Spirit Realm

Chapters 521-530

Chapter 521: Devious Invasion

After eight days of using the soul crystals and the immense blood aura of the Demon Sealing Tombstone, Qin Lie finally made a complete recovery.

His soul energy and blood finally reached the levels they had been at before the Soul Suppressing Orb initially drained them from him. His blood flowed vigorously, and his soul shone bright with energy.

As of right now, his tokens, as well as the tokens his companions possessed, had been rendered useless. Their group had completely vanished from the radars of the eastern barbarians and the three forces.

Since Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, Luo Chen, Du Xiangyang, Pan Qianqian, and Xue Moyan still needed to maintain their shields of light, they were sitting and using spirit stones to replenish their spirit energy.

Qin Lie, however, stood exposed to the Forbidden Land of Ice.

Having frozen the Demon Sealing Tombstone with the power of frost, he surveyed the landscape before him, eyes narrowed.

Out of everyone in the group, he was the only one who didn’t protect himself with a shield of light, instead leaving himself vulnerable to the harsh, frigid winds.

The cold, bone-chilling air of the Forbidden Land of Ice could cut through flesh like blades of frost. This place was a nightmare for most people who entered.

But Qin Lie was an exception.

As someone who had tempered his flesh and blood with the cold of the land underneath the Arctic Mountain Range, Qin Lie was able to adapt to this environment easily. He even felt extremely comfortable.

After replenishing his soul energy and blood, Qin Lie once again had absolute control over his body and his dantian’s spirit sea.

As he stood in this freezing land, he circulated his frost spirit art.

With just a thought, his aura changed in a split second, his gentle eyes abruptly becoming icy.

The frigid air of the Forbidden Land of Ice rushed toward him from every direction, entering his pores and flooding into his dantian’s spirit sea at his command.

Wisps of frigid air turned into cold white mist, which then progressed into extremely cold clusters of clouds that hovered around Qin Lie’s three frost natal palaces.

Since they expanded during his crisis earlier, the three frost natal palaces absorbed the cold energy on their own accord and merged it into the space within them.

All three gradually filled with frost energy…

Time slowly passed, and one hour later, the three frost natal palaces resembled translucent balls of ice that had been completely filled with frost energy.

Rays of icy light shone from Qin Lie’s cold, narrowed eyes.

He raised his eyebrows involuntarily.

Although his frost natal palaces were full to the brim with frost energy, they continued to absorb more.

The absorption process wasn’t stopping!

Three wisps of soul consciousness entered Qin Lie’s frost natal palaces, writhing around like ethereal tentacles.

He could see freezing wisps of white light flowing throughout the spaces within his natal palaces like snakes. They appeared to be devouring the frost energy that had been gathered from the outside, opening and closing their bloody maws.

These frigid snakes seemed to be streams of clouds formed from frost energy. One end of each snake seemed to stretch out of Qin Lie’s body, connecting to the Forbidden Land of Ice, while the other end was greedily eating up the frost energy in his frost natal palaces.

As the snakelike streams of clouds continued to consume the stored frost energy, Qin Lie’s frost natal palaces began to resonate with icy cracking noises. It seemed as if the spaces within them were expanding, freezing everything around them to turn everything into a world of ice.

At the same time, thousands of icy lights burst from Qin Lie’s three frost natal palaces like sharp arrows, heading in every direction.

His other six natal palaces, three thunder and three earth, underwent an abrupt change in response, discharging the power of thunder, lightning, and earth.

As a result, his spirit sea became chaotic once more, embroiled in intense conflict.

“Swoosh swoosh swoosh!”

Qin Lie’s wisp of consciousness split into several pieces, each spreading to different positions of his spirit sea like shadows.

All of a sudden, it was as if countless eyes were closely watching the world within Qin Lie’s spirit sea. They hovered deep within the nine sun-like natal palaces and examined every miniscule change inside of them, trying to figure out what was making them behave so strangely.

This time, Qin Lie had plenty of soul energy, and his blood thrived with life. He had plenty of power to support his spirit sea and make sure it endured the fighting.

“Bang!”

While Qin Lie focused on the world of his spirit sea, the ice surrounding the Demon Sealing Tombstone exploded without warning.

Before he could react, the seven divine lights within it blossomed and transformed into seven divine chains that actually writhed toward him.

In an instant, the Demon Sealing Tombstone flew over to hover above his head.

Divine light shone down upon him like a colorful shield of light that enveloped his entire body.

Qin Lie opened his eyes, instantly discovering that all of the frost energy that had converged on him from all over the Forbidden Land of Ice and surged into his spirit sea… had completely vanished.

The intense conflict within his dantian’s spirit sea came to an abrupt halt. The powers of earth and thunder withdrew into their respective natal palaces, and the three frost natal palaces no longer unleashed icy beams of light.

Even the frigid clouds shaped like snakes no longer greedily devoured the frost energy within the icy worlds of each frost natal palace.

Everything had returned to normal.

Just before they shackled Qin Lie, the seven divine chains came to a stuttering stop and withdrew back into the Demon Sealing Tombstone hovering above him, quick as lightning.

All of the frost energy that had rushed into his spirit sea dissipated after the Demon Sealing Tombstone arrived, exiting Qin Lie’s body and flowing in a specific direction.

The Demon Sealing Tombstone emitted a shrill noise, as if it wanted to chase after that energy and prevent it from escaping.

Before it could fly away, Qin Lie reacted instantly and grabbed hold of it, restraining it despite his astonishment.

It was then that he realized what had been going on.

The strange things occurring in his spirit sea… how his frost natal palaces were behaving aggressively and his thunder and earth natal palaces acted in retaliation… none of that was his fault.

—He had actually been invaded by a foreign entity!

The frost energy that had flooded his spirit sea contained the aura of the ice spirit! It may have even possessed a tiny amount of its consciousness!

The ice spirit had secretly entered Qin Lie’s spirit sea as he cultivated his frost spirit art, attempting to use the frost energy as a vessel and alter his frost natal palaces.

The ice spirit tried to use the frost energy to secretly gain control over him!

Qin Lie’s six other natal palaces had detected that the aura inside of his three frost natal palaces didn’t belong to him, which was why they fought against it!

The aura and consciousness of the ice spirit existed within all of the frigid air in the Forbidden Land of Ice!

Absorbing the frost energy in the air was the same voluntarily granting the ice spirit entry to his natal palaces. If Qin Lie had continued to do so, allowing his three frost natal palaces to expand unchecked, the consciousness of the ice spirit probably would’ve superseded his own. Even his True Soul would’ve been taken over!

Qin Lie took a deep breath, breaking out in a cold sweat. If the Demon Sealing Tombstone hadn’t taken action, forcing the cold air infused with the ice spirit’s consciousness to retreat…

He probably would’ve fallen prey to the ice spirit’s influence.

Then a realization occurred to Qin Lie.

“Just like how the wood spirit attempted to use Ye Yihao to escape the Graveyard of Gods… the ice spirit probably wants to leave using a martial practitioner who cultivates a frost spirit art and can endure its power!”

Ye Yihao and the wood spirit had cooperated with each other, reaching an agreement that left his soul free and independent.

They had shared a symbiotic relationship, which was relatively normal.

The ice spirit’s methods, however, were far more malevolent and domineering!

It didn’t seek a symbiotic relationship, it was looking for someone to outright dominate! It would quietly take over that person’s body and soul without them realizing it!

The ice spirit’s aura mingled with all of the frigid air that existed in the Forbidden Land of Ice. That meant it was probably even more powerful than the wood spirit and thunder spirit!

Having realized all of this, Qin Lie no longer dared to cultivate his frost spirit art. Without the Demon Sealing Tombstone, the ice spirit could’ve invaded him and he never would’ve known.

This entire situation had been an extremely close call.

“Qin Lie?” Song Tingyu said, getting to her feet and approaching him after awakening from her meditative recovery. “Why do you look so shocked? You’re extremely pale! What happened?”

Her words jolted the others from their own meditative states, causing them to stare at Qin Lie out of curiosity and worry.

“Something… happened,” Qin Lie said, brow deeply furrowed.

He took some time to explain his earlier predicament from beginning to end along with all of the revelations that came with it.

“The ice spirit is clearly choosing martial practitioners who cultivate frost spirit arts, possess high realms, and are able to endure its frost energy!” he eventually exclaimed. “Its methods are devious, gradually encroaching upon a person from within until it completely dominates them!”

Realizing the gravity of Qin Lie’s harrowing experience, shock filled Du Xiangyang’s face. “Not only is this ice spirit extremely intelligent… it might even be the most powerful of the seven spirits!”

“The ice spirit is capable of spreading its consciousness through the frigid air of the Forbidden Land of Ice. This means that its soul is extremely powerful,” Song Tingyu said with somber eyes. “It clearly knows where the Land of Buried Gods is! Maybe the miracles in the Land of Buried Gods helped it evolve and obtain such an obscene power!”

“We definitely need to be careful!” Xie Jingxuan exclaimed softly.

“The white eastern barbarian girl we saw a few days ago, the one called Jia Yue, also cultivates a frost spirit art.” Xue Moyan frowned slightly, thinking carefully for a moment before saying, “Unlike you, she cultivates only that frost spirit art. All nine of the natal palaces in her spirit sea should be frost natal palaces.”

“Neither her body nor her ability to endure frost energy are stronger than yours,” Xie Jingxuan added. “Yet she may very well be one of the ice spirit’s targets.”

Qin Lie’s eyes shone with an odd light.

After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.

“If we encounter the white barbarians again, I’ll let them know.”

……

Atop an icy stone, Jia Yue of the White Barbarian Tribe sat with her legs crossed, her eyes closed. Wisps of cold white mist surrounded her.

Her beautiful, snow-white face flowed with an icy luster, almost like it was made of translucent crystal. The air around her grew increasingly cold.

Some time later, she opened her eyes. Rays of icy light as sharp as blades could be seen in her pupils.

“Hehe, this Forbidden Land of Ice is wonderful!” She smiled with joy. “I’ve been improving by leaps and bounds since I got here!”

She looked at Gao Yu, who was standing beside her.

“I don’t know why, but I find myself ill at ease when you cultivate using the frost energy in the air.” Whenever he was alone with Jia Yue, Gao Yu would stow away his grim expression. However, this made him look somewhat stiff and aloof instead. “I cultivate the Nine Hell Wandering Soul Record. My soul perception is extremely sensitive, and I can vaguely detect an aura in the air that isn’t yours.”

“An aura that isn’t mine?” Jia Yue asked, yet continued to smile. “Whose aura might that be?”

“It’s too weak for me to tell,” Gao Yu said with a shake of his head. “I’m not even sure if I’m just being paranoid…”

“Don’t think about it too much!” she exclaimed excitedly. “I’m feeling fantastic! My natal palaces are magically expanding, which means that they can contain even more frost energy and I’ll grow even stronger!”

“That sounds like a good thing,” Gao Yu replied stiffly.

“Of course it’s a good thing! Sen Ye, Di Fei, and I may all be in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm, but they’re stronger than I am. This has been a source of disappointment among the elders of my tribe.” The excitement in Jia Yue’s eyes died down for a second, then she immediately grew happy again and exclaimed, “However, if my natal palaces undergo a new period of expansion and my strength increases by twenty to thirty percent, I’m confident that I won’t be at a disadvantage in a match against either Sen Ye or Di Fei.”

She paused, taking a deep breath to regain her composure.

“This is what the tribe elders expect of me!” she exclaimed seriously. “I won’t let them down!”

Gao Yu simply nodded in response, not bothering to say anything else.

He agreed with Jia Yue.

The cold air containing another aura wasn’t a big deal. 

Chapter 522: Arrival!

A dragon made of blood energy roared soundlessly as it bit into a barbarian wearing bright red clothing.

This scarlet barbarian immediately felt his blood boil over, his spirit energy becoming chaotic.

“Boom!”

Qin Lie struck with the Astral Thunder Hammer, smashing that barbarian’s bones to bits.

“Splurt!”

Luo Chen stabbed his sword into the chest of another scarlet barbarian, piercing the man’s heart and ending his life.

In another part of the area, Du Xiangyang and Xue Moyan killed three other scarlet barbarians.

This battle took place halfway up a mountain with a glacier running down its length.

For the past half month, Qin Lie’s group had been running into scarlet barbarians, and they had just exterminated their third wave of them.

“How much further is the ice spirit?” Du Xiangyang crouched to the ground and searched through the remains of the scarlet barbarians, checking if any had spirit materials or spirit stones.

“We’re close,” Qin Lie answered nonchalantly.

“Scarlet barbarians are the only people we’ve encountered for the past two weeks,” Song Tingyu interjected. “It’s a good thing our tokens can’t transmit our location. Otherwise, Di Fei and the rest of his scarlet barbarians would be able to track us easily.”

