Spirit Realm

“What brilliant opinion might you have on foreign races, Senior Xue Li? You have my full attention.”

When Xue Li had appeared and clarified his true realm, cultivation, and his origin as a place with Silver forces, Song Yu expressed the appropriate respect and seriousness.

There were only Copper forces on the Scarlet Tide Continent and the nearby Flowing Cloud and Heavenly Fate Continents. All of them had yet to reach the powerful rank of Silver.

Adding that to the fact that Xue Li had already attained the Nirvana Realm one thousand two hundred and thirty years ago, Song Yu had no other choice but to give him his utmost attention.

Qin Lie looked at Xue Li’s soul and felt his mind shake slightly. He too did not expect Xue Li’s original realm to be the Nirvana Realm.

The Nirvana Realm was legendary among the martial practitioners of the Scarlet Tide Continent, Flowing Cloud Continent, and Heavenly Fate Continent. If Xue Li was in peak condition, wouldn’t he be able to do anything he wanted on these continents?

Yet someone as powerful as Xue Li was sealed into the spirit pattern pillars by another person, and for one thousand two hundred and thirty years, no less! Just how powerful was the person who sealed him?

Many doubts flitted across his heart. Qin Lie’s expression gradually became heavy, and his gaze on Xue Li gained a hint of vigilance.

“On our side, foreign races are simply too common. Every force interacted with foreign races so intimately that you lot couldn’t possibly imagine them.” Xue Li’s blood shadow flickered like a flame as he said quietly, “Alliance Master Song, you have fought the Horned Demon Race of the Nether Realm for many years, but have you ever truly communicated with them before? Have you ever asked why they wanted to come to the Scarlet Tide Continent? Have you ever asked what they wanted to do, or truly sit down and talk with them at all?”

Song Yu’s expression was a little unnatural as he said dryly, “Our stance is the same as Eight Extreme Temple’s. From the very first time we discovered the evil race at the Nether Battlefield, our immediate action has been to stop and kill them mercilessly to prevent them from surfacing. This is the policy that my generation, my father’s generation, my grandfather’s generation, and the last few generations of temple masters of Eight Extreme Temple have upheld—we will not let a foreign race take a single step into the Scarlet Tide Continent!”

“So you’re saying that you’ve never communicated with them, then?” Xue Li chuckled.

“What is there to speak to them about?” Song Yu frowned.

“Actually, to many of the evil races of the Nether Realm, Spirit Realm is not a good place to cultivate. They are more used to the lightless environment of the Nether Realm, and the nether demonic energy of the Nether Realm is also the most suitable for them. Therefore, most races of the Nether Realm are not willing to live in Spirit Realm,” Xue Li explained.

“Then why have the people of the Horned Demon Race attacked the Nether Battlefield relentlessly for so many years just to set foot on the Scarlet Tide Continent?” Song Yu countered.

“Like I said, most races of the Nether Realm do not like Spirit Realm, but I didn’t say all of them.” Xue Li smiled. “Some evil races actually cultivated at certain special locations in Spirit Realm long ago. Those evil races saw these special locations in Spirit Realm as their homeland. There were items that their ancestors left for them—altars and secret scriptures containing their legacies…

“These special locations are actually places that our Spirit Realm’s greatest forces have purposely prepared for them. Those forces needed to borrow the power of the evil races for certain tasks, and they treat those evil races as their vassal forces... just like the relationship between your Profound Heaven Alliance and Seven Fiends Valley, Dark Asura Hall, and so on.”

Song Yu’s expression shook as he exclaimed softly, “Tame the evil races... have them obey our authority and serve us as their master?”

“According to my knowledge, there was a portion of powerful forces who did this when they faced weaker foreign races.” Xue Li nodded with a smile and continued, “But if it is a powerful foreign race that they cannot assimilate, then they would normally employ a more conservative method and cooperate with them instead.”

“Cooperate?” Song Yu’s eyes blinked.

