Spirit Realm

“I can keep Istan in check, but I can’t create a giant like that and boost morale of our forces.” Luz of the Dark Shadow Race looked helpless when he said this. “Look at Heavenly Sword Mountain, Celestial Artifact Sect, and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain. They look like they want to retreat already.”

“Morale is absolutely critical in a battle,” Li Mu also said.

“You need to convince Celestial Artifact Sect, Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, and Heavenly Sword Mountain that we can beat them and suppress that two old ghouls. Only then they can make up their minds and fight for real.” Luz nodded. “Otherwise, not only will they probably be useless in battle, they may even lower morale by running away.”

While saying this, Luz pointed at the evil dragon Calvert and the demon dragon Barett, chuckling. “These two old fellows will definitely take the upper hand over the two ghouls after they reveal their true bodies.”

Qin Lie’s eyes lit up.

“I have no problems with this.” Calvert was the first person to express his support.

“Lord Barett, you’ve purposely come here to make friends with Flaming Sun Island, right?” Qin Lie smiled.

“I need detailed information regarding Dark Shadow World!” Barett said.

“No problem.” Qin Lie grinned. “Once this battle is over, I well have the elder of the Serene Moon Race tell you everything he knows!”

“Alright!” Barett nodded.

“Luz! Will you dare fight me!”

It was at this moment Istan of the Earth Ghoul Race taunted them impudently in the airspace of the Setting Sun Islands.

Both Fiennes and him let out a shrill howl that sounded like it could tear the world apart.

The moment the shrill howl spread, the giant ghouls that were transformed Soul Altars abruptly descended like ghouls from abyss towards Gray Island and Flaming Sun Island.

It was as if two mountains were crashing towards the ground.

The experts on the bigger islands of the Setting Sun Islands only saw two huge shadows in the sky when they looked up.

Two terrifying auras that were crawling with eeriness and strangeness rushed towards them like a sea of ice.

“They only have Luz, and he can’t stop both Istan and Fiennes! Let’s see how they survive this battle!” Ke Yu said excitedly before he waved his hands and yelled. “Give me an arrow rain!”

Ice blue, scarlet red, pitch black, and pure golden flames abruptly flew up from the eastern barbarians’ camp.

The multi-colored arrows descended from the sky.

The arrow rains were expertly aimed as they flew past Istan and Fiennes towards Blood Island and the other islands like meteor rains.

“Flaming Sun Island isn’t going to survive this.” Gongye Zhuo of Black Voodoo Cult assessed from inside a cloud.

“I hope so,” Jiang An said with a dark look on his face.

Black Voodoo Cult experts had hidden inside a black cloud using a secret art. It prevented others from detecting them.

“If that Dark Shadow Race expert is the only warrior with five-level Soul Altar, the Voodoo Progenitor may not even need to show itself. Istan and Fiennes alone can take him down,” Gongye Qing said.

“The ghoul races are really powerful.” Gongye Zhuo sighed.

Suddenly, Jiang An pressed a hand glowing with black light to his heart.

His heart abruptly stopped beating after the black light enveloped his heart.

The Gongye brothers and a couple other Black Voodoo Cult Soul Altar experts copied him after they saw his movements.

Their hearts came to a sudden stop too.

“We need to force the first voodoo creature to act.” Jiang An’s eyes shone murderously as he spoke in a raspy voice, “It’s fusing faster and faster with the Voodoo Progenitor. If we give it any more time, we… will be manipulated forever. It may be the first voodoo creature, but it still isn’t one of us! We cannot allow ourselves to be controlled by a voodoo creature!”

The Black Voodoo Cult experts all nodded with stern looks on their faces.

The reason they used a secret art to stop their hearts was to make the voodoo insects they cultivated with their lives fall into temporary sleep.

This was the only way they could stop the voodoo insects that fed on their flesh and soul from listening into their conversation.

After the first voodoo creature had taken over the Voodoo Progenitor’s body, it could watch every move they make through the voodoo insects inside their bodies.

One could say that all voodoo insect cultivators in Black Voodoo Cult were under the first voodoo creature’s thumb right now.

“The first voodoo creature hasn’t truly shared the core of the Voodoo Progenitor’s inheritance because all those who cultivate it can control the voodoo insects. That has been the way of the Voodoo Progenitor for the longest time. If the voodoo insects turn the tables against us and control us instead… our lives will literally be worse than death.” Jiang An’s eyes looked bitter and helpless. “In the past, we have always been able to sacrifice the voodoo insects and escape from danger. But now, it is the voodoo insects who may sacrifice us while they escape danger and find a new host for themselves.”

“We absolutely mustn’t allow the voodoo insects to rule Black Voodoo Cult!” The Gongye brothers said in unison.

“Let’s hope that Flaming Sun Island can do something about this.” Jiang An sighed.

The Black Voodoo Cult experts stared at Flaming Sun Island with dark and complicated looks in their faces.

When the first voodoo creature returned to Black Voodoo Cult, they thought that their sect would rise to the top and rule over the Land of Chaos.

However, as the first voodoo creature merged deeper and deeper with the Voodoo Progenitor, they gradually discovered that it cared nothing for their lives at all.

The first voodoo creature seemed to care more for the voodoo insects they cultivated with their lives. The human hosts could die, but not the voodoo insects.

