Spirit Realm

Deep in a mountain a few hundred miles away from Icestone City were seven valleys. The seven valleys were arranged somewhat in the shape of the Big Dipper, and it contained a kind of magic that called to the heaven and earth.

In a valley where Yin energy was slightly thicker, there was an icy cold pond. The pond water was crystal clear, and a dense fog floated above its surface.

At the moment, there was an attractive figure wearing thin clothes sitting in the middle of the pond.

As the spirit energy turned, the water around her gathered to form many droplets the size of an eyeball. Each and every one of the water droplets were crystal clear, and the spirit energy inside them was thick and pure.

Magically surrounding her, the droplets spun inside the crystal-like pond.

Amidst the milky-white fog, she concentrated on cultivating her spirit art and circulating her spirit energy. The more water droplets she gathered, the strong the waves that emanated from her body.

Lu Li’s figure arrived quietly.

Wearing a jade green dress, an indifferent expression, and a pair of cold eyes, she stared at the pond for a moment before saying, “As a matter of fact, your cultivating talents are better than your sister’s.”

The fog dissipated, and without the bindings of spirit energy, the water droplets turned back to ice-cold water and melted into the pond.

Ling Yushi opened her eyes; her appearance tranquil and otherworldly as she smiled and said, “Good day, Senior Sister.”

“This are the pills Master sent me to give you.” Just as Lu Li put down a bottle, she immediately frowned and said, “Do not stash pills in secret any longer. I may not cover for you next time. I will tell Master. She has a bad temper…”

Sitting in the middle of the pond, Ling Yushi sighed quietly, “I’m sorry, Senior Sister. The pills Master sent over are simply too much for me; I can never finish them all. I just don’t want to waste it.”

“You don’t want to waste them?” Lu Li kept a cold expression, “As Master’s direct disciple, we can afford to be wasteful with our cultivation materials. Even if we did consume more of those pills, it will definitely not cause any discomfort to our bodies.”

After a pause, she snorted and said, “Do you really think I don’t know where your stashed pills went to?”

Ling Yushi lowered her head and did not argue.

“That Qin Lie brat cannot keep up with your pace at all. Under normal circumstances, it will take at least tens of years before he can break through to the Manifestation Realm and enter forces such as Seven Fiends Valley and Dark Asura Hall.” Lu Li did not hold back at all as she coldly continued, “And this is assuming the best case scenario. If he gets into an accident or is injured during battle, he will take even longer to enter the Manifestation Realm. Moreover, the breakthrough from the Natal Opening Realm to the Manifestation Realm is not easy; some people will go their entire lives without crossing that line!”

“Are you going to wait for him forever?” Lu Li exclaimed softly.

What do you think I should do, Senor Sister?” Ling Yushi lifted her head looking completely natural; she was unaffected by her words.

“Forget him,” Lu Li answered.

Ling Yushi smiled gently and shook her head softly. “What if I can’t forget?”

“Then killing him is fine too!” Lu Li said with a cold expression, “With your talents and qualifications, your future will be limitless. Do not let a man disturb your mind! If I were you, I would kill him and spend all my energy on the ascension of my realm. I would set my goal to chase after Master’s footsteps!”

“Never mind. Let’s not dwell on this subject anymore.” Ling Yushi was dumbfounded. In her eyes, Lu Li was a crazy woman; a cultivation madman who would sacrifice anything for the ascension of her realm. “Senior Sister, very soon you’ll be representing this valley in the Arctic Mountain Range. Please do me a favor and help me check out how the Ling Family is doing. Also, if it’s possible, then help me take a look at Qin Lie as well. I want to know how he’s doing…”

“You’re utterly hopeless!” Lu Li exclaimed with a cold expression. That was the last of her words as she turned around and walked away.

Ling Yushi smiled lightly, and after Lu Li left, only then did she whisper in a soft voice, “That is because Senior Sister has never fallen in love with a man. That is why you cannot understand and why your heart can be as firm as steel…”

Nebula Pavilion.

Qin Lie was heading towards the Artifact Forging Hall, pondering how he could borrow Yao Tai’s furnace so he could refine the Terminator Profound Bomb.

