Spirit Realm

“It’s not that I want to keep the Pure Soul Springs for myself, but… for the time being, I can’t take them out and give them to you,” Qin Lie said, spreading his arms helplessly.

That was all he could tell them.

When the electric flames and arcing bolts of lightning disappeared from the thunder lagoon, allowing the refreshing aura of the Pure Soul Springs to escape, the Soul Suppressing Orb emerged from his forehead without warning.

Everything happened too quickly.

The Pure Soul Springs disappeared into the Soul Suppressing Orb before Qin Lie could even think. It was only after the fact that he realized what happened.

At that time, both Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen had been standing at the edge of the thunder lagoon,. As a result, the light of the Soul Suppressing Orb’s appearance had blinded them, preventing them from seeing what took place at the bottom of the lagoon.

Because of that, they assumed that he had taken the Pure Soul Springs for himself.

“I trust Qin Lie,” Xue Moyan said, establishing her position. “And I also don’t think we played a role deserving of any Pure Soul Springs.”

“I am of the same opinion,” Xie Jingxuan added.

Song Tingyu pursed her lips into a smile, clinging to Qin Lie’s arm of her own volition.

It was obvious that Qin Lie had her unconditional support.

After hearing Luo Chen’s opinion, Du Xiangyang had internally put the matter to rest. Now that Xue Moyan and Xie Jingxuan had also expressed their thoughts, it suddenly appeared as if everyone accepted the fact that Qin Lie took all the Pure Soul Springs for himself.

Since no one had a problem with it, they no longer needed to pursue the matter.

“B-but…” Pan Qianqian seemed like she wanted to say something.

Yet Xue Moyan cut her short. “Enough!”

Pan Qianqian sighed and bit her lips, reluctantly falling silent.

“What is it?” Qin Lie asked.

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Pan Qianqian ignored Xue Moyan and found the courage to speak. “If… if we aren’t able to take the Spring of Life back from Huang Zhuli, it’ll be difficult for Sister Xue and her mother… to recover. With a Pure Soul Spring, however, Sister Xue would be able to ask the sect master to help her exchange it for multiple Springs of Life. This way, the… problem… plaguing Sister Xue and her mother can be… resolved.”

Pan Qianqian revealed the reason for her apprehension.

Xue Moyan shook her head. “Losing the Spring of Life is our fault. We already owe Qin Lie far too much.”

“I know, b-but… that doesn’t mean you should just stop living. The Spring of Life can save you…” Pan Qianqian said, her voice faltering.

Qin Lie frowned and pondered for a moment. Then he said, “Let’s look for a place to properly recover and try to use the soul crystals to increase the strength of our souls. We don’t have to venture deeper into the Forbidden Land of Ice just yet.”

“Sure.” Everyone immediately agreed.

They searched for a place to sit down and recover, eventually settling for a secluded spot in a snow-covered forest at the edge of the Forbidden Land of Ice.

Winds carrying shards of ice ravaged the land, howling like the sound of metal clashing against metal. It sounded as if the frigid air could cut deep into a person, down to their very bones.

Everyone in Qin Lie’s group took shelter in their respective shields of light. Not long after they sat down to recover in the icy forest of pine trees, they found themselves covered in snow.

Even the shields of light surrounding each of them were besieged, turning them into a group of faceless snowman.

Qin Lie was no exception.

Instead of summoning his own shield of light, he exposed himself to the freezing elements of the Forbidden Land of Ice.

Soon enough, a thick blanket of snow covered him as well.

Before beginning the process of recovering, however, he first delved deep into the Soul Suppressing Orb with his mind consciousness.

The misty space inside of it was vast and never-ending, as boundless as it was desolate.

Qin Lie’s mind consciousness became a faint shadow that roamed within that space, and he eventually arrived at the hovering spirit diagrams.

The four diagrams, Spirit Gathering, Spirit Storage, Strengthening, and Amplification, resembled four grand paintings that stretched through the sky. A myriad of fine, delicate spirit threads crisscrossed to form worlds of intricate wonder.

At the same time, another world existed in this space. This world hovered nearby, its visage cold and icy.

This world was the frost concept that used to be hidden within the Eye of Frost. It was a profound painting formed by the absolute frost concept, the one that originally sealed the elites of the Giant Spirit Race in the land underneath the Arctic Mountain Range.

This painting of the absolute frost concept had served as Qin Lie’s guide, having helped him figure out the secrets of the Frost Arts and form three frost natal palaces in his dantian’s spirit sea.

Qin Lie initially entered the Soul Suppressing Orb to search for the Pure Soul Springs and find out where they’d gone. However, seeing the painting that the Ice Emperor had left behind left him in shock.

For years, this painting of the absolute frost concept had lain hidden inside of the Soul Suppressing Orb like a dead object, devoid of energy.

