Spirit Realm

The Ling Family clansmen watched the peaceful return of Qin Lie and Ku Luo. Upon seeing that Ku Lu had been brought back, they were all surprised.

“Profound Heaven Alliance has already achieved their objective. They do not wish to fight the Demon Race to death and face Senior Ku Luo’s anger alone.” Qin Lie walked Ling Yushi’s side and said with a heavy expression, “They have obtained the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotuses and destroyed the evil nether passageway. To them, the Horned Demon Race has already reached a dead end.”

“People from Eight Extreme Temple were the ones that destroyed the evil nether passageway, but they didn’t stay for long. They didn’t continue the massacre,” Ling Yushi said softly.

“They think it’s unnecessary. They knew that Duo Luo and Ka Meng would be returning soon, and they are aware that it would be disadvantageous for them to fight the Horned Demons in a land covered in nether demonic energy.” Qin Lie sighed secretly.

The evil nether passageway had been destroyed, and many Horned Demon clansmen were killed. Profound Heaven Alliance, Joyful Union Sect, and Eight Extreme Temple would gradually surround them, waiting for the day that the evil nether energy would disperse. They would then exterminate the Ling Family and everyone from the Horned Demon Race.

A dark shadow shrouded everyone’s hearts.

“Aooo!”

Ku Lu opened his mouth and cried out. The collar on his neck suddenly constricted the moment he spoke, choking his neck and making it hard for him to breathe.

He stared at Ku Luo in anger. He seemed to be blaming his brother for not protecting the interests of the Horned Demon Race by insisting on exchanging Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotuses for him.

“Let’s first undo the restraints on Uncle Ku Lu,” Duo Luo said.

Ku Luo wore an ugly expression. He grab at Ku Lu’s neck with one hand, the nails on his five fingers as sharp as a ghost claw. After a strong pull, the collar that bound Ku Lu’s neck was immediately removed.

“Stupid! Why do you insist on saving me?!”

Once Ku Lu’s restraints were undone, he immediately bellowed, questioning his Brother Ku Luo, “Not only have we lost three Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotuses because of me, we even let the evil nether passageway be destroyed. Do you want to bring our clansmen past the point of no return?”

“Knowing that you’re still alive... I can’t just sit back and watch.” Ku Luo frowned.

“You! You are the grandson of the Venerable One, but what have you done for us?” Ku Luo turned a spearhead toward Qin Lie. “Why did you insist that we deal with Profound Heaven Alliance? What are your intentions? Now that the evil nether passageway has been destroyed, we no longer have a way out. The day that the nether demonic energy disperses, all of our clansmen will die! This is all your fault!”

Many Horned Demon clansmen didn’t know about Qin Lie’s existence. They did not experience that period three thousand years ago.

This is why they didn’t know about Qin Lie’s involvement.

Seeing Ku Lu shout and roar at Qin Lie angrily, the group of people also became excited. Qin Lie was the reason they were in the current situation.

“This person is not a member of our race, nor is he from the Dark Nether Race. Why would he appear here?”

“He was the one who wanted us to deal with Profound Heaven Alliance!”

“He’s the one behind all this!”

“It’s him!”

“Kill him!”

“Put him to death!”

“...”

Many Horned Demon clansmen surrounded Qin Lie. They looked murderous, their expressions ice cold.

The expressions of Ling Yushi and the Ling Family clansmen changed. They immediately blocked the way to Qin Lie.

“What are you guys trying to do?” Ling Yushi shouted coldly.

“All of you, shut up!” Ku Luo also shouted angrily.

“All of you, calm down!” Duo Luo and Ka Meng also yelled, trying to persuade them.

“Big Brother, even if this person is the grandson of the Venerable One, he might not be helping us wholeheartedly.” Ku Lu had a rather strong opinion of Qin Lie.

“You shut up!” Ku Luo stared at him. Being hard pressed as well, he told Qin Lie hurriedly, “Go home with the Ling Family.”

As things were, Qin Lie knew it was pointless to explain. Watching the Horned Demon clansmen and looking at their murderous eyes, he didn’t say much. Escorted by Ka Meng and Duo Luo, Qin Lie, Ling Yushi, and the others returned to the Ling Family’s cave.

“What’s the situation?”

After returning to the stone cave where the clansmen of Ling Family lived, Ling Chengzhi couldn’t help but take the initiative and ask. Every Ling Family clansman in the cave felt anxious, feeling as though they might not be able to live for even one more day.

They had escaped from Seven Fiends Valley all the way to the poisonous bog. After that, they were not able to settle down for a even a few days because their identity as a clan of the evil races was exposed. They were then driven here.

After settling down with some difficulty, they thought they would be able to concentrate on cultivation for a while, yet the evil nether passageway had now been destroyed.

They saw the opinion of Ku Luo and the others, and that the curtain of nether demonic energy covering the sky would disperse in the near future.

The Ling Family was currently known as the public enemy of the Scarlet Tide Continent. After the nether demonic energy dispersed, they would be exposed for everyone to see. Which path should the Ling Family take?

