Spirit Realm

Xie Jingxuan was obviously a bit different after she had awakened. Her body was surging with strong refined life energy, and her bright, glittering eyes were full of confidence.

“Jingxuan, have you made a breakthrough?” Song Tingyu’s eyes lit up.

“Mn. I am rather fortunate to be able to smoothly enter the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm,” Xie Jingxuan said calmly.

Prior to participating in the Trial in the Graveyard of Gods, she had been at the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm. Her realm was a bit stronger than Qin Lie’s and slightly weaker than Song Tingyu’s.

On this trip, Qin Lie, Song Tingyu, Gao Yu, and Xie Jingxuan were participating in the Trial together.

Although Qin Lie and Gao Yu’s realms were slightly weaker than Xie Jingxuan and Song Tingyu’s, the spirit arts they cultivated were strange and unpredictable. Their true strength was actually quite formidable.

Song Tingyu was at the peak of the Netherpassage Realm. Her realm was the highest among everyone in the group. She was capable of protecting herself and possessed many spirit artifacts.

Xie Jingxuan had actually turned out to be the weakest among them.

In reality, she had been infected with the voodoo toxin not long after she entered the Graveyard of Gods and was the first to fall.

If she hadn’t accidentally stumbled upon the village and drank the impure water of the Spring of Life, she probably would’ve died a long time ago.

Now it could be said that she had gained something from all of the setbacks.

Not only had she received the Wood Race’s inheritance, she had even entered the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm in a smooth manner. Both her realm and her strength had massively increased.

This was why, even though Huang Zhuli had wanted to kill Xie Jingxuan while escaping, she had failed to get even the tiniest bit of benefits from her body. In the end, she could only curse while retreating.

After the inheritance was complete, Xie Jingxuan seemed to recall certain memories, so she immediately told Qin Lie about the wooden sculpture.

“Ya Ji? The wood used to make the wooden sculptures is the same as the wood spirit’s?” Qin Lie became excited. “What else did you find out? Can you recall anything else about Ya Ji and the wooden sculptures?”

“Ya Ji brought this wooden sculpture into the Graveyard of Gods He entered through a gap in space.” Xie Jingxuan’s tone was calm as she spoke of what she knew. “Ya Ji was an elite of the Wood Race. Someone trusted him to bring this wooden sculpture into this place. He also seemed to be looking for something. He called the person who gave him the wooden sculpture… Venerable One.”

Qin Lie’s mind reeled.

Ku Luo of the Horn Demon Race and other people called his grandfather Venerable One as well. The Horned Demon elite with eight horns who left the Nine Hell Evil Scripture inside of the White Bone Nether Spirit Altar also called Qin Lie’s grandfather Venerable One.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the person who gave the wooden sculpture to Ya Ji and instructed him to enter the Graveyard of Gods to search for something was most likely his grandfather, Qin Shan!

Qin Lie let out a sigh of relief.

Before he entered the Graveyard of Gods, he had been worried that the person who died there and became covered in thick layers of mist was his grandfather.

When his grandfather quietly left Ling Town and vanished without warning years ago, Qin Lie had already been worried that his grandfather might have gotten into an accident.

Although Qin Lie did not get any solid information from Xie Jingxuan, at the very least it was proven that Qin Shan wasn’t dead. This alone was good news to Qin Lie.

“What did Ya Ji hope to find in the Graveyard of Gods?” Qin Lie calmed down and changed the subject. “Do you have any idea?”

“After Ya Ji was refined, his soul and thought fragments were mixed with the Spring of Life. I have only drunk a portion of the Spring of Life, and the memories I obtained were also scattered and chaotic. I can only remember so much.” Xie Jingxuan shook her head.

“After the wood spirit was sealed by the Demon Sealing Tombstone, the Spring of Life inside the stone well was refined. Because of this, all of his soul and thought fragments have entirely dissipated. We may no longer be able to extract more memories.” Song Tinyu thought for a moment and sighed softly. “That Huang Zhuli girl abandoned Illusory Demon Sect. She must have fought against Xue Moyan and the others. Perhaps she even stole their Spring of Life…”

“That’s extremely likely!” Du Xiangyang yelled.

“Qin Lie, do you… want to return to the village and check?” Song Tingyu knew that he promised Xue Li to do his best to help Xue Moyan. That’s why she asked him this.

“Never mind.” Qin Lie shook his head and frowned. “Too much time has passed. If something did happen, it happened a long time ago. Plus, if Xue Moyan and the others are still alive, they won’t necessarily be at the village still. They might be searching everywhere for Huang Zhuli.”

“That’s right.” Du Xiangyang nodded.

“Let’s go. The Forbidden Land of Wood is no longer worth staying in. We will head to the land covered in lightning,” Qin Lie exclaimed softly.

Song Tingyu and the others nodded in agreement.

……

A dozen or so kilometers away, Xue Moyan and Pan Qianqian walked through tall bushes with icy expressions on their faces.

“I can’t believe that Little Li is actually a member of Black Voodoo Cult!” Pan Qianqian ground her teeth until they popped. “Not only did she kill Manman, she even stole the Spring of Life. Even I was nearly infected with the voodoo toxin. S-she…”

A trace of blood on Xue Moyan’s left arm stood out. She had obviously been injured in combat.

“It wasn’t just Manman. She may have killed Little Wan and Little Die as well,” Xue Moyan said harshly, pursing her lips. “She wasn’t much weaker than Ye Yihao. The voodoo insect inside her body is the Black Crystal Sky Scorpion. Just like the Eight-winged Centipede Queen, it is one of Black Voodoo Cults unusual breeds of voodoo insects. It has an intelligence comparable to a human’s, must be raised with its practitioner’s own blood, and shares a connection with its practitioner’s soul! This type of voodoo insect can only be obtained, bred, and raised by the most important disciples of Black Voodoo Cult.”

“Sister Xue, are you saying that Huang Zhuli has an incredibly high status in Black Voodoo Cult?”

“Her status probably isn’t any lower than Ye Yihao’s!” Xue Moyan said with an icy expression, softly gritting her teeth “She is even more hateful than Ye Yihao!”

Including Little Die and Little Wan, a total of six Illusory Demon Sect girls were killed one after another.

In Xue Moyan’s eyes, these six sisters had all been directly or indirectly killed by Huang Zhuli.

She was the true culprit behind everything!

“Sister Xue, s-she took the Spring of Life. Will that affect you?” Pan Qianqian asked softly.

Xue Moyan’s eyes went dim as she quietly said, “It’s fine. It is of little short term consequence. At the very least, I will be fine without the Spring of Life while in the Graveyard of Gods.”

“Sister Xue, you insisted on entering the Graveyard of the Gods for the Spring of Life, didn’t you?” Pan Qianqian asked.

“Let’s not bring this matter up again. Right now, finding the rest of our sisters is the most important thing. We must not let Huang Zhuli find them first!”

“Ah!” Pan Qianqian’s expression changed.

She had also thought of the worst case scenario.

The girls in their group were not the only Illusory Demon Sect participants who had entered the Graveyard of Gods. Some were scattered to other locations upon entering.

At a certain distance, Huang Zhuli would be able to sense other Illusory Demon Sect participants using the sect’s unique token. The moment she discovered the scattered members, there probably wouldn’t be any chance of the Illusory Demon Sect girls surviving her evil hands.

They would be killed one after another, just like their six dead sisters.

……

At the center of six large trees.

Ye Yihao and the martial practitioners of the three great families were seated cross-legged on the ground and recovering using spirit stones.

The crowd’s expressions were immeasurably dark.

At first they thought that they’d be able to do whatever they wanted in the Forbidden Land of Wood after Ye Yihao and the wood spirit formed a soul contract.