“That’s right, cooperate.” Xue Li’s expression became serious as he suddenly asked, “Alliance Master Song, have you heard of the three spirit materials... the Nether Hell Demonic Fruit, Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus, and Black Jade Soul Essence?”

I’ve only heard of the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus. It is… supposedly a Heaven Grade spirit material. I am not sure about its exact effects.” Song Yu’s expression was doubtful. “What does the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus have to do with the Nether Realm?”

Xue Li did not answer immediately. Instead, he stared deeply at Song Yu before finally speaking, “More specifically, the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus is a Heaven Grade Three spirit material. Such a miraculous thing could only be bred in a Profound Yin Nether Sea. There are many uses to the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus, but I will only talk about one of them today.

“Alliance Master Song, if you one day reach the peak of the Fragmentation Realm and are about to ascend to the Nirvana Realm... if you are able to swallow a raw Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus during your ascension, then your soul will be protected by a lotus formed from profound yin energy. There will also be nine false souls capable of confusing the will of the heavens and assisting you in enduring a bit of the Nirvana Realm’s burning flame, giving your True Soul a momentary buffer… you understand what I mean, don’t you, Alliance Master Song?”

Xue Li’s words weren’t entirely clear. Both Qin Lie and Song Tingyu did not completely understand him.

However, Song Yu suddenly shook a great deal. This normally calm person had obviously lost some control over his emotions as he exclaimed, “Where can the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus be found?!”

The reason why Qin Lie and Song Tingyu did not quite understand Xue Li’s words was because their realms were not high enough.

Song Yu was different.

At the middle stage of the Fragmentation Realm, he knew very well what he would face upon breaking through to the Nirvana Realm.

Nirvana fire was something that could actually incinerate one’s True Soul. It was the flame of death that could instantly extinguish the entire soul of a peak Fragmentation Realm expert!

At least seven out of ten Fragmentation Realm experts had their True Souls burned to ash by the Nirvana flame when they tried breaking through to the Nirvana Realm!

Song Yu’s father, Xie Yaoyang’s grandfather, and Nie Yun’s uncles had all reached the peak of the Fragmentation Realm hundreds of years ago. They all attempted to ascend to the Nirvana Realm in Profound Heaven Alliance, but their True Souls were burned away by the Nirvana Fire and they perished.

People who were burned to death by Nirvana Fire would not even have the chance to restart their cultivation from the beginning. This was in, every sense of the word, the destruction of one’s soul, and Song Yu had seen with his own eyes exactly how terrible those people looked before they died...

Plenty of Song Yu’s seniors did not stay in Profound Heaven Alliance to ascend and suddenly vanished later on, never returning to Profound Heaven Alliance.

According to his own suspicions, those people had probably failed to escape the burning of the Nirvana Flame. They failed to ascend to the Nirvana Realm and no longer existed.

Now, hundreds of years later, Song Yu had also reached the Fragmentation Realm. He edged closer and closer to the late stage of the Fragmentation Realm and was not too far away from breaking through to the Nirvana Realm.

The Nirvana Fire had always been a dark spot in his heart. It was a demon in his heart that made him to eat and sleep poorly.

At this moment Xue Li suddenly told him that, if he could swallow a raw Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus before ascending, he would be able to endure less of the Nirvana Fire and enjoy a momentary buffer… How could he possibly stay calm?

“As I said earlier, the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus can only be grown in the Profound Yin Nether Sea, and the Profound Yin Nether Sea is in the Nether Realm!” Xue Li knew that Song Yu would be excited beyond words. He continued to explain while smiling, “What I mean is that only the Nether Realm has the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus, and it is one of the three treasures unique only to the Nether Realm. Furthermore, the Nether Hell Demonic Fruit and Black Jade Soul Essence are also spirit materials that only the Nether Realm possesses, and they all have their own miraculous uses. They have their own magical effects on our cultivation.”

