In the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

Chu Rui activated his dharma idol as soon as he arrived through a teleportation portal.

WHOOSH!

Wreathed in what looked like a sea of stars, his enormous dharma idol appeared abruptly in the starry sky over Fragmentary Star City.

In different parts of the city, disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace were greatly spirited.

“Vice Sectmaster!”

“Vice Sectmaster Chu is back!”

Deeply thrilled, Wei Lai and Yan Zhan flew out of the most magnificent palace to receive him. “Vice Sectmaster!”

With his all-pervasive soul awareness, he examined the whole city. As he only sensed Wei Lai and Yan Zhan’s auras, he frowned and said with a puzzled expression, “Hmm? Why is it just the two of you?

“Where are Elder Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong? They headed back a long time ago. They should have been here.”

When Chu Rui and the others had left the Domain of Frigid Depths, he had learned from Nie Tian that Zu Guangyao and the other elders had been sent back by Luo Wanxiang.

It had been so long. He had assumed that Zu Guangyao, Han Wanrong, and Xin Qing would be in the Fragmentary Star City.

“Zu Guangyao and the others...” Wei Lai sagged his head, not daring to meet Chu Rui’s eyes. “We received word that their ancient starship was attacked on their way back from the Domain of Frigid Depths.”

Yan Zhan chimed in. “Song Chequan, the sectmaster of the Jade Heaven Sect, led the attack himself. It appears that they abducted that returning starship and sailed it back to their headquarters.”

“The Jade Heaven Sect! Song Chequan!” Chu Rui roared furiously.

Before his return from the Domain of Heaven Python, Yu Suying had made it clear that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Profound Purity Palace, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect were the four parties behind this operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.

However, he hadn’t expected the Jade Heaven Sect to make such a timely move.

Chu Rui took a deep breath and asked, “Have you seen Luo Wanxiang? He killed my subordinates, but later sustained heavy injuries from the joint efforts of Nie Tian, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Yu Suying in the Domain of Frigid Depths. Is he back?”

“How could Vice Sectmaster Luo do such a thing?” Wei Lai exclaimed in shock.

“He colluded with Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom...” Chu Rui went on and explained everything to them. “So where is he?”

Yan Zhan looked bewildered, unsure whether he should believe Chu Rui. “He never returned to our headquarters or his subordinate domains,” he said. “We didn’t even hear about what happened in the Domain of Frigid Depths. The only thing we know is that Vice Sectmaster Luo came out of his secluded cultivation, but we’re not sure where he went, or whether he’s returned from the Domain of Frigid Depths.”

Chu Rui pondered in silence for a while before letting out a cold harrumph. “I suppose he knew that he’d been exposed, so he was too ashamed to come back to our headquarters or his own domains.”

Then, Wei Lai and Yan Zhan went on to fill Chu Rui in on what had happened to the sect recently.

Thanks to Nie Tian, the Domain of Primal Yang had reacknowledged their allegiance after the Primal Yang Sect had named their new sectmaster. However, all of their other twelve subordinate domains, including the Domain of Frigid Depths, were still in turmoil.

Most of the Son of the Stars and elders were mired in those domains and couldn’t get out.

Wei Lai and Yan Zhan had recently learned that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society were also scheming against their sect. They didn’t dare to leave Fragmentary Star City because they were afraid that their powerful experts would assault the city.

Both the Realm of Fragmentary Star and Fragmentary Star City were protected by a divine spell formation established and strengthened by generations of sectmasters of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.

If the two of them remained in the city, they would be able to activate the grand spell formation as soon as they sensed danger. Once they did, no ancient starships or God domain experts from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect or the Shadow Society would be able to sack the city.

This was why Wei Lai and Yan Zhan had chosen to stand back, while knowing perfectly well that the Domain of Heaven Python had been under attack.

“We knew that the Domain of Heaven Python had been attacked by the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect,” Wei Lai said with a bitter expression.

Chu Rui nodded. “I know your difficult position. It seems to me that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect only adopted such a high profile because they wanted to lure you away from Fragmentary Star City. If you weren’t here, the grand spell formation couldn’t be activated, then the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society would be able to storm the city with minimal resistance.”

Yan Zhan chimed in. “That’s what we were worried about.”

Wei Lai sighed and said, “Vice Sectmaster, the Shadow Society has set their mind on Wang Meijia’s subordinate domains recently. She’s facing trouble very similar to the trouble that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect caused in the Domain of Heaven Python. So...”

“The Shadow Society!” Chu Rui’s expression grew icy. “You’ll remain in Fragmentary Star City! Activate the divine spell formation upon any sign of disturbance, or if ancient starships from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, or the Jade Heaven Sect get here! Also, we’re in a perilous time. Try to summon all Sons of the Stars and elders back here.”

