Spirit Realm

Xue Li’s bloody soul shook intensely, showing that he was experiencing a tremendous rush of emotion.

“The Blood Progenitor! The creator of the Blood Codex, and one of the five great progenitors of the previous era. He was a peerless expert who shook the world, unkillable throughout the heavens and the earth!” Xue Li said in shock.

Song Tingyu’s beautiful eyes dazzled with a divine light. “Qin Lie! What you’re seeing through the tombstone could possibly be one of the areas in the Trial grounds!”

“It must be! That secret realm is called the Graveyard of Gods, the resting place of the gods. The corpses you spoke of were the strongest living beings at one point, the world’s overlords who looked down upon an era!” Xue Li was extremely excited. “So the Blood Progenitor actually lost his life in the Graveyard of Gods as well… to me, this news is simply too shocking!”

At this moment, Qin Lie’s face looked hideous, and his eyes were as red as blood. Streaks of bloody light were circling his body like electric currents.

His hand had yet to actually make contact with the tombstone, but the violent blood aura pouring from the tombstone was furiously surging into his body.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

What seemed to be just thin strands of blood aura actually had a savage, tyrannical energy hidden within. They flooded into his palm wildly, and spread to every corner of his body.

In his mind, one strange image after another gradually became clearer.

His endurance, however, had already reached its limit.

“Bang!”

A dense aura of blood exploded from Qin Lie’s body. He gritted his teeth, and tapped the tombstone with his spatial ring.

He stored it away once again.

Qin Lie sat on the ground, gasping heavily. His body was a bloody crimson like a cooked sea prawn.

Streaks of bloody light were still flowing rapidly in his body, seeping into every one of his bones, muscles, and veins.

In the eyes of Xue Li and Song Tingyu, Qin Lie’s body was actually expanding and contracting strangely. It was healthy one moment, then shriveled the next.

It was like a balloon in which air was constantly blown and then released.

During this process, his bones produced cracking sounds that were clearly audible. Every single one of his joints seemed to be mystically twisting and adjusting.

“Arghhh!”

Qin Lie gritted his teeth and growled like a fierce beast that was facing extinction.

A long time later, wisps of bloody mist oozed from the roots of the hair on Qin Lie’s body. The mist wrapped tightly around his body like a cocoon of blood.

“What’s happening to him, Senior Xue Li?” Song Tingyu asked with gleaming eyes.

“Something good!” Xue Li was full of energy. “He is cultivating with the aid of the tombstone! A powerful blood aura poured from the tombstone, and interestingly enough, it seems to be tempering his body. It’s strengthening his bones and tendons, and also reconstructing his flesh!”

“You’re familiar with this tombstone?” Song Tingyu approached Qin Lie, who was in the blood cocoon, with a curious look. She reached out her hand as though she were about to touch it.

“I’m not familiar with the tombstone, and I don’t know if it is related to the Graveyard of Gods, but I can tell that Qin Lie is currently tempering his body through the tombstone. Although the process is somewhat painful, it’s definitely a good outcome!” Xue Li casually said.

“Mn, that seems to be the case.” Song Tingyu smiled. She suddenly turned to look at Xue Li. “Senior. The five great progenitors you spoke of… who are they?”

“I will talk about them later on,” Xue Li said faintly.

Song Tingyu did not pursue the matter any further.

Flashes of dazzling bloody light could still be seen inside of the blood cocoon. An intense wave of blood aura would occasionally surge from inside as well.

A long while later.

“Bang bang bang!”

Streaks of bloody light caused the blood cocoon to explode with pieces of the cocoon being reduced to powder and scattered on the ground.

Qin Lie then emerged, stark naked.

The robe he had worn earlier had been reduced to dust in the explosion of the blood cocoon.

The chiseled muscles of his stark naked body looked as though they had been carved by axes. They were filled with a hint of ferocity and strength. Every portion of muscle felt like it was filled with an explosive power, making people to feel lively with a single glance.

Song Tingyu’s beautiful face turned red, and she cursed with a low voice, subconsciously turning her head away.

The naked Qin Lie sat cross-legged and refined the tombstone’s blood aura that was in his body with the Blood Spirit Art, spreading the blood aura to all of the flesh, bones, tendons, and veins in his body.

“The waves of blood energy in the tombstone are extremely beneficial to the tempering of the body!” Opening his eyes, a radiant smile appeared on Qin Lie’s face. “That surge of blood energy was extremely beneficial for my muscles, veins, bones, and flesh. It actually strengthened my body overall!”

