Chapter 1109: Laws of Blood
After leaving the Nether Realm races’ gathering ground, Qin Lie headed towards the human race’s gathering ground according to Curtis’ directions.
Suddenly, his bloodline detected an extremely odd ripple of spatial energy along the way.
Star Door latent ability wasn’t his only reward after fusing with the Eight-eyed Demon Spirit’s bloodline. His bloodline had become hyper sensitive towards all kinds of unusual spatial ripples as well.
“This fierce but chaotic spatial energy, this presence… it’s Uncle Duan!”
His expression changed slightly after he figured who the owner of the energy was. He suddenly changed direction and flew towards the source of the odd spatial ripple.
Qin Lie activated his lifeblood essences and executed Thunder Blitz Escape.
He flew past many giant ice pillars like a bolt of lightning.
Ten breaths later, he paused in front of a giant ice pillar.
He stared at the ice pillar in astonishment.
The ice pillar was so wide it would take ten people to hold it. It was nearly a hundred meters tall.
“Ssss! Sss!”
A strange noise came from the ice pillar non stop. Tiny white sparks would occasionally fly out of the giant ice pillar’s surface.
Intermittent growls of pain could also be heard occasionally from the ice pillar.
They obviously belonged to Duan Qianjie.
Qin Lie frowned and pondered for a few seconds. Then, he floated up into the air.
He kept flying upwards until he reached the top of the ice pillar.
When he looked down from the top of the ice pillar, he discovered that the center had been hollowed out.
The first thing that entered his sight was a dead Rank Eight Silver-eyed Snake Devil. Its body was stuck inside the ice pillar in a standing position.
There was a b.l.o.o.d.y hole at the chest area of the Silver-eyed Snake Devil, and a blood drenched man could be seen devouring the Silver-eyed Snake Devil’s flesh there. His appearance looked as terrifying as a ghoul.
The b.l.o.o.d.y man kept letting out repressed growls as he swallowed the chunks of flesh. He looked like he was withstanding an unbelievable amount of pain.
The b.l.o.o.d.y man was obviously cultivating some sort of intense secret art that tapped into his potential. That was why he needed a large amount of refined flesh and blood energy to recover himself.
Every time he growled, spatial blades would burst out of his body due to his loss of control.
It was an incredibly b.l.o.o.d.y scene.
The b.l.o.o.d.y man cultivating the Limit Sublimation Art at full force was none other than Duan Qianjie himself. He was recovering his serious injuries by consuming the Silver-eyed Snake Devil’s blood.
Qin Lie watched Duan Qianjie calmly from above the ice pillar.
Absorbed fully in cultivation, Duan Qianjie actually failed to notice Qin Lie.
After observing the scene for a moment, Qin Lie flew away quietly and sent an order to Curtis.
Curtis soon arrived and sat at a distant ice pillar.
“Protect him until he exits the pillar himself,” Qin Lie instructed.
Curtis nodded quietly.
Finally, Qin Lie left the area.
Duan Qianjie was an expert in the power of s.p.a.ce and a terrific three-level Soul Altar martial pract.i.tioner, but even he had suffered such terrible wounds that he had to to recover himself through the Limit Sublimation Art. This meant that the human race must be doing poorly in the Abyss.
Qin Lie’s heart felt a little heavy.
By the time he finally arrived at the human race’s camp, he noticed that most Silver rank force martial pract.i.tioners were depressed and more or less wounded. He immediately realized that the actual situation was worse than he had imagined.
Terminator Sect’s martial pract.i.tioners were the only ones who looked invigorated due to Nan Zhengtian’s appearance.
Everyone else was sighing dejectedly.
“It doesn’t look like you guys are doing too well.” He suddenly descended from the sky.
“You’ve finally shown up.” Looking troubled, Li Mu started explaining their current situation. “The Abyss Devils are much, much harder to deal with than we initially imagined. We’ve all sustained huge losses in just a short period of time.”
“The natural energy of the Abyss also feels similar to Nether Realm’s. It’s difficult for us humans to get used to it,” Qi Yang said.
“We were all forced to replenish our strength through spirit stones,” Feng Yi echoed.
“I… don’t see any Abyss Devils here. Haven’t you captured one yet? Haven’t you benefited from the Abyss Devils?” Qin Lie frowned.
