Chapter 685: Survivor

“Do you know about the power of bloodlines?” Qin Lie looked moved.

Visiting the Heavenly Silence Continent to fulfill his promise to Chu Li and meet Forefather Terminator was just one of his objectives.

Meeting the Asura Race to ask about the Spirits of Void and Chaos and the power of bloodlines was the other objective of his trip.

Qin Lie valued the latter objective more, and it was also the true reason he was willing to travel thousands of kilometers to Terminator Sect.

Ever since he awakened his bloodline, he had been troubled by his lack of knowledge on how to activate it.

Lang Xie, Mo Lingye, and the others couldn’t help him because they were all humans. Humans hadn’t researched the power of bloodlines too deeply, so they couldn’t aid him in the discovery of his powers.

According to Mo Lingye’s explanation, the only way he could really learn about the power of bloodlines was to seek help from ancient races that possessed a terribly powerful bloodline just like him.

This La Pu was a foreign race and a Ghost Eye clansman. He sounded like he had some understanding of bloodline powers. This discovery was a sudden glimmer of hope to Qin Lie.

“I understand a little about it.” La Pu’s expression gradually turned calm.

Qin Lie noticed that the evil aura around La Pu was retracting bit by bit after he had regained his cool.

Five of La Pu’s eyes were actually closed in this condition. The eyes between his brow, at his knees, and his elbows were all closed.

Right now, disregarding his unusual skin color and short stature, La Pu didn’t look all that different from humans…

“Are you truly the Venerable One’s grandson?” La Pu asked again.

Qin Lie nodded. “I am.”

“Show me your keepsake.” La Pu extended a hand and stared at the wooden sculpture.

Qin Lie passed the wooden sculpture to La Pu after a moment’s hesitation and explained, “This is the wooden sculpture my grandfather had left behind for me before he left. I’ve never been able to figure out its secrets.”

He could see that La Pu did know a little something about the power of bloodlines. However, since he couldn’t be sure sure Qin Lie was who he had claimed to be, he was acting very cautious and refused to say anything until the confirmation.

“I’ve been to Nether Realm and saw the Horned Demon Race clansmen. I know Ku Luo, Duo Luo, Ka Meng…” While La Pu was inspecting the wooden sculpture, Qin Lie spoke softly about his experiences in Nether Realm. He hoped to reinforce La Pu’s confidence by reciting these names.

Unfortunately, La Pu seemed to not know any of the Nether Realm people he mentioned. His expression showed no change whatsoever.

La Pu took out a smaller wooden sculpture that looked similar to Ku Luo’s and touched it with Qin Lie’s bigger wooden sculpture.

Halos rippled out from where the wooden sculptures had made contact.

A mysterious energy that Qin Lie didn’t recognize rippled along with the halos and created a strange magnetic field.

La Pu concentrated his senses for a moment and nodded, “There’s no mistake. This is the Venerable One’s keepsake.”

While saying this, he returned the wooden sculpture to Qin Lie with a much gentler look on his face. “Please, tell me what you want to know, and what you want me to do.”

Qin Lie was surprised for a moment.

Judging the way La Pu spoke, the wooden sculpture in his possession seemed like a token that could command La Pu, a Ghost Eye clansman to do anything he wanted to.

He never thought that a mere wooden sculpture would be so binding.

“I can ask you to do anything I want as long as this wooden sculpture is in my possession?” Qin Lie requested for a confirmation.

“Yes, anything you want!” La Pu’s expression turned serious, “As long as it isn’t something that requires me to betray or doom my race, I can do anything you want me to do! You may even order me to kill myself immediately, and I shall obey your command!”

The second he said this, the wooden sculpture immediately turned heavy in Qin Lie’s hands. The weight it represented made Qin Lie feel like letting go.

“Three thousand years ago, the Ghost Eye Race, the Dark Shadow Race and the Horned Demon Race were at their peak in Nether Realm, and the five Evil Gods had also experienced a massive growth in strength. With the Nether Continent as the center, we began spreading our power to our surroundings and expanded without restraint by planting Nether Realm plants that could convert spirit energy into nether demonic energy. In the end, our actions drew the retaliation of Sky Mender Palace.” La Pu’s pupils were dark as he reiterated that shameful past. “In the end, the five Evil Gods were killed, the three clan chiefs were either injured or killed, and the Ghost Eye Race, the Dark Shadow Race and the Horned Demon Race all suffered massive damage. At the time, Sky Mender Palace had gathered many powerful forces in an attempt to invade the Nether Realm en masse and slaughter every race to the last.”

“It was the Venerable One who begged for mercy on our behalf and saved us from genocide. Therefore, no matter how illogical or inhuman the Venerable One’s request might be, we will still obey him without question!”

“This is our promise to the Venerable One!”

La Pu’s expression was serious as he said strongly, “We are not like the human race. Forget a thousand years, even if ten thousand years have passed, we will not forget that promise!”

Respect rose from the bottom of Qin Lie’s heart.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Lie finally asked, “Alright, I’d like to ask you a few things.”

“Anything!”

“Why are you here? Why do you have the wooden sculpture?”

