“This is the Geocentric Motherlode?”
Qin Lie stared blankly at the huge bubble in shock and disbelief.
Qin Shan looked even more astonished than he was, however. “Did you just say that every high grade ancient diagram in the Soul Suppressing Orb is… held in a Geocentric Motherlode like this?”
The Soul Suppressing Orb was the Qin Family’s possession since a long time ago. However, no one beside the ancestor of the Qin Family, Qin Tian had been able to become its master since his pa.s.sing.
The reason Qin Tian could wield it was because his soul had merged completely with the Soul Progenitor’s.
Although Qin Shan was the most outstanding artificer in the history of the Qin Family, even he wasn’t able to figure out the Soul Suppressing Orb.
Later on, the Soul Suppressing Orb embedded itself in Qin Lie’s forehead and entered his possession only after he came back to life.
That was why Qin Shan never knew what was inside the Soul Suppressing Orb.
So when he heard that the high grade ancient diagrams inside the Soul Suppressing Orb were held inside Geocentric Motherlodes…
He was speechless to say the least.
“They’re not exactly the same as this Geocentric Motherlode though,” Qin Lie said while taking in his surroundings. “The bubbles inside the Soul Suppressing Orb are just… illusions. They don’t actually exist in reality. They can only be interacted with with the soul, just like a Spirit of Void and Chaos in its imaginary form. However, the Geocentric Motherlode in front of us is visible and real. It can be touched by our souls and our physical bodies.”
While saying this, he slowly stretched a hand toward the giant Geocentric Motherlode.
The giant bubble was floating amidst a jungle of glittering crystal veins.
Colorful light swam inside the Geocentric Motherlode, drawing brilliant, beautiful and complex patterns that contained mysterious truths of powers.
An intoxicating scent came out of the Geocentric Motherlode. Just standing close to it made Qin Lie feel like his body was tempered from head to toe.
He felt like his rank ten Soul Race subsoul was being washed clean and brought closer to the next stage.
An instinctive greed grew in his heart as his hand grew closer and closer to the Geocentric Motherlode. He felt like refining it into his body and soul, and the desire only grew stronger and stronger.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
Before he knew it, his Soul Tree had escaped the confines of its physical body and moved toward the Geocentric Motherlode.
But Qin Shan yelled at him, “Stop!”
The rank ten Soul Tree abruptly froze in midair and took on a human form.
Qin Lie stared blankly at Qin Shan.
“Not even you can resist the temptation that is the Geocentric Motherlode,” Qin Shan said with a sigh.
“Swhoosh swhoosh swhoos.h.!.+”
Crystalline light joined together to form an ancient diagram before it wrapped around Qin Lie’s soul like a net.
The net immobilized Qin Lie and kept him from approaching the Geocentric Motherlode.
“Let’s move further away from it.”
Qin Shan tweaked his art a bit and dragged Qin Lie’s soul away from the Geocentric Motherlode.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
After that, Qin Lie reentered his Dark Soul Beast avatar and backed away immediately from the Geocentric Motherlode.
“Do you understand why I forbad the others to go near to it now?” Qin Shan said bitterly.
“You’re worried that they wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation and attempt to refine the Geocentric Motherlode immediately?” Qin Lie exclaimed in realization.
Qin Lie was quite confident in his own willpower, but the moment he got a bit close to the Geocentric Motherlode, he almost lost himself and refined it for himself.
His willpower was unchanged. The Geocentric Motherlode was simply too tempting.
“If even you cannot resist the temptation that is the Geocentric Motherlode, then no one else can,” Qin Shan said seriously. “Anyone who gets close to the Geocentric Motherlode would instinctively want to refine it for themselves, even if they’re the Flame Emperor, the Ice Emperor or Ji Dan, and the temptation would only be stronger for the G.o.d Race patriarchs. Had we allowed the ancient races’ clansmen to come here, they would’ve acted even worse than you did. This is why I hid the Geocentric Motherlode’s location and forbad anyone from getting close to it.”
A pause later, Qin Shan said, “Anyway, I can proceed as planned and extract a bit of Geocentric Motherlode, but…”
He shook his head slowly.
Just like An Hao, the Ice Emperor and the others, he was worried that recollecting the Geocentric Motherlode after the shadow beings were thwarted would be an impossible task.
There were very few experts who could resist something like the Geocentric Motherlode.
The experts who absorbed the Geocentric Motherlode into the life and soul might be able to fight against the shadow beings, but Spirit Realm… would suffer huge damage as a result.
After being tempted by the Geocentric Motherlode himself, Qin Lie suddenly realized that there was no way he could control the greed in one’s heart no matter how he try.
He finally understood that it was probably impossible to recollect the Geocentric Motherlode from the experts if he gave it to them.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Lie said suddenly, “Let’s head back, grandpa. We’ll think of another way.”
Surprised, Qin Shan replied, “But we promised to give them the Geocentric Motherlode.”
“It’s not a problem, we can just tell them that the Geocentric Motherlode is too small, and an extraction will kill Spirit Realm immediately,” Qin Lie said.
“But what will we do with the shadow beings then?” Qin Shan asked with a frown.
“I’ll find another way.” Qin Lie shot a long look at Spirit Realm’s Geocentric Motherlode before saying, “This experience has given me a lot of inspiration. I may be able to find an alternative to deal with the shadow beings.”
A moment of hesitation later, Qin Shan nodded and said, “Fine.”
If Qin Shan were honest with himself, he didn’t want to use the soul of Spirit Realm as a weapon against the shadow beings.
After all, the Qin Family’s biggest responsibility was to protect Spirit Realm’s Geocentric Motherlode and ensure that Spirit Realm would thrive forever.
He didn’t want to Spirit Realm to die either.
“If you’re sure, I’ll take us out right now.”
He cupped his hands together and got ready to move them out using a secret art.
Qin Lie also got ready to leave after making up his mind.
But right before they were about to leave, a strange sense of familiarity suddenly entered his mind.
He abruptly looked at the Geocentric Motherlode and said, “Grandpa, wait.”
“What’s wrong?” Qin Shan asked in puzzlement.
Qin Lie didn’t give an explanation immediately. Instead, he stared intently at the intricately connected lights inside the giant bubble.
For some reason, he felt like he sensed Ling Yus.h.i.+ inside the Geocentric Motherlode…
Shocked and confused, he chose his words carefully before starting, “I feel like I sensed…”
Before he could finish, Qin Shan himself trembled before turning toward the Geocentric Motherlode in shock.
A dark dot inside the mysterious Geocentric Motherlode abruptly grew larger before spitting out a soul wisp.
The soul belonged to none other than Ling Yus.h.i.+! It was her soul origin!
“How can this be? She’s supposed to be at Nine h.e.l.ls Purgatory… Isn’t her soul inside the Chaos Soul Realm?” Qin Shan’s voice was literally shaking.
Qin Lie was just as astonished as he was. He noticed that Ling Yus.h.i.+ couldn’t see him or Qin Shan. She had a confused expression on her face, and she didn’t seem to recognize or understand where she was at all.
It looked like Ling Yus.h.i.+’s soul had been dropped into the Geocentric Motherlode without warning as well.
Her confusion only lasted for a moment, however. Some time later, her soul transformed into the Nine Soul h.e.l.l.
Her soul whirlpool spun slowly and absorbed the countless threads inside the Geocentric Motherlode into herself.
“Is she refining the Geocentric Motherlode?” Qin Lie exclaimed.
Qin Shan shook his head in equal confusion, saying, “I have no idea either.”