“I was in a very difficult situation when you first banished me to this space disruption zone,” Yuan Jiuchuan explained. “No matter what I did, I couldn’t find a way back, so I could only recover my spiritual power from time to time with the spiritual materials in my ring of holding.

“However, as time passed, I eventually ran out.

“I wasn’t sure how long I had drifted in this place when I finally came to the verge of giving up. But that was when I met someone.

“His name was Pang Chicheng. He used to be a disciple of the fire element sect of the Five Elements Sect.”

Nie Tian shuddered, his eyes filled with astonishment. “Pang Chicheng?! He’s the one you met?”

Yuan Jiuchuan was taken aback. “Do you know him?”

Nie Tian nodded. “I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard of him.”

Pang Chicheng had been the Flame Dragon Armor’s last master. He had stolen it from Lou Hongyan.

After that, he had been ambushed in the Shatter Battlefield, where he had had to ignite the Flame Dragon Armor’s power in order to escape. No one had ever seen him since.

Lou Hongyan and the Five Elements Sect seemed to have people looking for him all these years.

According to what Nie Tian had heard, Pang Chicheng had special connections with the fire element sect.

“For some reason, he fled from the fire element sect and was hunted by the entire Five Elements Sect,” Yuan Jiuchuan explained. “It seems that even the Five Elements Sect didn’t expect him to have escaped to this space disruption zone, where he lived for many years and joined some force.”

Since Pei Qiqi stayed her hand, the Thunder Devil’s lightning domain stopped showing more signs of collapse.

Zhao Shanling looked coldly into his eyes in an attempt to see whether he was telling the truth.

Nie Tian pondered briefly before asking, “Did he help you break through into the Saint domain? Why did he do that?”

“I reached the middle Saint domain in my previous life,” Yuan Jiuchuan explained. “Given enough spiritual materials, my breakthroughs are fairly easy to make. After learning my name, that Pang Chicheng asked me to wait for him. Then, he went off and returned with all sorts of spiritual materials and medicinal pills that I needed for my breakthrough. That was why I was able to return to the Saint domain in this damned place.

“He said that he helped me because the incantations I practice are special, and have many redeeming qualities.

“He then invited me to join the force he had joined, and told me that it represents the new world.

“According to him, that force has already enlisted many sects like the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and the Heavenly Corpse Sect, that have been expelled and suppressed by the four great sects.”

Even Yuan Jiuchuan himself had apprehension in his eyes as he said these words.

Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. “The Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and the Heavenly Corpse Sect!”

The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was at the God domain. The sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, who he had recently witnessed slay Grand Patriarch Cardy in the Domain of the Falling Stars, was only one step away from entering the God domain.

Pang Chicheng was a traitor of the Five Elements Sect, who had managed to kill Lou Hongyan and steal her Flame Dragon Armor.

The Thunder Devil had been the nightmare of every cultivator and spirit beast that practiced lightning incantations in his previous life. Even now, his name was still feared across the human domains.

It seemed that this was a group of extremely violent and ferocious people. They either possessed formidable strength, or great potential.

If a force actually managed to gather all of them together, how scary would it be?

“According to Pang Chicheng, the formidableness of that force goes beyond my imagination,” The Thunder Devil added. “None of the four great sects can single-handedly match its power.”

Zhao Shanling was taken aback. “What?! Are you saying that that force is stronger than any of the four most ancient and powerful human sects?”

Yuan Jiuchuan nodded. “That’s what he told me. They’re said to have more God domain experts than any of those sects, and their influence covers every corner of the human heaven and earth. They even have outsider members.”

Nie Tian was flabbergasted. “Outsider members?!”

“That’s right,” The Thunder Devil said. “Many outsiders, such as Phantasms and Demons, have committed unforgivable crimes against their people. Upon their recruitment, many joined them and became their members. The reason why Pang Chicheng told me all this is because he wanted me to join them too. And I’ve already agreed to meet their recruiters in a few days.”

“Where are they?” Zhao Shanling asked. “Were you going to meet in this space disruption zone?”

Before Yuan Jiuchuan could answer, Nie Tian asked, “What cultivation base is Pang Chicheng at?”

“He’s currently at the middle Saint domain,” Yuan Jiuchuan answered. “He said that the meeting will take place in this space disruption zone.”

Nie Tian and the others fell silent after hearing these words.

A secret force had absorbed the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and many other crooked forces. What they had learned about it must only be the tip of the iceberg, yet it was already scary enough.

After all, Yuan Jiuchuan hadn’t joined it yet, and didn’t have a full understanding of it.

“If what he said is true, and there actually is such a secret force...” Zhao Shanling said, narrowing his eyes, “the turmoil that hit the human domains recently was probably part of their scheme, inducing the upheavals in the human world, the fierce battles between humans and outsiders in the Dead Star Sea, and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace’s heavy losses...”

The more he thought about it, the more dread he felt.

Yuan Jiuchuan had spent all these years in solitude, and wasn’t aware of the upheavals that had recently stricken the human world. Now, as he heard about them, he was deeply surprised as well. He hadn’t expected that he had missed out on so many exciting events.

Not many people knew that Cardy the Blood Warden had died at the hands of the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect. Nie Tian was going to tell them at first. However, after weighing it in his heart, he eventually withheld the information.

“Nie Tian, I think we’d better avoid contact with that force,” Zhao Shanling said.

Then, with a thoughtful expression, he frowned and turned to Yuan Jiuchuan. “Where did you agree to meet?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Yuan Jiuchuan answered. “He just gave me a compass that shows me the location.”

Zhao Shanling reached out with one hand and demanded, “Give it to me.”

Yuan Jiuchuan understood the situation he was in, and thus handed a compass to him as he was told.

After Zhao Shanling grabbed the compass, spatial lights that looked like tiny lightning bolts flew out of his fingertips into the compass. As they gradually locked down the location on the compass, a strange look appeared in his eyes.

“What is it?" Pei Qiqi asked.

“Interesting,” Zhao Shanling said with a wry smile. “The location marked out on the compass is the same place I was going to take you, the place I suspect to have something to do with the disappearance of the Void Palace Sect.

Pei Qiqi’s eyes grew wide in astonishment. Then, she said, “I’ve got to go and take a look, no matter what awaits.”

Zhao Shanling had been determined before learning these things from Yuan Jiuchuan. Now that he knew that members of such a powerful force were going to be there, he started to hesitate.

“Let’s go take a look.” Nie Tian helped him decide.