He had stayed in Li’s Shop for over a month and successfully built the compound spirit diagrams needed for the Terminator Profound Bomb on top of a spirit tablet. Li Mu had split the Ice Soul Python’s core into ten little pieces as real materials for his attempt.

—The attempt to truly create the Terminator Profound Bomb!

Now everything was set, and the only thing that was remaining was the actual forging process. That was why he needed to borrow the furnace in the Artifact Forging Hall.

He decided to communicate with Yao Tai.

He hadn’t been here for a while. Not even taking step into the hall, he already heard Liu Ting’s scoldings, “You can’t do this, you can’t do that. Then what can you actually do? Nebula Pavilion has fed you and given you so many spirit materials to forge artifacts, and yet you can’t even fix my Mirror of Thousand Illusions. What else are you here for?”

“My little grandaunt, I’ve told you many times. The components of your Mirror of Thousand Illusions are conflicting with each other, and no matter how many times it’s fixed, it will still break easily. This is a problem of structure, and I cannot repair it completely. What do you really want me to do?” Inside the hall, Yao Tai’s voice was weak and feeble. “Besides, I’ve been sick due to overwork, and for a short time I will not be able to fix spirit artifacts for anyone. Even if you want this fixed, it will have to wait until after I recover.”

“How are you tired? Repairing a mere spirit artifact is enough to tire you to the point of sickness? Then what about us? We just came back from the outskirts of the Arctic Mountain Range. We’ve all fought with spirit beasts and we’re all risking our lives! Does it trouble you just to sit inside the pavilion and fix a spirit artifact?” Liu Ting yelled out in a cold voice.

Qin Lie shook his head and came in while covering his ears. He saw immediately Yao Tai sitting at his place with a dark complexion. Liu Ting, Wei Li, and a few other young people were gathered around him.

“Du Heng!” His glance swept over to the back, and suddenly Qin Lie gave a soft yell while his face darkened slightly.

“Qin Lie!” Du Heng’s gaze had also turned chilly as he stared at him wildly, like a tied up beast, looking as if he would rush over and fight him with his life.

Back at Ling Town, Qin Lie had blasted Du Heng, inflicting him with many serious injuries in front of numerous Nebula Pavilion martial practitioners. Du Heng saw it as a terrible humiliation and the sorest spot of his entire life.

To kill Qin Lie, Du Heng had spent great effort while cultivating for over a year, and now that he had stepped into the ninth level of Refinement, he had been looking for an opportunity to take revenge.

“Don’t be hasty, Du Heng.” Wei Xing’s son, Wei Li, quietly stopped him before looking sideways at Qin Lie. Coldly, he said, “He is a successful gigolo who managed to hook up with a woman from the Department of Internal Affairs in Dark Asura Hall. Not only did he manage to break through to the Natal Opening Realm, the woman even gave him ten thousand contribution points as pocket money. Tsk tsk, that’s his business though. We can’t possibly compare to him.”

“Yeah, he’s great when it comes to this aspect. Back at Ling Town, he also hooked up with their miss and even got an engagement. Heh, after his intentions were found out and they dissolved the engagement, he once again kissed up to Tu Ze and came to Nebula Pavilion. Not long after arriving at Nebula Pavilion, he again magically hooked up with that woman from Dark Asura Hall. This kind of skill, man… I am truly put to shame by it.”

“Qin Lie, don’t think that you are the only one who can enter Nebula Pavilion this early.” Du Heng’s face was dark. “I’ve scored an achievement at the Arctic Mountain Range, and I also can become a core member of Nebula Pavilion in advance. Our grudge… will be resolved in Nebula Pavilion in the future!”

“You scored an achievement?” Qin Lie smiled coolly. “That fake uncle of yours… your real father. How many people did he send to help you? How many credits did he fake in your name so you could finally slip into Nebula Pavilion?

Ignoring Du Heng’s livid expression—it was as if he wanted to eat him alive—he then turned to looked at Wei Li with lightning flashing in his eyes and said with a cold and stern expression, “A bunch of fools who rely on their dads to live like you all have the right to taunt me? Do you believe that you won’t live over a year in Nebula Pavilion if your dads aren’t around?”

