Spirit Realm

“Me?”

Qin Lie was startled for a moment before he let out a pondering look on his face.

“The term biomagnetic field refers to the energy contained inside of a person’s body, the combat potential of a body,” Xie Jingxuan said with a serious expression. “In my opinion, none of the Trial participants in the Graveyard of Gods can compare to you. Even the biomagnetic fields of Yu Men, Ye Yihao, and Xue Moyan were a lot weaker than yours.”

Song Tingyu’s beautiful eyes lit up as she cheerfully said, “Now that I think about it carefully, that does seem to be the case.”

“Is Du Xiangyang’s biomagnetic field strong?” Qin Lie smiled calmly.

“It’s a lot stronger than those of other so-called ‘children of heaven,’” Xie Jingxuan said in confirmation.

“It appears as though this guy is even stronger than we imagined.” Song Tingyu thought to herself for a moment before speaking again. “The feeling he gives off… is reassuring, I guess. He certainly stood by us at critical moments.”

“Mn. Let’s continue waiting. We should trust him.” Qin Lie’s eyes were narrowed.

A couple of hours later.

As expected, Du Xiangyang returned safely. He sat next to Qin Lie with a smile on his face and said, “I don’t think it’ll take long for the thunder lagoon to become a boiling cauldron of noise. All sorts of familiar faces will be coming.”

“How many people have you notified?” Song Tingyu asked in surprise.

“Probably all of them!” Du Xiangyang laughed loudly.

“Now this is going to get interesting!” Qin Lie exclaimed softly.

“When I left, and also as I returned just now, the people on the other side of the thunder lagoon were watching me closely.” Du Xiangyang suddenly frowned. “They didn’t look too friendly. It seems like they’re extremely resentful toward us…”

“Who cares about them?” Song Tingyu curled her lips and laughed coldly, saying, “Those people probably haven’t moved because they’re waiting for us to clear the way for them. They want us to break through the thunder barrier and confirm that everything’s safe before following immediately after.”

“They sure know how to count their chickens before they hatch.” Xie Jingxuan snorted softly.

“Hah, Miss Song is right. They aren’t moving because they’re probably waiting for us to go in first.” Du Xiangyang nodded. “They must have been caught unprepared when they saw us biding our time and even inviting many martial practitioners of other forces in the area. They probably hate our guts by now. Hehe, if this many people fight over six Pure Soul Springs, they might not be able to obtain anything at all. No wonder they’re so displeased.”

“If it weren’t for Qin Lie, they wouldn’t have been able to come here in the first place. He’s the one who brought them here! Besides, if we were truly cold-hearted, we’d have Qin Lie ambush and kill them. They’d immediately suffer terrible losses and be driven off!” Song Tingyu exclaimed coldly.

“Humans are naturally greedy and selfish.” Du Xiangyang sighed softly.

The four of them talked amongst themselves other as they waited, ready to deal with any sudden incidents.

Eventually, a silver figure appeared before them, tearing through the gray sky like a sharp blade.

“Luo Chen!” Qin Lie wore an expression of surprise.

On the other side, He Wei also cried out. “It’s Luo Chen!”

The group of Terminator Sect martial practitioners immediately grew excited.

“Back in the Forbidden Land of Wood, Qin Lie forced Luo Chen to give his portion of the Spring of Life to Xue Moyan. He must hate Qin Lie down to his very core!” Ren Peng’s mind went to work as he lowered his voice and said, “Luo Chen is powerful alone. We can try to get him on our side!”

“I think that he’ll seek us out on his own.” He Wei wore a smug smile on her face. “Our group and Qin Lie’s group are the only forces here. If he wants to understand the situation, he needs to ask one of us.”

“He’ll definitely come to us for information,” Hu Ping said bluntly.

“We’re stronger than Qin Lie’s group, and we haven’t clashed with Luo Chen before. He’s also been talking about killing Qin Lie since the the Trial began. Of course he’ll join our group.” He Wei was full of confidence.

Chu Li’s group looked at Luo Chen expectantly.

