Chapter 37

In the southern part of the Xuanwu Palace, a thousand miles away.

Colorful poisonous mists, like thick clouds, floated in the air.

In front of a strange altar built from piles of bones, a woman with a ghostly aura, as ugly as a demon, was waving her sharp black nails and speaking.

Five young men and women, dressed in short robes with dark skin, were listening quietly.

"The Four Sects—Spirit Treasure Pavilion, Lingyun Sect, Ash Valley, and Xuanwu Palace—have recently ruined our major plans. We must do something about it," the woman said coldly, her eyes glowing with a green light. "I have arranged for you to go to the Qinghuan Realm. There is only one purpose: to kill all the young disciples of the Four Sects who are at your level!"

"Lord Night Demon, please rest assured. Before we leave the Qinghuan Realm, the disciples of the Four Sects will be wiped out completely," a thin, emaciated youth grinned, cruelly licking his upper lip like a bloodthirsty beast.

The youth's name was Mo Xi, and he was at the Ninth Layer of the Qi Refinement stage, a disciple of the Ghost Sect.

Around his chest, he wore a necklace of finger bones, each one belonging to an opponent of the same realm he had killed.

Disciples of the Ghost Sect would cut off the thumbs of their opponents of the same realm and string them together.

The other four disciples of the Ghost Sect could only use the bone strings as bracelets.

Only Mo Xi, who had killed so many opponents of the same level, could wear the finger bones as a necklace around his neck.

He was clearly the strongest and most terrifying among the five.

"Hmm, with you going, I can rest assured," the old woman, known as Night Demon, laughed eerily. "The Blood Sect's people have also arrived."

As she spoke, a strong, muscular man with fiery red hair led five young disciples of the Blood Sect to the bone altar.

The man's red hair was like fresh blood, with strands of hair hanging over his broad forehead, making him look as if he had just been splattered with blood.

The five young men and women following him emitted a strong, obvious scent of blood, as if they had just feasted on blood in a bloody banquet.

The girl at the front was dressed elaborately, with beautiful features, but her face was extremely cold, giving off an aura that warned others to stay away.

"Yu Tong! The Blood Sect is actually sending you to lead this mission?" Mo Xi of the Ghost Sect exclaimed in surprise when he saw the girl. "Aren't you supposed to be breaking through to the Later Heaven realm?"

"I will break through to the Later Heaven realm within the Qinghuan Realm," Yu Tong of the Blood Sect said coldly.

"Heh, it seems the last incident has truly angered your Blood Sect, to send Yu Tong into the Qinghuan Realm," the old woman of the Ghost Sect laughed sinisterly. "This is excellent. I was a bit worried about just Mo Xi, but with Yu Tong, there's no problem."

"The task for the Four Sects is to slay four second-level spirit beasts," the muscular man of the Blood Sect chuckled, turning to the Blood Sect disciples behind him. "Your task is not those four spirit beasts, but all the disciples of the Four Sects participating in the Qinghuan Realm trial!"

"You are the hunters!"

"The main targets are four: An Ying of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, Jiang Lingzhu of the Lingyun Sect, Yuan Feng of the Ash Valley, and Zheng Bin of the Xuanwu Palace!"

"They are the core disciples regarded as seeds by the Four Sects. Whoever kills them and brings their heads out of the Qinghuan Realm will be heavily rewarded!"

"Blood for blood, the Four Sects dare to ruin our major plans, so don't blame us for destroying their future foundation!"

The muscular man of the Blood Sect said coldly.

"The time is almost up," the old woman of the Ghost Sect took out a bone fragment and threw it into the bone altar.

In the center of the bone altar, a dark green light gate gradually formed.

"The Qinghuan Realm is not our secret realm, and it took great effort to open the secret realm gate. Remember, you must complete your mission within half a year and return early," the old woman warned sternly as she opened the gate. "Those who return late or are found by the Four Sects will be left to die in the Qinghuan Realm."

"Understood."

"Give us three months, and we can complete the mission. Those who can't return deserve to die in the Qinghuan Realm!"

"The gate is open!"

