After arriving at Dark Wind Island, Qin Lie saw the evil dragon Gilbert and Forefather Dark Wind.
By now Gilbert had already recovered, and the thirteen evil dragons were also growing very used to the rules and environment of the Ruined Lands.
Qin Lie told Gilbert that he would be accompanying him to Heavenly Calamity Continent soon and awaken his people at the Shadow Earth Palace. Of course, the prerequisite to that was their aid in combat.
Naturally, Gilbert agreed to Qin Lie’s request seeing that there was a chance to awaken his people. He also yelled at his Rank Seven Evil Dragons to recover their strength as soon as possible.
After conversing with Forefather Dark Wind for a little, Qin Lie knew that nothing had changed in the Ruined Lands. Jiang Zhuzhe didn’t break any rules or commit any slaughter for now, so the Ruined Lands were still relatively peaceful.
After the White Bone Demon Monarch had been chased out from his island, he suddenly vanished without a trace from the Ruined Lands.
The Soul Summoning Ghost Mother had close relations with Gu Tuo and Chi Yan. After discussing with one another, they decided not to attack Forefather Dark Wind, the evil dragons, and Qin Lie for now because it wasn’t going to be an easy task no matter what.
The Heaven Ghoul Race holing up in Prism Continent hadn’t done anything so far, so Terminator Sect didn’t make any moves either.
Illusory Demon Sect and the forces on the Heavenly Calamity Continent were the only ones who were battling nonstop against the evil races, but that was of no concern to Qin Lie.
Seeing that the current situation was relatively peaceful, he led the evil dragons commanded by Gilbert back to Seven Eye Island.
A number of Blood Spear martial practitioners had also entrenched themselves on Seven Eye Island and built some houses and pavilions.
Lang Xie himself had led an even greater group of Blood Spear martial practitioners to the outer fringe of the Ruined Lands and attacked the weaker islands there, tempering his men.
Meanwhile, Qin Lie and the fourteen evil dragons cultivated on Seven Eye Island.
He needed to cultivate and deepen his understanding of Heavenly Thunder Eradication, frost spirit art, Records of Geocentric Magnetism, the Blood Spirit Art, the powers of his bloodline such as Ring of the Burning Sun and various spirit art powers.
Besides that, he also spent a large amount of time studying the ancient spirit diagrams inside the Soul Suppressing Orb, hoping to figure out more of its secrets.
He gradually realized that the ancient spirit diagrams would play a critical role in Gray Island’s development. That wasn’t all. If he wished to unleash power far beyond his own realm, he needed to utilize spirit artifacts and the mysterious powers of the ancient spirit diagrams.
Therefore, he studied the ancient spirit diagrams for almost as long as he cultivated on Seven Eye Island.
Time passed quickly.
More than half a year passed by in the blink of an eye. After a period of strenuous cultivation, his understanding of Heavenly Thunder Eradication, frost spirit art, and the Blood Spirit Art had grown even better than before. He had also mastered a few new ancient spirit diagrams.
During this period, Flaming Sun Island grew more and more famous as many forces visited it to purchase Blazing Profound Bombs.
Besides that, Mo Hai and the artificers of Gray Island had also begun forging spirit artifacts for some martial practitioners. A lot of commonly used Earth Grade spirit artifacts had shown obvious increase in power after the ancient spirit diagrams had been added inside them.
Gradually, Flaming Sun Island was acknowledged as another place alongside Celestial Artifact Sect where one could find great artificers.
Gray Island had also begun reforging more commonly used spirit artifacts and selling them to all forces.
At the same time, many male and female youths who were talented in artifact forging flocked and joined Gray Island because of their reputation. These people were then raised as artificers.
Song Tingyu had also begun showing her prowess by persuading even more wandering martial practitioners around Flaming Sun Island to join them.
The number of foreign delegates and Fulfillment Realm and Fragmentation Realm experts on Flaming Sun Island was growing day by day.
