the slabs back into his spatial ring.

However, this only disrupted the balance of the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood.

The thunder and lightning that had been gathering within the clouds for so long immediately went out of control, striking down at him!

In that instant, all of the thunder and lightning filling the sky hurtled downward!

Chaotic lightning and berserk thunder fell through the sky like a meteor shower.

“Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom!”

Another small wooden building on the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix was promptly destroyed. Each and every martial practitioner in there, all of which were loyal to Xiang Xi, screamed bloody murder as they became engulfed in thunder and lightning.

It was then that everyone realized that Qin Lie was the one behind the thunder and lightning in the sky.

“Kill him!”

“Stop him!”

All of the Gold Sun island martial practitioners present cried out. Seeing the lightning reduce that wooden building to a smoldering wreck and strike their allies, they instantly erupted in outrage and advanced toward Qin Lie.

Once the thunder and lightning went out of control, everyone within Xiang Xi’s hidden room had a strange feeling.

“Something’s amiss. That doesn’t seem to be normal thunder and lightning,” Xiang Xi said. “Let’s go outside and have a look.”

The tightly shut doors of the hidden room finally opened. The traitorous enforcers and ten or so island envoys emerged from it one by one.

As soon as they raised their heads, the expressions on all of their faces changed.

Dozens of lightning bolts resembling flying dragons and an unfathomable amount of fragmented electrical currents filled the sky. Accompanied by berserk waves of thunder, they struck the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix like a relentless waterfall of electricity.

“What is going on here?!” Xiang Xi shouted furiously.

“Chief enforcer, the brat that the second island master brought is causing all this trouble!” someone reported in a loud voice.

“It’s that Xing Lie bastard! It’s him!” another one added.

Xiang Xi turned his gaze to the wooden building that Qin Lie stood on top of and discovered that many of his subordinates had already surrounded it.

The rest of Qin Lie’s group, including Du Xiangyang, Luo Chen, and Gao Yu who joined them in the midst of all the chaos, were inside of that wooden building.

The seven slabs of Thunderblitz wood stood upright atop that wooden building, thunder and lightning energy coursing through them. Bolts of electricity pierced into the sky, triggering some kind of unknown reaction and causing thunder and lightning to gather.

“Who told you to do this, you brat!?” Xiang Xi exclaimed, a grave expression on his face. He unleashed his Fragmentation Realm strength.

“Please calm down, chief enforcer!” Bo Boze shouted.

He quickly followed furious Xiang Xi into the air and grabbed him firmly.

“It’s just a misunderstanding!” he said over and over. “A misunderstanding! It’s a misunderstanding!”

He then transmitted his voice to Xiang Xi as a thread of sound.

“Calm down!” he said. “You need to calm down! This must be a scheme of the Xing brothers. They’re trying to get us to reveal our true intentions! If we can’t keep ourselves from attacking him, they’ll have an excuse to take care of us! This brat is a member of the Xing Family. If we can’t tolerate this and end up killing him, we’d just fall into their trap! We haven’t reached the Setting Sun Islands yet and don’t have reinforcements. They’d exterminate us before we even get there! Chief enforcer, you need to remain calm!”

“This is all a misunderstanding!” Qin Lie shouted as well. “It really is!”

As he did, the thunder and lightning that filled the sky continued to hurtle downward and strike the immediate area around the wooden building he stood on top of.

They struck the subordinates of Xiang Xi with deadly accuracy.

Lightning once again struck many of the men that had gathered. All of them yelled in fury, wanting to kill Qin Lie immediately.

“Th-this brat’s trying to provoke me!” Xiang Xi gritted his teeth.

“The more he tries to provoke us, the more confident he is of his backing!” Bo Boze hastily reminded him. “I’m sure that the Xing brothers are nearby! They must be waiting for us to slip up and take action. The moment we do, they’ll immediately attack! What a ruthless, sadistic scheme. They’re practically forcing us to die!”

In the eyes of a schemer, everyone else was a schemer too. Bo Boze considered this accident to be a well-thought-out plan, a ruthless move that the Xing brothers made against them.

“You need to tolerate this!” Bo Boze exclaimed. “You have to remain calm no matter what!”

All Xiang Xi could do was continue tolerating this.

Chapter 580: The Right Move!

Qin Lie hadn’t expected to be able to cause such a huge disturbance of lightning and thunder by erecting the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood and just using his True Soul.

After closely examining the seven Thunderblitz wood that were still standing on the rooftop, he discovered dazzling streaks of silver appeared in the grain of their wood after they were struck by thunder and lightning.

Those streaks resembled criss-crossing bolts of lightning!

The grain of this wood… was the purest, most naturally formed spirit diagram!

Qin Lie trembled at this realization.

Qin Lie had set up the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood according to the setup of the eight stone pillars in the belly of Herb Mountain. He wanted to try using the method that his grandfather had left him to attract thunder and lightning, weaken the intensity of the energy, and temper his True Soul.

Yet he never expected that, as he channeled Heavenly Thunder Eradication, the thunder and lightning energy attracted to the Thunderblitz wood slabs would cause such a strange phenomenon.