Qin Lie’s group was currently moving through a part of the Forbidden Land of Ice with many scarlet barbarians. Groups of fifteen were scattered throughout the area, searching everywhere for the ice spirit.

Qin Lie’s group had run into three of these groups in a row. The boisterous mouths of every scarlet barbarian told them that their leader was Di Fei.

They weren’t sure what kind of method Di Fei had at his disposal, but he had roughly identified where the ice spirit was and brought his tribesmen over.

However, the scarlet barbarians only had a vague idea of where it was, so they split into smaller teams and spread out to search for it.

Qin Lie’s group had killed three of those teams, adding up to a total of forty-five scarlet barbarians.

“Let’s get out of here as soon as possible. This team sent a message before fighting us,” Du Xiangyang said as he stood up, having searched the bodies. “It’s likely that another team of those savages is rushing here as we speak.”

“Mn,” Xue Moyan agreed. “If we’re unlucky enough to run into that Di Fei, we may get trapped here.”

“Is Di Fei that strong?” Luo Chen asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Di Fei is… extremely capable. Like Sen Ye, he is the leader of the Scarlet Barbarian Tribe’s younger generation,” Xue Moyan said, explaining what she knew about the eastern barbarians. “Di Fei cultivates the power of earth. The eastern barbarians refer to him as ‘the Son of Earth.’. He is rumored to be quite powerful, having possessed monstrous physical strength from birth.”

“How does he compare to Sen Ye?” Du Xiangyang asked in a grim tone.

“They’re equally matched. Jia Yue, the white barbarian girl we encountered earlier, is considered weaker than the two of them. However…” Xue Moyan took a moment to think. “This is the Forbidden Land of Ice. Jia Yue shouldn’t be any weaker than them here. At any rate, we need to be careful.”

While they were speaking, Qin Lie took out the Demon Sealing Tombstone to once again confirm the direction they would move in.

“Whoosh!”

It emerged from his spatial ring like a brilliant beacon, the dazzling divine lights inside of it resembling the luminescent tail feathers of a colorful peacock.

Powerful energy radiated from the Demon Sealing Tombstone. Despite being restrained by Qin Lie, it shook and trembled, clearly having an intense reaction to something.

Everyone’s eyes lit up at the same time.

“We’re about to reach it!” Qin Lie shouted.

He shoved the Demon Sealing Tombstone back into his spatial ring and took a deep breath. An immense aura of refined blood energy emanated from him.

“Let’s go!”

Like a ray of bloody light, Qin Lie shot toward the peak of the mountain. The rest of the group grew excited as they rushed to follow him.

An hour after their departure, two groups of scarlet barbarians arrived in that same area.

“This is the third team!” a young scarlet barbarian roared in a low, raspy voice. He was clearly a head shorter than everyone else, but he had a large physique.

Although this barbarian was short, he gave off a shocking aura. He was incredibly conspicuous and only needed to stand there to seem valiant.

The thirty scarlet barbarians that made up the two teams he commanded were tall and burly. Plenty had extraordinary auras as well. In spite of this, all of them looked at the young scarlet barbarian with reverence.

“Young Master, the enemy has discarded their tokens. We are unable to track them properly,” a scarlet barbarian exclaimed in a heavy voice.

“We’ll meet them soon enough!” The scarlet barbarian tribe leader, Di Fei, gave him a savage grin. “They have the Demon Sealing Tombstone, so they’re here for the ice spirit as well. We’ll definitely encounter them in this area!”

“What should we do now?” one of his subordinates asked.

“Contact everybody!” Di Fei ordered. “Tell them to join forces with other teams so they won’t be eliminated one after another, then head in this direction!”

“Understood!”

“Relax!” Di Fei exclaimed with a cold snort. “Someone is going to help us find them…”

……

“Wow! Everyone, look!” Pan Qianqian cried, having reached the peak of the glacial mountain. “What a huge lake! It’s so beautiful!”

Qin Lie and the others rushed up to join her, looking into the distance. The scenery brought expressions of amazement to all of their faces.

In the center of numerous mountains, nestled by clouds, sat an enormous frozen lake. The ice that made up its surface resembled a gigantic, wondrous mirror. No one could tell just how thick it actually was.

Qin Lie’s group stood at the top of a mountain, one of many that surrounded the frozen lake. Behind and around them were more snow-covered mountains and even glaciers.

Hundreds of thousands of enormous icy masses could be seen in the distance, connected to one another to form a ring with the lake at its center.

The air above the frozen lake was bone-chillingly cold. Frigid winds howled, weaving between the nearby mountains.

“The winds that can instantly freeze people to death probably originated from this lake,” Du Xiangyang said, taking a deep breath. “This icy lake… must be the very center of the Forbidden Land of Ice. The ice spirit should be inside of it as well!”

“Qin Lie, do you want use the Demon Sealing Tombstone to make sure?” Song Tingyu asked.

“No need.” Qin Lie said confidently, shaking his head. “The ice spirit should be at the bottom of this lake!”

“How about the Land of Buried Gods?” Xie Jingxuan asked, her eyes alight. “Could it be at the bottom of the lake as well? Maybe the Forbidden Land of Ice’s absolute power of frost completely froze it?”

The moment she said this, everyone’s eyes burned with excitement. They all inwardly rejoiced, realizing they had finally reached their destination: the heart of the Graveyard of Gods.

“So the ice spirit is hidden deep within this frozen lake, eh?” A voice suddenly echoed from a snowy mountain peak nearby. “I guess Di Fei wasted his efforts on the wrong area.”

Qin Lie’s group looked in the direction the voice came from.

A person could be seen atop a mountain peak to their left.

Noticing their gazes, that person grinned and said, “How long has it been since we last saw each other, Senior Sister Xue?”

“Jiang Tianxing!” Xue Moyan’s beautiful face suddenly went cold.

“Hu!” Qin Lie exclaimed softly.

“Oh, it’s that guy!” Song Tingyu burst into laughter.

Jiang Tianxing’s gaze swept over Xue Moyan to land on Song Tingyu.

“You bitch!” he yelled. “Where’s that kid that was with you back then?”

“Are you talking about me?” Qin Lie said with a grin.

“You?” Jiang Tianxing’s eyes abruptly became a frightening crimson.

Qin Lie smiled, took out the fox skin mask, and put it on. He took a moment to adjust it and give himself a new face, then said, “Now do you recognize me?”

“So it was you… Qin Lie!!” Jiang Tianxing cried.

Half a year ago, Jiang Tianxing led a group of martial practitioners who cultivated the Blood Spirit Art to fight the god corpse in the sea near Sea Moon Island and obtain the Demon Sealing Tombstone inside of its navel.

In the end, Qin Lie appeared out of nowhere and took the Demon Sealing Tombstone, ruining the plan that Jiang Tianxing had put so much effort into.

He and Celestial Artifact Sect’s Elder Bi You then searched everywhere for Qin Lie and Song Tingyu, hoping to find them and seize the tombstone for themselves.

Unfortunately, they never did.

No one knew more about the miracles of the Demon Sealing Tombstone than Jiang Tianxing.

And no one needed it more than he did.

As a matter of fact, everything the nine great Silver rank forces knew about the Graveyard of Gods, as well as the first headless god corpse that had appeared at the bottom of the sea, had been revealed by Jiang Tianxing and his father, Jiang Zhuzhe!

Taking out a horn, his eyes overflowing with anger, Jiang Tianxing blew a long, low note that echoed through the mountains.

“Bwooowooowooooooooo!”

Jiang Tianxing then put the horn away.

“I’ve signaled Di Fei. He and his scarlet barbarians will be here shortly.”

He laughed coldly. “I wonder how you’ll escape this time.”

Chapter 523: Meteor Shower

Jiang Tianxing howled into the sky and its harsh, frigid winds, his eyes flashing with bloody light.

Qin Lie and the others tensed up, immediately becoming more vigilant. They instinctively took out their spirit artifacts to prepare for any sudden changes.

They hadn’t expected that Jiang Tianxing would be in cahoots with Di Fei of the Scarlet Barbarian Tribe. His actions made it seem like they were close allies.

“We’ve killed numerous scarlet barbarians,” Du Xiangyang said, his expression grim. “That Di Fei has definitely been searching for us. It’ll be difficult to escape once he arrives.

“Every barbarian in the Graveyard of Gods is in the Netherpassage Realm.” Song Tingyu furrowed her brow. “If we fight all three tribes, we won’t have any hope of prevailing.”

“But… the ice spirit is at the bottom of that frozen lake! And the Land of Buried Gods could also be down there! We’ve gone through so much to get here. Are we just going to give up?” Pan Qianqian’s hands were balled into fists, her face filled with frustration. “Jiang Tianxing also knows that the ice spirit is here. Once Di Fei arrives, he’ll discover this as well. If we allow them to break through the ice and the Land of Buried Gods really is down there, we’ll have gained absolutely nothing!”

Qin Lie was silent.

Judging by the expressions of his companions, he could see that everyone deeply yearned to enter the Land of Buried Gods. None of them wanted to give up.

Di Fei of the Scarlet Barbarian Tribe would soon arrive with his tribesmen. The black and white barbarians were probably close as well…

Qin Lie’s group didn’t have the power to fight against all of the eastern barbarians. Even if the other forces of the Land of Chaos—Black Voodoo Cult, the three great Families, Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, and Celestial Artifact Sect—were thrown into the mix, they still wouldn’t be able to face all of the barbarians.

“Don’t count on any reinforcements,” Jiang Tianxing suddenly snarled, licking his lips. “Within the Forbidden Land of Ice, only five Land of Chaos martial practitioners are left: Ye Yihao and Huang Zhuli of Black Voodoo Cult, Feng Yiyou of Celestial Artifact Sect, Yu Men of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, and Su Yan of the Su Family! We’ve killed everyone else, even Lin Dongxing and Xiahou Yuan!”

The smile on Jiang Tianxing’s face showed how increasingly arrogant he was becoming. “They might be able to find this place, but even if they did, they’d just be courting death! Haahaha!”

Upon hearing him say this, everyone grew even more anxious.

Out of everyone from the forces in the Land of Chaos, only some of the ringers, the so-called geniuses, remained. Even Lin Dongxing and Xiahou Yuan from two of the three great families had been killed!

If that truly were the case, then who could oppose to the eastern barbarians in the Forbidden Land of Ice?

Song Tingyu subconsciously looked at Qin Lie.

Qin Lie’s eyebrows were tightly knit. He didn’t know what to do.

“We don’t have any tokens for them to track us through. If we leave, they won’t be able to pin us down.” Du Xiangyang sighed. “Should we survive until the exit portals are opened, we might be able to get out of here alive.”

He clearly wanted to retreat.

“With just our strength alone… we probably won’t be able to steal anything from the eastern barbarians,” Luo Chen said, dissatisfaction on his face.

“What do you think?” Xue Moyan looked at Qin Lie.

Everyone else turned to look at him as well.

At this moment, he had the power to decide what they would do.

The entire group had chosen to follow him.

Without hesitation, Qin Lie spoke in a solemn tone.

“I want to meet Di Fei!”

These words made everyone freeze.

“Even if two hundred scarlet barbarians entered the Graveyard of Gods… between the fighting throughout the Forbidden Lands of Metal, Earth, and Water, and freezing to death in the Forbidden Land of Ice, there should only be around half of them left.”

Qin Lie spoke in a frosty tone, his eyes calm as he continued, “We killed three teams of scarlet barbarians, forty-five barbarians in the Netherpassage Realm overall. This should leave about fifty or so scarlet barbarians.”

Everyone wore pensive expressions.

“We’ve fought these scarlet barbarians. We know that, individually, their strength isn’t much.” Qin Lie looked at each of them one by one, his eyes bright. “On our side, we have Luo Chen, Xue Moyan, and you, Du Xiangyang. Out of everyone here, you three are the most outstanding. Jingxuan and Tingyu are strong as well, having cultivated to the late stages of the Netherpassage Realm. Even Pan Qianqian is in the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm. Her individual strength is greater than that of scarlet barbarians in the same realm…”

Qin Lie paused for a moment, then excitedly said, “As of now, our only enemies are the scarlet barbarians! Before the black and white barbarians get here, we have a chance!”

At this moment, everyone’s thoughts of retreating vanished. Their eyes shone with determination, their spirits alight once more.

“Alright! Then we’ll stay and fight!”

“I want to see what makes Di Fei so special!”

“Hmph! We’ve suppressed these eastern barbarians for years. Do they really think they can do whatever they want in the Graveyard of Gods?”

The decision was made. They weren’t going to retreat.

Ignoring Jiang Tianxing who stood at the peak of a neighboring mountain, they dug a cave out of their own icy mountain peak and settled in.

Each of them took out spirit stones and silently began to replenish their spirit energy. They tried to make the process as fast as possible, preparing for the arrival of the scarlet barbarians.

