Spirit Realm

In the south western corner of Sea Moon Island, five martial practitioners with bloody faces were kneeling in a zone with coral reefs, their heads facing downward.

Five spatial rings of different colors were in Bi You’s palm. He went through them one by one and shook his head in disappointment, “Nothing.”

“It’s not these five people.” Jiang Tianxing sighed softly.

“I’ve searched through all of Sea Moon Island with my mind consciousness, and I did not miss a single martial practitioner. To think that I still can’t find him...” Bi You’s eyes were grim. “He’s probably not on Sea Moon Island at the moment. Keep searching! Go to Spirit Eagle Island and search the surrounding reef zones. Search all of the boats going to and coming from Spirit Eagle Island!”

“Understood!” A few Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioners nodded hastily before respectfully departing. They began searching the surroundings again.

“What secrets are hidden inside that tombstone?” Jiang Tianxing suddenly asked.

Bi You stared at him coldly before snorting, “Your father didn’t tell you?”

Jian Tianxing shook his head.

“You know nothing, yet you dream of taking the tombstone all for yourself. You are literally a failure!” Bi You scolded him bluntly.

Anger appeared in Jiang Tianxing’s eyes.

“You guys go look for it as well!” Bi You stared at the five people in front of them.

Five Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioners were still restraining the five martial practitioners who cultivated the power of thunder and ice. In order to confirm that they weren’t wearing masks, all five of their faces were nearly torn from their heads. They looked horrifying.

“What do we do with them?” one person asked.

“Kill them all,” Bi You declared before flying away from the crowd and vanishing.

……

Sea Moon Trade Group.

Han Xing and Luo Chen were sitting at the top floor and waiting for news. They were not in a hurry to leave.

A Blue Star Association martial practitioner dressed in gray quietly walked forward and knelt before Han Xing. With a bowed head, he said, “Celestial Artifact Sect has killed the five people in the south western corner of the island. Bi You left in disappointment, so they probably haven’t found that person yet. Celestial Artifact Sect is still searching for him everywhere…”

Han Xing waved a hand, motioning for him to fall back, then said to Luo Chen, “It seems that Celestial Artifact Sect’s luck is not holding.”

Luo Chen nodded. “It is best if they don’t find him. That thing seems to be related to the Trial. If I obtain it instead of Celestial Artifact Sect… it may be greatly beneficial for our activities during the Trial.”

“You mean...?” Han Xing smiled and asked.

“Ignore Celestial Artifact Sect and just keep a close eye on Profound Heaven Alliance’s stronghold. We shall act once Celestial Artifact Sect leaves in despair.” Luo Chen stood up and said with an indifferent expression, “I will be borrowing your Blue Star Association’s cultivation area to practice my swordmanship.”

“I will arrange it immediately!” Han Xing stood up as well.

“Brother Zhang, Brother Zhao, you should take a walk around the Spirit Artifact District below. If there are any spirit artifacts that you fancy, put them on my tab.” Luo Chen nodded, then walked away.

“Thank you, Brother Luo.” Zhang Chendong and Zhao Xuan thanked him together.

……

Time flashed by, and yet another month passed.

Bi You and the others from Celestial Artifact Sect searched around Spirit Eagle Island and Sea Moon Island for a month. However, they still didn’t find anything.

In the end, they gave up and left on a flying spirit artifact in disappointment.

Sea Moon Island’s partially shut down teleportation formation slowly got up running again with Celestial Artifact Sect’s departure.

All the martial practitioners that were trapped on the island could now reach the Heavenly Wither Continent through the teleportation formation.

There currently was only a month and a half left before the Land of Chaos’ Trial.

Today.

Dressed in white clothing, Xie Jingxuan arrived late and stepped into the house at Profound Heaven Alliance’s Sea Moon Island stronghold.

“Is Sister Tingyu around?” After coming in, she immediately found Tian Pu, the person in charge, and asked about Song Tingyu’s activities.

