Spirit Realm

What Mang Wang did not know at this time was that a bright, wondrous spectacle had appeared in Qin Lie’s mind.

The shards of light, lightning, and thought and the soul threads that flew out of the Eye of Frost rushed through Qin Lie’s mind like a gust of wind, painfully damaging his soul.

Then, these strange powers gathered together and built up in his mind to form a spectacle that astounded him—a little world of frost that was shrunk by thousands of times!

Glaciers appeared in his mind, thousands of times smaller than their actual size.

There were thirty eight ancient beasts inside thirty eight glaciers. Each beast was clear and transparent, their bodies covered in shining threads of ice.

“Soul projection?”

After the pain disappeared, Qin Lie couldn’t help but think this as he examined the fantastical scene within his mind.

What appeared in his mind was the world that he was currently in. The glaciers and the beasts in the glaciers appeared exactly as they were.

“Is all of this an illusion?”

Thinking this, he tried to pluck at the threads of ice that were restraining Mang Wang using his soul consciousness.

Wondrously, he managed to pull a long, tender thread of ice in his mind away from Mang Wang’s body.

“Ah!”

In the outside world, Qin Lie clearly heard Mang Wang’s shout of joy. “A part of the frost seal on my body has been broken!”

Opening his eyes, Qin Lie looked at Mang Wang and then at the glacier beneath him.

In the transparent glacier beneath Qin Lie’s body, a translucent icy light moved out from inside the glacier.

Mang Wang’s soul, in the form of a python, writhed violently. He was extremely excited. It was as if he had finally seen the opportunity to break free from his restraints.

Qin Lie only took one glance before he trembled in understanding.

Just as his mind trembled, the scene inside his mind turned into a stream of light and moved back into the Eye of Frost.

The wondrous scene that had appeared in his mind immediately disappeared as though it was a mirage that had been dissipated by the wind.

He looked down in shock.

It might have been because of this that the icy light, which had strangely emerged from the inside of the glacier, quickly moved back.

It withdrew back into Mang Wang’s enormous body and continued to restrain it. Mang Wang’s hope, which had just risen, fell.

“How could this be? Why is it like this?” Mang Wang was bewildered.

Qin Lie now understood everything.

The Eye of Frost wasn’t just a tool to enter and leave this place— it was the crux that controlled everything here!

He would not need to completely comprehend the frost concept, and he did not need it to slowly break the ice restraints on Mang Wang and the other giant spirits to help the Giant Spirit Race break free.

He only needed to use the Eye of Frost. Like before, he had to get the shrunken scene to appear in his mind. Then, all he would need to do is move the ice restraints inside the tiny map in his mind to help the Giant Spirit Race escape.

If he did that, the Giant Spirit Race would be immediately set free and could then return to Mang Wang’s homeland!

“So this is how it works. This Eye of Frost that Uncle Li gave me isn’t just a tool to enter and exit this place.” Qin Lie was immersed in great shock.

However, he did not explain anything to Mang Wang. Since he now possessed the power to truly release the Giant Spirit Race, he hesitated. He wondered if he was actually going to do this.

“There is no hurry. I do not know enough this Mang Wang and the Giant Spirit Race. It seems that I need more knowledge about this Giant Spirit Race before I can decide.”

Qin Lie decided to not free them just yet.

He held the Eye of Frost and tried to use his mind consciousness on the core inside the eye once more.

Just like last time, the miracle appeared again. Fragments of light, lightning, and soul threads flooded into his mind from the Eye of Frost. As the waves in his mind raged, those strange powers merged together and once again constructed the scaled-down map of the frost world.

Yet, this time, Qin Lie did not keep paying attention to the outside with a part of his mind and did not try to move the restraining threads of ice.

Instead, he carefully moved this miniature map of the frost world above his Soul Lake.

He used the Soul Lake to reflect this wondrous scene in a place deep within the memories of his soul.

At this moment, he entered the frost concept once more. He felt as though he were sitting alone in the world of frost, the harshest and coldest place in the world, to feel the chilling edge of the power of frost and ice.

There seemed to be snow falling over his Soul Lake. He was starting to experience the cruel cold of the world with his soul.

With that, he gradually entered the state of Thoughtless Tranquility.

Time seemed to freeze right then.

……

“Qin Lie! Is your grandfather called Qin Shan? Is he an artificer?”

Qin Lie was woken up by Xue Li’s voice.

He gradually awakened from the frost concept and recovered some presence of mind.

“My grandpa is called Qin Shan. He should be the best artificer in the world!” he first responded to Xue Li’s question. After a moment of thought, he asked, “Why did you suddenly wake me up? Also, why are you suddenly asking about my grandfather?”

“I have a bit of news about your grandfather,” Xue Li suddenly said.

Qin Lie’s body trembled slightly, and he woke up completely. He asked urgently, “What news?”

“Don’t be excited. I heard some artificers at an auction mention the name Qin Shan. Those artificers revere your grandfather and say he is a legend…” Xue Li explained.

