Spirit Realm

Liang Shaoyang’s face was dark. He tried to move his right arm and found that his bones were frozen as the frost concept that was gathered did not dissipate.

Nodding his head, he did not speak and passed by Tang Siqi. He quickly left this place and disappeared.

—He was in a hurry to expel the cold energy inside his body.

“You managed to force him back?” Tang Siqi’s bright eyes flashed as her lips curved elegantly. “He has created all nine of his Natal Palaces, and you should only have created just three. How were you able to defeat him?” She was extremely interested.

“He had the advantage of attacking first. Also, his body… is far stronger than Shaoyang’s,” the elegant matron said with a faint smile.

Tang Siqi looked with even more shock at Qin Lie. She paused and then spoke, “You were too rash to start a conflict with Liang Shaoyang now. He is not that easy-going.”

Qin Lie did not respond. He looked at Liang Shaoyang’s figure as Liang Shaoyang left with a cold expression.

He knew that Liang Shaoyang would not rest. The reason that he had used everything in his arsenal and used the power of frost and Heavenly Thunder Eradication together against Liang Shaoyang was in order to force him to use something powerful to fight back.

He hadn’t expected Liang Shaoyang to only sustain a small loss and retreat after discovering that half of his body was paralyzed.

Qin Lie became even more wary, and his opinion of Liang Shaoyang rose. He realized that Liang Shaoyang was different than opponents like Wei Li and Du Heng. He definitely was not stupid.

He clearly had the advantage of cultivation, and all nine of his Natal Palaces were filled with power. This Liang Shaoyang had not attacked because half of his body had been permeated by frost concept, so he chose to retreat… this person was not rash.

Qin Lie instantly decided to treat Liang Shaoyang as his strongest opponent.

“Let’s go, A’Hai is inside,” the matron said with a smile in the herb garden.

So Tang Siqi and Qin Lie walked into the bamboo tower.

Inside the bamboo tower, there was a tall and thin, middle-aged man, wearing loose white robes with his hair pinned up. He was sitting in a bamboo chair and reading a book as though he did not care about the conflict between Qin Lie and Liang Shaoyang.

Seeing Tang Siqi come in, he put down the book in his hand and raised his head. He then started talking in a peaceful manner, “It has been a while since you have come.”

“Greetings, Great Elder.” Tang Siqi respectfully bowed.

“Greetings, Great Elder.” Qin Lie also bowed and examined Mo Hai secretly.

Mo Ha’s facial features were long and thin, and his movements were methodical. He was like an old scholar that gave people an old-fashioned and inflexible feeling.

“Did you encounter a wall recently in your artifact forging?” Mo Hai’s brow creased. He glanced at Tang Siqi’s hands and nodded slightly. “You have been relatively diligent as of late and did not slack off. Did you finish what I assigned you?”

Tang Siqi gave a bright smile. “I finished it and did not slack off at all. Great Elder can inspect it at any time.”

Mo Hai’s brow finally smoothed out. His gaze landed on Qin Lie. “Speak, why have you brought this boy to find me.”

“Qin Bing!” Tang Siqi called lowly.

Qin Lie’s expression straightened. With both hands, he handed a sword, a silver spear, and a copper hammer he forged to Mo Hai. “These are artifacts that this disciple has forged recently. Great Elder, please take a look.”

Mo Hai did not reach out to take them. He only looked at them with narrow eyes and then motioned for Qin Lie to put them down.

Qin Lie obeyed and put down the three objects.

“Objects that do not have spirit diagrams will never be considered spirit artifacts. The object is dead, only the spirit diagrams are alive, it is the spirit diagrams that gives an object its soul.” Mo Hai looked at Qin Lie and coldly said, “The objects you have forged are relatively good and barely reach the level of inner sect disciples. But this is not enough to become an inner sect disciple.”

“Great Elder, please instruct me,” Qin Lie requested in a deep voice.

Mo Hai nodded. He picked up the book on the table and tore a random page off, handing it to Qin Lie. “This is a small part of the Materialization spirit diagram. Take it now and study it. I will give you six hours. Six hours later, try to inscribe it on the spirit tablet for me.”

“Yes.” Qin Lie took the paper and instantly focused on it. There wasn’t any thread of doubt or a wasted word.

Tang Siqi’s eyes were shocked. She opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn’t speak a word.

Mo Hai stood up and started walking outside of the bamboo tower. “Siqi, come with me. I will test your forging progress and see if you truly finished the task I assigned you.”

Tang Siqi followed with her head bowed.

Once they were outside, Tang Siqi inquired in a low voice, “Great Elder, um, he shouldn’t know how to inscribe spirit diagrams. The lectures of the elders do not talk about spirit diagrams, and I did not say anything about spirit diagrams. Wouldn’t it be too difficult for him if you get him to inscribe a diagram right away?”

Mo Hai did not respond. He walked until he was a distance from the bamboo tower and was next to the matron before he stopped

“Siqi, you are mistaken. Not only does he understand spirit diagrams, he also knows to inscribe them,” Mo Hai suddenly answer.

Tang Siqi was shocked and couldn’t help but shout, “How is it possible?” She hurriedly covered her mouth in fear that she would disturb Qin Lie inside the tower.

