Chapter 343: Three Thousand Years Ago!
The news that the Ling Family was of an evil race and that Blood Spear was in cahoots with the Ling Family… the fact that they had defected and escaped to the evil races was like a tiny spark that swiftly burned through the plains that was the Scarlet Tide Continent.
With Profound Heaven Alliance, Eight Extreme Temple, and Joyful Union Sect all acting as witnesses, Blood Spear, the Ling Family, and Qin Lie instantly became the public enemies of all martial practitioners on the Scarlet Tide Continent!
When news that Armament Sect’s three great reverends had been killed by Qin Lie was also revealed to the public, every force in the Scarlet Tide Continent viewed Blood Spear, Qin Lie, and the Ling Family as heretics and a common enemy. They wanted nothing more than to charge into Flame Volcano and nail them dead to the ground.
Not long after Qin Lie, Blood Spear, and the Ling Family stepped into the territory of the Horned Demon Race, Profound Heaven Alliance’s Song Yu, Nie Han, Xie Yaoyang, and Eight Extreme Temple’s holy master descended upon the poisonous bog riding a huge chariot shining with holy light with golden robed envoys in tow.
They gathered with Song Siyuan, Mo He, and the others at the newly built Armament Sect together to discuss the important matters at hand.
At the same time.
Qin Lie, Blood Spear, and the Ling Family clansmen had arrived at Flame Volcano where the Horned Demon Race was. They had arrived at the former Armament City.
After entering this area covered in nether demonic energy, almost all of the Ling Family clansmen found themselves adapting to the environment quite well.
Even those who had not formed the blood of the Evil God were perfectly fine standing in the land shrouded in nether demonic energy.
They even felt comfortable after breathing in some of the nether demonic energy.
Ling Xuanxuan, Ling Feng, and others with purple eyes especially felt relaxed and happy the moment they entered this place. They felt as if their very souls had become serene.
However, this place made the Blood Spear martial practitioners who cultivated the Blood Spirit Arts, including Xue Li and Feng Rong, feel extremely uncomfortable.
They had to continuously channel spirit energy in order to stop the nether demonic energy’s invasion. Only then could they preserve the clarity of their minds and not go insane.
Under the three guidance of the Horned Demon elites with six horns; Ku Luo, Duo Luo, and Ka Luo; Qin Lie, the Ling Family, and Blood Spear returned to the former Armament City.
Armament City was currently filled with savage-looking Nether Realm plants and was crawling with nether beasts. Horned Demon warriors with three or four horns could be seen everywhere.
Along the way to the original Armament Sect.
“Lord Lang Xie, Instructor Feng Rong, please wait here for a moment.”
Qin Lie turned around to greet the Blood Spear martial practitioners. Under the impatient gazes of Ku Luo, Duo Luo, and Ka Meng, they brought Ling Yushi, Ling Xuanxuan, Ling Feng, and the two Ling Family seniors, Ling Chengzhi and Ling Kang, to the collapsed Flame Volcano. They entered a wide stone cave.
When the evil nether passageway had opened, the earth shook and the mountain shivered. Afterward, Flame Volcano fractured and collapsed.
The collapsed Flame Volcano had many stone caves within which ended up becoming the meeting spots for Horned Demon elites.
“Let me ask you about my grandfather first,” Qin Lie said the moment he walked in.
The Ling Family clansmen wisely chose to stay where they were.
Qin Lie followed the three Horned Demon elites and entered a room deeper within the cave.
After sitting down in the room, Qin Lie looked at the three Horned Demon elites with six horns who held authority over the Horned Demon Race. Gripping the wooden sculpture, he asked, “What is the relationship between my grandfather and your Horned Demon Race?”
Ku Luo’s deep, ghastly eyes stared at him before asking, “I heard that the evil nether passageway was opened because of you? If you’ve even opened the evil nether passageway, do you really know nothing about our relationship with the Venerable One?”
“It was purely accidental that I opened the evil nether passageway.” Qin Lie frowned. “I did not know that pulling out the spirit pattern pillars would open the passageway up. To be honest, if I knew that the spirit pattern pillars were suppressing the evil nether passageway, I might not have chosen to open it. I did not know that my grandfather had relations with you, the Horned Demon Race, at the time.”
“You truly know nothing?” Ku Luo was shocked.
“I truly know nothing. Please explain the circumstances to me in detail so I will know what’s going on,” Qin Lie said solemnly.
“Three thousand years ago, we, the great races of the Nether Realm, had a lot of elites living and cultivating in both Spirit Realm and the Nether Continent. The Nether Continent can be considered Spirit Realm’s most magical and extraordinary continent. It was always filled with incredibly thick nether demonic energy, and there were many evil nether passageways that directly reached the Nether Realm. It can be said that the Nether Continent is the window to the Nether Realm.
“The three most powerful races of the Nether Realm, the Ghost Eye Race, the Dark Shadow Race, and the Horned Demon Race, all built their heritage altars on the Nether Continent, gradually migrating the elites of their respective races to the Nether Continent. Through the Nether Continent, they established trade with many great forces on Spirit Realm and exchanged cultivation materials. This strengthened the Ghost Eye Race, Dark Shadow Race, and Horned Demon Race further and further. Elites were plentiful in these races!
“As the strength of the five Evil Gods increased massively, the three patriarchs of the three powerful races gradually yearned for more than just the Nether Continent. After the three patriarchs had a meeting with each other, they were ready to nibble at the small continents surrounding the Nether Continent. This was done to expand the forces of the Nether Realm and give clansmen the chance to have more space to cultivate.