The old woman's sinister gaze swept over the ten trial participants from the Ghost Sect and the Blood Sect. "Go!"

...

Qinghuan Realm.

Since Nie Tian was not a disciple of a subordinate family of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, no one paid attention to him on the journey.

He was happy to be left alone and had no intention of talking to those young people, deliberately lagging behind and just following them from a distance.

Before entering, An Ying must have received guidance from the elders of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion. She would often take out a map, study it carefully, and then point out the direction.

Clearly, through that map, she knew the general location of the snake that could be exchanged for the Enlightenment Pill.

On the cold and desolate wilderness, An Ying led the people of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, always on the move.

The Qinghuan Realm had no sun, moon, or stars, no distinction between day and night. Without a special time-measuring device, it was difficult to know the exact time.

Nie Tian, coming from the Nie family, naturally did not have such a tool, so he did not know how long they had been in the wilderness.

In his feeling, they had been in the cold and desolate wilderness for at least two days.

During these two days, they did not encounter any spirit beasts, only seeing the bones of spirit beasts scattered everywhere.

"We are about to cross the wilderness. The ice fields ahead are our destination. The cold snake is in those ice fields. From now on, everyone must be careful," An Ying suddenly stopped and pointed to the faintly visible mountains, explaining to everyone. "The wilderness was originally the living place of the savage alien races, once their territory."

"But the alien races are long dead, which is why we have been safe on our journey."

"However, once we leave the wilderness and enter the ice fields, we will face the spirit beasts of the Qinghuan Realm. The remaining spirit beasts in the Qinghuan Realm are hostile to all outsiders and will attack us immediately upon encountering us."

"After all, all high-level spirit beasts have been killed by the Four Sects, and they know this."

As An Ying spoke, her gaze suddenly fell on Nie Tian at the back.

Nie Tian looked bewildered, not knowing why An Ying would suddenly focus on him at this moment.

"From now on, we might encounter spirit beasts at any moment. The people at the front are the easiest to be attacked by spirit beasts," An Ying laughed softly. "The environment in the ice fields is complex, and no one knows where the spirit beasts are hiding or from where they will suddenly attack."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Rui and Pan Tao both showed malicious expressions.

"Nie Tian, you are not from our Spirit Treasure Pavilion. Since you got a token to enter the Qinghuan Realm trial from us, you should do something for us. Heh, the task of scouting ahead naturally falls on you," An Ying said with a mischievous smile.

Instantly, all the trial participants' gazes converged on Nie Tian.

The young men and women from the various families looked at him with malicious eyes.

Clearly, they all thought it was only right for Nie Tian, an outsider, to scout ahead and face the danger first.

"Can I say no?" Nie Tian smiled bitterly.

"Sure," An Ying laughed even more happily. "As long as you leave us and act alone in the Qinghuan Realm, you don't have to follow my orders."

Nie Tian touched his nose and nodded. "Alright, I'll scout ahead."

A wise man does not suffer a loss in the present. He was completely unfamiliar with the Qinghuan Realm, and if he left the group from the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, he would be like a blind man.

The map in An Ying's hand could help them find the four second-level spirit beasts, which he valued greatly.

If he left An Ying, he would be like a headless fly in the vast Qinghuan Realm, unable to find his way.

He might even lose his way back and be unable to leave the Qinghuan Realm after half a year.

Therefore, even though he knew An Ying was targeting him, he could only temporarily endure and deal with it later.

"Good, just be obedient. Go ahead and lead us into the ice fields. Let's see if the spirit beasts in the Qinghuan Realm are as powerful as the elders say," An Ying said smugly.

"Alright," Nie Tian obediently agreed.

He quickly moved past everyone, from the back of the group to the front.

Under An Ying's urging, he strode forward and, after half an hour, truly crossed the wilderness and reached the ice fields where spirit beasts roamed.

"Roar! Roar!"

As soon as they entered the ice fields, angry roars of spirit beasts suddenly echoed.

"Whoosh!"

From behind the ice-clear jade trees, a large number of spirit beasts suddenly appeared. Their eyes glowed with hatred, and they pounced at him first.

...

PS: Third update, please vote!

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends