Spirit Realm

“Lingye is still alive. Lingye is actually still alive. And I have a daughter…”

Xue Li’s bloody soul flickered in midair like a flame in the wind. He was so excited that he looked like he was about to disappear at any moment.

“Quickly, tell me of my wife Mo Lingye!”

It was only a while later that Xue Li finally regained control of his emotions. His pair of bloody eyes shone with an intimidating light as they stared straight at Mo Bei.

Mo Bei pondered for a moment before saying with a heavy expression, “Senior Xue Li, please calm down. Don’t be upset!”

Qin Lie’s eyes narrowed. He could guess from Mo Bei’s attitude that Mo Lingye’s condition was far from ideal.

“Tell me!” Xue Li’s soul appeared to have taken a deep breath. Although he didn’t need to breathe, he was doing it to rein in his emotions.

“I can accept whatever the situation might be as long as she’s still alive! It’s been more than a thousand years. After being imprisoned for such a long time and going through so many hardships, what else is there that I can’t endure?” Xue Li said with a bitter smile.

“When Aunt Mo discovered that Jiang Zhuzhe had wronged you and killed the previous sect master, she sought him out to fight a bloody battle. Jiang Zhuzhe dearly loved Aunt Mo, and during the battle he always showed mercy and never tried to actually kill her. In fact, he was preparing to imprison Aunt Mo.

“However, as they were fighting, Jiang Zhuzhe discovered that Aunt Mo was pregnant with your child. He then stopped showing mercy and went out of control, becoming insane.

“After that, Aunt Mo suffered a grievous injury. Nearly all of her nerves and blood vessels were damaged.

“It was my father who saved the severely injured Aunt Mo while Jiang Zhuzhe was still insane. He took Aunt Mo away from Blood Fiend Sect and traveled to the distant Heavenly Slaughter Continent.

“After arriving at the Heavenly Slaughter Continent, my father and a number of Blood Fiend Sect disciples who were still loyal to the old sect master had no choice but to employ the secret arts of Blood Fiend Sect, sealing Aunt Mo in a blood cocoon in order to preserve her life.

“In order to keep her life force from slipping away, Aunt Mo was only left with a simple soul consciousness inside of the blood cocoon.

“She should have been able to give birth to the child a long time ago. However, since her body was too weak and her injuries too severe, not to mention the fact that she had been sealed inside of the blood cocoon all this time, the child’s birth was delayed for more than a thousand years. She was only born twenty five years ago.

“If Aunt Mo had given up on the child and had not injected a large amount of blood energy and life force into the child’s body, Aunt Mo could actually have recovered sooner.

“However, she was determined to give birth to ‘Moyan’ even if it meant being sealed for more than a thousand years. As a result, the child was born successfully, but Aunt Mo’s condition has only worsened. Now, she can’t even form a simple consciousness, and her life force weakens every day.

“Although Aunt Mo’s body was wrapped inside of the cocoon and soaked in a special blood pool to preserve her life, her soul is so already so weak that it is incapable of communication.

“I risked entering the Heavenly Calamity Continent because I heard that a ‘Soul Mending Clover’ that is capable of gathering soul strands and mending the soul was being auctioned in the Lin Family’s Scattered Rain City. I hope to purchase it and see if it can help Aunt Mo regather her soul strands.”

Mo Bei softly sighed and thoroughly explained everything that had happened up until the present day to Xue Li.

“Jiang Zhuzhe! One day, I will devour your flesh and chew your bones!” Xue Li’s shrill howl was filled with sadness, pain, and bone-deep hatred.

“Xue Moyan was also searching for spirit herbs for Aunt Mo’s sake. She heard that the secret realm might contain some holy medicine capable of restoring the soul, so she resolved herself and will be participating in the Trial. She should’ve already made her way to the Heavenly Fissure Continent and prepared to enter the Trial.” Mo Bei was afraid that Xue Li would break under the stress, so he brought up the name of his daughter at an appropriate time to draw his attention.

It worked just as expected.

When he heard Mo Bei bring up “Xue Moyan,” Xue Li quickly regained his composure and muttered, “Her surname is Xue, which means ‘snow.’ She truly is my daughter. My original surname of Xue means snow, but since my master thought that it sounded too much like a woman’s surname, he forcefully changed it to the Xue which stood for ‘blood’ when I became his disciple…”

Xue Li changed the subject and yelled, “How is she? How is her constitution after all these years?”

“She…” Mo Bei sighed on the inside.

Xue Li grew tense and hastily asked, “She what exactly?”

“When Aunt Mo was pregnant, she was severely injured, causing the blood energy inside her to become incredibly weak. Since Aunt Mo was sealed within the blood cocoon for over a thousand years, Xue Moyan’s birth was also delayed for the same amount of time.” Mo Bei sighed deeply. “In reality, Moyan should not have survived. Aunt Mo forcefully went against the laws of the heavens by prolonging her pregnancy for more than a thousand years. Moyan’s life force gradually slipped away during that time. When she was born twenty five years ago, she was nearing her life’s end.”

“H-how can this be?” Xue Li’s roared at the top of his lungs, his soul trembling intensely.

“I do not know the exact situation, but I heard from my father that, at best, she might be able to live to thirty. She still has five years of time, and if a miracle does not happen during these five years, she will lose all of her life force at thirty years old and pass away,” Mo Bei said with a dejected look.

“I want her to live! No matter what kind of price I’ll have to pay, I want her to live as best as she can! I want both mother and daughter to be able to live peacefully!” Xue Li roared, sounding like he would tear his own heart and lungs from his chest.