“Please teach us, Senior Xue Li!” Song Yu’s eyes glittered.

“The Nether Hell Demonic Fruit, Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus, and Black Jade Soul Essence are called the three treasures of the Nether Realm. These three items only exist in the Nether Realm. Not only are they very helpful to the cultivation of evil races, they are even more beneficial for us.” Xue Li chuckled.

“The Nether Hell Demonic Fruit grows in Nether Realm’s Nine Soul Hell. This demonic fruit forms from the extraction of refined soul threads, culminating into a fruit after millions of years. The Nether Hell Demonic Fruit can become a martial practitioner’s second True Soul, giving a martial practitioner an extra soul separate from their original soul. This is the equivalent of having another life and is very precious as a result.

“Meanwhile, the Black Jade Soul Essence is the main material used to forge the Black Jade Soul Altar. Alliance Master Song, you have heard of the Black Jade Soul Altar… haven’t you?” Xue Li smiled and asked.

Song Yu nodded slightly in great shock. “The Imperishable Realm. The Black Jade Soul Altar is ranked fifth as one of the seven rarest soul altars!”

“Hehe, since Alliance Master Song knows this, then I will save my breath.” Xue Li nodded and said, “The Nether Hell Demonic Fruit, Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus, and Black Jade Soul Essence are called the three treasures of the Nether Realm. These three items are not only unique only to the Nether Realm, but also incredibly rare. Furthermore, there are also many spirit materials that cannot compete with these three in terms of rarity, but are just as useful to Netherpassage Realm, Fulfillment Realm, and Fragmentation Realm martial practitioners. Since there are too many, I will refrain from mentioning them one at a time.”

“Senior Xue Li, you’re saying that… the Horned Demon Race can obtain something like the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus?” Song Yu gradually calmed down, but there was the trace of a burning gleam in his eyes.

“You may not necessarily be able obtain them, but if you seek the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus... then you must go through them.” Xue Li laughed.

“What are the origins of the Ling Family? What relationship do they share with the evil races of the Nether Realm?” Song Yu looked to Song Tingyu.

Song Tingyu laughed bitterly while shaking her head. “Father, for now… even the Ling Family themselves do not know about their own origins. This matter will take time to investigate. It is not possible to confirm that right now.”

“Who else knows that the Ling Family are of a foreign race?” Song Yu asked again.

“Not many. The Seven Fiends Valley people who knew were killed by Qin Lie and I. The only other people who know are the two sons of Dark Asura Hall’s Tu Shixiong and a couple of their subordinates. Dark Asura Hall’s Tu Family… are our people,” Song Tingyu explained.

Song Yu nodded slightly and pondered for a moment. He said, “Please give me some time to consider this carefully.”

“Mn. Shall I arrange Qin Lie’s accommodations then?” Song Tingyu said.

“Go.” Song Yu looked at Xue Li, then at Qin Lie, before saying, “I need time.”

“Understood.” Qin Lie grinned.

While chuckling strangely, Xue Li slipped into Qin Lie’s forehead and vanished.

Before Qin Lie left the hall entrance, Song Yu asked again, “Ah, Qin Lie, are you sure you want to join our Song Family as a foreign delegate?”

“Mn... although I cannot borrow the Song Family’s resources as a foreign delegate... in return, I enjoy more freedom and less restraints,” Qin Lie answered.

“Actually, there are plenty of girls in the Song Family who have not married yet. If you’re willing to change your surname to Song, then I can consider choosing a suitable wife for you. That way, you will truly become a member of the Song Family and will be able to use our resources however you please. Will you consider it?” Song Yu smiled. “There are plenty of foreign delegates and clan servants who dream of taking a girl of the Song Family as a wife and becoming part of the family.”

“I understand your good will, Senior Song.” Qin Lie answered, “I don't like to have too many commitments. I'm a free-spirited person, so let’s just leave it at that.”

“Never mind, then.” Song Yu frowned slightly.