Spirit Realm

It wasn’t hard to analyze a memory. For an artificer who was well versed in the inscription of spirit diagrams like Qin Lie, the task of analyzing memories was much simpler.

Gripping the Memory Fragment Crystal, a wisp of Qin Lie’s mind consciousness slipped into the crystal as if entering a spirit board or artifact. His mind was like a chain that reached straight to the center of the Memory Fragment Crystal. With it, he touched the bright yellow spots inside.

“Bang!”

One of the yellow spots shattered and strips of memories were displayed inside his mind like scattered, flowing lights.

Each one of these bright yellow spots were related to the most important things in this Horned Demon elite’s life. The moment Qin Lie disturbed them, the strips of memories contained inside would gush out and form many images and scenes.

Qin Lie focused his mind, closed his eyes and continuously knocked against the bright yellow spots. This way, he could see many different scenes and many slivers of life experiences.

This Horned Demon clansman was called Kun Sen. He was born in a small normal tribe of the Horned Demon Race and received combat training from a young age.

The elders of the Horned Demon Race would gather all the children and teach them the cultivation arts and combat skills of the Nether Realm. At a very young age, they were given tasks in the mountains outside the clan to hunt nether beasts and accumulate combat experience.

Kun Sen’s talents weren’t particularly extraordinary but he put a lot of effort into cultivation. He put all of his efforts into cultivating with almost no time for pleasure.

His hardworking behavior was gradually acknowledged by the elders of the clan and, as he grew older, his powers steadily improved.

When he grew his second curved horn, he was arranged to participate in the Nether Battlefield and fight against the Scarlet Tide Continent’s martial practitioners who were stationed there… he had experienced countless bloody battles.

Many new sceneries were born from every battle and, through each one, he was able to grasp the essence of combat.

He was gradually improving himself.

The elders of the Horned Demon Race said that their native land had been occupied by strangers and that they were exiled to the Nether Realm—that the Spirit Realm and Scarlet Tide Continent were their homes...

In Kun Sen’s eyes, the humans of the Scarlet Tide Continent were evil, crazy, and disgusting.

They had occupied the world that originally belonged to them and exiled them to this place. They had even set up all kinds of defenses and prohibited them from returning to the Scarlet Tide Continent, depriving them of the chance to step onto their native land ever again. That was why they hated every human from the Scarlet Tide Continent and sought only to break through their defenses and march out of the Nether Battlefield.

For this objective, countless clansmen had died on the Nether Battlefield. Warriors that had grown up and cultivated alongside him remained in the Nether Battlefield forever as corpses.

He had even loved a Horned Demon girl before but she was killed and beheaded at the Nether Battlefield.

He hated all of mankind. He had but one obsession in his heart—to slaughter his way to the Scarlet Tide Continent and murder every single human.

This was their tribe’s and the Horned Demon Race’s ultimate goal.

To achieve this goal, every generation worked hard, accumulated their strength, and charged the Nether Battlefield again and again.

They would never retreat.

Gripping the Memory Fragment Crystal and knocking into one bright yellow spot after another, Qin Lie activated many clumps of memories and watched the scenes play out before him.

Gradually, he had the illusion that he himself was Kun Sen. He could feel the same powerful feelings present in the memories—those of the Horned Demon Race were also high rank living beings who experienced love, anger, sadness and joy; they had their own ideals and desires.

Other than appearance and cultivation methods, this Horned Demon martial practitioner called Kun Sen was not very different from the humans of the Scarlet Tide Continent.

The scenes changed and played in his mind continuously. He didn’t know how long had passed since he had activated all of the bright yellow spots, analyzing memories until the Memory Fragment Crystal no longer shone.

Yet he still gripped the Memory Fragment Crystal in a trance.

It was as if he was still immersed in Kun Sen’s world and was unable to pull himself away. It was as if he could still feel the influence of Kun Sen’s life.

Song Tingyu did not say anything from the moment Qin Lie gripped the Memory Fragment Crystal. Instead, she simply watched him quietly.

She could sense incredibly intense mind fluctuations from Qin Lie’s body. She knew that Qin Lie’s mind had gone deep into the Memory Fragment Crystal and that he was experiencing Kun Sen’s memories and life experiences.

A strange smile appeared on her exquisite face. Her beautiful eyes glittered as she stared intently at Qin Lie’s expression, catching every wrinkle, every strain, every fear, every joy, and every sadness on his face...

After a very, very long time, Qin Lie opened his eyes as if he had walked out from another time and space. His eyes were devoid of emotion.

There was no longer any light in the Memory Fragment Crystal. No memory fragments remained.

“Return the Memory Fragment Crystal to me.” Song Tingyu suddenly extended her hand. There was even a handkerchief covering it—this was to avoid touching the saliva again.

Qin Lie subconsciously returned the Memory Fragment Crystal to her. He was still absentminded. The endless scenes appeared and transitioned so clearly in his head—these were Kun Sen’s life experiences.

“Qin Lie!” Song Tingyu exclaimed softly.

As if someone had poured a bucket of water over his head, a gentle and clear energy reached straight into his mind and consciousness as if to sweep it clean of doubt.

He suddenly shuddered, a strange light in his eyes.

