The Flame Star instantly turned blazing red, with fierce flesh power bursting forth from it.
In Zhao Shanling’s senses, the Flame Star in Nie Tian’s hand seemed to be instantly infused with unlimited flesh aura and became bloodthirsty.
CLANK!
The Flame Star slammed hard into one of the Goldskin Beast bones, sending golden sparks in all directions.
Ji Long’s bone-bearing hand instantly sank, as he didn’t seem to be able to contend against such heavy and explosive force. Golden sparks could be seen glittering within his exposed skin.
At the same time, rich flesh power from the Thousand Refinement Pill flooded into his meridians, making his meridians bulge from under his skin.
At this moment, Ji Long seemed to have turned into a terrifying beast, with bulging meridians that looked like golden earthworms.
A terrifying force rapidly built up in the animal bone in his other hand.
As he turned his wrist, numerous golden sparks shot out of the bone, while the faint roars of the Goldskin Beast could be heard from the bone.
FIZZ! FIZZ!
Like bits of melted gold, golden sparks that contained metal power instantly engulfed Nie Tian.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Crisp clashing sounds echoed out as the golden sparks slammed into Nie Tian’s skin like golden needles on a steel plate. Not the slightest mark was left on his skin.
Meanwhile, Nie Tian didn’t even feel much pain.
It seemed that the damage this kind of force could inflict on his body, which had been tempered repeatedly with Heavenly Wood Heal, was almost negligible.
“Far too weak…” Nie Tian muttered to himself as he ignored Ji Long. He blurred into action and suddenly appeared to the left of one of the Bliss Mountain Sect elders.
He clenched his empty hand tightly into a fist and sent it whooshing towards the elder.
At the same time, rage rapidly built up in his heart. With the method he had learned from that mysterious land, he channeled his rage into his fist along with his flesh power.
Even crackling sounds came from the air around his fist.
The Bliss Mountain Sect elder’s expression flickered drastically. In his eyes, Nie Tian’s incoming fist seemed to fill all of heaven and earth as it smashed down towards him.
Without the time to think, he hastily activated the suit of armor he was wearing, which was similar to the leather armor Zhao Shanling was wearing.
Immediately afterwards, a blood-colored aura rose and formed a ward over the armor as a detailed pattern gradually appeared on the armor. Upon a closer look, the pattern, which was the condensation of the flesh aura from the armor, was a vivid, blazing phoenix that was spreading its wings.
BOOM!
Nie Tian’s fist slammed hard on the blood-colored ward.
The pattern burst instantly, but Nie Tian’s fist carried on as if he was a wrathful god that was going to eliminate all living beings.
Then, as his fist bombarded the elder’s leather armor, the detailed phoenix pattern on it scattered and disappeared like a reflection in a well that was disturbed by a large stone.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
The Bliss Mountain Sect elder’s breastbone was instantly shattered, along with all of his internal organs. He trudged a few steps backwards before collapsing to the ground and dying.
Nie Tian shook his head, sneering. “Soul realm experts… Unfortunately, you’ve come to the wrong place. If we were outside, I wouldn’t even dare to get anywhere near you. But in here, you’re nothing but puny insects to me.”
At this moment, Ji Long jumped over, brandishing his two animal bones.
BOOM! BOOM!
The bones slammed vigorously into Nie Tian’s shoulders, yet he stood unwavering like a statue, and then looked over his shoulder at Ji Long with a scary smile on his face.
Tiny golden sparks flew out of the Goldskin Beast bones. Like puny golden insects, they hoped to drill into Nie Tian’s flesh.
“It won’t work.” With a low chuckle, Nie Tian ignored Ji Long’s insect-level attack and lunged towards a second Bliss Mountain Sect elder.
Upon seeing this, that elder turned around and ran for his life.
However, since he hadn’t practiced any body refinement incantations, with his spiritual power gone, he was no different from a commoner in this unique realm.
“Your friend is waiting for you. I’ll send you to meet him now.” With these words, Nie Tian once again infused the Flame Star with his flesh power and cast it directly towards the elder’s back, which was fully exposed as he tried to escape.
SHEW!
Like a spear made of blood, the Flame Star left Nie Tian’s hand before easily penetrating the elder’s armored back and nailing him to the ground.
PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!
