Spirit Realm

“Natal Opening Realm!” the Ling Family clansmen exclaimed in shock.

Ling Feng and the others had shocked expressions. They felt happy for Qin Lie. Then, after they looked at all the spirit pills, spirit stones, and scriptures, their intentions of refusing decreased.

“As expected, cultivating progresses much faster at Nebula Pavilion.” Ling Ying’s eyes were bright as she said, “Qin Lie, when you left Ling Town to go to Nebula Pavilion, you should have just been in the eighth level of the Refinement Realm. It has just been a year and you have reached the Natal Opening Realm. Does Nebula Pavilion really help out that much? Can they really help you progress faster?”

None of the people of Ling Town had reached the Natal Opening Realm before they were twenty, so none of them were admitted to Nebula Pavilion to cultivate.

Due to this, all the wondrous qualities of cultivating at Nebula Pavilion were things they heard from others.

Qin Lie’s return gave them the chance to ask, so they naturally would inquire.

Qin Lie thought and then seriously explained, “It is a bit faster to cultivate in Nebula Pavilion. There are special meditation, combat, and cultivation areas in the pavilion. There are also places such as the Scripture Tower and the Artifact Tower that aid in cultivation…”

Listening to his explanation, everyone’s eyes gradually lit up and felt a yearning towards cultivating at Nebula Pavilion.

“So you do not have to be courteous with me. Take these spirit materials and then focus on cultivating.” Qin Lie smiled. “Maybe after a year or two, you will enter Nebula Pavilion. Then we can reunite there. Mn, I borrowed these scriptures from Scripture Tower. Do not damage them. After a while, I will come and take away the old books and lend a few new ones for you.”

“Good!” Ling Feng shouted and said, “Then we won’t be courteous!”

“Thanks!” Ling Xin thanked gravely.

They were extremely grateful inside.

After chatting for a while, Qin Lie bade them farewell and walked out of the compound.

An hour after he left, the patriarch of the Ling Family, Ling Chengye, returned with a furrowed brow. He quickly learned from Ling Chengzhi that Qin Lie had come and knew that Qin Lie had given a large number of spirit pills and stones to Ling Feng and the others.

In the sparse room, the patriarch of the Ling Family sighed. “Ah, it is us who have failed him.”

“It has already passed.” Ling Chengzhi’s face was also helpless. He then asked, “Big Brother, what have you found out about the situation?”

“We need to go to the border of the Arctic Mountain Range and cooperate with the elders of the pavilion to stop the invasion of spirit beasts. That place… right now is lead by the Vice Pavilion Master, Li Yuntao and Du Haitian. I’m afraid that Du Haitian will take the opportunity to plot against our Ling Family.” The Ling Family Patriarch’s brow was tightly creased. “Right now, the battle between us and the spirit beasts of Arctic Mountain Range is in avery tense state. The Ling Family is a subordinate power of Nebula Pavilion who also has members that moved into Icestone City. At this time, people with battle capabilities have to take up responsibility. This cannot be refused.”

“Yushi and Xuanxuan are already Granny Jiu’s disciples. Does Du Haitian dare to act against us?” Ling Chengzhi said with a dark face.

“He knows how much we hate him. We have a disagreement that cannot be resolved unless one side dies. This cannot be solved, so he will do everything he can to destroy our Ling Family.” Killing intent roiled in the eyes of the Ling Family Patriarch. “Granny Jiu might be the Valley Master of Dark Fiend Valley, but Nebula Pavilion is not a subordinate force of Seven Fiends Valley. She does not have any power over Du Haitian. If she really acts against Du Haitain, Dark Asura Hall would question her. Temporarily… we have no way of borrowing her authority.”

“So we can only be careful,” Ling Chengzhi responded helplessly.

“Mn, I will do my best to be careful. I hope we can return safely.” The Ling Family Patriarch nodded. “You and Ling Feng stay behind to take care of the overall situation. Only Ling Feng is calm among the young generation and can help you solve the internal conflicts. This boy’s personality and composure is pretty good. In the future, if Yushi and Xuanxuan have married, I have a good opinion of Ling Feng as the next patriarch.”

