Chapter 901: A Crisis Looms
A shudder ran through Nie Tian. “Senior martial sister Pei and that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material...”
After hearing Hua Mu’s words, Nie Tian instantly realized that it was actually very likely that Pei Qiqi had taken that Heaven Nourished grade treasure.
He understood Pei Qiqi’s uniqueness better than anyone.
Just like him, Pei Qiqi was not a normal human, but a hybrid.
Her unique bloodline carried the profound truths of spatial power.
What made her truly special was that not only was she well-versed in using spatial power, but her bloodline was also closely related to spatial power.
Compared to Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials, Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials were more advanced.
Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials had their own awareness, but their intelligence wasn’t fully developed.
On the contrary, every Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material possessed intelligence that was no different from that of humans, outsiders, or Ancientbeasts.
This meant that Heaven Nourished spiritual materials would choose their masters, not the other way around.
That Heaven Nourished grade treasure seemed to have the ability to travel through space and channel power from spatial rifts and teleportation portals.
The Void Spirit Society was only so eager to obtain it because they knew that it would suit the needs of those who practiced spatial power perfectly, and that it could be refined into cultivators’ private domains or used to forge Immortal grade spiritual tools.
If such a treasure were to choose a master, it was very likely that it would choose Pei Qiqi.
It didn’t make sense that Pei Qiqi had broken through to the middle Profound realm in the Shatter Battlefield, and made another breakthrough into the late Profound realm shortly after returning from there.
Furthermore, it also didn’t make sense that she had been able to stabilize that congested spatial rift, allowing everyone to pass.
However, after he connected these things to that space-attributed Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material, they suddenly made sense.
Only an incredible treasure like that would allow Pei Qiqi to make such rapid breakthroughs and gain the power to stabilize spatial rifts.
“That’s indeed very likely...” Qi Bailu muttered.
Nie Tian’s expression flickered slightly as he said, “If this is true, then it explains why senior martial sister Pei didn’t want to talk to us back then. She must have planned to come to the Domain of Heaven Python to hunt down those who had taken part in the operation to kill senior Zhen, so she didn’t want to get us into trouble.
“Besides, once word of her having that unearthly treasure is leaked, many powerful experts will definitely go after her.
“She pretended that she didn’t know us because she was worried that we might be dragged into the mess.”
Hua Mu sighed. “That kid...”
After coming to the conclusion that Pei Qiqi now had that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material, everyone was happy for her and worried about her at the same time.
They were worried that even the outsiders and Ancientbeasts in the Shatter Battlefield would learn about what had happened and come after her in the Domain of Heaven Python.
“All I hope for is that she stays safe,” Qi Bailu said with a worried expression. “My junior martial sister is no longer with us. I can’t allow anything to happen to her.”
“We need to keep our speculations to ourselves,” Hua Mu said solemnly. “Don’t ever mention this to anyone.”
The others nodded.
After that, they all stayed in the Realm of Maelstrom while waiting for news.
On the one hand, they waited for Zhao Shanling to return; on the other hand, they waited for word of Pei Qiqi.
Gradually, Nie Tian received word of Pei Qiqi from Duan Shihu from the Divine Seal Sect.
The Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had attached great importance to Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, after learning about his identity. Even the sectmaster of the Golden Vast Sect, who was an early Saint domain expert, ended his secluded cultivation to look for Yuan Jiuchuan himself, lest this madness go on and he plunge the Domain of Heaven Python into chaos.
A major subordinate sect of the Golden Vast Sect practiced lightning incantations, and Yuan Jiuchuan hadn’t sought them out yet.
The sectmaster of the Golden Vast Sect thus hid in that sect and waited for Yuan Jiuchuan to walk into his trap.
As for Pei Qiqi, she suddenly became silent and lay low after killing a large number of Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples.
The Thousandsword Mountain Sect experts, with Du Zheng as the person in charge of the search operation, swore to avenge their dead. They mobilized many of their forces to search every realm in the Domain of Heaven Python.
However, they still hadn’t found any sign of her yet.
But soon, something happened that shook the entire Domain of Heaven Python.
Xing Lifeng from the Xing Clan, who had fled the Domain of Heaven Python, suddenly appeared and assaulted the Thousandsword Mountain Sect’s headquarters with powerful Bonebrutes at his back.
Xing Lifeng, who had recently entered the late Void domain, severely injured the sectmaster of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect with the help of a ninth grade Bonebrute grand patriarch.
