Spirit Realm

As Qin Lie stopped channeling Heavenly Thunder Eradication, the lightning coursing through the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood gradually faded and the roiling noise in the clouds calmed.

When morning arrived, the first ray of sunlight streaming down through the sky, Qin Lie opened his eyes.

He put the slabs of Thunderblitz wood away, and the furious thunder and lightning that had rampaged for almost two days finally subsided.

Wreckages of wooden, pagoda-shaped buildings and dozens of charred corpses littered the back of the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix. It was an awful sight.

Song Tingyu and the rest of Qin Lie’s companions had been hiding within their pagoda-shaped building. Only after the terrifying waves of thunder stopped did they finally emerge from their hiding spots.

At the same time, Qin Lie descended from the roof of the building and went down into its third floor.

The others quickly gathered around him, gazing at him accusingly.

Qin Lie spread his arms helplessly. “I didn’t think I’d make such a huge commotion.”

As he spoke, electricity sparked from his flesh, giving him a strange appearance.

“The chaos you caused made Xiang Xi and the others furious.” Du Xiangyang grimaced. “I actually started to worry about whether we’d live through that.”

“You’ve caused a great deal of trouble this time,” Song Tingyu said, pointing to the wreckages of the other wooden buildings. “By my count, the lightning that gathered while you were cultivating destroyed at least a third of the wooden buildings, killed thirty five people, and left more than a dozen heavily wounded. Even if Xiang Xi really does have a good temper, he couldn’t possibly tolerate this.”

“Your cultivation session left this Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix in shambles,” Xue Moyan added.

“Unintentional.” Qin Lie wore a relatively calm expression.

He used his mind consciousness to look at the world within him.

Weak strands of lightning filled his Soul Lake where his True Soul resided. The lightning was inextricably mixed with his soul energy, thoughts, and consciousness.

Stage three of Heavenly Thunder Eradication, Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement, made his Soul Lake and True Soul undergo a wondrous change.

He attempted to use his thunder and lightning energy to channel Heavenly Thunder Eradication...

...and a burning ball of lightning slowly formed between his hands like a tiny blinding sun.

Strong energy fluctuations radiated from this ball of lightning, furious and potent. Its electricity was stunning, the power of thunder and lightning within it peerlessly vast!

A thread of Qin Lie’s soul consciousness suddenly entered it.

“Boom!”

The moment Qin Lie entered the world within that thunder and lightning, he strangely felt as if he were drowning in it.

At the same time, he discovered that he seemed to have merged with this ball of lightning.

This was an unimaginable experience!

As far as he could tell, he seemed to be deep inside of the lightning ball, possessing a new body made of thunder and lightning energy.

Electricity sparked from Qin Lie’s eyes as he tried using his soul consciousness to control the ball of lightning and have it silently float beside him.

Song Tingyu and the others stared at him in shock.

Qin Lie then formed a second ball of lightning and gathered his soul consciousness within it.

The wondrous feeling of being in control of a third body rose within him.

Qin Lie’s eyes were unusually bright. He ordered this ball of lightning to float beside him as well and then formed a third...

Fist-sized balls of lightning that resembled tiny suns took shape one after another.

Five minutes later, nine balls of lightning floated around Qin Lie. Each one released intense sparks of lightning and radiated powerful reverberations of thunder.

A twister of thought suddenly flashed through Qin Lie’s mind.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh…!”

Nine miniature electric suns revolved around Qin Lie, whirling furiously as they released waves of thunder and lightning energy that grew stronger and stronger.

Within the living room of the wooden building’s third floor, Song Tingyu and the others grew alarmed and just stared at him, following his every move.

Qin Lie stood in front of them motionlessly, his eyes half-closed. He had a faint smile on his face.

The nine balls of lightning he created, however, seemed to be alive. They spun constantly, flying around as if they were intelligent.

“Spirit Energy Animation?” Du Xiangyang exclaimed in a hoarse voice, licking his lips nervously. He wore a strange expression.

“That’s impossible!” Luo Chen shouted grimly, shaking his head.

Legends told of the strongest individuals at the peak of the martial way, people capable of releasing spirit energy and using it to manifest new life when fighting enemies. That spirit energy possessed great intelligence and had countless shapes and forms.

When that spirit energy touched the air, the water, and everything else in the world, they would become completely new beings.

That was Spirit Energy Animation.

It was just a legend.