Then he finally awoke and looked towards Song Tingyu. His expression was complicated as he said, “I think I saw Kun Sen’s life. It’s as if I had experienced everything that he had. Just now, I felt like I was a member of the Horned Demon Race, and that I was fighting hard for the Horned Demon Race’s ultimate ideal…”

“Kun Sen?” Song Tingyu smiled lightly. “That’s the name of that Horned Demon clansman?”

“Mn,” Qin Lie nodded and said with a strange tone. “This evil race also has flesh and blood, soul and emotion; ideals and desires for the future…”

Song Tingyu’s expression turned serious. “Every high rank living creature and intelligent life has everything you said. The nature of the evil races of the Nether Realm isn’t all too different from ours. The only difference is our appearances, the martial way we cultivate, the our bodies…”

Qin Lie looked at her with surprise. “You’ve analyzed a Horned Demon’s memories before?”

“I didn’t need to analyze one to know that there’s no real difference between us and them. This is because I’ve fought against them on the Nether Battlefield before. I know they are intelligent and I know their strength,” Song Tingyu said softly.

“They seek to fight their way into Scarlet Tide Continent, Spirit Realm and… the native land in their hearts. They believe that the land we’re living on is their native land and that our ancestors exiled them to Nether Realm, laying down all kinds of defenses and forbidding them from returning their native land forever…” Qin Lie said quietly.

“Some of the things he believed are correct and some are not. All of the things he knew and learned came from the Horned Demon elder. That is how they raise their warriors—through brainwashing.” Song Tingyu smiled.

“What is correct? And what isn’t?” Qin Lie frowned.

“You need to experience some of these matters yourself. You need to understand them on your own. These experiences are also part of cultivating your martial way and something that you must go through in order to hone yourself further. Gradually, you will come to realize the truth,” Song Tingyu said very seriously.

After staying quiet for a while, Qin Lie no longer asked questions and nodded, saying, “I found out the direction of the Nether Battlefield.”

“That’s good!” Song Tingyu looked motivated. “The main reason I had you analyze the memories was to find out the location of the Nether Battlefield. We can’t go through the evil nether passageway right now, so we can only return to the Scarlet Tide Continent through the Nether Battlefield.”

“It’s in that direction. It’s very far from here.” Qin Lie recalled Kun Sen’s memories and pointed.

From their location, one would see a huge mountain in the direction he had pointed. The gigantic mountain stabbed straight into the clouds, standing tall amidst the thick, black nether demonic energy.

“That’s fine as long as we know where we’re going.” Song Tingyu said confidently.

After that, the duo then headed in that direction. Inside the forest, they carefully avoided the Horned Demon Race’s renewed attacks and inched little by little towards the Nether Battlefield.

For the next few days, images would appear in Qin Lie’s mind constantly—they were the Kun Sen’s life experiences.

These impossibly clear images were sometimes torture to him. It would cause him to grow confused about his own identity, a condition that was gradually growing worse...

At times he would suddenly feel hatred and his gaze towards Song Tingyu would shine with murderous intent. He would feel an intense desire to kill Song Tingyu.

Today, he actually failed to control the hatred in his heart and attacked!

He had gathered his energy, covered himself in lightning, and attacked her while she was recovering using spirit stones.

Song Tingyu did not even open her eyes when she suddenly lifted her left hand that was covered in rainbow light.

“Boom!”

His charging body was blasted away by the rainbow light. He flew for tens of meters before he finally smashed into the ground.

He had fallen into a cluster of shrubbery and was entangled tightly by bloodthirsty trees. They nearly strangled him to death.

It took him a lot of effort before he managed to struggle out of the shrubbery. His rationality had also returned. Then he quietly sat down and looked somewhat surprised and uncertain about Song Tingyu.

After a while, Song Tingyu regained her strength through the spirit stones. She opened her eyes and smiled cheerfully at Qin Lie. She wasn’t angered and instead explained to him in an understanding tone, “Before your Soul Lake forms, you will see countless manifestations and feel many confusing thoughts. Heh, that Kun Sen’s life has helped you walk and experience the path to Manifestation. It is simply his being of a foreign race that his experiences affected you somewhat, causing your emotions to become unstable at times.”

She seemed to know from the beginning that Qin Lie would experience such a condition. She spoke confidently and casually. “Relax. Once your Soul Lake is formed, those confusing feelings will not trouble you any longer.”

“Soul Lake?” Qin Lie was shocked.

“Mn.” Song Tingyu’s smile was charming. “The Soul Lake can be considered a soul mirror that reflects the manifestation of life. You will be able to see yourself more clearly and view the nine Natal Palaces directly. You will be able to see the changes of the energy within you, your flesh, your blood, and every minuscule bit of yourself…”

After pausing for a moment, Song Tingyu concluded, “The formation of the Soul Lake means that you have entered the Manifestation Realm. The reason you see illusions in your mind, why your emotions have became unstable, is because you are about to form your Soul Lake.”

Qin Lie was dumbfounded. After pausing for a moment, he bowed deeply to Song Tingyu and said with sincerity, “Thank you for allowing me to analyze the memories within the Memory Fragment Crystal, Miss Song.”