“Those d.a.m.nable Abyss Devils eat their own people! They ate all the Abyss Devils we worked so hard to kill before we could carry them away!” Tang Beidou swore.
The Flaming Sun Island martial pract.i.tioners led by Tang Beidou and Tan Miao did better than the rest of the Silver rank forces.
They all had high grade spirit artifacts and spirit armors. Everyone was given a certain amount of Blazing Profound Bombs too. In fact, the Blazing Profound Bombs played a critical role in killing the Abyss Devils.
Unfortunately, the surviving Abyss Devils quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed, tore and devoured the dead bodies right before their eyes.
Moreover, after the surviving Abyss Devils had consumed their own kind, their bodies and their combat strength started recovering at an accelerated rate.
They had no choice but to retreat from the battlefield.
“Not even the three great ghoul races would eat their own kind. These Abyss Devils are way too ruthless,” Tan Miao sighed.
Even he was shocked by the b.l.o.o.d.y scene.
He thought that no intelligent lifeform would devour their own kind, especially not right after their kind had just perished.
He wasn’t prepared when the gruesome scene had happened right in front of him. His mind had turned blank on the battlefield.
His mistake nearly cost his life. After devouring its own kind, the Abyss Devil who was supposed to be seriously injured quickly regained its strength and tried to kill him.
—He wouldn’t be standing here if Tang Beidou hadn’t saved him in time.
“These Abyss Devils are different from all the intelligent lifeforms we’ve known thus far. They obey the laws of blood, and they are far beyond our common sense,” Qin Lie said seriously. “Even if we haven’t shown up, the Abyss Devils would’ve murdered each other anyway under the orders of the Lords of the Abyss. Whenever an Abyss Devil is defeated in combat, the victor of the fight would eat the loser alive. Every Abyss Devil in the Abyss can recover and strengthen their own power through the consumption of another Abyss Devil’s fles.h.!.+”
“You must adapt to the cruel, b.l.o.o.d.y laws of the Abyss as soon as possible, or it won’t be you who hunt in the Abyss.”
“It will be the Abyss Devils who hunt you!”
Qin Lie declared loudly while staring at the crowd.
Everyone smiled bitterly and nodded their heads.
“Qin Lie, our casualties will only grow worse and worse if we cannot find a special way to deal with the Abyss Devils,” Li Mu said.
“Special way?” Qin Lie looked confused.
“Our numbers and experts are limited after all. We need to make up our shortcomings another way,” Li Mu added.
“You mean?” Qin Lie still failed to understand what he meant.
“We need the Blazing Profound Bombs! These expendable, incrementally powerful spirit artifacts can solve our problems!” Li Mu sucked in a deep breath before continuing seriously, “Right now only a weapon of ma.s.s destruction like the Blazing Profound Bomb can help us turn the tides. If we can hunt down the Abyss Devils properly, we’ll be able to strengthen ourselves with their flesh and blood, and refine better spirit artifacts using their bones, veins, horns and other body parts. Only then we’ll be able to slowly establish ourselves in the Abyss!”
Every Silver rank force leader looked excited when they heard this.
Li Mu’s words had reminded them of the Blazing Profound Bombs’ incredible destructive power.
The Blazing Profound Bombs had played a critical role at the start of the war against the three ghouls race.
A lot of three ghouls clansmen were blasted into nothingness by those terrifying Blazing Profound Bombs.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the martial pract.i.tioners of the Land of Chaos were infatuated with the power of the Blazing Profound Bombs. They all thought that this destructive spirit artifact could help change their plight.
“Island Master Qin, we’re all willing to buy the Blazing Profound Bombs at sale price!” Qi Yang declared.
“Please inform Flaming Sun Island to focus all their efforts on refining the Blazing Profound Bombs for now. These spirit artifacts will aid us tremendously in hunting down the Abyss Devils!” w.a.n.g Enze echoed his sentiment.
Qin Lie looked at the crowd before nodding. “Alright. I’ll order Flaming Sun Island to forge as many Blazing Profound Bombs as they can and transport them to the Abyss as soon as possible!”
“Then there’s still hope!” Feng Yi replied.
“Where is Jiang Zhuzhe and Blood Fiend Sect?” Qin Lie asked suddenly.
