Spirit Realm

“Profound Heaven Alliance wishes to discuss a matter with senior. Would senior be interested in hearing about it?”

Outside the prison cell, Qin Lie leaned against the fence and looked at the old Horned Demon with six horns atop his head. He spoke to him in the language of the Nether Realm.

Scattered in every corner of the prison cell, the Horned Demon clansmen, each with three to four horns, looked at Qin Lie upon hearing him talk. They were surprised to hear a human brat actually speaking their language.

These people were all bone thin, like bags of bones wrapped in skin. Their eyes were dead and lifeless.

Yet, at this moment, surprised sparked in their eyes as they recovered a little bit of spirit and watched Qin Lie and Song Yu’s group.

“This kid actually knows the language of the Nether Realm.” Nie Yun snorted with a dark and cold expression. “Who knows... he might actually be in cahoots with the evil races…”

“Old Nie!” Song Yu exclaimed in a low tone.

Nie Yun curled his lips on one side. They seemed to have a secret agreement, and after Song Yu’s reminder, he suddenly clammed up and no longer said a word.

The crowd looked to Qin Lie once more.

“Senior, if you wish to leave this place alive, please listen seriously to what I’m going to say.” Qin Lie took his time to organize his rather broken Nether Realm words and explained Profound Heaven Alliance’s intentions.

Qin Lie told the six horned old man from the Horned Demon Race that Profound Heaven Alliance was willing to exchange his life for the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus.

Like a dead man, the six horned old man said nothing, his eyes still closed and his limbs nailed to the wall.

Inside the prison, surprise lit up in the eyes of the rest of the Horned Demon warriors. From time to time, they would look at Qin Lie, then at the six horned old man.

Song Yu and the others wore expectant looks as they paid attention to the six horned old man.

However, the six horned old man said nothing.

“He can hear what I say, can’t he?” Qin Lie asked, a little unsure, and turned back to look at Song Yu. “His ears… did you perform any torture on his ears?”

This six horned old man of Horned Demon Race was scarred all over, and numerous iron nails still pierced his vitals. The old man had obviously suffered severe torture, and now his silence caused Qin Lie to doubt whether or not he had gone deaf at the hands of Profound Heaven Alliance.

“Did you perform any torture on his ears?” Even Song Yu wasn’t sure as he frowned and asked another person.

“No. The ears, nose, and eyes are the three organs we definitely would not perform any torture on,” the person confirmed.

“Then he can hear what I say but refuses to talk about it. In that case, there’s nothing I can do.” Qin Lie opened his arms wide and said helplessly, “I’ve already said what needs to be said. His refusal to speak has nothing to do with me, don’t you agree?”

Song Yu frowned.

Xie Yaoyang, Song Zhi, and the others all wore looks of disappointment. They obviously valued the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus and did not want to give up so easily.

“Qin Lie, why don’t you… try persuading him a little longer?” Song Zhi said, unwilling to give up.

Song Yu pondered for a moment before gritting his teeth and exclaiming, “Qin Lie, if you can persuade this person, then I will give you ten thousand contribution points!”

An odd gleam shone from Song Tingyu’s eyes.

Xie Yaoyang, Nie Yun, Song Zhi, and the other Profound Heaven Alliance experts all looked a little shaken by his words.

“Brother Song. That is quite some courage!” Xie Yaoyang praised.

“Ten thousand contribution points?” Qin Lie looked at Song Tingyu before laughing with a grin. “I’ve only arrived recently, so I’m not too familiar with Profound Heaven Alliance’s contribution points yet. Can you tell me what I can obtain with ten thousand contributions points… Miss Song?”

“The different kinds of high grade cultivation rooms in the Song Family can be rented out for just one contribution point per day. It also takes just a hundred contribution points, give or take, to read the scriptures on all sorts of cultivation spirit arts. It will cost more than a thousand contribution points for a Profound Grade Five spirit artifact from the Song Family and... oh, right, the Rank Four spirit beasts and birds tamed by the Song Family can also be rented for just three thousand contribution points.” Song Tingyu’s eyes shone with a colorful gleam. “Let’s put it this way. The combined contribution points of Xu Liang, Feng Nan, Tuo Shan, and Wan Jia—those four Star rank foreign delegates—adds up to ten thousand contribution points after five years of missions… at best.