Jiang Tianxing went still at the sight of Qin Lie’s group resting in plain sight. He hadn’t expected them to be so audacious and choose not to escape when they knew that the strongest combatants of the Scarlet Barbarian Tribe were approaching.

“Ha! Birds die for food, and people die for wealth.” Jiang Tianxing smirked as he sent a message to Di Fei. He secretly left the mountain, moving closer to Qin Lie’s group. “Just for the ice spirit and the remains of elites in the Land of Buried Gods… looks like they don’t want to live.”

Two hours later, a barbarian dressed in scarlet carrying an enormous bow appeared. He stood at the midpoint of a mountain, the peak of which Qin Lie’s group currently was.

The scarlet barbarians thought that Qin Lie’s group would eventually regret their decision and attempt to retreat, so they split up to surround them.

“You were right, Qin Lie! There’s only a bit more than sixty of them, most in the middle stages of the Netherpassage Realm,” Du Xiangyang exclaimed, peering down the side of the mountain and taking note. “Wait for them to get closer! These icy boulders will do more damage if they’re close!”

Off to the side of Qin Lie’s group, dozens of icy boulders were arranged in rows, poised to be roll down and strike the barbarians below.

They had just carved these extremely large, icy boulders from the mountain. If they rolled down from the peak and struck the scarlet barbarians, the barbarians would definitely suffer severe injuries.

“They probably rushed here from other areas, so they should be low on spirit energy.” Song Tingyu smiled coldly. “In addition to that, we have the high ground! We can take advantage of that and wait because their arrows won’t be effective!”

“Alright then!” Qin Lie shouted. “We wait!”

The wait ended up lasting fifteen minutes.

“Attack!”

Icy boulders the size of millstones rained down from the peak of the mountain like meteors through the sky. A dull rumble accompanied them as they traversed the glacial mountainside.

These boulders also contained the spirit energy of everyone in Qin Lie’s group. Some sparked with lightning, others radiated an intimidating sword aura, and others glowed with green essence.

A shower of icy meteors hurtled downward, their world-shaking presence making the scarlet barbarians in their path go pale.

“Take cover!” Di Fei yelled.

Standing among them, Jiang Tianxing wore a shocked expression as he rushed to find somewhere to hide.

“Boom boom!”

“Bam!”

“Aaaahh!”

The dull thud of stone against flesh, the crack of breaking bones, and pitiful wails echoed across the mountain.

An ice boulder struck a scarlet barbarian in a flash of lightning. Before he could make a sound, his head promptly exploded, and the remainder of his body fell to the bottom of the mountain.

Sharp swords seemed to pierce through the shields of light of other scarlet barbarian right before icy boulders struck them. Their exposed bodies exploded upon collision.

This shower of icy meteors resulted in eight scarlet barbarians dead, and at least ten seriously injured.

“They can’t even take a hit.”

At the peak of the mountain, Luo Chen shook his head and smirked.

“Eight dead and even more injured.” Glee filled Song Tingyu’s eyes. “Even if there are more them, they’ve used a lot of spirit energy. What is there to be afraid of?”

“Let them come!” Xie Jingxuan smiled coldly.

“Jiang Tianxing! Come on up here!” Du Xiangyang shouted, laughing. “Come on, didn’t you want to kill us all? I’m waiting for you right up here!”

From their position halfway of the mountain, the scarlet barbarians howled, eyes red with anger. Every single one resembled frenzied beasts glaring at Qin Lie’s group up on the mountain peak. 

Chapter 524: The Power To Topple Mountains

“These eastern barbarians aren’t much!”

Luo Chen stood at the peak of the mountain. He radiated sword intent that felt like it could cut through anything. A harsh, seemingly tangible light shone from his eyes.

“Why don’t you come up here, Jiang Tianxing?” Du Xiangyang hollered in a mocking tone. “Weren’t you going to kill us all?”

The rest of the group was relaxed, smiles adorning their faces. They were thinking the same thing—

—The eastern barbarians weren’t much.

“Young master!”

Halfway up the mountain, all of the scarlet barbarian clansmen turned their red eyes to look at Di Fei.

Eight tribesmen had been killed by the shower of boulders and ten had been heavily injured. More importantly, the enemy was taunting them! They couldn’t endure such humiliation!

Xue Moyan frowned slightly. “Di Fei isn’t a pushover, everyone. Control yourselves.”

“What’s he gonna do, topple the mountain?” Du Xiangyang asked with a hearty laugh.

Qin Lie’s group currently stood at the peak of the mountain. If the scarlet barbarians tried to charge up to them, they would have to endure assaults from above.

After dealing significant damage to the eastern barbarians, Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen were brimming with confidence.

They thought they held the upper hand and looked down on the eastern barbarians below them. They relaxed.

“Everyone!” Di Fei suddenly bellowed, a vicious expression on his face. “Come down from the mountain!”

The moment Di Fei gave the order, the scarlet barbarians quickly retreated from the mountain.

“Hm? They’re retreating?” Pan Qianqian exclaimed in shock.

“Di Fei hasn’t moved!” Xue Moyan shouted, her expression grave.

“Something’s not right!” Qin Lie said.

When the scarlet barbarians retreated from the mountain and left Di Fei at the midpoint, Qin Lie started to feel earth energy radiate from him. The energy was so powerful that it made even him feel nervous.

Haloes of bright golden light emerged from Di Fei’s body.

These haloes, which seemed to carry an earth-shaking power that disrupted the gravity around it, suddenly charged deep into the ground.

“Boom boom boom—!”

The mountain and the glacier that covered it began to shake furiously. Di Fei continued to release haloes carrying the power of earth, warping the gravity in the area and making rocks tumble down the ice.

From their high vantage point, the faces of everyone in Qin Lie’s group went pale at the sight of other mountains moving back and forth.

Did Di Fei really possess the power to topple a mountain?

“You really guessed it, you blabbermouth!” Pan Qianqian glared at Du Xiangyang, her face riddled with shock and anxiety. “Is Di Fei really this strong? Can his control over the power of earth truly cause earthquakes and make mountains collapse? This is too terrifying!”

Xue Moyan sighed softly. “The eastern barbarians call Di Fei the Son of the Earth. He could apparently feel earth power not long after he was born, and is supposedly capable of connecting to it with his heartbeat.”

“Boom boom boom—!”

The earth continued to shake. At the peak of the mountain where Qin Lie’s group stood atop the ice of the thousand-meter-long glacier, enormous pieces of it broke away and fell with huge amounts of snow.

The intense earthquake shook the icy mountain on which they stood, and it seemed like it would collapse at any moment.

This development brought shock to the faces of Qin Lie and the others. Only now did they realize just how scary Di Fei was.

“No, that isn’t right!” Qin Lie yelled, examining the situation with his mind consciousness. The second he did, his expression went slack. “He didn’t cause the earthquake with his own power… the spirit of the Forbidden Land of Earth did! The earth spirit formed a bond with Di Fei. It should be in his body at this very moment!”

As soon as he said that, everyone felt even more anxious, their opinion of Di Fei skyrocketing.

“It’s just like how the wood spirit wanted to use Ye Yihao to free itself from the Forbidden Land of Wood, break out of the Graveyard of Gods, and escape into the outside world,” Qin Lie said, a serious expression on his face. “The spirit of the Forbidden Land of Wood has bound itself to Di Fei to do that very same thing. The earth spirit is inside of him. It’s causing the earthquake!”

“You’re right!” Di Fei turned to glare at the people on the mountain threatening to collapse. “The earth spirit is helping me!”

Two slits suddenly appeared above his eyes, and two gray-yellow eyes shot open.

It seemed as if these new eyes had replaced Di Fei’s eyebrows, making it look like he had four. It gave him a strange, frightening appearance.

Everyone instinctively looked at the pair of gray-yellow eyes.

“Whoosh!”

Dozens of gray and yellow rays of light shot from both eyes and smashed into the mountain peak.

“Boom boom boom!”

Enormous boulders cracked, and the glacier fell apart at its center.

The ice at the peak of the mountain could no longer hold up and began to collapse as well. After the explosions caused by the rays of light, the bulk of the mountain slowly started tilting.

Pan Qianqian screamed, her shrill voice echoing from the top of the mountain.

“Jump!” Qin Lie shouted.

Just as the glacier collapsed, and right before the mountain peak hurtled to the ground, Qin Lie, Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, Du Xiangyang, Luo Chen, Xue Moyan, and Pan Qianqian… jumped.

Their figures, each of them surrounded by shields of light, fell toward a nearby valley. They crashed into the snow that had accumulated there, creating deep, person-shaped holes.

“Pfft!”

Pan Qianqian’s shield shattered upon impact, leaving her dazed and completely exposed to the cold winds. She spat out a mouthful of blood, and her face turned pale.

“It’s… s-so cold!” She stuttered, trembling as her eyes grew dim.

“Bang!”

Luo Chen smashed into a piece of ice that had fallen earlier on, shattering it. He groaned as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Everyone else suffered in similar ways, ending up dazed upon landing.

Qin Lie endured a similar crash landing. He fell like a human hammer, slamming straight into an enormous, three-meter-tall piece of ice. It crumbled to pieces as he leaped to his feet with a grunt.

Having a strong body finally showed its benefits.

Since Qin Lie was as tough as stone even without the protection of a shield of light, falling from such a height had no effect on him.

When the others landed, their shields of light either shattered or badly warped.

Every person’s shield of light required pure spirit energy to take shape. The destruction of such a shield meant a large expenditure of spirit energy.

When this happened to the rest of Qin Lie’s group, one-tenth of each person’s spirit energy was lost.

This didn’t even take their wounds into account.

“Incoming!” Qin Lie shouted. He took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his hands.

Blue bolts of lightning shot from his fingers like spirit snakes, each one two meters long and filled with the pure, ferocious energy of thunder and lightning.

“There!” Jiang Tianxing pointed them out to other scarlet barbarians.

Just outside the valley, ten scarlet barbarians nocked their bows, preparing to shoot at Qin Lie’s group. An intense cold filled their eyes.

Lines of blue, dark green, scarlet, and translucent spirit energy coursed along the length of their arms, flooding into their enormous bows.

The arrows nocked into their bows ignited like torches and released bright, colorful lights.

“Fire!”

Arrows filled with pure spirit energy shot through the air like rain. The terrifying power they carried was capable of destroying the valley like the careless movement of a gargantuan being.

“Explode!”

Ten streaks of blue lightning twisted through the air like vicious snakes, shooting toward the arrows.

“Papapapa!”

The snakes clashed with the arrows in midair, filling the sky with bright flames and sparks of light. It resembled a beautiful fireworks show.

The moment the arrows collided with the blue lightning, the spirit energy they contained released a shockwave that struck Qin Lie.

The force flung Qin Lie to the mouth of the valley. He trembled uncontrollably, feeling as if he had taken a heavy punch.

He eventually got his body under control and stopped trembling. The lightning in his eyes looked slightly weaker, but he still wore his usual, relaxed expression.

Despite the fact that he blocked a majority of the arrows, three got past him. However, these three suddenly exploded when they approached Xue Moyan.

Xue Moyan’s Illusory Demon Orb was capable of releasing wondrous illusions. It emitted an ethereal light that gradually enveloped her figure, making her seem like an immortal goddess descending to the mortal realm.

She had been the one that to block the last three arrows.

“Jiang Tianxing… haven’t you and your father spent many years trying to find an opportunity to kill me?” she asked, walking forward.

Her bright eyes swept across Qin Lie and settled Jiang Tianxing, who stood in the midst of the scarlet barbarians.

“After today, we’ll have one less target.” Jiang Tianxing’s eyes went a bloody crimson, like those of a savage ghost. In a low voice, he said, “Senior Sister Xue, you shouldn’ not have lived. If it weren’t for you, your mother wouldn’t have been stuck with a fate worse than death…”

Upon hearing his words, Xue Moyan’s eyes slowly became tinged with blood.

The thick odor of blood gradually emanated from her body as she channeled the Blood Spirit Art. 

Chapter 525: Bloodthirsty Dragon!

Dense, bloody light gushed from the palm of Xue Moyan’s left hand with an angry, earthshaking roar.

A bone dragon dripping with blood winked into existence, its entire body sparkling with translucent, bloody light. Every single one of its bones exuded waves of blood energy.

Qin Lie’s eyes suddenly lit up in realization.

Although this dragon reminded him of Blood Dragon’s Roar, a spirit art executed with the power of blood, it was actually a genuine dragon’s skeleton.

With its sanguine skeleton as the frame and Xue Moyan’s blood spirit energy as its flesh, the bloody bone dragon looked as large as the entrance to a mine around twenty meters wide. Its eyes shone with intimidating bloody light.

“Aoooooooo!”

The bloody bone dragon roared, the sanguine flames covering its body erupting skyward. It seemed as if the dragon’s burning, earthshaking might had surged into existence amidst a sea of blood.

