Spirit Realm

Numerous Celestial Artifact Sect artificers were hard at work tempering spirit artifacts with the scalding flames that bubbled from the mouths of multiple volcanoes.

Clusters of active volcanoes, and dormant ones that no longer held geocentric fire, made up an isolated land in the Heavenly Fissure continent.

Celestial Artifact Sect owned this land. It used it for forging spirit artifacts, designating it as a forbidden area.

Within the belly of a desolate volcano, around a dozen enormous bodies of Asura Race clansmen, Wood Race clansmen, human experts, and other ancient beings lay on the ground of a vast cave. Rays of bloody light streamed from the heads of several bloody-eyed martial practitioners as they pounced onto the bodies and refined the blood essence that remained inside of them.

These people reeked of blood and wore savage expressions on their faces.

Jiang Zhuzhe and his son, Jiang Tianxing, stood at the entrance to the cave, watching their Blood Fiend Sect disciples quietly feed.

“It’s unfortunate that we only managed to obtain fifteen bodies of ancient elites,” Jiang Tianxing said, his voice tinged with regret.

Jiang Zhuzhe, however, wore an expression as calm as still waters.

“Stay here and watch of them,” he said. “I’m going to meet with Celestial Artifact Sect’s sect master.”

“Father… would Feng Yi betray us?” Jiang Tianxing asked, a worried look on his face.

Jiang Zhuzhe shook his head. “He wouldn’t.”

Then he walked out of the cave, transformed into a bloody ray of light, and flew away.

A secluded valley sat between the clusters of dormant volcanoes and the active ones that bubbled with fire.

In this valley, Celestial Artifact Sect’s sect master, Feng Yi, waited with Luo Han and a couple of elderly bearded men with white hair.

Within this land of volcanoes, this valley was one of Celestial Artifact Sect’s even more restricted zones. Normal disciples weren’t allowed to enter this place, so that naturally applied to outsiders as well.

“Sect Master… is Jiang Zhuzhe really willing to give us the second volume of the Artifact Scripture?” Luo Han’s murky eyes held a glimmer of anticipation. “Where did he even obtain it?”

“No one knows.” Feng Yi shook his head.

When Jiang Zhuzhe suddenly came seeking Feng Yi a hundred years ago, he presented him with the first volume of the Artifact Scripture. In giving him this sacred scripture of artifact forging, he sought Feng Yi’s cooperation in return.

The forging of spirit artifacts was the very core of Celestial Artifact Sect. The progression of this unique force’s spirit arts were closely related to artifact forging. All of Celestial Artifact Sect’s disciples and elders were artificers obsessed with forging spirit artifacts.

Jiang Zhuzhe may have only given them the first volume of the Artifact Scripture, but it alone contained unfathomable knowledge. It held axioms of artifact forging that stunned Feng Yi and every other master artificer of Celestial Artifact Sect.

This volume of the Artifact Scripture convinced Feng Yi to cooperate with Jiang Zhuzhe. He even gave Jiang Zhuzhe a dormant volcano, allowing him and his disciples to hide there and cultivate in secret.

Feng Yi only helped Jiang Zhuzhe find the god corpses, open the Graveyard of Gods, and organize the Trial as part of a deal they made. Feng Yi did all of this… to obtain the second volume of the Artifact Scripture.

“Our relationship with Jiang Zhuzhe has turned every force against us,” an elder worriedly mentioned.

“If we manage to obtain all three volumes of the Artifact Scripture, even helping Blood Fiend Sect restore its reputation and allowing Jiang Zhuzhe to walk out in the open once more would be worth it!” Feng Yi declared resolutely.

“Precisely!” Luo Han nodded.

A ray of bloody light suddenly descended from the sky, materializing into a humanoid shape upon landing in the valley.

Jiang Zhuzhe emerged from the bloody light and glanced at Feng Yi, wordlessly tossing an ancient, yellowed book to him.

Feng Yi snatched the book out of the air, excitement in his eyes. After taking a moment to flip through several pages, poring over their contents under the gazes of Luo Han and the others, he nodded slightly.

“It is indeed the second volume of the Artifact Scripture!” he exclaimed.

Luo Han and the others relaxed, clearly delighted by the news.

Only then did Jiang Zhuzhe speak.

“Feng Yiyou returned to Celestial Artifact Sect… correct?”

A strange expression came over Feng Yi, then he nodded and said, “Yiyou told me you protected him and Yu Men with a ray of bloody light and helped them use a spatial rift to escape the Graveyard of Gods before it collapsed.

Feng Yiyou returned to Celestial Artifact Sect three days ago and told Feng Yi everything that happened in the Graveyard of Gods.

“Now do you believe me?” Jiang Zhuzhe snorted coldly. “I’m not the one who benefited the most from this Trial.”

“Who in Spirit Realm is that Qin Lie person?” Feng Yi asked in a grave tone. “How did he obtain the Demon Sealing Tombstone’s acknowledgment?”

“I don’t know,” Jiang Zhuzhe said with a shake of his head. “At any rate… he now possesses the Demon Sealing Tombstone, the six Pure Soul Springs, around twenty bodies of ancient elites, and even the eight god corpses. Illusory Demon Sect’s Xue Moyan and two Heavenly Sword Mountain juniors named Luo Chen and Du Xiangyang should be by his side as well.”

“Have you managed to get a rough idea of where they landed after they used a spatial rift to escape the Graveyard of Gods?” Feng Yi asked.

