Spirit Realm

Following behind Jiang Zhuzhe, Qin Lie walked all the way down into the underground cave until they were almost one and a half kilometers in. Then, Jiang Zhuzhe suddenly came to a stop.

A glistening marble wall carved with countless evil dragons suddenly appeared before Qin Lie.

The lifelike evil dragons on the wall were made with dark red blood lines. They appeared incredibly vivid. The sinister shapes looked like they would jump out of the wall at any moment.

“This is the place,” Jiang Zhuzhe said cheerfully.

Qin Lie’s expression turned severe when he walked around the wall for a bit. He pointed at a certain spot and asked, “What is this?”

Gilbert and Eddie walked closer.

The spot he pointed on the wall was also engraved with lifelike evil dragons.

However… these evil dragons were obviously in pain. They looked like they were crying for help wordlessly.

These evil dragons were covered in countless souls that were tearing and feeding on their bodies.

The souls were all human souls. They had turned violent and mad after the execution of a certain secret art, and the emotions they displayed were all negative.

The elderly, the young, the women, the men… the souls varied greatly in age, but they had all transformed into bloodthirsty and cruel monsters.

Qin Lie did a rough calculation and discovered that there were at least three thousand souls wriggling on this dozens or so square meters big marble wall alone.

Each of these souls used to be human. After they were sacrificed by the Earth Ghoul Race, their evil side was infinitely enlarged so that they could be used to devour the evil dragon diagrams on the walls.

“This is the method the Earth Ghoul Race uses to break through the barrier,” Jiang Zhuzhe said calmly. “All barriers and obstacles must be powered by energy. If the key to breaking a barrier can’t be found, there is always one dumbest way to try—brute force—deplete the barriers’ energy reserves.”

“The Earth Ghoul Race is obviously using such a crude method.”

He looked at the group and continued, “A normal human’s soul energy is very limited, but there are a lot of them out there. Therefore, all they need to do is to sacrifice a hundred thousand or so normal humans’ soul to activate their secret art and erode the barriers continuously. This way, it is only a matter of time before they completely exhaust the energy that’s supporting this barrier.”

Once that happens, Shadow Earth Palace can be unlocked easily. It will then become the Earth Ghoul Race’s possession.”

“One hundred thousand normal human souls to break open the barriers!” Qin Lie’s face looked dark.

“They’re about to succeed.” Gilbert inhaled deeply before saying, “At this rate, they’ll be able to unlock Shadow Earth Palace through this stupidest way in just one or two months’ time.”

“That is why our arrival is very timely.” Jiang Zhuzhe’s eyes gleamed for a moment before he smiled at Gilbert. “You can lead us into Shadow Earth Palace, can you?”

Qin Lie and the others also looked at him.

“I know the simplest way to do this.” Gilbert snorted.

Drops of scarlet dragon blood dripped out of his thick and large finger. He then tossed the blood towards the wall.

“Zzzt!”

The moment Gilbert’s dragon blood hit the wall, it immediately started smoking like strong acid dripping against metal.

The evil dragon diagrams on the wall seemed to notice that the blood came from their own kind. Not only did they do nothing to stop its erosion, they even moved closer towards the blood as if to aid it penetrate the marble wall.

The blood penetrated the wall continuously like hot knife through butter.

In just half a minute’s time, a hole actually emerged where the wall was smeared with a couple of dragon blood.

Jiang Zhuzhe’s bloody eyes gleamed as he smiled. “This is a simple method.”

“Let us get it before the Earth Ghoul Race notices anything amiss and do what we came here to do,” Qin Lie said.

Gilbert had already charged into the cave without a word. He was anxious to awaken his fellow clansmen.

“How long can this cave hold up?” Jiang Zhuzhe raised his voice and asked.

“About an hour or so,” Gilbert answered from inside.

“An hour… “Jiang Zhuzhe nodded and answered with a smile, “That is more than enough time for sure.”

He didn’t move into Shadow Earth Palace immediately after Qin Lie and Eddie entered the place after Gilbert. Instead, he leisurely took out a sound transmission stone and sent a message with his soul.

It was only then that he calmly stepped into Shadow Earth Palace.

While Qin Lie and the others were moving inside the underground passage hidden inside a tree hole, Corpse Progenitor’s inheritor, Miao Fengtian, his two Corpse Demons—Pu Ze and White Bone Demon Monarch—as well as a Soul Altar martial practitioner with a haggard face and powerful blood aura were sitting quietly at a place somewhere.

Suddenly, a ball of bloody light appeared in front of the Soul Altar expert Jin Dao’s chest.

Jiang Zhuzhe’s cool appearance appeared from the blood ball. He then told Jin Dao and Miao Fengtian, “Send in the Corpse Demons.”

Jin Dao and Miao Fengtian abruptly stood up.

“Lord Calvert!”

Inside Shadow Earth Palace, Gilbert suddenly exclaimed in shock.

Qin Lie was right behind him.

There were seven altars made of white jade inside the incredibly vast Shadow Earth Palace. An evil dragon lay on every one of these altars.

However, the biggest evil dragon of them all were staring at them coldly before those altars.

This dragon was almost a thousand meters long, but it didn’t appear overly large in this vast underground palace.

Its body was covered in glistening silver armor. Its racial wings sparkled with cold, metallic luster and looked as sharp as blades.

An incredibly vast aura was discharged from its body. It instantly filled Shadow Earth Palace and made everyone felt stifled.

Gilbert actually curled up on the ground in a show of humility the moment he saw him.

