Spirit Realm

“It’s no use. We can’t go faster than them, and it won’t be long before they catch up to us.” Luo Chen stopped injecting his spirit energy into the crystalline war chariot and turned to look at the enemy behind them. Resolve and ferocity filled his face. “Rather than exhaust all of our spirit energy and die a dog’s death, we may as well turn back and fight them. Even if we do die, let’s drag some of those Pan Family clansmen with us!”

Several dozen Pan Family clansmen occupied the two war chariots chasing them. Aside from outnumbering Du Xiangyang and the others, they were also more powerful than them.

They had no way to shake off their pursuers. It didn’t matter how hard they tried. It seemed like they were fated to be killed one by one.

“Dammit!” A fierce expression came over Du Xiangyang. “Fine then, let’s turn around and ram them!”

Judging by the movements of the Pan Family clansmen pursuing them, Du Xiangyang and the others could tell that they had made up their minds. The Pan Family had no intention of letting them live.

If Du Xiangyang and the others were to focus solely on pouring spirit energy into the war chariot, that would only buy them some time until they completely exhausted their reserves.

Once that happened, they wouldn’t have the strength to gamble on one last attack. The Pan Family would easily kill all of them.

—They definitely didn’t want the situation to play out like that!

“It seems as though we won’t be able to escape,” Xie Jingxuan said calmly. She paused for a moment, then simply said, “I agree. Let’s turn around, ram them, and fight them with all our might.”

“If we manage to make their chariots break down and strand them here, even dying would be worth it!” Du Xiangyang snorted.

“Let’s turn around!” Xue Moyan exclaimed.

“Ssst!”

Everyone worked together to bring the worn-down crystalline chariot to a sudden stop. In that instant, they used their momentum to turn the chariot a hundred and eighty degrees. After a momentary pause, the chariot shot forward in a burst of extreme speed, charging straight for the Pan Family clansmen.

Bright silver crescents of light, soul-extinguishing flames, precious swords, and fiery spears rushed ahead of their chariot and hurtled toward the Pan Family.

Xue Moyan’s Illusory Demon Orb glittered as it created profound illusions, confounding the enemy with illusory arts.

At nearly the same time, she executed secret arts of Blood Fiend Sect and created multiple Blood Weeping Ghost Claws that hid within an illusory white fog, swiping toward the heads of the Pan Family clansmen.

Song Tingyu howled softly as spirit energy streamed from her and condensed to form a bright colorful butterfly. It spread its wings, shone with dazzling prismatic light, and flew toward the Pan Family clansmen.

Xie Jingxuan’s eyes turned a strange emerald color.

Eerie waves of energy sprang into existence. They were capable of twisting a person’s life force and pushing the meridians in one’s spirit sea to the verge of collapse. They passed through the heads of the Pan Family clansmen, making their heads spin until became dazed.

Everyone unleashed their spirit arts at the pursuing Pan Family clansmen without holding anything back. Their crystalline war chariot bolted forward like lightning, mingling in with all of the powerful attacks.

This sudden onslaught caught the Pan Family clansmen by surprise. They didn’t think that these juniors would dare to turn back.

Luo Chen’s Seven Moon Slashes, Du Xiangyang’s Burning Soul Firebeams, Song Tingyu’s colorful spirit energy butterflies, Xue Moyan’s Blood Weeping Ghost Claws, and Xie Jingxuan’s biomagnetic disruption waves swept across the two chariots in an instant, catching several clansmen unaware. They couldn’t even react and died on the spot.

Amidst furious screams and roars, the Qin Lie’s five companions directed their worn-down war chariot straight toward the others almost as if they’d gone mad.

They were on a crash course with the Pan Family clansmen, clearly planning to die with them.

“I want those three women alive!” Pan Tao howled savagely.

A burning cone of orange flames erupted from Pan Tao’s chest, an astonishing number of flaming tongues writhing forward.

They whistled through the air and slammed into the recklessly charging chariot that was dozens of meters long, instantly tearing it in half.

The war chariot groaned and swiftly came apart as the spirit diagram inscribed into the vehicle collapsed.

When their war chariot broke to pieces, expressions of shock and dismay came over Du Xiangyang and the others. They had failed to achieve their suicidal goal.

“Abandon the chariot!” Song Tingyu cried. “Leap into the sea!”

Five figures began descending through the sky, falling toward the vast deep sea below.

All of them knew that whatever chances they had at escaping had completely vanished with the destruction of their crystalline war chariot.

They no longer had the power to resist the Pan Family.

“Kill Luo Chen and Du Xiangyang immediately and make sure to leave their corpses intact. I have uses for them,” Pan Tao ordered. “But I want those three women alive!”

The Pan Family clansmen directed their chariots to plummet through the air. They saw red as they hurtled toward the sea, intent on capturing their targets.

The sudden counterattack that had just occurred killed many of their people. They were furious and sought vengeance.

As Du Xiangyang fell toward the sea, he smiled bitterly.

“I guess we did get something out of attacking them instead of running,” he yelled to the others. “Too bad we didn’t manage to destroy their chariots. That’s the only regret I have left.”

“Yeah. It’s too bad,” Luo Chen shouted in reply.

Song Tingyu’s beautiful eyes lost their attractive luster. She had fallen deep into despair, her face just as grim as the look in her eyes.

Their group of five fell toward the sea, getting closer and closer to the water’s surface.

The Pan Family’s two crystalline war chariots swiftly approached from above. All of the clansmen in the vehicles wore cold, ferocious expressions, intermittently laughing in a sinister manner.

