Spirit Realm

“Diga.”

Still in his Abyss Devil form, Qin Lie called out to Diga from the other side of the Nether River in a low tone.

Diga shook when Qin Lie stared at him and called out his name. A strong sense of anxiety suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart.

In that moment, Diga felt like a powerful and bloodthirsty Lord of the Abyss had set his eyes on him.

His Abyss Devil Race bloodline boiled up in readiness before his mind had even caught up to reality.

The Abyss Devil abruptly realized that Qin Lie was planning to kill him as well!

Diga looked around himself before staring at the dead Abyss Devils surrounding Qin Lie. He abruptly understood the predicament he was in.

Diga hurriedly shouted a reply before Qin Lie could claim his life, “Long time no see, Qin Lie! Why are you here in Yellow Springs Purgatory? Are you here for Sister Ling? If that’s the case, I have some news that I can share with you.”

He knew just how close Qin Lie and Ling Yushi were, so he brought her name to protect himself.

The effect was immediate and very obvious. Qin Lie’s killing intent immediately grew much thinner from before.

Suddenly, Qin Lie turned away and roared towards a particular direction without warning.

At first, Diga was caught off guard by Qin Lie’s sudden action and thought that he had discovered a danger or something. His face immediately turned serious.

However, Qin Lie crossed the Nether River without any pause or hesitation after the roar.

Since the space above the Nether River was no longer shielded, Qin Lie was able to cross over the Nether River easily.

A moment later, Qin Lie stopped next to Diga and glanced at the three dead bodies beside the Abyss Devil. He asked curiously, “Were you the one who killed them?”

“Yes,” replied Diga honestly.

“I heard that they’re direct descendants of the Yellow Springs Monarch. Weren’t you all brothers of the same blood?” Qin Lie sounded astonished.

“We share the same father, but not the same mother.” Diga smiled. but it was a bitter smile no matter how one looked at it. “So what if we share the same father? My own older brother, my full brother had tried to kill me twice already. If I couldn’t steel my heart against my three half-brothers, then how could I possibly go against my older brother?”

Qin Lie fell silent for a moment before asking, “The Yellow Springs Monarch doesn’t care about this infighting?”

“Why would he?” Diga let out a loud, neurotic laugh before continuing, “If he truly didn’t care about us, why would so many of us even bother fighting each other to the death? In my opinion, this sibling conflict is the entire reason he raised us in the first place. He wants us to fight each other non-stop until he can choose a worthy successor from the survivors. In his eyes, those who were killed didn’t deserve to live, let alone share his blood. He’d rather see this trash die in the hands of their own siblings than outsiders.”

Qin Lie shook his head and commented, “Devils truly are incomprehensible madmen.”

“Swoosh swoosh!”

Suddenly, the God Race clansmen appeared on the other side of the Nether River.

They had rushed out of their hiding spot quickly after hearing Qin Lie’s signal, and they all felt a moment of shock when they saw the litter of bodies at the riverbank of the Nether River.

There were fifty or so Abyss Devils in total. Most of them were at rank seven, but there were a couple who were at rank eight.

However, all these Abyss Devils were killed in just a few moments.

Mia—the only God Race clansman in the group who didn’t know Qin Lie intimately—wasn’t the only one who was shocked. Gan Xing, Cang Ye, and the others were flabbergasted as well.

“He killed them all. He actually managed to kill them all. He may be at rank eight bloodline, but there are four rank eight Abyss Devils here in total…” muttered Mia to herself.

“Stop wasting time! Let’s go!” yelled Cang Ye.

The rest of the group immediately reined in their shock and flew across the Nether River.

“Eh! Diga! That’s Diga, isn’t it?” exclaimed Gan Xing.

“Cang Ye of the Darkness Family!” Diga was stunned by their arrival as well.

Qin Lie immediately acted to capture Diga alive when he saw his expression.

However, Diga calmed down immediately and explained himself in a hurry, “Don’t worry, I didn’t see anything.”

This time, Qin Lie was the one who was caught off guard.

Diga immediately elaborated, “If I were one of these Abyss Devils, then maybe I would’ve been rewarded by local Lords of the Abyss for reporting you. But I’m different from them…”

Qin Lie didn’t take action immediately. Instead, he probed the space surrounding Diga carefully with his soul.