The sectmaster of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, who was at the early Saint domain, barely escaped.
Numerous Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples who were practicing cultivation in their headquarters were slaughtered.
The Thousandsword Mountain Sect’s renown suffered a drastic decline. All of their surviving disciples now lived in fear.
Du Zheng and those who had been sent to search for Pei Qiqi escaped the fate of being slaughtered. They gave up on searching for Pei Qiqi and holed up somewhere.
After that calamity befell the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and their injured sectmaster fled, the entire Domain of Heaven Python felt a storm brooding.
Before long, ancient starships that belonged to the Demons, Phantasms, and other outsider races showed up in the Domain of Heaven Python.
From the look of it, the outsiders had a strong interest in the Domain of Heaven Python, and signs of a mass invasion started to show.
Under such circumstances, the Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect adopted emergency procedures and sealed all of the spatial rifts that connected the outsider realms to the Realm of Maelstrom to prevent more outsiders from swarming in.
Everyone in the Domain of Heaven Python lived in a state of anxiety.
As Nie Tian saw Meng Li again in the Divine Seal Sect’s stronghold in the Realm of Maelstrom, he seemed to have aged, with an exhausted look on his face.
Even Jing Rou had a knitted brow, her face clouded by anxiety. Upon seeing Nie Tian, she only nodded in silence and forced a smile.
Upon seeing Nie Tian, Duan Shihu smiled bitterly and said, “Something big is going to happen.
“Outsiders’ ancient starships appearing in the Domain of Heaven Python indicates that they’re planning a mass invasion. From the look of it, Xing Lifeng attacking the Thousandsword Mountain Sect’s headquarters with the Bonebrutes’ help at this moment is no accident. They must have planned this together. It’s been thousands of years since outsiders last attacked the Domain of Heaven Python. I wonder what they’re after this time.”
“Junior martial brother, Zhao Shanling sealed the spatial rift that led to that Bonebrutes’ burial ground, right?”
Nie Tian nodded. “He straight-up destroyed it in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void.”
“Well, that’s both good and bad,” Duan Shihu said with furrowed brows. “The good thing is that Bonebrutes won’t be able to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars through that spatial rift. But the bad thing is that, without that spatial rift, you won’t be able to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars any time soon to get away from the tribulation that’s about to befall the Domain of Heaven Python.”
Nie Tian pondered in silence.
“How about this: I’ll go talk to the Golden Vast Sect and see if you can go take shelter in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries for the time being, following the route Yue Yanxi and the others took to return to the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries?” Duan Shihu suggested with nothing but good intentions.
The Domain of Heaven Python was about to see great turmoil. The Thousandsword Mountain Sect was no better than dead. The Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect didn’t know what the outsiders were up to, or the level of their strength yet.
Under such circumstances, Duan Shihu was worried that Nie Tian and the others would get into trouble if they stayed. Therefore, he hoped to get them out of the Domain of Heaven Python as soon as possible.
Nie Tian pondered for a while before saying, “I think I’ll talk to the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars and see what they think of this.”
“You’d better leave... soon,” Duan Shihu said with a grim face.
Since Zhao Shanling hadn’t returned yet, Fan Kai was the only one among the people from the Domain of the Falling Stars who was at the Void domain.
Considering this, Duan Shihu assumed that even if they stayed, they wouldn’t be able to do much to help.
Since Duan Shihu was also from the Domain of the Falling Stars, he naturally wanted to save his countrymen from this potential calamity.
Nie Tian took a deep breath and asked, “Senior martial brother, if the outsider invaders turn out to be too powerful for you, and you aren’t able to defend against them by relying on just yourselves, can you ask for help from other human domains? The Qi warrior sects in your neighbor domains wouldn’t just sit by and watch the Domain of Heaven Python be sacked by the outsiders, right?”
According to what Nie Tian knew, the Domain of Vast Darkness, where Xie Wanting was from, wasn’t far from the Domain of Heaven Python, and neither was the Domain of Endless Snow, where the Heavenly Ice Sect was based.
Furthermore, since Yue Yanxi and Patriarch Pure Heaven had been able to return to the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries from one of the Golden Vast Sect’s realms, the distance between the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python couldn’t be unbridgeable either.
All of these domains were human domains. Would they wring their hands while the Domain of Heaven Python was invaded by outsiders?
However, after he asked the question, he saw bitter looks on the faces of Meng Li, Duan Shihu, and Jing Rou.