The sky was garnet, and the ground underneath this red dome was divided into two parts. One was the cracked ground covered in burning flames. Thick lava murmured everywhere, heating up the whole area, making people uncomfortable.
The other side was an endless glacier, and people couldn’t see where it ended. The whole place was cold and tranquil. No living aura was detected.
The world was frozen, and the ground was burning. The section in the middle, where fire and ice met, was a misty place with considerably neutral temperature.
It was a desolate, bleak area. No trees, no beasts, no insects... Only flame and cold air permeated here and there.
Plain structures made of flame stone and ice rocks were where groups of warriors gathered and discussed.
This was the gathering point of the seven ancient factions – The Fire and Ice Secret Domain.
Through dozen of thousand years, the Martial Spirit Palace had taken care of this place. After some indefinitely long periods, it would open once. However, since the change of heaven and earth, this Secret Domain had changed its rule. The pa.s.sage that led to the outside world wasn’t locked anymore.
This pa.s.sage hid layers of dangers. Three True G.o.d Realm experts kept their eyes on this entrance. When they saw the pagans, who were brave enough to break in this place, they would activate all traps in this pa.s.sage.
Unless the intruder was a King G.o.d expert, reckless visitors would never return, as both their souls and bodies would perish.
The Martial Spirit Palace had guarded the place for so many years. After countless trials, they understood the mysteries of this pa.s.sage. That’s why this place had become the shelter for the seven ancient factions. Although the alien tribes knew where Human Clan was hiding, they didn’t dare to enter as they hadn’t understood the place.
Inside a meeting hall that was built entirely of ice rock, the Temple Master of the Heaven Temple, Qin Gu Chuan, wore a cold face. His iron-gray eyes gazed at a died crystal lamp in his hands.
A group of Heaven Temple’s all had a grim countenance, not daring to even breathe loudly. Cold light flared in their eyes.
That crystal lamp was the life soul of a True G.o.d Realm warrior, which was linked to his soul. When the crystal lamp extinguished, which meant the True G.o.d Realm warrior was dead.
Many warriors of the Chu family had a pale face. They were sad, biting their lips and trembling, as they couldn’t believe their eyes.
"Bai Qing’s dead." A long time afterward, Qin Gu Chuan took a deep breath to steady his emotion, raking his eyes through the others. He let out a low shout. "Who can tell me where he had gone?"
Everybody exchanged looks. No one had the guts to answer him. They were all panic-stricken.
"You!" Qin Gu Chuan pointed at a man. "You always a.s.sisted Bai Qing. Don’t you know his whereabouts?"
That man was a Second Sky of Sky Realm warrior. He was the Chu family’s majordomo. He scooped, bending his head, but didn"t dare to answer, just shaking his head helplessly.
"b.u.mmer!" Qin Gu Chuan shouted. Suddenly, he released a silver-gray cloud, covering the majordomo’s entire body.
"Please forgive me!" the majordomo screeched. His body now was like a block of meat that was squeezed. It distorted horribly. His face reddened, swelling like he was congested. "I really don’t know."
Puff!
The majordomo’s body burst off like a watermelon. His flesh was drawn into the silver cloud, then grounded into meat pulp.
"d.a.m.n it! You don"t even know his whereabouts!" Qin Gu Chuan shouted coldly. He glared at the other members of the Chu family. "Does anyone know of your master’s whereabouts?"
No one dared to answer. They stooped and kept silent.
The Heaven Temple consisted of many families. The Chu family was ranked only behind the Qin family. Chu Bai Qing, the Head Master of the Chu family, was at the First Sky of True G.o.d Realm. He only listened to Qin Gu Chuan.
Under the current circ.u.mstances of the seven ancient factions, each Spirit Realm warrior was essential. Let alone Chu Bai Qing, a True G.o.d Realm expert. The death of Chu Bai Qing had dragged the overall competence of the Heaven Temple down by one level. Of course, Qin Gu Chuan would be enraged.
"Ning Du Quan went missing too." A slender man standing next to Qin Gu Chuan spoke while slightly bending his head. He was around thirty-years-old, but his hair were all white. His face was as still as a vampire. He seemed never to have any emotion showing on his face.
"Ning Du Quan!" Qin Gu Chuan’s face was colder. "Good! Good! We’ve lost two Head Masters shortly!"
No one dared to reply.
Qin Gu Chuan rose one arm, his face sinister. He seemed to want to slaughter. However, he halted then a.s.signed, "Send a troop out there and collect intelligence. I want to know what happened to them!"
"Yes, sir!" Everybody answered in unison.
The entrance of the Perpetual Night Forest…
Comoros was waiting for something with a gloomy countenance. After around one hour, hundreds of the Ghost Mark Clan’s warriors arrived. The other Grand Sage of the Ghost Mark Clan, Ca.s.sidy, had come.
Besides them, there was a small group of the Dark Spirit Clan. These people had the cold, evil aura of the dead. They seemed to have no vitality at all.
The leader of the Dark Spirit Clan had a pair of deep green, bloodthirsty eyes.
"Comoros, you wanted to kill that kid named s.h.i.+ Yan?" After Ca.s.sidy came, he frowned and asked anxiously. "Bao Ao… He told us to keep that kid alive, didn’t he?"
"I don’t care about Bao Ao," Comoros snorted then said coldly, "Wait until we’re done with that stuff, we won’t be afraid of Bao Ao anymore. The Dark Devil Clan that kid’s protecting is our humiliation. We have to clean them all!"
