Spirit Realm Chapter 593-596

Chapter 593: Bloody Intimidation

A moment later, Xing Shengnan regained some of her calm. She looked at the body of the Blood Progenitor hesitantly.

“L-little brother…?” she asked.

“It’s me,” Qin Lie said with a smile.

The second he said this, astonishment filled every single Xing Family clansman and the martial practitioners of Gold Sun Island aboard the ship.

Qin Lie turned around to smirk at the three Fulfillment Realm elders of Black Cloud Palace. His lips curved into a bloodthirsty and cruel smile.

“Let’s start with you!”

Qin Lie grasped at the air before him, and a bloody specter appeared in the sky above him.

It was the Blood Weeping Ghost Claw!

Seemingly formed from fresh blood that exuded a fiendish blood energy, the ghost claw stretched for hundreds of meters and gave off a vicious light.

The Blood Weeping Ghost Claw hurtled toward the three Fulfillment Realm experts like the bloody anchor of a large ship, filling the sky with a vicious presence!

“Puchi!”

The bodies of over a dozen Netherpassage Realm martial practitioners of Black Cloud Palace exploded before the ghost claw even fell. Even more of them vomited blood.

Blood sprayed onto the trio and dripped down their faces, giving them a miserable appearance.

The three elders looked at each other. They gritted their teeth and chose to put everything they had into defense, channeling all of their spirit energy into forming icy blue, dark green, and pale purple shields of light.

The spirit energy of each shield of light had a different attribute. They released blinding streams of light and radiated intense power fluctuations.

And the Blood Weeping Ghost Claw struck.

“Riiiiiip!”

It tore the three different-colored shields of light apart like a knife slicing through paper.

The ghost claw swiped downward like the hand of a demon.

“Crack!”

The sound of bones shattering resounded through the air, and blood shot out from between the gaps of the claw.

A gigantic gaping hole around a hundred meters in diameter opened up in the deck of the ship. Within that hole, the three Fulfillment Realm elders of Black Cloud Palace had been crushed to paste.

At that moment, the morale of every Black Cloud Palace martial practitioner collapsed.

Screams filled the air. The enemies of the Xing Family, which had arrived with the astonishing presence of sinister gods, jumped into the sea and fled.

In the span of ten breaths, all foes of the Gold Sun Island completely retreated.

“L-little brother…” Xing Shengnan called out in awe.

Qin Lie turned around, smiling faintly. “None of them will escape.”

His words shocked Xing Shengnan.

The other Xing Family clansmen looked over and saw the bloody bone dragon hovering above the water surrounded by a sea of blood. It roared and thrashed about, swiping at the air with its claws.

But it didn’t charge into the water.

It seemed to be afraid of something.

Under the water, Xiahou Cheng and numerous Black Cloud Palace martial practitioners ventured deeper into the sea, terrified of being pursued by Qin Lie and the Bloodthirsty Dragon.

They nimbly dove deeper into the sea.

Several airtight crystalline chariots that could travel underwater awaited them in a hiding place within the water’s depths.

A hundred meters below sea level, Xiahou Chang continued to sink deeper and deeper.

All of a sudden, strange enormous red lights shone clear in the darkness of the water.

“What are those lights?” Xiahou Chang thought, his curiosity overcoming his panic as he approached them for a closer look.

Upon seeing those red lights, many of the Black Cloud Palace martial practitioners behind him also became curious.

Xiahou Chang soon realized that these enormous lights were floating upward and drawing nearer.

His curiosity grew even more, and he focused his attention on the lights.

Terror suddenly filled Xiahou Chang’s face. He pumped his arms and legs in the opposite direction, frantically swimming for the surface.

He finally understood what those lights were—

—they were eyes!

The eyes of the eight god corpses that had disappeared!

The eight god corpses that had banished from the Heavenly Fissure Continent, the ones that Heavenly Artifact Sect and Ten Thousand Beast Mountains were searching for, were hiding in the depths of water below the Setting Sun Islands!!

What terrified Xiahou Chang even more was… the eight god corpses used to be headless.

Now, however, enormous heads sat securely on their shoulders, their bodies vibrating with earth-shaking energy.

The eight god corpses that had caused such an uproar in the Land of Chaos, made the nine great Silver rank forces send out legions of men, and costed countless resources to retrieve their heads.

And now they appeared here.

How could Xiahou Chang not be terrified?

The Black Cloud Palace martial practitioners saw him swimming desperately toward the surface. Bubbles emerged from their mouths, their voices traveling through the water in a strange manner as they exclaimed, “Lord Xiahou! Why are you going upward? The Bloodthirsty Dragon is up there!”

Xiahou Chang ignored them, his mind completely set on fleeing like mad. He wanted to immediately notify Xiahou Sheng and the others fighting above.

“What’s going on?”

The martial practitioners that had followed him into the water felt confused. They had no idea what was below them until…

The first god corpse materialized out of nowhere, filling up their entire field of vision.

It opened its gaping maw and sucked more than a dozen martial practitioners inside of it, slamming its teeth together over and over in a burst of blood and bone.

The surviving martial practitioners finally realized why Xiahou Chang had been swimming to the surface so frantically.

This revelation terrified the remaining Black Cloud Palace martial practitioners underwater, and all of them swam toward the surface in a frenzy.