“How do you feel?” Xue Li asked.

“Incredible! Absolutely incredible!” Qin Lie stood up.

He channeled the Blood Spirit Art, and violent blood energy poured from his body, instantly filling him with a torrent of energy.

“What pure blood spirit energy!” Xue Li exclaimed. “Qin Lie, I’m not sure where the blood energy that poured out of the tombstone came from, but it’s definitely extremely beneficial to you! I recommend that you spend some time trying to absorb even more blood energy in order to constantly temper your body.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Qin Lie said with a grin.

“That… I, uh…” Xue Li stuttered as he looked at him with strange eyes, his words filled with hesitation.

“Speak,” Qin Lie said impatiently with a frown.

“Travel to the field of the Trial. The Blood Progenitor lost his life in the Graveyard of Gods. If I am capable of assimilating with his body as a remnant soul, refining it, not only will I be able to easily kill Jiang Zhuzhe and take my thousand year revenge… I will also be able to rebuild Blood Fiend Sect and return it to its former glory in the Land of Chaos!” Xue Li said ambitiously.

“That person is the Blood Progenitor?” Qin Lie did not immediately agree, instead asking for details. “What relationship does he have with Blood Fiend Sect? Why are you so sure that he’s the Blood Progenitor?”

“The spirit art cultivated by Blood Fiend Sect in its entirety comes from half of the Blood Codex, while the author of the Blood Codex is… the Blood Progenitor.” Xue Li pondered for a moment, then earnestly explained, “I once heard from my master that the Blood Progenitor was one of the five great progenitors of the ancient era. After he perished, the Blood Codex was split into two. The first half was obtained by an ancestor of our Blood Fiend Sect, which he then went on to establish. The second half, however, disappeared without a trace, and no one had any clue where it was.

“It’s recorded in the Blood Codex that once the Blood Spirit Art has been cultivated to completion, the skin of the body will turn transparent, the tendons and bones will turn into bloody crystal, and every single drop of blood will become crystal clear like red gemstones! The physical characteristics of the person you saw are completely in line with the mystical properties of the ultimate Blood Spirit Art. He’s definitely one of the five great progenitors—the Blood Progenitor!”

Xue Li grew excited and shouted, “The second half of the Blood Codex is probably on him as well! If I can obtain the second half of the Blood Codex and assimilate my soul with the Blood Progenitor’s body, it would be possible for my Blood Fiend Sect to become a Gold rank power!”

“Earlier you said that the Trial is extremely dangerous, and that Miss Song would likely end up dead if she participated, let alone me.” Qin Lie rolled his eyes.

Xue Li had clearly gotten overexcited because of the Blood Progenitor’s corpse and the possible existence of the second half of the Blood Codex.

He had been harmed by Jiang Zhuzhe twice, and this trip had cost his main body with half of his soul being burned to death. He was in dire need of a glimmer of hope so that he could find the courage to continue fighting.

In his eyes, the corpse of the Blood Progenitor in the Graveyard of Gods was his only hope!

“The Song girl has already reached the peak of the Netherpassage Realm and she possesses outstanding wit, not to mention the fact that you’re sufficiently ruthless. As long as you two move together, forge a few Terminator Profound Bombs, prepare a few powerful spirit artifacts, are extra cautious, and avoid encountering the Silver rank forces’ nine individuals chosen by heaven…” Xue Li changed his rhetoric to get the Blood Progenitor’s corpse, encouraging them.

“If you avoid coming into conflict with them and remember to search for the corpses in the Graveyard of Gods, there will still be hope for successfully leaving after immediately obtaining the goods. Qin Lie, you must help me this time. I went to Celestial Artifact Sect in order to help you find news regarding your grandfather. As a result, Jiang Zhuzhe plotted against me and my body was destroyed. I died for you, you know?” he pleaded bitterly.

Qin Lie frowned and kept silent.

“Qin Lie, if you fight by my side, success isn’t an impossibility.” Song Tingyu also tried to persuade him.

“How much time do we have?” Qin Lie asked.

“Two and a half months,” Song Tingyu replied.

“Li Mu had someone to pass along a sword token to you. He obviously wants you to participate in the Trial as well. You shouldn’t let him down.” Xue Li thought of various ways to persuade him. “Qin Lie, with your personality and ruthlessness, you wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in the Trial. I believe in you.”

“Hehe, I believe in you too,” Song Tingyu said with a smile.

“Fine! Since both of you trust in me this much, I will give you two face and participate in that so-called ‘bloody banquet’!” Qin Lie finally nodded.

……