Spirit Realm

"It... went into your body.”

Song Tingyu glanced at his neck with a strange expression and then moved away from him.

The python was clearly of extraordinary origins and in a pure soul state. It was able to process the soul of the Soul Devouring Beast and forcibly extract the memories of a Horned Demon warrior with five horns and then explode the former's body with lightning...

Song Tingyu felt an aura similar to an ancient and vicious being emanating from the body of the python. She had some knowledge about that era and knew just how terrifying the dominant beings of that era were.

She wasn't sure about the connection between Qin Lie and that python. She was afraid that the python would control Qin Lie so she cautiously chose to distance herself from Qin Lie, allowing her to run away at any time.

Something that could quickly destroy the soul of a Soul Devouring Beast and was able to erase the existence of a Horned Demon fighter with five horns was beyond the limits of her ability. She had to be very careful.

Qin Lie glanced at her. "It went into my body but I... cannot find it.”

"Where did it come from? Why is it inside your body?" Sing Tingyu's eyes were bright. After she saw that Qin Lie acted normal, she suddenly became interested. "Where have you seen it before?”

Qin Lie went silent, his brow furrowed.

Li Mu had warned him to never tell anyone about the ancient beasts sealed in ice under the Arctic Mountain Range.

When Qin Lie realized that those ancient beasts had not died, and that the ice kept their bodies and souls frozen, he decided to never tell anyone about the secret underneath Arctic Mountain Range.

"I think it would be best if we left this place." Qin Lie said in a deep voice.

Song Tingyu stopped. She saw that he was not willing to answer. She did not force him. She nodded and said, "I'll go free the female slaves.”

She quickly left.

Qin Lie waited at the original spot.

"Demon God Mountain Range, Demon God Mountain Range..." An imperceptible soul ripple suddenly came from his neck. The ripple was extremely weak. After persisting for a few moments, it disappeared.

Qin Lie's body shook slightly and his eyes lit up strangely. He murmured, "Demon God Mountain Range. This enormous python wants me to go to the Demon God Mountain Range... “

He turned around and looked off into the distance. He could barely make out an area that was covered in dense nether demonic energy. That was where the Demon God Mountain Range was.

From the memories of the Horned Demons, he knew that the Demon God Mountain Range was the holy ground of the Horned Demon Race and was off-limits.

The Demon God Mountain Range was the place where the members of the Horned Demon Race worshipped the Demon Gods. The people of the Horned Demon Race would only travel towards the Demon God Mountain Range on important days and during special times. They would go and pay respects to the five mountain peaks carved in the images of ancient demon gods and pray for their protection.

In the hearts of all Horned Demons, the Demon God Mountain Range was sacred. It was their mental support, a place they revered.

They deeply believed that the souls of the Demon Gods existed in the Demon God Mountain Range. They deeply believed that the Demon God Mountain Range had a mysterious power, and that the demon gods inside would protect them. They believed that they were the children of the Demon Gods...

Elderly Horned Demon priests would stand guard in the Demon God Mountain Range for many years devoutly offering their faith and narrating the events of the Horned Demon Race in the language of the demon gods, praying for the demon gods to appear before them. They prayed for them to help the Horned Demons kill their way into the Scarlet Tide Continent and walk onto the vast land of Spirit Realm.

"What does it want me to do at the Demon God Mountain Range…?" Qin Lie pondered. He hesitated on the inside.

Qin Lie could faintly discern that the python who had processed the Soul Devouring Beast and killed that Horned Demon warrior with five horns... had used up all of the lightning and thunder power it had absorbed. It was weak and could only rest.

"Will the Demon Mountain Range be of help to its recovery? Or is there some other wondrous ability?" Qin Lie rubbed his chin in thought.

Just as he was thinking hard, Song Tingyu returned with a dim expression.

"They..." Qin Lie stopped speaking.

"I had them truly awaken. Ah, they were very ashamed and couldn’t bare to continue living. They were like the humans we encountered before, who only sought death." Song Tingyu sighed and said regretfully, "I could not persuade them. Their bodies and minds had been corroded by the nether demonic energy, they... ah..."

Qin Lie knew why those female slaves also chose death.

After experiencing so much in the Nether Realm, he had gradually become numb. He also recognized that the conflict between them and the Nether Realm could not be resolved peacefully and would only end with the death of either side.

"All of my Terminator Profound Bombs have been used up and the stronger Horned Demons have clearly noticed us." Qin Lie furrowed his brow. "I do not think that we can continue attacking Horned Demon towns at the moment.”

"I am not dumb. I obviously know what to do." Song Tingyu rolled her eyes at him and said patiently, "Why did you return just now?”

Song Tingyu already started to move ahead as she spoke, only leaving her beautiful figure for him to gaze at from behind.

Qin Lie silently followed. After thinking for a moment, he spoke honestly, "When I looked back, I saw that your rainbow light grew dim and your presence was quickly weakening. I feared that you would die..."

Song Tingyu did not stop and continued to walk forward. She said in a light tone, "Turning back... also meant death.”

"I knew that it guaranteed my death." Qin Lie nodded and followed her closely. He said in a deep voice, "But I could not flee and have a woman fight in my stead. I would not be able to live with myself.”

"A laughable chauvinistic male attitude!" Song Tingyu snorted coldly.

"Whatever you say. In any case, I did not want you to be captured by that Horned Demon with five horns. I could not let you become like the women in the cages..." Qin Lie was silent for a while and then said seriously, "I came back. If you were already captured, and I could not rescue you, I could at least use the Terminator Profound Bomb to give you a swift death.”

