Spirit Realm

Blue leaves drifted down under the cool and bright moonlight. Each leaf was glittering blue like many murderous edges.

“Zzzt Zzzt Zzzt!”

Strands of light blue electricity wove inside the wooden sculpture to form a blue barrier above Qin Lie’s head.

“Clap clap clap!”

An explosive sound like that of firecrackers came from the deep blue electricity. Every time a blue leaf landed on it, its light would dim a little.

Like gushing waves, they seeped through the electricity and caused Qin Lie’s body to lower as his steps suddenly faltered.

Gripping the Blue Leaf Sword, Du Haitian’s expression was as calm as a millpond as he stared indifferently at Qin Lie and softly exclaimed, “Overconfidence.”

The Blue Leaf Sword shuddered thrice rhythmically, and three layers of blue ripples spread out. Each layer of spirit energy was stronger than the last, and they stacked, layer by layer, like sea water gushing towards Qin Lie.

“Bang!”

When the first wave had struck Qin Lie, he abruptly shuddered and his complexion instantly paled.

He had used all of his energy to defend against the blue leaf that had fallen on his head, but he did not expect Du Haitian to attack yet again with another wave of spirit energy.

“Bang!”

Yet another ripple charged over, and Qin Lie’s figure suddenly burst backwards in retreat. His entire face was bright red, and he very nearly spat out a mouth of fresh blood clogged in his throat.

This rippling wave was twice as strong as the first!

“Wave Force! Third Layer!” Du Haitian suddenly let out a cold smile.

“Bang!”

The nearly invisible third layer of the wave exploded like an avalanche towards Qin Lie before he could stand still.

Finally, Qin Lie could not take it anymore as he was thrown backwards like an arrow while blood spraying out of his mouth.

“Boom!”

After he landed on his feet, his face turned from healthy red to pale white. It was as if his spirit had turned sluggish in one go.

At the brightly lit windows on both sides of the street, the observers were all silent.

Everyone could see that Qin Lie was far weaker than Du Haitian, both in terms of combat experience and the refinement and wealth of spirit energy.

Du Haitian’s “Wave Force” struck the dead center of Qin Lie’s chest; his wild rush was stopped dead in its tracks as he flew back while spitting blood.

It was as if he had lost the ability to fight in an instant.

“You’ve only just entered the Natal Opening Realm and opened your first Natal Palace, yet you dare challenge me? You really are overestimating yourself.” Du Haitian’s tone was unusually calm as he held the Blue Leaf Sword. “Have you not heard that I’ve already opened six Natal Palaces? I have six times your power. There no doubt what the outcome of this battle will be because you cannot threaten me in anyway whatsoever.”

When he was almost in front of Qin Lie, he suddenly lowered his voice. “Do you really think I’m afraid to kill you? You must remember that I am the Vice Pavilion Master of Nebula Pavilion. Even if I did kill you, Ye Yangqiu would not dare to take any action against me, especially when he can hardly protect himself right now!”

The killing intent in his eyes were thick, and the Blue Leaf Sword in his hands shone with bright light, and many more blue leaves flew out yet again.

“Run Qin Lie!” Tu Ze screamed from the other side, “He’s going to kill you! He’s really going to kill you!”

“Run!” Zhuo Qian also cried out.

Unfortunately, the hall masters and several high rank martial practitioners under Du Haitian’s command had completely surrounded them, preventing them from lending Qin Lie a helping hand.

They could only cry out loudly in warning.

The two sides’ of Martial practitioners on the streets from all kinds of forces were all leaning against the window and looking down, staring as Du Haitian closed in on Qin Lie, step by step.

They could see that he intended to murder Qin Lie from his eyes, and almost all of them, with absolute confidence, believed that Du Haitian would kill him.

—This was because he was the Vice Pavilion Master of Nebula Pavilion.

