Chapter 477: Having Ulterior Motives
The Forbidden Land of Thunder.
Lightning would occasionally strike in this gray, gloomy swampland. Wet pieces of land resembled islands in the watery landscape that looked like a broad sea.
Six Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioners wearing clothes with the emblem of a furnace were gathered at a wet hill that looked like a small island, grimly staring at the scene before them.
Several thousand meters ahead of them, the thunder and lightning were clearly more violent than usual. The view was filled with a distorted field of lightning.
Lightning bolts descended through the dark gray sky like bead curtains. They flooded into the violent, energy-filled area.
“Have the corpses been dealt with?” Feng Yiyou stood underneath a large umbrella.
“They won’t be a problem. Nine people have died at the perimeter in the past month. We are also unable to actually enter,” someone answered.
“You don’t say! If that place could be entered so easily, I would’ve gone in a long time ago. Why else would I painstakingly search for sacrifices?” Feng Yiyou snorted.
The Celestial Artifact Sect clothes that Feng Yiyou wore were obviously a bit different than those that the others wore. His clothes had been made from some unknown material that constantly released a gentle spirit energy.
This spirit energy was absorbed into the pores all over his his body, like a person inhaling clean air.
He was the only person here who did not need to use spirit stones to gradually recover his spirit energy.
Feng Yiyou wasn’t tall. His appearance could be considered handsome, and the precious spatial rings that he wore on all ten of his fingers showed the immense wealth he possessed.
As the young sect master of Celestial Artifact Sect, Feng Yiyou was an artificer. Not only was he well versed in the construction of all sorts of spirit diagrams, he was also good at forging spirit artifacts.
Many spirit artifacts of different grades were stored inside of his spatial rings. He had personally forged some of these spirit artifacts, and others came from famous master artificers of Celestial Artifact Sect.
That wasn’t all. The spirit artifacts in the spatial rings of the people around him were also of higher grade and rarity than the ones that most martial practitioners would have.
“Why hasn’t Zhang Sheng returned yet?” Someone frowned.
“He probably hasn’t found anyone else. We’ve been traveling everywhere and inviting every group we encounter to enter the strange land. All of them end up as sacrifices,” another person answered. “There probably aren’t any other people in the area.”
The six people chatted amongst each other, frowning and staring at the area filled with chaotic thunder and lightning several thousand meters away.
A long while later.
A token at Feng Yiyou’s waist suddenly flared with energy, and after he touched it, his eyes lit up and he smiled. “Zhang Sheng had found fresh sacrifices! There are actually four of them this time!”
“Wonderful!” Everyone else chuckled strangely.
Two hours later.
Following Zhang Sheng, Qin Lie’s group arrived in a swampy area filled with water. They immediately saw Feng Yiyou’s group of six.
“Our Young Sect Master had been looking forward to meeting you for some time now.” Zhang Sheng’s back promptly straightened.
Along the way, Zhang Sheng had carefully played the role of a meek person, afraid that he would evoke the ire of Qin Lie and his people and would be killed before reaching Feng Yiyou.
In the Graveyard of Gods, martial practitioners of different forces needed to keep their guard up for every moment they spent together.
From the beginning, many of the people who entered the Graveyard of Gods had used all sorts of underhanded tactics to plot against others..
Zhang Sheng was afraid that he would easily be killed.
“Young Sect Master!” Zhang Sheng cried out before he quickening his space, leaving Qin Lie’s group in a hurry.
The moment Zhang Sheng saw Feng Yiyou and the other people from Celestial Artifact Sect, he became relaxed. He no longer needed to worry that Qin Lie and the others would suddenly make a move and kill him.
“Du Xiangyang! I know you!” From a distance, Feng Yiyou glanced in their direction and immediately broke into a cheerful smile. “Out of all the Heavenly Sword Mountain Trial participants, your strength is only second to Luo Chen. Even compared to He Wei, you’re slightly better. Hehe, very good. With you as an ally, things will definitely go much smoother!”
“Thank you for the praise.” Du Xiangyang smiled harmlessly, then loudly asked, “Brother Feng, I heard that you’re looking for allies?”
“Come, let’s talk.” Feng Yiyou beckoned.
Du Xiangyang glanced at Qin Lie.
“Are they martial practitioners of Heavenly Sword Mountain as well?” Feng Yiyou was surprised. “Brother Du, can you introduce them to us?”
“They are Qin Lie, Song Tingyu, and Xie Jingxuan. The three of them came in with the support of Heavenly Sword Mountain, but they are not Heavenly Sword Mountain martial practitioners, so you might not be familiar with them.” Du Xiangyang chose not to purposefully hide this fact.
