Spirit Realm

At the collapsed Flame Volcano, inside a stone room that had become deformed from pressure, Qin Lie and Ling Yushi sat facing each other.

This was Qin Lie’s former room. Due to the collapse of Flame Volcano, the originally wide room was compressed to the point it was now somewhat narrow instead.

Qin Lie and Ling Yushi sat facing each other with their knees almost touching. Even then, the space inside the cave still appeared kind of small.

“An evil art by the name Nightmare is recorded within the first volume of the Nine Hells Evil Scripture inside of the wooden sculpture. This art is capable of making someone enter a nightmare and face the most terrifying parts of their past, destroying their mind and causing them to sink so deep into the abyss of fear that they also cannot pull free.” While Ling Yushi spoke, the thin fragrance of her breath rushed toward Qin Lie.

“If I were to execute Nightmare on you, then you might be able to recall the most terrifying parts of your past. It... might help you recover some of your memories.”

Ling Yushi’s face was completely serious. “However, this will be my first time using this. I might not be very skilled with it.”

“Try it,” Qin Lie encouraged her. “If you have the courage to say this, then I believe that you have the confidence to succeed as well. Otherwise, you would not have brought it up.”

“Yes. I believe that I can do it, and I do have the confidence,” Ling Yushi said gently.

“Then let us begin!” Qin Lie sucked in a deep breath as his expression became serious. “For many years, at every moment, I have thought of recovering my memories from before I was ten years old. If there is a possibility that I may remember things from the past, then I must give it a try.”

“Alright.”

Ling Yushi smiled slightly and bit the tip of her left index finger. A drop of purple blood resembling a purple gemstone appeared in her palm.

It was a drop of the Evil God’s blood. At first glance, it did not actually look like a liquid upon leaving her body. It was a strange, crystalline object that looked like amethyst and shone with a dazzling purple light. It was filled with a strange magical energy that caused one’s heart to tremble.

Ling Yushi’s soul consciousness then wrapped around that one drop of the Evil God’s blood and slowly lifted it into the air.

The blood of the Evil God, which looked like a crystal fragment, slowly floated in the air toward the space between Qin Lie’s eyes.

A purple halo rippled outward from within Ling Yushi’s purple eyes. She released mind intent into the blood of the Evil God that soaked deep into one’s heart.

“Pfft!”

The blood of the Evil God swiftly melted.

Wisps of thin purple vapor emanated from the blood of the Evil God. An incredibly odd soul energy was mixed inside the purple vapor and it easily flowed into Qin Lie’s mind through his nose, ears, eyes, and mouth.

Soon after, the blood of the Evil God had evaporated into wisps of thin purple vapor that slipped into Qin Lie’s mind.

Ling Yushi’s eyes, which were like purple gemstones, suddenly closed the instant that the blood of the Evil God had disappeared.

Thin vapor now rose from Qin Lie’s Soul Lake. It looked just like naturally formed fog formed above a lake’s surface. It was very astonishing.

Fear, hatred, murder, destruction... All sorts of evil thoughts began to gather from deep within Qin Lie’s heart bit by bit as the vapor slowly rose into the air.

“Qin Lie, the previous you is… truly terrifying. From the thoughts that have risen to the surface, I can approximately guess how evil and crazy you were as a person.” The sigh of Ling Yushi’s soul echoed softly in Qin Lie’s mind. “Don’t resist. You will watch the purple vapor naturally, and I will let it bring you into your dreams…”

Ling Yushi’s voice slowly became gentle like a warm breeze or pleasant sunlight. It made him feel incredibly at peace. In his subconscious, he was about to relax entirely.

However, deep inside his mind, the thoughts formed from negative emotions seemed to be unwilling to trust any person at all. They were unwilling to be manipulated by anyone.

He tried to relax, but he realized that, as those negative thoughts grew more defined and increasingly powerful, he even had the thought of killing Ling Yushi and destroying her inside his mind.

“Yo-your resistance is too strong. I am not familiar with the use of Nightmare, and if you don’t cooperate with me, it will be very hard for me to bring you into your dreams.” Ling Yushi’s voice was a little anxious. “You must think of a way to control yourself, to make yourself calm and peaceful. I can only lead you into your dreams and use Nightmare, making you experience and recall your most terrifying past, if you don’t resist me…”

“Calm down, calm down! I need to cleanse my mind... the ancient diagrams!”