“You are the seventh son of the evil dragon Brocklehurst, the clan chief of the evil dragons, and a rank nine evil dragon, Calvert!” Qin Lie immediately reacted.

He had entered the Heaven Fighting Race’s Chaos Blood Realm and learned many secrets of the evil dragon race from within. He knew that Calvert was the seventh son of the evil dragon’s clan chief, and that he was a real rank nine evil dragon.

“Are you the one who broke through the defenses of Shadow Earth Palace, Gilbert? Who are they? Have the Heaven Fighting Race returned to Spirit Realm?” The rank nine Calvert yelled with a deafening voice.

“The Heaven Fighting Race hasn’t returned to Spirit Realm. The reason I came over to awaken you all is because the Earth Ghoul Race is plotting to break apart the palace’s defenses and kill everyone here. I didn’t know that you’ve already awakened,” Gilbert explained with a bowed head.

“These people are…”

Calvert looked at Eddie first, and then at Qin Lie. He suddenly shook just as he was about to ask a question.

“Who is he, if you say that the Heaven Fighting Race hasn’t returned to Spirit Realm?!”

The purest Heaven Fighting Race’s bloodline obviously flowed in Qin Lie’s body.

“The Heaven Fighting Race’s divine, noble blood runs in his body, but he doesn’t belong to the Heaven Fighting Race’s expeditionary force. He, he is a…” Gilbert chose his words carefully before saying, “He is just a forerunner.”

“Forerunner?” Calvert looked puzzled.

Beside him, Eddie was shocked.

—He wasn’t aware that Qin Lie had the Heaven Fighting Race’s bloodline inside hi.

Calvert was about to ask some more when he suddenly saw Jiang Zhuzhe walking in with a smile. He couldn’t help but say angrily with a contorted expression, “You? You are the one who tried to enter this place five times for the past three hundred years. I remember your scent!”

Qin Lie was about to explain in a hurry that Jiang Zhuzhe meant no harm this time when his expression abruptly changed too.

It was because Miao Fengtian, the Corpse Demon Pu Ze, the Corpse Demon White Bone Demon Monarch and an old man brimming with blood energy suddenly entered after Jiang Zhuzhe.

The moment the quartet entered into the place, Jiang Zhuzhe immediately turned around and sealed the entrance Gilbert opened with his blood using a banner that was covered in corpse aura.

The hole in Shadow Earth Palace’s defenses was completely sealed off by the banner brimming with corpse aura.

It was only then Jiang Zhuzhe turned around to look at the shocked crowd. He smiled and said, “This way the Earth Ghoul clansmen wouldn’t be able to come in through that entrance and cause trouble.”

“What on Spirit Realm are you planning?” Qin Lie asked with a dark expression.

Miao Fengtian and Jin Dao had come with two Corpse Demons. Jiang Zhuzhe had also blocked off the entrance. It was clear from his actions that Jiang Zhuzhe had an ulterior motive.

“Which generation of Blood Fiend Sect do you belong to?” The rank nine evil dragon Calvert asked angrily.

“The latest one.” Jiang Zhuzhe smiled before looking at Calvert and the equally infuriated Qin Lie. He said, “The ancient nation that one ruled this place is called True Dragon Nation, and True Dragon Nation used to be the ruler of the Heavenly Calamity Continent. The royal family of this ancient nation had Calvert’s blood running inside their body because they were the descendants of Calvert and another human.”

“When True Dragon Nation was at its strongest, they even clashed against Moon Worshipping Cult. Both forces were evenly matched.”

“Unfortunately, True Dragon Nation was ultimately destroyed by Blood Fiend Sect. The reason Blood Fiend Sect was able to rule the Heavenly Calamity Continent was also thanks to our victory over True Dragon Nation.”

“That happened during the first sect master of Blood Fiend Sect, Li Xin’s era.”

“This rank nine evil dragon hid inside Shadow Earth Palace and hoped to regain his strength through the precious treasures gathered by True Dragon Nation.”

“However, the first sect master of Blood Fiend Sect, Li Xin, had destroyed True Dragon Nation before he could recover completely. He even went into Shadow Earth Palace and fought against him.”

“He suffered grievous wounds after the battle was over. Li Xin also left while bearing wounds on his body.”

“After that, Shadow Earth Palace was sealed up completely from inside by this rank nine evil dragon because he was afraid that Li Xin would return. Just the same, Li Xin was also afraid that he would emerge from Shadow Earth Palace and threaten Blood Fiend Sect’s status as ruler of the Heavenly Calamity Continent. He too sealed up Shadow Earth Palace with Blood Fiend Sect’s secret arts to prevent him from escaping.”

“Grievously injured, he could not escape from Shadow Earth Palace. Just the same, no one could enter this place because of his own seals. As a result, his recovery slowed down tremendously, and he had no way of restoring his energy. So today… his injuries should be worse than back then.”

Jiang Zhuzhe smiled and said, “I was once the sect master of Blood Fiend Sect for a short time. I came to know this while I was flipping through the sect’s secret scriptures back then.”

“What are you planning?” Qin Lie yelled in a low tone.

Jiang Zhuzhe narrowed his bloody, gleaming eyes. “From the manuscript Li Xin left behind, I learned that if a late stage Imperishable Realm expert who cultivated the… extreme… part of Blood Codex were to feed on blood of this rank nine evil dragon, they could potentially step into the Void Realm.”

Everyone understood his intentions the moment he said this. They understood now that his for search the "ancient corpses" was just an excuse, and that his true goal was Calvert’s dragon blood.