Spirit Realm Chapter 624-625

Chapter 624: A Battle of Souls

Within the howling wind, Miao Tai’s body became even thinner, but his aura continued to rise.

Purple moon symbols writhed toward Qin Lie from every direction like swimming fish, nearly drowning him.

A cold, dark, eerie presence formed and became a kind of mental shock that could destroy people’s minds. It battered at Qin Lie’s mind and body.

All of a sudden, scenes emerged from every purple symbol.

Qin Shan, Ling Yushi, Ling Feng, Ling Ying, Ling Xuanxuan, and everyone else Qin Lie was familiar with or had deep memories of appeared in those marks.

All of them were covered in blood. Shocking holes filled their bodies, blood flowed from them, all of them were in terrible condition.

Many of the people who had appeared in Qin Lie’s mind were close to him, and they seemed to be going through the cruelest of slaughters in this moment.

This was a great terror that could stab into people’s minds, destroy their souls, and rob them of all hope.

Even with Qin Lie’s mental fortitude, he was still affected for a moment, one of bewilderment. Intense sorrow and terror appeared in his mind.

In that moment, threads of purple light shot into Qin Lie’s body like meteors.

In the next, strange purple moon symbols appeared on Qin Lie’s face, neck, and every other section of exposed skin.

Miao Tai suddenly started to laugh darkly.

Two dots of purple light flashed in his eyes. Adding that to his the sudden desiccated appearance of his body, he looked unspeakably eerie and terrifying.

“You definitely won’t be able to imagine just how much the secret art of Illusory Demon Sect can affect your mind!” Miao Tai shouted.

“Whoosh!”

Countless streams of light gathered and then shot toward Qin Lie’s forehead.

Behind Qin Lie, the beauty with the sexy body couldn’t help but scream, “Watch out!”

Although she stood ten meters away, when that purple light shot over, she felt terrified. It was as though her own soul had been penetrated.

So she panicked for Qin Lie.

“Snap, snap… krak!”

Blue bolts of lightning suddenly sparked from Qin Lie’s eyes.

Qin Lie’s eyes instantly became as deep as the sea. Lightning suddenly shot out of them, crisscrossing back and forth.

A river made of hundreds of lightning bolts appeared in front of him.

“Zzt zzzt zzt zzt zzzt!”

The lightning and the flowing purple light shot at each other and furiously collided. Both powers cancelled each other out and exploded, giving off light as bright as stars.

Countless bolts of lightning flew out of Qin Lie’s mind, quickly consuming the soul energy within his Soul Lake.

That lightning contained the power of thunder and lightning, and it immediately erupted the second it emerged from his Soul Lake. It furiously attacked the purple energies infused with Miao Tai’s soul consciousness.

The battle between the Qin Lie and Miao Tai immediately changed from a battle of pure spirit energy to a battle of souls.

Every martial practitioner of Gold Sun Island and all the Miao Family clansmen of Green Moon Valley held their breath, their expressions grave.

A battle fought with soul consciousnesses was much more dangerous than a battle fought with spirit energy. If one side were defeated, their True Soul could be destroyed by the other side and completely shattered.

Everyone became nervous.

Up in the sky, Miao Wenfan’s expression was dark. His icy eyes looked at Xing Yuyuan occasionally, killing intent forming.

Miao Tai was a future pillar of the Miao Family. He had been sent to Illusory Demon Sect at a young age to cultivate, and the five valley masters of Green Moon Valley had high hopes for him. Miao Tai possessed a high realm and powerful talent.

This battle between Miao Tai and Qin Lie had escalated into a confrontation of soul consciousnesses, and was extremely dangerous.

Even if Miao Tai won by using the Illusory Demon Reversal, this would significantly affect his progression to the Fulfillment Realm.

Miao Tai was extremely important to the Miao Family. Every advancement into a new realm was crucial for him. If Qin Lie influenced Miao Tai’s rate of progression, the Miao Family would lose more than they would gain.

Miao Wenfan grew worried. He believed that Miao Tai would win, but he was also afraid that Miao Tai would just barely win!

He was afraid that Miao Tai would be heavily wounded.

On Gold Sun Island’s Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix, an elder dressed in long scarlet robes walked out of one of the wooden buildings and looked down.

“Elder Hong, you… should you interfere?” Xing Yuyuan transmitted his voice to him with an urgent expression on his face.

The elder in long scarlet robes was Hong Bowen. He was responsible for safeguarding the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix.

When they departed from the Setting Sun Islands, Mo Jun told him to protect Qin Lie and prevent anything from happening to him.

Qin Lie and Miao Tai suddenly entering a battle of souls had alarmed his as well.