The golden sparks from Ji Long’s animal bones arrived once more and slammed into Nie Tian’s back like golden rain.
However, Nie Tian let out a disdainful laugh before bolting to the dead elder and pulling the Flame Star out of his back.
“Ji Long!” Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect cried out, his face turning pale with fear and anger. “Our sect treated you as a core disciple. How come you’re so useless?!”
The other two Bliss Mountain Sect elders were so scared by the scene that they split up and fled.
Standing a safe distance from the Voidspirit Pagoda, Zhao Shanling’s expression also flickered slightly as he looked down at his own armor, wondering if this suit of armor, which was made from Blood Pattern Python skin and Wind Spirt Beast bones, would be able to withstand such a strike from Nie Tian.
Those two Bliss Mountain Sect elders had worn similar armor, yet Nie Tian had slaughtered them as if they were defenseless chickens. Neither of them had even survived a single strike from Nie Tian.
With a complicated look in his eyes, Zhao Shanling thought to himself. “My god! Is he really a human?! How is his flesh power this profound?! For humans, even if they focus on the refinement of their fleshly bodies, since they’re not endowed with tough bodies like the outsiders, their bodies can never become as tough as those of their outsider peers.
“But this kid…”
He was overwhelmed by the shockingly high battle prowess Nie Tian was displaying with pure flesh power.
Qi Jiuchuan’s expression also flickered as he turned to Zhao Shanling and asked, “How did you build this little friend of yours, Brother Zhao? I searched many realms and found a few dozen kids that were born with tough bodies, yet only Liang Hao survived the transformation procedures. That Nie Tian kid seems to be completely different from Liang Hao, but how come he’s so fierce and tough?”
Zhao Shanling chuckled disdainfully and said, “My method is far beyond your imagination.”
Qi Jiuchuan instantly felt deep veneration towards him. “From the look of it, the domain you’re from is far more powerful than the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. Only this can explain why you’re able to build something as powerful as Nie Tian!”
In his eyes, Liang Hao was nothing but a puppet.
He had selected a few dozen youngsters that were similar to Liang Hao for the purpose of securing Master Voidspirit’s legacies. However, Liang Hao was the only one that had survived after having their bones and meridians replaced by those of spirit beasts.
Like the juniors of the Bliss Mountain Sect, Liang Hao would also be cast aside after this operation.
Therefore, he took it for granted that Nie Tian was the same as Liang Hao, that he was built by Zhao Shanling for the sole purpose of securing Master Voidspirit’s legacies.
“That’s right,” Zhao Shanling said proudly. “The domain I come from is overseen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, and is far more powerful than regular domains like the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries.”
Qi Jiuchuan’s eyes widened as he hastily said, “Brother Zhao, if we can eventually obtain Master Voidspirit’s legacies, you take your pick first. I just want a small slice of the pie.
“I hope that we can establish a friendly relationship after this cooperation.
“The Trisword Sect will always welcome you, Brother Zhao. We’ll treat you as our most honorable guest!”
“That sounds good,” Zhao Shanling said with an unfathomable smile.
“If I may ask, Brother Zhao,” Qi Jiuchuan said cautiously. “It seems to me that Nie Tian is a successful product of hybridization, isn’t he?”
Zhao Shanling’s eyebrows rose.
“I suppose a human can only possess an outsider’s bloodline power by hybridization,” Qi Jiuchuan muttered to himself, his face filled with envy. “It’s said that some powerful and ancient sects have already acquired the method to breed hybrids. They vest their core disciples with powerful outsiders’ bloodline power in order to change our inherently fragile bodies and short lifespans.
“It’s a shame that we, the sects in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, can’t do that yet.
“Many of our sects have made experiments by marrying outsiders. However, only one or two out of a thousand such marriages produce descendants. Meanwhile, most hybrids can’t awaken the outsiders’ bloodline talents, while having problems cultivating human incantations. As a result, they have all lived and died as failures.”
Qi Jiuchuan’s words created huge waves in Zhao Shanling’s mind.
He did his utmost to remain calm, yet the gaze with which he looked at Nie Tian had become completely different from before.
“So he’s a hybrid?!” he said inwardly. “Tough body, long lifespan, outsider bloodline power…”
As his train of thought came to this point, his eyes grew brighter and brighter, feeling as if the mysterious veil covering Nie Tian was finally partially lifted.