In the first voodoo creature’s eyes, the voodoo insects were its kin, not them.

By the time they realized that the first voodoo creature wasn’t the Voodoo Progenitor, and that it never considered them to be its kin, it was already too late.

The first voodoo creature could control the voodoo insects inside their bodies with various secret arts. It could easily deal a grievous blow to their bodies or even kill their souls outright.

They had no choice but to obey the first voodoo creature.

As of late, the people outside thought that Black Voodoo Cult was growing more and more terrifying and conducting themselves in an increasingly bizarre fashion. They thought that it didn’t fit with Jiang An’s modus operandi too well.

They didn’t realize that Jiang An had become a puppet after the first voodoo creature had returned.

Everything he did was masterminded by the first voodoo creature. He was gradually losing control over Black Voodoo Cult.

If this situation were to continue any further, Black Voodoo Cult would transform into a sect of voodoo insects. Its human cultivators… would become flesh and blood puppets controlled by the voodoo insects.

This was absolutely not a future Jiang An wanted.

“Pope. If this battle… is won by Flaming Sun Island, and if the first voodoo creature were to perish, where will Black Voodoo Cult go next?” Gongye Zhuo suddenly asked.

The Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners beside him looked uncertain as well.

If Flaming Sun Island wins this fight, and if the first voodoo creature dies in battle, then Black Voodoo Cult would certainly become the public enemy of the entire Land of Chaos.

When that happens, Black Voodoo Cult might cease to exist altogether.

But if Flaming Sun Island was destroyed and the first voodoo creature still lived, they would also lose their final chance of resistance entirely.

If that future were to come by, their lives might not be so different from death.

“Where will Black Voodoo Cult go?” Jiang An whispered quietly and fell silent for a moment. Finally, he sucked in a deep breath and said, “I suppose that we should make preparations beforehand.”

“What should we do?” Everyone looked at him.

“Who among you can contact Flaming Sun Island?” Jiang An yelled.

Suddenly, his heart throbbed with turbulent activity.

“The first voodoo creature noticed something amiss already!” Jiang An’s expression changed as he said hurriedly, “Quickly! We need to contact Flaming Sun Island! Help me send a message to Qin Lie right now!”

Gongye Qing grabbed a sound transmission stone and gritted his teeth. While suppressing the unusual activity in his heart, he said, “Please speak, pope!”

“Tell Qin Lie that Black Voodoo Cult is willing to become Flaming Sun Island’s vassal force if he can help us kill the first voodoo creature!” Jiang An yelled.

“P-pope! Don’t you think that that’s a little too much?” Gongye Zhuo yelled.

The Soul Altar experts of Black Voodoo Cult also looked shocked by his decision. They couldn’t help but think that his decision was a little excessive.

“Don’t you all realize yet? Flaming Sun Island is not the only force that’s standing behind Qin Lie!” Jiang An shouted with a distorted expression on his face. “Even the Gold rank forces of the Central World dare not attack him openly. Instead, they took the roundabout way and hired the eastern barbarians and the ghoul races to do the deed! The force behind him is the Qin Family who once dominated the Central World, and this means that Black Voodoo Cult will be attaching themselves to the greatest Gold rank force to have ever existed! This is not an unacceptable fate at all, is it?”

Gongye Qing shuddered before he hastily condensed a wisp of soul consciousness and put it into the sound transmission stone.

“If Qin Lie were to die today, we will be making a sworn enemy out of the Qin Family. We will have no choice but to cling onto the force behind the eastern barbarians for dear life. That is the only way Black Voodoo Cult will be able to survive in the Land of Chaos, but by then we would’ve all become the puppets of the voodoo insects.”

“As long as Qin Lie lives to kill the first voodoo creature, we’ll be able to free ourselves from it.”

“Thanks to this early message, Flaming Sun Island also won’t destroy us after they achieve victory. The only way we can continue to survive at the Land of Chaos is to submit entirely to Flaming Sun Island. Qin Lie will help explain our circumstances to the other forces after that.”

“In the future, we have no choice but to cling onto the Qin Family that’s supporting Qin Lie.”

“But at least Black Voodoo Cult will still be the master of the voodoo insects! At least we’ll be free!”

The eyes of the Black Voodoo Cult experts burned with great desire after they heard Jiang An’s words.

“Boom!”

A turbulent energy coursed through their chest, and their hearts started beating once more.

The strange-looking voodoo insects that clung to their hearts abruptly burst out of their flesh.

The voodoo insects that they cultivated with their lives had dark, eerie and merciless eyes. They whistled shrilly and made threatening gestures at Jiang An and the others.

No one among the ashen-faced crowd dared to retaliate against the voodoo insects.

After the voodoo insects had whistled for a moment, they began to tear apart the flesh around the humans’ flesh with their sharp claws.

Every Soul Altar expert including Jiang An began to scream in pain.

Blood flowed down their chests profusely.

“Remember! Don’t pull little tricks like this again! I can sacrifice you and choose a better host for my insects anytime I want to! To me, you humans are only fit as food for us voodoo insects! You lowly souls are unworthy of becoming our masters!”

The first voodoo creature’s voice came from the voodoo insect in Jiang An’s chest. That voodoo insect whistled as it tore at Jiang An’s muscles and absorbed his refined flesh and blood energy.

The light in Jiang An’s eyes abruptly dimmed.