Spirit Realm

Unbeknownst to Qin Lie, every force in all of the Land of Chaos, big or small, was currently searching for the remains of the ancient elites.

He had already arrived in the valley of scattered stones.

Qin Lie had already gotten hold of the Demon Sealing Tombstone and examined it over and over. The eight god heads lay on the ground, randomly strewn throughout the valley.

He attempted to delve deeper in the tombstone with his mind consciousness, but found himself forced back every single time.

Even though he had gotten his blood on the surface of the Demon Sealing Tombstone and established a connection with it, he didn’t seem to have actually obtained its acknowledgement.

This discovery depressed him.

Having no other option, he continued to recover his strength using soul crystals and spirit stones to return to peak condition.

…...

“Krak!”

The fifth day after Pan Qianqian transmitted the message, yet another soul crystal burst into dust in Qin Lie’s hand. He still sat within the stony valley, turbulent waves of energy surging within his Soul Lake.

His True Soul sank deep into his Soul Lake, allowing the waves to wash over it. Soul energy gathered above his True Soul like miraculous wisps of flame in the process of refining it.

He steadily progressed toward the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm.

…...

The sixth day after Pan Qianqian transmitted the message, the rest of Qin Lie’s group stopped searching for the bodies of the ancient elites. They once again gathered at the beach they initially arrived at and shared their findings.

“This desolate island holds three bodies of ancient elites, one Asura Race elite and two fearsome beasts of the Giant Spirit Race.”

“As for the surrounding waters, there are two corpses of Gray Wing Race elites, one Giant Spirit Race corpse, and one corpse of a Wood Race clansman.”

“We found the carcass of a beast that looks like a dragon on the island directly across from this one.”

Everyone shared the targets they’d found.

“Some bodies of ancient elites escaped from the Graveyard of Gods just like we did,” Du Xiangyang said with a sigh, rubbing his chin. “The Asura Race elite, whose body we found on this island, must have cultivated the power of flame. Every bone in his body contains a tremendous amount of fiery energy. Too bad I don’t dare to act carelessly and touch it. It’s such a shame.”

“The body of the Wood Race clansman contains an astonishing amount of refined life energy,” Xie Jingxuan said nonchalantly, looking at Xue Moyan. “It would be incredibly useful to you and me.”

“All we can do is wait for Qin Lie to come back.” Xue Moyan looked somewhat helpless.

Xue Moyan’s mother needed the Spring of Life to recover her life force. The refined life force within the body of the Wood Race elite remained intact despite its soul having perished.

If Xue Moyan could extract a portion of that refined life force and condense it into a Spring of Life, her mother would wake up from her self-imposed coma and be filled with energy once more.

—This was literally Xue Moyan’s goal in life.

Unfortunately, all of them had seen Ye Yihao’s and Huang Zhuli’s horrendous deaths. No one dared to be reckless.

“I’ve also decided which body to target.” Song Tingyu’s eyes sparkled with a strange light.

“Shouldn’t Qin Lie have found the Demon Sealing Tombstone by now?” Luo Chen frowned.

“Yeah. He shouldn’t be taking so long.” Du Xiangyang looked at the sea and off into the distance, disbelief on his face. “I saw him control the Blood Progenitor’s body earlier. He used it to traverse the sea in a fearless manner. He must’ve found the Demon Sealing Tombstone rather quickly.”

“Maybe something else delayed him.” Song Tingyu interjected.

“The Pan Family will arrive in a day or two,” Xie Jingxuan said calmly, reminding everyone of the impending crisis.

All of them subconsciously looked in the direction of a small mountain further inland.

They had imprisoned Pan Qianqian in a cave they had dug into that mountain, which was several thousand meters away.

“About Qianqian…” Xue Moyan looked like she wanted to say something.

The others, who had been in the middle of a heated discussion, suddenly fell silent the moment they heard her name.

The expressions on their faces were not cheerful.

The moment she saw this, Xue Moyan couldn’t help but sigh. She knew that she probably wouldn’t be able to change their opinions of Pan Qianqian, so she had no choice but to be quiet as well.

Gao Yu, who was quietly sitting beneath a coconut tree far from them, suddenly opened his cold eyes.

“Flying spirit artifacts incoming!”

Looks of alarm leaped to everyone’s face.

“It must be people of the Pan Family!” Du Xiangyang cried.

“How can that be!?” Song Tingyu exclaimed anxiously. “Dammit! They arrived a lot earlier than we expected! Where has Qin Lie run off to? Why hasn’t he returned yet?”

“Forget Qin Lie for now!” Du Xiangyang paused for a moment, thinking to himself before breathing in. “Gao Yu! Please bring Pan Qianqian over here!”

Gao Yu nodded.

“Whoosh…!”

Wraiths flew through the air, carrying Pan Qianqian out of the cave she had been imprisoned in.

Vile souls and wraiths had tortured her the entire time she had been confined several thousands meters away from the others, leaving her in a constant state of terror. She looked pale, and cold sweat covered her forehead.

The wraiths flew all the way to the center of the group and slowly lowered to the ground. They then transformed into grayish-black bindings that continued to tightly restrain her.

Pan Qianqian attempted to speak, her lips quivering. However, the restraining power of the wraiths prevented her from doing so.

She anxiously looked at Xue Moyan, practically begging with her eyes.

She hoped that Xue Moyan would speak on her behalf and help her.

“I tried, Qianqian. It’s no use.” Xue Moyan didn’t dare to look at her. “I cannot help you.”

Pan Qianqian’s complexion was as gray as death.

She understood that she was probably going to die… and truly despaired.

“If your family cares about you at all, you may not need to die here,” Du Xiangyang said indifferently.