Blinding streaks of lightning shot through the sky like a flooding river and descended upon the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix like a waterfall.

The thunderous rumbling that accompanied it was shocking!

The back of the fire phoenix, which spanned hundreds of square meters, held numerous pagoda-shaped wooden building in which hundreds of Gold Sun Island martial practitioners resided. This included those that intended to rebel against the Xing Family.

Xiang Xi and three other enforcers, as well as more than a dozen island envoys, resided in these buildings as well.

However, at this very moment, thunder and lightning struck from the heavens like a calamity.

Amidst ear-splitting thunder, brilliant lightning reduced those wooden buildings to dust.

Scorched martial practitioners emerged from the wreckage of each building, wailing and spitting blood as they cursed Qin Lie.

“Chief enforcer! Second enforcer!” the lover of an island envoy shouted furiously, eyes flashing with the light of the lightning strikes. “H-he’s really gone too far! Way too far!”

“This person is too arrogant!” someone yelled angrily.

“Kill him! Kill him!” people hollered.

Xiang Xi wore a vicious expression as he tried to control his breathing and calm down.

“Remember!” Bo Boze reminded him. “At the moment… you have to tolerate this!”

“All of you leave this fire phoenix for now! Go to the one that carries Enforcer Xu Changsheng,” Xiang Xi shouted, looking around and sweeping the surroundings with his soul consciousness. “Once the thunder and lightning have subsided, we’ll interrogate him!”

Many people stared at him in confusion. They had no idea when the chief enforcer’s temper had become so good.

Someone was outright bullying him at the moment. Considering his usual demeanor, he would’ve started killing them long ago.

Why was he enduring it now?

“Let us leave this place!” Bo Boze ordered grimly.

He swept his gaze across all of the subordinates that had been shouting furiously, the ones that seemed as if they would lose control at any moment and attack Qin Lie.

Under his threatening gaze, all of them gradually calmed down. Listening to the shouts of the four enforcers, the angry martial practitioners that had gathered slowly retreated. They then rode four small crystalline chariots toward the other Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix.

This left just Qin Lie and his six companions.

Watching the last crystalline chariot depart for the other fire phoenix, Du Xiangyang sat down, sweat pouring from him.

“That frightened me half to death!” he exclaimed nervously.

Luo Chen had gripped the handle of his sword the entire time, his bulging tendons indicating that he had been extremely nervous as well.

Gao Yu gradually relaxed.

He had tensed up, prepared to summon the body of the Evil God to face the attacks of the four enforcers.

Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, and Xue Moyan leaned against the walls of the wooden building, releasing long sighs.

All six of them had been terrified…

Xiang Xi and Bo Boze were in the early stage of the Fragmentation Realm. The other two enforcers were at the peak of the Fulfillment Realm. Including the hundreds of Fulfillment, Netherpassage, and Manifestation Realm martial practitioners, if this furious force had lost control and attacked them, they probably wouldn’t have been able to put up a fight.

As all six of them thought about this, they felt bitter and looked at Qin Lie accusingly.

Qin Lie still stood atop the wooden pagoda-shaped building. He turned his attention to the six people in the building below him, a strange expression on his face, and asked, “Why did they tolerate this?”

The moment he said this, the others went still. They suddenly wore thoughtful expressions.

—Why had Xiang Xi and the other Gold Sun Island martial practitioners tolerated this?

As his six companions pondered that question, Qin Lie thought to himself, then took out the slab of Thunderblitz wood he had put away and stood it atop the building.

The eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood regained their balance, and the attractive phenomenon began anew.

At this point in time, all of the Gold Sun Island martial practitioners had left. Only Qin Lie’s group remained on this fire phoenix. No one was there to interfere with their business.

Qin Lie looked at the sun, his gaze appearing somewhat strange as he sat in the center of the slabs of Thunderblitz wood.

As he channeled Heavenly Thunder Eradication, he released his soul consciousness and attracted the thunder and lightning energy to his True Soul to begin refining it.

The moment he released his soul consciousness, a wondrous change occurred!

“Zzt zzt zzt! Zzt z-zzt zt…

His invisible, intangible soul consciousness immediately came into contact with the potent streams of electricity coursing through the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood—

—It suddenly became tangible.

Every thread of his soul consciousness quickly merged with the thunder and lightning energy to become actual threads of thunder and lightning.

The lightning that his soul consciousness had become happily swam between the slabs of Thunderblitz wood like numerous dazzling fish.

These fish multiplied, growing from just a few to hundreds and then thousands. They took up the space between the slabs of Thunderblitz wood and formed a net of lightning.

Strangely enough, the lightning that had been striking in every direction suddenly became a tame beast, striking only the air right above the center of the formation of Thunderblitz wood slabs.

“Clap clap! Boom boom boom…”

Astonishing streams of electricity flooded from the sky, dazzling like collapsing stars and forming thick bolts of lightning.

These bolts of lightning gathered at the center of the space between the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood.

