Spirit Realm

“The Graveyard of Gods is actually a divine altar for nurturing descendants of the Heaven Fighting Race?!” Qi Yang went pale. “Why have you kept this from everyone, Feng Yi!?”

“For the remains of those ancient elites, of course!” Feng Yi grimaced. “Wouldn’t you have done the same?”

The elders and other martial practitioners of Celestial Artifact Sect and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain had been silently listening in on the conversation between Feng Yi and Qi Yang.

Upon hearing these words, solemn expressions appeared on their faces.

All of the people present held power in their respective force. They all knew about the Heaven Fighting Race of ancient times.

“The Heaven Fighting Race… a race that fights against the heavens…” Luo Han murmured softly, his expression becoming stern. “How could this be a divine altar of the Heaven Fighting Race?”

“In ancient times, the Heaven Fighting Race was the absolute strongest race. They ruled worlds, suppressed other races, and enslaved billions. They were undisputed overlords.” Qi Yang took a deep breath. “The Human Race, Giant Spirit Race, Asura Race, and Wood Race... all of them lived in the shadow of the Heaven Fighting Race. They joined forces to overthrow the Heaven Fighting Race. Through countless bloody battles, and by paying an unfathomable price, they defeated this race that had conquered the world and prospered for a hundred thousand years. The Heaven Fighting Race was driven to the brink of extinction. The few survivors disappeared and fled amongst the vast stars.”

Everyone from Celestial Artifact Sect and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain continued to listen in somber silence.

“The Heaven Fighting Race suffered a horrible defeat. All other major races, including the Giant Spirit Race, the Asura Race, the Wood Race, and the races of the Nether Realm, sustained considerable losses as well. Many races that were smaller in number… died out.” Qi Yang’s brow was tightly furrowed as he continued speaking. “After losing too many powerful practitioners, many races declined. We humans relied on our vigorous reproductive capabilities to rebuild our population and birth one martial practitioner after another. Other races do not match us in that regard.

“The Giant Spirit Race, Asura Race, and Nether Races, all of which were once strong and numerous, were unable to do the same. Their physiologies make it difficult for them to reproduce. Even now, they are still in their long resting phases.

“In the end, we were the winners! Our power surpasses that of every other race! The human race, which wasn’t even counted among the top ten powerful races before that ancient battle, became number one! That battle allowed us to reach the pinnacle of strength and become the true rulers of the universe!

Qi Yang said all of this with a look of pride.

However, in the next moment, a somber expression came over him.

“Even if humanity currently rules the universe, we still remember the terror that is the Heaven Fighting Race. We have always been prepared for their inevitable retaliation.”

Qi Yang glared at Feng Yi and shouted, “If the Graveyard of Gods is a divine altar that the Heaven Fighting Race uses to train their next generation, its destruction will definitely attract their attention! What you’ve done may have caused the deaths of everyone in the Land of Chaos!”

“The members of the Heaven Fighting Race may not necessarily be paying attention to the Graveyard of Gods.” Feng Yi smiled uncertainly. “So many years have passed without them ever returning. They may have died out.”

“The strongest race of ancient times, the one that didn’t die even under the combined assault of every race and was only exiled…” Qi Yang smiled in cold disbelief. “You believe that such a powerful race that ruled the universe would die amongst the stars? Really?”

Feng Yi was silent.

After some time, he nodded and said, “Since the event has already occurred… speaking of other things is already pointless. We’ll send word immediately and explain the situation.”

“What deal did you make with Jiang Zhuzhe? I think you should tell everyone about it!” Qi Yang snorted. “Jiang Zhuzhe turned the Land of Chaos upside down a thousand years ago. For you to actually interact with him… you truly are stupid!”

“You don’t get to meddle in the affairs of our Celestial Artifact Sect, Qi Yang.” Feng Yi snorted. “Just mind your Ten Thousand Beast Mountain.”

“I hope members of the Heaven Fighting Race weren’t paying attention to the Graveyard of Gods. If they were... and they end up coming to investigate…” Qi Yang shook his head gravely.

“Sect master!” Bi You exclaimed. “You said that the Heaven Fighting Race kept the remains of ancient elites within the Graveyard of Gods as a sort of training for their descendants?”

Feng Yi nodded. “According to the information I obtained, that should be the case.”

“Then why did the Graveyard of Gods experience a spatial collapse? Could a descendant of the Heaven Fighting Race have entered?” Bi You asked, voicing his suspicions.

“Unlikely.” Feng Yi frowned. “Maybe something else happened. We’ll have to wait for the Trial participants to exit the Graveyard of Gods and then ask them.

“Send word to the other great Silver rank forces!” Qi Yang urged.

And Feng Yi did.

Celestial Artifact Sect and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain sent word to the seven other Silver rank forces. Messages journeyed to the Heavenly Slaughter Continent, Heavenly Calamity Continent, Heavenly Wither Continent, and Heavenly Silence Continent, directly into the hands of other forces.

The other seven forces received these messages and learned about the great change that occurred in the Graveyard of Gods.

The other Silver rank forces reacted immediately, sending martial practitioners directly to the Heavenly Fissure Continent to demand an explanation from Celestial Artifact Sect and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain.

