Spirit Realm

The Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly was considerably faster than Sword Leaf Boats. Even in a frenzied state, exhausting all his bloody spirit energy to speed up his Sword Leaf Boat, Jiang Tianxing could only watch as Qin Lie and the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly moved further and further away.

The rainbow butterfly turned into a ray of flowing light and completely disappeared from Jiang Tianxing’s sight.

“Ouuohh!”

Radiating bloody light, Jiang Tianxing, whose thick bloody hair stretched all the way down to his waist, released a furious demonic roar above the sea.

His howls caused continuous eruptions on the water. Fierce aquatic beasts fled far away from the monstrous voice out of fear, worried that they would become targets for Jiang Tianxing to vent his anger on.

Standing on the Sword Leaf Boat on the surface of the sea, Jiang Tianxing roared for a long time. As the horrifying color of blood in his eyes gradually receded, his senses slowly recovered as well.

A short while later, as though he had been released, he fell limp to the floor of the Sword Leaf Boat. His entire body was drenched with sweat.

“Over there! There’s movement over there!” A wooden boat that was tied together with vines came from the direction of Spirit Eagle Island. Its speed was even faster than the Sword Leaf Boat’s.

On the wooden boat, three martial practitioners wearing Blue Star Association uniforms seemed to be looking for something in their surroundings, their eyes cold and sharp.

“There’s someone over there!”

They discovered Jiang Tianxing and approached him very quickly. One of them then interrogated him. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

“I’m from Celestial Artifact Sect... a friend of Qiu Yun’s.” Jiang Tianxing’s expression was weak, and sweat streamed down his neck. He sat on the remains of the Sword Leaf Boat, and painfully said, “Qiu Yun and I discovered the eighth god corpse under the water far behind me. After the god corpse went on a rampage, my subordinates and the people of your Blue Star Association were killed by it. As for Qiu Yun and I... a martial practitioner caught us by surprise when we were evacuating others. He killed Qiu Yun, and I was heavily injured as well. He just left while riding a rainbow butterfly.”

“Rainbow butterfly?” The person that spoke looked toward the sky. With a frown, he said, “We did spot a Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly leaving the area.”

“That should be him.” Jiang Tianxing poured the dirty water onto Qin Lie.

“Our Blue Star Association will investigate this matter and deal with it. Regarding the god corpse under the sea… Your Celestial Artifact Sect has already dispatched people. They will arrive shortly,” that person explained.

“Celestial Artifact Sect has already dispatched their people here?” Jiang Tianxing was startled.

“Mn. They will arrive within the hour at the latest.”

“Oh. I’m injured, so I will first return to Spirit Eagle Island to recuperate,” Jiang Tianxing stated his decision.

The few Blue Star Association martial practitioners did not stop him, simply nodding their heads and allowing him to leave.

An hour later.

Riding on a clear blue crystalline war chariot, a small team of martial practitioners led by a Fragmentation Realm martial practitioner stopped in the air above the sea.

The entire group descended into the water and arrived next to the god corpse, their sparkling eyes locked onto the god corpse’s navel.

“The god corpse rampaged earlier!” Bi You, a martial practitioner at the middle stage of the Fragmentation Realm, wore a long luxurious robe. An exquisite diagram of a furnace was sewn into the robe—a symbol unique to Celestial Artifact Sect. “The tombstone isn’t here!”

Bi You’s brownish face trembled, and his expression looked incomparably ugly.

“There are traces of fighting!” someone said with certainty, having investigated the surroundings.

“You lot! Escort this god corpse to the usual place.” Bi You ascended into the skies from underwater with a gloomy expression. He covered the surrounding seas with his spirit sense and quickly discovered the three Blue Star Association martial practitioners.

“I am Outer Sect Deacon Bi You of Celestial Artifact Sect. Dare I ask if you have seen anyone nearby?” Bi You floated above the heads of the three Blue Star Association martial practitioners.

