Spirit Realm

“The Scarlet Tide Continent’s Qin Lie!”

Heavenly Sword Mountain’s Luo Chen exclaimed in a soft tone, his eyes glowing with a strange light.

There were fifteen people from Heavenly Sword Mountain who were participating in this examination, and a total of fifteen sword tokens were made as proof of entry.

Heavenly Sword Mountain had five Heavenly Swords. The people who wielded them, simply referred to as “Heavenly Swords,” ruled Heavenly Sword Mountain together. They issued orders, managed subordinate martial practitioners, and held decision making power in important matters within Heavenly Sword Mountain.

Luo Chen’s grandmother Luo Nan was a Heavenly Sword, one of the most powerful people in Heavenly Sword Mountain.

However, very few people knew that there was another person in Heavenly Sword Mountain who also wielded a Heavenly Sword...

This person did not participate in any of the management or matters of Heavenly Sword Mountain. He did not educate disciples, nor did he have any special responsibilities.

His only responsibilities were to execute traitors and keep an eye on every person in Heavenly Sword Mountain. This also included the five Heavenly Swords.

This person was called the Sixth Heavenly Sword of Heavenly Sword Mountain. His name was Li Mu.

In all of Heavenly Sword Mountain, very few people knew about the existence of the Sixth Heavenly Sword. Outside of Heavenly Sword Mountain, obviously even less people would know.

Luo Chen learned about Li Mu through his grandmother Luo Nan. Li Mu was never in Heavenly Sword Mountain, and would always be adventuring on a floating island that he controlled.

This man would often not return to Heavenly Sword Mountain for eight to ten years at a time.

The Sixth Heavenly Sword named Li Mu was the sword that hung high above the head of every policymaker in Heavenly Sword Mountain. The moment that anyone betrayed Heavenly Sword Mountain or colluded with foreign enemies, harming Heavenly Sword Mountain’s interests, Li Mu would knock upon their doors.

For several hundred years, countless disciples perished at the hands of this man. Every single one of them had betrayed Heavenly Sword Mountain.

Even if these people ran to the corners of Spirit Realm, even if they attached themselves to powerful forces, they would still be caught by and killed by Li Mu.

The person who was called the “Sixth Heavenly Sword” might not participate in the various matters of Heavenly Sword Mountain or have any real power or authority, but he was the only one who frightened the other five “Heavenly Swords.”

Luo Chen knew about this person because his grandmother Luo Nan had told him. Five out of the fifteen of the sword tokens made by Heavenly Sword Mountain were taken by this man.

It was exactly because of these five sword tokens that Luo Chen paid attention to the Scarlet Tide Continent. He knew that the five sword tokens had been put in the hands of Song Tingyu, Zhang Chendong, Zhao Xuan, Xie Jingxuan, and Qin Lie.

As this time, Zhang Chendong and Zhao Xuan had already come willingly to express their good will. In order to improve his chances in the Trial, Luo Chen went to Sea Moon Island this time around in hopes that he could recruit Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan as his left and right hands.

In his eyes, Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan were members of Profound Heaven Alliance, and Profound Heaven Alliance was a vassal of Heavenly Sword Mountain.

He believed that, just like Zhang Chendong and Zhao Xuan, Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan would not be able to turn him down. He believed that they would follow him blindly and join his team to participate in the Trial.

Luo Chen had also gained an understanding of Qin Lie through various channels.

He believed that there were too many unpredictable aspects about Qin Lie. He did not see Qin Lie as someone he could rope into his group because, without an origin, Qin Li was too dangerous.

Furthermore, according to his knowledge, Qin Lie was only in the late stage of the Manifestation Realm. The only reason he had managed to cause such a commotion in the Scarlet Tide Continent was because he had borrowed someone else’s power.

However, in the Trial, there would be no external power for him to borrow. He did not think much of Qin Lie’s strength, and he did not believe Qin Lie could help him.

“So you’re saying that the person who easily defeated Li Rong and destroyed his sword in an explosion was Qin Lie?” Luo Chen snapped out of his trance as a bright light shone from within his cold eyes. “Could it be that he is the one who had obtained the item inside the god corpse?”

“You’ve already heard that the man and woman Celestial Artifact Sect’s Bi You is looking for rode away on a Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly.” Zhang Chendong paused and continued solemnly, “Song Tingyu’s mount is precisely a Rank Five Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly!”

“There should be no mistake then.” Luo Chen nodded.

His eyes shined with a cold, unfathomable light that resembled tiny criss crossing sword beams as he pondered, and after a moment, he said to Han Xing, “Uncle Han, have your men pay attention to Celestial Artifact Sect’s activities and see if they find this Qin Lie from those five people.”

“Mm,” Han Xing said with a dark face, “I also have a score to settle with him! Not only did he destroy my lights, he even stole the Astral Thunder Hammer.”

“Also, send men to watch Profound Heaven Alliance’s stronghold and see if that Song Tingyu is around. Actually, wait... have them see if a pair has gone in and out of that place lately—an unfamiliar man and woman.” Luo Chen knew that they could just change their faces if they really wanted to hide their identities.

“No problem, leave it to me!” Han Xing agreed.

“Do not tell Celestial Artifact Sect about this matter. Do not let them find out that we have a lock on our target,” Luo Chen instructed again.

“Understood.”

In this way, Celestial Artifact Sect and Blue Star Association split up and began searching throughout Sea Moon Island.

—They all wanted to drag Qin Lie out into the open.

……

Inside Profound Heaven Alliance’s house at Sea Moon Island.

Qin Lie’s True Soul returned to his Soul Lake, and he continued to concentrate on repairing the Astral Thunder Hammer. A dazzling bolt of electricity sparked from the tip of his finger, twisting and unleashing a surge of refined energy.