Qin Lie came to an abrupt realization as he forcefully gathered his concentration, thinking of nothing but imagining the Spirit Gathering, Spirit Storage, Amplification and Strengthening spirit diagrams.

Surprisingly, the moment he imagined these diagrams, all thoughts of violence and destruction in his mind were gone, as if blown away by a wild wind.

The true reason the four ancient spirit diagrams were left inside the Soul Suppressing Orb by his closest family was not for him to become an extraordinary artificer, but to cleanse his heart and nature, and control the evil and irritation in his heart.

Qin Lie quickly calmed down as he imagined the spirit diagrams. The negative emotions and thoughts in his mind quickly disappeared.

He was able to let go of himself and cooperate with Ling Yushi’s Nightmare and was now able to view the rising purple vapor on his Soul Lake with a more peaceful and collected state of the mind.

His mind, thoughts, and consciousness seemed to be guided by Ling Yushi as they slipped right into the purple vapor while he was watching them.

Then he was suddenly lost.

He had entered that terrifying nightmare.

In his dream, he could not see his surroundings. He could not see anyone. He seemed to be inside absolute darkness.

In the darkness, it was as if there were countless invisible ferocious beasts and alien monsters that were tearing, biting, swallowing, and killing him.

In the darkness, he howled madly and desperately struggled, his life on the line as he rushed at the invisible enemies and slaughtered them with the cruelest of methods.

The scenes changed continuously as he was thrown into one hellish abyss after another, forced to fight with his life on the line against different races and terrible beasts.

A merciless icy voice continuously whispered into his ears, seemingly teaching him all sorts of evil arts and cruel methods, training him step by step and guiding him to the depths of evil.

Unfortunately, he could not see his surroundings and his opponents. He did not know where he was. In fact, he could not even see his own appearance...

In this terrifying dream, Qin Lie faced countless terrifying invisible enemies and experienced a seemingly endless amount of slaughter without ever enjoying a moment of rest.

He felt like he was suffocating.

He roared angrily with everything he had, howling toward the sky as if to vent all of the pressure in his heart into the open.

“Qin Lie... Qin Lie…”

Ling Yushi’s soft voice resonated and called out to him over and over within his mind consciousness.

Qin Lie gradually awakened from the deep layers of his nightmare. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that he was sweating all over.

Meanwhile, Ling Yushi was hugging him tightly from behind. Both of her hands were tightly locked together at the center of his chest, seemingly afraid that he would go insane.

Qin Lie could feel the swell of her breasts, her fear and anxiety, and her deep seated worry for him.

Panting continuously, Qin Lie adjusted himself in order to swiftly calm down.

“What did you remember?” Ling Yushi continued to tightly hug him as a voice as gentle as water softly rang out beside his ears.

“You couldn’t see it?” Qin Lie did not turn around. He slightly enjoyed the sensation of leaning into her and slowly relaxed himself.

“I couldn’t see anything,” Ling Yushi answered. “According to the description of Nightmare, I, as the caster, should be aware of everything inside your dream. However, for some reason, I seemed to have been forcefully driven out after leading you into it. Furthermore, I was no longer able to enter it. When I saw you screaming and yelling, I could only call to you softly from beside your ears, hoping that it would be enough to wake you.”

After a pause, Ling Yushi softly spoke next to his ears, “Your appearance just now was very frightening. Something very terrible must have happened inside your dream. You looked extremely pressured, as if you were about to suffocate. That was why you were howling crazily, as if trying to break free from something or run away from someone…”

Seeing that Qin Lie had finally calmed down, Ling Yushi relaxed her arms and moved to face Qin Lie.

After a moment of thought, she sat on Qin Lie’s crossed legs in embarrassment and placed her jade-like hands onto his shoulders. Her calm, serious purple eyes stared deeply into Qin Lie’s as she said gently, “What’s in the past is in the past. You do not need to worry about it too much. The current you is the real you.”

In all the time she had ever spent hanging out with Qin Lie, she had never been this bold. This was the first time.

With her quiet, gentle temperament, such a willing and suggestive act of affection, the act of sitting on Qin Lie’s legs and hugging his neck with her arms, was practically inconceivable.

“I’m fine.” Qin Lie gave her a strained smile and felt a lot more relaxed.

He knew that Ling Yushi was worried that he would be affected by his past. That was why she took the initiative to relieve his stress.

……