Chapter 327: Growth

“As long as I am able to recover thirty percent of my strength, the guards of this place will not be able to stop me and I can charge straight out!”

A demonic light blinked in the six horned elder’s eyes as he stared at Qin Lie and said, “I require nether demonic energy to recover my strength!”

“How can I help you?” Qin Lie asked with a frown.

“Nether demonic energy can be converted from nature spirit energy! Demon Armor Insects are capable of changing the world’s spirit energy into nether demonic energy. It will be fine as long as you help me find some Demon Armor Insects and allow me to absorb them into my abdomen.” An intense glow of survival shone in the six horned elder’s eyes. “I know that the evil nether passageway has already been opened! Demon Armor Insects are definitely roaming there. I want you to bring a few Demon Armor Insects here!”

“Tell me what your name is. If I ever happen to be trapped inside it, I want to use your name to negotiate with your clansmen,” Qin Lie said.

“I’m Ku Lu!” the six horned elder answered earnestly. “As long as it’s a fourth-ranked warrior of my clan, he should know who I am! If you encounter Ka Meng or Duo Luo, they will definitely coordinate with your actions as long as you reveal Venerable One’s keepsake!”

“Ka Meng? Duo Luo? Who are they?”

“They are our clan’s strongest six horned warriors, the great generals commanding the warriors of our clan! They should already believe that I’m dead, but if you explain the situation, they will definitely allow you to bring Demon Armor Insects over!’

When the six horned elder, who claimed to be Ku Lu, realized that Qin Lie truly wished to aid him, he gradually became excited.

Having been imprisoned here all these years, he believed that he would never be able to leave. He finally saw the hope of dawn and wanted to grab onto it tightly.

He placed his hope onto Qin Lie.

However, he seemed to have belittled the current Qin Lie somewhat…

“Earlier you said that if I were to encounter the two six horned warriors Ka Meng and Duo Luo and reveal my grandfather’s keepsake, they would definitely accommodate with my actions.” Qin Lie accurately zeroed in on this key point and snickered with a grin. “Since you’re so sure, this proves that you also believe that I’m Qin Shan’s grandson!”

Ku Lu’s eyes flickered for a moment.

Just as he was about to make excuses, Qin Lie snorted coldly and said, “To tell you the truth, I descended into the Nether Realm once. I passed by the Demon God Mountain Range and also bumped into a six horned old man like you. That old man detected the wooden sculpture in my hands with a device and issued an order immediately after, allowing me safe passage through the Nether Battlefield to return to the Scarlet Tide Continent…”

After explaining the circumstances, Qin Lie looked at Ku Lu and spoke again, “He did not say a single word to me, but with just this wooden sculpture, he was certain of my identity! He did not suspect me in the slightest!”

Ku Lu went silent.

After a while, he suddenly spoke with a quiet voice, “The person you saw at the lake is called Ku Luo. He… is my brother.”

Qin Lie trembled.

In Qin Lie’s eyes, these clansmen of the Horned Demon Race all looked rather similar and he found it difficult to differentiate between them.

For this reason, Qin Lie did not see any features that this Ku Lu shared with the six horned elder he saw in the Nether Realm.

“You know who I am! You know that I was not sent by Profound Heaven Alliance to deal with you!” Qin Lie pondered for a moment and then spoke again, “You said you didn’t believe me… just to force me into helping you escape, right?”

“That’s right. I know that you’re definitely related to Venerable One.” After being exposed, Ku Lu did not continue to deny it. “With Venerable One’s ability, unless he gives the keepsake to someone else, the experts of this Scarlet Tide Continent alone are unable to take it from Venerable One’s hands. That is why I know that this keepsake must have been given to you by Venerable One!”

After pausing for a moment, Ku Lu spoke again, “Since Venerable One gave the keepsake to you, there’s even more reason for you to help me! My race has an agreement with Venerable One. He must aid our return to our homeland. This is the promise he made to the patriarch of our Horned Demon Race!”

