Chapter 126: Reign of Terror
The next day…
After obtaining the Spiritfount Pill, Nie Donghai didn’t waste even a second before practicing and refining with it, in an attempt to regather his spiritual sea.
He temporarily cast all the issues within the Nie clan out of his mind, and even forgot about the issue of the Cloudsoaring sect being surrounded by powerful experts from the Hell sect.
The Master of the An clan, An Rong, learned about the world-shaking changes that had occurred to the Spiritual Treasure sect from An Shiyi. He spent the entire night talking to the An sisters regarding the unceasing turbulence it might bring to the Realm of Flame Heaven.
When Nie Tian saw him in the next morning, he saw his long face and worried frown, which made him seem as if he had suddenly aged.
Originally, Pan Tao had rushed to Black Cloud City bearing the hope of asking the Cloudsoaring sect to send out troops to his sect’s aid. However, after learning that the Cloudsoaring sect was besieged by the Hell sect, his expression also sank, and the smiles that used to fill his face could no longer be seen.
Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo also seemed to have worries weighing on their minds. Their worries were for the near but unreachable Cloudsoaring sect.
Nie Tian saw a dark haze clouding everyone’s faces, and understood why they were so troubled.
“Hey… have you ever heard of the Heaven Gates?” he asked.
“What Heaven Gates?”
Everyone shook their heads, indicating that they knew nothing of them.
“That’s odd…” Nie Tian was surprised by their response and explained to them, “It’s a gate that only Qi Warriors of the Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stages can enter. Every so often, after many years have passed, three Heaven Gates will appear within the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars. It’s said on the other side is a dimension only cultivators of the three Heaven stages are able to explore and gain experience from. How do you not know about it?”
Everyone shook their head again and told him that they had never heard of such a place.
Nie Qian asked with a puzzled expression, “Little Tian, why would you suddenly mention that?”
“Well…” Nie Tian deliberated over his choice of words for a while before saying, “I’ve obtained information that a Heaven Gate will soon appear near the Hell sect in the Realm of Flame Heaven.”
However, since they knew nothing of the Heaven Gate, it seemed that none of them showed any interest in it.
Instead, they were curious about how Nie Tian had obtained the information.
“I got the message from the command medallion that my master gave me.” After cooking up an excuse, Nie Tian explained in detail the special features of the Heaven Gate, the fantastic world that the Heaven Gate led to, the various types of ancient mysteries, the secret scripts of the alien clans, the knowledge ancient Qi warriors had collected, the various precious materials, and Spirit Channeling items.
Upon learning that the information was supposedly from Wu Ji, everyone was surprised inwardly. After hearing about the various wonders within the Heaven Gate, everyone’s eyes glittered with strange light.
After that, Nie Tian told them about how the Hell sect, Ghost Sect, and Blood Sect were the first to obtain the information regarding the Heaven Gate, which led them to launch such a sudden attack towards the Spiritual Treasure sect in an attempt to weaken their strength, so that they wouldn’t be able to fight for the opportunities to enter the Heaven Gate.
An Rong was dumbstruck. “Is the Heaven Gate is so important and magical?! Even experts from the other realms secretly colluded with the Hell sect, Ghost sect, and Blood sect for a chance to arrange for their people to enter the Heaven Gate?”
“My master said that he wanted for everyone to spread the word.” Nie Tian borrowed Wu Ji’s name to spread the news.
“With your master’s abilities and influence, he only needs to say a word for everyone in all the lands to know about it. Why does he bother to pass the word through you?” Pan Tao found it hard to understand.
“Well…” Nie Tian frowned. “He can’t do that now.”
Pan Tao searched in his head for while. Shortly after, he seemed to have thought it through and said, “Oh, I know. It’s probably that the two Profound realm experts of the Hell sect are keeping your master busy, and preventing your master from leaving the Cloudsoaring sect! It’s because of them that your master can’t tell everyone himself, and thus can only inform you of it through your command medallion.”
“That’s probably the case.” Nie Tian echoed his words.
“I’ll return to the An clan and inform everyone and all those who are related to my clan.” An Rong sounded resolute and decisive. Then he turned around and instructed An Shiyi, “Shiyi, you go to the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion in Black Cloud City and tell them to find a secretive way to notify the Spiritual Treasure sect divisions in other cities about the invasion of the Spiritual Treasure sect, as well as the issue of the Heaven Gate.”
An Shiyi nodded. “Okay!”
Soon, An Rong and the An sisters hurriedly left the Nie clan.
Jiang Lingzhu still hadn’t recovered from the shock after hearing the overwhelming secret issues of the Heaven Gate. She was now discussing with Ye Gumo about how they should pass the information on to the Cloudsoaring sect.
Pan Tao was also still caught in astonishment.
After a while, Pan Tao sprung to his feet. “I’ll go to the Yun clan and let them know about the enormous changes that occurred to the Spiritual Treasure sect as well as the issue of the Heaven Gate, and I’ll ask them to inform the Grayvale sect as soon as possible!” With these words, he headed straight towards the Yun clan.
At that moment, Nie Tian could do nothing to stop the upheaval ravaging through the Spiritual Treasure sect, or break the Hell sect’s siege of the Cloudsoaring sect.
He felt that the only way to help them was to do as Hua Mu had asked of him and quickly spread the information of the imminent opening of the Heaven Gate, thereby revealing the real reason behind their invasion of the Spiritual Treasure sect, and allowing the Cloudsoaring sect, the Grayvale sect, and the Mystic Mist sect to make preparations to deal with the upcoming, greater turbulence.
