Spirit Realm

Luo Chen, Du Xiangyang, Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, Pang Qianqian, and Xue Moyan used their mind consciousnesses to examine the tokens at their waists.

“All of the eastern barbarians have come to a halt!”

Pan Qianqian exclaimed as she turned to look behind them, astonishment clear on her face.

The rest of Qin Lie’s group looked at Gao Yu, with strange expressions on their faces.

It was obvious to everyone present that the eastern barbarians stopped approaching because the girl named Jia Yue had blown the horn. They were obeying her command.

That same Jia Yue had listened to Gao Yu and given up on threatening them.

“What exactly is going on here, Gao Yu?” Song Tingyu sighed softly, some of the tension flowing out of her.

However, Gao Yu ignored her and only looked at Qin Lie.

Qin Lie frowned at him in return.

After a long period of silence, Gao Yu’s sinister expression gradually softened.

“You were actually going to give the Demon Sealing Tombstone up to save me…” he said softly, his tone deep and low.

It was then that everyone realized… that this whole charade had been Gao Yu testing Qin Lie.

“Why?” The expression on Qin Lie’s face was so heavy that one could wring water from it.

“After everything that happened in Icestone City and the Nether Realm… we parted ways. When we met again at Sea Moon Island, you seemed to have changed a lot.” Gao Yu paused for a moment, contemplating something, then continued, “I wanted to know if you were the same Qin Lie I knew many years ago.

“I wanted to know if… deep in your heart… you still considered me your friend.”

Qin Lie stayed silent.

He understood that merging with a part of who he used to be had slightly changed his demeanor. He was, indeed, different.

Gao Yu did all of this just to confirm how different Qin Lie had become.

“What would have happened to us if Qin Lie hadn’t taken the Demon Sealing Tombstone out to save you?” Du Xiangyang asked cheerfully, his anxiety forgotten.

“All of you would’ve died!” Gao Yu exclaimed harshly, sweeping a glance over him.

And immediately after they thought they could relax, everyone froze up again.

“Jia Yue leads the white barbarians. A dozen or so of them were pursuing you from behind, all of which are in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm,” Gao Yu said apathetically. “In addition to that, dozens of white barbarian elites lay in wait a kilometer and a half ahead of here. You had no chance of surviving this.”

Upon hearing this, each of them felt a chill well up from the bottom of their hearts. Palpable fear leaked from their eyes.

Assuming Gao Yu wasn’t lying to them, then dozens of white barbarian elites were both right behind them as well as blocking the road ahead. Adding them to Jia Yue, who was clearly quite powerful, and Gao Yu, whose current strength was unknown… Qin Lie’s group might have really died then and there.

“The eastern barbarians have already slaughtered every single martial practitioner from the Land of Chaos who wandered into the Forbidden Lands of Earth, Water, and Metal,” Gao Yu said in a low tone. He paused, eyeing Qin Lie’s group one by one, then continued, “Several hundred black, scarlet, and white barbarians are in the Forbidden Land of Ice right now. They possess tokens from each of the nine great Silver rank forces. They are the hunters, and all of you are just… prey.”

This news made Qin Lie’s group go pale.

They had guessed that there would be a lot of eastern barbarians in the area, but they didn’t think that several hundred of them would enter the Graveyard of Gods. Furthermore, the barbarians swept through the other three forbidden lands and killed every Land of Chaos martial practitioner they came across.

Seeing their expressions, Gao Yu sighed deeply.

“I suggest that you get rid of your tokens as soon as possible. If you do, you might be able to keep the eastern barbarians from tracking you down and killing you.”

“What is your relationship with Jia Yue?” Qin Lie asked, frowning.

After a moment of hesitation, Gao Yu answered.

“When I fell into the Forbidden Land of Metal, martial practitioners of Black Voodoo Cult and the Xiahou Family hunted me relentlessly. Jia Yue was also being hunted. She had strayed from her fellow tribesmen and gotten lost. The two of us had no choice but to work together to survive. When I suffered a grave injury, she was the one who carried me on her back and helped me escape Black Voodoo Cult and the Xiahou Family’s encirclement. She’s the only reason I survived. I owe her...”

“You say you owe her…” Song Tingyu interrupted. “Yet it seems like she values your opinion quite a bit.”

“She values my opinion because, once I recovered, I’ve helped her lead the white barbarians in killing Black Voodoo Cult and Xiahou Family martial practitioners,” Gao Yu retorted coldly.

A chill ran through everyone’s bodies yet again.

“Will you be staying with the white barbarians?” Qin Lie asked solemnly.

“I made a promise to Jia Yue.” Gao Yu’s face slowly turned grim. “I will help her keep her promise to her tribesmen, hunt her enemies in the Graveyard of Gods, and seize the remains of the elites in the Land of Buried Gods. This means that we’ll be enemies the moment we part ways!”

This declaration startled Qin Lie.

“I will become your enemy!” Gao Yu yelled, looking at Luo Chen, Xue Moyan, and the others. “Back in the Forbidden Land of Metal, I didn’t kill just Black Voodoo Cult and Xiahou Family martial practitioners. I killed every martial practitioner I came across, including those of other forces!”

Luo Chen and Xue Moyan’s eyes went cold.

“One more thing…” Gao Yu shook his head and laughed coldly. “Ye Yihao was the one who told Jia Yue where you were and that you had the Pure Soul Springs.

“The black, scarlet, and white barbarians may clash from time to time, but they are incredibly united when it comes to battling foreign enemies. Killing the martial practitioners of the Land of Chaos is the top priority of every eastern barbarian. The martial practitioners of the Land of Chaos, on the other hand, continue to fight each other. It is their destiny to be buried in the Graveyard of Gods.