“Explain the matters between you and my grandfather in detail. Then I will consider helping you escape,” Qin Lie said.

“Help me escape first. After leaving this place, I will tell you everything I know,” Ku Lu said.

Qin Lie pondered for a moment before suddenly shaking his head with a smile. Under Ku Lu’s surprised gaze, he immediately left the prison cell.

This time, Qin Lie had actually achieved his goal. Not only did he confirm that the keepsake in his hands meant something to the Nether Realm, he also learned Ku Lu’s name.

After accomplishing these two objectives, he could bypass Ku Lu and directly negotiate with the elites of the Horned Demon Race—the negotiations concerning the exchange of Ku Lu for the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus.

Although Ku Lu’s proposal of using the Demon Armor Insects to aid in his escape was not a bad idea, he was certain that, the moment Ku Lu used the Demon Armor Insects to escape, Profound Heaven Alliance would immediately understand what Qin Lie had done.

The moment that Profound Heaven Alliance was certain he had aided Ku Lu in his escape, disaster would immediately strike him, the Ling Family, and Blood Spear.

Therefore, he did not dare to take such a risk.

After devising a scheme in his heart, Qin Lie exited the prison and spoke to Song Tingyu who was outside, “Let’s go. We shall head to Armament City once again and speak with the people in charge of the Horned Demon Race about the exchange of the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus for their people.”

Song Tingyu’s beautiful eyes shone as she happily asked, “You managed to learn something?”

“I got him to tell me his name.” Qin Lie nodded. “Since we have his name, things will go well. After all, we’re exchanging him for the Profound Yin Nine Leaf Lotus. He isn’t the one who decides whether the exchange succeeds. The Horned Demon people who are presently lording over Armament Sect do.”

“That’s true.” Song Tingyu smiled sweetly, immediately retrieving a voice stone used to send messages as she spoke, “Let me take a moment to tell my father about this.”

“Mn.”

Five minutes later.

“My father said that my third uncle, Uncle Xie Zhizhang, and the rest are at the outer defense lines. He already sent a message and he will have my third uncle and Uncle Xie accompany us while you negotiate with the other party.” Song Tingyu smiled and said, “For this trip, you can feel completely at ease. You definitely won’t be in any danger or be pulled into the Nether Realm.”

“That’s good.” Qin Lie nodded.

Just like that, the two of them exited the mountain. The moment they came out, they realized that the sun was already high in the sky and its light shone brightly. Qin Lie’s eyes were momentarily unable to adapt.

“We’ll be passing through the poisonous bog. Once we reach it, set me down for a while,” Qin Lie said to Song Tingyu after getting onto the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly. “I’m going to discuss some matters with the people from Blood Spear.”

“Hehe, you’re not going there to discuss matters with the people of Blood Spear, are you?” Song Qingyu asked with a mischievous smile. “You’re going there to hold Ling Yushi’s little hand and discuss the ideals of life with her or something, right?”

“What, are you jealous?” Qin Lie smiled brightly. Suddenly, his arms were spread wide and his eyes were set ablaze as he spoke, “If you’re jealous, I can chat with you about life first. How about it? Look, my arms are already wide open, why don’t you come over?”

“Bah! Who would want to chat about life with you?” Song Tingyu scolded jokingly.

The two of them talked and laughed throughout the journey and time flew by quickly. When the sky was gradually becoming dark, the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly appeared within the depths of the poisonous bog.

“I will wait for you at the same place.” After Song Tingyu threw Qin Lie off, she rode the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly away.

Alone, Qin Lie headed to the strange new ground that Blood Spear found.

With the Poison Avoidance Pill that Mo Hai refined, Qin Lie walked through the dense poisonous miasma as though he were walking in a huge stretch of mist.

“Who’s there?” While Qin Lie was not able to see into the depths of the miasma, a sharp questioning voice resounded suddenly.

“Qin Lie!”