Hong Bowen possessed a heavy set figure. He narrowed his eyes and looked down for a while, then transmitted his voice back to Xing Yuyuan. “Interfering in a battle of souls can lead to unpredictable outcomes…even I do not dare to rashly stop them.”

“Then what do we do?” Xing Yuyuan asked urgently.

“Wait! Wait for Qin Lie to win!” Hong Bowen said gravely.

“Qin Lie… will definitely win, right?” Xing Yuyuan asked worriedly.

“Of course!” Hong Bowen snorted. “The strength of Qin Lie’s soul is beyond what you could imagine! Do you think it was easy for him to put his soul into the body of the Blood Progenitor and use it to fight?”

Xing Yuyuan was shocked.

“The Blood Progenitor has a seven-level Spirit Altar. For a Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner to sink their soul into it and move one of the Blood Progenitor’s fingers… that would be as hard as ascending to the heavens.”

Hong Bowen’s eyes flashed with red light. “To be able to control the Blood Progenitor and use it to fly and fight… do you know how strong a soul would have to be to do that? How strong one’s mental resolve would need to be?”

Xing Yuyuan was speechless.

Below them, Qin Lie stood still, his eyes flashing as lightning bolts flew out of them.

Miao Tai’s body became even more emaciated. He used soul energy to create moon symbols and form the purple flowing light that shot at the lightning sparking from Qin Lie’s eyes.

Soon enough, Miao Tai began sweating profusely. He was so thin that he seemed to only be skin and bones.

At a glance, Miao Tai resembled an actual skeleton. His eyes had sunken deep into his face, making his situation look even more terrifying.

And he was still furiously bringing forth his potential!

Opposite from him, Qin Lie’s expression was cold, and a cold smile played at the corner of his lips. A powerful vitality erupted from him.

Everyone could see that, in this battle of souls, Qin Lie had the upper hand.

From Qin Lie’s confident expression alone, everyone gradually came to see that he had yet to use his full power.

From the very start, Miao Tai used the Illusory Demon Reversal of Illusory Demon Sect to tap into his potential. He wanted to wound Qin Lie even if he would be heavily wounded later.

In spite of how he forced out his potential like this, his performance in this battle continued to worsen. This caused every Miao Family clansman’s face to darken and fill with doubt.

All of a sudden, Qin Lie laughed in a relaxed manner in spite of his soul being engaged in battle.

“Miao Tai. If you continue, you will use up every last bit of soul energy you have and cause your True Soul to explode and dissipate.”

When he said this, the expressions of every member of the Miao Family changed.

Shock filled Miao Wenfan’s eyes.

“Miao Tai!” he shouted urgently. “Give up! Don’t use your soul consciousness!”

Other members of the Miao Family tried to convince him as well.

Anyone that wasn’t dumb could see from Qin Lie’s performance that he still had more up his sleeve.

Miao Tai, who had used the Illusory Demon Reversal, had lost in every way. There didn’t seem to be any way for him to win.

However, even though many Miao Family members urged him to stop, Miao Tai still refused to give up.

Drops of blood appeared on his skin. This meant that he had even begun using his blood.

It was obvious to everyone present that Miao Tai was almost at his limit. If he continued, he would soon use up all of his life force and die.

“Stop!”

Miao Wenfan, who was in the late stage of the Fragmentation Realm, could no longer stand by and watch. He descended from the clouds.

His dark eyes did not look at Miao Tai, but at Qin Lie.

Miao Wenfan raised a hand. A tornado filled with terrifying energy locked onto Qin Lie and rushed at him.

“How shameless!’ Xing Yuyuan shouted.

“How utterly shameless!” the beauty behind Qin Lie also shouted.

Miao Wenfan wanted to stop the soul battle between Qin Lie and Miao Tai, but instead of having Miao Tai retreat, he wanted to instantly kill Qin Lie and forcefully end the battle.

Such a course of action was completely shameless. It infuriated Hong Bowen, who had been watching all this time.

“The descendants of Miao Fengtian have stooped to such a shameless level!”

A ball of bloody light exploded from Hong Bowen’s hand. Blood energy shot from it, writhing like snakes and suddenly burrowing into the tornado that Miao Wenfan had summoned forth.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

Streaks of bloody light moved in and out of the energy tornado like knives cutting flesh.

Miao Wenfan, who had been in the middle of rushing downward, came to an abrupt stop in midair. He couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

He looked at Hong Bowen in shock.

Chapter 625: Exaltation!

“The Miao Family has truly declined with every generation!” Hong Bowen shorted coldly.

