Somewhere in the dark starry river, an aged, scrawny figure was traveling through the void like a flash of lightning.
It was none other than the Lizardman expert Nie Tian had seen through the images he had received from the Spirit Pearl.
Compared to other Lizardmen, he was about ten times smaller, only slightly taller than an average human.
If it weren’t for the color of his skin and the conspicuous scales that covered his whole body, one would see no connection between him and the other Lizardmen.
However, he was not only a true member of the Lizardman race, but also the most powerful one.
The realm he had practiced cultivation in seemed to have an extremely harsh environment, making it unfit for weaker Lizardmen to live and reproduce in. Since he had stayed there for far too long, the recently born Lizardmen didn’t have any memories of him.
Only eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen knew about his existence, and the fact that he was their true leader, and the pioneer of their bloodline.
“Damn those invaders!” Cursing in their own language, he rapidly approached the realm that was the birthplace of the Lizardmen by relying on nothing but his fleshly body.
…
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Enveloped in domains that looked like huge multicolored balloons, the Qi warriors shot straight into the heavens one after another.
Nie Tian was enveloped in Yang Fan’s domain.
The Bone Blood Demon and the Spirit Pearl had already returned to his ring of holding.
Only the Star Boat was chained up by numerous lightning bolts within Yang Fan’s domain, forming a tight connection.
Nie Tian’s exclamation had allowed Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan, and the other experts to realize that a Lizardman expert that was about to break their grade limit had yet to join the battle.
Upon hearing that, Lou Hongyan, who had previously been full of confidence, had decided to evacuate.
The battle came to a sudden end.
Numerous domains rose high into the sky.
HOWL! ROAR!
Seeing this, many eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen cried out as they also shot skywards in an attempt to stop them.
Lou Hongyan’s flame domain was rather close to Yang Fan’s lightning domain. She gazed down at the rising Lizardmen, a worried look appearing in her eyes. “You seem to be right.”
They had clearly been at an advantage in the battle they had just ended, as they had already caused casualties to the Lizardmen.
It had been established since the Lizardmen had destroyed their teleportation portal that they weren’t witless at all.
Therefore, they must be able to see that if the battle had gone on, they would only end up suffering a sound defeat.
Under such circumstances, the only explanation for their pursuit was that they knew someone would show up to turn the situation around.
That someone must be the aged Lizardman expert who had developed a human form.
BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!
One of Huang Jinnan’s subordinates approached with Huang Jinnan enveloped in his water domain.
Brow furrowed, Lou Hongyan said, “Junior martial brother, will you give us directions after we leave this domain? I forgot to ask. How did you find this domain in the first place? Since we need to get out of here as fast as possible, perhaps we can retrace the steps you took when you first found it.
“After we return to our sect and get our powerful experts to help us, not to mention that that Lizardman expert hasn’t broken through into the tenth grade, but even if he has, we’ll still be able to sack this domain without effort.”
Her words reminded Nie Tian, so he also turned to fix his eyes on Huang Jinnan.
He also assumed that since they had discovered this place, Huang Jinnan and his subordinates must know a way out.
Even though they no longer had a teleportation portal, as long as they stuck to the route they had taken to come here in the first place, they would be able to return to their sect eventually, although it might take longer.
However, if they didn’t have a direction in the boundless starry river, they might never be able to return again.
Huang Jinnan smiled bitterly. “Retrace our steps…”
“What’s wrong?” Lou Hongyan asked, looking puzzled.
“One of my subordinates came across a spatial joint in a space disruption zone by accident,” Huang Jinnan explained. “He entered it and ended up in this part of the starry river. He drifted about aimlessly for a while before discovering this domain, and thus came to take a look.
“He secretly did a brief scan of this domain, and realized that it was worth exploring.
“However, when he returned to the spatial joint, he discovered that it wasn’t there anymore, and that it was actually on the move all the time. He searched for it for a long time, but failed to find it anywhere. So he had to come back to this domain and spend six months building a teleportation portal with the spatial materials he had on him.
“He only mentioned the general location of that spatial joint to me. And unfortunately, he was one of those who died protecting that teleportation portal.”
Huang Jinnan’s words put a grim look on everyone’s face.
Nonstationary spatial joints were commonly seen throughout the starry river. Like doors, they connected to mysterious space disruption zones.
If they could find that spatial joint, they would be able to return to that space disruption zone through it, and from there, return to the Five Elements Sect.
However, that spatial joint wasn’t stationary, but constantly on the move.
Some spatial joints could travel thousands of kilometers in just a few days, which made it almost impossible to find them again.
“I guess a general location will do,” Lou Hongyan said, clenching her jaw. “At least, that beats drifting about aimlessly! Lead the way for us, junior martial brother. Let’s head to the area where that spatial joint once appeared. We have Saint domain experts on our team. Compared to that subordinate of yours, it might be easier for us to find it!”
This was a contingency plan.
Huang Jinnan nodded. “Okay.”
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
One domain after another split the ward that enveloped the Lizardman realm and flew into the vast starry river.
“Follow me!” Huang Jinnan called out as he took the lead.
Enveloped in Yang Fan’s lightning domain, Nie Tian constantly looked back, and noticed that the eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen had followed them into the starry river by relying on nothing but their flesh power.
However, they didn’t seem eager to catch up to them, as if they also understood that they might be seriously injured or killed by the Saint domain experts if they did.
The human Qi warriors had numerous unique treasures at their disposal, and they had rich experience in fighting in the depths of the starry river.
The Lizardmen, however, didn’t have a deep understanding of the starry river, nor did they possess powerful tools that would provide them assistance in battle. They would be at a disadvantage if they were to engage in battle in the starry river.
HOOOWL!
The ninth grade Lizardmen let out sharp roars, as if they were calling for something.
“They’re spreading their voices far into the starry river, hoping their human-form patriarch will hear them,” Lou Hongyan said with a grim face. “From the look of it, they know that he’s on his way here. Perhaps it won’t be long before their human-form patriarch hears them, and tracks us down.”
Enveloped in Yang Fan’s lightning domain, Nie Tian was completely unharmed by the complex powers in the starry river.
Like intangible, multicolored balloons, the group of domains floated towards the destination Huang Jinnan had given.
As time passed, the ninth grade Lizardmen gradually lagged behind.
This proved that the speed at which they traveled through the starry river couldn’t match that of Yang Fan and the other experts.
“We’re about to lose those ninth grade Lizardmen,” Yang Fan said, looking somewhat relieved. “No wonder those Lizardmen had to travel between their realms on meteors. They don’t seem to understand much about traveling in the starry river. They’re limited by their underdeveloped civilization.”
The others chimed in, as if they all felt less worried.
HOWL!
However, hours later, an even louder ear-piercing howl split the void, making everyone nervous again.
Upon hearing the howl, Yang Fan unleashed his soul awareness, covering a vast area around him in a split second.
His expression flickered. “He’s here! Nie Tian’s right. It’s indeed an aged expert in human form. Judging by his flesh aura, he’s currently at the peak of the ninth grade. I can tell that he’s far more powerful than any of the ninth grade Lizardmen we fought before!
“I have a feeling that even two cultivators like me won’t stand a chance at defeating him in battle!”
Upon hearing these words, all of the Saint and Void domain experts grew anxious again.
“Also,” Yang Fan added, “he seems to be somehow carrying the other Lizardmen forward, as they’re all traveling at a speed that’s much higher than before! It won’t be long before he catches up to us, along with all of the ninth and eighth grade Lizardmen. He’ll arrive a bit earlier than the others though. I suppose he’ll catch up to us in a few hours.”