The other seven god corpses joined the first in sucking up huge amounts of water. The Black Cloud Palace martial practitioners swimming below the surface of the sea got caught in this sudden vacuum. The god corpses sucked them into their mouths like whales taking in krill and other small fish.

More and more Black Cloud Palace martial practitioners found themselves unable to escape the vacuum that the god corpses created. They became delicious morsels for the god corpses to swallow up, bone and all.

Blood filled the water and floated up to the surface, the stench of iron filling the air above.

The Xing Family clansmen and the martial practitioners of Gold Sun Island could see the water grow red with blood, but they never saw a corpse float to the surface.

Dread spread across their faces.

Everyone on the Wavebreaker was certain that something terrifying had just occurred under the surface, but they didn’t know exactly what that was.

The Fragmentation Realm experts that had been fighting in the air turned to glare at Qin Lie in the body of the Blood Progenitor.

“Who are you!?” they shouted.

This sudden development made their combined attacks on Xing Yumiao and Xing Yuyuan come to an abrupt halt.

Xiahou Sheng examined Qin Lie within the Blood Progenitor’s body, a grim, terrifying expression on his face. From the potent stench of blood alone, he knew that this matter was definitely related to Blood Fiend Sect.

At that moment, Xiahou Chang’s emerged from the water’s surface, shouting, “B-brother Sheng! Brother Sheng!”

Having prowled above the sea this entire time, the Bloodthirsty Dragon roared and flew downward to tear at Xiahou Chang.

“Save me!” Xiahou Chang screamed, suddenly flying out of the sea.

Everyone turned to look at him and immediately gasped.

Only half of Xiahou Chang’s body remained!

He had no legs! Blood dripped from short stumps below his waist!

His terrible condition made a chill run up the spine of everyone that saw him.

Qin Lie whistled in a low tone, and the Bloodthirsty Dragon, which was about to attack Xiahou Chang, came to a sudden stop.

“Woosh woosh woosh!”

Gigantic whirlpools appeared on the surface of the sea. An enormous arm shot out of one of them like a bolt of lightning, reaching toward Xiahou Chang who flew through the air and pinching him between two fingers.

Everyone watched as the god corpse that arm belonged to emerged from the water, chewing on Xiahou Chang’s legs sloppily.

“Save me, Brother Sheng! Save me!”

As Xiahou Chang desperately screamed for help, the god corpse shoved the remaining half of his body into its enormous mouth.

The hair-raising sound of bones breaking rang out as the god corpse chewed.

Blood flowed between the god corpse’s sharp teeth that resembled giant white fences and gushed from its mouth. This bloody scene frightened every onlooker.

“A g-god corpse!” Xiahou Sheng exclaimed, his voice hoarse and weak. “A god corpse… with a head!”

“Splash! Splash! Splash!”

God corpses emerged from the water one after another, returning to the world like bloody gods rushing out of imprisonment.

Potent energy surged from the god corpses, shaking the heavens and robbing light from the sun and the moon.

At this exact moment, every martial practitioner of Black Cloud Palace, Heavenly Sea Pavilion, and the rebel faction of Gold Sun Island stared at the god corpses in complete terror.

No one knew why the god corpses had appeared or who their targets were.

That is, until the Blood Progenitor’s body flew up to the head of the largest god corpse and landed on top of it.

Then everyone immediately understood.

The eight god corpses had come because of Qin Lie.

He controlled them, and they listened to him alone.

A shocking, wondrous light filled Xing Shengnan’s eyes.

“L… little brother…” she murmured.

Xing Yumiao and Xing Yuyuan hovered in the sky. Both wore complex expressions on their faces, their brows deeply furrowed.

They had been paying attention to the situation below for a while now. They knew that Qin Lie’s soul was inside of the Blood Progenitor’s body.

However, they weren’t aware of what had previously happened aboard the Wavebreaker. The two of them still considered Qin Lie an imposter that didn’t care about the Xing Family at all.

To them, Qin Lie naturally wouldn’t think much of Xing Shengnan or treat her like a big sister.

The Xing brothers sighed inwardly. They thought that Xing Shengnan still hadn’t shaken off her trauma and that her emotions were one-sided.

Yet Qin Lie then shattered all of their assumptions.

“Big sister!” Qin Lie exclaimed with a grin. “My surname is Qin, not Xing. My real name… is Qin Lie! Although I am not surnamed Xing… in my heart, you are my big sister! It doesn’t matter if the Xing Family is related to me or not. Since you’re my big sister, I will not stand by and watch the Xing Family be exterminated. I will do everything I can to help the Xing Family overcome today’s calamity… and do my best to kill all enemies!”

“Little brother…” Xing Shengnan trembled, tears of joy welling up in her small eyes. “You are my little brother…”

Xing Yumiao and Xing Yuyuan exchanged glances, their expressions complicated. They couldn’t help but grimace.

Xing Yao, who had been opposing Qin Lie this entire time and wanted to kill him as soon as possible, constantly alternated between laughing and crying.

It seemed as if she had gone insane. No one knew what was running through her mind.

Chapter 594: Black Heaven Swallowing Art!

God corpses emerged from the water around the Setting Sun Islands like ancient deities.

Potent energy surged from the god corpses to form a twister of energy that could be seen

Over a hundred crystalline war chariots of varying sizes flew through the sky like shining lanterns, chasing down Xing Family clansmen and Gold Sun Island martial practitioners loyal to the Xing Family.