“Three thousand years ago, the Ghost Eye Race also suffered massive casualties. In compliance with our promise to Sky Mender Palace, every member of my race had returned the Nether Realm and did not dare not take a step into Spirit Realm again. All of the passages that connected Nether Realm to Spirit Realm had been destroyed under Sky Mender Palace’s supervision. Even the Nether Realm itself had been put under restriction. I happened to be away from the Nether Continent when the three races waged and horribly lost the war. Because I was still exploring Spirit Realm at the time, I had been found and chased by Sky Mender Palace. I was exploring an ancient heritage, and was trapped inside it for more than seven hundred years.”

“It was only seven hundred years later that I learned of the shocking change in the Nether Realm after making my escape and going back.”

“Back then, I had entered Spirit Realm through one of the passages that connected Nether Realm to Spirit Realm. After the passages were destroyed and Nether the Continent itself was sealed away, I couldn’t even find a way back to the Nether Realm. Therefore, I had no choice but to hide myself at a place where Sky Mender Palace couldn’t reach me. I had to make sure that no one knows that a small fry like me still hadn’t returned to the Nether Realm in accordance to the promise.”

“The Land of Chaos was a long distance away from Sky Mender Palace and constantly embroiled in all sorts of war. It was never truly united under one banner, and it was massive and more tolerant of other races. There were all kinds of foreign races to be found at this place. That was why I’ve relocated myself to this place and settled down in the Ruined Lands.”

La Pu explained his reasons thoroughly to Qin Lie.

“What about the wooden sculpture in your possession?” Qin Lie asked again with narrowed eyes.

“This was given to me by Ta Te,” La Pu answered.

“Ta Te? Who’s that?” Qin Lie frowned.

“He is a Horned Demon with eight curved horns. Three thousand years ago, he was one of the three great generals of the Horned Demon Race’s army.” La Pu didn’t try to conceal anything. “At first, I thought Ta Te had been long dead after that bloody battle from three thousand years ago. I never imagined that he would still be alive, and that he would somehow find me at the Land of Chaos a thousand years later. He gave me this wooden sculpture, told me everything about that bloody battle and our race’s relationship with the Venerable One.”

“What secrets is that wooden sculpture hiding?” Qin Lie was surprised.

“It contains a unique imprint that belongs to the Ghost Eye Race. The imprint contains a promise between the Ghost Eye Race’s clan chief and the Venerable One, and records of some of our race’s secret knowledge. Through the wooden sculpture, I learned many wondrous things about the Ghost Eye Race that I never knew and the great favor our race owed the Venerable One,” La Pu said seriously.

“Did Ta Te ask anything of you?”

“No. Ta Te only told me that the Venerable One could locate me through this wooden sculpture. He told me that the Venerable One would send me an order if he requires my services. He told me that I only need to do as the Venerable One says in compliance with our promise.”

“Did he send you any orders then?” Qin Lie grew anxious.

“He did!”

“When was that?”

“It was also more than a thousand years ago, not long after Ta Te had passed me the wooden sculpture. Actually, I should say that it was exactly 1,237 years ago!”

“Why do you remember it so clearly?”

“That’s because at the same time, Blood Fiend Sect at its peak strength was being attacked by all major Land of Chaos’ forces. Blood Cloud Mountain succumbed to the attack, and Blood Fiend Sect was eliminated as a result. This news shook the entire Land of Chaos, and it was after I’d learned of this news that the Venerable One had given me my first order. It was also the only order I’ve ever received.”

“What did he ask you to do?”

“His order was very strange,” La Pu suddenly frowned deeply. His eyes were filled with puzzlement. “ He only told me to keep researching what I’m interested in and ignore all outside disturbances. He told me to put all my concentration on the analysis of every race’s physical structure.”

Qin Lie also looked confused.

“Our Ghost Eye Race grow new eyes as our strength increases. Our eyes give us a lot of advantages, such as understanding the physical characteristics of different races. We are able to analyse and understand the minute details of a person’s distribution of nerves, organs and flesh; the flow of a person’s energy and the strength of a person’s soul. We know very well what the strengths and weaknesses of a race is.”

La Pu’s interest was piqued, and he pointed at the white bones that were everywhere and the black ponds nearby. “I’ve always been rather interested in this subject. The reason I was trapped for seven hundred years exploring an ancient heritage back then was also to obtain a god race’s remain. I am rather knowledgeable in this field, and I’ve been deepening my understanding of this subject ever since I came to the Land of Chaos and hid myself in the Ruined Lands.”

“The Venerable One’s order happened to match my desires perfectly. His orders allowed me to put even more effort into researching different races without any emotional baggages.” La Pu grew more and more excited as he said this. His dark green eyes shone with a rather frightening light of passion.

Current La Pu caused Qin Lie to feel a chill go down his spine.

Every zealous person was a great danger to the people around them. If a person’s faith was dark and evil, then the amount of danger they represented would grow by leaps and bounds.

La Pu was without a doubt one such terrifying and dangerous fellow.

Thankfully, the only wooden sculpture his grandfather had left behind for him seemed to hold great power over La Pu. Otherwise, he wouldn’t want to stay even a second longer on this island.

“The power of bloodlines is also one of the things I’m researching. I’ve accumulated over three thousand years of knowledge, and I suppose my knowledge of bloodlines is passable. Of course, the power of bloodline and a person’s soul are two of the most complicated and mysterious things in the world. There were countless high level intelligent races who researched them both across generations for hundreds of thousands of years, but still couldn’t completely decipher their secrets. Naturally, my knowledge cannot possibly run deeper than theirs.”

“I can only say that I know a little bit about the power of bloodlines,” La Pu said seriously.

……