It only emanated an aura of profound coldness during the few times that Qin Lie entered the icy land beneath the Arctic Mountain Range to cultivate.

Yet, when his wisp of mind consciousness arrived at this place, Qin Lie discovered that cold mist enveloped the painting. Translucent, icy white beams aimlessly flowed within it.

The absolute frost concept seemed to contain some sort of magic.

This painting of the absolute frost concept was the end result of gathering all of the frost concept that the Ice Emperor left behind.

Within the Graveyard of Gods, the Forbidden Land of Ice consisted of enormous icy boulders, freezing winds, snow-covered mountains, and endless amounts of swirling sleet.

The Forbidden Land of Ice clearly had a lot in common with the Arctic Mountain Range of the Scarlet Tide Continent.

Of course, compared to the Arctic Mountain Range, the Forbidden Land of Ice was ten times colder.

Focusing on the painting, Qin Lie discovered that even the lingering cold of the land beneath the Arctic Mountain Range couldn’t compare to that of the Forbidden Land of Ice.

“Could the cold air of this place have caused these changes in the absolute frost concept?” Qin Lie thought, clearly confused.

“Krak!”

Icy rocks shattered as dazzling rays of rainbow light shot from Qin Lie’s spatial ring, scattering the snow that coated him.

The noise startled Qin Lie, jolting him out of his careful observation of the absolute frost concept within the Soul Suppressing Orb.

Song Tingyu and the others were also startled, and they looked at him in surprise.

Their abrupt movements broke the snow that encased them, causing it to slide to the ground.

Seven rainbow lights circled the Demon Sealing Tombstone as it hovered above Qin Lie’s head. Three drops of azure liquid dripped down the length of the tombstone, each containing a shocking amount of thunder and lightning energy.

One by one, the slid off of the tombstone and fell toward Qin Lie’s head.

Upon closer inspection, one would realize that each drop of azure liquid carried the figure of a small Thunder Crystal Beast. This was exactly the same as the blood essences that held small Fire Qilins inside of them.

Just as the three drops of azure liquid were about to touch Qin Lie’s hair, he raised his hand.

The three droplets splashed against his palm, quickly soaking into his hand and merging into his blood.

Waves of violent thunder and lightning energy rippled from the droplets, each containing the aura of the Thunder Crystal Beast.

Everyone watched this scene with strange looks on their faces.

They could obviously tell that the three drops of azure liquid had come from the Demon Sealing Tombstone!

This meant that, every time Qin Lie used the Demon Sealing Tombstone to seal one of the seven spirits, he benefited greatly.

At that moment, Du Xiangyang thought about the past, immediately realizing where Qin Lie’s blood essences came from.

“Seems like being the master of the Demon Sealing Tombstone and sealing the seven spirits has been very good to you, Qin Lie…” Du Xiangyang said, green with envy.

Luo Chen, on the other hand, felt bitter.

“The Demon Sealing Tombstone…” he whispered regretfully.

Luo Chen had once stolen the Demon Sealing Tombstone from Qin Lie and even spent a long time researching it.

Not only did he fail to gain anything from the Demon Sealing Tombstone, it had even flown back to Qin Lie as soon as he brought it into the Graveyard of Gods.

It was painfully apparent that the Demon Sealing Tombstone considered Qin Lie its master. Whenever he sealed a spirit, the tombstone refined its essences and offered them up to Qin Lie.

Then, using these essences and some miraculous tempering method, Qin Lie used them as if they were a part of his own body.

Once the three droplets of thunder and lightning energy vanished into Qin Lie’s palm, the Demon Sealing Tombstone returned to the spatial ring once more.

Throughout this entire process, Qin Lie’s eyes had been closed.

He ignored the people around him and sensed the three droplets of thunder and lightning energy in his blood, nurturing them.

With a thought, he used the Blood Refinement Art, intent on making them his own blood essences—just like he did for the essences of the fire spirit and the wood spirit.

Qin Lie began the refinement process immediately.

“The Blood Refinement Art…! Making the blood essence your own…” Xue Moyan’s eyes lit up.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

After those five days, Luo Chen and the others brimmed with immense soul energy, having used the soul crystals empower their True Souls.

After using up a portion of the soul crystals, each of them could feel that their True Souls had solidified and become stronger. Their soul perceptions also had a greater range.

All of their soul energies had clearly improved considerably.

At the same time, Qin Lie had spent the past five days refining the three drops of azure liquid into his own lifeblood essences.

He had imprinted them with his soul imprint so that they became a part of him.

“Let’s give it a try.”

Qin Lie issued a mental command, causing the three newest blood essences to emerge from his body at the same time. All three resembled azure gemstones.

With another command, the six remaining blood essences floated out of his body to join the other three.

Nine blood essences of varying colors floated in front of Qin Lie, all dazzlingly bright.

Three were a burning scarlet, three were a verdant jade, and three were a shocking azure.