However, when that twister of energy spread from the god corpses, the crystalline chariots swayed and shuddered as if they were malfunctioning. The spirit energy within them went out of control.

“Woosh woosh woosh!”

The chaotic spirit energy damaged the spirit stone formations inside the chariots, causing them to suddenly plummet through the air.

The Black Cloud Palace and Heaven Sea Pavilion martial practitioners aboard the chariots began to panic. They frantically wrapped their chariots in spirit energy and directed them toward distant islands.

The god corpses in the water utterly terrified them. They stood there like enormous aquatic behemoths with gaping maws and radiated a vicious aura that seemed capable of consuming all beings.

The Black Cloud Palace and Heavenly Sea Pavilion martial practitioners definitely didn’t want to fall into the sea.

Xiahou Chang’s miserable fate of being eaten whole was a nightmare that instilled fear in every single one of them. It frightened them down to the very core of their being. None dared to go even the tiniest bit closer to eight god corpses.

“It’s Blood Fiend Sect!” Xiahou Sheng exclaimed, a grave expression on his face. Terror filled his eyes as he analyzed the situation. “Blood Fiend Sect is back from the dead!”

Zheng Zhihe and Jiang Hao also took stock of the situation, uncertainty in their eyes.

Xiang Xi, holding his giant bronze cauldron in one hand, looked down at Qin Lie with a grim expression and exclaimed, “M-my friend!”

He had thought that Qin Lie was just the direct disciple of Forefather Terminator.

Yet in this moment, when Qin Lie unleashed the ultimate treasure of Blood Fiend Sect, took over a body filled with fiendish blood energy and created a Blood Weeping Ghost Claw, and had the eight god corpses emerge from the sea, Xiang Xi realized that Qin Lie had another identity.

—He was a survivor of Blood Fiend Sect.

After a moment, Qin Lie suddenly said, “Encorcer Xiang. If you surrender now, I will have mercy on you. Since you were working for the good of Gold Sun Island and haven’t truly committed a great mistake… I can let you live.”

Xiang Xi was silent.

“Xiahou Sheng did not honor your agreement, nor did Black Cloud Palace or Heavenly Sea Pavilion.” Qin Lie pointed at the two ships below them. “The first thing they did was slaughter Xing Family clansmen. They acted with the intent to exterminate the Xing Family.”

Xiang Xi looked down at the Wavebreaker and discovered that Xing Shengnan was one of many Xing Family clansmen that were wounded or dead.

Corpses could be seen strewn across the other ship that Heavenly Sea Pavilion had been in charge of dealing with. All of them belonged to Xing Family clansmen and martial practitioners loyal to the Xing Family.

Qin Lie clearly wasn’t trying to deceive Xiang Xi. Xiahou Sheng, Heavenly Sea Pavilion, and Black Cloud Palace definitely had a tacit agreement not to abide by their promise to him.

Xiang Xi’s expression slowly darkened.

“Hmph!” Xiahou Sheng smirked. “You seriously thought that the three great families would have mercy on the Xing Family? On the survivors of a family that dealt a heavy blow to them? On people who tried to kill me? Wake up, Xiang Xi! From the moment you accepted my proposal and came to an agreement with me, you passed the point of no return!”

Xiang Xi wore an expression of uncertainty. He hovered in the air silently, a conflicted look in his eyes.

Qin Lie smiled and calmly pointed at the other ship that the Xing Family still controlled, using his soul consciousness to give orders.

Three god corpses began walking through the waves, moving faster and faster until they were charging toward the ship like enormous ocean behemoths. The Heavenly Sea Pavilion martial practitioners were their targets.

At that moment, Zheng Zhihe suddenly realized that it had been a while since he had seen his son.

“Wh-where is Yun’er?” he exclaimed.

“Are you talking about him?” Guo Yanzheng shouted from below.

Zheng Yun’s corpse was still on the Wavebreaker beside him and Qi Jing.

Zheng Zhihe turned to look, his eyes immediately going red as he screamed, “Yun’er!”

Zheng Yun was Zheng Zhihe’s youngest and most beloved son, the one who was most similar to him personality-wise. Zheng Zhihe relied on him greatly and had picked him as the future palace master of Black Cloud Palace.

He had brought Zheng Yun along on this excursion because he figured that it wouldn’t be dangerous. He believed that this trip would allow Zheng Yun to let off some steam.

To make sure of this, Zheng Zhihe had even arranged for three Fulfillment Realm elders to protect Zheng Yu and guarantee his safety.

He never thought that Zheng Yun would be killed while he wasn’t paying attention.

The pain of losing Zheng Yun made Zheng Zhihe go insane with fury.

“Who did this?” Zheng Zhihe shouted at the top of his lungs. “Who killed my Yun’er? Who!?”

Zheng Zhihe abandoned the encirclement tying down the Xing brothers and charged downward.

His eyes locked onto Xing Shengnan!

He believed that Xing Shengnan was the one who killed Zheng Yun!

All of a sudden, Qin Lie’s cold voice rang out.

“It was me.” Qin Lie said, raising the tattered remnants of a pitch black flag with one of the Blood Progenitor’s hands. “Your son seemed to have used this rag, but I tore it to pieces. It’s probably as useless as he was.”

He was clearly testing the limit of Zheng Zhihe’s fury.

“It doesn’t matter who you are!” Zheng Zhihe shrieked, predictably changing targets and charging at Qin Lie. “You’re going to accompany Yun’er in death!”