Luo Chen frowned and stopped by another side of the thunder barrier. His position formed a triangle when connected to the positions of Qin Lie’s group and Chu Li’s group. He could see both of the other groups.

Luo Chen looked at the two forces, surprise showing in his eyes as he made comparisons in his mind.

The fact that Qin Lie’s group and Chu Li’s group were separate clearly meant that they had parted ways. If Luo Chen wished to understand what was going on in the thunder barrier, he needed to seek out either of the two parties. In addition to that, since he was alone, he also needed an ally.

Luo Chen frowned deeply as his face grew dark with a storm of emotions. He inwardly weighed the pros and the cons.

Chu Li was on one side, and Qin Lie was on the other. One side had five people, and the other had four. Children of the heavens were off to one side, while the other had Qin Lie, a person he had once scorned...

“He’ll join us, of course!” Ren Peng raised his head proudly.

“Not necessarily.” Chu Li sighed quietly.

The moment Chu Li said this, Luo Chen actually turned his back to them and headed in Qin Lie’s direction.

He Wei, Hu Ping, Ren Peng, and Wei Liang were stupefied by this outcome.

Luo Chen actually chose to join Qin Lie. H-how was this possible?

This was inconceivable! It didn’t make any sense! Confusion riddled the faces of He Wei and the three Terminator Sect martial practitioners, A deep sense of defeat filled their hearts.

“W-why did this happen? Has he gone stupid or something?” He Wei pulled at her hair in irritation, her face turning grim.

Chu Li let out a long sigh but didn’t explain anything.

“Du Xiangyang, were you the one who contacted me?” Luo Chen stopped beside Qin Lie, his face stiff and cold.

Du Xiangyang didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he smiled and asked, “Did you not see Chu Li?”

“I saw,” Luo Chen said icily.

“Then why’d you come here instead of going to Chu Li? You should be aware that Chu Li knows just as much about this place as we do. You’re alone and you need Chu Li as an ally, don’t you?” Du Xiangyang asked out of curiosity.

“I don’t like He Wei,” Luo Chen hissed.

“You don’t like He Wei?” A thoughtful expression flashed across Du Xiangyang’s face before he let out a soft laugh and rubbed his chin. “Luo Chen. In your opinion, is she more detestable than even Qin Lie?”

Qin Lie involuntarily broke out into laughter.

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan wore surprised expressions on their faces.

Luo Chen subconsciously glanced at Qin Lie before letting out a snort. In a cold, harsh tone, he said, “At the least Qin Lie will be... a tiny bit more useful than He Wei.”

“Isn’t Chu Li more powerful though?” Song Tingyu was puzzled and couldn’t understand what Luo Chen was thinking, so she couldn’t help but interrupt.

“Chu Li and the rest of those Terminator Sect martial practitioners exhausted their Terminator Profound Bombs breaking through the seal of the ancient trees back in the Forbidden Land of Wood. Without Terminator Profound Bombs, their strength will have weakened considerably. Furthermore, aside from Chu Li, everyone on their side has been infected with voodoo toxin before. They have yet to fully recover.”

Luo Chen paused, then looked at Qin Lie’s group and impatiently explained, “Out of you four, Qin Lie and Du Xiangyang haven’t been infected with the voodoo toxin. Qin Lie also has the Demon Sealing Tombstone in his possession. As for you...”

He pointed at Xie Jingxuan. “The combat power you displayed when fighting against the wood spirit was extraordinary. The four of you are obviously stronger than Chu Li’s group overall. The roles you play are also more important.”

“Your judgment is sound.” Du Xiangyang nodded slowly.

“Unfortunately, the people opposite from us couldn’t figure any of that out.” Song Tingyu snorted lightly.

“Unfortunately, we do not lack allies, so we will no longer be joining hands with anyone else,” Qin Lie said in an indifferent, calm manner. “I can, however, tell you about the secrets within the thunder lagoon. There are six Pure Soul Springs inside of the lagoon, and its bottom is covered in soul crystals. The thunder spirit, a being with a crystalline body, moves among them. In addition to that, Celestial Artifact Sect’s Consecutive Soul Splitting Formation is mixed in the thunder barrier…”

Once Qin Lie told Luo Chen everything he had discovered, he then said, “If you want to obtain a Pure Soul Spring, you’ll need to think of a way on your own. You can join any group but ours.”

