356: Chapter 356 The Crimson Empire!

Her posture was composed, and her eyes were bright.

Qin Yan looked at her outstretched hand and fell silent for a brief moment.

Ultimately, with a calm expression, he also extended his right hand.

“Human Race, Modu University of Martial Arts—Qin Yan.”

Their hands met in a brief shake. Xue Liuli's hand was slightly cool and soft.

Seeing this, Xue Liuli's red lips curled slightly, clearly satisfied with Qin Yan's response.

Immediately after, she flipped her delicate hand, a flash of light appearing in her palm as a small, exquisite ornament appeared in her hand.

It was a bell about the size of a thumb, dark red all over, looking as if it were carved from the purest blood jade.

“This is the 'blood sound bell'.”

Xue Liuli handed the bell toward Qin Yan, explaining, “If you have the chance to come to the Blood Realm in the future, you only need to inject a trace of essence and blood and shake it. No matter how far apart we are, we can communicate through it.”

She paused, her tone carrying a hint of unquestionable seriousness: “After I enter the cleansing pool for tempering today, I will leave the Eternal Song Star Realm with my clan elders and return to the Blood Realm.”

“Take this.”

Qin Yan looked at the blood-colored bell but didn't take it immediately. Instead, he shook his head: “Thank you for the kind offer, but I think... I probably won't have a use for it.”

He felt the possibility of him going to the Blood Realm in the future was minuscule, and he even felt it was wise to deliberately avoid having too many entanglements with her.

“Is that so? That’s not necessarily true.”

Xue Liuli seemed to have expected this. She didn't withdraw her hand; instead, she blinked, her tone carrying a hint of playfulness. “Qin Yan, do you still remember... 'Zhang Bei'?”

“Zhang Bei?”

Qin Yan's gaze suddenly sharpened! Of course he remembered that name!

Before he could think further, another flash of light appeared in Xue Liuli's hand.

In the next moment, a long whip that was dark red all over—as if condensed from blood, its body covered in fine barbs and emitting a thick, bloody, and ferocious aura—appeared in her other hand!

The bloodthirsty spirit whip!

Qin Yan's pupils suddenly constricted!

His gaze instantly became as sharp as a blade, locking tightly onto that long whip!

He had a very deep impression of this whip!

It was precisely the spirit weapon that the mysterious Black-Robed Person had snatched from Zhang Bei in Linhai City!

“You...” Qin Yan's voice lowered, carrying a hint of scrutiny, “were the Black-Robed Person from that day?”

“Correct guess.”

A smile played on Xue Liuli's lips as she admitted it frankly. “You didn't expect that, did you? The 'fate' between us started much earlier than you thought.”

“Not only did we meet long ago, we actually exchanged blows once.”

Qin Yan's thoughts raced: the scene that night in Linhai City, the Black-Robed Person's eerie and unpredictable movement techniques, the sharp attacks, and the silhouette that drifted away after snatching the bloodthirsty spirit whip...

Countless details flooded his mind, gradually overlapping with Xue Liuli's image before him.

Although she had been covered by black robes at the time and her face couldn't be seen, that unique bloody aura, thinking back now, indeed faintly matched the characteristic power of the Blood Race.

Qin Yan quickly calmed his mind, his gaze becoming serious and sharp as he looked directly into Xue Liuli's eyes: “Why did you appear in Linhai City that day? What exactly were you plotting?”

Xue Liuli seemed to enjoy seeing Qin Yan's serious and guarded appearance.

She put away the bloodthirsty spirit whip, waved her hand, and explained: “There was no complicated plot.”

“At the time, I happened to be active near 'Ze'an City', which is adjacent to Linhai City.”

“Through bloodline sensing, I detected that the 'bloodthirsty spirit whip' had been lost outside, so I just went over and retrieved it along the way.”

She spoke nonchalantly, but Qin Yan still had many doubts in his heart.

He simply raised his questions one by one: How could she freely enter and leave Blue Star?

Why was she so familiar with the geographical location of Linhai City?

Xue Liuli seemed to be in a good mood, or perhaps she wanted to clear up some possible misunderstandings before leaving, as she appeared quite patient.

She answered most of Qin Yan's questions. Although some parts remained vague, the general outline gradually became clear.

A few minutes later, Qin Yan let out a long breath as many mysteries in his heart were resolved.

It turned out that in the wilderness on the outskirts of Jianghai Province, there existed a spatial rift that connected the Blood Realm and Blue Star.

Xue Liuli had arrived on Blue Star through this rift, and she had just reached Ze'an City.

She then sensed the fluctuations of the bloodthirsty spirit whip, which led her to Linhai City, where the subsequent events occurred.

“So that's how it is... thank you for telling me.”

After hearing this, Qin Yan's guard lowered slightly.

Xue Liuli's explanation was basically self-consistent, and her willingness to disclose this information showed a certain degree of sincerity.

“So, can you take this bell with peace of mind now?” Xue Liuli handed the blood sound bell forward again, her tone becoming solemn.

“In that border region of your Jianghai Province, the Human Race and the fanatical warmongers among our Blood Race are fighting inextricably, and the battle is fierce.”

“With your speed of progress, and being a local of Jianghai Province, there is a very high probability you will be sent to that battlefield to fight in the near future.”

“One more friend means one more path, doesn't it?”

Qin Yan was silent for a moment, weighing the pros and cons.

Ultimately, he nodded and reached out to take the small, blood-colored bell: “Fine, then I won't refuse. Thank you.”

It felt slightly heavy in his hand, with a hint of coldness.

Qin Yan put it away properly.

A satisfied smile appeared on Xue Liuli's face.

Taking advantage of the time before entering the starlight cleansing pool, Qin Yan exchanged words with Xue Liuli for a while regarding some questions he was interested in.

Xue Liuli didn't hide anything and gave a brief introduction.

The Blood Realm was a vast world absolutely dominated by the Blood Race.

The Blood Race was not a monolith; based on differences in history, philosophy, governance, and bloodline origins, it was mainly divided into seven great empires.

These seven empires both cooperated and competed with each other, and even had occasional frictions in border regions or areas of conflicting interests.

But overall, they maintained a delicate balance, together forming the main body of Blood Race civilization.

Currently, the one engaged in continuous and fierce conflict with the Human Race's Huaguo in the border regions was the most powerful, expansionist, and predatory of the seven empires—the Scarlet Empire!

More specifically, it was the army of the Blood Shadow Royal Court, which was responsible for foreign conquest affairs under the Scarlet Empire.

Whereas the Crimson Moon Empire to which Xue Liuli belonged was a relatively conservative faction that focused on internal development and ancient heritage.

They had many disagreements with the philosophy of the Scarlet Empire, which was the basis for her relatively mild attitude toward the Human Race and her willingness to cooperate with the Elf Clan and some human forces.

“Seven great empires... Scarlet Empire... Blood Shadow Royal Court...”

Qin Yan silently committed these names to memory.

This information was crucial for his understanding of future enemies.

This conversation gave Qin Yan a clearer understanding of the internal situation of the Blood Race and the main Blood Race opponents facing the Human Race.