“What about the rebellion of our subordinate domains?” Wei Lai asked.

“Leave them be for now,” Chu Rui answered. “We need to gather our strength in Fragmentary Star City. We can’t afford to be distracted and suffer casualties anymore. We’ll take care of those rebellious domains one by one after we end this crisis with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Jade Heaven Sect, and the Shadow Society, or when either the sectmaster or the grand elder returns.”

“Got it. Whatever you say, Vice Sectmaster.”

...

WHOOSH!

Like a colorful nebula, a glorious sphere of energies traveled through the dark void at an alarming speed.

RUUUUMBLE!

Wherever the sphere went, meteors were crushed and reduced to flying dust.

A wondrous flower could be seen in the innermost part of the glowing sphere, as if it had taken root at the heart of a nebula, where it absorbed star power, allowing its petals to shine with dazzling starlight.

There was also a lush, green ancient tree that brimmed with vigorous life force that could nourish heaven and earth.

The tree was also absorbing wisps of pure wood power to strengthen itself.

A cluster of orange-red flame also jumped nonstop as it channeled sparkling crystal-clear flame strings into itself.

The Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the flame spark had all flown out of Nie Tian’s spiritual sea to float around him in their true form.

“If what I suspect is true, all three of them have advanced to the Heaven Nourished grade.”

Enveloped in the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian watched the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the flame spark madly gather star, wood, and flame power.

Having captured dozens of different types of energies that were scattered in the starry river, the glorious sphere of energies had now expanded ten times over.

From this spinning storm of raging, twisting, and ripping energies, the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the flame spark had extracted pure star, flame, and wood power to nourish and strengthen themselves.

Now, he had already left the Domain of Heaven Python, and was heading towards the Jade Heaven Sect’s home domain, following the directions Yu Suying had given him.

He traveled at an increasingly high speed as his Primal Chaos attracted and captured more foreign energies from the starry river.

The Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the flame spark had taken it upon themselves to fly out of his flame power, wood power, and star power cores after they had fully crystallized.

He himself, however, sent a wisp of his soul awareness to study the domain-forging techniques recorded in the third fragmentary star mark. Then, in his sea of awareness, he sought possibilities to forge his domain with flame or wood power by referring to the domain-forging techniques of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

He also spared some of his soul awareness to derive enlightenment from his Primal Chaos and the raging, twisting, and ripping power of its outer layers.

“Mixed energies move chaotically and clash with each other unceasingly. Only in this way can they produce violent twisting power. My domain will surely contain power of different attributes. If I can keep it stable most of the time, and only generate such raging, twisting, and ripping power during battle, then my domain will possess unlimited might, even though it’ll be illusory at first.

“But how will I be able to I stabilize a large group of mixed power enough to create a unique domain?

“The Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the flame spark will play crucial parts in the forging of my domain as well. Power from those three spiritual cores and my soul awareness will also be in the mix...”

Nie Tian spent every minute pondering the spiritual incantations and wonders about the soul he had picked up over the years, hoping to comb through and merge them all in order to forge his inner domain.

Titan’s Wrath, Primal Chaos, Illusory Ancient Talismans, Starspark, Starstrike, Flame Dragon’s Cry, Heavenly Wood Heal, Wood Thriving Formation...

He went through and pondered every single spiritual incantation and every wondrous enlightenment he had derived during his breakthroughs in cultivation.

At the same time, he kept a close watch on the inner and outer layers of the spherical magnetic field, as well as the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the flame spark, in an attempt to understand the wonders of them absorbing the mixed energies in the starry river.

Domain-forging was the most special step he had to take so far. He had to put in all his heart.

RUMBLE!

A meteor that was close to a hundred kilometers across exploded into countless fragments upon contact with the outer layers of the glowing sphere.

Immersed in meditation, Nie Tian didn’t feel a thing as he shot past and disappeared into the distance.

Moments later, Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and Mo Qianfan arrived in this area.

Looking at the rain of meteor fragments Nie Tian had left behind, Yu Suying said with a disbelieving expression, “The meteor only touched the outer layers, not the core.”

Even Yin Xingtian felt insecure. “I think we’d better follow him from a greater distance.”

“Nie Tian is such a freak,” Mo Qianfan said with a stiff smile. “He’s only trying to derive a domain-forging technique. Does it have to be so scary? Luckily, he’s not in the Domain of Endless Thunder. Otherwise, every realm that he passed might explode and perish.”

Yu Suying let out a soft sigh and said, “Yeah, it’s been almost a month since we left the Realm of Maelstrom. The Song Clan’s domain is right up ahead. Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect is from the Song Clan!”