“She is.” Tian Pu did not hide that fact.

“Bring me to her,” Xie Jingxuan said.

“About that…” Tian Pu looked troubled.

“What’s the problem?” Xie Jingxuan’s clear, calm eyes stared at him in displeasure. “The Trial is about to start, and both of us are participants. What’s wrong with us communicating with each other?”

“Miss Song is not alone,” Tian Pu said softly.

Xie Jingxuan’s bright eyes glittered. After some thought, she quietly said, “Uncle Tian, it was my Xie Family who took care of you before you came to Sea Moon Island.”

Tian Pu lowered his head, and after a few seconds of silence said in a hushed tone, “If I am not mistaken, the person who was arranged to be Miss Song’s follower should be the one who turned all of the Scarlet Tide Continent upside down…”

Xie Jingxuan completely understood and nodded lightly, saying, “Thank you, Uncle Tian.”

Under Tian Pu’s guidance, she walked through a long corridor and headed straight toward the rooms where Song Tingyu and Qin Lie were.

Inside Qin Lie’s room.

The tombstone that was two meters tall stood upright on the stone floor. Qin Lie sat in front of the tombstone with his hand only half an inch away from it.

Wisps of violent, surging blood energy condensed into a thick mist of blood. Under the urging of the seven divine lights within the tombstone, they entered Qin Lie’s palm one after another.

Wisps of bloody light swam across Qin Lie’s body like lightning. He was sweating considerably. All of his clothing was drenched in sweat, and blue veins were popping out of his neck. His eyes were closed, as if he were enduring pain with everything he had.

A powerful, violent blood energy fiercely roamed throughout his nerves, blood, and bones like numerous sanguine ribbons, tempering his body and increasing the potency of his blood. It made every drop of his blood become filled with vigorous, violent energy.

Song Tingyu executed a restriction inside the house to prevent the blood energy from leaking. She was protecting Qin Lie.

A month had passed. Not only had Qin Lie managed to repair the Astral Thunder Hammer, he had also mastered its secrets and forged twenty five Terminator Profound Bombs.

While he had been forging the Terminator Profound Bombs and meticulously inscribing the spirit diagrams, he discovered that he was able to swiftly stabilize his mind.

The minds of many people would usually be greatly affected when they first broke through to the Netherpassage Realm. This made their realms fluctuate a bit, and it was very easy for them to fall victim to a fiendish rebound while cultivating.

However, by forging the Terminator Profound Bombs and inscribing many spirit diagrams, Qin Lie was swiftly able to pass this phase.

Not only was he successful in stabilizing his realm, he was even acquiring a large amount of blood energy from the tombstone to temper his body. He refined his blood with the Blood Spirit Art and filled himself with the energy of blood.

This was all for the Trial that was about to begin.

Xue Li’s soul shadow quietly flew out, resembling a cluster of ghostfire, and quietly observed Qin Lie’s physical condition.

“How is he?” Song Tingyu was infinitely bored while protecting Qin Lie. Since Xue Li himself had come out, she asked him a casual question.

She was just bored and had nothing to do. She did not expect Xue Li to bother her either.

“With the tombstone’s assistance, his progress of his cultivation in the Blood Spirit Art could only be described as amazing.” This time, Xue Li surprisingly appeared to be very interested in talking. The glittering bloody light in his eyes shone with a passionate glow.

“Unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that I lost my true body, otherwise I could’ve swiftly increased my strength through this tombstone as well. The strange blood energy that this tombstone contains is many times more refined and immense than the one in the ultimate blood ground! To us, this item is essentially a godly artifact for cultivating the Blood Spirit Art!”

He finally understood why Jiang Tianxing had come from the Celestial Artifact Sect of the Heavenly Fissure Continent that was ten thousand miles away just to seek the tombstone inside the god corpse.