“I know you would dare to kill me.” Qin Lie wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and suddenly stood up. With a pale face, he watched Du Haitian close in, one step at a time, and his eyes shone with the color of madness. “I’ll be waiting right here for you to kill me! Come on! Du Haitian, I’ll be standing right here, so are you going to show me how you’re going to kill me!?”

He waved the wooden sculpture in his right hand and reconstructed blazing electricity; blocking the falling blue leaves one after another.

His left hand was hidden inside his sleeves as he quietly grabbed a Terminator Profound Bomb and prepared himself.

As if noticing something, Du Haitian suddenly stopped his footsteps and coldly said, “Oh? Trying to bring me down with you?”

He no longer walked forward. Du Haitian shook his head and waved his sword about in the air.

A thick wave of spirit energy suddenly formed into yet another “Wave Force.” He intended to kill Qin Lie from a distance.

Qin Lie cursed at Du Haitian for being careful, and as he saw that the “Wave Force” was about to be formed yet again, he had no choice but to turn to the side and quickly dodge, afraid that the three waves of "Wave Force" would strike him yet again.

He did not dare to activate the Terminator Profound Bomb he held in his left hand with thunder energy right now, so he had to put it aside for the moment.

Qin Lie had thought that after withstanding a “Wave Force” with Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body and displaying the signs of weakness, he would be able to attract Du Haitian over and attack.

Then, he would activate the Terminator Profound Bomb and, with its terrific explosion, instantly murder Du Haitian...

He had this perfect plan in his heart long ago, yet he didn’t expect Du Haitian to be this careful despite obviously holding the upper hand in this situation.

After suffering a direct blow from the “Wave Force,” he was also fearful on the inside when he saw that it was about to come at him again. Without any other choice, he could only avoid it for the moment.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Three dull blasts came from the stone wall Qin Lie moved away from, and after the waves of the “Wave Force” made contact with it, the thick stone wall abruptly collapsed.

On both sides, the expressions of all the watching martial practitioners from Drunken Fragrance Garden and Bright Moon Tower changed slightly.

“Looks like this person is about to break through to the late stage of the Natal Opening Realm,” Seven Fiends Valley’s Li Zhongzheng exclaimed in surprise.

Lu Li too nodded a little. “From the looks of it, all six of his Natal Palaces should be completely filled. As expected, this person did not become the Vice Pavilion Master of Nebula Pavilion through plotting and scheming alone. He does have corresponding power to function as his base.”

“I’m a bit impressed by Qin Lie’s courage now.” Li Zhongzheng sneered, “A brat who just entered the Natal Opening Realm and had only formed a single Natal Palace actually challenged an enemy with all six Natal Palaces filled…”

He paused for a second before shaking his head. “It is as Du Haitian had said; what an overconfident and reckless fool!”

“Na Nuo, do you think that fellow Qin Lie… can summon heavenly lightning to fall from the skies just like when we were at the stone forest?” Over at Water Moon Sect, Little Sparrow lowered her voice and quietly asked as she watched Qin Lie escaping from Du Haitian’s "Wave Force", “If he could summon a lightning strike like last time, then he may have a real chance at victory.”

“The last time he only managed to cause a natural anomaly because he happened to break through to the Natal Opening Realm and because he was cultivating the power of thunder.” Na Nuo too suppressed her voice while standing at the window. “Now that he has broken through already, it shouldn’t be possible for a miracle to happen again. Otherwise, he would have summon the thunder and lightning long ago. Why would he need to make himself look this bad?”

“That true.” Little Sparrow sighed softly. “Qin Lie destroyed the Soul Devouring Beast back at the stone forest. You can say that he saved all of us. I kinda don’t want to see him in trouble…”

Na Nuo nodded. “It’s a bit unrealistic, but I also wish for him to live.”

“Qin Lie, you think to challenge me with just this?” Du Haitian swung the Blue Leaf Sword as deep blue leaves scattered across the air and fell on top of Qin Lie’s head.