“Since Blood Fiend Sect’s Blood Spirit Art had become a forbidden art, she was sent to Illusory Demon Sect of the nine great forces at a very young age. Her talents are extraordinary, and she is already at the peak of the Netherpassage Realm. This time she is the representative of Illusory Demon Sect. The members of Illusory Demon Sect know of her abnormal condition, and they also wish she will be able to have a fortuitous meeting in the Graveyard of Gods. They hope that she can cross that line… and live!” Mo Bei exclaimed in a low tone.

Inside of the cave, Xue Li constantly roared in anger, his bloody pupils filled with sadness.

A very long time later, Xue Li eventually calmed down and said, “I want to go into the Trial and see my daughter. I want to refine the Blood Progenitor’s body, and help Moyan find the holy medicine and survive this calamity!”

“Senior Xue Li, I don’t think you… will be able to enter,” Mo Bei suddenly said.

“Why not?” Xue Li’s eyes glittered with a bloody light.

“I heard that the secret realm named the ‘Graveyard of Gods’ has a soul barrier at its entrance. All martial practitioners stronger than the Netherpassage Realm, be it in soul or physical body, will not be able to pass through it,” Mo Bei said seriously. “The experts of the nine great silver rank forces once tried abandoning their physical bodies and splitting their souls to enter. They even tried using a Heaven Grade spirit artifact to hide their souls, but the barrier still prevented them from entering.”

Qin Lie momentarily froze.

Xue Li was similarly dumbfounded. “Even a Heaven Grade spirit artifact can’t help a soul pass through the entrance’s barrier?”

Mo Bei nodded with a bitter smile.

Xue Li’s bloody shadow began to intensely tremble again, showing his anxiety and worry.

Mo Bei looked at him helplessly.

Qin Lie frowned, unable to think of a better way to help Xue Li at the moment.

After a long time, Xue Li headed toward the deeper parts of the mountain. From the creeping darkness of the cave he said, “Wait for me here.”

Qin Lie and Mo Bei stayed where they were, unmoving.

“How did Senior Xue Li come to be with you?” Mo Bei asked.

“I discovered him in the spirit pattern pillars that he was sealed within…” Qin Lie gave a brief explanation of what had happened.

Mo Bei sighed deeply. “Aunt Mo was sealed inside of the blood cocoon for over a thousand years... to think that senior Xue Li went through the same thing. Sigh. The once prosperous Blood Fiend Sect, the ruler of the Heavenly Calamity Continent, has been gone for a long time, and its three lowly vassal forces have become the kings of this land instead. This is truly unbearable.”

“I will rebuild Blood Fiend Sect!” Xue Li’s voice echoed from deep within the caves.

Xue Li’s soul shrouded a bone fragment that resembled a bloody jade, suspending it above Qin Lie’s head.

“Keep this,” Xue Li instructed Qin Lie through his soul.

Qin Lie did not even so much as glance at the translucent bone fragment when he raised his hand, grabbed it, and stored it inside of his spatial ring.

“Mo Bei, please leave for a moment. There’s something I need to talk to him about,” Xue Li said.

Mo Bei respectfully walked out.

“What I gave you is the first volume of the Blood Codex, the very foundation of Blood Fiend Sect. Not only does it document the pure, complete version of the Blood Spirit Art, it also contains all kinds of offensive skills and extraordinary blood formations that complement the Blood Spirit Art!” Xue Li had somehow managed to dig half of the Blood Codex out of the cave. His eyes glittering with a bloody light, he solemnly said, “It is said that the Blood Codex was written on a piece of bone from the Blood Progenitor himself. Do not let its size fool you—the words stored inside of it are as plentiful as the stars, and its secrets are immeasurable!”

“Why did you give this to me?” Qin Lie asked softly.

“Even if I am not by your side, you will be able to use this to cultivate the greatest spirit art of the Blood Fiend Sect. This item should also help you collect the Blood Progenitor’s body!” Xue Li said seriously.

“Are you going to leave my side?” Qin Lie came to a realization.

“Since I cannot enter the Graveyard of Gods with you, I can only leave for a while. I think it is time that I see my wife anyway.” Xue Li’s tone was sad. “If you meet my daughter within the Graveyard of Gods, I hope that you will do your best to help her. As for whether or not you tell her about us... that is up to you.”

Qin Lie nodded quietly.

“Put down the spirit materials you gathered back then to build the teleportation formation. I will have Mo Bei carry them. Once we reach the Heavenly Slaughter Continent, I will attempt to connect to the ultimate blood ground.” Xue Li looked at the walls of the cave and sighed. “I originally wanted to build the teleportation formation here. Unfortunately, the three great families probably won’t allow it, so I’ll have to settle for a different place. When you’ve obtained the Blood Progenitor’s body for me and I’ve refined it into my main body, we will consider rebuilding Blood Fiend Sect and the Blood Cloud Mountain Range.”

“How will I find you after I exit the Trial?” Qin Lie asked.

“It should be fine if you just talk with Mo Bei and confirm a location later on,” Xue Li said.

“Alright. Take care of yourself.” Qin Lie pressed the spatial ring and took out the Phantasm Stones, Froststar Stones, Fate Crystals, Ethereal Jades, and the fresh blood of Scarlet Spirit Turtle, putting them on the ground.

“Qin Lie! If you meet my daughter when you enter the Graveyard of Gods, you must take care of her on my behalf!” Xue Li requested solemnly.

“Mn.”