Qin Lie raised his head to watch as the bloody bone dragon soared above him, charging straight for the group of scarlet barbarians wielding giant bows. An angry roar tore through the air as the dragon’s bloody tail swept across three of the barbarians, flinging them to the other end of the snowy valley with a bone-shattering crunch.

“Pfft!”

As if they had been pierced with sharp weapons, broken bones protruded from the stomach of two of the barbarians.

The third one hadn’t even hit the ground before unleashing a bloodcurdling scream. He immediately died a terrible death as all of the blood in his blood vessels exploded.

“You have the Bloodthirsty Dragon!?” Jiang Tianxing screamed.

“Aoooo!!”

The bloody bone dragon turned its bloody gaze to Jiang Tianxing, locking onto him with a roar. Its sanguine bones twisted and convulsed before it rushed toward him, a sinister expression on its bloody face.

An expression of horror came over Jiang Tianxing, and he instinctively turned to flee.

He was well aware of the terror that was the “Bloodthirsty Dragon,” Blood Fiend Sect’s greatest spirit artifact. Back when Blood Fiend Sect fell to ruin, Mo Lingye and the Bloodthirsty Dragon had mysteriously disappeared. Jiang Tianxing and his father, Jiang Zhuzhe, had expended enormous amounts of effort searching for it.

According to the rumors, the Blood Progenitor once killed a huge dragon. Using his own blood and several hundred rare spirit materials to temper the dragon’s corpse, he created the Bloodthirsty Dragon. It then went on to become Blood Fiend Sect’s most famous spirit artifact.

As a Heaven Grade spirit artifact, the Bloodthirsty Dragon had always been the ultimate treasure that represented and protected Blood Fiend Sect. Only disciples of the sect who cultivated the Blood Spirit Art could control this powerful spirit artifact.

The Bloodthirsty Dragon had originally been in Xue Li’s possession. However, after Jiang Zhuzhe set him up and imprisoned him within the twelve spirit pattern pillars… it mysteriously disappeared.

This was the reason why Jiang Zhuzhe hadn’t killed Xue Li, instead deciding to torture, interrogate, and search him again and again. He sought to obtain the Bloodthirsty Dragon, a Heaven Grade spirit artifact.

Yet, after so many years, Jiang Zhuzhe hadn’t been able to discover its whereabouts. He eventually gave up on it.

No one could have foreseen the event that, after coming to an agreement with Xue Li, Blood Fiend Sect’s former sect master, Mo Yunwu, would personally pass the Bloodthirsty Dragon down to his daughter instead of the current sect master.

After Blood Fiend Sect fell, Mo Lingye took the Bloodthirsty Dragon and fled far from the Heavenly Calamity Continent. Then she passed it down to Xue Moyan.

No one realized that Xue Moyan, who had always fought others using Illusory Demon Sect’s spirit arts and spirit artifacts, possessed the Bloodthirsty Dragon. She never dared to use it because doing so would expose it, and by extension, her own identity.

However, Jiang Tianxing’s taunts had truly infuriated her. Unable to suppress her anger, she actually summoned the Bloodthirsty Dragon.

The Bloodthirsty Dragon, which was made using a dragon’s corpse, nurtured with the blood of the Blood Progenitor, and tempered with several hundred rare spirit materials, now displayed its terrifying might.

Upon focusing on and examining the Bloodthirsty Dragon, Qin Lie noticed that Blood Fiend Sect’s spirit art, “Blood Dragon’s Roar,” had been created using the Heaven Grade spirit artifact as a basis.

At Xue Moyan’s command, this unusually large, dragon-shaped spirit artifact roared and rushed at Jiang Tianxing.

All of the scarlet barbarians below the bloody bone dragon were in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm. They had formidable realms and abundant energy.

However, when the Bloodthirsty Dragon flew overhead, the extraordinary patterns on its bones blossomed with terrifying blood energy..

“Bang bang bang!”

—And the scarlet barbarians beneath it suddenly exploded, their blood having boiled up and expanded beyond what their bodies could contain.

The scarlet barbarian martial practitioners outside the valley burst into showers of blood one after another.

“Swoosh swoosh swoosh!”

Bloody lights shot from the remains of everyone who died such horrible deaths, flying into the sky and streaming into the Bloodthirsty Dragon.

The dragon roared angrily as it absorbed all of the light into its body of blood and bone. The bloody light in its pupils grew increasingly terrifying.

“Di Fei! Help me!” Jiang Tianxing screamed over and over.

He fled into the distance like a ray of sanguine light, using everything he had in an attempt to reach Di Fei. He hoped that the scarlet barbarian leader would be able to assist him.

Having rushed from the toppled mountain, Di Fei was in the process of leading his men toward the entrance to the valley when the hysteric Jiang Tianxing came into view.

Relentlessly chasing him from behind was the bloody bone dragon. It burned with sanguine flames and radiated a fiendish aura of blood that reached the sky.

This sight left Di Fei, who moved with anger and extraordinary might, speechless. He hadn’t even made it to the valley yet.

“Stop!” Di Fei commanded his tribesmen, hastily raising a hand. His expression changed from anger to disbelief as he yelled, “Jiang Tianxing! What is that thing behind you?”

“It’s Blood Fiend Sect’s ultimate treasure, the Bloodthirsty Dragon!” Jiang Tianxing screamed in horror. “Di Fei! Command the earth spirit to create a wall of earth and block it! Xue Moyan is controlling the Bloodthirsty Dragon, but her life force is weak! She definitely won’t be able to keep it up for long!”

“Alright!” Di Fei shouted. He furrowed his brow in concentration as a new pair of eyes appeared on his face once more.

“Seismic Mountain Uprising!” he yelled, injecting an immense amount of earth power into the ground.

The earth behind Jiang Tianxing released a terrifying rumble as the ground split, barriers of ice and stone jutting into the air.

“Boom!”

The Bloodthirsty Dragon rammed into one of the walls, shattering the barrier that resembled a small hill. It continued to charge forward, scattering shards and boulders of ice and stone everywhere.

Thick barriers burst into pieces one after another.

The Bloodthirsty Dragon roared angrily as it continued its violent pursuit of Jiang Tianxing.

“Again! Again!” Jiang Tiangxing yelled in fear.

Seeing that the situation was just as bad as before, Di Fei had no choice but to concentrate and join forces with the earth spirit once more, building new earthen barriers to block the dragon’s path.

Back in the valley, Xue Moyan’s beautiful, blood-soaked figure flew past Qin Lie into the distance. She followed the Bloodthirsty Dragon closely, directing it to attack Jiang Tianxing.

Her entire body brimmed with killing intent!

“S-sister Xue…” Pan Qianqian said in a soft voice. “She looks so fearless.”

The sight stunned everyone in Qin Lie’s group.

“She’s killed more than a dozen scarlet barbarians using just the power of blood and that spirit artifact, the Bloodthirsty Dragon. She has yet to call upon even an ounce of the illusory power of Illusory Demon Sect,” Du Xiangyang said, his lips forming a bitter smile as he shook his head. “All of her enemies are in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm too!”

“A thousand years ago… if internal strife hadn’t erupted within Blood Fiend Sect… if the three great families hadn’t betrayed them… if the nine great Silver rank forces hadn’t come together and attacked them…” A sense of respect welled up inside of Luo Chen. “If none of these things had come to pass, Blood Fiend Sect probably would’ve continued to be the most terrifying force in the Land of Chaos!”

As a newly ascended Silver rank force, Heavenly Sword Mountain was young like Luo Chen. They didn’t have much admiration for Blood Fiend Sect, a force that once dominated the Land of Chaos.

Although it was once powerful, Blood Fiend Sect hadn’t left much of an impression on Luo Chen because it ultimately fell to ruin.

He had always thought that stories of Blood Fiend Sect’s might were just rumors. He believed that, if such a sect truly was strong, it wouldn’t have been eliminated..

Yet at this moment, after Xue Moyan summoned the Bloodthirsty Dragon and instantly killed a dozen or so scarlet barbarians in the same realm as her, he finally understood just how terrifying Blood Fiend Sect had been. He truly acknowledged the powerful force that once dominated the Land of Chaos.

“She won’t be able to sustain it,” Xie Jingxuan suddenly said. “This terrifying Heaven Grade spirit artifact needs incredible amounts of blood and energy to sustain it. Xue Moyan may possess a considerable amount of both, but she doesn’t have enough. She definitely won’t hold on much longer.”

Xie Jingxuan could keenly sense life force. She noticed Xue Moyan’s plight a long time ago and knew there was no way she’d be able to control the Bloodthirsty Dragon much longer.

A Heaven Grade spirit artifact like the Bloodthirsty Dragon was suitable for Nirvana Realm and Imperishable Realm martial practitioners. Only elites in these realms could skillfully wield such a spirit artifact.

Xue Moyan was only at the peak of the Netherpassage Realm. The fact that she could summon the Bloodthirsty Dragon and unleash a small fraction of its might was already a feat to be proud of.

She clearly couldn’t keep this up for long.

“This spirit artifact’s terrifying power is the only reason she could instantly kill around a dozen barbarians in the same realm as her,” Xie Jingxuan said, calmly revealing the truth. “She wouldn’t have such overwhelming advantage on her own.”

“Does that mean she’ll have to withdraw the Bloodthirsty Dragon if Di Fei is able to fend it off for a little while longer?” Qin Lie asked with a frown.

“Not only would she have to withdraw it, she’d even grow weak from using up too much of her blood and energy,” Xie Jingxuan explained. “We shouldn’t just watch from the sidelines. We need to stay by her side and wait for the moment that she exhausts all of her strength. We need to protect her when that happens. We’ll need to keep the scarlet barbarians from injuring or killing her.”

A grim expression covered Qin Lie’s face. Without another word, he rushed from the valley in Xue Moyan’s direction.

“Bang!”

Another wall of icy stone rose from the ground, and the Bloodthirsty Dragon burst straight through it. It roared madly and was about to reach Di Fei and Jiang Tianxing.

“Pwack!”

A mouthful of blood erupted from Di Fei’s mouth. His eyes grew dim as he ignored Jiang Tianxing’s cries and yelled, “Retreat! Retreat from this place! Now!”

Di Fei was actually the first to give in.

“The bloody bone dragon has been withdrawn!” a scarlet barbarian cried out in surprise.

Xue Moyan’s face was pale, the glittering bloody light in her eyes gradually dimming as well.

Di Fei, who had been ready to turn tail and run, regained his composure upon hearing the cry of his tribesman, a pleased expression returning to his face.

“Someone who’s about to die doesn’t deserve Blood Fiend Sect’s ultimate treasure!” Jiang Tianxing yelled, insane with excitement. He shot toward Xue Moyan, almost dancing with joy.

He was about to seize the Bloodthirsty Dragon from Xue Moyan and fulfill one of his father’s dreams. 

Chapter 526: Intense Battle!

The moment he saw the Bloodthirsty Dragon fly back to Xue Moyan, Jiang Tianxing immediately charged at her. His eyes were bloodshot and his body shimmered with bloody light. It seemed as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

“You are not worthy of wielding the Bloodthirsty Dragon!” he cried.

An illusory dragon made of bloody light flew out of Jiang Tianxing’s forehead. This dragon contained Jiang Tianxing’s soul consciousness and wrapped around the Bloodthirsty Dragon in an attempt to rob Blood Fiend Sect of its ultimate treasure, turning it into a powerful tool for him and his father.

A Heaven Grade spirit artifact was one of the most valuable objects in the Land of Chaos. Every single one of them held infinite might and could unleash earth-shattering power.

Not all of the nine great Silver rank forces’ elite martial practitioners wielded a Heaven Grade spirit artifact of their own.

For a Blood Fiend Sect disciple who cultivated the Blood Spirit Art and possessed a tremendous amount of blood energy within their blood, the Bloodthirsty Dragon was literally the ultimate treasure. When activating it with the Blood Spirit Art, this spirit artifact was truly capable of turning the sky upside down.

Jiang Tianxing stared at the Bloodthirsty Dragon with bloodshot eyes, his face filled with extreme desire.

“Back off!”

A thunderous rumbling rang out, and ten bolts of dark blue lightning struck toward Jiang Tianxing like ten brilliant chains.

Upon being struck by the lightning bolts, the illusory dragon that emerged from Jiang Tianxing’s forehead instantly became listless, its bloody luster growing dim.

Jiang Tianxing came to an abrupt halt, his expression twisting in anger.

“Qin Lie!” he roared.

“Scram!” Qin Lie yelled, his hand forming a grasping motion and thrusting in Jiang Tianxing’s direction. A ball of thick, bloody light instantly gushed from his palm.

“Blood Dragon’s Roar!”

Another bloody dragon rammed into Jiang Tianxing’s chest. The terrifying, fiendish energy struck Jiang Tianxing like a tidal wave, the power of thunder and lightning coursing through it as well.

