Spirit Realm

The sky was about to brighten.

All those Armament Sect outer sect members who weren’t good at fighting had gone up Flame Volcano a long time ago.

There was only a small portion of outer sect elders and Blood Spear martial practitioners left at the outer sect. They were gathered at the back courtyard and did not dare to take a step out of the sect. All of them waited in silence.

Waiting, for Lang Xie and Feng Rong to come back.

Inside an artifact forging room at the outer sect that had been long deserted, a strange noise suddenly rang from an old and broken bronze tripod.

“This should be the artifact forging room. No one has used this room for many years, so we should be safe to go out now,” Tang Siqi whispered quietly inside the tripod.

“Alright, let’s move.” Qin Lie’s head popped out of the bronze tripod before he jumped out first. Then, he extended a hand and pulled Tang Siqi out as well.

Once the duo appeared inside the dusty artifact forging hall, they met each other’s glances once with odd expressions.

Qin Lie adjusted himself and maintained his cold demeanor again. His expression turned indifferent.

Tang Siqi bit her lips softly while her seductive and attractive eyes rolled about once. Suddenly, she chuckled softly.

Qin Lie’s pretentious expression made her feel a little funny on the inside. It made her feel that Qin Lie had been using his cold mask to hide his embarrassment this entire time.

The fake mountain cave and the stone passage. Those two charming moments… had pulled the duo much closer to each other.

Tang Siqi had always enjoyed teasing people. She had never forgotten that matter from a year ago. Now that she had found the opportunity, she would tease Qin Lie from time to time...

She was actually beginning to take the initiative.

Her beautiful eyes rippled as she smiled and said, “Are you ready to go out?”

Qin Lie suddenly grew anxious. The moment Tang Siqi had said this, he couldn’t help but send out his soul consciousness to search around and scout for surrounding movements.

“Eh?”

The outer sect elder, Cheng Ping, nearby sensed it acutely when Qin Lie was floating about with his soul.

“Someone is inside the artifact forging room!” Cheng Ping suddenly cried out softly after being stunned for a moment.

Almost instantly, he and two other Blood Spear martial practitioners rushed towards the artifact forging room and stopped at the abandoned artifact forging room that had been turned into a store room.

He gestured to the two Blood Spear martial practitioners with his hand and had them spread out in preparation to flank the opponent. Then, he said in a low tone, “Who’s inside?”

The moment Cheng Ping’s voice came up, Qin Lie and Tang Siqi both let out a sigh of relief.

They were afraid that the outer sect of Armament Sect had already been conquered by the five great forces and were worried that the moment they appeared, they would see Dark Shadow Tower and Dark Asura Hall’s killers roaming everywhere.

If that were really the case, then they would be walking right into the enemy’s hands and their own deaths.

“Elder Cheng? It’s me, Tang Siqi.”

“I’m Qin Bing.”

They both expressed their identities.

Cheng Ping was greatly caught by surprise as he exclaimed softly, “It really is the two of you? How did you come here?” He then gestured for the two Blood Spear martial practitioners to stand down.

The two men slowly withdrew the spirit artifacts in their hands.

Qin Lie and Tang Siqi walked out of the entrance filled with cobwebs above them and arrived in front of Cheng Ping.

“Qin Bing! Tang Siqi! It really is you two!” Cheng Ping was overjoyed.

“Old Cheng?” Tong Jihua’s voice came from afar.

“It’s alright. Qin Bing and Tang Siqi are back!” Cheng Ping cried out.

“Ah?” Tong Jihua was overjoyed as well.

Before long Tong Jihua had rushed over from afar while leading five Blood Spear martial practitioners with him. He looked at Tang Siqi in surprise and asked, “How did you come back? Where’s Yi Yuan and Lian Rou?”

Tang Siqi’s eyes darkened. “Yi Yuan and Sister Rou may not be coming back any longer.”

“Were they caught in an accident?” Tong Jihua’s expression was heavy.

“What is going on?” Cheng Ping asked softly.

Tang Siqi detailed the situation outside and pointed out Di Shijiu and Yuan Tianya’s appearance after Lang Xie and Feng Rong had arrived at the scene, Blood Shadow’s might, and the matter’s relation with the Blood Spears. She had elaborated on the things that had happened that night.

Tong Jihua and Cheng Ping were greatly shocked by what they heard. Because of that, they would occasionally look at Qin Lie with great shock in their eyes.

To shatter Blood Shadow’s body with a spirit artifact, to trap Blood Shadow with the power of the earth, to fight Pang Feng and Lu Li afterwards and still successfully bring Tang Siqi back to the sect. Had he done this all by himself?

As outer sect elders, Tong Jihua and Cheng Ping knew very well how terrifying Pang Feng was. They had also heard of Lu Li’s might and could imagine the sheer terror Blood Shadow was.

In their eyes, Qin Lie’s difficult return to the sect through the rioting Armament City was practically unimaginable.

“What is the situation?” Qin Lie asked the situation over here.

“Very bad.” Cheng Ping sighed once and said, “Not a single man Blood Spear sent out came back after they were sent out. Lord Lang Xie and Feng Rong are both missing, and the many experts of the five great forces are right outside the sect entrance. They have locked down all exits with clear intentions of trapping us.

“We are lucky they have not attacked us. Otherwise, we would not be able to stop them at all,” Tong Jihua also laughed bitterly.

“How about the sect master and three great reverends?” Tang Siqi asked.