As Zheng Zhihe flew at Qin Lie, giant black flags appeared between them.

Black clouds roiled within the fabric of these flags as they billowed in the wind. Vicious, evil beasts that resembled savage gods seemed to reside within each one, taking shape and howling along with Zheng Zhihe.

The black clouds within the flags seemed to swallow all light, gradually making the sky turn black.

Day soon became pitch black night.

Beneath the clouds, an evil darkness slowly descended upon the world like a pitch black curtain, completely shrouding the space above Qin Lie. It formed a darkness that prevented one from seeing their hands even if they held them up in front of their faces.

Zheng Zhihe seemed to have disappeared.

“This…” Traces of shock could be seen on Xing Yuyuan’s face as he gravely exclaimed, “This is the Black Sky Swallowing Art! Zheng Zhihe is at the peak of the Fragmentation Realm! Even you would pay a steep price to withstand one of his attacks, big brother! That boy…”

Xing Yuyuan couldn’t help but worry about Qin Lie.

“This Qin Lie is in the Netherpassage Realm, and the bloody body he has possessed gives off a terrifying aura.” Xing Yumiao furrowed his brow as he used his soul perception to examine Qin Lie. He discovered that he couldn’t come to a proper conclusion and said, “How strange… so extremely strange…”

“Little brother!” Xing Shengnan screamed from the Wavebreaker.

Xiahou Sheng and Jiang Hao wore grim expressions, their eyes flashing with excitement.

They knew how powerful Zheng Zhihe was. They also knew that him using the Black Heaven Swallowing Art meant he was putting everything on the line.

What would happen if a martial practitioner at the peak of the Fragmentation Realm faced off against the body of an unknown person possessed by a soul in the Netherpassage Realm?

They wanted to see how strong Qin Lie was.

They still didn’t know that the bloody body was the body of the Blood Progenitor and that Qin Lie had come from the Graveyard of Gods.

Neverending darkness engulfed Qin Lie. Eerie power fluctuations emanated from within that darkness as Zheng Zhihe’s terrifying aura spread throughout the area and made everyone feel his strength.

Qin Lie disappeared.

Even Xing Yumiao and Xiahou Sheng couldn’t pierce the darkness and see what was happening inside of it.

When they tried to use their mind consciousnesses to delve into the darkness, they discovered that it had a power to distort and confuse. It threw their consciousness into disarray and forced it to collapse, causing them to withdraw in shock.

As a result, everyone watched this area covered in a curtain of darkness but had no idea what was happening inside of it.

“Aaaaaoooooo!”

All of a sudden, the Bloodthirsty Dragon’s roar echoed through the air.

A sanguine pillar of light that exuded a savage, destructive aura shot out of the darkness.

The darkness couldn’t smother this bloody light as it gradually grew brighter and brighter.

“Haaa, haaa, haaa!”

The heavy breathing of a god corpse could be heard from the surface of the water as it consumed the dense darkness, revealing Zheng Zhihe and Qin Lie.

Qin Lie, possessing the body of the Blood Progenitor, sat securely atop the bloody bone dragon. His eyes gave off an astonishing light as if they were bloody suns.

Streaks of blood flowed through the sky like rivers and slowly formed a complex yet mysterious formation.

“Blood Arts: Soul Shackle!”

Rivers of blood that contained mysterious sealing properties suddenly formed sanguine chains. They fell through the sky, constantly changing shape from thick to thin, then suddenly constricted and shattered into countless rays of bloody light. This light broke apart once more, exploding into strange bloody runes that filled the air.

These runes flew toward Zheng Zhihe, flapping their wings like billions of bloody butterflies and disappeared into his body.

Pitch black clouds emerged from Zheng Zhihe’s body, moving like evil spirits trying to struggle out of the force shackling them.

Yet more and more bloody runes entered his body and merged into his blood. The black clouds seeping out of Zheng Zhihe gradually became red.

Zheng Zhihe’s struggling gradually died down. Countless bloody webs appeared in his eyes, shackling his True Soul and his Soul Lake.

In the end, Zheng Zhihe went still. Except for the blood that flowed out of his body in a strange fashion, his body made no other movements.

Even his soul eventually became calm.

“Qin Lie!” Gao Yu suddenly shouted from the back of the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix.

Qin Lie raised his head and looked at Gao Yu in shock.

“What?” he shouted back.

“I want that person’s soul!” Gao Yu exclaimed, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes. “I want the soul of that peak Fragmentation Realm martial practitioner that you’ve shackled and rendered powerless to fight back!”

Qin Lie nodded. “Alright!”

Under everyone’s shocked gazes, Gao Yu, who was only in the Netherpassage Realm, leaped from the fire phoenix and plummeted through the sky.

He didn’t even have a crystalline war chariot to help him descend.

Everyone thought that he, with his measly Netherpassage Realm, was crazy for falling hundreds of meters through the air.

They thought he was suicidal!

“Woosh!”

A dark shadow materialized behind Gao Yu, gradually expanding.

In the span of five breaths, the enormous body of the Evil God, with its vast pair of wings and curved horns atop its head, appeared before Gao Yu.

It resembled an ancient monster that had suddenly invaded the world.

Gao Yu leisurely moved to sit atop the Evil God’s shoulder as he descended, his dark, cold eyes flashing with excitement.

He had sensed that Zheng Zhihe cultivated a pure spirit art of the Nether Realm. He could tell that an evil soul fragment was hidden within the man’s soul—

—the one thing that Gao Yu had been dreaming about.