The moment they saw Bi You floating in the air, the three Blue Star Association martial practitioners immediately knew that he was in the Fragmentation Realm. With a respectful tone, they explained their encounter with Jiang Tianxing.

“He said he was from Celestial Artifact Sect? Did he reveal his name?” Bi You interrogated them with a somber expression.

“No, he did not.”

“How tall was he? What did he look like?”

“He looked very young, around twenty years old, and wore scarlet red clothing.”

A Blue Star Association martial practitioner sternly described, trying to describe Jiang Tianxing’s appearance as best he could.

Bi You frowned. He felt that this was a little troublesome. He had a much faster, clearer, more direct method.

“My apologies,” Bi You exclaimed softly.

The three Blue Star Association martial practitioners were dumbfounded.

“Pak, pak!”

The bones of two Blue Star Association martial practitioners exploded and shattered with a flick of Bi You’s hand, and they instantly died miserable deaths.

He brought the remaining person into the air. Like five sharp blades, Bi You’s fingers instantly stabbed into that person’s skull.

A tyrannical energy capable of seizing one’s soul came out of Bi You’s fingertips. He stripped the person of his recent memories, reproducing the entire scene of him meeting with and conversing with Jiang Tianxing.

“It was actually Jiang Zhuzhe’s son!” Bi You snorted coldly.

He then retracted his bloody fingers. The body of that Blue Star Association martial practitioner had long since turned ice cold, and it slumped onto the wooden boat.

Bi You wiped the traces of blood from his fingertips, and then, with a grim, gloomy expression, unexpectedly charged in the direction of Spirit Eagle Island.

……

There were many reefs between Spirit Eagle Island and Sea Moon Island. These reefs were densely packed, like mountains hidden at the bottom of the ocean.

Due to the existence of these reefs, the route between Spirit Eagle Island and Sea Moon Island could not be traversed with large ships. Only light ships like the Sword Leaf Boats and the Spirit Eagles of Spirit Eagle Island could travel through these areas.

In the broad area filled with reefs, the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly lightly landed on a glossy reef that was about ten meters long.

There was not a single trace of a smile on Song Tingyu’s face as she elegantly descended from the rainbow butterfly’s body. Under the cool moonlight, she retrieved plates of fruit from her spatial ring, one after another, and gracefully ate them.

She had not spoken to nor paid any heed to Qin Lie the entire journey.

She was obviously still angry.

“My dear grandaunt, just how have I offended you?” Qin Lie smiled wryly as he bit the bullet and arrived beside Song Tingyu. Reaching out with his hand, he moved to grab a transparent fruit that was on the plate.

“Slap!” An orange light struck his arm.

Qin Lie’s hand went numb, suddenly losing all feeling.

An electrical current passed through his tendons, and that numbness instantly disappeared. Qin Lie waved his hand about, then realized that Song Tingyu had already walked far away from him, plate of fruit in hand.

“I just don’t understand. You obviously could have headed to Sea Moon Island by riding the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly. It would have been smooth and quick! Why did you have to sneakily leave no matter what? First, you had to ride on a large ship that you shared with others, which you would have had to spend two to three months on before arriving at Spirit Eagle Island. Then you would have to head to Sea Moon Island from Spirit Eagle Island…” Song Tingyu looked at the cold moon, her back facing him. Her eyes were cold as she asked, “Don’t you find it troublesome?”

Qin Lie was momentarily stunned. He finally understood why she was angry.

“About that…” Qin Lie said hesitantly. “Many people from Profound Heaven Alliance died because of me, and Profound Heaven City was also devastated by the colossal beasts. I was afraid…”

“...that I wouldn’t be able to forgive you?” Song Tingyu did not turn around, her tone still cold.

“I wasn’t afraid of that. I was afraid that people from Profound Heaven Alliance would find me through you and then cause trouble for me in other ways,” Qin Lie explained helplessly.

