After Catie’s death, Nie Tian left that bone and the Flame Dragon Armor in the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles, while he returned to the deep mountain valley near the Dong Clan’s headquarters, where the dark stone was kept.

He told Dong Li about Catie’s death.

However, she didn’t seem overjoyed by the news.

Almost all of the Dong Clan members who hadn’t been arranged to study in the Beast-controlling Sect had been massacred by Catie.

None of them had had the ability to secure their true souls for reincarnation.

Therefore, they had truly died when their fleshy bodies had perished.

Dong Li was depressed after suffering such a heavy blow. With her whole heart, she wanted to improve her cultivation base and get revenge on the Bispo Clan.

Thus, she focused on practicing cultivation.

Nie Tian understood that she might need some time to adjust herself. It might take her a year or so to walk out of this traumatic experience.

Therefore, he returned to the vast starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

He had emptied the stock of outsider and Ancientbeast corpses he had built up over the recent years. His bloodline aura was still dormant. He didn’t know when it would advance to the eighth grade.

Without other sources of flesh power, he had to put his focus on the refinement of his spiritual sea again.

The Nine Stars Flower, the flame spark, and the Godspirit Tree helped him channel power of different attributes from the starry river into his spiritual cores to further their crystallization.

With these rare treasures, he realized that he was no longer dependent on spirit stones and spiritual materials.

Two weeks later, Yan Zhan return with the latest news.

Pei Qiqi had found the Demons’ secret teleportation portal at the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries and destroyed it.

It seemed that all of the invading Demon forces had returned to the Demon realms.

The five major sects and three major clans from the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries had suffered losses to different extents, the Pure Heaven Sect most of all.

Thanks to the timely arrival of Yan Zhan, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang, the other local forces’ losses had been bearable. After all, the six Demon grand patriarchs’ true purpose had been to stir up trouble so that Cardy would have an opportunity to sneak into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

“Miss Pei returned to the Void Spirit Society after destroying that teleportation portal,” Yan Zhan added. “That python head has turned out to be very helpful to her. And she benefited a good deal from her experience with the three teleportation portals and destroying one teleportation portal after another. I suppose she has returned to the Void Spirit Society to seek new breakthroughs in both her cultivation and bloodline.”

Nie Tian was delighted to hear this.

Pei Qiqi was at the late Soul realm. Like him, her bloodline was at the seventh grade.

If she were to make new breakthroughs, it would be either a breakthrough into the Void domain or a breakthrough into the eighth grade.

Once she made these breakthroughs, with the help of her unique spatial treasure and the legacy of the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, she would probably gain the ability to defeat an outsider grand patriarch in battle.

After a short pause, Yan Zhan muttered, as if to himself, “The inter-racial war in the Dead Star Sea has gradually grown quiet.

“Both us and the outsiders have suffered a great deal from this full-frontal war. The Demons sent all four of their grand monarchs in their battle against our sect. Even though they dealt us a heavy blow, they sustained injuries as well.

“They all need time to recover after such a hard-fought battle.

“The same goes for our vice sectmasters and the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. And this is why Cardy was the strongest Demon that showed up in your domains.

“The other Sons of the Stars experienced the same thing. The strongest Demons that entered their domains were also at the ninth grade.

“The only difference was that those grand patriarchs weren’t as powerful as Cardy. Even so, none of the other Sons of the Stars were able to kill a grand patriarch. You, however, killed two grand patriarchs in the Domain of the Falling Stars, both of whom were very hard to deal with.

“I’ll report their deaths to the sect and make sure you get the credit. Cardy was one of the most powerful Demon grand patriarchs. I’m sure his death will earn you a considerable amount of contribution points.”

With a puzzled expression, Nie Tian said, “But Feng Beiluo killed Cardy.”

“It doesn’t really matter who killed him. What matters is that he was killed in your domain. So you should get credit for it.” Yan Zhan seemed very concerned with Nie Tian’s wellbeing, as if it was something he should do.

A surprised look appeared in Nie Tian’s eyes.

Judging from Yan Zhan’s change of attitude, he had clearly decided to place his bet on him.

Such change originated from him killing Catie with that Star Behemoth bone.

“Every elder will be entitled to a vote when you compete for the position of the Lord of the Stars,” Yan Zhan reminded him. “The more elders you have on your side, the more favorable place you’ll be in when the time comes.”

These words fully revealed his thoughts to Nie Tian, who bowed to express his gratitude.

Afterwards, Yan Zhan went on and said more things, many unimportant. Then, he bid Nie Tian farewell and left.

