Spirit Realm

In the center of the ring of Thunderblitz Trees, the thunder and lightning magnetic field formed a powerful suction force which sucked the entire sky full of thunder and lightning over.

Qin Lie was cultivating within this lightning field.

“Zzzt!”

Tiny strands of electricity swam across his entire body and wound around him as thin threads of lightning energy continuously shot at his meridians.

Examining his meridians with his mind consciousness, he could see the lightning ramming into each of his meridians like dragons.

“It’s the second stage of Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body!” loudly exclaimed Qin Lie in his heart.

According to Qin Shan, the cultivation of the Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body was separated into several stages, and required one to repeatedly enhance themselves through constant tempering and polishing. Only then would the true might of Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body gradually be unleashed.

The first stage of Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body focused on using thunder to temper one’s blood, flesh, internal organs, bones, and muscles so that their body could become accustomed to being intertwined with thunder and lightning.

At this stage of Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body, one’s bones, nerves, and innards would all contain traces of thunder and lightning energy—their flesh would also harbor thunder and lightning energy. When fighting against others, one would be able to infuse this power of thunder and lightning into their own spirit energy with a simple gesture, causing in each circulation of their spirit arts to be accompanied by the raging force of thunder and lightning.

The first stage of Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body focused on infusing thunder into one’s innards to attain perfection. At this stage, one’s corporeal body was rather strong, and one’s physical endurance was greatly increased as well.

The second stage of Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body focused on using thunder and lightning to open and transform one’s meridians.

A person’s body contained a total of seven hundred and twenty meridians, and each one was like a miniature world of its own. If one slowly refined these meridians with the power of thunder and lightning, they would each transform into something reminiscent of a miniature natal palace. Each meridian would become able to independently absorb and store thunder and lightning. This was the second stage of Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body.

Cultivating this stage required bitter cultivation, a sizable amount of time, and the right person at the right place at the right time.

As of right now, Qin Lie could be considered to have officially stepped into the cultivation of this stage. He now needed to use thunder and lightning to open his meridians.

The weather of the poisonous bog was quite unpredictable. Indeed, the rumbling of thunder and crackling of lightning did not last for long before the weather quickly cleared up.

As the thunder and lightning came to a stop, the powerful magnetic field caused by the lightning field also gradually disappeared.

Qin Lie remained sitting in the center of the ring of trees. After silently sitting for a while, he eventually realized that he could no longer borrow the power of the lightning field to cultivate and finally opened his eyes.

The moment he opened his eyes, the python tattoo that had emerged on his neck mystically disappeared back into his body.

It had swiftly vanished into his skin like ink.

“Thunderblitz Tree, Thunderblitz Tree…”

Qin Lie stood up and began mumbling to himself as he observed the bare ancient trees. Very quickly, he came to a decision—he would not harm these Thunderblitz Trees.

He would treat this place as his personal cultivation area, as the lightning field formed by these Thunderblitz Trees that his grandfather had built in the belly of Herb Mountain had the same function, despite slight differences.

The lightning field formed by the Thunderblitz Trees could attract the thunder and lightning in the sky. It would assist him in gathering even more thunder and lightning energy and help him as he cultivated Heavenly Thunder Eradication.

Thus, he did not plan to chop down the Thunderblitz Trees, nor did he plan to use them to enhance the power of the Terminator Profound Bombs.

He looked around and firmly imprinted the location of this area within his mind. Afterwards, he once again felt some fluctuations nearby. After making sure that there was nothing amiss, he finally headed back to where Armament Sect had gathered.

Two hours later, he ran into Tang Siqi and Lian Rou beside a purple marsh.

“Qin Lie, are you okay? The chief reverend and the others worried that you ran into some problems, and asked us to come look for you.” Tang Siqi exclaimed.

“You really should be more careful in the future. There are quite a few poisonous insects deep within the poisonous bog that can cause even a Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner to die in a matter of seconds. Even though you’re an extraordinarily talented genius, if you happened to be unlucky enough to run into one of those few, rarely seen poisonous insects, you would probably not be able to walk out alive.” Lian Rou said bluntly, “You are currently the sect’s jewel and its hopes for the future. If anything happens to you those old men are going to cry their hearts out.”

