Spirit Realm

The spirit armor on Qin Lie rippled with energy. For every burst of fire spirit energy that Tang Siqi shot at him, a circle would appear on the armor and weaken it.

Qin Lie stood still.

He did not channel spirit energy to protect his body with. He used the strength of his body and the defense of this spirit armor to block all of Tang Siqi’s attacks.

The present Tang Siqi was in the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm. She wasn’t skilled in battle, but since she had spent so much time forging, the flames within her were not only strong, but also pure.

Even with the strength of his body, it definitely wasn’t easy to endure attacks that held all of her spirit energy without setting up a defense.

Yet the addition of the spirit armor weakened the fire spirit energy that Tang Siqi discharged by almost forty percent.

Because of that, Qin Lie could endure them.

The Xing brothers, Xiang Xi, and Mo Jun of Blood Fiend Sect watching from the side were perceptive. They saw the ripples of spirit energy on the spirit armor and could clearly feel Tang Siqi’s surging spirit energy being weakened.

“Hm!” Xing Yuyuan exclaimed softly. He closed his eyes and examined the situation with his mind consciousness.

He opened them a moment later, and they lit up as he confidently said, “Miss Tang’s fire spirit energy is being weakened by about forty percent. What an astounding amount!’

“It isn’t being weakened… it’s being absorbed!” Qin Lie shouted.

“Just like I thought.” Tang Siqi laughed. “I can’t fool you.”

In the next moment, the spirit armor that covered Qin Lie’s chest suddenly released a fiery light.

Red light flickered on the surface of the spirit armor like candlelight and then condensed into a glittering shield of light that shrouded Qin Lie.

The spirit energy that formed the shield was clearly of the fire attribute and not one that Qin Lie cultivated.

“This spirit armor can store the spirit energy of an attacker and use it to create a shield?!” Xiang Xi exclaimed.

Even Mo Jun of Blood Fiend Sect trembled and shouted, “Miss Tang is such a skilled artificer!”

“You’re too kind!” Tang Siqi proudly waved a hand, joy filling her eyes as she pretended to be modest. “This spirit armor is only suitable for martial practitioners under the Fulfillment Realm. The amount of spirit energy that the spirit diagrams inside of it can store is limited. When vast spirit energy of truly strong martial practitioners flood it too quickly, the spirit diagrams inside will fail and crumble. Hah, I’m still studying and perfecting it…”

“It is already astounding!” Xing Yuyuan praised.

“It can absorb forty percent of the power in an enemy’s attack and store it to form a shield of light that protects one side of its user.” Mo Jun said seriously after a moment of thought. “This spirit armor is extremely valuable! It can even use a shield of light with the same type of spirit energy as the enemy’s attacks, so the effect is even better!”

Qin Lie didn’t say anything. His hand was pressed to the spirit armor as he used wisps of his mind consciousness to explore the structure of the spirit diagrams inside of it.

As his mind consciousness began to explore, the structure of the spirit armor’s interior appeared in his mind. He discovered that the compound spirit diagram inside the spirit armor primarily consisted of the ancient spirit diagrams, Spirit Gathering, Spirit Storage, Strengthening, and Amplification. These four served as the core of the diagram.

With the four ancient diagrams as the foundation, the Nine Winding River Diagram had been added to guide spirit energy. It manipulated the spirit energy that rushed into the spirit diagram, diverting it toward the Spirit Storage Diagram. The Spirit Gathering Diagram would then bring it all together.

The Strengthening Diagram improved the potency of the spirit energy so that relatively powerful spirit energy attacks wouldn’t be able to destroy it.

This was another wondrous design.

After removing his hand from the chest armor, Qin Lie looked at Tang Siqi with even more amazement in his eyes.

Tang Siqi was an extraordinary artifact forging talent. After obtaining the four ancient spirit diagrams, she used them to their limit. After reconstructing, combining, and even adding some spirit diagrams from Armament Sect to them, she created the Blazing Profound Bomb and this unique spirit armor.

The effects of the ancient spirit diagrams were wondrous, but the creativity that Tang Siqi displayed was more astounding.

If she could obtain more spirit diagrams and study them, she would definitely become a master artificer in the future.

“Miss Tang, would you give me the four remaining Blazing Profound Bombs so we can use them?” Xing Yuyuan asked, laughing awkwardly. “We are about to attack Black Cloud Palace and Heavenly Sea Pavilion. I worry that our forces won’t be enough, so…”

“This spirit armor…” Xing Yumiao began. “I hope that more can be forged if possible. They can increase our battle prowess greatly!”

Tang Siqi looked at Qin Lie.

Qin Lie thought to himself, then said, “Senior Sister Tang and I have some things we need to discuss alone.”

Everyone froze and then nodded helplessly before scattering.

“I recently comprehended a spirit diagram, it’s called… Soul Sealing Diagram.” Qin Lie took out a spirit tablet, and began explaining the mysteries of the diagram. “This spirit diagram is wondrous. It can hold souls inside of it. However, I haven’t been able to successfully inscribe it.”

“The Soul Sealing Diagram? Sealing the soul?” Tang Siqi’s eyes flickered. “The structure of this spirit diagram is something that even Celestial Artifact Sect hasn’t mastered? A spirit diagram that can seal a soul is definitely something that can increase the rank of a spirit artifact!”

Tang Siqi paused then said, “You might not be aware of this, but once he obtained the four ancient spirit diagrams, Elder Mo Hai became able to forge Earth Grade spirit artifacts!!”

Qin Lie was surprised. “Elder Mo Hai’s skill has finally advanced?”

