Spirit Realm

Inside a little compound in Black Jade City’s North City, Qin Lie and the others were gathered in the largest room.

This room was about thirty square meters. Everyone took out mats from their spatial rings and sat down.

Xue Li’s soul, which resembled eerie, bloody ghostfire, floated in the middle of the nine people.

“There are nine Silver forces in the Land of Chaos—I am referring to the ‘one cult, two mountains, three sects, and three families.’ The one cult is Black Voodoo Cult. The two mountains are Heavenly Sword Mountain and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain. The three sects are Terminator Sect, Illusory Demon Sect, and Celestial Artifact Sect. The three families are the Xiahou Family, the Su Family, and the Lin Family.”

Xue Li explained the Land of Chaos’ political climate in detail to them.

“Of these forces, Black Voodoo Cult and Illusory Demon Sect are in the Heavenly Slaughter Continent, and Terminator Sect is in the Heavenly Silence Continent. The three families, Xiahou, Su, and Lin, are in the Heavenly Calamity Continent. Heavenly Sword Mountain is in the Heavenly Wither Continent, and Celestial Artifact Sect and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain are in the Heavenly Fissure Continent.

“Since the nine great Silver rank forces are in them, these continents are considered Silver rank continents. Continents like the Scarlet Tide Continent, the Flowing Cloud Continent, and the Heavenly Fate Continent are only Copper rank continents because the strongest ranking forces in them are Copper rank.

“The five Silver rank continents in the Land of Chaos have nine great Silver rank forces in total. Subordinate to each Silver rank force are nearly a hundred Copper rank forces, nearly a thousand Black Iron rank forces, and more than ten thousand Limestone rank forces.

“Silver rank forces have Nirvana and Imperishable Realm experts. Each force has hundreds of thousands of members in their own faction. Taking the subordinate forces into consideration, the number of martial practitioners in a Silver rank force easily surpasses a million.

“Of course, the majority of these martial practitioners are low in realm. In a Silver force, the true core of strength are those in the Netherpassage, Fulfillment, and Fragmentation Realms. Nirvana and Imperishable Realm martial practitioners are rare in Silver rank forces.

“The Heavenly Calamity Continent we are on is ruled by the three powers. There are three giant cities. Black Jade City belongs to the Xiahou Family, Blue Flame City belongs to the Su Family, and Scattered Rain City is ruled by the Lin Family.

“There are smaller cities and towns near Black Jade City, Blue Flame City, and Scattered Rain City. They belong to the forces that are subordinate to the three powers. This enormous power hierarchy forms the powerful Silver rank forces.

“In the Land of Chaos, other than the five major continents, there are countless islands. In order to expand, accumulate power, and temper their juniors, the nine Silver forces have endlessly waged war on these islands. The weak must rely on the stronger to survive. Otherwise, it would be very hard to survive, and it’s possible that they could be killed at any moment.

“Remember to be careful of strangers in Black Jade City. The Xiahou Family will not care about whether or not you live or die. To survive, you need to rely on yourself.”

“……”

Qin Lie’s group formed a circle in the room. They attentively listened to Xue Li’s explanation with serious expressions.

Xue Li had once lived in the Land of Chaos for many years. He had been active here until just a few days ago, so he knew the disorder of this place and the evil in people’s hearts.

“Gao Yu, why have you come to the Land of Chaos?” A long time after Xue Li finished, Qin Lie looked at Gao Yu.

“I need to participate in the Trial to enter the depths of the Graveyard of Gods to search for the remains of the Evil Gods,” Gao Yu said truthfully.

Qin Lie’s brow furrowed. “You need a token of proof to participate in the Trial.”

“I will steal one.” Viciousness flashed through Gao Yu’s eyes.

“How about you, Senior Sister Tang? Elder Mo Hai? Instructor Feng? Why have you come to the Land of Chaos?” Qin Lie asked.

“I go wherever A’Hai goes.” Feng Rong laughed softly.

“For a long time now, I was prepared to leave Armament Sect to roam the outside world and break through my rut in artifact forging.” Mo Hai’s expression was indifferent. “I stayed because Ying Xingran kept urging me to. I made a promise with him that I would leave as soon as I was able to forge Earth rank spirit artifact, but... in the end, a major change occurred at Armament Sect, and Ying Xingran and the three great reverends were killed by you one after another. The sect was also corrupted by Joyful Union Sect, so my heart has calmed down. Since the others were going to roam, I followed.”

Qin Lie nodded.

“I have an elder here that hasn’t been heard from in many years, so I have come to find them,” Tang Siqi said in a soft voice, looking at the ground.

Qin Lie then looked at Yi Yuan and Lian Rou.

Yi Yuan spread his arms and said with a grimace, “I first helped you and Miss Song leave the Nether Battlefield, and then I helped Elder Mo and Instructor Feng. Cloud Sky Mountain, a subordinate force to Eight Extreme Temple, discovered what I did. Eight Extreme Temple wants to make trouble for me, so I can’t stay in the Scarlet Tide Continent. All I could do was leave.”

Lian Rong held Yi Yuan’s hand. She smiled faintly and didn’t say anything.

“Have you even thought about what you can do in the Land of Chaos? How you will survive?” Xue Li inserted.

Everyone shook their heads.

“None of you have a goal. You don’t need to go to the Heavenly Fissure Continent since you will not be able to participate in the Trial.”