“If Yushi and Qin Lie’s engagement was not prematurely ended, Qin Lie… is actually also a good choice,” Ling Chengzhi said.

Once the words came out, the patriarch of the Ling Family sighed helplessly again. He shook his head and did not say anymore on the topic.

……

“Uncle Li, are you really free now?”

On Commerce Street in front of Li’s Shop, Qin Lie laughed and stepped in.

In the evening, there was only Li Mu inside Li’s Shop, coiled on the rocking chair with his eyes lidded as he looked lazily outside.

In the yard behind him, that large wolfdog was resting with eyes closed under the tree.

“Not bad, you entered the Natal Opening Realm.” Li Mu smiled slightly and then straightened as he examined Qin Lie with narrowed eyes. “How many Natal Palaces have you created?”

“Just one.”

“Mn, then work hard on your cultivation and try to open three Natal Palaces as soon as possible. If you store thunder and lightning energy in the three Natal Palaces, there will be three times as much as what you have now. That will mean your offensive power will increase greatly.” Li Mu nodded.

“Uncle Li, how do you know I am cultivating the power of thunder and lightning?” Qin Lie was shocked.

“Haha.” Li Mu laughed and then took out a piece of yellow paper from a shelf behind him. He handed it to Qin Lie. “I recently purchased this, it might be useful for you. You can try it and this can be your first forging.”

Qin Lie took the yellow paper. He looked down and found many spirit materials and amounts were written on the yellow paper: two Ground Crystals, four taels of Quicksand Gold, one Ink Cloud Stone, five taels of Profound Iron…

“What is this?” Qin Lie was confused.

“The inventory list for supplementary materials required for forging the ‘Terminator Profound Bomb.’” Li Mu became serious. “This is a one-use spirit artifact. It can produce a great explosion with a decent amount of power. The supplementary materials to make the ‘Terminator Profound Bomb’ are not hard to find, and Nebula Pavilion’s stores should have them. You only need to prepare a primary material that contains thunder and lightning power and you should have all of the materials needed.”

“What about the spirit diagrams?” Qin Lie asked.

“Keep reading,” Li Mu replied.

Qin Lie continued to read. Then, his expression changed to one of shock.

“With the basic Spirit Gathering, Spirit Storage, Strengthening, and Amplification spirit diagrams as the core, use the Amplification diagram to continuously increase thunder energy to activate the thunder and lightning power inside the main material. After amplifying the thunder energy, it will rush into the incomplete Spirit Storage diagram. The Spirit Storage diagram will not be able to contain it and will only be able to explode from the inside, resulting in the Terminator Profound Bomb forming great destructive power in an instant…”

His eyes flashed. “So there are times in spirit artifact forging that spirit diagrams do not have to be completed. The damaged and incomplete Spirit Storage diagram will explode immediately on activation because it cannot contain the increased thunder and lightning power… is this still a spirit artifact?”

“A one-use spirit artifact is still an artifact.” Li Mu smiled and nodded. “The important parts have been noted down on the paper, you can study it yourself. Think of it as a test. If you can really make it… this Terminator Profound Bomb can increase your combat capabilities. Mn, the power of this thing should not be average.”

Pausing, Li Mu’s expression became serious. “But you must be careful. Do not let this thing explode during the forging process. Otherwise, it can harm you and to a grave degree!”

“I will,” Qin Lie responded seriously.

“Mn, I put the spirit tablets I bought for you in your little room, you can organize it yourself. Oh, Pan Jueming of Armament Pavilion is interested in the Spirit Gathering Boards. You can make some when you have the time,” Li Mu said.

“Terminator Profound Bomb, Terminator Profound Bomb…”

Qin Lie’s head was down as he intently read the contents of the yellow paper. He noted down all of the basic materials and continuously studied the connection between the four spirit diagrams.

“I have not grasped the Strengthening spirit diagram yet. It seems that I need to learn it before I can make the Terminator Profound Bomb…”

He settled back at Li’s Shop and used the spirit tablets to inscribe the Strengthening spirit diagram. With the experience of the Amplification, Spirit Gathering, and Spirit Storage diagrams, the rate at which he learned the Strengthening diagram was very quick.