“I only saw the sea and a few scattered islands. Space completely shattered after that, so I lost track of their location.” Jiang Zhuzhe frowned, then said, “They should be somewhere in the Land of Chaos, specifically the regions of the vast sea at the center of all the continents. You should find him if you keep searching.”

“What about the last volume of the Artifact Scripture?”

“That’ll be business for a different time.”

After saying this, Jiang Zhuzhe transformed into a ray of bloody light and shot into the sky once more, swiftly vanishing into the distance.

Before long, Jiang Zhuzhe reappeared in the belly of the dormant volcano. He didn’t bother informing Jiang Tianxing of his return and instead went to a secret room on his own.

This room was made entirely of bloody jade. A blood pool sat at the center of the room, its sanguine liquid bubbling quietly. The stench of blood filled the room.

No one but him was allowed into this room. Not even his son, Jiang Tianxing.

Jiang Zhuzhe moved to the blood pool and sat beside it, taking out the second half of the Blood Codex. He then extended a hand in front of him, willing a drop of his blood to emerge from his body and letting it fall into the blood pool.

All of a sudden, a bloody screen of light shot from the second half of the Blood Codex and shone onto the blood pool.

The blood inside of the pool began to boil strangely. A vague wisp of soul consciousness seemed to break through the fabric of space itself, secretly seep into the blood pool, and use the blood to form a body. The soul consciousness slowly took the shape of a large, faceless man made of blood.

“Master,” Jiang Zhuzhe said respectfully.

The bloody man opened its mouth and said, “How did it go?”

“I failed to obtain the Demon Sealing Tombstone, the Pure Soul Springs, and the Blood Progenitor’s body,” Jiang Zhuzhe said, bowing his head. “I only managed to get… fifteen bodies of ancient elites.”

“I gave you the second half of the Blood Codex and the first two volumes of the Artifact Scripture. I even told you how to enter the Graveyard of Gods and explained all of its secrets to you. Now you’re telling me that you still didn’t succeed?” The bloody man shook his head slightly and sighed. “Is this all you’re capable of? You’re in the Imperishable Realm. Upon entering the Graveyard of Gods, the seven spirits shouldn’t have been able to oppose you, let alone any of the Netherpassage Realm juniors that entered as well. Who could have gotten in your way? You severely disappoint me, Jiang Zhuzhe.”

“One of those juniors obtained the acknowledgment of the Demon Sealing Tombstone and helped it unleash its true power.” Jiang Zhuzhe didn’t dare to argue with the bloody man, instead keeping his head bowed as he explained the truth in detail. “Also, this was the Graveyard of Gods, so I…”

“One of them obtained the Demon Sealing Tombstone’s acknowledgment? But the Heaven Fighting Race refined it specifically for…” The bloody man paused in the middle of speaking, then asked, “What is that junior’s name?”

“That junior seems to be called Qin Lie. I heard from my son that he’s from the Scarlet Tide Continent, not the Land of Chaos. My son happened to encounter him while trying to acquire the Demon Sealing Tombstone. He was even useless to the point of allowing that junior to snatch the Demon Sealing Tombstone out from under him,” Jiang Zhuzhe said. “Please forgive me, master.”

Jiang Zhuzhe didn’t dare to look at the bloody man, keeping his head bowed out of fear and worry.

All he could tell was that, as soon as he said this, the bloody man fell silent for a long time.

The silence lasted for so long that he even began to think that the bloody man had left.

The bloody man eventually opened his mouth once more and said, “Let’s leave it at this for now. If you can find that… Qin Lie… capture him for me. Remember that I want him alive. Do you understand? Alive!”

“Yes, master!” Jiang Zhuzhe exclaimed.

“Mn. Have your men consume and refine the blood essence remaining in the bodies of the ancient elites as soon as possible, then await my next orders.

Having said that, the bloody man began to lose its shape, turning back into a pool of blood once more.

The wisp of soul consciousness that tore through the fabric of space returned to the void and vanished.

……

Out on an immense sea, multiple ships sailing toward Gold Sun Island parted the waves.

Within his set of rooms, Qin Lie quietly sat in the cultivation room and did his best to refine the nine essences that the Demon Sealing Tombstone created using the metal, earth, and water spirits.

He was attempting to merge them with his blood.

“Boom!”

An incredibly intense sensation resounded from deep within the space between his eyebrows.

The Soul Suppressing Orb emerged like a third eye, and three miraculous entities happily flew out of it like newborn babies. They contained Qin Lie’s aura and were connected to his soul.

The three entities resembled a small Fire Qilin, a little humanoid figure with skin that resembled the bark of a tree, and a tiny Thunder Crystal Beast.

All three entities were only as big as a fist. Their eyes were clear, their souls were pure, and their bodies were astonishingly extraordinary. They continuously shifted between corporeal and incorporeal bodies.

“Yiya! Yiya! Yiya…!”

The three tiny entities playfully pressed up against Qin Lie’s cheeks and neck, forcefully pushing against him. They babbled as if they were babies.

Qin Lie could feel their unconditional love and trust.

They possessed traces of his blood energy and soul aura.

“Th-this is…” Qin Lie was astonished.

Back in the Graveyard of Gods, the Soul Suppressing Orb had sucked the blood essences of the fire, wood, and thunder spirits into it, just like it had taken the six Pure Soul Springs.

After that, the orb had constantly absorbed his soul energy and blood, forcing him into a weakened state for long periods of time.

The Soul Suppressing Orb had taken this entire time to meld and temper all of these things deep within itself.

These three miraculous entities had been created from a fusion of the blood essences that Qin Lie refined from the fire, wood, and thunder spirits, his soul energy, his blood, and three of the Pure Soul Springs!