Spirit Realm

A golden clump of light that was like a rolling stone and as bright as fireworks abruptly crashed into the umbrella in Yi Yuan’s hands.

“Bang bang!”

Rich light scattered from the umbrella in Yi Yuan’s hands as a terribly heavy pressure penetrated the umbrella’s surface and pressed down on him like a mountain.

Yi Yuan groaned once. His figure shuddered as an unhealthy red appeared on his face.

Under the umbrella, Qin Lie was also jarred to the point that his knees felt weak. It was as if someone had shoved him down, and he almost couldn’t endure it and was about to drop to the ground.

“Senior Brother Pang Feng!”

“Senior Brother Pang Feng is here!”

The Armament Sect outer sect disciples that had been shot by Yi Yuan with the purple light from his umbrella promptly cried out in pleasant surprise. A trace of fearful respect could be seen in their eyes.

A young man who was just over two meters tall suddenly showed up at the entrance to the dining hall with a handsome and broad face while wearing dazzling golden armor.

The moment he showed up, the dining hall became filled with the energy of the keen metal element, and the person himself was like an unsheathed blade giving off a sharp feeling.

“Pang Feng…” Yi Yuan frowned and withdrew his umbrella when he saw the young man who had unexpectedly appeared. He softly warned Qin Lie, “Careful.”

“Were you the one spouting nonsense just now, Yi Yuan from the Purple Mist Sea?” Pang Feng strode over to them in wide steps with a wild and domineering aura emanating from his body. He glanced coldly at Yi Yuan, then turned to stare at Qin Lie once before saying, “Every year there will be new disciples who enter the sect, but there aren’t many who are as rude as you are. You haven’t even passed the exams yet, and yet you dare hit on the disciples of the inner sect. You have no idea of the immensity of heaven and earth!”

“Whatever we do is our own business. You need not worry for us, Senior Brother Pang.” Yi Yuan’s smile was warm.

“It looks like there are quite the number of thorns this time.” Pang Feng snorted once. “As your senior brother, I have the responsibility to teach you some manners.”

Pang Feng clenched his fists. He wore two exquisite and luxurious golden boxing gloves on his fists, and they were obviously tailor-made for him since it perfectly fit both of his hands.

He punched his fists together as golden light radiated from the boxing gloves. A heavy and frenzied atmosphere abruptly exploded outwards.

“Golden Stone Fall!”

Pang Feng let out a low shout before suddenly unleashing some kind of boxing style. While his two fists swung at them, the dazzling golden fist imprints solidified into golden rolling stones.

The many fist-sized rolling stones all shone with a golden light. They were formed through pure metallic energy, and like a meteor, they charged down at Yi Yuan and Qin Lie’s heads with great force.

“Mist Form!”

Yi Yuan’s smile persevered. He channeled a spirit art conjuring purple smog from his body.

The purple smog rolled like actual waves as they miraculously condensed into a blurry, purple spirit beast. The spirit beast made a swallowing motion, and it actually consumed the golden rolling stones one after another.

“Bang bang!”

Qin Lie stood right beside Yi Yuan, and he could see clouds of golden light falling to the ground from his sleeves, causing the dining hall’s stone floor to shatter and explode.

From other people’s point of view, when the thick purple smog had condensed, Qin Lie and Yi Yuan could no longer be seen. It was only because Qin Lie was so close that he could see that even though Yi Yuan’s expression was relaxed, he was already channeling every bit of spirit energy in his body to resist Pang Feng’s rolling, golden meteors.

He could also see that Yi Yuan was growing tired…

“Pang Feng’s cultivation is in the late stage of the Natal Opening Realm, and he is only one step away from breaking into the Manifestation Realm. His golden spirit energy is extremely profound. I can’t resist his attacks indefinitely.” Just when Qin Lie was about to interfere, Yi Yuan lowered his voice and said this. Then, he said to everyone else, “Never mind, let’s go first.”