After that, Nie Tian resumed cultivation in the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

During this time, he received word saying that the large-scale battles between the four great sects and the outsiders in the Dead Star Sea had gradually quieted down, with only a few fractions of humanity’s forces still engaged in small-scale conflicts against the outsiders.

Time passed like a flying shuttle.

Months passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, Nie Tian received two pieces of good news. The first one was that Master Blood Spirit, the last of the Blood Spirit Sect, had broken through into the late Saint domain in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

Such information came from the Blood Sect, who was also holed up there.

According to Master Blood Spirit, the reason why he hadn’t been able to make the breakthrough before was partly because he had been unable to grasp the essence of a secret incantation of the Blood Spirit Sect, but another reason was that his insufficient lifespan had been weighing on his mind.

The more worried he had been, the more frustrated and distracted he had become. This had gradually become his mental devil.

Only after Nie Tian had extended his lifespan with his Blood Essence had he untied that knot in his mind and gone into the study of the Blood Spirit Sect’s incantations worry-free.

Thanks to this, he had entered the late Saint domain successfully.

Even though he was considered crooked by the four great sects, he was largely dependent on Nie Tian. His breakthrough meant that Nie Tian finally had a late Saint domain expert at his command.

This was different from Xie Qian entering the late Saint domain.

The second piece of good news was regarding Zhao Shanling.

The man had vanished after the expedition to the three Demon realms. It turned out that he had gone to a space disruption zone, where he had somehow broken through into the late Void domain!

No one had expected that he would prove to be so brilliant and make such rapid breakthroughs in cultivation after Nie Tian had taken him out of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

He had made the advance from the Soul realm to the late Void domain within a shockingly short period of time. Even among the four great sects, his cultivation talent was hardly matched.

Perhaps a late Void domain cultivator didn’t mean much to Nie Tian now.

However, he saw unlimited potential in Zhao Shanling.

“The man is hard to predict, half-righteous, and half-evil. He cut off his connection with his family. I thought his future was limited to the Domain of the Falling Stars. Who would have thought he would prove to be so extraordinary? He even dared to refuse the Void Spirit Society’s offer. I’m afraid he’s the first man to ever do so. I suppose it’s hard to find another person like him, even among the four great sects.”

Later, more good news came.

Due to the Demons’ retreat and the destruction of their teleportation portals, peace was restored to Nie Tian’s three domains.

Experts from different sects entered secluded cultivation, where they made use of the abundant cultivation resources they had looted from the Lizardman realms, the floating continent, and the three Demon realms.

Many Qi warriors who had been stuck in their cultivation made breakthroughs. Every few days, word would come sharing the good news with Nie Tian, which delighted him.

For the first time, he had a feeling that his force was rising at a fast speed.

SHEW!

Zhao Shanling came to him a few days later.

“Could you refer that alchemist from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace you talked about to me?” Zhao Shanling cut to the chase. “Or I can simply give you the necessary materials, along with the price he names, so that you can ask him to refine the pill for me. I’ve already entered the late Void domain. The next thing to do is make preparations for my breakthrough into the Saint domain. A Barrier Breaking Pill will be necessary.”

He was used to walking this world alone. He didn’t know any alchemists that were skilled enough to refine Barrier Breaking Pills. For this reason, when Nie Tian had mentioned the matter to him earlier, he had kept it in mind.

If he wanted his next breakthrough to be successful, there were various things he’d have to prepare beforehand, a Barrier Breaking Pill being one of them.

“Give me the required spiritual materials and I’ll have people deliver them to him, along with my word. He’ll be happy to help.” Nie Tian said in a straightforward manner. “Is there anything else?”

After a moment of pondering, Zhao Shanling said, “There’s another thing, but it doesn’t really concern you. After I broke through into the late Void domain in that space disruption zone, I found a magical place by accident. I suspect that it has something to do with the disappearance of the Void Palace Sect. So tell Pei Qiqi that if she’s interested, I can take her there.”

Nie Tian’s expression flickered with surprise. “What?! You found a place that has something to do with the disappearance of the Void Palace Sect?”

All these years, Pei Qiqi had never stopped looking for the Void Palace Sect, and her parents who had vanished with it. She had even mobilized the Void Spirit Society’s resources, but still found nothing.

Just earlier, she had spent a long time going through the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range one by one. Still, no clue had been found.

However, Zhao Shanling now said that he had found clues of the vanished Void Palace Sect in a space disruption zone. This surprised Nie Tian deeply.

“Great! I’ll send word to her!” Nie Tian said excitedly. “However, she might not be able to come for a while. I heard that she’s seeking breakthroughs in her both cultivation and bloodline.”