This time, Song Tingyu did not leave his side.

She sat on the soft floor inside the house and leaned against a wall seven or eight meters away. Her beautiful eyes glittered as she watched Qin Lie repair the spirit artifact.

This time, Qin Lie did not kick her out.

He did not know if the enemy would scour the place with their consciousness again. Song Tingyu could detect it beforehand and warn him if she was near.

Inside the Astral Thunder Hammer.

The simplified Spirit Gathering and Spirit Storage diagrams, as well as a dozen or so spirit lines, were broken and twisted into a chaotic bundle.

The damage to these dozens of spirit lines massively decreased the power of thunder once it was poured into the spirit artifact. This diluted the spirit energy within the two main diagrams, impacting the Astral Thunder Hammer’s full power as a result.

Qin Lie was currently trying reconnect the broken spirit lines. The ones that were twisted into a bundle would have to be slowly untied so that order could be restored.

Since the three basic diagrams had come from the ancient diagrams that he knew of, Qin Lie completely understood every tiny modification to the diagram.

“Zzzt!”

The spirit threads were like refined lightning that slowly twisted within the spirit diagram.

Qin Lie’s mind consciousness and spirit energy was swiftly being exhausted.

As time gradually passed, the finger he pressed to the Astral Thunder Hammer began to shake strangely. A strange buzzing sound came from it.

“Boooom!”

A low rumble of thunder came from within the Astral Thunder Hammer. The lightning pattern on the surface of the hammer suddenly shone with glaring light.

There were many tiny specks of light above the hammer and inside of the lightning. They glittered like evening stars and unleashed a violent, thunderous energy.

These blinking specks of light was the astral thunder that formed after thunder energy was condensed and refined!

A dozen or so strikes of astral thunder quickly formed as Qin Lie injected his power of thunder and lightning. They were like a sea of stars that moved strangely.

Qin Lie’s eyes were very bright.

After the spirit diagrams inside the artifact were completely repaired, the thunder and lightning energy he unleashed did not decrease in the slightest. All of it poured into the main diagram and made the Astral Thunder Hammer’s power become at least twice as strong!

The power of thunder and lightning was already violent and imposing. After being refined and condensed into astral thunder by the Astral Thunder Hammer, which held power that was even more concentrated, the destructive power of Qin Lie’s thunder would massively increase!

Qin Lie believed that, if he swung his Astral Thunder Hammer with all his strength and unleashed a dozen or so strikes of astral thunder toward his enemy like a starry downpour, then even a martial practitioner in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm would probably only last a second before exploding to death.

This was different from the power of the Terminator Profound Bombs.

After the Terminator Profound Bombs exploded, they would have a violent impact that covered a wide area. This instantaneous explosive power had a wider range, which was why its power was also a little spread out.

The astral thunder formed by the Astral Thunder Hammer was the embodiment of refined and condensed lightning. The impact they dealt was extremely terrifying.

A big man could only topple a big tree if he used a giant stone pillar to ram it, but if he stabbed a tree with a thin sword, then he would be able to completely penetrate it.

The astral thunder formed by the Astral Thunder Hammer would be the equivalent a thin sword’s destructive power.

“Boom boom boom!”

Qin Lie stood up and waved the Astral Thunder Hammer, grinning and laughing happily.

A powerful roar of wind and thunder rumbled inside of the room. Astral thunder continuously glittered on the Astral Thunder Hammer, but it did not actually fly out.

A strange glitter shone in Song Tingyu’s eyes when she saw Qin Lie swinging his hammer in excitement. She cheerfully asked, “You succeeded?”

“What do you think?” While Qin Lie laughed, the Astral Thunder Hammer suddenly escaped from his hands.

“Boooom!”

A violent, thunderous explosion resounded from within the Astral Thunder Hammer and locked onto Song Tingyu with a destructive aura.

Song Tingyu’s expression changed, and the two silver bracelets on her lucent wrists flew out like two silver moons and glowed with a powerful light.

Dazzling silver light was unleashed as the bracelet howled. It rammed into the lightning power of the Astral Thunder Hammer, causing the interior of the room to become colorful with light.

After a melodious dinging sound, Qin Lie made a grasping motion in midair and withdrew the Astral Thunder Hammer into his spatial ring.

The light of the two silver disc-like bracelets in midair also became fainter and fainter.

Song Tingyu raised her arms and withdrew her bracelets as well. Then she asked in surprise, “How much power did you use?”

“Seventy percent of thunder power.” Qin Lie smiled.

“It’s really powerful! The power of thunder and lightning coming from it can shatter a middle stage Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner’s protective light barrier in an instant!” Song Tingyu exclaimed. Then she said, “If you unleash everything you have, then you have a fighting chance even against a normal late stage Netherpassage Realm martial practitioner!”

“Normal?” Qin Lie asked in surprise.

“For example, the late stage Netherpassage Realm martial practitioners in Profound Heaven Alliance and Eight Extreme Temple, such as the leaders of Dark Asura Hall and Seven Fiend Valley, can only be considered normal Netherpassage Realm martial practitioners.”

Song Tingyu nodded. “If your opponent is me, or people like Zhang Chendong and Zhao Xuan, we have rare spirit artifacts in our possession and will be clad in precious armor. Our spirit arts are miraculous, and our physiques are tempered in special ways as well… Your current strength might not be necessarily enough to deal with this type of person. Of course, adding that to your other skills and hidden strengths, it may be worth a try.”

Qin Lie’s expression changed as he thoughtfully said, “It looks like this Trial will not be an easy trip.”

“Even the average person in the nine great Silver rank forces is around the level of Zhao Xuan, Zhang Chendong, and I. Their geniuses will most definitely be a lot more powerful than we are,” Song Tingyu said gravely.

“I know.” Qin Lie frowned.

……