The thick purple smog suddenly shrunk, and the spirit beast formed from the smog also shifted towards the closest door. “Senior Brother Pang, we’ll be moving ahead for business. No need to send us off.” Yi Yuan’s voice appeared from inside the smog, and when the voice had fleeted outside the dining hall, the purple smog had also slowly cleared away.

Naturally, the horrible stench filling the dining hall disappeared. Only then did Pang Feng turn his head and talk to the person behind him. “Shishi, those two bastards haved departed, left and the stench has also disappeared. Come and have a meal.”

“Mn.” A soft-looking girl sharing nearly the same looks as Pang Feng obediently walked in from the outside.

“So Shishi has returned from the inner sect. No wonder Senior Brother Pang became so angry at the two newcomers all of a sudden,” said someone in realization.

“Pang Feng loves his sister the most. He accompanied his sister to Armament Sect because he was afraid she would be bullied. Those two smelly bastards walked into the dining hall to cause trouble and stopped Shishi from entering dining hall. That naturally that pissed off Pang Feng. Otherwise, with his mature demeanor, he might not have interfered.”

“Mn, they totally deserve it.”

Everyone was discussing about the matter.

Meanwhile, Qin Lie and Yi Yuan had returned to Qin Lie’s stone tower. Yi Yuan let out a sigh and said, “It was meant to intimidate the outer sect disciples, but I didn’t expect that we would run into Pang Feng. I guess we were unlucky.”

“Pang Feng?” Lowering his head, Qin Lie thought for a moment and commented, “His nine Natal Palaces are filled with energy, his body is as tough as stone as steel, and the spirit art he cultivates is strong and overbearing. He’s a character alright.”

“Of course.” Yi Yuan laughed bitterly. “Pang Feng is Cloud Sky Mountain’s most talented fellow for the past ten years. His cultivation of ‘Golden Stone Art’ is superb, and he is reputed in Cloud Sky Mountain as a person that is ‘full of gold.’ The Mountain Lord of Cloud Sky Mountain also has great expectations of him. When he had expressed his intention to accompany his sister to Armament Sect, everyone in Cloud Sky Mountain grew anxious. It was said that the Mountain Lord of Cloud Sky Mountain even talked to him personally, hoping that he would stay at Cloud Sky Mountain while promising to spend everything to cultivate him…”

Qin Lie listened closely.

Yi Yuan then shook his head. “Pang Feng’s parents were famous Cloud Sky Mountain martial practitioners in the past, but unfortunately, they died in battle a long time ago. He didn’t have any other relatives except his single sister Pang Shishi. For many years the two depended on each other, and he has practically raised his sister singlehandedly. In his eyes, his sister is everything to him.”

“Pang Shishi is interested in artifact forging and wants to become an artificer. Since she wanted to come to Armament Sect, Pang Feng accompanied her. Because of this, he even rejected the offer from Cloud Sky Mountain’s Mountain Lord to raise him…”

Yi Yuan paused for a moment before continuing, “He is a respectable fellow. It must have been because Pang Shishi was also outside the dining hall and wanted to eat that he had attacked out of rage today. Our smell… probably affected Pang Shishi which was why he was incited.”

Yi Yuan grew embarrassed, “Um, there is also the fact that I may not necessarily be Pang Feng’s opponent and was in the wrong in the first place. Let’s avoid him if we can.”

Qin Lie nodded on the inside and felt a little bit of good will towards Yi Yuan. He also committed Pang Feng to memory.

“Both Pang Feng and Pang Shishi were outer sect disciples at first when they arrived together at Armament Sect. But soon after, Pang Shishi’s talent in artifact forging shone, and she gained smooth entry to the inner sect while the elders of the inner sect placed great expectations on her.” Yi Yuan then started again, “Pang Feng has no interest in artifact forging and wholeheartedly wished to pursue the martial way. His improvement at the outer sect was also respectable which gained the favor of an outer sect elder. It is possible that he may become an outer sect elder in the future.