This single strike sent Jiang Tianxing flying.

“Boom!” Jiang Tianxing hurtled to the ground, falling amidst the scarlet barbarians. His face flushed red as a series of cracks echoed from his chest.

“Blood Dragon’s Roar! You cultivate the Blood Spirit Art too!?” he screamed, his eyes shining with a shockingly harsh light. He was clearly bewildered by the constantly turning events. “Just who are you? Who ordered you to snatch the Demon Sealing Tombstone from my grasp?”

Only a Blood Fiend Sect disciple could cultivate the Blood Spirit Art and learn how to execute Blood Dragon’s Roar.

From Jiang Tianxing’s perspective, Qin Lie unleashing Blood Dragon’s Roar clearly meant that he was a disciple of a certain Blood Fiend Sect elder’s descendant. He took that thought a step further and assumed that Qin Lie had planned to steal the Demon Sealing Tombstone from him all along. He surmised that him and his father working with the scarlet barbarians had long since been discovered by the enemy.

“My father taught Qin Lie the Blood Spirit Art!” Xue Moyan exclaimed softly.

It was at this moment that the rampaging Bloodthirsty Dragon turned back into a ray of bloody light and miraculously withdrew into Xue Moyan’s snow-white arm.

A small tattoo of a bloody dragon materialized on her arm for a moment, then faded until it disappeared.

Qin Lie had ruined Jiang Tianxing’s plan to seize the Bloodthirsty Dragon from Xue Moyan. Unless Jiang Tianxing killed Xue Moyan and tore off her arm, there was an extremely small possibility that the Bloodthirsty Dragon would be summoned once more.

“That’s impossible!” Jiang Tianxing cried out. “My father trapped him at the Heavenly Fissure Continent and refined him alive, completely destroying his soul!”

Xue Moyan’s eyes became a deep red once again. However, it didn’t go red because she circulated the Blood Spirit Art, but because Jiang Tianxing brought up Xue Li’s terrible experience.

“Only half of Senior Xue Li’s soul was refined at that time. The other half of his soul still lives on! Not only is he alive and well even now, he has even reunited with his wife!” Qin Lie said in a calm, serious tone. “When I leave the Graveyard of Gods, he’ll be able to reform his body and recover from the severe damage to his soul. It won’t take long for him to regain his strength, lead Blood Fiend Sect, and reestablish it in the Land of Chaos!”

“What nonsense!” Jiang Tanxing laughed, his frustration reaching its peak. “Xue Li, Xue Moyan, and Mo Lingye who is on her deathbed will only meet one another on the way to the Yellow Springs! Hahaha!”

“Kill them!” Di Fei ordered. “Kill them all!”

At this moment, about thirty scarlet barbarians were gathered around Di Fei. At his command, they fired the arrows that they had nocked.

These arrows shot toward Qin Lie and the others at the entrance to the valley, resembling a meteor shower as different colors of light trailed behind each one. Every arrow carried a terrifying amount of energy within.

“Kill them!”

Qin Lie and the others reacted to Di Fei’s commands and took out their respective spirit artifacts, immediately charging out of the valley and toward the scarlet barbarians while enduring the rain of arrows.

A sharp, crescent-bladed scythe flew out of Xie Jingxuan’s hands. Numerous infernal purple flowers made of flames blossomed on the scythe and floated toward the scarlet barbarians like harmless bubbles.

Motes of green starlight rich with refreshing, natural life energy radiated from the flower-shaped flames.

“Bang!”

The purple flowers erupted, and the green starlight dots that accompanied them suddenly transformed into tendrils of tenacious vines that swiftly stretched toward two scarlet barbarians at the front of Di Fei’s group.

Tiny thorns adorned the entire length of every vine. Each of them possessed shocking strength and agility. Like strange snakes, they instantly wrapped around a barbarian’s neck.

“Crack!”

The vines constricted, breaking that barbarian’s neck. His eyes bulged, and he died without even being able to scream.

Luo Chen snorted coldly as he unleashed a harsh sword beam into the sky. It shot through the rain of arrows falling toward him, cutting all of them to pieces..

He fired multiple beams of crescent-shaped rainbow sword light at the scarlet barbarians, causing all sorts of strange, pain-filled cries to ring through the air.

Du Xiangyang chuckled as two scarlet flames burned in each of his hands. He ran straight for the scarlet barbarians, glowing as brightly as a blazing sun.

Everyone in Qin Lie’s group attacked in unison!

Most of the scarlet barbarians present were at the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm. Some of them were in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm. Overall, they numbered around thirty or so people.

However, their fatigue immediately began to show as Qin Lie and the other surprised them by charging into their midst and starting a slaughter.

“Break!”

Like a ray of bloody light weaving through the scarlet barbarians, Qin Lie endured the cold winds of the Forbidden Land of Ice while constantly condensing thunder and lightning energy.

The Astral Thunder Hammer in his hands enhanced his violent thunder and lightning energy, turning it into dazzling dots of blue light that flew straight into scarlet barbarians.

Although all of them maintained shields of light of varying colors, the scarlet barbarians immediately discovered that the astral lights would blast straight through their shields, shattering them like egg shells.

The second their shields of light exploded and their bodies were exposed to the harsh, cold winds, the barbarians immediately began to shiver uncontrollably.

As soon as the scarlet barbarians lost the protection of their shields of light, the attacks of Luo Chen, Du Xiangyang, and Xie Jingxuan shot from behind Qin Lie and assaulted them.

Many of them immediately suffered severe injuries or died on the spot. Screams constantly echoed from among them.

“Young master!”

“Save us, young master!”

“We can’t handle them!”

The scarlet barbarians subconsciously retreated as they screamed. The second that Qin Lie’s group charged them, their formation began to crumble.

Di Fei, the renowned “Son of Earth,” had joined forces with the earth spirit earlier and created walls of icy stone to block the Bloodthirsty Dragon. This resulted in him expending too much spirit energy and suffering a blow to his psyche.

His strength had fallen significantly, and he couldn’t do anything about his tribesmen being at a disadvantage.

The Bloodthirsty Dragon was a Heaven Grade spirit artifact and Blood Fiend Sect’s ultimate treasure. Xue Moyan had spent tremendous amounts of spirit energy and blood energy to control it, using its terrifying might to kill over a dozen scarlet barbarian elites in an instant.

If Di Fei hadn’t borrowed the earth spirit’s strength, there wouldn’t have been any way for him to oppose the Bloodthirsty Dragon.

Now, just like Xue Moyan, he had exhausted too much strength during the first intense clash. He couldn’t gather any strength to launch a new wave of attacks.

Seeing that his tribesmen were at a disadvantage and that Jiang Tianxing couldn’t do anything with Qin Lie keeping him busy, Di Fei finally grew nervous.

“Contact Sen Ye and Jia Yue!” Di Fei suddenly yelled.

Understanding showed on the face of a scarlet barbarian who had retreated to the rear of the group, temporarily taking refuge from the danger. He pulled out a horn and used his soul consciousness to send a message, accurately transmitting their location.

The white barbarians and black barbarians who were searching for the ice spirit nearby would immediately rush over once they received this message.

The eastern barbarians were united when facing a common enemy. They prioritized the slaughter of all Land of Chaos martial practitioners above everything else.

“Sen Ye replied! He said that he’s only ten kilometers away from here. He should arrive immediately!”

“Jia Yue also replied! She said that she’ll be here soon!”

The barbarian holding the horn had a sinister look in his eyes as he laughed harshly.

This news lifted the spirit of every scarlet barbarian within earshot. Their morale visibly went up a notch.

“Hold on just a bit longer!” Di Fei exclaimed. “Once Sen Ye arrives, none of our enemies will be left alive!”

Word spread among the scarlet barbarians that Sen Ye and Jia Yue were coming, and every barbarian that was about to retreat immediately regained their wits. They readjusted their formation and began carrying out plans to deal with and delay Qin Lie’s group. 

Chapter 527: Soul Curse

The scarlet barbarians that were just about to fall apart regained their fighting spirit after Sen Ye and Jia Yue sent word that they would reinforce them soon.

Di Fei snorted indifferently and sat down behind his tribesmen. The earth spirit’s eyes opened above his own and shone with a grim, ruthless light.

Three scarlet barbarians instantly moved behind Di Fei. After taking a moment to look each other in the eyes, they each brandished a dagger, gritted their teeth, and slashed at their fingers.

Fresh red blood welled from the cuts at their fingertips.

Eyes filled with intense ferocity, the three barbarians smeared blood against the tattoos on their necks, shoulders, and chests. This made their tattoos seem thicker, causing them to glow with bloody traces of evil and terror.

Each of the barbarians had their own tattoo. All three grew brighter and more distinct on their bodies. One was a dancing butterfly, one was a porcupine-like spirit beast, and the last one looked like blossoming spirit grass.

“Sacrifice!” the three scarlet barbarians exclaimed in unison.

The moment they did, their blood, spirit energy, soul energy, and mind consciousnesses combined into a formless current of energy that flooded their tattoos.

A bizarre light erupted from the trio’s eyes as they suddenly looked at Luo Chen with strange, grim smiles.

Luo Chen stood in the middle of the scarlet barbarians, sword at the ready. He radiated a sword aura that seemed capable of rending the sky. Wherever he pointed his sword, mighty beams of sword light would stream out like rushing rivers.

None of the barbarians nearby could match him. All of them fell back, not daring to get close to him.

However, the moment the three distinctly tattooed barbarians looked at Luo Chen, pain appeared on his proud, indifferent face.

In the very next moment, Luo Chen grunted as if he had suffered a heavy blow. The sword in his hand went dim as well.

“Ugh!” Luo Chen exclaimed painfully. He fell to his knees, seemingly battered, and instantly lost his ability to fight.

“Well done!” Di Fei shouted, praising the three men behind him.

His praise encouraged them, and they turned their sharp eyes to Du Xiangyang.

As soon as they locked onto him, the scarlet flames around his body died out all at once.

In the next instant, traces of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He had clearly suffered some sort of backlash.

Du Xiangyang had no idea who had secretly struck him. He shuddered and surveyed the scarlet barbarians around him, eyes full of murderous intent.

“Next!” Di Fei said as he found another target. “Him! That Qin Lie!”

The three tattooed barbarians laughed sinisterly, then sucked in a deep breath. Gathering their strength once more, they directed their eerie gazes toward Qin Lie.

Qin Lie was currently rampaging throughout the scarlet barbarians, laughing continuously. With every swing of his arms, he threw out rays of bloody light and thunderous bolts of lightning.

“Jiang Tianxing!” Qin Lie shouted in a mocking tone, passing through the throng of fighting and heading straight for Jiang Tianxing. “Do you dare fight me?”

Back in the sea around Spirit Eagle Island, Qin Lie hadn’t been able to gain the upper hand against Jiang Tianxing, and had even been at a disadvantage when Jiang Tianxing executed his Blood Spirit Art.

More than half a year later, Qin Lie encountered Jiang Tianxing again in the Graveyard of Gods. Qin Lie’s realm had risen to the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm, and the strength of his body had increased to a new level. He no longer shied away from fighting Jiang Tianxing.

On the other hand, Jiang Tianxing actually didn’t dare to fight Qin Lie. He could only constantly retreat in face of Qin Lie’s aggressiveness.

However, at this very moment, a butterfly, a porcupine, and blossoming spirit grass suddenly appeared within Qin Lie’s mind.

As soon as these foreign elements appeared in his mind, Qin Lie’s True Soul shook as he turned all of his attention to them.

The blossoming spirit grass abruptly released a bewitching scent that intoxicated Qin Lie’s True Soul.

The porcupine like spirit beast let out a series of cries as the strange quills on its body pierced Qin Lie’s Soul Lake like rays of golden light.

In the outside world, Qin Lie felt terrible pain in his True Soul and suddenly lost control of the spirit art he was about to unleash.

Back in his mind, the butterfly flapped its wings and caused enormous waves to develop in Qin Lie’s Soul Lake, forcing his mind to lose focus.

The combined attack of these ethereal creatures had a huge effect on Qin Lie, just like it did on Luo Chen and Du Xiangyang. He instantly sat down on the ground, an expression of both shock and pain on his face.

The faces of the three barbarians next to Di Fei grew even more sinister.

“Great job! You’ve done very well!” Di Fei said with a nod, relaxing. Then he pointed at Song Tingyu. “Attack her next! When Sen Ye and Jia Yue arrive, none of these Land of Chaos martial practitioners will leave this place alive!”

“Understood,” the trio said.

The faces of the three were pale, but their minds were in great condition. They moved to attack Song Tingyu.

However, just as they were about to do so, Qin Lie’s bloodsoaked eyes pierced through the fighting around him and locked onto them.

The three scarlet barbarians that had been secretly attacking Qin Lie’s group suddenly stopped. Their faces twisted in shock, intense fear clouding their eyes.