In the end, the wood spirit had actually been sealed by the Demon Sealing Tombstone, and the rest of them weren’t able to do anything to the combined forces of Terminator Sect, Illusory Demon Sect, and Heavenly Sword Mountain. They had no choice but to helplessly retreat.

This was the second time they suffered such a terrible defeat.

The first time, they lured Luo Chen in and surrounded Chu Li. Using the voodoo toxin’s influence, they forced Xue Moyan, Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, and Heavenly Sword Mountain to stand by and watch.

If it weren’t for Qin Lie’s sneak attack with the intense Fire Qilin flames, forcing the Eight-winged Centipede Queen to lose control of the people who had been poisoned, they would’ve already won at that time.

“It was all because of that bastard Qin Lie!” A faint wound marred one side of Su Yan’s face, spoiling her beauty. Su Yan’s eyes shone with a hateful light, and with a cold face, she said, “If it weren’t for Qin Lie’s flames, and later on the blood he took from the Eight-winged Centipede Queen, those people would’ve been severely injured if not dead!”

“This time, it was because he had the Demon Sealing Tombstone as well!” The bald Xiahou Yuan snorted coldly.

“If he hadn’t cured the voodoo toxin afflicting Xie Jingxuan with a drop of voodoo insect blood, that woman would not have been able to hurt the wood spirit. You also wouldn’t have failed a second time!”

It was at this moment that Huang Zhuli’s voice rang out from an ancient tree nearby.

Her eyes were cold, and she overflowed with arrogance. She actually walked towards the crowd calmly.

“She’s that girl from Illusory Demon Sect!” Su Yan smiled coldly.

“You’re looking to die, huh?” Xiahou Yuan laughed sinisterly as he got ready to attack.

“You bunch of trash!” Huang Zhuli snorted. “What have you three great families been doing? If Xue Moyan doesn’t die here and manages to obtain the Spring of Life, she’ll be able to save her mother and revitalize Blood Fiend Sect! Her father has also returned from overseas. When Blood Fiend Sect emerges once more, it will also signify the end of the three great families of the Heavenly Calamity Continent!”

Her words shocked Su Yan and the others.

Some Black Voodoo Cult martial practitioners were also looking at her in surprise.

Ye Yihao was the only one whose expression didn’t change. “Why have you come, senior sister? Have you finished off everyone at Illusory Demon Sect?”

The moment he said this, the three great families, and even the martial practitioners of Black Voodoo Cult, were shocked by his words.

Senior sister?

Huang Zhuli was actually Ye Yihao’s senior sister?!

“I only managed to get the Spring of Life and kill another Illusory Demon Sect girl. Xue Moyan and Pan Qianqian are still alive. Xue Moyan… isn’t so easy to deal with,” Huang Zhuli said with a sinister expression, then snorted. “I’ve killed six Illusory Demon Sect members throughout the Trial. What about all of you? Despite the fact that there are so many of you, have you succeeded in anything at all?”

Ye Yihao frowned in silence.

The three great families and the martial practitioners of Black Voodoo Cult had already recovered from their earlier surprise. Upon hearing her words, they all looked ashamed and were unable to say anything in response.

“Something interesting happened after you guys left. That Qin Lie… he told everyone to give their share of the Spring of Life to Xue Moyan. Do you know why?” Huang Zhuli looked everyone in the group in disdain.

This news shocked all of them.

“He’s a surviving member of Blood Fiend Sect, just like Xue Moyan! Blood Fiend Sect’s Blood Codex is in his possession!” Huang Zhuli laughed coldly. “But the funny thing is, you people don’t know anything about this!”

“Please guide us, senior sister!” Ye Yihao said solemnly.

“From here on out, I will take charge of this group!” Huang Zhuli snorted. “I will also take care of our future plans!”

“Alright.” Ye Yihao was the first to nod in agreement.