“They are at the peak of the mountain. They should be at a loss as well since they aren’t good at fighting after all.” Tong Jihua frowned deeply, “It is my mistake. I should not have told Yi Yuan about the matter. If it wasn’t for this, Lord Lang Xie would not have fallen into danger. If he could command Blood Spear, then we may still have a fighting chance.”

“It has nothing to do with you.” Qin Lie scowled, “According to Yi Yuan, the five great forces had planned to attack the sect for a long time. Even without me or the murder of Liang Shaoyang, they would’ve come sooner or later. My appearance had only accelerated the matter a little.”

“This place is not safe. Head up the mountain, I do not think the enemy will be going up for a while,” Cheng Ping said.

“Okay. We’ll go up first and see what the sect master and three great reverends have to say,” Tang Siqi nodded.

Qin Lie exited this artifact forging zone together with her and headed in the direction of Flame Volcano.

As the sky slowly brightened, the twelve spirit pattern pillars that were like the pillars of the heavens continued to stand tall at the plaza at the foot of Flame Volcano.

Qin Lie and Tang Siqi were walking right on top of the plaza and beneath the spirit pattern pillars.

When he passed by the twelfth spirit pattern pillar, Qin Lie’s footsteps grew slightly unsteady. He felt a little regretful that he was not able to understand the wonders of the final spirit pattern pillar.

He understood that the moment Armament Sect was gone, these twelve spirit pattern pillars would either be destroyed or split between the five great forces.

No matter what the situation was, these twelve spirit pattern pillars might not be here any longer.

Moreover, he would never have the opportunity to learn the mysteries of the final spirit pattern pillar. He would not be able to figure out what kind of magical spirit diagram was inscribed inside it.

It made him feel a little regretful.

That was why he had looked again at this final spirit pattern pillar one last time before he went up the mountain.

However, he suddenly froze after a deep glance.

He could smell a thick stench of blood!

This thick stench of blood actually originated from the spirit pattern pillar before him. It came from the pillar’s surface!

He had come to a complete halt. He frowned and stared deeply at the pictures of ancient world inscribed on this spirit pattern pillar,. he could see that the lines drawn on were actually dyed in fresh scarlet blood!

It was as if the magical lines on the spirit pattern pillars were formed from fresh blood!

This was definitely different from what he had seen before.

“Something’s not right!”

Qin Lie’s expression turned serious. After staring at it for a while, he suddenly sat down just like that.

He sat beneath the final spirit pattern pillar.

“Senior Sister Tang, please return to Flame Volcano first. I’m just going to sit here alone for a while. I will be done very soon,” Qin Lie said.

Tang Siqi had also stopped her footsteps at the front and turned back to look at him. Her expression was doubtful. “What’s wrong? Are you thinking of not giving up and attempting to unveil the secrets of the sect’s last treasure before the sect is destroyed?”

“Give me a little more time.” Qin Lie threw down his words and formed a wisp of mind consciousness. It slipped into the blood stained ancient glyphs as he began drawing slowly with his soul.

Before long the picture of ancient worlds on the last spirit pattern pillar suddenly came alive.

In Qin Lie’s eyes, it was as if a layer the color of blood had shrouded the life-like world on the pillar. It caused him to grow terribly fearful.

He tried once again with a wisp of mind consciousness to break inside it, to break through the barrier.

He smelled an even thicker stench of blood as an illusion was borne inside his mind; it was as if there was thick, fresh blood flowing inside the spirit pattern pillar...

Forcefully suppressing the discomfort in his mind, he abruptly rammed into the inner barrier with his wisp of consciousness!

Surprisingly, the barrier that had bounced his consciousness away at least ten times did not stop him this time. His wisp of consciousness had gone in very smoothly!

In the next moment, a small, blood stained space appeared inside his consciousness.

This was the world inside the spirit pattern pillar!

The sky was bloody, and the ground was dark red. This was a plaza, a plaza exactly the same as the one outside!

There were also twelve spirit pattern pillars here, and they were also inscribed with all sorts of magical and wondrous pictures. Those beautiful pictures wriggled slowly as if they had a mind of their own...

For example, the strange howls of the demons and monsters of the Celestial Sealing Demon Diagram were not voiceless, but earthshaking!

The heavenly rivers inside the Nine Winding River Diagram were like silver rivers flowing upwards to the sky. Clear water flowed slowly inside it.

The birds inside the Soaring Sky Birds Diagram had extended their wings and flew high in this bloody red space while continuously unleashing waves of amazing spirit energy.

……

The spirit diagram of the twelve spirit pattern pillars seemed to be filled with energy in this place as they covered the area beneath the bloody red sky.

It was an emaciated old man they were sealing underneath!

The old man’s head was lowered, and he was as thin as a skeleton wearing a human skin. Not a trace of blood could be seen in his entire body.

Twelve rusty chains connected the spirit pattern pillars on one side and his bag of bones on the other. At a glance, it was as if those chains had grown out of his body and was a part of him.

Each of the twelve spirit pattern pillars had a chain connected to his bones. The reason the spirit diagrams above the spirit pattern pillars were active was obviously to seal him.

On the plaza, the world inside the final spirit pattern pillar had actually shackled a ghastly old man inside it.

Qin Lie’s mind was shaken.

It was at this moment the bowing old man had raised his head suddenly. His white as paper face and scarlet as blood eyes let loose a most shocking light of blood!

“Who are you? Where is You Hongzhi? Why is he not here!” the old man yelled furiously while staring at Qin Lie.

Qin Lie’s wisp of consciousness seemed to be perfectly visible in his eyes. It was just a glance, but Qin Lie’s wisp of soul consciousness had actually broken down instantly and scattered into wisps of thin smoke.