This was what all the Ling Family clansmen were worried about.

“Profound Heaven Alliance, Joyful Union Sect, and Eight Extreme Temple cooperated in secret…” Qin Lie explained simply.

“Then Song Tingyu... what kind of role does she play in all this?” Ling Yushi asked after listening seriously. “Was she really deceived by Profound Heaven Alliance, or is she putting on an act?”

“I think that she was also unaware.” Qin Lie sat upright with his legs crossed, his face full of worry.

“Sigh, is it really that difficult for the Ling Family to survive?” Ling Chengzhi sighed deeply.

Inside the stone cave, every Ling Family clansman had a look of despair on their faces.

Over with the Horned Demon Race.

“The nether demonic energy in this land will disperse within a month. At that point, it will be unnecessary for the enemy to kill us—our clansmen will just die of poor health,” Duo Luo said.

“We need to think of a solution,” Ka Meng said.

Currently, Ku Lu had calmed down, having recovered his spirit somewhat after absorbing nether demonic energy for a while. He said, “Big Brother, there are only two paths for us to choose at the moment. Either we advance in the direction of the Purple Mist Sea and return to the Nether Realm through the Nether Battlefield, or we advance in the direction of Herb Mountain, hopefully making use of the spatial teleportation formation and moving directly to the Nether Realm in an instant.

“Both paths lead to dead ends.” Ku Luo sighed.

Ku Luo’s original plan was to confirm if the spatial teleportation formation inside Herb Mountain could be used. After doing so, they would then use their current position as a base and continuously corrupt the land, transforming nature spirit energy to nether demonic energy all the way to Herb Mountain.

This would probably be slow, but with patience, planning, and careful preparation, there was a high chance of reaching Herb Mountain successfully and entering the Nether Realm.

However, since evil nether passageway had now been destroyed, this plan failed just as it started.

Ku Lu’s proposal required their people to charge into Herb Mountain and the Nether Battlefield, facing an encirclement and the annihilation of Eight Extreme Temple, Joyful Union Sect and Profound Heaven Alliance.

Ku Luo was sure that they would be eliminated by the three great forces before they could reach their destination.

Fighting the three forces in an area without nether demonic energy, their probability of success was simply zero.

“Don’t tell me that we should just stay here until the nether demonic energy disperses completely, slowly awaiting our inevitable demise?” Ku Lu roared grudgingly.

“Think again, seeing if there are any other ways.” Ku Luo sighed deeply.

Three days later.

The nether demonic energy that covered a hundred miles of Armament City’s perimeter started to gradually disperse. It moved toward Flame Volcano, shrinking somewhat.

Every Horned Demon clansman felt despair in their hearts and were all roaring. Using the strength they still had, they fought enemies to the death.

However, the people of Profound Heaven Alliance, Joyful Union Sect, and Eight Extreme Temple simply had yet to enter Armament City.

They were all stationed in an area filled nature spirit energy, waiting for the Horned Demon clansmen to run out of patience and voluntarily come out to throw their lives away.

The three great forces had total confidence in fighting in an area without nether demonic energy, so they just waited calmly.

Five days later, the nether demonic energy continued to shrink toward Armament City. The nether demonic energy that had covered a fifty kilometers now only covered about thirty five.

“Big Brother, there’s no time!” Ku Lu shouted.

“Uncle, it’s no longer possible for us to return to our homeland anymore. Rather than sitting and waiting to die, it’s better to go out and fight to our deaths!” Duo Luo shouted angrily.

“Even if the whole clan dies fighting, we still must make the enemy pay the price!” Ka Meng was also out of patience.

“Then, with the lives of our entire clan, let’s engrave the name of Horned Demon Race in the memories of our enemy!” Ku Luo broke down as well, issuing the command at last.

A herd of nether beasts were gathered by the Horned Demon clansmen. All of them assembled at the foot of Flame Volcano.

Every warrior of the Horned Demon Race, whether they were three horned or two horned, emerged from every corner, their eyes filled with crazy murderous intent. Through the extinction of this part of their race, they were prepared to make Profound Heaven Alliance, Joyful Union Sect, and Eight Extreme Temple pay the price.

They were prepared to take the initiative and wage war.

At the same time, Qin Lie, who had locked himself up in Ling Family’s cave for eight days without a single trace of activity, suddenly walked out.

Just when they were about to go seek death, Qin Lie walked out of the stone cave and said, “I am the one who brought you to meet Profound Heaven Alliance. I was the one who refined the Terminator Profound Bombs that destroyed the evil nether passageway. Although I wasn’t directly involved in this, I have a responsibility that cannot be absolved, so I have decided to do everything within my power to help you today and solve the problem.”

“How can you help?” Ku Lu shouted harshly.

“I will bring you people directly to Herb Mountain,” Qin Lie said with a serious face.

Qin Lie had finally made a firm resolution. Even if it meant exposing the land of frost, he needed to evacuate the Horned Demon clansmen and leave this land.

—because he had the Eye of Frost.