Every force in the Land of Chaos had noticed Flaming Sun Island’s potential, and even Heavenly Sword Mountain, Terminator Sect, and Ten Thousand Beast Mountain had sent over their emissaries to maintain a close relationship with them.
On the other hand, Illusory Demon Sect was turned into a laughingstock after their last defeat.
In their eyes, the veteran Silver rank force that was Illusory Demon Sect had not only lost face, but also betrayed how weak they truly were after that loss.
Black Voodoo Cult even declared publicly that they would’ve taken over Illusory Demon Sect and united the entire Heavenly Slaughter Continent, if the outsiders hadn’t invaded them.
Although Flaming Sun Island and Blood Fiend Sect were very close to Black Voodoo Cult, they neither acted nor even threatened them.
It was a very interesting stance they were taking.
A lot of people thought that Flaming Sun Island and Blood Fiend Sect combined had exceeded Illusory Demon Sect slightly.
……
Heavenly Slaughter Continent.
There were many grand palaces standing tall at the peak of a bunch of mountains. From afar, the mist covering up these palaces were so thick that the buildings looked as transient as mirages.
This was Illusory Demon Sect’s main headquarters.
There was a mountain stream that was eternally covered in thick mists at the center of the mountains. It was very cold inside.
Beneath the cliff where the mist was thickest, there was a cold pond that chilled to the bone.
Right now, Wen Bin, Chu Miaodan, White Bone Demon Monarch, Gu Tuo, Chi Yan, Luo Kexin, and Celestial Artifact Sect’s master artificer Luo Han were gathered beside the pond.
Senior Uncle Ji…
Chu Miaodan called out softly and pitiably like a wronged wife beside the pond.
Wen Bin himself was standing respectfully at the side.
The cold mist slowly faded from the pond. A three-level frost Soul Altar laid at the bottom of the pond slowly became clear.
Every level of the frost Soul Altar looked like translucent crystals. One could see many blurry figures reflected off its surface.
The three-level Soul Altar was several kilometers wide and nearly took up the entire bottom of the pond. It currently looked to be frozen.
A shadow appeared from inside the three-level frost Soul Altar and heeded Chu Miaodan’s call.
The shadow rose to the surface and transformed into an icy faced and wizened old man.
The old man with a stiff face and a crooked back that looked like it could never be straightened walked out of the cold pond and glanced coldly at the surrounding people. Astonishment colored his expression when he saw Luo Han at the end.
What are you here for?! Old Luo!
he suddenly yelled harshly.
The entire cliff seemed to have frozen up after he yelled.
Brother Ji.
Luo Han nodded in respect and said with a calm expression,
I an here to bring you good news, naturally.
Good news?
Ji Qingpeng sneered,
Back when I needed Ice Marrows to fix my broken frost Soul Altar, I had personally visited your Celestial Artifact Sect to beg for the spirit materials I needed. However, both you and Feng Yi had refused to see me! How dare you come to my Illusory Demon Sect now?
At the time, Celestial Artifact Sect really didn’t have a wondrous absolute frost spirit material like the Ice Marrow. We really couldn’t help you at the time.
Luo Han spread his arms open while saying sincerely,
However, we now know that a certain island in the Ruined Lands has Ice Marrows. Are you still interested, brother Ji?
Ji Qingpeng trembled visibly when he heard Luo Han.
Without the Ice Marrows, my frost Soul Altar can never be repaired. It can only be frozen in this pond! Tell me now, which island holds the Ice Marrows?!
he hastily asked.
The Ice Marrows are at the bottom of Frost Island.
Luo Han smiled calmly.
Ji Qingpeng nodded as he slowly calmed down. He knew that these people couldn’t have come without a good reason, so he swept a glance across the White Bone Demon Monarch, Gu Tuo, and Chi Yan before saying,
Speak. What happened, and what are your requirements?
Senior Uncle Ji, the sect is doing very badly as of late. Please listen to our predicament first,
Chu Miaodan hastily said.
Go on.
Ji Qingpeng nodded.
