Spirit Realm

A ray of crimson, bloody light suddenly erupted from the direction of Flame Volcano and shot towards them. In the blink of an eye, it landed in front of them like a setting sun.

A heaven-shocking, earth-shaking, blood fiend aura seemed to instantaneously envelope Fire District. A feeling of fear emerged within all of the practitioners moving within Fire District as they suddenly felt as if they were drowning within a suffocating sea of blood.

Wielding his sword and startled, Xie Zhizhang looked in the direction of the ray of bloody light, his face filled with shock.

He could clearly sense that the ray of bloody light was coming for him!

“HEE HEE! HEE HEE!”

A strange, crazed laughter echoed around in every direction, nearly causing everyone’s eardrums to explode from the reverberations.

In the empty sky, a stream of bloodwater condensed into a long river. Carrying a crazed, bloodthirsty, and violent aura, it charged directly towards Xie Zhizhang.

The blood colored river was extremely wide, and bubbles would occasionally erupt from within. Its intense stench of blood was enough to cause cowardly practitioners to suffer a mental breakdown on the spot.

A mind shattering, soul extinguishing, tide of mental power violently erupted from within the river of blood and directly entered Xie Zhizhang’s spirit sea!

In an instant, Xie Zhizhang’s mind felt as if it had been completely occupied by the blood colored water. Everything before him turned blood red.

He lost control for a moment.

And in that very moment, the river of blood converged atop his body, enveloping it in its entirety.

Xue Li’s ear piercing cackles suddenly began to emanate out from within Xie Zhizhang’s body. It shrieked out from within his mind and roared out from within every drop of blood in his body!

Lang Xie emerged from within the ruins, still wielding his short spear. His body was covered in blood, and his blood-red eyes looked directly at Xie Zhizhang.

“You want to use him to recover your blood energy?” Xue Li’s cackle emanated out from within Xie Zhizhang, “You do know that once you truly taste blood, there is no turning back, right?”

Traces of struggle flashed within Lang Xie’s scarlet as blood eyes as he hesitated.

During the time he hesitated, Xie Zhizhang had been wrapped into a Blood Cocoon, and Xue Li’s figure had slowly condensed from the bloodwater.

Xue Li looked at Lang Xie and said, “You are different from You Hongzhi. After he walked astray, he discovered the path that he was now on also had quite the scenery so he deviated further and further. As for you, you have always been on the right path up till now…”

The struggle within Lang Xie’s eyes became increasingly obvious.

“Consuming human blood can allow you to quickly recover and increase your strength. However, you will gradually lose your mind.”

Xue Li’s expression was indifferent as he continued, “Although your advancement will be slower if you concentrate on cultivating your own lifeblood essence, your lifeblood essence will be more pure and devoid of filth and impurities. It will allow you to always be able to realize yourself and always be in control.”

“The reason my Blood Fiend Sect ended up splitting was because too many people gradually began to deviate onto the wrong path. They chose to walk on the path that You Hongzhi, Blood Shadow, and Liang Yangzu chose. It was because the vast number of them couldn’t withstand the temptation of quickly increasing their strength which consuming blood provided!”

Lang Xie continued breathing heavily, focusing on controlling himself.

His body was extremely weak, and he was very clear on the fact that if he were to consume the lifeblood essence of Xie Zhizhang at this time, not only would he quickly recover, there would also be a chance for him to directly breakthrough into the next realm.

With the current situation where Armament Sect was on the precipice between life and death, he needed the power! He needed to quickly become strong, and thus, he desired Xie Zhizhang’s fresh blood. Smelling the pungent scent of blood in the air, it was quite hard for him to resist.

“Whether or not you consume human blood, it is up for you to decide.” Xue Li watched Lang Xie. He suddenly waved his hand, and Xie Zhizhang’s blood cocoon encased body was thrown directly in front of Lang Xie.

Lang Xie’s breathing became more intense as his eyes became increasingly horrific, as if he had turned into a blood consuming beast.

However, after an extremely long period of time, Lang Xie gradually returned to his senses. He slowly closed his eyes and said, “Senior, please take this junior away.”

“Are you sure?” asked Xue Li, cackling.

