Since crooked sects like the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect had colluded with outsiders and stirred up lots of trouble, the four great sects had an implacable hatred towards them.

They had even launched massive cleansing operations targeting such sects throughout the human domains.

It was just that Nie Tian had never expected the Blood Sect in the Realm of Flame Heaven had come from such a sect.

He secretly raised his guard.

He started to worry that the Blood Sect might be subject to a joint cleansing operation if someone discovered the historical connection between the Blood Sect and the Blood Spirit Sect.

Li Jing, the sectmaster of the Blood Sect, had helped him a great deal when he had been a lowly nobody.

Even the Bone Blood Demon, which the Blood Sect had gone to great lengths to make, had been a gift from her.

Now, considering Nie Tian’s current cultivation base and strength, and the existence of the Flame Dragon Armor and that Star Behemoth bone, the Bone Blood Demon had already lost its importance.

However, it had helped him escape death a few times when he had been young and weak.

Therefore, he felt connected to the Blood Sect, and didn’t want anything to happen to it.

As the two of them continued to talk, Nie Tian learned that the old man was actually the Blood Spirit Sect’s last sectmaster.

People had called him Master Blood Spirit for it.

According to Master Blood Spirit, Master Bloody Despair had contributed to the destruction of the Blood Spirit Sect and the death of their former sectmaster.

It was because he had lost in the competition for the position of sectmaster that he had informed the Heaven Span Pavilion of the former sectmaster’s hiding place, eventually causing the destruction of the entire Blood Spirit Sect.

Even though Master Blood Spirit had escaped the calamity, he hadn’t had the audacity to show up in any of the advanced human domains. Therefore, he had drifted around in the starry river. With a bit of luck, he had traveled through a forbidden area and discovered the Domain of the Falling Stars.

Being in a remote corner of the human world and separated from the rest of the world by that forbidden region, very few people knew anything about the Domain of the Falling Stars.

After Master Blood Spirit founded the Blood Sect and passed on his legacies, he had left to live a hermit’s life in the depths of Graydusk Forest.

Back then, none of the major sects had set up base in the Realm of Split Void due to the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that filled the entire realm. Most areas had been either ruled by rogue forces like the Blood Skull, Dark Moon, and Wild Fire, or crawled with Hunters. All of this had made the Realm of Split Void a forgotten land that had been ideal to hole up in.

Furthermore, since the mutant spirit beasts here contained rich flesh power, they had served perfectly as cultivation materials for Master Blood Spirit.

These contributed to the fact that he had spent thousands of years in the Realm of Split Void, advancing from the early Saint domain to the middle Saint domain.

For many years, he had been seeking ways to break through into the late Saint domain in order to extend his lifespan.

Back when the Blood Spirit Sect had perished, he had gained lots of cultivation resources from the sect. Coupling them with the mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void, he had had enough materials to support his cultivation. What he lacked had been new enlightenment regarding the incantations he practiced.

However, as time had passed, nothing had shown for it, and he had gradually lost his ambition and confidence.

He had been well-aware that even though his middle Saint domain cultivation base had been unmatched in the Domain of the Falling Stars, once he left the Domain of the Falling Stars and exposed his identity, the Heaven Span Pavilion would immediately come after him. Therefore, he had hidden himself very cautiously the whole time.

Even when the Domain of the Falling Stars had been invaded by outsiders, he had sat back and done nothing.

After all, he had seen far too many human realms sacked by outsiders in his early years.

Moreover, since his own sect had been brutally attacked and wiped out by the Heaven Span Pavilion, he no longer felt a sense of belonging with the human world. Therefore, all he had done was unleash that seventh grade Earthshatter Beast to make the outsiders think twice before entering the forest.

Nie Tian came to a fairly good understanding of Master Blood Spirit from their extensive conversation.

“An elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace came to the Realm of Split Void about ten years ago. Did he not sense your existence back then?” Nie Tian asked.

Master Blood Spirit gave a dry laugh. “You’re talking about that elder named Yan Zhan, right? I sensed it the moment he arrived. He released his soul awareness to scan the entire Realm of Split Void before moving on to the other realms. However, thanks to the unique wonders of my incantations, I managed to hide my aura from him.”

Yan Zhan was at the late Saint domain, which was slightly higher than Master Blood Spirit. The fact that he had been able to hide his aura from him came as a surprise to Nie Tian.

A suspicious look appeared on Nie Tian’s face. “Yeah, Elder Yan Zhan… From the look of it, you must know a lot about me.”