“Outer sect elders may not necessarily love forging or have the ability to forge artifacts.” Yi Yuan explained, “Armament Sect is scattered in all areas of Armament Pavilion, and they need to be watched over by capable personnel. The transportation of spirit artifacts also need to be protected by powerful practitioners, and there are also a number of inner sect disciples who are good at forging artifacts but dislike fighting. So when they head out, they also need to be guarded…

“Therefore, Armament Sect needs powerful practitioners to watch over the sect and powerful martial power support them. The outer sect elders of Armament Sect will fulfill this role. Pang Feng had come for the position of outer sect elder the moment he entered Armament Pavilion. He is ready to use force to protect his sister Pang Shishi so she can focus on artifact forging without any worries.”

Yi Yuan smiled at Qin Lie. “I’m not interested in artifact forging, and it was only for the past half a year that I’ve seeked out an artificer on my side to learn some knowledge to pass the entry exam. My goal is the same as Pang Feng, actually. We are both aiming for the position of outer sect elder. He did it for family, to protect Pang Shishi. Whereas I did it for love, to protect my Lian Rou in the future…”

“How about you? Are you really here to learn artifact forging, or are you here for Tang Siqi?” Yi Yuan suddenly asked.

“For artifact forging,” answered Qin Lie.

Yi Yuan let out suspicious laughter before nodding his head and responding, “There is no conflict between learning how to forge artifacts and chasing skirts. From my point of view, you’re here more for Tang Siqi, haha.” He slapped Qin Lie’s shoulders and earnestly said, “Brother Qin, your path will be harder than mine. That Tang Siqi is the brightest pearl in Armament Sect and desired by god knows how many people. She is far harder to chase after than Lian Rou, and your competitors also number far more than mine. If I’m not mistaken, that Liang Shaoyang from Dark Shadow Tower … has also come for Tang Siqi, so Brother Qin had better be mentally prepared.”

Qin Lie’s expression was cool and he did not say anything in response to Yi Yuan’s words.

For the next five days Qin Lie had covered up both his hands and arms with gauze, and enduring the debilitating effects of the phosphorous poison inside the bones, he focused his mind on meticulously grinding the bones into fine powder that was many times tinier than even fine sand. He worked with even harsher requirements than those Tang Siqi had imposed on him.

During these five days he had temporarily stopped his cultivation of the martial way.

While he was focusing on grinding bones, he attempted to enter the state of Thoughtless Tranquility to try to understand the wonders of the frost picture scroll with his soul inside the Soul Suppressing Orb.

While he was working, he was like an ice sculpture. His life force was completely hidden and cold energy emanated from his body, turning the entire small workshop ice cold.

Sometimes, his soul consciousness would turn flighty, and it was as if he had entered the world inside the frost picture scroll…

It was as if he had been instantly transported beneath the Arctic Mountain Range, as if he was standing naked amidst a world of snow and ice, experiencing the chilling feeling of having his bones and flesh eaten away and his heart invaded bit by bit.

“Perhaps I can try sketching the frost picture inside a spirit tablet just like inscribing a spirit diagram. I can inscribe it inside a spirit tablet… and treat it like a spirit diagram.” While in the state of Thoughtless Tranquility, no emotions surged inside his eyes as he mechanically grinded the bones. However, the fluctuation inside his mind was incredibly strong.

“Number two hundred and thirty, calling for Qin Bing! I finally know your name!” With a mind to see Qin Lie embarrassed, Tang Siqi radiantly stood in front of the entrance and cried out once before pushing the stone door open and barging right in. “Qin Bing! It’s been five days, I’m here to check if you’ve completed the task. If you have not, then you won’t get even a single contribution point!”

A bone chilling feeling rushed over as Tang Siqi’s entire body began to quiver.

When she glanced inside the stone tower, she couldn’t stop herself from crying out in surprise. Her eyes were filled with a strange light