“Qin Lie! Next time we meet, you and I will be enemies!”

After making this declaration, Gao Yu resolutely moved in the direction that Jia Yue had gone. His figure disappeared into the distance, ghastly shadows following in his wake.

A dense, unfathomably dark aura radiated from his body, making it look as if he had been possessed by thousands of ghosts.

A moment after Gao Yu left, Xie Jingxuan spoke up.

“Gao Yu must have had a fortuitous encounter here in the Graveyard of Gods. His biomagnetic field is incredibly strong… actually, it’s slightly stronger than Yu Men’s. At the very least, he must’ve reached the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm.”

“How can he possess such a terrifying aura at just the middle stage of the Netherpassage Realm?” Du Xiangyang asked grimly..

“Sometimes... strength isn’t related to one’s realm.” Luo Chen subconsciously glanced at Qin Lie.

In Luo Chen’s eyes, Qin Lie’s realm was average at best. However, he was capable of accomplishing astonishing things over and over.

“This Gao Yu is incredibly strong,” Xue Moyan said in a low voice.

“What’ll you do if we meet him again?” Du Xiangyang looked at Qin Lie.

“...that depends on the situation!”

……

“Gao Yu has returned!”

Sixteen white barbarians were positioned behind Qin Lie’s group. Shields of light covered their bodies, and they carried giant bows on their backs. Their eyes resembled lightning against their pale white faces.

These white barbarians consisted of men and women between twenty and forty years old.

Yet all of them were in the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm.

Jia Yue stood right in the middle of them.

When they saw Gao Yu return, relief showed on their faces as they collectively sighed.

They had been worried that Gao Yu wouldn’t return after meeting Qin Lie.

Before this, the white barbarians hadn’t trusted Gao Yu. They had looked down on him and scorned him. However, through his violent, ruthless slaughtering of Land of Chaos martial practitioners, he had slowly won their trust and respect.

And all of them had noticed the love that had secretly developed between him and their tribe’s beloved daughter, Jia Yue.

Gao Yu’s cultivation of the Nine Hell Wandering Soul Record, the Evil God inheritance he received from the Nether Realm, and his dark, ruthless personality won the recognition of all the white barbarians. All of that even helped them approve of his relationship with Jia Yue.

They all thought that the future of the White Barbarian Tribe would be bright if Gao Yu became Jia Yue’s husband.

Gao Yu clearly possessed limitless potential, his heart was as firm as steel, and his methods were extremely effective. He would definitely become a firm pillar of support for Jia Yue in the future.

At the same time, Jia Yue would eventually become a tribe elder. She was, quite literally, the White Barbarian Tribe’s future.

“We shall leave Qin Lie to others,” Gao Yu said indifferently. “Let us head to the Land of Buried Gods first.”

“Whatever you say.” Jia Yue smiled faintly.

“Gao Yu!” a big barbarian yelled in a low voice. “What shall we do if we meet that group in the Land of Buried Gods?”

This question weighed upon the hearts of many of them.

“When we meet again, we will be enemies!” Gao Yu exclaimed in a low tone.

“Good!” The barbarian laughed loudly. “We trust you, Gao Yu! We can truly relax now that we have your word!”

……

“Should we do what Gao Yu suggested and throw away all of our tokens?”

Song Tingyu suddenly spoke up.

Qin Lie’s group was currently using the Demon Sealing tombstone to determine their course again and start heading toward the ice spirit.

“There are several hundred eastern barbarians, and all of them have tokens they can use to track us. It is obviously disadvantageous for us to continue carrying them,” Xie Jingxuan added.

“The tokens aren’t only used to communicate between forces. They can also be used to determine where the passageways out of the Graveyard of Gods are once the Trial ends.” Du Xiangyang smiled bitterly.

This information surprised Qin Lie, Song Tingyu, and Xie Jingxuan.

“You guys weren’t aware of that?” Du Xiangyang asked, stunned.

The three of them shook their heads.

“The spatial passageways we used to enter the Graveyard of Gods were sealed from the outside, which is why we are currently unable to use the tokens to sense them,” Du Xiangyang explained. “However, once the Trial ends, the people outside will reopen the passageways. When that time comes, every token in our possession will be able to tell us where those passageways are. There are no other ways for us to leave the Graveyard of Gods to return to the Land of Chaos!”

“We’ve been in here for half a year. The Trial will end once another six months passes,” Pan Qianqian said. “As long as we’re still alive by then, we’ll be able to return to the Land of Chaos even if we don’t manage to get anything from the Graveyard of Gods. We’d be able to collect the rewards that all of the forces put up for grabs!”

“Does that mean we can’t just discard our tokens then?” Song Tingyu asked, her expression bitter. “They literally paint a target on our backs! We could be discovered by the eastern barbarians at any moment in the Forbidden Land of Ice!”

“We’ll only need one token if we just stay together,” Du Xiangyang said after some careful consideration. “With just one token, the probability of the eastern barbarians finding us will drop significantly. Then we’ll be able to figure out where the passageways are in half a year and leave this place.”

As the group spoke amongst each other, Qin Lie quietly examined the interior of a sword token with a wisp of mind consciousness.

He was carefully analyzing the spirit diagram inside of it.

A while later, he said, “We don’t need to throw the tokens away. I can alter the spirit diagrams inside of them and render them temporarily useless. Once we need them, I can readjust the spirit diagrams and reactivate them.”