Spirit Realm

Vanessa was begging on her knees.

The unexpected outcome surprised Han Qian so much that she had even forgotten to swear.

Afraid that Han Qian’s swearings would further agitate Qin Lie, Vanessa hurriedly used her bloodline powers.

The layer of water that kept Han Qian immobile surged, and Han Qian quickly realized that she had lost even the ability to speak.

All she could do was stare at Qin Lie and the kneeling Vanessa.

The look in her eyes kept changing again and again. At times it looked like she was staring daggers at them, and at times she looked both confused and suspicious. Sometimes she also looked like she was lost in thought...

Vanessa’s unusual action had shaken her greatly.

On the floor, Vanessa was still looking down and begging for mercy on behalf of Han Qian.

Qin Lie narrowed his eyes slightly before asking in a cold tone, “You were trying to save her from the start, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” Vanessa said quietly.

Qin Lie snorted when he heard this.

When Vanessa had sought him out at Boluo Realm, she had told him that she was willing to cooperate with him and humiliate her own daughter.

At the time, Qin Lie had thought that these were her true intentions.

But now, it would seem that Vanessa had followed him because she knew that Han Qian wouldn’t be able to resist him at all if he wanted her dead.

While revenge might really have been a part of her motivation, ultimately her true objective was to keep Han Qian alive.

The scathing remarks she had thrown at Han Qian and everything else might’ve been as real as they seemed.

But that apparently wasn’t a reason to not take action when Han Qian was about to die.

She really did want Han Qian to be alive…

“Why?” Qin Lie asked coolly, “I’m sure that your hatred towards the Han Family for what they had done to you was real. I believe what you had told me earlier to be the truth either. But if you truly hate the Han Family that much, if you truly couldn’t wait to see them be rooted out, then why would you falter when it was Han Qian’s turn?”

“It’s because she’s my daughter,” Vanessa said quietly.

“Your daughter?” Qin Lie laughed in surprise. “But Han Lei was your son too, isn’t he?”

Vanessa fell silent for a moment before explaining, “They both were my children. But Han Lei was just like his father, and he disgusted me just like his father disgusted me. Maybe that’s why I felt nothing when Han Lei had died.”

She shot a glance at Han Qian.

Han Qian’s eyes were perfectly cooled.

“But Han Qian is different from Han Lei. She and I are… alike. Not only did she inherit my bloodline powers, her temperament is very similar to mine back during my youth. The only difference between the two of us is that she was a lot luckier than I was, and my fate was far worse than hers.” Vanessa sighed. “Many times, I was filled with hatred when I looked at her. I hated her for everything she had said to humiliate me, and I’m well aware that she had looked down on me her whole life due to a number of reasons. Just like you, I had thought that I wouldn’t care for her death just like Han Lei.”

Vanessa shook her head before continuing, “But… I can’t explain why myself, but I eventually realized that I didn’t want her dead after all.”

Suddenly, Vanessa looked up and pressed a hand to her breast. She said pitifully, “Every time I thought that she was going to die in your hands, my heart would feel pained and suffocated. It was at that moment I knew that I didn’t want her dead regardless of her treatment of me. I really didn’t.”

“So please, I beg you to spare her life!”

Vanessa’s tone became charged with emotion.

“I can give up anything as long as she’s alive! I can do any deplorable things if that is your wish, even bring harm to my own race!”

“I’m willing to serve you with all my heart after I become patriarch of the Sea Race. I’m willing to make the entire Sea Race serve you and you alone.”

“All I ask is for you to let her live.”

“I’m also willing to teach her and train her to serve you. We will both be serving you as our master.”

“All I ask is for you to let her live…”

Vanessa begged.

She knew that Qin Lie could wipe out Han Qian’s soul origin completely if he really wanted her dead.

It meant that Han Qian wouldn’t even have the chance of entering the cycle of reincarnation…

She would be dead in every sense of the word.

That was not the outcome she had wanted to see.

That was why she kept begging for mercy.

Qin Lie silently watched Vanessa and Han Qian with cold eyes.

In reality, he had mixed feelings for Han Qian himself.

His other self wouldn’t have died if it wasn’t for Han Qian. This meant that the Qin Family wouldn’t have left Spirit Realm, and he… would’ve continued to stay dormant inside this body.

Ninth Heaven had used Han Qian to get to him, and through him they had started a bloody war at the Central World.