“While the three races were rapidly expanding, they accidentally threatened the interests of Sky Mender Palace. Sky Mender Palace sent their men to inform the three patriarchs to restrain their people. They forbade us from expanding further and only allowed us to occupy the Nether Realm. Otherwise, there would have been consequences.
“However, we were at our prime, and the powers of the five Evil Gods were also at their peaks, so we did not heed Sky Mender Palace’s warnings and continued to act however we wanted…
“As a result, Sky Mender Palace gathered their subordinate Silver, Copper, Black Iron, Limestone, and many other forces of various sizes and attacked us, which ended in a horrendous defeat for our races.
“Not only were the five Evil Gods eliminated, but even the patriarchs of the three powerful races had fallen or were severely injured.
“We were met with the ultimate crisis—extinction.
“Just when Sky Mender Palace was about to rally their forces and attempt to charge into the Nether Realm to eliminate our entire race, it was the Venerable One who came forward to beg for mercy for us. Only then did Sky Mender Palace let us go. However, they also chased us back into the Nether Realm and forbade us from taking a single step back into Spirit Realm. Even the Nether Continent was sealed and locked away. All evil nether passageways linking the Nether Continent to the Nether Realm were destroyed. They completely cut off our method of entering the Nether Continent through the evil nether passageways.
“These were the consequences of a terrible defeat.”
When Ku Luo spoke of the past, the two Horned Demon generals, Duo Luo and Ka Meng, were silent., looking somewhat downcast.
Meanwhile, Qin Lie was greatly shocked by the news.
“Three thousand years ago…”
Qin Lie felt that his lips were a little dry. He subconsciously licked the corner of his lips, his eyes filled with shock.
He had previously heard about this from Xue Li.
The evil races of the Nether Realm had angered a Gold rank force. As a result, the five Evil Gods were killed and their elites were slaughtered.
Originally, the Nether Realm was going to lose everything. Only because someone begged for mercy on their behalf did the Gold rank force let them go. They simply chased all of the evil races back to Nether Realm and destroyed all the connecting passages, forbidding them from entering Spirit Realm ever again.
He never thought that the person who had begged for mercy on behalf of the evil races would be his grandfather—and this was something that had happened three thousand years ago no less!
Just how old was his grandfather?
“You’re sure that it was my grandfather who begged for mercy three thousand years ago?” Qin Lie asked with a strange expression on his face.
“Of course it was the Venerable One!” Ku Luo said with certainty, “The Venerable One is one of your human race’s strongest artificers. He is the only one even Sky Mender Palace has to give face to. If it weren’t for the Venerable One, all of the Nether Realm may have become extinct and I would have died three thousand years ago…”
“All three of you are—are three thousand years old?” Qin Lie exclaimed in shock.
“Ka Meng and Duo Luo are barely more than two thousand years old. When that battle occurred, they had not yet been born. Three thousand years ago, I was just a two horned warrior and my younger brother Ku Lu was a one horned warrior. We were only young children at the time,” Ku Luo explained.
“How did my grandfather look at the time?” Qin Lie asked with an odd expression making its way back onto his face.
“I did not see his appearance that time. I… wasn’t qualified then.” Ku Luo bowed his head and said in embarrassment, “In truth, I have never actually seen the Venerable One up to this point. I have simply communicated with the Venerable One through this object several times…”
Ku Luo took a wooden sculpture out from within his sleeves.
This wooden sculpture was exactly the same as Qin Lie’s, but the one Ku Luo had was half the size of Qin Lie’s.
“Back in the Nether Realm, beside the pond, the reason a change occurred in my wooden sculpture within the spatial ring was because it detected this?” Qin Lie came to realization.
Ku Luo nodded. “I knew your location then and had also guessed your identity. That was why you and that human girl were able to leave the Nether Battlefield unhindered.”
Qin Lie smiled bitterly.
“It was because of the Venerable One that we were not killed to the last man and only chased back to the Nether Realm.” Ku Luo continued to speak. “After that incident, the Ghost Eye Race, Dark Shadow Race, and Horned Demon Race all honored your grandfather as the Venerable One. Before we were chased back to the Nether Realm, your grandfather passed these wooden sculptures to the leaders of the Ghost Eye Race, Dark Shadow Race, and Horned Demon Race. He also promised us that one day, when the time was right, we would be able to return to the Nether Continent and step into Spirit Realm once more. We would be able to interact with the other races as usual.”
“Did my grandfather really help you without any conditions at all?” Qin Lie questioned in surprise.
“Of course there was a condition.” Ku Luo stared quietly at Qin Lie. “But I will not tell you about this condition. Ask the Venerable One yourself when you meet him.”
“Just what kind of person is my grandfather?” Qin Lie asked again.
“We are only familiar with the Venerable One from three thousand years ago. At the time, he was Spirit Realm’s most talented artificer and one of the most powerful. It was said that the Venerable One had already an extraordinary background. Because of his respected status as an artificer, he shared a close relationship with many peerless forces and powerful races. I only know that, three thousand years ago, he was a person with incredible status. Otherwise, Sky Mender Palace would not have given the Venerable One face, and the Ghost Eye Race, Dark Shadow Race, and Horned Demon Race would not have come to an agreement with the Venerable One either.”
“When was the last time you contacted him?”
“After all this time, it is not I who contacted him… but him who contacted me. The last time he sought me out was about thirteen years ago. He said that he was searching for the evil nether passageway for us and would build a teleportation formation that would connect to the Nether Continent. He told my race to be ready.”
“Thirteen years ago… thirteen years ago. At the time, my grandfather and I should have just arrived at Ling Town. I was just ten at the time, so I do not remember anything.”