Chapter 560: Splitting the Spoils
In all actuality, Qin Lie didn’t consider himself beholden to Blood Fiend Sect. He certainly wouldn’t treat the Blood Progenitor as an elder.
The body of the Blood Progenitor was just a tool to him.
The remnant souls of the Blood Progenitor had yet to gather in the body, so he only saw it as a weapon at his disposal.
If Qin Lie were to allow the Blood Progenitor’s remnant souls to reform into a whole and let him revive, what would happen?
Perhaps the Blood Progenitor’s first act would be to kill them!
Qin Lie didn’t want to bring trouble upon himself, nor did he want to let go of the prize already in his possession, so he never planned to gather the Blood Progenitor’s remnant souls.
“But… m-my father…” Xue Moyan’s voice trailed off.
Xue Li’s body had been destroyed and half his soul had been refined, which left him desiring a new body. Before Qin Lie entered the Graveyard of Gods, his main goal had been to find the body of the Blood Progenitor for Xue Li to possess.
However, once they reached the Land of Buried Gods, Qin Lie inadvertently used his True Soul to go inside of the Blood Progenitor’s body and use its power.
The Blood Progenitor’s body could be considered useful to Qin Lie as well. If he used it like a spirit artifact, it would make Qin Lie significantly stronger. Since that was possible, would he still be willing to give it to Xue Li?
Xue Moyan couldn’t be certain.
Everyone stared at Qin Lie, eyes shimmering because they were dying to see what he had decided on.
“I entered the Graveyard of Gods with two goals in mind. Finding traces of my grandfather and learning whether or not he died in the Graveyard of Gods came first,” Qin Lie said with a smile. “Finding the body of the Blood Progenitor for Senior Xue Li came second. Before entering, I promised him that I would do my best to get it for him.”
Xue Moyan’s face lit up with excitement, her hopes rising once more.
“You’re right.” Qin Lie smiled and nodded, then firmly said, “I plan to give the Blood Progenitor’s body to your father so his soul can possess it.”
Xue Moyan gazed at him in disbelief.
“So daring!” Du Xiangyang instinctively praised Qin Lie.
Luo Chen gave Qin Lie a strange look as if he were meeting him for the first time. He couldn’t help but look at him again.
However, after a moment of quiet, disappointment appeared on Song Tingyu’s face.
She had always been on Qin Lie’s side and knew that Qin Lie’s relationship with Xue Li was one of cooperation. They definitely weren’t close like a student and a teacher.
She figured that, even if Qin Lie chose not to give the valuable body of the Blood Progenitor to Xue Li, he still wouldn’t owe him anything.
Strictly speaking, Qin Lie really didn’t owe Xue Li a thing. Xue Li had taught Qin Lie the Blood Spirit Art, and Qin Lie had helped Xue Li break free of the spirit pattern pillars.
Both of them were even.
“Thank you!” Xue Moyan said sincerely, bowing.
Qin Lie waved his hand and shook his head. “Don’t thank me so soon. You saw the bloody spirit diagrams inscribed into the Blood Progenitor’s body. They connect it to me and… I can control it. If Senior Xue Li wants to possess the body of the Blood Progenitor, it might mean that I’ll still hold power over him.”
“What?” Xue Moyan gasped in shock. “How can that be?”
“I don’t know.” Qin Lie grimaced. “Later, when Senior Xue Li sees the Blood Progenitor’s body, he’ll decide what to do.”
“And here I was, thinking that you were being extremely generous,” Luo Chen said coldly. “So that’s how it is… hmph!”
Du Xiangyang continued to grin.
It also occurred to him that, even if Xue Li possessed the body of the Blood Progenitor, Qin Lie would still be able to control and use it.
“Let’s see what Senior Xue Li decides on,” Qin Lie said, shrugging helplessly. “I won’t force him.”
“Are there any problems with the bodies of the ancient elites just laying around, Qin Lie?” Du Xiangyang suddenly asked. “What’s your plan?”
“This area is vast and doesn’t have anything that we can use as a suitable hiding place. We can’t stay here for long.” Qin Lie thought to himself for a moment, then said, “The Blood Cloud Mountain Range of the Heavenly Calamity Continent is a good place for that. It’s a pity that Blood Fiend Sect is still public enemy number one. Once people find out we’re there, we’ll immediately be pursued by the three great families. Even with these eight god corpses, we aren’t a match for them, so we can’t go there at the moment.”
“Then… where can we go?” Du Xiangyang asked in astonishment.
“Do any of you know of places nearby that are well-hidden and not far from a continent?” Qin Lie asked. “There has to be somewhere we can hide the bodies of these ancient elites, they can’t be stored in spatial rings.”
Gao Yu had been able to store the body of the Evil God inside of him because it had acknowledged him. The Evil God then shrank into a black grain of rice that Gao Yu was able to put away.
Qin Lie could store the body of the Blood Progenitor in much the same way. However, instead of gaining its acknowledgement, Qin Lie had a connection to the body through the spirit diagrams.
Qin Lie’s True Soul could enter the mind of the Blood Progenitor, so he would naturally have a way to store the body.
Unfortunately, aside from the body of the Blood Progenitor, Qin Lie couldn’t store the eight giant god corpses, let alone all the bodies of the ancient elites.
“We need to find a place to hide all of the bodies?” Xue Moyan blinked, her eyelashes fluttering.
“You know of a suitable place?” Qin Lie asked hurriedly.