Since Di Fei was closest to them, he felt the sudden change in their demeanor. Turning to look at them, he saw that their eyes were full of thunder and lightning.

It was as if their eyes had been struck by lightning!

“Ahhhh!” the trio screamed in pain.

They rubbed their eyes with all their might, seemingly trying to force the lightning from their eyes.

At his position in the distance, Qin Lie stood up. He wore an indifferent expression as his eyes shone with bloody light, sparks of lightning shooting around his body.

“Prak prak prak!”

Bolts of lightning struck the butterfly, porcupine, and spirit grass in his mind, destroying them.

At the same time, Qin Lie’s mind consciousness flowed through the soul connection between the three creatures and their owners, carrying the power of thunder and lightning directly into heads and eyes of the three barbarians.

Qin Lie watched the trio, softly exclaiming, “Explode!”

A dull noise resounded in the heads of the three scarlet barbarians as their eyes actually exploded.

“My eyes! My eyes!”

“I’m blind! I can’t see!”

“Ahhhh! My eyes!”

The trio clawed at their eye sockets, blood flowing through the gaps between their fingers as they screeched in pain.

This turn of events prompted Di Fei to get to his feet. He considered the situation for a few seconds, then yelled, “Retreat!”

He ended up changing his mind once more.

Upon hearing Di Fei’s command once again, all of the scarlet barbarians only hesitated for a moment before turning around and retreating.

“Follow me!” Di Fei instructed the now-blind barbarian trio before leading the way out of the valley. He didn’t turn around even once.

The barbarians that had been fighting Qin Lie’s group immediately turned around and fled.

“Don’t chase them.” Qin Lie frowned.

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan stopped immediately. Luo Chen and Du Xiangyang reluctantly stopped as well, indifferent expressions on their faces.

“They’re probably retreating in the direction that Sen Ye and Jia Yue will be coming from,” Qin Lie said. “We’ll run into the main force of eastern barbarians if we give chase. That wouldn’t be very wise.”

“We should leave this place while the opponent has yet to regroup,” Song Tingyu suggested. “We don’t have any tokens they can track, and finding us again won’t be a simple matter if we find a new mountain to hide in.”

Everyone agreed with Song Tingyu’s suggestion, and no one had any other ideas. As a result, they left without even looting the corpses of the scarlet barbarians.

……

Leading the twenty-or-so scarlet barbarians that remained, Di Fei finally met up with Sen Ye’s black barbarians and Jia Yue’s white barbarians an hour later.

“Where are your tribesmen, Di Fei?” Sen Ye yelled from afar.

“Why do you only have around twenty people with you?” Jia Yue was also puzzled. “Are the rest of your tribesmen still ahead of us attacking the Land of Chaos martial practitioners?”

They all assumed that Di Fei had left some of his tribesmen behind.

Every scarlet barbarian, including Di Fei, wore expression of defeat. Hatred filled their eyes.

One man struck an ice rock out of extreme anger shattering it and yelling, “I swear to kill all the martial practitioners of the Land of Chaos!”

“What’s going on?” Jia Yue asked, growing serious.

Gao Yu silently stood beside her, maintaining a grim, aloof expression.

“Jiang Tianxing!” Sen Ye yelled. “Tell us what happened!”

“We’re the only ones left.” Jiang Tianxing glanced at Di Fei’s grim face, then sighed. “We split up into smaller teams to search for the ice spirit. Qin Lie’s group took us out one team after another, resulting in severe losses…”

He slowly revealed the truth.

Sen Ye and Jia Yue’s faces became uglier as they quietly listened to his account of events.

“Are they really that powerful?” A brawny white barbarian beside Jia Yue found it hard to believe Jiang Tianxing. “We fought Black Voodoo Cult, Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, and Celestial Artifact Sect. None of them seemed all that strong. Why did you suffer so many losses?”

“That Qin Lie fellow is extremely scary!” a scarlet barbarian screamed. “He broke our tribe’s soul curse!”

It was only then that everyone noticed thethat there were three scarlet barbarians beside Di Fei. They had been clutching their eyes and crying softly all this time.

“Qin Lie cultivates the power of thunder. He was extremely formidable in the Forbidden Land of Thunder,” Sen Ye said, taking a deep breath. “However,But this is the Forbidden Land of Ice. How could he overturn the heavens in here?”

“Gao Yu, you came from the Scarlet Tide Continent with that Qin Lie. You should know about him. Is he as scary as they say?” the brawny white barbarian suddenly asked.

All of the eastern barbarians, including Sen Ye and Di Fei, turned their attention to Gao Yu.

“I do not know,” Gao Yu said indifferently.

Dissatisfaction could clearly be seen in the eyes of the scarlet and black barbarians as they gazed at him.

“They aren’t far from here,” Jiang Tianxing said hurriedly. “If we pursue them immediately, we may still be able to find them!”

“Then we shall give chase!” Sen Ye ordered.

“Turn back!” Di Fei yelled.

……

Qin Lie’s group found their way up another icy mountain that ringed the frozen lake. Halfway up that mountain, everyone dug out their own caves and sat inside of them, recovering their strength with spirit stones.

“You need to use the Spring of Life,” Qin Lie said within one of the caves.

The only other person in this cave was Xue Moyan. The blood had drained out of her face, leaving it deathly pale. She had used more than half the blood spirit energy in her blood.

The Bloodthirsty Dragon was a domineering killing tool. Since Xue Moyan used it despite her low realm, it had exhausted an astonishing amount of her blood energy to match its terrifyingly deadly power.

Qin Lie could sense how much blood energy she had used up. He knew that she was in extremely poor condition, which was why he purposely came over to look after her.

“My mother is the only one who should use this Spring of Life.” Xue Moyan shook her head firmly. “I need to save it for her.”

“That battle exhausted your life energy.” Qin Lie sighed. “If you don’t consume the Spring of Life as soon as possible… you might not be able to leave the Graveyard of Gods alive.”

He could already see a small clump of white hair on Xue Moyan’s head. This was a sign that her life force was running out.

At this rate, even if they didn’t get caught in any other battles, time would slowly kill her. 

Chapter 528: Force Feed

Xue Moyan quietly sat inside the cave dug into the side of the icy mountain. Her eyes, which resembled clear lakes, held traces of sadness that just couldn’t be hidden.

“Please keep the Spring of Life safe for me.” Xue Moyan took out the bottle that held the Spring of Life. Then, after a moment of thought, she raised her left hand palm-up. Bloody light shone from it, and the Bloodthirsty Dragon floated into the air, several times smaller than its original size. “Take Blood Fiend Sect’s ultimate treasure as well. Keep it safe. Once you get out of here, please find my father and give both it and the Spring of Life to him.”

After the battle with Di Fei, Jiang Tianxing, and the other scarlet barbarians, she noticed that she was in horrible condition. She tried to recover her blood energy, but her mind lacked the spirit.

She also noticed that her hair, which originally resembled a long cascade of smooth black hair, had become dry and lost its luster. Several spots sported a faint white color.

All of these strange changes pointed to one conclusion.

—Her life would soon come to an end.

The depletion of Xue Moyan’s life energy or, more specifically, the sacrificing of her overall lifespan, could only be fixed with the Spring of Life. However, her mother needed the Spring of Life as badly as she did… and she decided to die for her mother’s sake.

“I will not deliver the Spring of Life and Blood Fiend Sect’s ultimate treasure for you,” Qin Lie said with a heavy expression, his brow furrowed. “Either you continue to live strongly, or the Spring of Life and the Bloodthirsty Dragon die with you.”

Astonishment filled Xue Moyan’s eyes.

“How is the Spring of Life even used?” Qin Lie asked out of the blue.

“Drinking works well enough,” Xue Moyan answered without thinking.

“That seems pretty simple.” Qin Lie nodded slightly, then suddenly said, “Let me make the decision for you then!”

“What?” Xue Moyan asked in surprise. “W-what are you doing!?”

It was at this moment that Qin Lie moved as quick as lightning, grabbing the bottle that held the Spring of Life. Dense bolts of lightning shot from his fingers as Xue Moyan screamed.

The lightning bolts resembled prismatic ribbons of energy that wrapped around Xue Moyan’s supple body. They emanated a paralyzing power, firmly binding her.

Xue Moyan had exhausted too much of her blood energy in the previous battle. She was currently at her weakest and didn’t have the strength to stop Qin Lie.

She could only glare at Qin Lie in horror, hastily saying, “No!”

“It is not up to you to decide!” Qin Lie reached out with his left hand, forcefully opened Xue Moyan’s lips, and poured the Spring of Life into her mouth.

“No! Noo!” Xue Moyan screamed. “Nn…!”

In the cave next to them, Luo Chen was in the process of recovering his strength using spirit stones when he suddenly opened his eyes, surprise and confusion on his face.

In another cave, Du Xiangyang shivered as he rubbed his chin, a playful smile on his face.

“You animal!” Pan Qianqian exclaimed as she rushed out of her cave and into theirs.

Song Tingyu and Xie Jingxuan sat in the same cave recovering their spirit energy. They had also heard Xue Moyan’s cries.

However, the two just continued to cultivate inside the cave without even the slightest change in expressions. They knew Qin Lie well, and therefore had no intention of moving.

“Qin Lie! If you dare to harm Sister Xue, I’ll cut off that dog head of yours!” Pan Qianqian yelled as she barged in.

Upon entering the cave, she saw that Qin Lie had bound Xue Moyan with lightning, forcing her lips open with one hand while pouring some kind of liquid into her mouth with the other…

“I’ll kill you!” Pan Qianqian didn’t hesitate to unleash a deadly attack.

“Bang!”

A silver ring slammed into the center of Qin Lie’s back. The powerful force of the blow struck Qin Lie, causing his entire body to shudder. He couldn’t help but inadvertently grunt in pain.

A shocking flood of spirit energy soaked into Qin Lie’s flesh, damaging his innards.

Qin Lie’s body trembled greatly, but his hands, which were administering the Spring of Life to Xue Moyan, didn’t move at all.

It continued to steadily pour into Xue Moyan’s mouth.

The Spring of Life released a refreshing aroma and radiated potent life energy.

Xue Moyan’s body absorbed the Spring of Life like dry land greedily sucking up rainwater. Her pallid gray skin slowly regained its lively color.

The wisps of white in her hair quickly recovered its beauty and luster. The traces of pale white that seemed to have existed in her since she was born swiftly faded as well.

Like an ancient tree once again surging with life, or a withered forest giving birth to a new sapling, a tremendous life force swelled within Xue Moyan’s body.

The aura of life energy that now surrounded her felt incredibly refreshing and natural, as if they had been transported to a grove of ancient trees.

The entire cave resonated with life energy due to the changes to Xue Moyan’s biomagnetic field.

“S-Sister Xue…”

Having long since withdrawn her attack, Pan Qianqian stood there with her mouth agape and stared at the extraordinary changes occurring within Xue Moyan’s body.

It seemed as if Xue Moyan had shed her former shell and was instantly reborn in a blaze of flame. She emanated a robust life force as if she were a completely different person.

Pan Qianqian naturally realized what Qin Lie had really been doing.

“Big Brother Qin, I-I’m sorry,” she hastily apologized. “I thought you were doing something bad to Sister Xue.”

Qin Lie wore a heavy expression, saying nothing.

He kept a close eye on the bottle in his hand. When he was sureconfirmed that Xue Moyan had swallowed every single drop of the Spring of Life, he finally sighed in relief..

“I’m fine,” he said, looking deeply into Xue Moyan’s eyes before turning away and leaving the cave.

The lightning that bound Xue Moyan departed at the same time, transforming back into electricity, shooting into Qin Lie’s back, and vanishing.

The wrappings that restrained Xue Moyan were gone.

A complex look appeared in her bright, yet grim eyes. She then sighed quietly, seeming to have accepted her fate.

“You can leave, Qianqian,” she said softly. “I’ll be fine.”

“Y-you’re fine now, Sister Xue!?” Excitement came over Pan Qianqian and she felt as if she could dance. “You don’t need to worry about your shortened lifespan from now on?”

“Mn.” Xue Moyan nodded slightly, her face devoid of joy. “Such a thing will no longer cause me trouble. Please leave first. I need to do my best to recover and absorb all the power of the Spring of Life.”

“Alright!” Pan Qianqian headed out joyfully. “Alright, I’ll leave right away!”

……

“If I had refined and absorbed that Spring of Life, I would have been able to smoothly enter the Fulfillment Realm,” Xie Jingxuan calmly said in a nearby cave. She wore an indifferent expression.

Xie Jingxuan’s words surprised Song Tingyu.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone when we were in that village in the Forbidden Land of Wood?”

“Because I didn’t need it to save my life,” she replied.