“I am,” replied Lang Xie, gritting his teeth.

Xue Li silently nodded. He picked up Xie Zhizhang and seemingly turned into a ray of blood as his figure flew back towards Flame Volcano.

Armament Sect.

Within Tang Siqi’s cavern, stream after stream of lava leapt out like flame dragons from within the channel, releasing an extremely shocking heat.

Seven differently sized furnaces were currently being heated by lava. From within, the sound of bubbles popping incessantly echoed out.

Qin Lie’s body was covered in sweat, as if he had been drenched by rain. He was quickly moving in the center of these seven furnaces. One spirit material after another, he would take them from a mountainous pile and throw them into the various furnaces. His extremely rapid pace never slowed at all.

At the entrance, quite a few Armament Sect disciples were still delivering various spirit materials and spirit stones. They were all materials that were needed to forge Terminator Profound Bombs.

Tang Siqi and Lian Rou stood outside, blocking the entrance, while also directing the outer sect disciples as they delivered their spirit materials. They also paid close attention to Qin Lie’s movements.

In order to forge the Terminator Profound Bombs, Qin Lie had needed another cave as Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan were currently occupying his. Furthermore, as the condition of his cave was slightly lacking, it wasn’t suitable for forging multiple things simultaneously.

Tang Siqi’s cavern had seven furnaces, and, as he had also smelted there before, he was very familiar with its layout. Thus, he had temporarily borrowed her cavern.

At this moment, an extremely strange luster emerged on Tang Siqi’s alluringly red face which was illuminated by the flames.

—It seemed as if she had figured something out as she seemed to have cheered up again.

“Siqi, Qin Lie and Ling Yushi might not be able to truly get together again. Think about it, Ling Yushi is part of Dark Fiend Valley and the disciple of Jiu Liuyu. Furthermore, she greatly respects that old hag…

“Think about our Armament Sect’s current clash with the five forces. Lu Li has been captured, as well as Shi Jingyun. Furthermore, Jiu Liuyu is still leading the attack on one of our city gates. With these kinds of conditions, many problems might arise between Qin Lie and Ling Yushi.

“Just patiently observe. There will definitely be some conflict between them. Daresay, they might not be able to get through it.

“Siqi, you can compete in these aspects. It’s not like you are lacking anywhere compared to Ling Yushi, are you afraid of losing?”

“……”

Tang Siqi thought back over Lian Rou’s advice. Looking in the direction of the busily smelting Qin Lie, her eyes gradually became firmer.

“We are the better pair. When we were forging, we had this kind of tacit understanding. This kind of tacit understanding could only have been reached if our hearts and souls were one!” Tang Siqi’s little hands crumpled into fists as she silently encouraged her self.

“Tang Siqi, I can’t manage by myself, could you come over and help?” suddenly asked Qin Lie.

“Sure!” Tang Siqi’s eyes brightened.

The sky became dark.

At the city gates to Armament Sect’s Fire District, Dark Asura Hall’s Xie Jingxuan, Cao Xuanrui, and the rest were scattered around the gates.

Under Cao Xuanrui’s command, his subordinates would occasionally attack the gates for a while before quickly withdrawing.

He had respected Xie Jingxuan’s suggestion.

Xie Jingxuan had explicitly told him that Xie Zhizhang was currently fighting with Lang Xie in Fire District, implying that he should stay his hand for now.

Thus, Cao Xuanrui didn’t invest too much energy as he patiently waited to see the results of the battle between Xie Zhizhang and Lang Xie. Only then would he decide on what to do next.

“If that terrifying, fiendish blood aura from earlier was from Lang Xie, then….” whispered Liang Zhong from atop the Profound Nether Beast.

When Xue Li had charged over from Flame Volcano, the terrifying, fiendish blood aura which exuded from his body had covered the greater half of the city. Even Liang Zhong, Xie Jingxuan, and Cao Xuanrui, who were outside the city, had felt it.

Currently, the blood fiend aura had disappeared. Liang Zhong pondered for a while, then said, “Miss, there’s still no news. Could something have happened?”

Xie Jingxuan furrowed her brows. Under the gazes of Liang Zhong and Cao Xuanrui, she stroked the necklace atop her neck, trying to contact Xie Zhizhang.