Chapter 595: I Can Do It!

Gao Yu swiftly descended through the sky seated on the Evil God’s shoulder.

The body of the Evil God struck the water, floating there like a dark green mountain. Gao Yu’s eyes glowed with dark light as he leaped into the air and summoned the Demon God’s shadow from his Ogre-faced Rings.

Qin Lie had shackled Zheng Zhihe’s body with layer upon layer of Blood Arts: Soul Shackle. The pitch black clouds around his body were slowly being dyed red.

Numerous complicated bloody patterns crisscrossed to form a dense web of blood that covered Zheng Zhihe’s eyes.

The Demon God’s shadow, which had emerged from the Ogre-faced Rings, instantly descended upon Zheng Zhihe’s head, opened its mouth, and inhaled.

“Qin Lie!” Gao Yu exclaimed softly.

“Got it!” Qin Lie answered, weakening the Soul Shackle a tiny bit.

“Whoosh…!”

The Demon God’s sinister shadow inhaled a long, continuous stream of air, directing the vacuum of its mouth toward Zheng Zhihe. His soul slowly seeped from his skull, frantically struggling against the shackles of the web of blood. Bit by bit, the shadow extracted Zheng Zhihe’s soul from his body.

No matter how hard Zheng Zhihe struggled, he couldn’t break free of the Soul Shackles. He ultimately became a gray soul that the Demon God’s shadow devoured.

Elation shone from Gao Yu’s dark, icy eyes. He even subconsciously licked a corner of his lips and muttered, “The heavens are on my side today…”

“Swoosh!”

Having devoured Zheng Zhihe’s soul, the Demon God’s shadow instantly withdrew back into the Ogre-faced Rings. Gao Yu smiled in satisfaction as he returned to the Evil God’s shoulder.

“I’ll watch over your body, Qin Lie,” Gao Yu said, patting the Evil God on the neck. Its visage sinister and terrifying, the Evil God’s body swam over to the Wavebreaker where Xing Shengnan and the others were. However, it didn’t climb up aboard.

Gao Yu just stared at Xing Shengnan and Qin Lie’s body. “No one will be able to destroy it.”

Qin Lie grinned, pointed at Zheng Zhihe’s soulless body, and said, “Eat it.”

The largest god corpse immediately grabbed Zheng Zhihe’s body and stuffed it into its mouth. Flesh and blood splattered everywhere as it chewed.

In that instant, every Black Cloud Palace martial practitioner nearly broke down.

Their young palace master, three of their Fulfillment Realm elders, and their palace master had been slaughtered in short order.

As a Copper rank force, Black Cloud Palace had already taken the worst blow that it could’ve possible received during this battle. Even if its remaining martial practitioners managed to escape, Black Cloud Palace would drop in rank from Copper to Black Iron. They would no longer be able to fight nearby forces on equal footing.

Jiang Hao, Heavenly Sea Pavilion’s pavilion master, wore an incredibly solemn look on his face.

He was in the process of reevaluating the situation.

Xiahou Sheng’s eyes shimmered profoundly as he pondered to himself as well.

He was already thinking of fleeing.

Bloody light shone from Qin Lie’s eyes as he unleashed his soul consciousness and gave commands.

The eight god corpses unleashed furious roars in response, making the sea seem as though a dragon were writhing through it. They began a savage assault on the enemy.

“Splash! Splash! Splash!”

The eight god corpses formed multiple pillars of water that surged into the air like translucent mountains that were several hundred meters tall. They stabbed into the sky like gigantic thorns.

“Ruuuuummble!”

The pillars of water smashed into the crystalline war chariots still moving the the sky, exploding into countless crystal shards.

Bloodcurdling screams erupted from numerous Black Cloud Palace and Heavenly Sea Pavilion martial practitioners. The power of the pillars of water either completely annihilated them or forced them to fall into the sea after the chariots burst to pieces.

In the sea below, the eight god corpses opened their gaping bloody maws and waited for them to fall.

The Xing Family’s dire situation had reversed in an instant.

At the same time, Qin Lie rode the Bloodthirsty Dragon across bloody sea that surrounded it, flying toward the enemy.

The energies of the Bloodthirsty Dragon and the Blood Progenitor’s body combined to form an endless blood aura. It transformed into bloody comets that shot through the sky and bathed the world in sanguine light, creating an extraordinary domain of fiendish blood energy.

Jiang Hao looked at the Xing brothers, who had regained their moral, and then glanced at Xiahou Sheng, who was hesitating. His face twisted in frustration as he made a split-second decision.

“Retreat!” he yelled.

Every single Heavenly Sea Pavilion martial practitioner had been waiting for that order. Screams filled the air as they immediately fled in every direction.

“Split up and kill them all!” Qin Lie ordered.

“Hunt them down!” Xing Yuyuan roared angrily.

The eight god corpses resembled eight enormous beasts of the icy seas. They walked through the waves as though they were stepping on flat land, violently chasing the fleeing martial practitioners. They summoned giant waves of water, conjured shocking rays of prismatic light, and flung them at their enemies.

Xing Shengnan also ordered the surviving, panic-stricken Xing Family clansmen and Gold Sun Island martial practitioners loyal to the Xing Family to kill as many of their enemies as possible.

“Kill Xiahou Sheng!” Qin Lie yelled.