Continuously channeling Heavenly Thunder Eradication, Qin Lie unleashed the electricity inside the wooden sculpture to destroy the deep blue leaves while dodging in an incredibly awkward manner.

—While he was dodging Du Haitian’s "Wave Force" sneak attack.

He was also looking for an opportunity to close in on Du Haitian.

However, as if reading his thoughts, Du Haitian kept distance between them and stopped him from closing in throughout the fight. “You’re trying to severely injure me before you die, aren’t you? I’ve fought for so many years, and I have seen all kinds of opponents. How can I be hurt by the likes of you?”

Sucking in a deep breath, Du Haitian’s face displayed impatience. “Let me see how much longer you can dodge!”

A terrific wave of spirit energy emanated from Du Haitian’s body. Suddenly, the Blue Leaf Sword’s light abruptly brightened, and tens of deep blue leaves suddenly flew out and drifted over to Qin Lie from every direction.

“Each leaf will deplete a portion of your energy. Show me how your single Natal Palace of energy can compete with my six Natal Palaces!” Du Haitian yelled coldly.

“Clap clap clap!”

Blue leaves that covered the sky fell down and exploded upon contact with the electricity formed by the wooden sculpture. Every time a leaf fluttered against it, Qin Lie’s energy would decrease by a small amount.

As Du Haitian had said, since he had used thunder and lightning energy to form the electricity, every time he destroyed a leaf, he would deplete a portion of his own energy.

As of now, he had already expended three fifths of the thunder and lightning energy inside in the Natal Palace within his dantian’s spirit sea.

Seeing that the sky filled with blue leaves came at him yet again, Qin Lie’s heart darkened as he finally understood that Du Haitian, with his own wealth of energy, was using his weakness against him and was depleting his energy. After that, Du Haitian would be able to easily finish him off.

“Miss, it appears that someone is fighting on the streets.” At the southwest corner of the street, a group of two was heading towards Commerce Street under the moonlight. One of them heard the vibrations of spirit energy and had suddenly pointed it out.

He was Liang Zhong.

Naturally, the person he called Miss was Xie Jingxuan of Dark Asura Hall’s Department of Foreign Affairs.

Both of them had just entered Icestone City before night had fallen. They were just about to depart for Li’s Shop to see if there were any new Spirit Gathering Boards to purchase.

The matter in the Arctic Mountain Range was done; the martial practitioners and spirit beast king had formed a new contract, and the Soul Devouring Beast was also dead. Their quest this time had ended smoothly.

They were also planning to return to Dark Asura Hall the next morning.

“Today, Yuan Tianya, is at Nebula Pavilion, and Liu Yuntao has taken over the position of Pavilion Master of Nebula Pavilion. Who is stupid enough to fight inside the city at this time?” Xie Jingxuan whispered as her slick eyebrows locked up with curiosity blooming inside her heart. She said, “Let’s go and have a look.”

Under the night sky, the two people were like two bolts of cold lightning. After a few flashes, they suddenly arrived and stood at the corner of the street.

“It’s Qin Lie!” Liang Zhong exclaimed softly as his expression turned complicated all of a sudden. He nodded and said, “Du Haitian and Liu Yuntao had sacrificed the Ling Family clansmen as fodder, so it is natural that Qin Lie would become enraged. But to think that he dares to challenge Du Haitian on the streets. Has he truly gone insane?”

After a pause, Liang Zhong frowned deeply and continued, “He lost. He’s going to be killed by Du Haitian, and even if he won, he would not be able to kill Du Haitian without being labeled as a traitor. The whole city will hunt him down. No matter how you look at it, he doesn’t benefit from this whatsoever. Why is he acting so irrational?”

Garbed in white, Xie Jingxuan stood like a ghost at the corner of the streets while staring indifferently at the Qin Lie as he unceremoniously dodged.

After a while, she shook her head and commented, “The difference between the two of them is too large. Unless he can summon the heavenly lightning to fall once more, he will surely die.”