He had hated Han Qian, but Han Qian was also the forbidden fruit “he” had sought for his entire life.

Unfortunately, “he” wasn’t able to realize “his” desire.

Qin Lie was absorbed in thought for a very, very long time. Eventually, his deeply furrowed brows slowly loosened.

“Maybe I should fulfill ‘his’ desires…”

Qin Lie suddenly came to a decision.

“Alright, I’ll trust you this once and leave it to you to train Han Qian from the ground up. I hope that she’ll please me the next time I see her again,” Qin Lie said coldly.

Vanessa’s eyes abruptly lit up at his answer, and she hurriedly nodded. “Don’t worry, I guarantee that the day she does her best to fawn over you, serve you and cheer you isn’t too far away!”

Qin Lie turned to look at Han Qian.

Right now, Han Qian’s eyes were filled with humiliation and fury. Sometimes, she would glare disdainfully at Vanessa, and sometimes she would glare at him like she would take him down with her.

Suddenly, he decided that it was more interesting to let Han Qian live.

He would be losing a lot of fun in his life if he were to kill Han Qian now and put her out of his thoughts just like that.

Vanessa wanted Han Qian to live. He wanted to fulfill his other self’s dying dreams.

“Then I leave her to you.” Qin Lie snorted coldly before continuing. “When Curtis is done cleaning up Rock Calamity Domain, you will return with them back to Boluo Realm. I hope that you will train your daughter properly and give me the obedient Han Qian you promised me the next time I see her.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Vanessa promised.

Qin Lie nodded and left the mother and daughter after that.

Some time later, he appeared next to Hua Yuchi.

“So? How was it?” Hua Yuchi asked.

“I chose not to take her life,” Qin Lie said calmly. “A long time ago, she was a sore point in my heart. I don’t think my heart will be healed if I were to take her life just like that, so I want her to live in shame and compensate me for all the damage she had dealt to me in the past, slowly.”

After the initial surprise had worn off, Hua Yuchi quickly realized what he meant and chuckled strangely. “Oh, I understand. I definitely understand what you mean.”

“Our business with Rock Calamity Domain ends here. My men will take out all martial practitioners who are affiliated with Ninth Heaven themselves,” Qin Lie said.

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait?” Hua Yuchi asked curiously.

“It’s fine.” Qin Lie shook his head. “My Soul Beast avatar is here. That is enough.”

“Oh.” Hua Yuchi nodded.

Qin Lie opened a star door with the Demon Spirit of Space and Time’s bloodline. Then, he and Hua Yuchi left Rock Calamity Domain.

The duo went to the Ji Family using the teleportation formation at Chaos Star Realm.

From there, they split up. Qin Lie headed for Dark Natal Realm having confirmed its coordinates.

At a dark underground palace.

Qin Lie slowly walked towards Mia while looking at her body. He could see icy blue threads swimming around her like they were alive.

These icy blue threads didn’t just cling around Mia, they were inside her body and bloodline as well.

It was why she could neither move nor speak. Thought was the only thing she was capable of.

Qin Lie’s arrival had caught Mia’s attention. Her cold eyes had immediately fallen onto Qin Lie.

“Excuse me for the long wait.” Qin Lie smiled brightly.

He sucked in a deep breath before fixing his eyes on Mia. Then, he circulated the Frost Arts and used his Soul Altar to project the Frost Concept Diagram in his mind.

The Ice Emperor’s Frost Concept Diagram appeared inside his Soul Altar as he wished.

Then, the one-level Soul Altar slowly poked out of his forehead.

The translucent Soul Altar was currently freezing because he was projecting the Frost Concept Diagram inside it.

When white, cool air poured out of his Soul Altar and into the underground room, the temperature began to drop sharply.

The freezing Soul Altar came face to face with Mia.

The icy threads in Mia’s body abruptly grew active.

Mia immediately noticed that the frost energies that had kept her bound for a very, very long time were starting to swim away from her body like fishes.

She turned to stare at Qin Lie in surprise.

Qin Lie smiled at her and said, “You could die if I were to leave you here forever. But someone had asked me to show you mercy, and her request is something I cannot turn down. That is why I’m letting you go.”

While he was speaking, a large amount of icy threads and crystals started flying out of Mia’s body.

They all entered the Frost Concept Diagram inside his Soul Altar.

Mia was slowly regaining her sense of touch and ability to move starting from her fingers.