All of them thought that the end was nigh.

“Eh!” Xie Jingxuan suddenly cried out as she fell through the air.

Intense shock appeared on her exquisite, refined face.

She looked down at the sea, trying to peer into its depths.

“What powerful blood energy!” Xue Moyan yelled in surprise.

Their cries confused Song Tingyu, Luo Chen, and Du Xiangyang, causing them to subconsciously look at the sea as well.

An enormous whirlpool suddenly formed in the water below, spinning crazily and causing astounding tidal waves to rise high above sea level.

—Then, one after another, seven more whirlpools appeared in the sea.

“Eight!” Xue Moyan went pale with terror. “Eight sources of unfathomable blood energy have appeared!”

“Sploosh!”

A pair of giant copper hands erupted from the center of the first enormous whirlpool that appeared. They radiated an immeasurable godly power as they swiped in the direction of the two approaching crystalline war chariots.

Before the Pan Family clansmen could react, their chariots, which were almost a hundred meters long, were struck by the pair copper god hands.

The instant the hands struck the war chariots, several dozen clansmen puked blood.

Although the chariots hadn’t immediately shattered, more than half of the clansmen aboard were killed by the power of the god hands.

All of the clansmen who were in the Netherpassage Realm burst to pieces, unable to withstand the godly might for more than three seconds.

Fulfillment Realms experts broke down along with the war chariots. They howled crazily, spraying blood and falling toward the sea like bloody rays of light.

Pan Tao, the Pan Family clansman that had been hooting the loudest, found his chest shattered. A broken bone protruded from his own flesh, giving him a ghastly appearance.

He plummeted toward the sea, blood covering his entire body.

Pan Tao stared at the pair of giant copper hands as he fell. His mouth trembled, then he suddenly screamed, “A god corpse! It’s a god corpse!”

As they fell through the air, the Pan Family clansmen that hadn’t immediately perished unleashed bloodcurdling screams as though they’d seen a ghost in broad daylight.

“A god corpse!”

More than a year ago, Illusory Demon Sect sent all of its experts out. With the combined strength of several Imperishable Realm experts led by Sect Master Yu Lingwei, they captured a headless god corpse in a region of the sea nearby.

During that battle, the Pan Family clansmen were responsible for watching the perimeter. Just from the terrible energy fluctuations that coursed through the sea, they had been able to determine just how powerful that god corpse was.

They had been absolutely terrified of that god corpse.

At this very moment, a god corpse that was supposed to be imprisoned near the Heavenly Fissure Continent had actually risen from the depths of the sea. The made all of the Pan Family clansmen present scream uncontrollably. They seemed to go insane, trying their very best to escape.

“Splash…!”

Appearing within the other giant whirlpools, more giant copper hands burst through the water’s surface like gnarled limbs of ancient trees.

“Look! Another pair of hands!”

“Eight pairs! There are eight pairs of hands in total!”

“Heavens! Why would the eight god corpses appear here?”

Almost all of the Pan Family clansmen immediately burst into tears.

However, what scared them even more was that the eight pairs of god hands that stretched out of the sea grabbed the Pan Family clansmen who fell into the water and dragged them into its depths.

Soon enough, thick clouds of blood appeared in the eight giant whirlpools. It seemed as though the god corpses devoured the clansmen that they caught and pulled into the sea.

Those who had yet to hit the water went white with terror when they saw what was happening below. The sight actually made them freeze as their spirit energies became chaotic.

“Save me, big bro!” Pan Tao screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Splash! Splash! Splash…!”

Numerous Pan Family clansmen fell into the sea at the same time as Song Tingyu and the others.

The second these clansmen hit the water, they used all of their strength to flee, seeking to escape to the desolate island.

However, the moment they did, the whirlpools surged forward and swallowed them up. Giant hands grabbed them and dragged them further in.

Before long, the terrible stench of blood emanated from the whirlpools.

The god corpses captured the Pan Family clansmen as they fell into the sea, devouring them alive as they screamed.

Song Tingyu, Luo Chen, Du Xiangyang, Xue Moyan, and Xie Jingxuan were scared out of their wits. Some of them nearly vomited when they saw their would-be killers get eaten alive one after another.

However, they didn’t dare to move.

They were afraid that they would draw the attention of the god corpses.

Amazingly, the eight giant whirlpools and sixteen giant arms of the corpses did not seem to notice them at all.

The whirlpools swept past them as the terrifying giant arms flailed above their heads. They caught any Pan Family clansmen nearby and devoured them whole.

However, for whatever reason, they didn’t harm Song Tingyu and the others.

A long while later, Du Xiangyang coughed, then spoke in a raspy voice.

“Th-this is strange…” he said, forcing himself to stay calm. “Even if the god corpses are blind, they wouldn’t just ignore us and let us go, would they?”

Song Tingyu and the others were just as confused as he was.

“The sixteen giant hands of the eight god corpses are rampaging across the sea’s surface and capturing the Pan Family clansmen one after another,” Luo Chen said, his eyebrows deeply furrowed as he shook his head. “Three Pan Family clansmen were just ten meters away from us earlier, and they were also spread out. However, the god corpses changed direction and grabbed even them. So… why couldn’t they see us who were right next to them?”

“The god corpses must have minds of their own!” Song Tingyu exclaimed.

“But… why are they leaving us alone?” Xie Jingxuan asked in confusion.

“They left you alone because I’m the one controlling them.”

Qin Lie’s mocking laugh suddenly rang out from a distance.