Spirit Realm

Seeing Guo Yanzheng about to take action, Xing Yao started laughing and nodding eagerly.

Guo Yanzheng held extraordinary status as one of Gold Sun Island’s six enforcers. Even Xing Yao’s sister-in-law, Xing Shengnan, had to give him face. It would be better if he were the one to search Qin Lie and the others.

First of all, Xing Yao could distance herself from the situation and avoid being blamed by Xing Shengnan.

Secondly, considering Guo Yanzheng’s identity as an enforcer, even if he didn’t find any proof of subterfuge, Xing Shengnan would just let him go after reprimanding him.

With this, Xing Yao’s worries soon evaporated.

“Enforcer Guo, please show some restraint and refrain from wounding them,” she said softly, warning him. “Just subdue them.”

Guo Yanzheng smiled proudly. Although he stood right in front of the door to Qin Lie’s set of rooms, he didn’t bother lowering his voice and said, “Isn’t it an easy matter to control a few juniors that are only in the Netherpassage Realm?”

Within the set of rooms, Qin Lie, Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, and Xue Moyan stood inside of the cultivation room together. The women had once again changed their appearances to avoid being recognized.

“Even Gold Sun Island’s Island Master Xing Yumiao would treat me with respect if he saw me, yet a mere enforcer of Gold Sun Island wants to try and bully me? He doesn’t want to live!” Xue Moyan exclaimed through clenched teeth. “If I reveal myself and tell that Guo Yanzheng to kowtow before me, he wouldn’t dare refuse!”

“No, don’t!” Qin Lie shouted. He shook his head and said, “The world knows you participated in the Trial and entered the Graveyard of Gods. If you reveal your actual appearance and expose who you are, every single one of us will be exposed as well.”

“Then what should we do?” Xue Moyan frowned. “If we allow him to search us and see even a tiny bit of what we have in our spatial rings, won’t that lead to the same result? I have the Illusory Demon Orb, Illusory Demon Sect’s ultimate treasure. If Guo Yanzheng catches a glimpse of it, he’ll recognize me.”

“Then we just don’t let him search us,” Qin Lie said with a snort.

“This person is much older than we are.” Song Tingyu could feel a headache coming on. “He’s also at the peak of the Fulfillment Realm, an entire realm higher than ours. If we want to fight him… it won’t be easy.”

In terms of talent, aptitude, and cultivation speed, all four of them surpassed Guo Yanzheng. The Gold Sun Island enforcer, however, possessed the advantage of having cultivated longer than them and being one realm higher.

Even a minor difference in realm could already be thought of as a great abyss. An entire realm gap was even more terrifying. Possessing a high grade spirit artifact or knowing powerful spirit arts might not be enough to bridge such a gap.

In other words, if they decided to fight him, the difference in realms would definitely result in their group of geniuses being defeated by Guo Yanzheng.

After a moment of thought, Qin Lie suddenly left the cultivation room.

“Stay here,” he said. “Let me deal with him.”

At the exact same time, Guo Yanzheng used the power of metal to break the lock on the door to Qin Lie’s room.

Guo Yanzheng strode into the room.

“Creak! Creak...”

Out in the hallway, the doors of the other rooms opened up. Men and women of different ages poked their heads out.

The Wavebreaker was Gold Sun Island’s main patrol ship. Xing Family clansmen and high ranking members such as enforcers occupied the rooms on the top level of the ship.

These people had been focused on cultivating, studying books about spirit arts, or resting.

Guo Yanzheng and Xing Yao hadn’t kept their voices down when they had been speaking to each other, so many people overheard their conversation.

These people were curious about the identities of Qin Lie and the others and wanted to watch the spectacle unfold, so they came out for a look.

Since Xing Shengnan’s cultivation room had a better configuration, its insulation diagram properly blocked all power fluctuations and sounds. In addition to that, her cultivation had gone extremely well up to this point. As a result, she was the only one that didn’t emerge from her room.

The other Xing Family clansmen and high-ranking members of Gold Sun Island came out of their rooms, watching the situation from the hallway with smiles on their faces.

“Close the door,” Qin Lie said calmly.

“Don’t think you can just bluff your way into our midst and establish a relationship with the Xing Family, boy!” Guo Yanzheng said loudly. He moved further into the room, a grin on his face. “Even if you have some knowledge of the Xing Family tree, simply making up a name isn’t enough to convince me.”

“Close the door!” Qin Lie said once more.

The Xing Family clansmen and other high-ranking members of Gold Sun Island drew nearer to Qin Lie’s room, crowding around the doorway curiously.

Xing Yao also moved closer to the doorway.

Guo Yanzheng laughed. “First let me shackle you, then we can talk!”

“Close the door!” Qin Lie repeated.

As soon as he did, Qin Lie’s eyes suddenly became a bloody red. The thick stench of iron permeated the air as his body gradually radiated a shocking fiendish energy.

Soon enough, a thin layer of bloody mist materialized around Qin Lie.

Guo Yanzheng suddenly became meek. His gaze trembled, and his lips shook as he exclaimed, “You… you’re…”

Shrouded within the bloody mist, Qin Lie’s visage was one of brutality and viciousness. His lips parted into a sneer, and he nodded.

“Close… the… door!” he snarled.

Guo Yanzheng turned around without hesitation, slamming the door shut before Xing Yao, the person nearest the doorway, could react.

“Bam!”

This left Xing Yao, the many Xing Family clansmen, and another enforcer named Qi Jing outside.

Inside the room, Guo Yanzheng looked on in shock as Qin Lie’s bloody mist quickly withdrew into his body, and soon only his eyes remained a bloody red.

Qin Lie carefully inspected Guo Yanzheng’s expression.