“This isn’t Spirit Power Animation.” Qin Lie smiled and explained, “I just put nine wisps of my soul consciousness into these balls of lightning. I’m splitting my concentration nine ways to control them.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, “This is a new experience though. I currently feel as if… I have ten bodies overall. Other than my actual body, I now have lightning bodies. It’s an extraordinary experience.”

Everyone was shocked.

“It seems that, after your distracting cultivation, you’ve made a new breakthrough in your comprehension of thunder and lightning energy,” Gao Yu said calmly.

“I’ve understood some things.” Qin Lie smiled. He absorbed the thunder and lighting energy from the lightning balls and dispersed them, then returned his wisps of soul consciousness to his Soul Lake.

“Xiang Xi won’t let this matter rest,” Xue Moyan suddenly said.

Her words made everyone’s face turn grim.

“I know a little bit about Xiang Xi,” Xue Moyan said, voicing her thoughts. “He’s arrogant, savage, extremely impulsive, and possesses a straightforward temper. You pretending to be a member of the Xing Family is probably what made him refrain from trying to kill you. He most likely left in a hurry to talk to the Xing brothers. Once he gets their permission… he will definitely return to accuse you of killing his subordinates on purpose. He’ll capture us alive and pursue this matter to the very end.”

Xue Moyan wasn’t aware of the fighting between Xiang Xi and the Xing brothers, so she naturally made predictions based on what she did know. She thought that Xiang Xi had tolerated Qin Lie out of respect for the Xing brothers.

“If I were him, I definitely wouldn’t be able to endure.” Du Xiangyang nodded in agreement with Xue Moyan’s speculation. “Xiang Xi is Gold Sun Island’s chief enforcer, but the Xing brothers are still the true power behind Gold Sun Island. Xing Yuyuan personally arranged for you, Xing Lie, to stay on Xiang Xi’s Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix. Xiang Xi definitely wouldn’t dare to attack you on his own.”

“I don’t know what the Xing brothers will do.” Song Tingyu felt a headache coming on.

“They’ll obviously want to hand us over to Xiang Xi and his cronies,” Luo Chen said gravely.

All of them thought that Xiang Xi would no longer tolerate their actions once he returned and that he’d capture them alive.

“Maybe Xiang Xi left to find the Xing brothers and get justice,” Xue Moyan said. “When he turns, maybe the Xing brothers will be with him.”

Everyone felt that was probably the case and nodded in agreement.

“What are you going to do, Qin Lie?” Du Xiangyang frowned.

“If Gold Sun Island sends forces to capture me just to have me answer for killing their men…” Qin Lie said softly.

“I’ll fight back.”

“Then let’s prepare to fight,” Xue Moyan declared with a grave expression.

All seven people present grew tense and were convinced that nothing good would occur when Xiang Xi and the others returned.

An hour later, the other Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix flew through the air, returning as expected. It carried the four Gold Sun Island enforcers, Xiang Xi, Bo Boze, Xu Changsheng, Xu Jiadong, and their island envoys.

“Get ready!” Qin Lie cried. He prepared to summon the Blood Progenitor’s body at any moment.

Gao Yu closed his eyes and used his soul to connect with the body of the Evil God, anticipating the moment the situation turned sour.

Qin Lie’s group of seven nervously watched Xiang Xi and his men approach.

Soon enough, a small crystalline chariot slowly ferried them to the fire phoenix.

Just as Qin Lie and the others were about to attack, Xiang Xi suddenly roared with clear, friendly laughter.

“My apologies!” he shouted. “Since you caused such a commotion, my young friend, we had to temporarily leave the area. We also had to follow the island master’s orders and search for the remains of ancient elites. Of course, we ultimately left to avoid disrupting your concentration as you cultivated. Hahaha, please don’t take offense.”

Instead of bringing up the deceased scattered across the fire phoenix, Xiang Xi simply laughed. He didn’t seem intent on capturing Qin Lie and the others.

He appeared to be asking for forgiveness.

This made Qin Lie and the others pause. They had no idea what Xiang Xi was thinking or what his goal was.

The seven of them exchanged looks. They didn’t dare to let their guard down.

“Haha, you must have come from Terminator Sect, right?” Xiang Xi asked warmly, stepping onto the fire phoenix and walking over. “It’s our fault we didn’t realize it from the start. As a result, we’ve offended everyone.”

He thought that all of them were disciples from Terminator Sect adventuring to gain experience.