“Yes.” Tang Siqi smiled, “When they heard that you went alone into the deeper regions of the poisonous bog to cultivate, those old fellows all turned completely pale because they were terrified that something would happen to you.”

“I’m fine. Moreover, in the future, I will frequently go deep into the poisonous bog alone to cultivate. They will eventually get used to it.” After giving them a smile, Qin Lie arrived between the two girls and began walking back with them, shoulder to shoulder.

“Senior Sister Lian Rou, Yi Yuan… why did he let you go?” Qin Lie suddenly asked.

Previously, Lian Rou had definitely been taken away by Yi Yuan. Yet later on she had surprisingly returned to the sect by herself. Qin Lie was quite confused by it.

He knew very well just how obsessed Yi Yuan was with Lian Rou.

Just for Lian Rou, Yi Yuan had been willing to betray the sect and lure Lang Xie, Feng Rong, and Qin Lie himself into an encirclement laid down by the five forces—he had been willing to trade Lang Xie, Feng Rong, and Qin Lie’s lives for Lian Rou’s life.

From this, one could see just how crazy he was for Lian Rou.

The moment Yi Yuan was brought up, Lian Rou’s expression drastically changed and turned sorrowful, “He knew that something had changed within the sect yet again. He sensed Senior Xue Li’s aura and felt that it was better for me to return to the sect, so he released me. This guy, sigh…”

Lian Rou turned towards him, “Why did you bring up Yi Yuan? Qin Lie, don’t you hate Yi Yuan a lot and want to kill him no matter what? Qin Lie, can, can I ask you something about Yi Yuan…”

“Senior Sister, you do not want Yi Yuan to come to harm, do you?” Qin Lie looked into her eyes and said.

“I, I really do not want him to be hurt. Even, even though he’s a very disgusting and annoying person, I still don’t hope for him to die.” Lian Rou smiled bitterly.

“Sooner or later the grudge between Yi Yuan and I must be settled!” Qin Lie’s expression turned cold. However, just as Lian Rou was about to beg him again, he changed his tone and said, “But that’s that. I will not take his life, nor will I force him into a dead end.”

The moment he said this, both Lian Rou and Tang Siqi’s expressions were slightly dumbfounded. They both stared deeply at him.

“To be honest, I only have three friends in the entirety of Armament Sect, you two and Yi Yuan.” Qin Lie sighed, “If it wasn’t for you, I don’t think Yi Yuan would have betrayed the sect and harmed me. His methods may have made me a little uncomfortable, but in the end, it was all done for you, for the person… he deeply loves. Now that I think about it, I do admire him quite a bit. I admire his ability to throw everything behind and how he exchanged his extraordinary status at Purple Mist Sea for the lowly status of an outer sect disciple just to stay beside you.”

“Didn’t you expose your own identity and oppose the sect just to protect Ling Yushi and her sister’s life as well?” Tang Siqi said quietly, “In this aspect, you and Yi Yuan are exactly the same. That’s why the grudge within your heart isn’t so deep, and also why you don’t hate him so much.”

Qin Lie frowned and suddenly became silent. After carefully thinking about it, he realized that what Tang Siqi said was indeed very true.

“You killed their master and so many other practitioners of Dark Fiend Valley and Seven Fiends Valley . They…” Tang Siqi said softly.

Qin Lie’s frown deepened.

When Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan evacuated from Flame Volcano, he had seen them enter Dark Fiend Valley’s crowd from afar.

At the time, he had felt a little disappointed.

From his point of view, he could give them everything that Dark Fiend Valley could give them.

Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan definitely could have remained with Armament Sect. They could even have called their clansmen over. In the current situation, Qin Lie believed that he was able to protect the Ling family clansmen.

However, in the end, Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan had still left with the people from Seven Fiends Valley beneath his gaze. They did not greet him and had wordlessly slipped away from his side.