Miao Wenfan stopped in midair as blood trickled down the corner of his lips. Hong Bowen had emerged out of nowhere, and when Miao Wenfan stared at him, his eyes were full of fear, “H-Hong Bowen! You’re still alive?!”

“Did you wish that I was dead?” The fat Hong Bowen smiled like a buddha, but his eyes gleamed with killing intent. “Plenty of people want me dead, but I have lived to this day! The Miao Family was already plenty dishonest back when they served Blood Fiend Sect, and I remember personally visiting you once and killing many of your elites! Perhaps so much time has passed that some people have forgotten Blood Fiend Sect’s lessons, but that’s okay. I can help you remember everything from the past!”

The moment he said this, Miao Wenfan went stiff as fear flooded into his heart out of nowhere.

He knew exactly how scary, cruel, and bloodthirsty this fat Blood Fiend Sect elder was back then.

As Miao Wenfan recalled the past, multiple dust covered memories slowly surfaced in his mind. They made Miao Wenfan become increasingly afraid and alarmed.

A thousand years ago, before Blood Fiend Sect had been attacked by all the forces of the Land of Chaos, the Miao Family often committed numerous petty maneuvers and purposely failed to send in their share of the tribute so they could accumulate strength as the strongest out of the five great families.

The Miao Family thought that their little schemes had been well-hidden and that Blood Fiend Sect didn’t know about anything it. They thought that was why their lives had been peaceful and at ease all those years.

All of that lasted until the day a smiling Hong Bowen suddenly visited the Miao Family.

Back then, the patriarch of the Miao Family was none other than the ingenious Miao Fengtian. He didn’t know Hong Bowen at the time, and he had considered the smiling Hong Bowen a harmless lamb. He didn’t give Hong Bowen the respect he deserved, and he even attempted to hide the truth.

As a result, Hong Bowen smiled the entire time he slaughtered the Miao Family clansmen right in front of Miao Fengtian. He killed six Miao Family elders who rejected Blood Fiend Sect and refused to turn in their tributes multiple times in a row.

Only when the blood of the six elders drenched the Miao Family’s great hall, their heads hung around Hong Bowen’s waist like lanterns, did the entire Miao Family truly experience fear.

Back then, Miao Wenfan was just a junior who hid in a corner with his patriarch and witnessed Hong Bowen’s bloody might from beginning to end.

That bloody scene of Hong Bowen slaughtering six Miao Family elders in the great hall made up Miao Wenfan’s nightmares for a very long time.

The Miao Family then became obedient and didn’t commit any of their little schemes until the enemy forces attacked Blood Fiend Sect.

After so many years, Hong Bowen emerged once more, and Miao Wenfan suddenly felt cold sweat pouring down his back as he remembered the past.

Then he discovered two more Fragmentation Realm martial practitioners dressed in scarlet robes among the Gold Sun Island forces. They exuded a thick stench of blood.

One vacant moment later, Miao Wenfan came to sudden realization, his expression turning serious.

Numerous Miao Family clansmen behind Miao Tai were shouting loudly as well.

“Miao Tai!”

“Miao Tai stop!”

“Quickly, stop!”

Miao Wenfan abruptly turned away from Hong Bowen to look.

On the ground below, he saw Miao Tai, who was supposedly clashing souls with Qin Lie, bleeding out of every pore in his body like a man that had just been scooped out of blood.

Miao Tai’s life force looked like a well that was about to dry up. His pupils no longer held any luster.

This was a sign that he was on his last legs.

Qin Lie smiled calmly as lightning sparked through his eyes. Thunder boomed inside his body as he arrogantly taunted Miao Tai. “If you wish to die, then I shall grant that wish!”

Everyone’s gazes instantly shifted from Miao Wenfan and Hong Bowen over to Miao Tai.

At this point, everyone could tell that, if he kept this up, Miao Tai was going to exhaust his soul energy.

Since Hong Bowen was watching Miao Wenfan closely, and the other two Blood Fiend Sect Fragmentation Realm experts were keeping their bloody eyes on the Miao Family clansmen, no one dared to interfere with Miao Tai and Qin Lie’s soul battle.

If Miao Tai really didn’t fear death, if he really was that courageous, he would take this battle beyond his limits.

He would keep going until he finally died.

“Phew…”

Miao Tai suddenly exhaled deeply and withdrew the wisps of purple light back into his body.

Miao Tai’s body shook once, and he collapsed on his back, fainting instantly.

Qin Lie’s smile slowly faded as he coldly said, “And here I thought that you were a real man, Miao Tai. In the end, all of it was just an act!”

The moment he said this, the faces of many Miao Family clansmen turned ugly in an instant.