“Ask them for more! Ask them in detail! I want all information about my grandfather that I can get. I also want to know where my grandfather is now! Even a general direction would be fine!” Qin Lie shouted.

“Mn, give me a bit of time, I will inquire further,” Xue Li responded.

“Alright!”

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

Threads of cold energy spread from the ice crystal Qin Lie was in. A short while later, that piece of ice gradually cracked and shattered.

Qin Lie walked out of it .

“Hm?”

Qin Lie’s mind moved, and the Soul Lake inside his mind became a mirror that one could see the reflection of themselves in.

“The Soul Lake as a mirror? This is the late stage of the Manifestation Realm!” Qin Lie’s eyes gradually lit up.

As one matured mentally and learned more about the world, and one’s thoughts became more refined, the Soul Lake would gradually become as reflective as a mirror. When it reached a level where one could see their own reflection, it meant that they had entered the late stage of the Manifestation Realm.

Examining the Soul Lake within his mind, he released a wisp of mind consciousness. He found that there seemed to be a flash in the middle of the Soul Lake.

A wisp of Qin Lie’s mind consciousness immediately flew out from between his eyes. It was very strong and entered the glacier under him to probe Mang Wang’s body within the ice.

A vast, overbearing physical aura suddenly reflected in his Soul Lake through this wisp.

It was the enormous aura of Mang Wang’s true body.

Qin Lie suddenly discovered that his current mind consciousness was extremely sensitive. It could detect the terrifying presence of living beings from even the slightest of details.

“You seem to have increased in cultivation realms.” Mang Wang’s lightning soul suddenly appeared in front of him with a crack. “Before you entered meditation, I found that the ice restraints on my true body seemed to loosen slightly. Was it you who did that?” he asked, staring at Qin Lie.

“I’m not very sure.” Qin Lie’s tone was calm. “I have recently been immersed in comprehending the frost concept in the hopes of helping the Giant Spirit Race break free as soon as possible. When I cultivate, I sometimes forget everything else. I do not observe the surroundings carefully and do not know what happened.”

Mang Wang did not suspect him. He was silent for a moment before he said gently, “I truly hope that you can help free us as soon as possible. We have already stayed in this ghastly place for far too long.”

“I will do my best.” Nodding, Qin Lie took out the Eye of Frost and used frost power to activate it.

In the next moment, he appeared in Ling Town, in the little house he had once cultivated in.

“The Eye of Frost really is wondrous, it contains such stunning secrets,” Qin Lie praised, staring at the ball of ice in his hand. He thought for a bit before deciding to meet up with Ku Luo.

After altering the fox skin mask slightly, Qin Lie changed his face into a new one and decided to leave Ling Town for Armament City.

Yet, as he left the gates of the town, he heard a strange cry in the air.

Raising his head, he saw the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly land right at the gates to Ling Town.

The owner, Song Tingyu, was dressed in rainbow clothing that was covered in beautiful crystal jewelry. She sat high up on the rainbow butterfly and was looking at Qin Lie with a smile. “I’ve been searching for you for a few days. I hadn’t expected you to be at Ling Town. Did you suddenly pop out?”

“Your Profound Heaven Alliance has reached an agreement?” Seeing her arrival, Qin Lie quickly realized her goal. “Profound Heaven Alliance is really brave, actually daring to have secret dealings with evil races. Aren’t you afraid that this will be leaked and cause the destruction of Profound Heaven Alliance?”

“My father, Uncle Xie, and Uncle Nie are borderline crazy for three Profound Nine Yin Leaf Lotuses.” Song Tingyu nodded and seemed to disagree with Profound Heaven Alliance’s decision. “The people of Eight Extreme Temple and Joyful Union Sect are right under our noses, yet they dare to make a transaction with the Horned Demon Race at such a sensitive time. I don’t know if they’ve gone crazy, or if the temptation of the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus is too great. Ah, whatever. Since they have decided, then I can only be the messenger.”

“You were looking for me for a long time?” Qin Lie asked casually.

“Mn, I went to the border areas of the Horned Demon Race and communicated with Ling Yushi. She said that you had not returned.” Song Tingyu did not deny it and motioned for Qin Lie to come up. Then she said, “There was no other way. I came back to Ling Town and searched for you in the surrounding areas.”

“How come you are so sure I was nearby?” Qin Lie was shocked.

Song Tingyu suddenly giggled and looked at him mockingly. “Should I call you Qin Lie? Or Yao Tian?”

Qin Lie’s expression changed.

“Don’t be nervous. I just learned from some Nebula Pavilion martial practitioners that a martial practitioner from overseas called Yao Tian had suddenly appeared in Ling Town a while back.” Song Tingyu looked at him with a smile. Then she changed topics, and her eyes were cold as she said, “Right, how do you feel about lying to a girl? Are you pleased with yourself?”

Qin Lie frowned and went silent.

……