“Of course!” Tang Siqi smiled. “You dummy, you don’t have any idea how valuable the ancient spirit diagrams are! In the time we waited for you, Elder Mo Hai and I used these four ancient spirit diagram with some intermediate spirit diagrams. Every spirit artifact we made experienced a significant increase in quality!”

Qin Lie was stunned.

He kept on learning and inscribing the ancient diagrams from the Soul Suppressing Orb because of the philosophy that his grandfather had instilled in him.

—Spirit diagrams were the truest expression of power.

Qin Lie learned to inscribe spirit diagrams because he hoped he would be able to increase his strength through them and comprehend ways of channeling power.

Li Mu said that the spirit diagrams Qin Lie possessed contained great wonder and that Qin Lie needed to study them.

Qin Lie thought of spirit diagrams as a kind of cultivation method. He could calm his mind by inscribing spirit diagrams and even use the act to heal wounds in his True Soul.

Tang Siqi was different.

In her eyes, spirit diagrams were the core of spirit artifacts that were meant for forging. She managed to create the Blazing Profound Bomb and the spirit armor through studying the four ancient spirit diagrams intensively. This proved just how extraordinary the ancient spirit diagrams were.

After thinking for a while, Qin Lie seriously said, “Senior Sister Tang, forge more Blazing Profound Bombs for now. They will be extremely useful in the future.”

“I don’t have anything to do right now. If you give me enough spirit materials, Elder Mo Hai and I can forge a large amount of Blazing Profound Bombs,” Tang Siqi said casually.

“I will explain this to Gold Sun Island and Blood Fiend Sect, so have them open their spirit materials stores to you. Use all of the spirit materials that Gold Sun Island and Blood Fiend Sect have. You don’t have to forge just Blazing Profound Bombs. You can try forging anything innovative,” Qin Lie said with a grin. “From today onward, you and Elder Mo Hai are Blood Fiend Sect’s artificers! As long as Blood Fiend Sect is not destroyed, you will have first choice of all the spirit materials it obtains and be able to forge whatever spirit artifacts you want!”

“So I… I’m still useful?” Tang Siqi’s eyes lit up.

“You are more useful than anyone else!” Qin Lie said seriously.

“That’s good… I had begun thinking that I’m the most useless out of everyone that stayed, that I can’t help you in any way…” Tang Siqi said in a small voice.

“In the future, if I find new spirit diagrams and can inscribe it, you will be the first to know!” Qin Lie promised.

Tang Siqi bit her lower lip, a smile blossoming on her beautiful face.

……

Two days later, Xing Yuyuan silently guided a Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix into an area controlled by Black Cloud Palace, bringing it to float among dark clouds.

Qin Lie, Guo Yanzheng, and Qi Jing were among the people standing on the wings of the fire phoenix. Even Xing Yao had come along.

“Black Cloud Palace and Heavenly Sea Pavilion are not essential Copper rank forces among Black Voodoo Cult vassals. Both forces are similar to Gold Sun Island and Green Moon Valley. They are far from the Heavenly Slaughter Continent and exist among the islands around it,” Xing Yuyuan explained, looking downward as they floated among the clouds. “All of the truly strong Copper rank vassal forces of Black Voodoo Cult and Illusory Demon Sect are at the core of the Heavenly Slaughter Continent and have close relationships to Black Voodoo Cult and Illusory Demon Sect.”

Qin Lie silently nodded.

“You see, Green Moon Valley ranks as one of the top three Copper rank forces of Illusory Demon Sect, but they don’t actually share a close relationship with Illusory Demon Sect. The Miao Family has always wanted to be independent. They only chose to become subordinate to Illusory Demon Sect because they weren’t strong enough,” Xing Yuyuan snorted. “Illusory Demon Sect also knows this of course, so they gave Green Moon Valley territory that borders Black Cloud Palace and Heavenly Sea Pavilion. Illusory Demon Sect is using Green Moon Valley to restrain Black Cloud Palace and Heavenly Sea Pavilion. That way the claw of Black Voodoo Cult can’t invade the territory of Illusory Demon Sect so easily.”

“In other words, Illusory Demon Sect does not hold Green Moon Valley in high regard?” Qin Lie asked, deep in thought.

“Illusory Demon Sect doesn’t actually like Gold Sun Island. If they did, we wouldn’t be in the same situation as Green Moon Valley. We can only stay on islands far from the Heavenly Slaughter Continent,” Xing Yuyuan said with a sigh. “The people of Illusory Demon Sect know that my Xing Family and the Miao Family were formerly subordinates of Blood Fiend Sect. We were forced to move here after the destruction of Blood Fiend Sect. We changed ourselves and chose to submit to Illusory Demon Sect.”

“This… displeases the sect master of Illusory Demon Sect?” Qin Lie was shocked.

“Of course not.” Xing Yuyuan grimaced. “If it weren’t for Sect Leader Yu accepting us, both our Xing Family and the Miao Family would have been killed by Black Voodoo Cult and the three families in the past. I only recently learned that Sect Mater Yu treated both families well because she and Senior Mo are sworn sisters.”

“But…” Xing Yuyuan paused for a moment, then continued, “Even with the favor of Sect Master Yu, Illusory Demon Sect still has many elders of previous generations. They don’t think that we and Green Moon Valley truly serve Illusory Demon Sect. They obviously wouldn’t treat us as one of their own. You should be able to see this from where Gold Sun Island and Green Moon Valley are located.”

Qin Lie took a second to think to himself and then said, “In other words, you’re willing to return to Blood Fiend Sect because you don’t really feel like you belong with Illusory Demon Sect? You don’t feel as if you get the respect you deserve?”

“That’s correct.” Xing Yuyuan grimaced.