Nie Tian remained silent as the four elders discussed among themselves.
Before long, he learned what had happened from their conversation.
Countless human sects and clans had occupied large areas of the starry river. There were many other powerful sects aside from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, the Void Spirit Society, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Five Elements Sect.
Even though they might not have histories as long and reserve power as profound as the four great sects, some of them also had God domain experts.
It was only that their numbers and strength couldn’t match that of the four great sects.
Over the years, the four great sects had been rather tolerant of them.
However, if they violated the rules set by the four great sects, they would send out forces to wipe them out.
For instance, those who practiced evil incantations using human souls, forged tools with human parts and dead babies, or colluded with outsiders were all considered crooked by the four great sects, and would be wiped out by a joint effort.
The dead elder was named Xiao Xihe. He had organized a troop and joined two elders of the Five Elements Sect and Void Spirit Society in wiping out a crooked force called the Nether Spirit Society.
The incantations the Nether Spirit Society disciples practiced were very similar to the Phantasms’ soul incantations.
It was said that they kept close contact with the Phantasms.
Not only had the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society been well-versed in all sorts of evil soul magics, but he had even provided the Phantasms with soul crystals he had made with human souls in exchange for cultivation resources that disciples of his sect needed.
After his despicable deeds had been brought to light, the four great sects had been infuriated, and had thus sent out God domain experts to kill him.
As an early God domain expert, he had soon been trapped and killed.
However, thanks to some profound soul incantations he had practiced, he had managed to secure and hide a wisp of his true soul, which had later been found by surviving disciples of the Nether Spirit Society.
By relying on that wisp of his true soul, those disciples had found him a suitable host and brought him back to life.
Recently, members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace had spotted disciples of the Nether Spirit Society wandering around, capturing humans and taking their souls. After a thorough investigation, they had confirmed that the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had been reborn, and was stirring up trouble again.
Afterwards, Xiao Xihe and the other two elders of the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society had been charged with the task of marching over there and uprooting their remaining force.
However, to everyone’s surprise, all those who had gone on this mission had died there, including Xiao Xihe and the other two late Saint domain experts.
“The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society has undoubtedly been reborn,” Yan Zhan said with a grim face. “The fact that he was able to recover his peak strength must have a great deal to do with the Phantasms, aside from the fact that disciples of his sect have been collecting discarnate souls for him everywhere. Elder Xiao is dead, and so are those two from the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society.
“The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society must have taken their souls after their deaths.
“If my speculation is correct, he must be stronger now than ever.
“Those from Nether Spirit Society wander among various human domains, secretly provoking battles between hostile domains. Once battles actually break out, they’ll swoop in, gather discarnate souls, and refine them into soul crystals. Soul crystals can help improve the Nether Spirit Society disciples’ strength. Also, they can get other soul-cultivating materials by selling them to the Phantasms.”
“The Nether Spirit Society is rapidly building up their strength,” Wei Lai said with a worried face. “If the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society is indeed stronger now than before he died, then we’re facing a serious problem.”
Grief and indignation filled his eyes as he took a glance at Xiao Xihe’s badly mangled body. “Our cultivation bases and strength aren’t much higher than elder Xiao’s. If we march into the Nether Spirit Society’s den now, we might not necessarily be able to root them out. I think we’d better wait for our grand elder to make our move.”
Yan Zhan chimed in. “But the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society are urging us to take action.”
Wei Lai snorted coldly. “We’ve got to have God domain experts on our side if we want to kill the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society. Who are the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society going to send on this mission?”
“We don’t know yet,” Yan Zhan answered.
At this moment, Wei Lai’s expression suddenly flickered, and he took out a crystal ball.
Inside the transparent ball, a vague shape of Mo Heng, the grand elder, gradually grew clear.
“I’m heading towards the Void Spirit Society’s headquarters now.” Mo Heng’s voice echoed out from within the crystal ball. “The four of you should stay and oversee things in Fragmentary Star City. Fang Yuan, Sikong Cuo, and Nie Tian shall meet me in the Void Spirit Society’s headquarters in three days.”
Wei Lai was taken aback. “Grand elder, do you want to lead our team on this mission yourself?”
“Our sectmaster and two vice sectmasters are all otherwise occupied,” Mo Heng replied. “It doesn’t seem that I have a choice. The Domain of Nether Heaven is where the Nether Spirit Society’s den is located. The three Sons of the Stars are free to bring their subordinates or come by themselves. After the operation, contribution points will be rewarded according to the contributions they make in the operation.”
Sikong Cuo laughed and said, “Grand elder, the way I see it, my fifth and seventh martial brothers should be exempted from taking part in this operation.”
Mo Heng’s shape in the crystal ball turned to fix his gaze on him.