Behind Qin Lie, the Gold Sun Island martial practitioners snickered and softly chatted among themselves.

“It appears that the reason Miao Tai persevered earlier was because he was sure that Miao Wenfan would interfere and shamelessly kill Qin Lie to disrupt the soul battle. Hmph… and here I thought Miao Tai was a real man!”

“How utterly shameless! If he really wasn’t a coward, he would’ve held on until his soul had exploded even though Miao Wenfan was stopped by Elder Hong and none of the Miao Family clansmen dared to interfere with the battle!”

“To put it bluntly, he’s just a coward!”

“Heh! Speaking of which, do you guys think that Miao Tai… might just be pretending to be unconscious?”

“Haha! That’s a likely possibility! Today I finally see that, when it comes to the Miao Family… one clansman is even more shameless than the next!”

The Gold Sun Island martial practitioners might have been chattering softly, but their purpose was still rather obvious on this quiet island.

Miao Family clansmen silently listening to the chatter felt their faces flush and turn pale with every comment. They felt absolutely embarrassed by this turn of events.

Just fifteen minutes ago, the Miao Family had arrived aggressively, itching to go to war against Gold Sun Island so they could display their ruthless might and teach them a harsh lesson.

Since Miao Tai knew Miao Wenfan well, he had jumped from the sky and acted immediately. He set his gaze on a sexy Gold Sun Island beauty and acted so domineering so that Gold Sun Island would have no choice but to counterattack.

Back then, the Miao Family looked so overbearing, and Gold Sun Island looked so weak and hesitant.

Then Qin Lie abruptly showed up out of nowhere, severely injuring Miao Tai in a thunderous fashion while Hong Bowen prevented Miao Wenfan’s ambush. He made Miao Tai vomit a lot of blood and completely turned the situation around.

Now every Gold Sun Island martial practitioner felt exalted as they watched Miao Tai’s collapse at the end of the soul battle.

All of them straightened their backs and held their heads high, feeling as if they had suddenly grown a few inches taller.

“Green Moon Valley is Illusory Demon Sect’s vassal force, and we came here today representing Illusory Demon Sect!” In the sky, Miao Wenfan wiped the blood from his mouth and cast a fearful glance at Hong Bowen before turning his eyes to Xing Yuyuan. He continued to speak forcefully. “If Gold Sun Island truly represents Blood Fiend Sect, have you thought about the consequences of stopping us from taking over Black Cloud Palace today? Are you really going to offend Illusory Demon Sect and start a conflict with them just when Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families are about to invade your lands?”

Xing Yuyuan’s face darkened.

He hesitated earlier exactly because he was afraid that attacking Green Moon Valley would attract Illusory Demon Sect’s anger and put a crack in the relationship between Illusory Demon Sect and Blood Fiend Sect.

After all, Green Moon Valley was still an Illusory Demon Sect’s vassal force in name.

As the saying goes, a dog’s punishment can be only be carried out after its master has been consulted.

Xing Yuyuan also knew that Green Moon Valley’s forcefulness and the Miao Family’s aggressiveness had been founded on the fact that Blood Fiend Sect wouldn’t dare to start a conflict against Illusory Demon Sect. This was especially the case with Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families about to invade them.

“I will tell Illusory Demon Sect everything that has happened today!” Miao Wenfan threatened in a cold voice, then made further insinuations. “I believe some of you are well aware of just how much Illusory Demon Sect has done to ensure that Blood Fiend Sect would be able to avoid the pursuit of Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families and even obtain shelter for themselves! I dare say that Blood Fiend Sect won’t exist in the Heavenly Slaughter Continent much longer!”

“It’s exactly because you’re still a dog of Illusory Demon Sect that I haven’t killed you. However, if you keep this up, I doubt you’ll live to know how long we of Blood Fiend Sect will survive in the Heavenly Slaughter Continent.” Hong Bowen chuckled.

Miao Wenfan abruptly paled.

Hong Bowen looked at him with a smile on his face.

A few seconds later, Miao Wenfan clenched his teeth and made one final threat. “You don’t have anything to rely on! Nothing that will save you from the attack of Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families! Heh, Gold Sun Island might not even exist in a month or two! It’s only a matter of time before you become Green Moon Valley’s! A few days from now, we’ll see if you will keep acting so haughtily!”

“Let’s go!” Miao Wenfan exclaimed with a wave of his hand.

At first the Miao Family clansmen were planning on flying down and claiming the spoils of victory in excitement.

But now that Miao Tai was severely injured and unconsciousness, and even Miao Wenfan’s chest was drenched with his own blood, they had no choice but to retreat in abject defeat.

They could only give up on Black Cloud Palace’s accumulated wealth.