“I know all I care to know,” Master Blood Spirit said, smiling. “As you probably know, my cultivation base allows me to tap into any conversation that happens in the Realm of Split Void. Through people’s conversations, I’ve learned that the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries all belong to you now.

“I also know that you obtained a couple of Fruits of Life somewhere in the Realm of Unbounded Desolation.”

With these words, Master Blood Spirit’s eyes lit up.

“If I may ask, do you still have any of them left?” Master Blood Spirit asked, anticipation filling his eyes.

Nie Tian shook his head. “I gave them away long ago.”

Master Blood Spirit sighed deeply. “That’s what I thought. To be honest, I only revealed myself so that I could ask you how I can get some Fruits of Life myself. I’m seeing the end of my lifespan, yet I still have yet to fully master the incantations I practice. This is keeping me from entering the late Saint domain.

“If I can’t make the breakthrough within a century, I’ll die.”

Nie Tian took a deep look at him. “I hope you’ll break through into the late Saint domain soon. And you’ve got to be extra careful recently, hiding in the Realm of Split Void. Right now, many human domains are facing a joint invasion from outsiders and crooked human sects. Many powerful sects have sworn to eliminate all sects that have any connections with the outsiders.

“You were the sectmaster of the Blood Spirit Sect. Once your identity is exposed, no one will be able to save you.”

Even though Master Blood Spirit had a deep connection with the Blood Sect, Nie Tian didn’t intend to help solve his lifespan problem.

Now, after his bloodline had advanced to the seventh grade and he had awakened Life Grant, he was more than able to prolong another human’s lifespan. However, his Blood Essence was far too precious. To condense one drop alone would require the corpse of an eighth grade outsider or spirit beast.

His lack of flesh power had already become his primary concern. It was only natural that he didn’t want to consume his Blood Essence to prolong a stranger’s lifespan.

After all, he didn’t know Master Blood Spirit, and couldn’t tell how much of what he had said was true, and what wasn’t.

Furthermore, Life Grant was such a heaven-defying bloodline magic. He was afraid that once people discovered this shocking means, those with lifespan problems would come to find him from all over the world.

He knew that even many Saint and God domain experts from the four great sects yearned to prolong their lifespans.

If they learned that he had such an ability, he would be in huge trouble. Being forced to prolong those patriarchs’ lifespans with his Blood Essence, he wouldn’t even have the time to further his own cultivation.

“I see... I guess I’ll have to rely on myself.” Master Blood Spirit said, sagging his head. “Anyways, I hope you’ll keep my hiding here a secret. And also, I’d appreciate it if you can look after the Blood Sect for me. That sect is the only thing that carries the core Daoist teachings and doctrines of the Blood Spirit Sect now. I promised my master that I would pass on the Blood Spirit Sect’s legacies and keep them alive.”

“I shall look after the Blood Sect. Don’t you worry about that.” Nie Tian said with a determined expression.

Immediately afterwards, Master Blood Spirit descended into the murky lake.

As he masked his aura, even Nie Tian couldn’t sense his flesh aura fluctuations from the lake.

Master Blood Spirit seemed to have vanished completely, along with his domain, which he had unleashed earlier.

After a while, the seventh grade Earthshatter Beast emerged from the lake, looking rather insecure and uneasy.

Nie Tian only took a quick glance at it before jumping onto his Star Boat and leaving the area.

He knew that the seventh grade Earthshatter Beast was only Master Blood Spirit’s defense mechanism that he used to detect and frustrate intruders, lest the insensible ones disturb his quiet life in the depths of Graydusk Forest.

Nie Tian didn’t leave the forest right away. Instead, he stayed in Graydusk Forest, where he established the Wood Thriving Formation and gathered wood power for the Godspirit Tree sapling.

Time flew. Two months passed, and the Godspirit Tree sapling grew considerably thanks to the wood power it had received over this time.

From the look of it, the wood power in Graydusk Forest could no longer satisfy its need for wood power. Therefore, Nie Tian returned to the area of starry river where he was keeping the Star Behemoth bone.

He canceled the Star Boat’s shield and tried to expose himself to the mixed energies in the starry river.

At that moment, he sensed with great clarity that the flame spark, the Nine Stars Flower, and the Godspirit Tree sapling in his spiritual sea started to channel the powers they needed to strengthen themselves from the starry river simultaneously.

The flame spark channeled flame power, while the Nine Stars Flower channeled star power, and the Godspirit Tree sapling channeled wood power.