She tried for quite a while. Xie Jingxuan’s expression gradually became grim as she finally said, “Second Uncle hasn’t replied.”

The looks on everyone’s faces simultaneously changed.

Also at this time, Ji Liu, Jiu Liuyu, Feng Lin, and the rest of the people belonging to Seven Fiends Valley, Cloud Sky Mountain, and Purple Mist Sea all gathered together.

They had all withdrawn from their respective gates outside of the Wind, Earth, and Water Districts. After withdrawing, they had come to the gate at Fire District because they had heard that the practitioner from Profound Heaven Alliance was here.

They hoped that Xie Zhizhang would be able to rescue their captured people so that they could boldly breakthrough the gates.

“The finger of our Seven Fiends Valley’s Shi Jingyun has been cut off!”

“Wu Tuo’s finger was cut off!”

“Su Ziying’s finger was cut off!”

After Jiu Liuyu, Ji Liu, and Feng Lin arrived, they immediately explained their problems to Xie Jingxuan. Their expressions were all gloomy and cold.

“My second uncle hasn’t responded. I don’t know the situation within the city at all.” Xie Jingxuan’s expression slightly changed. She hadn’t expected that Armament Sect would dare make such vicious moves. At this time, she gradually began to feel something was off.

Also at this time, several more ghost birds returned from the direction of Flame Volcano. They landed on Liang Zhong’s shoulder.

Liang Zhong intently listened, then after a while, suddenly became shocked as he shouted, “Qin Lie is at Armament Sect! My birds recognized Qin Lie, and they saw him there!”

“Qin Lie?”

“Qin Lie!”

Upon hearing Liang Zhong’s words, Xie Jingxuan, Zhuo Qian, Tu Mo, Tu Ze, and the rest all became shocked, yet doubtful and uncertain.

“Who is Qin Lie?” asked someone.

“Qin Lie of Icestone City!” replied another.

“The fellow from Ling Town…” Jiu Liuyu snorted and said, “This brat is at Armament Sect, so what? He was originally my disciple’s fiance, so four years ago in Ling Town, I was able to glance at him from afar from within my carriage. He’s at most just an ordinary brat.”

“He killed Du Haitain and the entire Du Family!” Tu Ze shouted.

“He was just a Natal Opening Realm practitioner, what can killing him prove?” asked Jiu Liuyu with deep disdain.

“This Qin Lie isn’t much, and is not worth mentioning,” interrupted Ji Liu. “The important thing is where that owner of that Li’s Shop or whatever is. Is he currently at Armament Sect? As far as I know, in front of this fellow called Li Mu, not even Yuan Tianya dared to move recklessly at that time. This person is the true issue!”

“Mn, Li Mu will require our attention. As for a Nebula Opening Realm practitioner like Qin Lie, we don’t have to care about him at all,” said Feng Lin, emphasizing the importance of Liang Zhong’s words.

Everyone looked to Liang Zhong, all hoping to learn if there was any news of Li Mu. Outside of Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian, the rest didn’t care about Qin Lie and completely forgot about him.

Under everyone’s gazes, Liang Zhong’s expression became strange as he heavily said, “The ghost birds didn’t sense anyone like Li Mu. Thus, I don’t know whether or not he is at Armament Sect. However, there is something else that I have to tell you all. According to my ghost birds, the person who cut off the fingers of Wu Tuo, Shi Jingyun, and Su Ziying was Qin Lie!”

As these words resounded, everyone’s expressions changed.

“Qi-Qin Lie? How could he dare to do such a thing? Just who is he?” shouted Jiu Liuyu in anger.

“How come he is the one calling the shots?” asked Xie Jingxuan, also confused.

Liang Zhong bitterly shook his head. “I don’t know either. According to my ghost birds, he even did it in front of Armament Sect’s sect master and three great reverends. I’m afraid that fellow has quite some status within Armament Sect. It’s strange, quite strange…”

“Qin Bing is Qin Lie! In the eyes of Ying Xingran and the three great reverends, he is the future of Armament Sect,” suddenly interrupted Yi Yuan. He had a complex look on his face.