Song Tingyu paused in her steps. Her body trembled slightly. She suddenly turned her head to look deeply at Qin Lie and said, "In this Nether Realm, if I really am captured, please do all that you can to kill me.”

"I will." Qin Lie nodded lightly.

The two sank into silence once more.

They walked one after the other, gradually distancing themselves from the town. They walked for a long time, making their way through a dense, deep forest before finding a place to use spirit stones to replenish their power.

A considerable time later, Qin Lie was the first to recover. He opened his eyes and looked at the dark sky that did not have any sun, moon, or stars. He felt an eternal coldness and desolation. He stood up, careful not to disturb Song Tingyu who was still recovering. He walked to a place where the vitality had been cut from the trees.

Qin Lie gathered his mind consciousness, reached out to touch his spatial ring, and rubbed it.

A spirit pattern pillar suddenly flew into the sky. It floated like a heaven-reaching obelisk above his head. This was the spirit pattern pillar engraved with the Nine Winding River Diagram.

He focused his mind. Channeling spirit energy, he used his mind once again. Another spirit pattern pillar shot out of the spatial ring and floated motionlessly above his head.

Then the third, the fourth, and the fifth pillars appeared. Then, finally, the sixth pillar emerged.

The six pillars floated in the air, each of them leaving the spatial ring and remained motionless, suspended in the sky of the Nether Realm.

Six spirit pattern pillars were the maximum number that he could control with his mind. It was also the limit of what he could support with his spirit energy.

Twelve spirit pattern pillars. They could form a wondrous formation called the "Universal Celestial Sealing Formation." This formation used the twelve spirit pattern pillars as its base. The controller's spirit energy would command the power inside the spirit pattern pillars. They would use their mind consciousness to control the pillars and channel the spirit diagram on the pillar to form a power of suppression.

At this moment, he had released six spirit pattern pillars. He was trying to see if he could use some of the Universal Celestial Sealing Formation’s power with just six spirit pattern pillars.

The six spirit pattern pillars were silent above his head. They moved slowly, shifting according to his mind consciousness. The spirit diagrams on the spirit pattern pillars started coming to life. The spirit energy he poured out flowed through the pillars, the pathways within them organizing the power inside and helping the formation slowly take shape.

A sealing power slowly radiated from the center of these six spirit pattern pillars. This power was gradually becoming more and more intense.

The wind stopped in the area between the six spirit pattern pillars. The air also stopped flowing. Sound was restricted, unable to move. Even space seemed to be locked down.

The Celestial Sealing Diagram, the Nine Winding River Diagram, the Soaring Sky Bird Diagram, the Radiant Galaxy Diagram, the Hundred Flower Chainmail Diagram, and the Ancient Wood Resurrection Diagram—all six ancient diagrams sealed the sky and, as light gathered, formed a curtain in the sky.

There were demons, countless stars, rivers, birds, flowers, ancient trees and fungi that emanated vitality. All of these entities gave off a mysterious aura. That aura slowly filled the little space amidst the spirit pattern pillars, causing it to change.

Qin Lie suddenly realized—he was able to control everything in that space!

The small space that slowly formed seemed to have been created by him. He had taken it from the world and now it belonged to him alone. He was the one that could see every detail inside and could be the master of every being in that space!

This feeling was very wondrous and filled him with intoxication. It made him feel like he was the peerless creator of that space and could bend all the rules.

This strange feeling only lasted for a moment. As his mind consciousness became greatly exhausted and his spirit energy has been furiously spent, his vision suddenly blurred.

The six spirit pattern pillars turned to streaks of light and disappeared back into his spatial ring.

Qin Lie fell down on the ground bottom first, his mind dizzy. His soul felt extremely weak.

Soul power, the power that the soul could control and use, was connected to mind energy. The reason that his soul currently felt weak was because the amount of mind energy that he had used up surpassed his limits.

"Kid, you have just stepped into the Manifestation Realm and have not completely understood the wonders of the Soul Lake, yet you dare to forcibly manipulate six of the spirit pattern pillars. You do not know your limits.” Xue Li's voice echoed out from his soul within the Soul Suppressing Orb. "If you reach the peak of the Manifestation Realm, you may be able to manage controlling the six spirit pattern pillars and wield some of the Universal Celestial Sealing Formation’s power. As of now, you are far from that.”

“You once said that, as long as I can control six of the spirit pattern pillars, I can truly create the Universal Celestial Sealing Formation. Why not five pillars?" Qin Lie gathered a thread of mind consciousness to converse with Xue Li.

"Six is the minimum. If you are one short, the sealing formations cannot compound and you won’t be able to create the formation." Xue Li’s words were like a rush of cold water. "It's better for you to be cautious. Before you reach the peak of the Manifestation Realm, do not mess with the spirit pattern pillars. Otherwise, you will achieve the same result. You will exhaust all of your mind energy, your soul will become extremely weak, causing you to lose the resolve to fight.”

"Is there really no other way?" Qin Lie, asked, unwilling to give up.

"Another way?" Xue Li seemed to think about it and then responded. "If your soul is powerful enough, you can continue to maintain the spirit pattern pillars. However, you are just in the Manifestation Realm. You cannot even cultivate your soul so how are you supposed to strengthen it? Well, unless you have soul crystals. Oh, that reminds me, this orb just swallowed many pure souls. If you can merge them into your body... you might be able to manage controlling six of the spirit pattern pillars.”

Qin Lie's eyes suddenly lit up.