“Xue Moyan is Senior Xue Li’s only daughter. For their family to go through so much… it’s terrible.” Song Tingyu sighed. She pitied Xue Li’s family from the bottom of her heart, inwardly lamenting everything that had happened to them.

“The fact that Qin Lie was willing to give up the Spring of Life and even requested everyone else to give it up as well…” Xie Jingxuan paused for a moment, then softly said, “He was right to do so.”

“I wouldn’t have followed him so shamelessly if he were truly heartless.” Song Tingyu flashed a beautiful smile. “If he were… I wouldn’t have persisted in pursuing him in spite of his relationship with Ling Yushi.”

“And what about in the future?” Xie Jingxuan asked, a calm expression on her face. “What will you do if he meets Ling Yushi again?”

“A good man needs to be taken with your own hands!” Song Tingyu’s eyes sparkled brightly. “As long as he hasn’t married Ling Yushi, I will have the chance to snatch him out from under her!”

“I wish you luck,” Xie Jingxuan said indifferently.

“Heh… Speaking of which, you’re the one who knew him first.” Song Tingyu changed the topic, her eyes shining with a strange light. “Jingxuan, we’re the only ones here, so please tell me honestly… have you ever felt anything for him?”

“Felt anything for him?” Xie Jingxuan lips curled into a snarl, disdain covering her exquisite face. She snorted sternly. “When I first met him, he was just an apprentice artificer at Li’s Shop that belonged to Nebula Pavilion. How could I have possibly felt anything for him?””

“Ah, I see… that’s good. I can rest easy if that’s the case.” Song Tingyu’s eyes were practically smiling for her.

……

“Where are they? Why have they disappeared?”

At the entrance of the valley where the previous battle had occurred, the leaders of the three barbarian tribes, Sen Ye, Jia Yue, and Di Fei, led their men in a search throughout the area. However, they had yet to find anything.

“There’s no point in thinking about it. They must have gone ahead of us already.” Jiang Tianxing snorted.

“Form up in teams of thirty and make sure to stay close to other teams!” Sen Ye ordered. “We’ll search the mountains one by one! If you discover them, do not rush into battle. Your top priority is to notify everyone else!”

“Understood!” the eastern barbarians shouted in unison.

All of them moved to start combing through the mountains, determined to find and kill Qin Lie’s group before looking for the ice spirit.

“We don’t need to spread out and search,” Jia Yue suddenly said. “I… I think I know where they are.”

She pointed at an icy mountain in the distance.

“They’re halfway up that mountain, recovering their spirit energy in caves they made.”

Everyone looked at her in surprise. 

Chapter 529: Ice Storm!

Jia Yue felt just as perplexed as everyone else.

Since the moment she entered the Forbidden Land of Ice, every time Jia Yue tried to condense her spirit energy, calm her mind, or adjust her breathing, she felt strange. Frost energy would fill her body and make it seem as if she had become one with the heavens and the earth. She would then feel an obvious increase in the power of her soul.

Every time Jia Yue cultivated within the Forbidden Land of Ice, she clearly felt the changes occurring inside of her.

Her cultivation quickly increased by leaps and bounds.

She attributed all of this to the mystical secrets of the Forbidden Land of Ice. She believed that the spirit art that she cultivated worked in perfect harmony with these secrets, allowing her to experience such godly abilities.

“I can vaguely sense them,” Jia Yue whispered.

Her mind consciousness moved swiftly, her mind’s eye acting as a bright spotlight, and accurately determined the position of Qin Lie’s group halfway up the icy mountain in the distance.

“There’s no way I could be wrong!” Jia Yue exclaimed, becoming more and more confident.

This declaration amazed all of the eastern barbarians.

After spending a moment in a daze, all of them regained their senses and couldn’t help but excitedly praise Jia Yue. Her divination made them jump for joy.

Gao Yu, however, stood off to the side, aloof and silent. Traces of confusion could be seen in his eyes.

“Jia Yue, you can truly sense where they are?” Di Fei’s brow furrowed as his face twisted in disbelief. “All of us have been unable to utilize our soul perception since we entered the Graveyard of Gods. Are we to believe that you are somehow able to continue using yours?”
Sen Ye was just as shocked and confused as Di Fei, similarly unable to accept this reality.

“When we were in the Forbidden Lands of Water and Metal, I also couldn’t use my soul consciousness to sense my surroundings,” Jia Yue said. She then took a deep, prolonged breath, as if she were trying to take in all of the frigid air of the Forbidden Land of Ice. A pleasant expression appeared on her face and she continued, “However, the Forbidden Land of Ice is a different story. Here, my soul perception hasn’t been affected at all!”

“We’ll obviously find out if she’s telling the truth if we just go!” all of the white barbarians shouted restlessly.

“Then… let’s go,” Sen Ye ordered, filled with a mixture disbelief and confusion.

……

Halfway up an icy mountain, inside of a small cave that could only accommodate two people, Song Tingyu sat beside Qin Lie, back pressed up against the wall as she questioned him out of concern.
“You’re fine, right?”

She had heard Pan Qianqian’s shouts, so she was aware of the fact that Pan Qianqian thought Qin Lie harbored evil intentions against Xue Moyan. She also knew that the Illusory Demon Sect girl tried to kill him because of that misunderstanding.

Since this knowledge prevented her from staying calm, Song Tingyu went to the cave that Qin Lie sat in to see how he was doing.

“Of course. Pan Qianqian can’t harm me to begin with,” Qin Lie said with a shake of his head.

“We fought the scarlet barbarians, and now they’ll be more wary of us in the future. They will no longer split up and allow us to defeat them one group at a time,” Song Tingyu said, clearly worried. “Before long, the scarlet, white, and black barbarians will join forces. The next time we encounter eastern barbarians… we’ll have all of them to deal with.”

Before coming over to Qin Lie’s cave, Song Tingyu changed into a rose-colored dress. It clung tightly to her upper body and hung loosely below that, accentuating her already enchanting figure. It made her seem even more seductive than usual.

Song Tingyu’s figure alone was already stunning enough to influence other people. After all, in the Scarlet Tide Continent, she was the most famous and beautiful woman to begin with. As a result, when she painstakingly took the time to make herself pretty for Qin Lie, she made sure to be careful and demonstrate all of her beauty. She resembled a flower in full bloom—too beautiful to be taken in all at once.

Song Tingyu felt like she had no control over the future. Maybe she felt that way because of how powerful the eastern barbarians were, but she ended up cherishing every second she spent with Qin Lie.

As they spoke, she gently cozied up against Qin Lie’s chest, releasing a bright light that gradually engulfed both of them.

“Hey…” Song Tingyu said quietly. “Do you think we’ll get out of the Graveyard of Gods alive?”

“We just need to find an opportunity,” Qin Lie casually replied, his expression stern. “We have to wait until the eastern barbarians enter the Land of Buried Gods, separate again, and drop their guard. If we strike when they do, it won’t be impossible for us to reenact the glorious events that occurred in the Forbidden Land of Thunder. Besides, the Blood Progenitor’s remains lay within the Land of Buried Gods, and I won’t leave until I have them.”

“For Xue Li?” Song Tingyu asked.

“The Blood Progenitor’s remains will go to Xue Li, but the rest will naturally belong to me.”

“What about the six Pure Soul Springs? What happened to them?”

“The treasure inside of my body swallowed them up along with my soul energy and blood. It seems to be nurturing something… but I can only feel it. I don’t actually understand what it’s doing.”

“You still can’t remember anything about your past?”

“It’s like all of the memories that were wiped never existed. I can’t remember anything.”

“……”

The two sat in the cave together, cuddling and having an aimless, yet calming conversation about trivial things.

Fifteen minutes later, Luo Chen emerged from his cave, then Du Xiangyang exited his own. Their eyes adjusted to the brightness when they suddenly saw Qin Lie and Song Tingyu leave the same cave. Strange expressions leaped to their faces.

Du Xiangyang coughed dryly, then casually asked, “What were you uh… doing in Sister Xue’s cave earlier, Qin Lie?”

“I helped… administer… the Spring of Life,” Qin Lie answered, raising an eyebrow.

“Ha… haha!” Du Xiangyang laughed awkwardly. “So it was like that! I initially thought you were doing something else.”

“Your mind is so dirty!” Song Tingyu exclaimed, her face full of disdain.
Luo Chen’s face turned red.

“Indeed!” Xue Moyan interrupted as she also walked out and came over. Pan Qianqian followed close behind her. “Your minds certainly are quite dirty!”

Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen felt even more embarrassed.

“What’s our next move, Qin Lie?” Xie Jingxuan asked, approaching the group. “Are we still going to enter the frozen lake?”

“No,” Qin Lie responded, shaking his head. “We will wait for the eastern barbarians to enter first.”

“If the Demon Sealing Tombstone doesn’t appear, the ice spirit probably won’t make any moves. You might need to go first.” Du Xiangyang climbed atop a block of ice and looked across the dazzling surface of the frozen lake nearby. “The ice spirit should be at the bottom of the lake… but breaking such a thick layer of ice won’t be easy.”

“Does the Demon Sealing Tombstone have a way to break through the ice?” Qin Lie asked in surprise.

“Perhaps.” Du Xiangyang shrugged, not daring to make any uncertain claims.

Qin Lie hesitated for a moment.

Then he nodded, saying, “I guess I’ll lend the eastern barbarians a helping hand!”

“Whoosh!”

The Demon Sealing Tombstone emerged from Qin Lie’s spatial ring.

Seven dazzling divine lights suddenly shot out of the tombstone, merging together to form a chain that was thousands of meters long.

The resplendent chain of light soared through the sky as if it were traveling the galaxy, dragging the Demon Sealing Tombstone behind it. A trail of colorful lights were left in the tombstone’s wake as it shot toward the vast frozen lake.

“The Demon Sealing Tombstone!”

Atop an icy mountain peak five thousand meters away, the eastern barbarians looked toward the frozen lake and broke out into a commotion.

The white barbarians began to bellow and scream.

“They’ve released the Demon Sealing Tombstone!”

“We were definitely heading in the right direction!”

Some eastern barbarians, however, started getting confused.

“What should we do?”

“Should we go find them?”

“Maybe we should chase the Demon Sealing Tombstone!”

The Demon Sealing Tombstone could determine the location of the seven spirits as well as seal them. Now that it appeared, all of the eastern barbarians began to feel anxious.

This was because they knew that the Demon Sealing Tombstone had definitely gone to find the ice spirit!

“Let’s forget about Qin Lie’s group, and follow the Demon Sealing Tombstone,” Sen Ye shouted. “Let’s find the ice spirit first!”

“They should be following the Demon Sealing Tombstone!” Di Fei added. “As long as we follow it too, we’ll definitely cross paths with them again!”

“Alright, let’s change directions and move toward the Demon Sealing Tombstone!” Jia Yue commanded.

With the sudden appearance of the Demon Sealing Tombstone, the powerful group of eastern barbarians immediately turned their spearhead-shaped formation and began rushing toward the frozen lake.

Back on the mountain where Qin Lie’s group was, Du Xiangyang narrowed his eyes and looked at the surroundings below them. He pointed at the eastern barbarians, saying, “Well that definitely got their attention! The white, scarlet, and black barbarians are all present. More than two hundred of them were initially headed toward us!”

“Thank goodness we released the Demon Sealing Tombstone,” Song Tingyu said in amazement. “They probably would have surrounded us if we hadn’t.”

“How did they know where we were?” Xie Jingxuan asked, her expression serious.

“Because of Jia Yue!” Qin Lie took a deep breath. “My guess is… the ice spirit is corroding that white barbarian girl without her knowing. She probably possesses the perception ability of the ice spirit and will eventually gain extraordinary control over the Forbidden Land of Ice. However, she probably doesn’t even realize it.”

“You’re saying… the ice spirit has almost completely taken over her soul?” Song Tingyu exclaimed in shock.

“That should be the case,” Qin Lie replied solemnly.

“None of our business!” Du Xiangyang snarled.

As they spoke, the Demon Sealing Tombstone had already reached the air above the vast frozen lake. Rays of sacred light began streaming in every direction as the tombstone put on an impressive display of power.

Seven blinding divine lights pierced down from the heavens like ancient dragons.

Even though they were extremely far away, Qin Lie’s group could still hear the loud rumbling coming from deep within the earth. They could see the surrounding glaciers and mountains shake and crack.

The vast frozen lake’s thick layer of ice began to shatter under the bombardment of the tombstone’s seven godly lights.

“Cr-crack! Bang! Chink chink chink!”

Pieces of ice hundreds of meters long and thicker than a person shot from the surface of the frozen lake like translucent, crystalline spears. Every single spear radiated a harsh, frosty glow.

“Boom boom boom!”

These incomparably large spears of ice crashed into the surroundings icy mountains, causing them to break apart.

“Bang!”

More than a dozen of these ice spears struck a glacier that was thousands of meters tall, making it collapse instantly.