If Diga was trying to stall for time and send out a message, he would catch it immediately, especially since they were so close to each other.

If that was the case, he would summon the wraiths and phantoms in the Nether River and kill Diga instantly just like before.

“Honestly, my status is almost the same as yours.” Diga spread his hands and said dejectedly, “I was already disobeying orders when I left Yellow Springs Purgatory for the Origin World. If I had managed to obtain the Origin Crystal for myself and become the creator of the Flaming Sun Abyss, then I’m sure that my father wouldn’t have minded my disobedience. On the contrary, he would even announce to the world that I’m a worthy descendant of his. Our father has hundreds of children, but only three of us have ever been recognized by him.”

“If I had managed to obtain the Origin Crystal and become an Abyss Creator, I’m one hundred percent certain that I’d have become the fourth person to be recognized by him.”

“Unfortunately, I failed in my attempt.”

“Naturally, a failure must accept the consequences of having failed, so to this day I’m still being punished for having disobeyed his orders, a permanent exile from Yellow Springs Purgatory.”

“As long as I’m here, anyone who knows who I am in this purgatory can kill me anytime they want.”

“Therefore, my situation is actually the same as yours.”

Qin Lie asked solemnly, “Then why did you even come back?”

Diga smiled bitterly as he answered, “This is still my home, you know. Besides enemies, I have people I care about here. The reason I came back is so that I can take out some of my enemies and do something for my people after I had ascended to rank eight at Nine Hells Purgatory.”

“You were at Nine Hells Purgatory before you came here?” asked Qin Lie while inhaling deeply.

“Mn.” Diga actually relaxed a little after seeing the expression on his face. He nodded and said, “It’s all thanks to Sister Ling. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to ascend to rank eight bloodline this quickly.”

“How is she doing?” asked Qin Lie while pretending to be calm.

Diga stared at him seriously before smiling genuinely. “She’s doing very well in Nine Hells Purgatory. Unlike me, she had awakened the Soul Hell, the Nine Hells Monarch’s most important bloodline ability. Not only is she officially recognized by the Nine Hells Monarch, she is cherished greatly by many powerful Lords and Great Lords of the Abyss as well. Moreover, her strength had grown tremendously in just a short time, and barring any unexpected incidents, she is well on her way to become the Nine Hells Monarch’s only successor.”

“The Abyss Devils who had gone to Nine Hells Purgatory with her have become her followers. She is strong, and she has a powerful force under her command. She’s strong and also a hard worker. The limelight rightfully belongs to her.”

“My situation and hers are as far apart as heaven and earth.”

“Honestly, if I didn’t have people I can’t just leave behind here, I would never return to Yellow Springs Purgatory. I would just stay at Nine Hells Purgatory and work for her.”

Diga ended his story with a sigh.

Finally, Cang Ye and the others had made it across the Nether River and gathered around them.

“Qin Lie, this guy’s an Abyss Devil,” reminded Mia softly.

She had never gone to the Origin World before, so she had no idea what kind of relationship they shared.

However, her reason told her that every Abyss Devil in Yellow Springs Purgatory was probably their enemy.

That was why she couldn’t understand why Qin Lie had left a threat like this alive after killing every Abyss Devil within the vicinity.

“We’re heading towards the abyss passageway. Since you came here all the way from Nine Hells Purgatory, you probably know where it is, right?” asked Qin Lie.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” complained Mia in dissatisfaction.

Qin Lie frowned at that and shot her a glance.

Mia immediately shut up and kept quiet.

It wasn’t because she was intimidated by Qin Lie. It was because she recalled that they were in the Eight Purgatories—scariest level of the entire Abyss—and not God Realm.

In the purgatory, everything they were proud of was their weakness and potential cause of death. Every Abyss Devil would try to kill them the moment they were exposed.

Moreover, Qin Lie had successfully killed all the Abyss Devils around the Nether River and helped them to cross the Nether River unexposed.

This meant that both his individual strength and value far exceeded theirs.

Therefore… Qin Lie was the real leader of their squad.

In the past, she was the indisputable leader of her squad in the Profound Ice Family. She knew just how important it was for a leader to hold authority.

That was why she decided to stay silent.