Qin Lie refused to ally with another person.

Even with the thunder spirit running rampant, Qin Lie was enough to deal with any disadvantageous situations in the Forbidden Land of Thunder. He didn’t need any reinforcements whatsoever.

He also didn’t have a favorable impression of Luo Chen.

Luo Chen obviously couldn’t tolerate him him. Qin Lie had known this since Sea Moon Island.

Allowing Luo Chen to join them was the same as holding a bomb that could explode any time. How could Qin Lie possibly relax with him around?

“Then I’m afraid we can’t help you.” Du Xiangyang shrugged while raising his arms. A look of helplessness on his face, he said, “Perhaps you can go over to Terminator Sect? Oh, right, Black Voodoo Cult, Celestial Artifact Sect, and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain will be showing up pretty soon. Maybe you’ll be able to find a new ally in one of them, Luo Chen.”

“Weren’t you the one who released the information?” Luo Chen’s eyebrows twitched.

“That’s right,” Du Xiangyang confirmed with a smile.

“Why?” Luo Chen asked.

This time, Du Xiangyang shook his head and said, “I can’t tell you that.”

Luo Chen suddenly fell silent. His eyes blinked repeatedly as if he were considering multiple things at once.

Qin Lie watched him in cold silence.

Seconds later, Luo Chen stared straight at Qin Lie with eyes as sharp as swords.

“Back at the village in the Forbidden Land of Wood, you told me to give up on the Spring of Life and allow Xue Moyan to have all of it. You told me that, if I did that for you as a favor, you would owe me one in return. Will you honor that favor?”

After a moment of surprise, Qin Lie nodded and said, “I may have said such a thing.”

“I’m asking if you will you honor that favor!” Luo Chen yelled.

“Y-yeah, I will.” Qin Qin Lie raised his hands helplessly.

“Good! Then you’ll be returning the favor by allowing me to join you!” Luo Chen snorted.

This sudden turn of events left everyone dumbfounded.

They couldn’t have imagined that Luo Chen would be so insistent about joining them. Did Luo Chen know about Qin Lie’s prowess in the Forbidden Land of Thunder?

No, that couldn’t be the case. Luo Chen had never seen Qin Lie in the Forbidden Land of Thunder.

But… why was he so persistent?

He clearly could’ve chosen Terminator Sect, Celestial Artifact Sect, or Ten Thousand Beast Mountain. He could have even picked Illusory Demon Sect, right?

Du Xiangyang and the others couldn’t make any sense of this.

“This...” Qin Lie had been placed in an awkward position.

Luo Chen simply looked at him coldly.

A while later, Du Xiangyang interrupted and smiled bitterly, saying, “Qin Lie, words are like spilled water. You can’t take them back unless... well, unless you don’t mean them.”

“Fine. If you insist on joining us then go ahead. However, you need to use your own abilities to obtain a Pure Soul Spring. We won’t help you with that… but we will assist you when others attack you.” Qin Lie had no choice but to promise Luo Chen.

“That’s fine!” Luo Chen exclaimed coldly.

“B-but... why do you insist on joining us? You have plenty of other options,” Song Tingyu asked without thinking.

Qin Lie was surprised and puzzled as well.

Other than Black Voodoo Cult, which he had fallen out with, Luo Chen could have joined any other force through the virtue of his strength alone. Terminator Sect, Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, and Celestial Artifact Sect definitely would’ve welcomed a powerful ally like him.

Why did he insist on joining Qin Lie’s group?

“I don’t trust any of them,” Luo Chen said impatiently.

“Does that mean you trust us?” Du Xiangyang asked in amusement. “Before entering the Graveyard of Gods, you were the one yelling about killing Qin Lie. Now you’re saying you trust him? Ha! Did I hear you correctly?”

“Cut the crap!” Luo Chen snorted coldly Without another word, he surprisingly shut up and sat down.

……