“I heard about this. I heard that, for this Trial, Heavenly Sword Mountain recruited five participants from their vassal forces. They are three of those five right?” Feng Yiyou’s eyes shone with obvious contempt.
The moment they heard that Qin Lie’s group were from vassal forces of Heavenly Sword Mountain, the rest of the Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioners were stunned, harboring disdain in their hearts.
In their eyes, martial practitioners of Copper rank forces couldn’t possibly be powerful even if they reached the Netherpassage Realm.
“That’s correct. They are three of those five participants.” Du Xiangyang did not object.
“Come talk, talk!” Feng Yiyou continued gesturing for them to come closer.
“Qin Lie, including Feng Yiyou, there are seven of them in total.” Song Tingyu sized up both sides and gradually became anxious. “The second a fight breaks out, we… might not have the advantage.”
Xie Jingxuan stayed where she was and did not move.
She hadn’t expected the opposing group to have six people aside from Feng Yiyou. This made her feel that the situation was a bit too dangerous.
From the very beginning, Zhang Sheng hadn’t given her a good impression. She kept feeling that he was harboring evil tricks in his stomach, seemingly trying to trick them into do something.
Earlier, when she had suggested that they kill Zhang Sheng, it was to avoid that danger.
Yet when Zhang Sheng revealed Celestial Artifact Sect’s discovery, Qin Lie changed his mind and even let Zhang Sheng led them to this place.
The second they arrived, they encountered Feng Yiyou and his group of six Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioners. Furthermore, a large majority of these people were at the late stage of the Netherpassage Realm!
Xie Jingxuan realized that they might not be able to gain the upper hand against them, so she began feeling uncertain about whether or not they should step foot into these muddy waters.
It was at this moment that Qin Lie took the first step and calmly walked toward the other party.
As soon as he did, both Song Tingyu and Du Xiangyang cast their hesitation away and immediately followed him.
Xie Jingxuan had no choice but to follow.
When Zhang Sheng arrived, his treacherous eyes gleamed with an evil light as he bowed his head and said in a low voice, “Young Sect Master, there are four of them in total, but two of them are beauties of exceptional quality!”
The eyes of the other five Celestial Artifact Sect martial practitioners lit up, their minds wandering like a cantering horse. Feng Yiyou was the only one whose expression did not change.
“Shut up!”
Feng Yiyou snorted softly, his expression frigid.
The evil light in the eyes of Zhang Sheng and the others instantly disappeared. They regained their cool and put up a dignified facade.
Once they walked over to Feng Yiyou, Du Xiangyang raised his voice and tentatively asked, .“Brother Feng, I heard that you of Celestial Artifact Sect have found an interesting place?”
Feng Yiyou pointed at a place several hundred meters behind him that was filled with violent, chaotic lightning, saying, “The thunder spirit of the Forbidden Land of Thunder should be in there! I’ve detected more than one biomagnetic field within, so there should be other creatures as well!”
Thunder spirit?
Qin Lie’s group of three exchanged glances. The wheels in their minds involuntarily turned, and they quickly guessed that Feng Yiyou knew about the secrets behind the Graveyard of Gods, just like Chu Li, Xue Moyan, and Ye Yihao.
“What thunder spirit? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Qin Lie, who had kept quiet all this time, spoke up on his own accord, displaying curiosity on his face.
“How much do you know about the Graveyard of Gods?” Feng Yiyou felt disdain in his heart.
“Nothing,” Song Tingyu answered honestly.
“Before we decide to cooperate, can you dispel our doubt? Can you tell us what’s inside the Graveyard of Gods?” Du Xiangyang’s expression became straightforward.
“Sure, why not?” Feng Yiyou nodded.
In his mind, he had already sentenced these four people to death, so he didn’t mind wasting a bit of breath to get them to obediently join him.
“The Graveyard of Gods is the place where the remains of elites are buried. The Land of Buried Gods contains the bodies of elites of all sorts of races and the remains of ferocious beasts from ancient times. These elites and beasts were once existences of immeasurable power, so even after their souls were extinguished, their bodies preserved their tremendous energy. Their remains are the most precious materials in artifact forging!” Feng Yiyou explained some of the secrets.
“If these dead elites were buried in the outside world, they would have been discovered by other intelligent races. Their remains would have been dismembered and used to temper powerful spirit artifacts. Their souls also wouldn’t have been able to rest.
“To prevent this from happening and ensure that these once powerful existences would leave behind an intact corpse, the Graveyard of Gods was born.
“The Graveyard of Gods is a secret realm independent from Spirit Realm. It’s a small world, the purpose of which is to bury the ancient, reputable elites who have perished, and prevent their bodies from being disturbed.”