……

Desolate islands sat on the surface of one of the bright blue seas south of the Heavenly Calamity Continent. There was no soul presence of highly intelligent beings on any of these islands. Only bugs and sea birds could be found here.

All of a sudden, in the clear sky above these desolate islands, thin cracks came into existence.

Resembling a piece of ice that had been struck by a hammer, these cracks formed in empty space and expanded.

The cracks slowly grew larger and larger, and from deep within them, a resounding boom echoed throughout the sky.

The cracks started bursting at the seams, light streaming from within. One could feel the cold, desolate presence of spatial energy coming from inside of them.

These cracks were spatial rifts. One particularly small, red one exuded an aura of blood. This aura of blood was initially extremely weak, but it quickly grew stronger and more intense.

“Bang!”

All of a sudden, that small rift broke apart! A beam of bloody light wrapped in dense bloody energy shot out of it.

“Boom!”

That beam of bloody light crashed into the surface of the water between the islands with a resounding boom, creating enormous tidal waves that flowed outward from the point of impact.

Almost at the same exact time, blinding lights poured from the other spatial rifts in the air.

Enormous heads hurtled from the cracks, spinning through the air. They either fell into the sea or crash-landed on the islands, creating gigantic craters.

A tombstone and giant corpses wrapped in chains emerged from the rifts as well, shining with dazzling light.

They also fell into the sea and onto the islands.

This desolate part of the sea suddenly started to boil.

Bright beams of light shout of the sea, and explosions resounded from just below its surface.

A long while later, once all of the corpses fell into the sea or landed on the islands, the spatial rifts that came into existence in the sky above… disappeared.

The clear blue sky returned to its original appearance, and the noise under the sea calmed down as time went on.

At the beach of a particular island, people emerged from the water and climbed onto the sand, their faces pale. Among their number were Du Xiangyang, Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, Luo Chen, Pan Qianqian, and further away from them, Gao Yu. They collapsed on the beach, dazed looks in their eyes.

“Where’s Qin Lie?” Du Xiangyang shouted.

“I have him!” Song Tingyu exclaimed, her arms wrapped around Qin Lie’s body. Her dress was soaked through and through, revealing her beautiful, shapely body.

“No, not that body,” Du Xiangyang explained. “I meant the one he possessed. The body of the Blood Progenitor!”

“I don’t see it.” Pan Qianqian looked around. “I only remember him lifting us from the bottom of the ocean using the Blood Progenitor’s power. It seems like he’s still down there… his soul seems very weak…”

“That’s bad!” Du Xiangyang cried, anxiety taking over his face. “If martial practitioners with low realms or weak souls possess the body of a stronger being, they’ll quickly consume their soul energy whenever they use that being’s power. He probably used all of his soul energy!”

“I’ll go find him!” Song Tingyu laid Qin Lie’s body down on the beach, then turned to rush into the sea.

She was determined to get him back.

“No need,” Xue Moyan’s voice rang out. “I got him.”

Everyone turned in the direction Xue Moyan’s voice had come from and saw her struggling to walk up the beach, the body of the Blood Progenitor in tow.

Song Tingyu, Du Xiangyang, and the others saw her locked brow and hurried over to help.

“So heavy!” Luo Chen shouted.

“It’s like trying to move a mountain!” Du Xiangyang exclaimed in astonishment.

With everyone gritting their teeth and working together, they carried the Blood Progenitor’s body by its arms, legs, and waist. By the time they managed to get it onto the beach, they collapsed in a heap.

“The Blood Progenitor was an expert of ancient times,” Xue Moyan said in her sweaty state. “His body probably weighs tens of thousands of kilograms. Were it not for the water’s natural buoyancy and the fact that Qin Lie was conscious earlier, I wouldn’t have been able to carry him by myself.”

At this time, Song Tingyu reached out with her soul consciousness, trying to examine the body of the Blood Progenitor and find out how Qin Lie was faring.

Without warning, a dense fiendish blood aura exploded from the Blood Progenitor’s body. Song Tingyu’s hand was on its forehead and had just formed a wisp of soul consciousness when it forced her back.

Even her body was pushed away.

“You don’t cultivate the Blood Spirit Art, so your consciousness cannot enter the body,” Xue Moyan explained. “Qin Lie is fine. He just used up too much soul energy. He should be able to come out after he spends some time recovering.”

“Where are we?” Xie Jingxuan asked.

Luo Chen, Du Xiangyang, and Pan Qianqian all took out disc-shaped spirit artifacts and used them to find out their position.

After a while, Du Xiangyang reported to the group. “We are south of the Heavenly Calamity Continent... not far from Heavenly Slaughter Continent. Aside from these islands, this region is empty.”

“What do we do now?” Luo Chen asked, his brow furrowed. “I see that, aside from the Demon Sealing Tombstone and the eight god heads, even the remains of numerous ancient elites from the Land of Buried Gods came with us.”

“We wait,” Du Xiangyang said. “We wait for Qin Lie to recover and come back. Only he knows what happened. He’s also the only one that can communicate with the Demon Sealing Tombstone.”

Everyone agreed with him.