Frigid air swept up countless blade-shaped ice fragments from the wreckage of that glacier, blowing them in every direction.

“Boom!”

More gigantic spears of ice shot from the frozen lake, burying themselves deep into another glacier. They compromised its structural integrity and made it collapse as well.

“No!” Qin Lie cried.

Everyone anxiously turned to look at him, eyes filled with shock. They had no clue what was going on.

“The ice spears and ice blades! All of the ice fragments! They’re being subtly controlled by the ice spirit!”

Qin Lie’s realization stunned them all

“Quick! Look at the eastern barbarians!” Du Xiangyang cried.

They could only see the hundreds of eastern barbarians darting through the gaps between the glaciers. The barbarians were trying to escape as quickly as they could, but because they were so far away, Qin Lie’s group could only hear their faint tragic cries.

However, they could plainly see just how dangerous of a situation the eastern barbarians were in.

Several icy masses surrounding the eastern barbarians burst apart, turning into chunks of ice. As if they had eyes, icy spears and knives the size of hills flew toward them.

Numerous eastern barbarians were either flattened into meat patties, shredded into bloody pulp, or broken like ragdolls.

Others were pierced by ice spears and blades, their shields of light broken. They were ultimately devoured by the Forbidden Land of Ice’s frigid winds.

In such a short period of time, a third of the eastern barbarians died.

“Climb to the peak of this icy mountain!” Qin Lie cried, a bad feeling washing over him. “The ice spirit is targeting us as well! We’re about to get hit!”

Without hesitation, Du Xiangyang and the others immediately circulated their spirit energy to the limit as they rushed to the peak as quickly as they could.

Thousands of meters away, Celestial Artifact Sect’s Feng Yiyou pointed into the distance, his expression pale.

“Look over there! An ice storm has taken shape! The ice spirit must be there!”

Ye Yihao, Huang Zhuli, Yu Men, Su Yan, and Feng Yiyou were currently at the very edge of total despair. Finally identifying the location of the ice spirit, all of them gritted their teeth and started rushing toward the ice storm, completely disregarding their own safety. 

Chapter 530: Great Calamity!

In the depths of the Forbidden Land of Ice, the Demon Sealing Tombstone floated high above the surface of the frozen lake, shooting ray after ray of dazzling divine light downward.

The frozen lake’s giant, reflective surface burst under the force of the barrage, sending crystalline spears of ice flying throughout the the area and crashing into nearby glaciers and mountains. Enormous chunks of ice began crashing downward as a result.

An cold sheen radiated from the countless shards of ice shooting through the sky as a bone-chilling energy soaked the area, threatening to freeze everything.

The eastern barbarians had experienced countless struggles and hardships. They managed to enter the Graveyard of Gods from the territories west of the Land of Chaos and were now looking for the remains in the Land of Buried Gods… only to become victims of this ice storm in the Forbidden Land of Ice.

The ice storm had completely besieged the hundreds of eastern barbarians traveling through a valley between two icy mountains. It was as if they had entered a freezing hell.

A spear of ice more than five hundred meters long, one that was reminiscent of a crystalline ice dragon, came soaring towards them from the frozen lake in the distance. It seemed to have a mind of its own, savagely soaring straight toward the densest group of the barbarians.

The ice spear descended from the sky, piercing the ground and engulfing the area with a frigid chill. All of the eastern barbarians trembled in fear.

“Crack! Bang bang b-bang!”

The giant ice spear abruptly fragmented into hundreds of smaller spears dozens of meters long that rained down upon them.

Numerous barbarians released tragic shrieks as the spears impaled them, dying instantly.

As all of this took place, a snow-covered mountain behind the eastern barbarians shook violently, then collapsed.

Humongous icy boulders hurtled down from that mountain and into the midst of the eastern barbarians. Those unable to get out of their paths were crushed into a bloody paste.

In an extremely short amount of time, around a hundred eastern barbarians had either died or suffered grievous injuries. They wailed and howled like ghosts or eerie wolves, trying to find a way to survive this calamity. Their thoughts of killing all Land of Chaos practitioners had disappeared, their previously high spirits completely nonexistent.

The eastern barbarians were being brutally eradicated!

Meanwhile, Qin Lie’s group did everything they could to rush to the top of the icy mountain they were on. All of them had become frantic, each of them exuding spirit energy that radiated a dazzling glow and shocking, colorful light.

They tried their best to find shelter.

Having seen what was happening to the eastern barbarians, they knew that the lower they were, the more danger they were in.

Being at the peak of this icy mountain would allow them to avoid the aftermath of other mountains collapsing, the bombardments of icy boulders, and the ruthless icy assaults shooting from the frozen lake.

“This doesn’t make any sense!” Du Xiangyang shouted, scared out of his wits. “The ice shooting from the frozen lake shouldn’t be striking so accurately! It’s almost as if it’s intelligent!”

“The ice spirit is using its power to guide the ice.” Qin Lie took a deep breath, his expression as tranquil as water. “The ice spirit is hidden in the depths of the frozen lake. Upon sensing the terrifying threat that is the Demon Sealing Tombstone, it began to fight back. It considers all living things in the Graveyard of Gods enemies that need to be killed.”

“When the wood spirit formed a soul connection Ye Yihao, the Demon Sealing Tombstone wasn’t able to seal it. It was only after that connection broke that the tombstone could do anything,” Song Tingyu said. Then, her aura abruptly changed as she took shining armor out of her spatial ring and put it on. She now seemed dignified and intimidating. “If the ice spirit has formed a similar connection to Jia Yue, the Demon Sealing Tombstone won’t be able to seal it. Doesn’t that mean we need to do the same thing here?”

Realization spread across everyone’s faces.

In the Forbidden Land of Wood, Ye Yihao had made a deal with the wood spirit, allowing it to take some of his energy. That made it impossible for the Demon Sealing Tombstone to lock onto its target.

Were it not for Xie Jingxuan’s shocking intervention during that chaotic battle, breaking the wood spirit’s guard and interrupting its connection to Ye Yihao, the Demon Sealing Tombstone might not have been able to seal the wood spirit.

“The earth spirit also formed that kind of connection with Di Fei,” Du Xiangyang said, his expression wavering slightly.

“The ice spirit is dominating everything!” Luo Chen exclaimed.

As soon as he said this, everyone stopped speaking and looked into the distance with fear in their eyes.

Between the Demon Sealing Tombstone’s position high in the sky and the enormous frozen lake below it, giant spears of ice floated into the air, controlled by some invisible power. Then, like frozen dragons, they shot directly toward the mountain peak Qin Lie’s group was at, carried by bone-chilling currents of wind.

These spears of ice flashed with a crystalline glow and contained the power of pure frost. They seemed capable of freezing everything in their vicinity.

Despair welled up in the hearts of everyone in Qin Lie’s group as dozens of ice spears carrying terrifying waves of frigid air approached them.

“Good lord…” Du Xiangyang exclaimed with a grim expression on his face. “Those ice spears are clearly coming for us. There isn’t the slightest error in their trajectory. The ice spirit’s control over them is just too frightening!”

“This icy mountain peak is going to collapse once they hit!” Luo Chen shouted. “Those ice spears could also just slaughter us at the same time!”

“Maybe we could scatter and flee?” Pan Qianqian suggested.

“There wouldn’t be any point,” Qin Lie said, forcing himself to calm down. “The ice spirit controls everything in the Forbidden Land of Ice. As long as we remain within its domain, it’ll be able to track us down regardless of where we go or how we try to hide. Even if we scatter, those spears of ice will adjust accordingly, firmly locking on to every single one of us!”

“Then what should we do?!” Pan Qianqian asked anxiously.

The location of Qin Lie’s group could be considered quite far from the frozen lake. Since the spears of ice were so large, they weren’t actually moving that quickly.

They still had time to prepare.

“The Demon Sealing Tombstone is in the process of breaking through the surface of the frozen lake to force the ice spirit out. Since it acts as a natural barrier, I’m afraid that the tombstone won’t be able to do anything before it’s destroyed.” Qin Lie watched the dozens of ice spears slowly approaching, his head beginning to throb painfully. “The ice spirit is definitely much stronger than the wood and thunder spirits. This strange land must have provided this guardian spirit of the Graveyard of Gods with some unexpected benefits. That explains why it dares to oppose the Demon Sealing Tombstone.”

“You’re saying that… before the surface of the frozen lake is destroyed, all of the Forbidden Land of Ice is under ice spirit’s control?” Du Xiangyang summarized.

“That’s one way to put it.” Qin Lie thought to himself for a moment, but couldn’t come up with a good plan. “We need to hold on until the Demon Sealing Tombstone has destroyed that barrier of ice, entered the frozen lake, and forced the ice spirit to flee. We will only be able to avoid those ice spears when the tombstone has suppressed the ice spirit to the point that it can no longer focus on targeting us.”

Du Xiangyang laughed bitterly. “I’m afraid we won’t last until then.”

Everyone’s expressions were grim.

Looking at their present situation, it was clear that the the ice spirit wanted to take advantage of the time it took the Demon Sealing Tombstone to break through the frozen lake. It sought to first kill all living things that had entered its domain.

Perhaps it also knew that, of the people who were present, one had bonded with the Demon Sealing Tombstone.

As long as the ice spirit killed all of the martial practitioners it could find, it will have killed the one bonded to the Demon Sealing Tombstone and diminished its power. It would then have nothing to fear.

The ice spirit of the Forbidden Land of Ice was definitely the strongest and smartest of the seven spirits. It was also the easiest one to enrage!

“Swoosh swoosh swoosh!”

Dozens of ice spears whistled across the frost filled sky, gradually approaching the ice mountain peak where Qin Lie’s group stood.

All of them went pale at the sight.

It didn’t matter how much they wracked their brains. In the face of those ice spears, which seemed able to exterminate everything in the Forbidden Land of Ice, none of them could think of a way to deal with them.

They had watched as a great calamity fell upon the eastern barbarians…

The eastern barbarians, originally numbering over two hundred, could not hold on for even half an hour as more than half of them were killed.

The more powerful Sen Ye, Di Fei, and Jia Yue also didn’t have any way to deal with the icy assault and could only continue to dodge.

Of the ice spears flying through the sky, only a few had actually gone toward the barbarians.

Just those few ice spears had already contributed to taking the lives of over half the eastern barbarians, causing them to despair at the terrifying hell they found themselves in.

As for Qin Lie’s group, they were facing dozens of ice spears, more than ten times the number that attacked the eastern barbarians.

Suddenly, Xue Moyan spoke up.

“I should be able to destroy several of the ice spears.”

Everyone instantly turned to look at her.

“I can destroy several of them by using Blood Fiend Sect’s ultimate treasure one more time.” Xue Moyan wore a calm expression. “However, I don’t have enough power to destroy all of them. I already exhausted a lot of my blood spirit energy in the previous battle.”

“Don’t be reckless! You can’t recklessly call upon the Bloodthirsty Dragon again!” Qin Lie shouted. “All the Spring of Life did was help you recover your vitality and break free of your short lifespan! It didn’t help you recover your blood energy, and there’s no way you could’ve recovered enough of it in so little time. You can’t keep using such a tyrannical spirit artifact!”

“Don’t you cultivate the Blood Spirit Art as well, Qin Lie?” Pan Qianqian asked. “Can’t you use your blood energy to control that Heaven Grade spirit artifact?”

Everyone’s eyes suddenly lit up at the idea.

“Me?” Qin Lie exclaimed, momentarily confused. “This is Blood Fiend Sect’s treasure and has bonded with Sister Xue’s soul. How would I be able to use its power?”

“The Bloodthirsty Dragon isn’t bonded to my soul,” Xue Moyan said quietly. “It has always refused to connect to me since my lifespan has been short since birth.”

“Then… how about letting Qin Lie try?” Pan Qianqian asked.

“That…” Xue Moyan was stunned by Pan Qianqian’s proposal. She thought to herself for a while, then said, “There could be complications. The Bloodthirsty Dragon has a horrible temper, which can be seen from how I am unable to control it. I’m afraid that it may hurt Qin Lie… and even if he could use it, he’d need to use a terrifying amount of blood energy. Either way, Qin Lie would be injured…”

“Can’t he recover his blood energy using the Demon Sealing Tombstone?” Du Xiangyang interrupted.

“Let me try,” Qin Lie pleaded.

As of this moment, they didn’t have any better ideas for how to deal with the ice spirit’s attacks. He had already seen the terrifying power of Blood Fiend Sect’s Heaven Grade spirit artifact.

If he could wield the Bloodthirsty Dragon’s destructive power one or two levels stronger than the power it had demonstrated against the scarlet barbarians earlier, perhaps he’d be able to destroy the incoming spears of ice.

“… I suppose you could try it,” Xue Moyan said reluctantly, taking out Blood Fiend Sect’s great spirit artifact of slaughter. “Fine. Go ahead.”