Xue Li’s gaze swept across Feng Rong, Mo Hai, Tang Siqi, Yi Yuan, and Lian Rou. He said, “Stay here for now. Don’t leave. Qin Lie and I will visit the original Blood Fiend Sect and see what has happened at its location. If there is a place available, we will make a teleportation formation to have Blood Spear and Lang Xie come and rebuild Blood Fiend Sect. Then you will be able to establish yourself at Blood Fiend Sect.”

Feng Rong, Tang Siqi, and the others hadn’t had a goal and nodded upon hearing this.

“Boy, you... have enough strength to participate in the Trial.” Xue Li looked at Gao Yu and said, “But you need to get a token to get in.”

“I will get one,” Gao Yu said harshly.

“Gao Yu, what realm are you now?” Qin Lie asked.

When he met Gao Yu this time, he found that the dark aura on Gao Yu’s body was even stronger. When he thought of Xue Lie’s words and how Gao Yu had cultivated inside the body of the Evil God at the Demon God Mountain Range, his eyes brightened.

“The same as you, the early stage of the Netherpassage Realm,” Gao Yu said.

Qin Lie was shocked. “You’ve progressed quickly.”

“In these past few years, I have been working hard within the body of the Evil God. I didn’t move even a single step away and barely managed to get into the Netherpassage Realm.” Gao Yu frowned, saying with irritation, “You were causing trouble everywhere, cultivating artifact forging at the same time, and having relationships, yet you also entered the Netherpassage Realm. Compared to you, I am not fast at all...”

His cold eyes swept across Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, and Tang Siqi as reference.

“Ahem!” Qin Lie coughed lightly. He rubbed his nose and said, “I have never slacked off in my cultivation.”

Gao Yu smirked and a hint of mirth appeared in his cold eyes.

“Haha!” Song Tingyu’s eyes were lively. She seemed to find this interesting.

“Everyone, rest up first.” Qin Lie stood up. “There aren’t enough rooms, so please bear with it.”

The group stood.

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan took one room because of their identities and their familiarity with each other.

Tang Siqi, Lian Rou, and Feng Rong took another.

Mo Hai and Yi Yuan shared a room.

Gao Yu’s personality was eccentric, his eyes were cold, and his body was shrouded in ghostly energy. No one was willing to stay with him, so he had his own room.

Qin Lie also had his own room.

They had first started at Sea Moon Island, having been teleported five times before reaching the Heavenly Wither Continent. Then they had gone from the Heavenly Wither Continent to Black Jade City. After this string of teleportations, everyone was tired.

They silently sat and rested.

Qin Lie was alone in his room, but his mind would not settle down. He was still thinking about the blank tombstone.

He had recently gotten used to cultivating with the aid of the blank tombstone. He knew just how beneficial it was to him

The tombstone that he had obtained from the god corpse had been left behind on Sea Moon Island. Qin Lie grew annoyed when he thought of this.

“The tombstone must have ended up in the hands of that Luo Chen. He is also going to be participating in the Trial. If you’re confident, you can immediately take it back once you enter the Trial. If you’re strong enough, you can do anything you want to Luo Chen and the others—you can even kill them!” Xue Li suddenly said.

“Do anything… even kill?” Qin Lie’s gaze became vicious.

“Yes. In that secret realm, you don’t need any reasons or excuses to kill someone!” Xue Li smiled coldly. “Even if two people are from the same sect and want to act but cannot do so in the outside world, they can fight to the death in the secret realm! Don’t think that the people from Heavenly Sword Mountain are a team of allies. If they start the clash by the end, they will be able to immediately fight to the death!”

“So that’s how it is!” Qin Lie smiled coldly.

“If you can help me find the body of the Blood Progenitor, I can slaughter all of Sea Moon Island, execute Jiang Zhuzhe, and rebuild Blood Fiend Sect!” Xue Li shouted.

“What will I gain?”

“You will find out after you enter. If you succeed, you will be able obtain the tombstone again, or maybe you will be able to start solving the Graveyard of Gods’ mysteries with the tombstone! At the very least, after experiencing the bloody battles in the Graveyard of Gods, your realm, battle experience, and power will all increase! If you are able to survive until the end, you will also receive prizes from the nine great Silver forces and become famous all over the Land of Chaos!”

“Tomorrow morning, I will go with you to visit the original Blood Fiend Sect.”

“Mn.”

……

Sea Moon Island.

In the grand cultivation room that Blue Star Association provided to Luo Chen, he stared at the blank tombstone with a pale face.

Reaching out once more, Luo Chen tried to touch the tombstone. However, when his finger was three inches away from the tombstone, the seven divine lights within suddenly lit up.

“Boom!”

An enormous power blew Luo Chen away and made blood drip from his mouth.

He wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. His complexion became even more ashen as he stared hard at the tombstone. A long time later, he gave up.

Unlike Qin Lie, Luo Chen wasn’t even able to go near the tombstone, much less use its power to cultivate.

What he didn’t know was, when Qin Lie had been fighting to obtain the tombstone, he sprayed a mouthful of blood on it. The fresh blood permeated the tombstone and left behind a unique imprint.

Due to the existence of that imprint, Qin Lie could cultivate using the tombstone. As an additional result, the tombstone would only allow Qin Lie to touch it.

Luo Chen possessed this great treasure, but he could only observe it from far away, unable to benefit from it.

He eventually gave up.

The next day, Luo Chen left Sea Moon Island with Zhao Xuan and the others to prepare for the Trial.