He had to find somewhere to hide the bodies of the ancient elites as well as the eight god corpses. If he couldn’t, others would eventually find them.
This region of the sea was close to the Heavenly Calamity Continent and the Heavenly Slaughter Continent. Xue Moyan happened to be familiar with both continents, so she had an idea of places they could hide the bodies.
“When every force banded together a thousand years ago and destroyed Blood Fiend Sect, my mother and many uncles from the sect travelled far from the Heavenly Slaughter Continent and found an extremely well-hidden place to take shelter.” Xue Moyan hesitated for a moment, then said, “The remaining members of Blood Fiend Sect have been cultivating there ever since.”
She looked at Luo Chen and the others, then fell silent.
Aside from herself and Qin Lie, who both cultivated the Blood Spirit Art and could be considered members of Blood Fiend Sect, everyone else was an outsider.
Even until now, Blood Fiend Sect remained public enemies of every continent and faced the oppression of every force. Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families zealously hunted down the survivors of Blood Fiend Sect. The location in which they hid definitely couldn’t be exposed.
Xue Moyan couldn’t afford to trust anyone other than Qin Lie.
“We won’t go with you.” Du Xiangyang raised his hand to make his opinion known. “I want one body of an ancient elite. If I can take it and absorb the fire energy inside of it, I’ll leave.”
“I also found a body that is suitable for me,” Luo Chen said with a snort. “If I can have it, I’ll leave as well and turn a blind eye to your matters.”
“If we can find a boat, I’ll leave too, Qin Lie,” Gao Yu said.
“You’re not coming with us?” Qin Lie didn’t care about Du Xiangyang or Luo Chen, instead turning his attention to Gao Yu. “Where are you going?”
“I journeyed from the Scarlet Tide Continent to the Land of Chaos just to participate in the Trial and find the body of the Evil God,” Gao Yu stated bluntly. “I’ve achieved my objective and have other things to do. So… I won’t be going with you.”
“Where will you go? Back to the Scarlet Tide Continent?” Qin Lie asked, his brow furrowed.
“First, I need to find Jia Yue and find a way to banish the ice spirit from her body. After that… I have my own destination.”
Gao Yu didn’t explain any further.
Like Xue Moyan, he only trusted Qin Lie. He didn’t want anyone else to know.
“I have ways to help all of you obtain the bodies of ancient elites that fit the spirit arts that each of you cultivate, but I cannot help you with ones that do not. You won’t be able to take those ones,” Qin Lie said gravely. “As for the ones that suit each of you, you’ll need to find a ship to transport them. I’ve searched for all of the bodies and found twenty-three on the islands and in the water nearby. There are seven of us, so we’ll be able to have at least three per person.”
The moment he said all of this, everyone trembled and looked at him in disbelief.
“What? You have a way for us to store these bodies?” Du Xiangyang shouted in shock.
“You’re willing to split all twenty three bodies evenly among us!?” Luo Chen stared at Qin Lie deeply.
“Maybe we should split them up according to contribution?” Song Tingyu said worriedly.
In her opinion, everyone would have been buried in the Forbidden Land of Ice if it weren’t for Qin Lie.
Since Qin Lie saved everyone’s lives, all of the spoils logically belonged to him.
Du Xiangyang, Luo Chen, Xue Moyan, and even her and Xie Jingxuan didn’t deserve any of the spoils.
She felt that Qin Lie should just take everything!
“I have the Demon Sealing Tombstone, the eight god corpses, the blood essences of six of the seven spirits, and the six Pure Soul Springs,” Qin Lie said with a smile. “I feel like I should split the bodies of the ancient elites with you and am willing to do so.”
Everyone’s eyes lit up.
Before Qin Lie told everyone that he would split the spoils evenly amongst everyone, Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen only wanted one body of an ancient elite that suited them. Even then, they thought that Qin Lie wouldn’t have necessarily allowed them to have that much.
Their thoughts were basically the same as Song Tingyu’s. They figured that, since they hadn’t helped in the Forbidden Land of Ice and nearly became a burden to Qin Lie, they didn’t deserve anything.
None of them would have escaped the Graveyard of Gods without Qin Lie.
All of them would have died.
Deep inside, Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen saw the bodies as Qin Lie’s rightful reward. Although they wanted to have one each, they were afraid that Qin Lie wouldn’t want to give them away and naturally didn’t dare to be greedier.
The moment they heard Qin Lie say he would distribute all twenty three bodies amongst them, they found it difficult to believe him.
“R-really? You’d be willing to do that?” Du Xiangyang asked excitedly.
“The six of you can choose three bodies each. I’ll take the other five,” Qin Lie suggested. “If Chu Li is still alive, I’ll give three to him and keep two for myself. How does that sound?”
“Great!”
Aside from Song Tingyu, who felt nothing but regret, everyone else nodded vigorously, exhilaration on their faces.
“Senior Sister Xue, let us first go to the place you spoke of. Blood Fiend Sect can’t just hide like this forever,” Qin Lie said, looking at Xue Moyan. “Du Xiangyang and the others know that we cultivate the Blood Spirit Art. If they really wanted to deal with us, all they’d have to do is share that information.”
“Once I return to Heavenly Sword Mountain, I’ll talk to my grandmother. I’ll do everything I can to convince her to use her power to change Heavenly Sword Mountain’s view of Blood Fiend Sect!” Luo Chen promised.
Although it was extremely difficult for her, Xue Moyan agreed with Qin Lie.
“Alright then. Let’s go.”