The moment he said this, Pan Qianqian’s eyes lit up with the fire of hope once more.

She placed that hope on her uncle Pan Tong, believing that he would negotiate with Qin Lie’s group to save her.

She held these expectations within her heart.

“They’ve come! Fast, aren’t they?” Luo Chen asked coldly.

Everyone turned their attention to the sky.

Three crystalline war chariots moved through the clouds and toward their island, wobbling all the way. They shone with a dimmer light than they clearly should have, and cracks riddled their exteriors.

The war chariots, which were supposed to be dazzlingly bright, resembled little girls that had been ravaged by a horrific hurricane. They were in terrible, pitiful condition.

The people atop each chariot, however, were full of energy. The light of greed that shone from their eyes couldn’t be concealed in any way.

“What a terrifying amount of blood energy! Such incredible power!” one of the Pan Family elders cried out, shaking as he held up a shiny mirror. “There isn’t just one, either! Ah! There are multiple sources of tremendous blood energy! Th-there are at least a dozen bodies of ancient beings here!”

All of the Pan Family martial practitioners standing in the three crystalline war chariots looked incredibly excited. It was as if they had injected themselves with chicken blood!

“Let’s find Qianqian first!” Pan Tong said with comparable excitement, waving his hand. “We must first ask her about the situation! Ah, right, she also mentioned that some companions were with here. Companions…”

Murderous intent flashed through his eyes.

Every martial practitioner of the Pan Family came to the same conclusion on the way to this island. They naturally knew what they had to do.

“You can stop looking!” Du Xiangyang yelled. “We’re right here.”

Since they were going to be found sooner or later, Du Xiangyang decided that they shouldn’t hide like cowards. As a result, he revealed himself to the people in the clouds.

Everyone aboard the crystalline war chariots suddenly went silent. The three worn-out flying spirit artifacts turned in the direction of Qin Lie’s group.

Soon enough, the three war chariots descended upon the desolate island. After the Pan Family clansmen disembarked from each chariot, a hundred or so martial practitioners quietly surrounded Qin Lie’s group.

“M-Miss Xue?”

“Luo Chen and Du Xiangyang of Heavenly Sword Mountain?”

“Who are those people?”

People immediately recognized Xue Moyan, Luo Chen, and Du Xiangyang, but none of them were familiar with Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, and Gao Yu. To them, the three from the Scarlet Tide Continent seemed very strange.

“You’re here too, Miss Xue?” Pan Tong smiled softly as he arrived at the encirclement. He immediately questioned them. “Why are all of you holding Qianqian captive? Was there some sort of misunderstanding?”

Xue Moyan possessed quite a reputation in Illusory Demon Sect. Its sect master, Yu Lingwei, held her in high regard. Everybody that belonged to a vassal force of Illusory Demon Sect knew who she was.

In the eyes of many, Xue Moyan was destined to become the future sect master of Illusory Demon Sect. Yu Lingwei would appoint her to lead the sect on her behalf, bestowing an enormous responsibility upon her in the future.

In the past, Pan Tong would always be respectful whenever he brought tributes to Illusory Demon Sect and encountered Xue Moyan. He didn’t dare to offend her and tried to curry favor with her instead, hoping that she would take good care of Pan Qianqian.

Seeing Xue Moyan where he least expected her, he wasn’t able to shake off old habits and appeared to be extremely humble and polite.

Xue Moyan stared at Pan Tong with disgust.

She had clearly heard what the Pan Family clansmen said when their crystalline war chariots were still in the air. Even now, the greed in their eyes couldn’t be hidden.

She was well aware of what the Pan Family had come here for.

In addition to everything else, the three war chariots showed clear signs of spirit energy overload. This only exhibited how anxious the Pan Family was!

Now that Pan Tong dared to walk toward her with a false smile on his face, she couldn’t even begin to describe how ugly and disgusting he looked to her.

“Qianqian revealed us to you without our consent, so we bound her.” Xue Moyan did not wish to beat around the bush with Pan Tong and immediately got to the heart of the matter. “If you leave now and don’t stay in this area, I guarantee we’ll then ensure Qianqian’s safety.”

“We’re here to help you!” Pan Tong exclaimed hurriedly.

“Either you leave… or we kill Pan Qianqian.”

Du Xiangyang was even more blunt than Xue Moyan was.

Pan Qianqian stared at her uncle, Pan Tong, with pleading eyes.

“Patriarch, they already know what we’re here for,” a man said in a low voice, terrifying killing intent slowly welling up within his eyes.

The smile on Pan Tong’s face gradually disappeared, and his face soon became completely grim.

“Release Qianqian and surrender. Even before we got here, Qianqian had me promise not to kill any of you. I assure you, I’m telling the truth!”

“And what if we don’t surrender?” Song Tingyu snorted coldly.

“Then we’ll bury all of you alongside her!” Pan Tong shouted, a ghastly frown on his face.

“Xue Moyan is Illusory Demon Sect’s ringer, and the other two girls are astoundingly beautiful,” a man said, licking a corner of his lips. He allowed his lustful gaze to linger on the bodies of Xue Moyan, Xie Jingxuan, and Song Tingyu. “You’re familiar with my tastes, right, big bro?”

This man was Pan Tao, Pan Tong’s younger brother and Pan Qianqian’s fourth uncle.

“Gao Yu, kill Pan Qianqian.” Du Xiangyang shrugged. “I don’t believe these Pan Family clansmen intend to let us go at all.”

He stared at Pan Tong closely.

Gao Yu, Xue Moyan, and Pan Qianqian stared at Pan Tong as well.

But Pan Tong said nothing.