He didn’t go anywhere in the next two days, and only stayed within Black Cloud City, waiting for news.
In the Grayvale sect…
Numerous Qi warriors, who were wearing gray and white robes, were gathered within a dusky valley. The low cawing of birds could be heard here and there, as if they were waiting for orders to be passed down.
Powerful Qi warriors from the Grayvale sect weren’t the only ones filling the valley. Many experts from the Mystic Mist sect were also gathered there.
The master of the Grayvale sect, Lu Ce, as well as the master of the Mystic Mist sect, Chu Siyun, were standing side by side.
Behind them were more than ten third grade and fourth grade bird-type spirit beasts. Although the rank of those spirit beasts weren’t as high as the Thunder Beast, they were still more than capable of soaring through the sky.
Up till today, they had already grasped the knowledge regarding the enormous changes that occurred to the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range and the Hell sect besieging the Cloudsoaring sect via many channels.
Since the Cloudsoaring sect, who was the closest to the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range, was unable to come to the Spiritual Treasure sect’s aid, they were now prepared to charge to the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range at the fastest speed possible.
The reason why the Grayvale sect and the Mystic Mist sect struck back so quickly was not only due to the fact that they had sworn a blood oath with the Spiritual Treasure sect to become allies, but also because many of their fellow sectmembers had participated in the Treasure Convention.
Therefore, they absolutely couldn’t tolerate the Ghost sect and the Blood sect running amok.
When they learned that the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range had already been turned into a sea of lava, they mobilized all their forces to gather up a troop of more than ten bird-type spirit beasts, so that they could rush over to help out their ally at the first possible moment.
Just as they had everything prepared and were about to set off, a young man in charge of gathering intelligence for the Grayvale sect rushed forward and hastily reported, “Just a moment, master! I’ve just received a message from the Yun clan of Black Cloud City!”
Lu Ce frowned. “What is it?”
“The Yun clan said that Wu Ji’s disciple, that youngster called Nie Tian, delivered them a message from his master.” The young man had a solemn and respectful expression as he continued, “He said that one of the three Heaven Gates is about to open up somewhere near the Hell sect in the Realm of Flame Heaven. The Hell sect had obtained the information earlier. That was why the Ghost sect and the Blood sect invaded the Spiritual Treasure sect.
“He also said that experts from other realms have already reached an agreement with the Hell sect, the Ghost sect, and the Blood sect, which will allow those foreign clans to send a few Qi warriors in the three Heavens stages to enter the Heaven Gate that will show up in the Hell sect’s turf.”
“…”
He rapidly explained everything to Lu Ce and Chu Siyun.
“The Heaven Gate!”
Lu Ce’s and Chu Siyun’s expression flickered upon hearing him mention the Heaven Gate.
After the young man had explained every detail, Lu Ce’s and Chu Siyun’s bodies slightly trembled, as if they had been shocked to their very soul.
Jiang Lingzhu, Pan Tao, and the others didn’t know about the origin of the Heaven Gate and its secrets because they were too young and their cultivation bases were too low.
Their elders didn’t expect that a Heaven Gate would open within the Realm of Flame Heaven in decades. Thus, they didn’t explain it to them.
However, Lu Ce, as master of the Grayvale sect, and Chu Siyun, the master of the Mystic Mist sect, surely knew about it.
“The Heaven Gate! So it’s all because of the Heaven Gate!” Lu Ce took a deep breath and, heated with rage, he said, “No wonder the Blood sect and the Ghost sect would risk starting a full-frontal internal war within the Realm of Flame Heaven and launch the sudden invasion of the Spiritual Treasure sect! The Heaven Gate! It’s all because a Heaven Gate will open up in the Realm of Flame Heaven! They’re clearing the barriers so that more of their disciples will have the chance to enter the Heaven Gate!”
Chu Siyun from the Mystic Mist sect pondered for awhile and prompted a suggestion, “Even if we can hurry over to the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range, it might already be too late, and our efforts will be in vain. On the other hand, the Hell sect only deployed forces to seal the Cloudsoaring sect, but didn’t start a massacre. So there’s also no need for us to reinforce them.
“In my opinion, since our opponents have moved out to attack our allies, and the Heaven Gate is going to open near the Hell sect, why don’t we…
“Why don’t we directly attack the Hell sect’s base!”
Lu Ce’s eyes lit up as he replied, “Good idea! If we take the chance to attack the Hell sect when their powerful experts are deployed to the Cloudsoaring sect, we can definitely inflict heavy damage to them! In this way, not only can we weaken the Hell sect’s strength, but we can also cause the Ghost sect and the Blood sect to worry about their own bases! By doing that, we’ll be able to help relieve the Cloudsoaring sect and the Spiritual Treasure sect of the pressure from their respective opponents!”
“Then it’s settled!” Chu Siyun said loudly and with determination.
“Compared to the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range, the Hell sect is even closer to us!” Lu Ce’s voice was full of ferociousness. “All sect members that are at the Greater Heaven stage or higher, immediately depart for the Hell sect! As long as you come across someone from the Hell sect, kill on sight! Since a Heaven Gate is opening in our realm, blood will flow like a river in the Realm of Flame Heaven, whether we like it or not!”
“The same goes for the disciples of the Mystic Mist sect!” Chu Siyun also gave his command.
Under the command of the two people, the strong Qi Warriors from the Grayvale sect and the Mystic Mist sect replied by filling the sky with angry roars, before they marched towards the Hell sect at a rapid pace.