He had killed Jiu Liuyu as well as many people from Dark Fiend Valley. Those people who he had killed could have had good relationships with the two sisters...

“We cannot blame them. After all, Jiu Liuyu was their master and benefactor who led them out of Ling Town. Moreover, she always treated them with great love. Now that Jiu Liuyu has died, the fact that they could not accept it within their hearts right away is very normal. In the future, once they’ve accepted it, they will probably come to Armament Sect to look for you again…” Ignoring Lian Rou rolling her eyes at her, Tang Siqi consoled him gently, “Therefore, don’t feel too dispirited. What is yours, will still be yours.”

“Yoh!” Lian Rou exclaimed in a cynical tone.

“Thank you for the advice, Senior Sister Tang.” Qin Lie smiled slightly.

Tang Siqi also smiled back at him, only her smile seemed somewhat bitter.

Another two hours passed, and the trio finally returned to Armament Sect’s newly opened area. The moment they appeared, Tong Jihua came over with a serious look and said softly to Qin Lie, “Sect Master Qin, Profound Heaven Alliance’s Miss Song Tingyu has been awaiting you for a while.”

“Song Tingyu? Who is she? What business does she have with me?” Qin Lie frowned.

“They have come for the Terminator Profound Bomb.” Tong Jihua lowered his voice and briefly stated Profound Heaven Alliance’s conditions, “Profound Heaven Alliance is willing to compensate us with ten thousand Earth grade spirit stones, and have already released the imprisoned Armament Pavilion disciples on their own accord in attempt to purchase the Terminator Profound Bomb to deal with the evil races of the Nether Realm. Moreover, they are willing to pay a high price…”

“Does the sect lack funds?” Qin Lie said solemnly.

“Not at the moment, no.” Tong Jihua looked surprised.

“Then what do we lack?” Qin Lie asked again.

“We lack Fulfillment Realm experts, we lack power, we lack…” Tong Jihua’s eyes brightened little by little as he gradually understood Qin Lie’s meaning.

“Before the sect has ascended into a Copper rank force, it will not lack spirit stones. Don’t forget that Armament Sect is still the richest among the surrounding Black Iron rank forces. What we are lacking is power. We lack the power to strike fear into both Profound Heaven Alliance and Eight Extreme Temple. The power wielded by the Terminator Profound Bomb is exactly the kind of frightening power that can terrify these two powers!” Qin Lie frowned, “Why would we sell the power that only Armament Sect wields to Profound Heaven Alliance? We are busy dealing with the evil races from the Nether Realm as well. We can use the Terminator Profound Bomb to eliminate the evil races ourselves. There is no need for Profound Heaven Alliance to intervene!”

Tong Jihua nodded lightly, “What you say is very true, sect master. But if we do not sell Profound Heaven Alliance the Terminator Profound Bomb, I’m afraid…”

“They should not be able to say anything as long as we promise them that Armament Sect will aid them in this battle and attack the evil races of Nether Realm with the Terminator Profound Bombs.” Qin Lie said.

“Then, then are you still going to meet with that Song Tingyu?” Tong Jihua turned around and looked at a simple wooden house behind him, “She’s right there.”

“There’s no need. Just tell her that I ran into some problems during my cultivation and that I needed to immediately rest and recuperate. Also state that Armament Sect will cooperate with Profound Heaven Alliance in dealing with the evil races of Nether Realm, and that we will use the Terminator Profound Bombs in doing so, so they can save their money.” Qin Lie thought for a moment before lowering his voice to instruct Tong Jihua.

Tong Jihua smiled lightly, “I understand.”

Inside the crude little wooden house, Song Tingyu’s colorfully dressed figure leaned against the wooden wall as she read a book.

At this time, she suddenly closed the ancient book in her hands, a thread of light flickering through her beautiful eyes. She seemed to be attentively listening to something.

After a while, her lips formed a bewitching smile as she lightly nodded and whispered to herself, “This Qin Lie fellow isn’t so easy to deal with after all. Heh, what an interesting kid.”