Sikong Cuo then explained, “Fang Tianyi, the strongest subordinate of my fifth martial brother, is still fixing his domain. As for my seventh martial brother, he doesn’t have a single late Saint domain expert among his subordinates. Those who are at the Saint domain are currently in secluded cultivation, preparing for their new breakthroughs. All of the subordinates he’ll be able to bring are at the Void domain. They won’t be of much help even if they join us on this trip to the Nether Spirit Society’s headquarters.”
After a short pause, he added, “Not to mention that my seventh martial brother himself is only at the late Profound realm. If he goes to the Domain of Nether Heaven with us, forget about him helping with our operation. We might even have to spare attention to look after him.”
After hearing his words, Wei Lai and the other three elders pondered the matter and fell silent.
Sikong Cuo’s words made sense.
As an honored elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, Xiao Xihe had definitely been stronger than Fang Tianyi, even though both of them had been at the late Saint domain.
Even Xiao Xihe had died in the Domain of Nether Heaven, along with two other late Saint domain experts from the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect. What difference would Fang Yuan and Nie Tian be able to make with their forces if they joined this operation?
“I have a plan worked out,” Mo Heng said coldly. “Just do as I say.”
Immediately after he said these words, his shape in the crystal ball vanished.
Nie Tian knew that the shape in the crystal ball was merely a soul shadow of Mo Heng. His fleshly body must be somewhere else, probably far from Fragmentary Star City.
“I’m off to make preparations. Good luck, fifth martial brother, seventh martial brother.” With these words, Sikong Cuo laughed heartily and left.
The way he behaved indicated that he didn’t even have much respect for the sect elders.
Wei Lai didn’t seem to mind his manners as he said to Nie Tian and Fang Yuan, “I’ll teleport you to the Void Spirit Society’s headquarters in three days. As the grand elder said, you can bring your subordinates or come by yourselves. And your contributions in this operation will determine the contribution points you’ll get eventually.”
Nie Tian and Fang Yuan nodded and walked out together.
“Even though what Sikong Cuo said was mean, it’s, in fact, accurate,” Fang Yuan said with a furrowed brow. “The head of my clan is still in secluded cultivation, doing everything he can to fix his domain. I suffered heavy losses from my previous trip to the Dead Star Sea. Many of my Void domain subordinates were killed. I’m afraid the strength of the force I can bring this time will be limited.
“Unlike me, Sikong Cuo has been fighting battles here and there. Not only has he not suffered heavy losses, but he’s even taken in quite a number of new followers.”
He smiled bitterly and added, “I even heard that the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect from the Domain of Heavenly Witchcraft has acknowledged their allegiance to him. The sectmaster of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect is currently at the middle Saint domain, and his battle prowess is beyond ordinary. In this way, Sikong Cuo now has one late Saint domain and three middle Saint domain subordinates, which isn’t weaker than mine in the slightest before I suffered those losses.”
“The Heavenly Witchcraft Sect…” Nie Tian said, his expression growing strange.
“Did you have any contact with them?”
“I got into a conflict with a few chosen ones from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect when I was in the Shatter Battlefield, and I killed a bunch of their disciples.”
“If that’s the case, you’d better be careful later when you meet the sectmaster of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect in the Domain of Nether Heaven.” After a moment of pondering, Fang Yuan asked, “How many subordinates do you plan to bring to the Void Spirit Society’s headquarters?”
“None,” Nie Tian said.
Fang Yuan was taken aback. “None?”
Nie Tian nodded. “Yeah, I don’t really care about how many contribution points I’ll get. But I’m rather curious about the Nether Spirit Society. I have a Phantasm tool in my possession. If I were to encounter disciples of the Nether Spirit Society in the Domain of Nether Heaven, I should be able to protect myself with it. I simply consider this operation an opportunity for me to enrich my experience and broaden my horizons with the grand elder.”
Even elder Xiao Xihe had died in the Domain of Nether Heaven, which was enough evidence of how dangerous this operation would be.
At this moment, Jing Feiyang and many others were seeking breakthroughs in their cultivation. Jing Feiyang’s wife had to stay in the Divine Seal Sect to oversee things, and make sure no one would disturb Jing Feiyang’s breakthrough.
The help his Void domain subordinates would be able to provide him in the Domain of Nether Heaven would be very limited.
They might not even be able to protect themselves from disciples of the Nether Spirit Society.
Furthermore, the disciples of the Nether Spirit Society were well-versed in evil soul magics. Once they were killed, they wouldn’t even have a chance to be reborn.
He had only become a Son of the Stars recently, and still had yet to build up his forces. He didn’t want to lose the mainstays of his forces on this trip to the Domain of Nether Heaven.
Therefore, after bidding farewell to Fang Yuan, he returned to the vast area of the starry river between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries to recover that special bone.