This barrage of lightning, which should have been extraordinarily destructive, became a thousand times weaker upon striking the net of lightning wrapped around the Thunderblitz wood. Each bolt of lightning became gentle, its furious electricity becoming a smooth flow that slowly spread throughout the net.

Qin Lie sat directly below this with his eyes closed, feeling the lightning with his mind consciousness.

He discovered that threads of electricity radiating pure auras of thunder and lightning energy were slowly entering his mind and filling it.

Those gentle threads of lightning slowly flooded his Soul Lake in a wondrous matter he couldn’t even begin to understand.

Like a river flowing into the ocean, these threads of electricity filled his Soul Lake with the power of thunder and lightning. Every single thread contained the purest, most refined energy of thunder and lightning.

This was the third stage of Heavenly Thunder Eradication—Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement!

Not only did this stage refine one’s True Soul, it also refined the Soul Lake that contained it!

Qin Lie had a completely new understanding of Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement, the third stage of Heavenly Thunder Eradication!

Forgetting the dangers that existed in the outside world and swallowing his worries, Qin Lie stayed on the fire phoenix floating through the clouds and focused on refining his True Soul and Soul Lake.

The rest of the group looked up at him atop the building.

Lightning flashed and danced between the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood like happy fish in a pond.

In the depths of the clouds, brilliant lightning formed blazing pillars of energy that struck down and connected with the space at the center of the Thunderblitz wood formation.

Qin Lie sat amidst the lightning’s blinding light, his body a vague blur as countless bolts of lightning seemed to be striking and enveloping him.

“I think he really is just cultivating.” Du Xiangyang grimaced.

“Xiang Xi and those other people have really good tempers,” Luo Chen said, a strange expression on his face.

“According to my knowledge, Gold Sun Island’s chief enforcer is usually savage and impulsive,” Xue Moyan said, a serene look in her eyes. “I’ve never heard about him having a good temper.”

Song Tingyu smiled faintly and said, “It seems as though… Gold Sun Island may be more complex than we imagined.”

Xie Jingxuan had a weird feeling. “A great upheaval will probably occur in the not-so-distant future.”

“What to do now?” Gao Yu asked, frowning.

“We wait for Qin Lie to finish cultivating,” Song Tingyu replied. “And for chaos to take hold of Gold Sun Island.”

Hundreds of kilometers away, Xing Yuyuan stood atop the Flowing Cloud Fire Phoenix that carried him and his brother atop sea of clouds. He listened intently to a flashing crystal ball with an astonished expression.

A short while later, Xing Yuyuan’s expression became one of disbelief, and he soon began to snicker strangely.

His figure flashed, and he appeared next to Xing Yumiao inside of one of the buildings atop the fire phoenix.

“Big brother!” he said. “I’ve received an interesting piece of news.”

Xing Yumiao cautiously led him to a room and said, “Get in here and tell me.”

Soon enough, both brothers entered a secret room.

“My spy over on Xiang Xi’s Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix gave me an interesting bit of info,” Xing Yuyuan said. “Apparently, when that fake was cultivating, he caused a huge commotion and summoned thunder and lightning down from the heavens. He destroyed many of the buildings on Xiang Xi’s fire phoenix, killed at least thirty Manifestation Realm martial practitioners, and heavily wounded more than a dozen Netherpassage Realm martial practitioners.”

“He can do such a thing just by cultivating?” Xing Yumiao asked, clearly surprised. “Did he use any spirits artifacts?”

“Yes! He had the help of eight strange wooden pillars,” Xing Yuyuan said with a chuckle. “But that’s not the point! The important thing is, Xiang Xi tolerated it!”

“He tolerated it?” Shock finally showed on Xing Yumiao’s face. After a moment of thought, he asked, “When did Big Brother Xiang’s temper become so good?”

“His temper has never been good. I also find it illogical that he suddenly managed to tolerate something like that.” A cold smirk appeared on Xing Yuyuan’s face as he said, “Big brother, according to the information I’ve received, the reason he and the others tolerated this… was because they thought we were in the area! They thought we deliberately arranged for that brat to provoke them!”

“You arranging for the boy to go over there actually was provocation!” Xing Yumiao snorted icily.

“Hahaha!” Xing Yuyuan laughed happily. “Yes, arranging for him to stay there was supposed to be a provocation, but this brat has really exceeded my expectations! Hah… if he weren’t a member of Blood Fiend Sect, I would probably like him!”

“Big Brother Xiang’s actions are a bit strange,” Xing Yumiao said, worry showing in his eyes.

“If he didn’t have other intentions, would he tolerate this?” Xing Yuyuan asked, his expression grim. “Both of us understand how he is, how he conducts himself! In the past, even when facing Yao’er, he never had such a good temper!”

“I hope that Big Brother Xiang will remember his past with us and not do anything to disappoint me.” Xing Yumiao said with a sigh.

Now that the situation had progressed this far, he could also tell that something wasn’t right. He knew that Xiang Xi had a goal. Otherwise, things wouldn’t have gone this way.

“Ha! It seems like arranging for that brat to go over there was the right move after all!” Xing Yuyuan thought.