Ca.s.sidy kept silent for a while and then asked, "You’ve made up your mind?"
Comoros nodded heavily. "I have to kill him. He hurt me in the Shady Firmament Old Mound. This kid has endless potential. If we don"t kill him now, we will have no chance in the future."
Ca.s.sidy no longer persuaded him. He nodded. "So, let’s kill them. We will kill all who are present. We won’t let anyone escape. Bao Ao could never know."
"I don"t care whether he knows or not," Comoros’ evil was aroused. "This time, I want to take all the souls into the Yin Written Charm Scripture. Wait until the Yin Written Charm Scripture has enough nutrients, we can awake our Patriarch. At that time, let’s see what Bao Ao could do to us."
When Comoros mentioned their Patriarch, Ca.s.sidy got excited. He nodded and then said, "Yeah, as long as our Patriarch wakes up, we don’t need to worry about anything
"Remember what you"ve agreed with us." The leader of the Dark Spirit Clan didn"t say anything during their conversation. After the two sages had discussed, he uttered just a faint sentence.
"Don"t worry. What I agreed with you, I’ll fulfill it." Comoros glared at him.
The other nodded and kept silent again, as if saying something would drain his energy.
At the bottom of the lake…
A group of people surrounded the Creator"s Divine Pond. They faced up to see the clear lake and the meandering steam with great excitement.
The Creator’s Divine Pond used the steam and top-grade Essence Crystals here as the basis. The Star Original Essence was its generator. Together with the Soul Was.h.i.+ng Divine Water, Life Original Fluid, Five Elements Crystal Marrow, pure soul energy, and so many other auxiliary materials, the pond was built.
From a distance, that area didn’t look magnificent at all. But when they came closer, they could feel the surging energy instantly.
Blood-maned had gone away. He went to bring the Five Elements Crystal Marrow as they had made a deal. s.h.i.+ Yan’s group gathered here, waiting for him.
"Soul Was.h.i.+ng Divine Water, Life Original Fluid, and Five Element Crystal Marrow, we almost have them all… However, the pure soul energy I have here is only enough for one person. We need time to complete the filtering process." s.h.i.+ Yan kept silent for a while, then looked at Di Shan and Li Zheng Rong. "You two, only one of you can enter. Yeah, if nothing unexpected happens, it will be three days later."
Di Shan didn’t answer. He just bent his body, waiting for s.h.i.+ Yan’s arrangement.
Li Zheng Rong was struggling in his heart. Suddenly, he said frankly, "Let him go first. When we killed Chu Bai Qing, he had contributed more. I"ve not broken through for dozens of years. I… I’m not hurried."
Everybody knew that his thoughts were different that his words. He wanted to be the first one got in there. And, they knew how much he had contributed.
"Alright, Di Shan, you get in the pond first. It’s the first time, so we should see if any problems happen." s.h.i.+ Yan comforted Li Zheng Rong with a smile.
Of course, s.h.i.+ Yan knew that there would be nothing unexpected happening when they operated the Creator’s Divine Pond. It’s 100% guaranteed.
Li Zheng Rong didn’t know that. When he heard s.h.i.+ Yan’s words, he calmed down, and even felt a bit lucky.
Everything they knew about the Creator’s Divine Pond came from s.h.i.+ Yan himself. Li Zheng Rong didn"t know anything, so he wasn’t sure whether the Creator’s Divine Pond was that magical, or anything unexpected would happen… If Di Shan went there first, he would be completely sure.
"At first, you guys please watch over me. I want to sense the Star Original Essence. Perhaps… I can gain something from it." After s.h.i.+ Yan could confirm that Li Zheng Rong agreed to this arrangement, he contemplated for a while to sense the situation of his body.
s.h.i.+ Yan had absorbed the Essence Qi of Ning Du Quan and the old woman. At this moment, his acupuncture points were converting it. s.h.i.+ Yan could feel this process.
About Chu Bai Qing… When his body exploded, Blood-maned and Fiery Dragon had swallowed his fragmented body. His Essence Qi had become the nutrients in those two giant beasts’ tummy.
However, the Essence of Ning Du Quan and the old woman was enough for him to leap up to his next level. If he could understand something from the Star Original Essence, perhaps he could take another step in his growth.
The Star Original Essence was the core part of a star in the galaxy, containing the mysteries of stars. Each star had been through million or even billion years of transformation, until it could have the Star Original Essence.
The Star Original Essence was like the soul of a star. It recorded every step of the star’s ascension. If s.h.i.+ Yan could comprehend part of these mysteries, he would have new cognition of the star power, which he could use to break through to the Third Sky of Spirit Realm. It was totally possible.
"Would it damage the Star Original Essence?" Li Zheng Rong rubbed his hands as he were a little bit worried.
s.h.i.+ Yan had told them that the Star Original Essence was the source of energy supplied for the Creator’s Divine Pond. The star energy was divided and then softened to be the best energy pouring into the Creator’s Divine Pond.
Once the energy of the Star Original Essence was drained, the Creator’s Divine Pond wouldn’t perform its magical effect of s.n.a.t.c.hing the control of Nature. Of course, Li Zheng Rong had to worry.
"I don’t want to absorb the energy in it. I just want to comprehend the Upanishads and the mysteries. You… are worried too much." s.h.i.+ Yan smiled and comforted him. Then, he ignored the old man, floating to the ancient formation which hadn’t been activated due to the shortage of materials. He slowly urged his Star Martial Spirit to attack the Star Original Essence in the core of the formation.