Jiang Tianxing and Jiang Zhuzhe shared the same appearance. From this detail alone, Xue Li was sure that Jiang Tianxing and Jiang Zhuzhe were related to each other, not to mention that the Blood Spirit Art cultivated by Jiang Tianxing obviously came from Jiang Zhuzhe.

Xue Li even believed that Jiang Tianxing had come to snatch the tombstone after receiving Jiang Zhuzhe’s orders.

“What aspect of Qin Lie does the tombstone enhance?” Seeing that Xue Li was interested in chatting, Song Tingyu could not help but ask again.

“Everything!” Xue Li’s expression was one of excitement. “The blood energy inside the tombstone enhances his blood energy, tempers his muscles, veins, and bones, and even nurtures his True Soul! If a person’s blood is vigorous, then his True Soul will also benefit from it!”

Song Tingyu’s eyes shone with a strange light.

“The thunder and lightning spirit art this kid cultivated is already miraculous in the first place. Having been constantly tempered with thunder and lightning from the Ninth Heaven, his body is outstanding, and the blood spirit energy can gradually cleanse his body with the blood energy so that his life force becomes exceptionally powerful. Blood can actually be seen as a source of life, and if a martial practitioner’s inner power is immense, then the combat strength of his physical power will become extremely deadly as well!”

Xue Li appeared somewhat excited. “Let’s put it this way—if the current Qin Lie battled any other martial practitioner at the peak of the Netherpassage Realm without using spirit energy or spirit artifacts in a situation where both parties are fighting with just their physical bodies, then Qin Lie’s body will have an overwhelming advantage over the other party’s!”

“Sister Tingyu, are you in here?” It was at this moment when Xie Jingxuan’s cries came from outside.

Xue Li frowned slightly and slipped into Qin Lie’s forehead. Qin Lie, who was cultivating using the wordless tombstone, stowed it away.

His eyes were shockingly red when he opened them. The bloody light in his eyes faded after a few seconds, then he finally nodded slightly at Song Tingyu before saying, “I’m fine now.”

“I’m here,” Song Tingyu answered loudly. Then she softly said to Qin Lie, “Tian Pu used to be a part of the Xie Family. He must have told her about you, so you won’t be able to hide from her even if you choose to avoid this encounter.”

“I want to talk to you about the Trial,” Xie Jingxuan said from outside.

“Okay.” Song Tingyu stood up and opened the door, welcoming her in.

“Hello, Miss Xie.” Qin Lie chuckled, willingly greeting her. He was casually sitting where he was before.

“You’re here as well?” Xie Jingxuan pretended to be surprised.

“The Trial is about to begin, and the teleportation formation on Sea Moon Island is still restricted. One cannot help but feel anxious.” Song Tingyu sighed quietly.

“It has already been unsealed. When I arrived on the island, I heard that anyone could pass through the teleportation formation and go to the Heavenly Wither Continent now.” Xie Jingxuan brought them the latest news. “I came looking for you because I wanted us to go together.”

“I see.” Song Tingyu also looked comforted by the news. “Qin Lie, it’s about time. Can we leave now?”

“Alright.” Qin Lie got up.

“Then we shall walk while speaking,” Xie Jingxuan said faintly.

And so the trio left together. Before Qin Lie departed, he made a new face with his face-changing fox skin mask.

Two hours later, the trio arrived at the teleportation formation on the opposite side of Sea Moon Trade Group. They realized that it was packed full of people. Many people were holding spirit stones and waiting in line for their turn.

“Gao Yu! Tang Siqi! Elder Mo! Instructor Feng! Lian Rou! Yi Yuan!”

When Qin Lie saw that bunch of familiar faces, he couldn’t help but cry out from the bottom of his heart. His face was full of surprise.

He could not have predicted that these people would appear at Sea Moon Island. Judging from their appearance, they were also getting ready to depart for the Land of Chaos through the teleportation formation.

This both surprised and exhilarated him.