A fortnight later, he successfully increased the Strengthening diagram and caused the simplest spirit tablet to become extremely hard.

After that, he still remained in Li’s Shop.

He tried to construct the spirit diagrams for the Terminator Profound Bomb on spirit tablets, then tried to put the four diagrams together. He embedded them on a spirit tablet and tried to use thunder energy as the trigger to get the spirit diagram to crack.

“Poof!”

Another spirit tablet turned to ash. Qin Lie’s brow was furrowed as he thought long and hard among the floor full of scrapped spirit tablets.

One more fortnight passed. He continuously failed in the process of making a steady compound spirit diagram. Usually, he was unable to trigger the explosion of the spirit diagram before the spirit tablet became scrap due to the conflict between spirit diagrams.

The tolerance of true spirit artifacts was even worse than spirit tablets. If he could not succeed on spirit tablets, the rate of failure if he inscribed directly on spirit artifacts could only be higher.

“I told you before, if you repeatedly fail, then stop for a while.” Today, Li Mu shouted from outside, “Stop for a while and relax before trying again. If you continuously fail, then continue to stop and do not be stubborn. Do not charge single-mindedly on failures.”

“Thanks, Uncle Li, I know.” Qin Lie did not continue. He walked out to drink with Li Mu and reminisce about the past.

After resting for two days, he did not think any more about anything in the area of artifact forging. He calmed his mind and worked on his cultivation to fill his Natal Palace with thunder and lightning energy.

After his emotions were completely controlled, he once again constructed the compound spirit diagram and continued to experiment.

He continuously failed in the following three days.

Once again, he listened to Li Mu’s words and took a break. Alternating once more, he resumed drinking with Li Mu and further cultivated his Natal Palace. After he calmed down, he attempted the diagram once more.

The cycle repeated.

The middle of the night fourteen days later.

“Boom!”

An explosion came from his little room that was thunderous and rattling, resulting in Li Mu being shocked awake.

“Boy, what are doing in the middle of the night?” Li Mu came over with drowsy eyes. He suddenly remembered and grinned. “What, you finally succeeded?”

“Uncle Li, I finally managed to construct the compound spirit diagram on the inside of the Terminator Profound Bomb!” Qin Lie’s eyes were bloodshot, but his face was full of a shocking light as he said excitedly, “Just now, my thunder energy charged in, and after being amplified by the Amplification diagram inside the spirit tablet, it charged into the Spirit Storage diagram and caused the spirit tablet to explode!”

Li Mu entered the room and saw that Qin Lie’s body was emanating smoke. Many of the spirit tablets in the room had turned to powder, and even the walls had cracked.

“Mn, if you can gather all the materials and find the main material that contains thunder and lightning power, after you master constructing the compound diagram on the inside of the Terminator Profound Bomb, you can make the true Terminator Profound Bomb.” Li Mu’s smile was carefree as he said, “If that explodes, my shop will probably be destroyed.”

As the words came out, Qin Lie’s eyes lit up. “It is that powerful?”

“You’ll know after you succeed,” Li Mu said with narrowed eyes and a smile.

“This is the beast core of a mutant Ice Soul Python and one of its eyes. It cultivated both ice and thunder, so the beast core and eye should also contain thunder and lightning power. Take a look… do you think I can use this as the primary material for the Terminator Profound Bomb?” Qin Lie had prepared before and took out the materials he had gotten from the stone forest. Now, he handed them to Li Mu for a look.

“Rank Two spirit beast…” Li Mu touched the Ice Soul Python’s beast core and eye. After thinking for a while, he then answered, “There shouldn’t be a problem. Hm, when you try to make the Terminator Profound Bomb, you might not succeed the first time. You should split this beast core into many parts and try multiple times. When you have gotten a good grasp on it, you can add the rest into the Terminator Profound Bomb.”

“The beast cores of spirit beasts are very hard. This is also one from a Rank Two spirit beast. Splitting it might not be so easy…” Qin Lie commented.

“Give it to me, I have something that can help you split it into ten small pieces,” Li Mu responded with a smile.

“Then thanks, Uncle Li.”

“Mn.

……