“At Armament City, my father hid the truth from me and plotted against the Horned Demon Race through you. Then, at Herb Mountain, I was tailed by Song Zhi and exposed the teleportation formation inside of Herb Mountain. You don’t feel at ease, huh?” Song Tingyu snorted coldly.

“That definitely isn’t the case!” Qin Lie protested. “I know that those two times weren’t your fault. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have sent a message to Xie Jingxuan and have her ask you to help me find Spatial Spirit Stones. I have never suspected you. I was simply afraid that you wouldn’t forgive me. After all, several members of your Song Family and nearly all the elites of Nie Family died because of me. I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to get over it.”

“What’s there to forgive?” Song Tingyu finally turned around and gave him a ruthless glare. “Even if all the members of the Nie Family have died, they only have themselves to blame! Why would I care about their deaths? As for Song Zhi, he was not from the main branch of my Song Family either. He dared to use our relationship to plot against me, so his death is justified as well! As long as my father, my uncles, and the rest of the main branch are safe, I couldn’t care less. Profound Heaven City was destroyed by the giant beasts, but it can be rebuilt. Profound Heaven City has dominated the Scarlet Tide Continent for too long, so teaching them a lesson isn’t such a bad thing.”

Qin Lie was stunned. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “You really don’t hate me?”

“Hate you?” Song Tingyu pursed her lips and smiled. “Why would I hate you? The Nie Family is doomed. We, the Song Family and the Xie Family, split all of the property of the Nie Family among ourselves, so our two families have even benefited from this incident. It can be said that you helped us out, so I have to thank you.”

“Then why are you still so angry like a resentful wife?” Qin Lie smiled wryly.

“You’re the resentful wife! Qin Lie, you bastard! I searched Herb Mountain and Ling Town for ten days looking for you! Exactly ten days! I wanted to give you a ride to Sea Moon Island with good intentions, but you actually left without even saying a single word!”

Song Tingyu gritted her teeth, her jade arm making a ruthless hammering motion. It was as though she wanted to smash him into smithereens. “I even thought that… that you had been captured by people from Eight Extreme Temple and were disposed of through other measures. I was worried for a long time. I even interrogated people from Eight Extreme Temple. After finding out that they didn’t do anything, I guessed that you might have already left. You bastard... you should die ten thousand times!”

Qin Lie was dumbfounded.

“In that case, it’s definitely my mistake. Don’t be angry anymore, I definitely won’t dare to leave without saying anything next time!” After being stunned for a short while, Qin Lie chuckled. With his thick skin, he moved closer to Song Tingyu and leaned his shoulder against hers. Reaching his hand toward the plate for a fruit, he spoke with a smile as he took advantage of the situation. “I never would have expected that you cared about me so much. If I had known, I would have waited for you at Herb Mountain no matter what.”

“Who would care about such a shameless guy like you?” Song Tingyu rolled her eyes at him. She pulled what appeared to be a blazing grape from the inner section of the plate in a graceful motion and and leisurely asked, “So what was going on earlier? Why was that hairy mad dog chasing you?”

“That person was a member of Blood Fiend Sect.” Qin Lie furrowed his brow.

“Blood Fiend Sect? I’ve never heard of this faction.” Song Tingyu wore a strange expression.

Blood Fiend Sect was once glorified in the Land of Chaos. However, a long time ago, it disappeared. In the past hundred years, there no longer was information about Blood Fiend Sect in the Land of Chaos. Many martial practitioners living in the Land of Chaos had never even heard of Blood Fiend Sect, so it was obviously impossible for Song Tingyu, who had been raised in the Scarlet Tide Continent, to know about it.

“Senior Xue Li was a member of Blood Fiend Sect in the past. This sect used to be a Silver rank force, but it’s unknown why it suddenly fell from grace,” Qin Lie explained.

“Tell me everything. And be clear!” Song Tingyu’s curiosity was piqued.

……