“Ten thousand contribution points would allow you to live very comfortably in the Song Family for several years. If you exchange them for spirit materials, then you would be able to fill a large room to the brim with all kinds of Profound Grade spirit materials.”

“So you mean to say that ten thousand contribution points isn’t a small number?” Qin Lie’s eyes gradually brightened.

“It is a huge sum, alright.” Song Tingyu nodded lightly.

Qin Lie rubbed his chin, smiled, and said, “Alright, then I’ll do my best and give it another try. Give me some time. I will stay here for several days and figure out a way to persuade him.”

“No problem.” Song Yu agreed immediately and instructed Song Tingyu, “Yu’er, you are more familiar with Qin Lie. Stay here and arrange things for him.”

“Alright,” Song Tingyu agreed obediently.

“Qin Lie, as long as you can find out if the Horned Demon Race has the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus, figure out his name and background, and obtain his cooperation, then ten thousand contribution points are as good as yours. You can exchange them for spirit beasts and birds, spirit materials, and unlimited access to Profound Heaven Alliance’s cultivation rooms, scripture towers, and spirit artifact storerooms…” Song Yu lured him with profit.

“I will work harder for the things that reward me,” Qin Lie expressed.

Song Yu nodded and no longer said anything. He, Xie Yaoyang, Nie Yun, Song Zhi, and the others walked outside together, discussing in low voices.

Before long, only Song Tingyu and another old Song Family man outside the prison cell remained.

“Uncle Yuan, please arrange two rooms for us. Qin Lie and I will be staying here for a few days.”

Song Yuan’s eyes were filled with familial love for Song Tingyu. He smiled softly and nodded, “The living conditions here are a little rough though. I’m afraid that Tingyu might not be used to it.”

“It’s fine,” Song Tingyu said.

“Come with me.” Song Yuan moved in front of them.

Qin Lie and Song Tingyu followed behind him and left the room.

After everyone had disappeared, a dark, cold gleam suddenly glowed from the eyes of the dead-eyed Horned Demon warriors within the prison cells.

These people watched the departure of the group of people with thick murderous intent.

After a while, they withdrew their gazes and looked to the old Horned Demon with six horns.

“Uncle, that human brat actually knows how to speak our language,” a four horned warrior said in a soft voice.

“Uncle, the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus is very beneficial for a human martial practitioner, but it is not that valuable to us. We also have a few Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotuses with us.” Someone asked, “Why aren’t you willing to negotiate?”

The old Horned Demon, whose eyes had been shut this entire time as if he were dead, finally moved his eyelids and opened his eyes.

His eyes were bottomless pits that seemed to contain a demonic energy capable of making a person’s soul to drown within it. He looked to the juniors of his race and said in a low, raspy voice, “I should have died long ago. I cannot exchange my life for a hidden threat to my race. You are right that the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus isn’t especially valuable to us, but this item can assist a peak Fragmentation Realm martial practitioner in easily surviving the incineration of the Nirvana Fire and enter the miraculous Nirvana Realm!”

The old man sucked in a deep breath and said calmly, “Some of the people from earlier were in the Fragmentation Realm already. If they used the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus and broke through to the Nirvana Realm, it would deal a destructive, fatal blow to our race and affect our plans of migration. If those two people used the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus and entered the Nirvana Realm, then our clan below the Scarlet Tide Continent would face destruction!”

The moment he said this, the Horned Demon warriors with three to four horns shuddered and understood the consequences.

“Uncle is more far-sighted than we are,” the four horned warrior said with fear and respect.

“The evil nether passageway… has already been opened. I sense that our people have already entered this land.” A hint of excitement appeared in the old man’s eyes. “Our race will definitely succeed in migrating and step into our homeland once more!”

When the few Horned Demon warriors heard him, they all wore excited looks as well.

They knelt in a strange fashion and, as if praying to the Evil Gods, wished for their blessings and protection.

“Back then, I was only one hundred fifty kilometers away from the migration point built by the Venerable One. I was so, so close to reaching the migration point!” the old man roared in a low tone.

The Horned Demon warriors sighed as if also regretting this fact.

“Thankfully, the evil nether passageway has already been opened. Once our race’s great army descends upon this land, we will move toward the migration point step by step.” The old man snorted. “As long as we can return to our homeland and complete a new round of inheritance, the overall strength of our race will immediately rise to a new level! When that happens, our race will give birth to true seven horned, or even eight horned elites!”

(beware)