“Ah, it’s Sect Master Qin. Come in!” a Blood Spear martial practitioner responded.

A short while later, in the strange land enveloped by dense amounts of poisonous miasma, Qin Lie met up with Lang Xie, Feng Rong, Elder Mo Hai, and the others.

Several stone buildings and several blood pools thick with bloodwater, instantly entered his line of sight. Seeing the familiar faces from Blood Spear, Qin Lie chuckled loudly.

His line of sight shifted from this area of land and saw that, beside a poisonous, pale green lake, a portion of Ling Family clansmen were cultivating as well. Ling Feng was among them.

“Other than to bring a few Terminator Profound Bombs, I’m here now because I also want to discuss some things with all of you.” Qin Lie moved in front of Lang Xie and Feng Rong and did not waste any more time, immediately throwing out eighteen Terminator Profound Bombs and handing them to the two. He then called out Xue Li.

The moment that Xue Li came out, all the Blood Spear martial practitioners present wore looks of joy.

Even the eyes of Lang Xie and Feng Rong revealed colors of excitement as they both said, “We believed that senior had long since left us. We never expected that senior was actually still here!”

“I did indeed leave. This is just half of my soul.” Xue Li transformed into a blood-colored ghost and floated above the heads of the many Blood Spear martial practitioners like a sanguine sun. “All of you are cultivating the Blood Spirit Art, so you can be considered members of my Blood Fiend Sect. I have already confirmed that… Blood Fiend Sect is no more. You are the few remaining people who still cultivate the pure Blood Spirit Art. Qin Lie and I passed by a certain place. That place is very suitable for cultivating the Blood Spirit Art. We had bitterly searched for it when the former Blood Fiend Sect was at its prime, but we were unable to find such a miraculous place…”

“You guys continue your conversation. I’m going to head over to the Ling Family’s side first.” With that said, Qin Lie walked off toward the Ling Family.

He knew that Xue Li would want to chat with these Blood Spear martial practitioners in detail about the ultimate blood ground. He also knew that Xue Li wanted to explain his plan for constructing a teleportation formation leading to the ultimate blood ground for cultivation.

“Mn. I shall explain it to them here, you go settle your own matters.” Xue Li glanced at him and then looked toward the members of the Ling Family in the distance, his expression somewhat strange.

“Qin Lie!”

“Qin Lie is here!”

“Sis, come quickly, look who’s here!”

When the Ling Family members saw Qin Lie appear, all of their faces were filled with joy.

“Yushi, find a quiet place. I have some matters to talk to you about. Uncle Ling, Xuanxuan, and Ling Feng… oh right, and all the children with purple hair and purple eyes, call them over as well.” When Qin Lie came over, he grinned broadly at Ling Yushi who appeared from within a stone building.

Ling Yushi was dressed in clean green clothes. Her pair of faint purple eyes looked deep and distant, as though they carried a demonic power that could see through people’s hearts.

Upon making eye contact with her, Qin Lie felt as though he were naked in front of her. It was a strange sensation, as if all of the secrets in his heart were being seen through.

“Your mind’s realm is becoming even more refined.” Qin Lie was stunned for a moment, before he sincerely said, “Even I feel pressure standing before you.”

Ling Yushi held her lips and lightly smiled, her disposition as serene as still water. In a gentle voice, she said, “This way, you won’t be able to cheat on me behind my back.”

Qin Lie was speechless.

To the side, the people of the Ling Family began to chuckle aloud.

“Yushi, you’ve changed a lot. In the past, you definitely wouldn’t say such words to me in front of so many people.” Qin Lie moved to her side and said these words in surprise.

“You have changed as well,” Ling Yushi said gently.

“Mn. After leaving Ling Town, you and I have experienced many things. The two of us… are both growing. With the growth of our realms, the accumulation of experiences, and a deeper understanding of ourselves, both of us are changing. We… are currently adjusting, allowing ourselves to adapt in this cruel world.” Qin Lie felt a sense of loss.