And so Chu Miaodan began embellishing her side of the story by saying how terrible Yu Lingwei was, her terrible decision for raising an ingrate like Blood Fiend Sect, how despicable Flaming Sun Island and Blood Fiend Sect were, how much Illusory Demon Sect had lost and how badly she and Wen Bin had been injured.
She also claimed that Yu Lingwei had purposely preserved her strength when the Blue Ghoul Race invaded and failed to chase them away, among other things…
Ji Qingpeng listened until the end with a cold expression before he finally cast a sideway glance at Chu Miaodan and Wen Bin, snorting coldly,
You trash! The two of you actually failed to take down an impaired Xue Li and a nameless brat despite joining hands to attack the Setting Sun Islands? How dare you show your face today after turning Illusory Demon Sect into the world’s laughingstock?
Wen Bin and Chu Miaodan bowed their heads without daring to retort.
Old Luo, tell me what you want me to do, what can we get from this, and what you want.
He looked at Luo Han, the White Bone Demon Monarch, and others.
Brother Ji, we have a way that can help you move away from the ice pond temporarily. After we enter the Ruined Lands, I want you to deal with Jiang Zhuzhe and keep him from interfering with our matters,
Luo Han said.
Jiang Zhuzhe? Isn’t he quite close to your Celestial Artifact Sect? From what I know, Jiang Zhuzhe had been hiding in your Celestial Artifact Sect all this time. Why did you suddenly decide to attack him?
Ji Qinglang looked astonished.
Ever since he forged the third level of his Soul Altar, left Celestial Artifact Sect’s Death Fire Mountain and entered the Ruined Lands, we have parted ways with him. As of late, our sect master had personally requested him to convince Qin Lie to join us, but he didn’t succeed. As a result, we grew further and further apart. We are now no longer on the same side.
Luo Han shook his head helplessly.
We even heard that he had a secret agreement with Qin Lie and would be a great obstacle standing in our way, so…
Alright, just get to the point already,
Ji Qingpeng said impatiently.
You will deal with Jiang Zhuzhe. When the dust has settled, you will get the Ice Marrows stored beneath Frost Island. Moreover, Illusory Demon Sect will be able to seize the whole Flaming Sun Island for themselves!
As for us Celestial Artifact Sect, we wish to obtain Qin Lie’s soul and my junior brother’s spirit artifact, the Heavenly Mirror!
The White Bone Demon Monarch wishes to return to his White Bone Island and catch some of those evil dragons.
Gu Tuo and Chi Yan want some of those evil dragons and Qin Lie’s physical body.
Luo Han carefully explained the distribution of loot.
Ever since Evil Infant Boy managed to fix the Heavenly Mirror, his strength had grown by leaps and bounds. The Heavenly Mirror was also an ultimate treasure of Celestial Artifact Sect, so he absolutely had to reclaim that object.
Qin Lie’s soul contained many secrets of the ancient spirit diagrams. It was also one of the most important things to Celestial Artifact Sect.
The reason Gray Island’s artificers were able to develop so fast was because Qin Lie had shared his ancient spirit diagrams with them. In Luo Han’s opinion, Celestial Artifact Sect was more than capable of overtaking Gray Island as soon as they got their hands on Qin Lie’s soul.
Therefore, he wasn’t afraid to pass the entire Flaming Sun Island to Illusory Demon Sect.
Also, he was a human, so Qin Lie’s physical body had no use to him. Therefore, he was happy to pass it to Gu Tuo and Ji Lang and fulfill everyone’s needs. It was a split that satisfied everyone.
The White Bone Demon Monarch would be able to obtain the evil dragons and his White Bone Island too, so he too was absolutely satisfied with this arrangement.
He had already discussed this with all of them prior to visiting Ji Qingpeng, so all they needed now was Ji Qingpeng’s agreement.
When are you planning to act?
Ji Qingpeng thought for a moment before asking.
Very soon. Once we’ve prepared the items necessary and freed you from this place, we can begin immediately. What do you think?
Luo Han asked.
Ji Qingpeng nodded.