Controlling the Blood Progenitor’s body swiftly depleted his soul energy, but in exchange, he had full reign over a near infinite amount of blood energy.

Qin Lie grasped at the air with both hands, and a several-hundred-meter-long Blood Weeping Ghost Claw quickly materialized. It swiped at Xiahou Sheng like the claw of a giant beast.

Xing Yumiao grew a hundred times bolder when he heard Qin Lie give the order. A battle-crazed look came over him as he exclaimed, “With pleasure!”

The Xing brothers temporarily ignored Jiang Hao and turned all their attention to Xiahou Sheng, cooperating with Qin Lie to attack him.

The space of this area had been intentionally destabilized, making it impossible for anyone to use a secret art to escape instantly.

—This had originally been done as a part of Xiahou Sheng’s plan to cut off the Xing brothers’ means of retreat.

He had been afraid that they would escape from his clutches yet again.

However, he woefully realized that his supposedly clever trick had backfired.

Instead, he had become the one that couldn’t use a secret art to escape.

Qin Lie and the Xing brothers gave up on chasing other targets and worked together to hunt down Xiahou Sheng.

Jiang Hao frantically fled the area. He had no intention of fighting alongside Xiahou Sheng, a betrayal that made Xiahou Sheng repeatedly roar in frustration and anger.

In another part of the this region of the sea, Xiang Xi and his men weren’t sure which side to support. The internal conflict was killing them.

Looking at the situation objectively, Qin Lie’s sudden appearance had long since saved the Xing Family from its wretched fate. Zheng Zhihe’s death made Xiang Xi realize that this rebellion was doomed to fail, and Xiahou Sheng’s previous actions proved that they never planned to keep their promises. They were going to slaughter the Xing Family to the last man.

In addition to that, Qin Lie had promised to spare them if he could give up on taking over Gold Sun Island.

These different factors made Xiang Xi extremely reluctant to make a decision.

He had kept his silence all this time.

As a result, Xiahou Sheng essentially had no one to help him. He had no choice but to face Qin Lie and the Xing brothers alone, an outcome that frustrated him so much that he could almost vomit blood. He continuously roared at Xiang Xi, demanding his help.

Two gigantic Blood Weeping Ghost Claws whistled through the air, slapping, hitting, tearing, and pulling at Xiahou Sheng. The golden spear and numerous spirits birds of the Xing brothers transformed into a ceaseless stream of attacks that nearly overwhelmed the man.

“Tear him apart!” Qin Lie cried from atop the Bloodthirsty Dragon.

Exerting himself in the Blood Progenitor’s body slowly but surely depleted his soul energy. The battle with Zheng Zhihe had already exhausted him, and he had no choice but to utilize Blood Fiend Sect’s ultimate treasure to intimidate and pressure Xiahou Sheng.

The Bloodthirsty Dragon didn’t disappoint him.

This killing weapon had been forged by the Blood Progenitor himself. The sanguine skeleton released an apocalyptic roar is it fired hundred of rays of bloody light.

Every ray resembled gigantic deadly swords, the culmination of a potent, fiendish bloody aura having been turned into a terrifying attack.

Xiahou Sheng retreated over and over again.

“Chief enforcer!” Xu Changsheng exclaimed. “I-if we aren’t going to interfere with this battle… wouldn’t it be better for us to temporarily take our leave?”

Every rebel Gold Sun Island martial practitioner already knew that the situation had gone awry. They also knew that, since the eight god corpses emerged, Zhang Zhihe died, and both Black Cloud Palace and Heavenly Sea pavilion retreated, they no longer had the power to fight the Xing Family.

When would they retreat if not now?

Xiang Xi gritted his teeth and barked, “Move out!”

He, Xu Changsheng, and Xu Jiadong rode their crystalline war chariots and quickly flew toward another Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix.

Xue Moyan, Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, Du Xiangyang, and Luo Chen were currently standing at the edge of that fire phoenix’s wing. The second they saw the rebels heading in their direction, they went pale and became a bit worried.

“Boom!”

A crystalline war chariot abruptly landed near them with a dull crash.

“You should leave immediately,” Xiang Xi’s voice rang from a distance.

Xiang Xi had no desire to enrage Qin Lie during this ordeal, so he obviously didn’t want to fight his companions. Even after deciding to retreat, he didn’t forget to leave them with a crystalline war chariot of their own to leave on.

“Let’s go!” Du Xiangyang laughed loudly.

The five of them hastily boarded the chariot, using it to descend to the water’s surface before the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix left.

On the sea below, the three ships under Xiang Xi’s command released loud whistling sounds as they headed of into the distance as well.

Qin Lie leaped from the Bloodthirsty Dragon and left the combat zone, surveying the surroundings through the Blood Progenitor’s body.

Xiang Xi’s act of giving the crystalline war chariot to Song Tingyu and the others, allowing them to leave the fire phoenix, did not escape his sight.

He had also noticed Xiang Xi’s attempt to retreat.

The eight god corpses were currently hunting down enemy martial practitioners across the sea. They also used extremely tall pillars of water to shoot down hostile crystalline war chariots.

If Qin Lie wanted to, he could have easily ordered the god corpses to attack Xiang Xi’s Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix’s and his three ships.

He believed that Xiang Xi and his men had absolutely no way to escape the wrath of the god corpses.

Several thousand meters away from Qin Lie, Xiang Xi realized the circumstances they were in and smiled bitterly as he left aboard the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix.

“M-my friend…” he said loudly. “I didn’t disappoint you, did I?”

The idea of Qin Lie sending an order to the god corpses terrified Xiang Xi. He worried that all of his men would die here.

Qin Lie had the power to make that happen!

“You haven’t committed a irredeemable mistake, Brother Xiang,” Qin Lie said, a grin on his face. “You succeeded in summoning the Xing Family’s enemies here, assisted Gold Sun Island in exterminating two powerful threats, and helped kill two Xiahou Family experts! Not only have you not made a mistake, you’ve done Gold Sun Island a great service.”

Qin Lie’s words astonished Xiang Xi.

“You also helped Gold Sun Island eliminate Bo Boze, a spy that’s been hiding among us for a very long time!” Xing Shengnan suddenly cried from the Wavebreaker below.

Her words built upon Qin Lie’s, stunning Xiang Xi two-fold.

“In all honesty… your grudge against the Xing Family isn’t impossible to resolve,” Qin Lie said. “If the Xing Family’s decision to take revenge on the three great families weren’t suicidal… if Gold Sun Island were to experience a drastic increase in strength in a short amount of time… would you find it easier to accept their quest for vengeance?”

“A… a drastic increase in strength?” Xiang Xi asked, utterly confused.

“That’s right,” Qin Lie said, sincerity shining in his eyes. “I can increase Gold Sun Island’s strength in no time at all!”

Chapter 596: The Carrot and the Stick

Xiang Xi obviously didn’t really believe Qin Lie.

The entire time he’d been speaking to Qin Lie, Xu Changsheng and Xu Jiadong had been trying to convince him that they should leave.

Both wore anxious looks on their faces. Neither wanted to stay here even a second longer.

Everyone on the side of the Xing Family were currently chasing after the retreating enemy alongside the eight god corpses. Xing Yumiao, Xing Yuyuan, and the Bloodthirsty Dragon were busy attacking Xiahou Sheng.

This was the best opportunity for Xiang Xi and his men to escape!

The two enforcers thought that Qin Lie was just trying to buy time for the Xing Family to surround and kill them.

They knew exactly how ruthless the Xing brothers could be. Their rebellious actions on this day would definitely lead to the crazed retaliation of the brothers, which was why they were in a hurry to leave.

“What do you have that can increase Gold Sun Island’s strength?” Xiang Xi asked, a solemn expression on his face. “Even if you could improve it somewhat, there’s no way it would be able to resist the combined might of three Silver rank forces!”

After a moment of hesitation, Xiang Xi glanced at the Xing brothers and said, “What happened today… has happened. From now on, we can never return to the past. We cannot stay in Gold Sun Island and continue working with them. They definitely won’t tolerate our betrayal!”

“Enforcer Xiang!” Xing Shengnan shouted from below. “We of the Xing Family let you down! My brothers aren’t so closed-minded. They wouldn’t treat you as an enemy!”

Xiang Xi smiled bitterly as he shook his head in response. He clearly didn’t take Xing Shengnan’s assurances seriously.

He knew exactly what kind of person Xing Yuyuan was.

“Even if you wish to leave, you can’t. Not now,” Qin Lie said. He frowned and then sighed. “If you leave right this moment, I will summon four god corpses and have them hunt you and your men down to the best of their ability.”

Xiang Xi and the other two enforcers suddenly went pale, their faces wracked with worry.

They initially thought that Qin Lie would ignore them and allow them to leave, yet it still came down to this in the end.

“I haven’t offended you, have I, my friend?” Xiang Xi smiled bitterly.

He honestly didn’t wish to clash with Qin Lie. Forget the fact that Qin Lie was the direct disciple of Forefather Terminator—the eight god corpses alone were enough to destroy Gold Sun Island. What could he possible do to defend himself against Qin Lie?

Qin Lie thought to himself for a moment and eventually decided to come clean.

“I don’t have a choice,” he said. “There are some secrets that I don’t want to reveal to others at the moment. You may not understand what the appearance of the god corpses means, but everyone else… they’ll know the second they hear about it. I don’t want you to leave because, once you leak this news to the rest of the world, you’ll attract an infinite amount of trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Xiang Xi asked, failing to understand.

Xu Changsheng, however, was momentarily stunned. A moment later, he looked at Qin Lie, a strange look in his eyes, and cried, “It can’t be! Are you related to the search for the remains of ancient elites that is happening all across the Land of Chaos?”

As of late, every Silver rank force in the Land of Chaos had been preoccupied with this matter.

Information about the remains of ancient elites escaping the Graveyard of Gods had recently spread to every corner of the Land of Chaos.

Did Gold Sun Island not send out three Flowing Gold Fire Phoenixes and five ships to search nearby regions of the sea for these remains?

News of the eight headless god corpses escaping from their shackles in the depths of the sea near the Heavenly Fissure Continent had spread at the same time.

Everyone knew that the god corpses and the Graveyard of Gods shared a strange connection. If someone were to connect the dots and analyze them closely, they would naturally figure out the secret behind Qin Lie and the others.

Xiang Xi came to the same sudden realization and shouted, “All of you have something to do with the remains of ancient elites?”

Qin Lie smiled and nodded. “They’re right below us in the depths of the sea.”

Every Xing Family clansman that could hear their conversation grew excited upon hearing Qin Lie reveal this. Their eyes blazed with the light of desire.

Xiang Xi pondered for a moment then sighed. He bowed his head and said, “I guess we really can’t leave anymore.”

The fact that Qin Lie simply told them where the remains of the ancient beings were meant that he definitely wouldn’t let them leave. If they tried, Qin Lie would probably hunt the down in a frenzied manner.

Xiang Xi was only in the early stage of the Fragmentation Realm. Xu Changsheng and Xu Jiadong were only at the peak of the Fulfillment Realm.

They wouldn’t be able to oppose Qin Lie in any way.

“Don’t worry,” Qin Lie said, his voice taking on an inviting tone. “I can guarantee your safety and… who knows? Maybe you will even profit from this…”

“Aaaaooooooo!”

At that moment, the Bloodthirsty Dragon roared furiously, shaking its huge bloody tail to create a whirlpool of blood.

This sanguine whirlpool instantly sucked Xiahou Sheng into it.

Thick waves of blood surged throughout the whirlpools, and bloody bubbles filled with the stench of iron appeared on its surface.

At the center of the whirlpool, Xiahou Sheng struggled with all his might, but his movements gradually slowed. The whirlpool sucked all of his blood out of him, and his life energy swiftly left his body.

The Xing brothers hastily escaped from the bloody bone dragon in shock, frightened by the idea of getting caught in that attack.

They had already dealt a grievous wound to Xiahou Sheng before the bloody whirlpool swallowed him up. The whirlpool then dealt him another grievous blow and instantly sucked all of the blood from his body.

The Xing brothers watched Xiahou Sheng closely. They knew he had no chance of escaping and would definitely die.

“A great kill!” Although severely wounded, Xing Shengnan floated into the air, her ascent somewhat unsteady. Her eyes shone with satisfaction as she gritted her teeth and softly said, “In the past, you killed my little brother with your own hands! Today, my little brother killed you with his! All of this was preordained by the unseen world of spirits. The butcher covered in the blood of the Xing Family was always destined for such an end!”

Unfathomable joy filled every fiber of the Xing brothers as they watched the bloody whirlpool devour Xiahou Sheng.

The desire to return to the Heavenly Calamity Continent and cut Xiahou Sheng into ten thousand pieces had haunted them day and night for the past forty years.

During all the times they snuck into the Heavenly Calamity Continent and took revenge upon martial practitioners of the three great families, they imagined encountering Xiahou Sheng and all of the cruel bloody ways they would kill him.

Unfortunately, they never found the opportunity to fulfill this desire.

If Qin Lie hadn’t appeared out of the blue and used ruthless means to turn the situation around, they would’ve followed their seniors and little brother to their graves. Xiahou Sheng would have eliminated every seed of hope.

As they watched Xiahou Sheng die a slow death within the bloody whirlpool, Xing Yumiao and Xing Yuyuan couldn’t help but glance at Qin Lie in the distance.

Gratitude filled their eyes.

—They now approved of him from the bottom of their hearts.

“Jiang Hao is still out there,” Qin Lie reminded them in a soft voice. “This is your territory. I hope that none of our enemies manage to leave here alive. I wish to keep all traces of us hidden.”

He paused for a moment and then said, “The god corpses will coordinate with you.”

“Understood.” Xing Yumiao nodded.

He and Xing Yuyuan then shot through the air like two rays of golden light, swiftly heading in the direction that Jiang Hao had escaped.

The largest god corpse moved in that direction as well, running across the sea as though it were on flat land. It roared and swung its enormous arms, destroying a crystalline war chariot in the process.

The god corpse released a terrifying chaotic aura that transformed into a seal that barred the path of fleeing Heavenly Sea Pavilion martial practitioners.

Those martial practitioners abruptly slammed into that invisible wall of energy and fell from the sky, eventually being swatted like flies and devoured by the god corpses below.

This entire scene was bloody and brutal. After realizing that escape was impossible, many martial practitioners decided to commit suicide in an explosion of blood rather than being eaten alive, making blood rain through the sky every so often.

The low-level martial practitioners that did this had no chance at surviving in the face of such absolute power.

All of a sudden, a crystalline war chariot floated into the air to hover beside Qin Lie. It carried Song Tingyu and the others, all of whom looked at ease now that they knew he had accomplished his goals.

Since they no longer needed to hide their appearances, Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan,and Xue Moyan finally revealed their faces.

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan weren’t martial practitioners from the Land of Chaos. Their incredible beauty may have been out of this world, but they only caused others to stare at Qin Lie with envy.

The reaction to Xue Moyan, on the other hand, was quite different.

The moment she tore away her disguise and revealed her true face, every Gold Sun Island martial practitioner boiled over with surprise.

“M-Miss Xue? Heavens, it’s actually the direct disciple of Illusory Demon Sect’s sect master!”

“It’s Xue Moyan!”

This revelation stunned everyone present, Xing Family clansman and Gold Sun Island martial practitioner alike. All of them wore blatant looks of awe.

After all, Gold Sun Island was a vassal force of Illusory Demon Sect. Whenever he encountered Xue Moyan in Illusory Demon Sect in the past, even Xing Yumiao had to show utmost respect.

Xiang Xi might be revered in Gold Sun Island, but he was not even qualified to see Xue Moyan within Illusory Demon Sect.

Her sudden appearance intimidated Gold Sun Island’s martial practitioners even further.

Her presence alone made Xiang Xi and his men even more obedient.