Spirit Realm

“Is that…”

La Pu looked at the round-shaped secret realm entrance in astonishment. He seemed to have discovered something.

“Are you referring to those wriggling patterns?” Tate smiled.

La Pu nodded slightly.

He noticed that the complicated patterns covering the entire wall of the obsidian palace were wriggling slowly. They were actually all gathered together on the wall in the shape of a White Bone Nether Spirit Altar.

“That is no pattern,,” the indifferent Duan Qianjie suddenly interrupted and said, “Those are void worms, living void worms no less.”

“You truly are well-versed in the power of space, Duan Qianjie.” Tate praised.

Duan Qianjie let out a snort and ignored Tate. Instead, he turned towards Li Mu and explained, “There are many ways to construct a passage that traverse worlds and secret realm entrances. You can use rare space crystals to create a passage, or you can use your own strength to create a secret realm entrance if you have reached the Void Realm and are well-versed in the power of space at the same time. Once you find two spatial nodes and shatter them by force, you’ll be able to connect both worlds.”

“However, the passages that connect worlds are more or less faulty in some way. They may not necessarily be stable.”

“Void worms are considered to be one of the safest ways to create a secret realm entrance and void passage.”

“However, void worms are extremely difficult to capture, and it is said that only Void Realm experts are able to capture these strange things from a couple of extremely dangerous and strange places.”

“The moment these strange things leave their special habitat, they become incredibly difficult to raise and die easily.”

“That’s why this method is seldomly used even though it is the safest.”

“You really are impressive, Brother Duan.” Tate praised again.

Before the group could ask any further, Tate suddenly withdrew his smile and pointed at the obsidian palace. He said solemnly, “These void worms have been living inside the remains of the Demon God, this black obsidian palace. They survive by absorbing the energy in its flesh and blood.”

La Pu’s expression changed as he yelled, “These are Demon God’s remains? But, but...”

“It is one of the true bodies of the five Demon Gods!” Tate said with a chilly expression.

La Pu shook.

Three thousand years ago, with Nether Continent as the center, the three most powerful races of the Nether Realm—Horned Demon Race, Ghost Eye Race, and Dark Shadow Race—managed to— increase their sphere of influence to their surroundings under the leadership of the five Demon Gods.

The Nether Realm denizens’ actions provoked the ire of the Gold rank force, Sky Mender Palace.

In the end, the five Demon Gods were killed one after another. The clan elders of the three great races and most of their peak experts were killed as well.

Originally, the Sky Mender Palace was planning to annihilate all races in Nether Realm and wipe them out completely.

It was thanks to Qin Shan’s plea for mercy that Sky Mender Palace had given up their original decision.

Later on, the Nether Continent was sealed off, and all the Nether Realm denizens who survived were chased back to the Nether Realm and forbidden from taking another step into Spirit Realm.

It was the most humiliating page of the entire history of the Nether Realm.

“Why is the true body of a Demon God here? Why was it refined into an obsidian palace?” A very long time later, La Pu asked again.

Despite his frigid expression, a trace of bitterness passed through Tate’s eyes. “Before the Venerable One had plead on our behalf, our forces were losing on all fronts already and the five Demon Gods had already fallen one after another. In order to prevent Sky Mender Palace from passing through the passages of Nether Continent, enter Nether Realm and commit genocide, we had no choice but to prepare some means of survival.”

“And this, is one of them.”

“This passage was created so that the people of Nether Realm could escape to secret realms and auxiliary worlds far away from Nether Realm and Spirit Realm when Sky Mender Palace finally invaded our world. It was so that Sky Mender Palace wouldn’t be able to find the surviving people of our race in Nether Realm or Spirit Realm.”

“That is why we have used the Demon God’s remains to feed the void worms as a means of survival. It is also the Demon God’s final instruction before he perished.”

“We have done this in order to preserve our race and leave behind some sparks of hope.”

La Pu bowed his head with a downcast expression after he heard Tate’s expression.

Li Mu and Duan Qianjie also looked thoughtful and didn’t interrupt his explanation.

They could imagine just how cruel that bloody war three thousand years ago was just from Tate’s story alone. It was a calamity that nearly wiped all living beings from the surface of Nether Realm, and in fact it was one step from becoming reality if it wasn’t for Qin Shan’s plea.

The five Demon Gods of the Nether Realm had probably predicted this consequence before they waged the decisive battle against the peak experts of Sky Mender Palace.

That was why they had laid down instructions to their clansmen to use the remains of their true bodies to feed the void worms should they perish. They had left behind the most feasible escape route for their clansmen in case the unthinkable happened.

“Where does this secret realm entrance ultimately lead to?” La Pu asked again.

Tate shook his head and said indifferently, “I don’t know either. My only role… is to create this secret realm entrance with this item for the young master. Even I don’t know what lies at the end of this passage.”

The moment he said this, Song Tingyu bit her lips softly with worry in her eyes.

She knew that Tate was referring to Qin Lie when he used the term “Young master.”

This secret realm entrance created with the aid of the void worms was opened specifically for Qin Lie and Qin Lie alone.

As she stared at the entrance, she was struck by a sudden wave of fear. She had a feeling that she would never be able to see Qin Lie again if he stepped through the entrance.

The fear caused her body to tremble slightly.

“Rrmmmb!”

Suddenly, the sound of heavenly thunder resounded from Qin Lie. Standing before the obsidian palace, the natural wrinkles of the eight Thunderblitz wood slabs suddenly began to twist in unusual fashion.