“Don’t worry, he cannot hear our conversation.” the matron smiled.

Tang Siqi looked around and found that, at an unknown time, circles with faint, orange-red light surrounded her, Mo Hai, and the matron.

The orange-red light had the effect of preventing sound from leaking. When she spoke, she was able to see the light ripple and the sound was blocked off.

“He has calluses on his left index and middle fingers. Calluses like those could only form if one frequently inscribes spirit diagrams and their fingers have come into contact with spirit tablets and objects tens of thousands of times.” Mo Hai’s expression was calm. “You do not have calluses on your hands because you use the special juice of Armament Sect on your fingers after you inscribe spirit diagrams. The disciples of the sect are all given this kind of juice and you are all used to soaking your hands in this juice after inscribing spirit diagrams.”

He gazed at the bamboo tower. “Not all places have conditions like this, and not all artificers take this much care. The great majority of outside artificers will not take special care for their fingers. Over long periods of time, they will have calluses on their hands. Those form naturally after touching spirit tablets and handling objects.

He paused and then said, “That boy has carved spirit diagrams at least ten thousand times. Otherwise, the old calluses on his fingers would not be so thick.”

Tang Siqi was shocked at the conclusion. “Great Elder, you are saying that he, he is an artificer?”

“I’m not sure if he is an artificer but he definitely understands how to inscribe spirit diagrams. This cannot be denied.” Mo Hai’s eyes narrowed. “This is why I gave him a part of the Materialization spirit diagram as a test. This Materialization spirit diagram is not something artificers usually have seen before, and he should not have learned it. It is easiest to see a person’s artifact forging talent from how they learn to inscribe a completely new sprit diagram.”

“A’Hai, this child’s body is very strong. He has definitely put great effort in the martial way,” the matron said lightly.

Mo Hai stilled and looked at the matron with a warm expression. He said, “Rong’er, you are saying that he has spent great effort on his martial cultivation as well?”

“In terms of body strength, none of the inner and outer sect disciples are stronger than him.” Feng Rong’s tone was certain, “Even Cloud Sky Mountain’s Pang Feng. If he doesn’t use the power in his Natal Palaces, he would definitely lose even though he cultivates the Golden Stone Art.”

Mo Hai and Tang Siqi both trembled. They looked at Feng Rong in disbelief and found it hard to comprehend what she had just said.

“The Golden Stone Art is a spirit at that greatly emphasizes tempering the body. Pang Feng is also the top of the youths in Cloud Sky Mountains, and he has cultivated the Golden Stone Art for many years. His body is as hard as stone. How could he not be as strong as Qin Bing?” Tang Siqi was extremely shocked.

Mo Ha’s brow furrowed tightly.

“You two are proficient in artifact forging, but your prowess of the martial way is lacking compared to me.” Feng Rong was not modest. “You know that I have been cultivating in Blood Spear. I’ve seen all kinds of rare spirit arts, and you should naturally know that I definitely do not speak without basis.”

Tang Siqi nodded and said respectfully, “I know of Auntie’s skills.”

“Believe me,” Feng Rong smiled slightly. “His body is very strong. I’m a hundred percent sure about this, and he doesn’t just cultivate frost power. This guy… is not simple. If his talent in artifact forging is also extraordinary, then it is even more interesting.”

“Right, where does he come from?” Feng Rong inquired of Tang Siqi.

“I, I don’t know. He never talked about his origins,” Tang Siqi answered timidly.

Mo Hai’s expression suddenly darkened. “Liang Shaoyang’s personality is dark and poisonous, I’ve seen this long ago. Sect Master has also seen it. The deaths of Long He and Yin Hao are connected to Liang Shaoyang. Sect Master has told me this. Maliciousness that can be seen is easy to control and can be slowly taught and guided back to the proper path…”

He gazed at the bamboo tower with a complex expression, and then said in a low voice, “But this boy that has many suspicious qualities, is of unknown origins, and has a personality that is a bit hard to deal with.”

The trio suddenly became silent.

Tang Siqi looked at the bamboo tower. There was deep worry on her face, and her mind was a mess.

“Who are you? Where did you come from? With what goals did you come to Armament Sect?”

The questions floated up. She suddenly found that Qin Lie was covered in riddles, and she could not see him clearly. She didn’t know what intentions Qin Lie had in coming to Armament sect.

With those questions hanging, yet unanswered, the trio waited in silence.

Six hours later.

Qin Lie came out of the bamboo tower with a jade spirit tablet. He respectfully walked before Mo Hai and presented the spirit tablet, saying, “Great Elder, please inspect.”

Mo Hai had recovered his calm. He took the spirit tablet and put in a thread of mind consciousness into the spirit tablet.

His body visibly shook, and a light flashed in his eyes. Gripping the spirit tablet, he looked deeply at Qin Lie, asking, “Before this, have you ever learned the Materialization spirit diagram?

“Never.” Qin Lie shook his head.

Mo Hai was silent for a while and then nodded. He declared, “Starting tomorrow, move from the outer sect, and you will formally become an inner sect disciple. Siqi, go with him down the mountain later and mention this to Tong Jihua. Say that this is my order.”

“Okay,” Tang Siqi replied, full of puzzlement.

“Thank you, Great Elder,” Qin Lie expressed his thanks.