He hadn’t seen any Blood Fiend Sect disciple or Blood Drinker after he arrived at the human race’s camp.
It surprised him a little.
“The members of Blood Fiend Sect parted ways with us not long after they arrived in the Abyss,” Tang Beidou answered.
“Where did they go?” Qin Lie asked again.
“I don’t know.” Tang Beidou shook his head. “They know where we are though. If their expedition efforts didn’t go smoothly, they would probably come back to us.”
“They won’t.” It was at this moment Forefather Terminator interrupted the conversation and looked at the crowd. “It won’t be long before Jiang Zhuzhe and his Blood Drinkers become the strongest power among us.”
“What do you mean?” w.a.n.g Enze asked in surprise.
Nan Zhengtian chuckled before continuing, “Jiang Zhuzhe feeds on blood to grow stronger. This means that they can grow stronger just by killing the Abyss Devils and sucking their tremendous reservoir of refined flesh and blood energy.”
A pause later, he added, “Even those who do not cultivate by drinking blood such as Blood Fiend Sect can grow stronger just by cultivating inside blood pools made of the Abyss Devils’ blood.”
“In this regard, we are inferior to Blood Fiend Sect.”
He shot a glance at Qin Lie and smiled casually.
Qin Lie had more or less gone through the latter half of the Blood Codex completely. Therefore, he was aware that Nan Zhengtian’s guess was perfectly accurate. He too believed that Jiang Zhuzhe’s Blood Drinkers and Xue Li’s Blood Fiend Sect would grow in strength quickly in the Abyss.
Reminded about something, Qin Lie suddenly sent out a soul message.
At Boluo Realm, Zhuang Jing was cultivating at Seven Spirits Island. Her eyes were glowing with soul energy.
Suddenly, Zhuang Jing sprung to her feet.
She quickly sought out Ge Rongguang, the martial pract.i.tioner who was tasked with guarding Seven Spirits Island and said, “Qin Lie told me to inform you that Flaming Sun Island should focus all their efforts on refining the Blazing Profound Bomb for the near future. Also, he wants you to inform Lang Xi to stop wasting his time at the Ruined Lands and lead the Blood Spear into the Abyss as soon as possible.”
Qin Lie had told Ge Rongguang earlier that Zhuang Jing would act as his go-between.
That was why Ge Rongguang didn’t doubt her words.
“I shall perform those orders right away,” Ge Rongguang answered.
At the same time, Qin Lie pulled Jiang An to a side.
He poked his glabella and summoned the Voodoo Progenitor’s corpse into existence.
Jiang An’s eyes immediately burned with desire.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Qin Lie looked at Jiang An. “If you give up everything you own now and merge with the Voodoo Progenitor’s body, you’ll never be able to surpa.s.s the Voodoo Progenitor’s accomplishments. Are you aware of this?”
After conversing with Nan Zhengtian, Qin Lie learned that all those who merged with another cultivator’s Soul Altar could only cultivate as far as the Soul Altar permits. They would never be able to surpa.s.s the original cultivator’s realm.
Nan Zhengtian had called these people cowards.
It was why he gave Jiang An one last chance to change his mind after taking out the Voodoo Progenitor’s remains.
He explained to the man clearly the flaws of fusing with another cultivator’s Soul Altar.
“I’ve come to my decision a long time ago.” Jiang An sighed before continuing, “I’m different from Nan Zhengtian. I’m actually around the same age as his master. I’m old, and I only have so much lifespan. Unlike him I cannot afford to tread slowly towards the top, nor am I confident in my chances of success…”
“Alright.” Qin Lie gave in and pa.s.sed the Voodoo Progenitor’s remains solemnly to Jiang An’s hands.
After accepting the Voodoo Progenitor’s remains and bowing at Qin Lie once, Jiang An quickly left the area.
The remaining Black Voodoo Cult martial pract.i.tioners chased after him so they could protect him while he merged with the Voodoo Progenitor.
After Jiang An was gone, Qin Lie pondered for a moment before taking out the wooden sculpture where the first voodoo creature was sealed.
“What is your decision? Will you surrender your soul to me and serve me forever, or will you be sealed in this wooden sculpture for eternity?” Qin Lie asked.