A Different Spirit World

It was nothing more than a lump of flesh.

Xia Lun was certain of that now.

The Chaos Demon God before him seemed to be nothing more than a lump of flesh. His soul was not inside it.

Xia Lun remembered what the Chaos Demon God had been like in the past. Leaving aside the fact that the Chaos Demon God of today was completely different from the one before, the Chaos Demon God of the past had indeed been capable of communicating with the clan patriarch. He had not been a beast ruled solely by the desire to devour.

Moreover, the fact that he had been able to ambush Aina here proved that he possessed a certain degree of intelligence.

The Chaos Demon God had placed his immortal fleshly body here as bait and a barrier.

He had already devoured an immeasurable amount of energy. After accumulating power over two eras, completely destroying his physical body was likely no longer possible, and sealing him away would also be extremely difficult.

If they wanted to defeat him, there was clearly only one method left.

They had to find where his soul was. As long as his soul was utterly destroyed, his physical body would naturally collapse as well.

And there was only one place where his soul could be…

“What? You want to go to the Spirit Realm now?” Aina was slightly stunned by Xia Lun’s suggestion, a look of surprise flashing across her face.

Xia Lun looked at his wife with some concern.

Aina was not in particularly good shape either. Releasing that skill earlier had consumed a considerable amount of her magic power.

“Then go, Xia Lun. I’ll protect you here in the material world.”

Another crimson staff condensed in Aina’s hand. Her face seemed to grow even paler, and Xia Lun’s heart ached at the sight.

“I’ll deal with that thing.”

“Don’t try to be reckless, Xia Lun. The Chaos Demon God has survived from the Void Era until now. His soul must be extraordinarily powerful as well… If there’s truly nothing we can do, we can retreat for now and regroup next time. The Arcane Sage and the others aren’t weak either. If we can join forces with them…”

Although she said this, Aina knew full well that she was already the strongest among this group of deities. If they allowed the Chaos Demon God to escape this time, his devouring ability would only make him stronger. Their chances of destroying him would become even slimmer.

“Please, Aina.”

Aina did not try to stop him again. She gently pulled Xia Lun into her arms, as if she intended to convey her faith to him through the warmth of her body. Xia Lun closed his eyes and relaxed his control over his body. Like a diver plunging into the depths, his soul sank toward the dimension of the Spirit Realm.

Aina sighed helplessly and steadily caught Xia Lun’s body, while the crimson staff in her hand floated at her side.

After all, she could hardly hold the staff while carrying Xia Lun.

But for her, that was not much of a problem.

The void around them began to tremble. The Chaos Demon God had already split apart to a horrifying extent, and countless crimson hands of flesh closed in around them.

Aina sat cross-legged in the void with Xia Lun in her arms, letting his head rest on her thighs as her fingers gently combed through his black hair.

“You really have thrown me quite the difficult task…” Aina murmured to herself, the corners of her lips curling into a bitter smile. “Didn’t you ever consider that I might not be able to hold out for long either?”

The first wave of attacks arrived.

Twelve hands of flesh lunged at them simultaneously from different directions, moving so quickly that they left afterimages in the air. Aina did not even raise her head. The crimson staff behind her gave a low tremor, and a ring of dark-red ripples spread outward from her.

Every hand of flesh touched by the ripples instantly turned to ash.

“I’m a mage, you know. I’m not as tough and vigorous as you are.”

“You really do trust me, handing me your body even in a situation like this.”

“But holding out for two or three days shouldn’t be a problem.” Aina raised her hand and drew through the air. Countless magical runes streamed from her fingertips, constructing layer after layer of defensive barriers around them.

“If you can’t deal with it, I’ll have to take you and run. In the worst-case scenario, I’ll only be able to defend our world and hold the line… You definitely wouldn’t like that.”

The bloodied hands surged toward Aina, relentlessly pounding against the defensive barriers she had established.

A cold glint flashed in Aina’s eyes as crimson bat wings unfurled behind her.

“Don’t disturb us!”

Countless dark-red chains appeared from thin air within the void. They wound around, strangled, and tore apart every mass of flesh that came near. Blood rained through the void, only to be blocked by an invisible force field. Not a single drop splashed onto her or Xia Lun.

Aina lowered her head and pressed a kiss to Xia Lun’s forehead.

“Come back soon, darling.”

…

This time, Xia Lun’s descent into the Spirit Realm did not go smoothly, as though something were obstructing him.

A thin membrane existed between the material world and the Spirit Realm, separating the two. This time, Xia Lun felt that the membrane’s resistance was unusually strong. He felt as if he were swimming upstream, struggling forward through a viscous, malicious medium.

Something was blocking him.

It was not a conscious act of obstruction. It was more like the polluted environment itself was rejecting him.

But in the end, Xia Lun forced his way through all the same.

The moment he entered the Spirit Realm, a thick stench of blood assaulted him.

The dense, sweet, nauseating smell filled every inch of space, almost condensing into a visible red mist.

Drip, drip, drip—

Beneath his feet lay a sea of blood, so dark a red that it was nearly black, its surface gleaming with an oily sheen. Thick blood clung to the soles of his shoes, producing a strange sound with every step.

The depth of the blood sea could not be measured. As far as the eye could see, there was only an endless scarlet expanse stretching all the way to the horizon.

Xia Lun raised his head.

The sky was filled with stars, but every one of them was blood-red. They were scattered irregularly across the heavens—some clustered together like a swarm, others hanging alone in a distant corner. Each one pulsed at a different frequency, like a beating heart.

There was no moon and no clouds. Only this eerie, blood-colored starry sky cast a dim red glow, dyeing the entire world in an ominous hue.

The Spirit Realm here was entirely different from the one in their world.

Xia Lun did not know whether that was because he was beyond the boundaries of the world, or because of the Chaos Demon God.

He clenched his fists. Fortunately, his strength had not been weakened by the environment.

Just then, the blood sea began to change.

Gurgle, gurgle—

Bubbles suddenly began to rise from the blood sea beneath Xia Lun’s feet.

A hand abruptly emerged from the blood sea and seized Xia Lun by the ankle.

The palm was ice-cold, far colder than a normal person’s skin.

The other party’s aura was extremely weak and posed no threat to him. Xia Lun did not immediately crush it beneath his foot. Instead, he decided to see what would emerge next.

A tall figure slowly crawled out of the blood sea.

It was a being covered entirely in ice crystals. It was not human, and it wore a bizarre outfit unlike anything Xia Lun had ever seen.

Its pupils were already filled with scarlet.

This was a soul consumed by the desire to kill.

“Roar!”

The creature let out a bellow. The temperature around them suddenly dropped, and countless icicles condensed in the air beside it.

Without the slightest hesitation, it launched an attack against Xia Lun.