The clear sky was abruptly covered by thick, dark clouds, and the world suddenly turned dark.

It was as if day had turned to night instantly.

“Zzzt zzzt zzzt!”

Qin Lie’s clothes had exploded amidst the brilliant electricity, and he appeared fully naked before the crowd.

The Thunder Emperor Mark that vanished earlier slowly appeared in front of his chest like a sinister lightning tattoo. It burst with brilliant electrical light.

Countless tiny electrical arcs burst out of the tattoo-like lightning mark. It looked like it was connected with its skin, flesh and veins.

The two people standing closest to Qin Lie—Li Mu and Tate—backed away some more as their expressions grew serious.

“The Thunder Emperor Mark has fused with his flesh,” Li Mu muttered with an odd gleam in his eyes.

It was at this moment Qin Lie suddenly opened his eyes. Thunder and lightning danced in his pupils as if it was reflecting the lightning pool of nine heavens high above the sky.

He sat down at the center of the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood and said, “Give me some time.”

“Mn.” Tate nodded and pondered for a moment. Then, he said, “You only have three days.”

When he was done, he cast a glance at the secret realm entrance on the wall of the obsidian palace.

“Got it.” Qin Lie lowered his gaze.

His soul consciousness slipped into the mark at his chest as quick as a flash.

It was without a doubt the Thunder Emperor Mark!

The tattoo like imprint at his chest was glowing with faint shadows and sparkling with tiny characters.

Before this, he thought that Heavenly Thunder Eradication only had five stages: Thunder Lightning Body Refinement, Thunder of the Ninth Heaven, Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement, Thunder Conception, and Lightning Pool Refinement. It was only after his soul had permeated into the Thunder Emperor Mark that he learned that there were another two stages after that—Thunder Altar Foundation and Thunder Realm Creation. The cultivation method of the two new stages of Heavenly Thunder Eradication and the spirit materials necessary to build the thunder Soul Altar were all recorded clearly inside the mark.

Moreover, the Thunder Emperor Mark mentioned that there were actually two more realms to cultivate after Thunder Realm Creation.

This meant that the complete version of Heavenly Thunder Eradication consisted of nine stages in total.

There were only seven stages recorded inside the Thunder Emperor Mark. The Thunder Emperor was the mark of inheritance that encompassed all of the thunder and lightning powers and laws wielded by the Thunder Emperor.

This also meant that even the Thunder Emperor himself had only reached stage seven of Heavenly Thunder Eradication. It was likely that he didn’t manage to cultivate beyond Thunder Realm Creation.

Besides this, the Thunder Emperor Mark contained all kinds of methods and arts of thunder and lightning. There were spirit techniques such as Thunder Lightning Ball, Unstoppable Thunder, Blitz Thunder Escape, Violent Thunder Slam, Heart Rending Thunderblitz, Nine Thunder Blast… and so on.

Finally, it was mentioned that the Thunder Emperor once possessed three powerful spirit artifacts. They were the Thunder Emperor Mark, Thunder God Hammer, and Heavenly Lightning Pool.

When Qin Lie’s soul consciousness entered deep into the Thunder Emperor Mark, what he saw were records of the cultivation and usage method of the power of thunder and lightning.

This truly was the essence of the Thunder Emperor’s whole life of cultivation!

“Lightning Pool Refinement, Lightning Pool Refinement…”

He focused his thoughts onto the fifth level of Heavenly Thunder Eradication and stared at the dazzling words. Suddenly, he realized that the Thunder Emperor Mark was unleashing a great amount of electricity.

In the next moment, his soul consciousness was forced out of the Thunder Emperor Mark.

He saw a dazzling pillar of light made of thunder and lightning surging up into the clouds and vanishing in an instant.

Then, the pitch black sky suddenly rained heavily as fierce wind, lightning and the earthshaking noise of thunder appeared at the same time.

A wild magnetic field of lightning was created at the center of the eight Thunderblitz wood slabs. It seemed to be attracting the liquid of the lightning pools down towards it.

Qin Lie sat quietly for a long time under the downpour. Suddenly, he realized that a droplet containing a terrifying amount of thunder energy had appeared at the Thunder Emperor Mark on his chest.

The droplet was created from countless tiny electricity. It also contained a small amount of gray-colored granule.

Qin Lie could sense an unbelievably violent power of thunder inside these granules.

When he opened his eyes wide and stared at them, he noticed that the droplet had suddenly vanished into the Thunder Emperor Mark.

Then, the fifth stage of Heavenly Thunder Eradication, Lightning Pool Refinement started circulating on its own.

Suddenly, his Chest Center point swelled painfully. He could feel that droplet forcefully squeezing its way into this acupoint.

His Chest Center point swelled continuously and actually turned into a space the size of a walnut after the droplet had entered inside.

“Lightning Pool Refinement is to use the liquid of a lightning pool to refine one’s whole body, accept it in one’s meridians and turn the body itself into a lightning pool…”

While reciting the key points of Lightning Pool Refinement in his head, he focused his concentration and all of his strength to enlarge the Chest Center point at his chest and fit in that droplet that fell from the lightning pool in the sky.

Slowly, as his thunder and lightning powers washed and pushed against the walls of his Chest Center point, the space was enlarged to the size of a fist.

It was at this moment another three droplets of liquified lightning energy containing heavenly thunder were guided by the Thunder Emperor Mark into his Chest Center point.