Seeing Guo Yanzheng shuddering as though he were a completely different person, his relaxed and said, “Let’s talk inside.”

He went into the insulated cultivation room.

Guo Yanzheng followed him in, his body bent in a humble manner.

As soon as Guo Yanzheng walked in, the door closing behind him, he exclaimed, “Y-you’re from Blood Fiend Sect?”

Terror filled his voice. None of his previous arrogance could be seen.

“I cultivate the Blood Spirit Art and can be considered a member of Blood Fiend Sect!” Qin Lie snorted coldly, standing before Guo Yanzheng boldly. “I am truly called Xing Lie!”

“You really are seventh grandfather’s grandson!” Guo Yanzheng shouted in shock. “You can be considered a member of Blood Fiend Sect? How did you come to cultivate the Blood Spirit Art?”

“A thousand years ago, Blood Fiend Sect and the Xing Family faced an incredible threat. My… my grandfather hid in mountains in the Heavenly Calamity Continent with members of Blood Fiend Sect. It was through those people that I came to cultivate the Blood Spirit Art,” Qin Lie explained. “The Blood Spirit Art I cultivate isn’t the same as that of Jiang Zhuzhe and his disciples. I am a real member of Blood Fiend Sect!””

“M-my ancestors were also from the Heavenly Calamity Continent,” Guo Yanzheng said hoarsely. “I am a descendant of a Black Iron force that was destroyed along with Blood Fiend Sect.”

At that moment, Qin Lie glanced at Xue Moyan, his eyes filled with mirth.

Xue Moyan was speechless.

Over the last two days, she had informed Qin Lie of many things concerning the Xing Family of Gold Sun Island. She spoke of how many Gold Sun Island’s core and elite members were connected to forces that had been wiped from the face of the Heavenly Calamity Continent.

Xing Yumiao was a man that cherished the friendships he made. Not only did he search the Heavenly Calamity Continent for Xing Family clansmen, he also found the surviving martial practitioners of smaller forces that had relationships with the Xing Family in the past.

In other words, many people that held important positions within Gold Sun Island were connected to the Heavenly Calamity Continent and Blood Fiend Sect.

For a millennium, Blood Fiend Sect had prospered as the undisputed ruler of Heavenly Calamity Continent, dominating the Land of Chaos.

During that time, every force of the Heavenly Calamity Continent, including the Xing Family and the current Xiahou, Ling, and Su Families, were deeply terrified of Blood Fiend Sect.

They had been instilled with an intense terror that reached deep into their bones!

Guo Yanzheng’s ancestors came from one of Blood Fiend Sect’s smaller vassal forces.

Ever since he was a child, his seniors told him of Blood Fiend Sect’s terrifying power. This led to him feeling fear and reverence toward Blood Fiend Sect—feelings that he still felt to this day.

Now, upon discovering that Qin Lie cultivated the orthodox Blood Spirit Art, Guo Yanzheng immediately believed that Qin Lie couldn’t be an enemy spy. He was basically convinced that Qin Lie really was Xing Lie, a Xing Family clansman.

How could he, Guo Yanzheng, dare to offend the grandson of the Xing Family’s seventh master, someone who was a member of Blood Fiend Sect, no less!

He immediately capitulated to Qin Lie.

“P-please forgive this old man, Young Master Xing,” Guo Yanzheng said, repeatedly bowing to Qin Lie, sweat dripping from his forehead. “This old man is foolish and didn’t know the truth.”

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan exchanged looks of shock. They hadn’t thought that Qin Lie would be able to resolve the situation in such a simple way.

Xue Moyan found it funny.

She was the true heir to Blood Fiend Sect, but she never thought of using her identity to suppress Guo Yanzheng.

She also hadn’t expected this Guo Yanzhang to actually be a descendant of a force that used to serve Blood Fiend Sect, one that continued to fear the sect even now.

“I suppose that’s fine. The ignorant cannot truly commit a crime,” Qin Lie said impatiently with a wave of his hand. “Help me hide the fact that I cultivate the Blood Spirit Art. As for what we just discussed… I would prefer that others didn’t know about it. That should be all, you can leave. And remember to close the door for me!”

“Many thanks, Young Master Xing!” Guo Yanzheng exclaimed as he backed out of the cultivation room. “Thank you for disregarding this lowly person’s offense. This old man understands and will obey.”

“Creak!”

The tightly shut door to Qin Lie’s set of rooms opened once again. Guo Yanzheng walked out into the hall with a grimace on his face and carefully closed the door.

“Young Master Xing!” he said loudly. “I shall now return to cultivating!”

“As you were!” Qin Lie’s proud voice came from the other side of the door.

Out in the hallway, Xing Yao, other Xing Family clansmen, and Qi Jing, another enforcer, stared at Guo Yanzheng in disbelief. They rubbed their eyes, thinking that something was wrong with their eyesight.

“What are you doing, Brother Guo?” Qi Jing asked in shock.

Xing Yao felt just as astonished. “Enforcer Guo, you… what’s going on?”

None of them had heard a word of what Guo Yanzheng and Qin Lie discussed in the cultivation room, so all of them were confused.

What they did know, however, was that Guo Yanzheng didn’t have a good temper. He had charged into the room angrily, so they originally thought that a fierce conflict would erupt and that Qin Lie and the others would be captured alive.

No one had expected Guo Yanzheng to act so strangely humble before Qin Lie. This made their eyes bulge out of their sockets.

Everyone had one question on their minds.

—What happened in there?

“There is no mistake! Xing Lie is the grandson of seventh grandfather. This old man swears upon his life that this is true!”

After declaring this, Guo Yanzheng shot an icy glance at Xing Yao, then walked back to his own rooms.

He left a crowd of shocked people in his wake.