While he was threatened, a consciousness formed by killing intent in Qin Lie’s mind actually gushed out of his eyes.

When Wei Li met his eyes, Wei Li suddenly felt cold from the top to bottom, and his neck felt as if a sharp knife had cut through it. With a pale face Wei Li stepped continuously backpedaled, looking embarrassed to the extreme.

“You think trash like you has the right to ridicule anyone?” Qin Lie smiled coldly.

A small bit of surprise sprouted in his heart. He suddenly realized that his mind consciousness had quite the wondrous use, allowing him to suppress low level martial practitioners with his aura.

“Don’t think you can do whatever you want in Nebula Pavilion just because you’ve broken through to the Natal Opening Realm!” Liu Ting scowled and let out a humph. “Once this matter at the Arctic Mountain Range is finished, my father will become the new Pavilion Master in Nebula Pavilion. Du Heng’s… uncle, Elder Du Haitian, will become the new Vice Pavilion Master. When that happens, I look forward to see how long you and this useless artificer can stay in the pavilion.”

“Let’s go!” Liu Ting led the way and headed outside.

The embarrassed Wei Li and the few other young men also followed her out the door.

Du Heng was the only one who stayed behind. His expression was savage, and there was terrible enmity blinking in his eyes. He grit his teeth and said, “Qin Lie, you and all of the Ling Family will die!”

“Ling Family?” Qin Lie smiled coldly. “Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan have already entered Seven Fiends Valley and you still want to harass Ling Family. Are you really looking to die?”

“You’ll see!” Du Heng threw down those malicious words before exiting the Artifact Forging Hall.

Qin Lie frowned and could not help but worry on the inside for Ling Family’s Ling Feng, Ling Ying, and the others. From Du Heng’s tone, it seemed that Du Haitian had a plan to deal with the Ling Family.

Ling Feng, Ling Ying, Ling Xing and the others had fought together with him at Celestial Wolf Mountain, and before he left Ling Town, it was also Ling Feng and them who had come over to console him, to drink with him, helping him with his sorrows...

He might have an opinion against the Ling Family Patriarch and Ling Chengzhi, but he was very fond of Ling Feng and them. He didn’t want any misfortune to befall them, so he was slightly worried.

“It’s been a long time; they should have left the city a long time ago. I hope they’re okay.” Qin Lie thought to himself.

“You haven’t come in a while.” While he was pondering, Yao Tai said weakly, “I’ve been busy repairing spirit artifacts as of late, and this time, I guess I’m completely burned out. I most likely won’t be able to do anything in a short while.”

He looked at Qin Lie with slightly brightened eyes. “Congratulations on your breakthrough to the Natal Opening Realm. After today’s matter, I’ve finally understood that the ascension of artifact forging is also related to a martial practitioner’s realm. If my realm is high enough, then I wouldn’t expend so much energy when repairing spirit artifacts. I wouldn’t completely drain my spirit energy, nor would I be so completely exhausted…”

Lately, as the martial practitioners battled against the spirit beasts in the Arctic Mountain Range, many martial practitioners inside the pavilion had damaged their spirit artifacts, and they all came to Yao Tai to repair them.

The Pavilion Master, Tu Mo, had also instructed Yao Tai to do his best.

So every time his spirit energy recovered, he would immediately sink himself into the repairing of spirit artifacts. This continued for a few months, regardless of day and night, and finally, Yao Tai, whose cultivation realm was not high in the first place, could not handle it anymore and collapsed.

Qin Lie had been worrying about a way to ask Yao Tai about borrowing the Artifact Forging Hall’s furnace. The moment he heard his words, he hurriedly said with sincerity, “You have worked too hard, Great Master. Why don’t you go home and take a good few days of rest while I watch over the Artifact Forging Hall for you. I guarantee that there will be no problems at all. What do you think, master?”

“Alright. It’s about time I take a temporary rest.” Yao Tai nodded.

“Don’t worry Great Master, I got this.” Qin Lie beat his chest and promised him.