Upon arriving in the Realm of Split Void, Nie Tian received word of what had happened.
The Dong Clan had almost been wiped out!
Shocked and furious, Nie Tian headed to the Realm of a Hundred Battles at the first possible moment.
Meanwhile, Pei Qiqi remained in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, and continued searching for the hidden teleportation portal that connected to the Demon heaven and earth.
Zhongli Jian, Dong Qisong, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde had also remained there in case the six Demon grand patriarchs showed up again.
Jing Feiyang, Elder Yan Zhan from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, and Xie Qian, who was at the late Saint domain, had taken this trip with Nie Tian.
At this point, the Realm of Split Void had already become the pivot of the Domain of the Falling Stars, with its teleportation portal connecting to all of the other realms in the domain.
The teleportation portal was activated. In the next moment, Nie Tian and the other experts arrived in the Cao Clan’s headquarters, which was close to the Dong Clan’s headquarters.
WHOOSH!
Nie Tian summoned the Star Boat and rose high into the sky.
Gazing off into the distance, he could see raging Demon qi in the Dong Clan’s direction.
Yan Zhan from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace squinted, strong killing intent bursting forth from his eyes. “It’s true then!”
Before Nie Tian could give any instructions, the three Saint domain experts unleashed their domains.
Like three streaks of glorious light, they shot towards the mountain valley where the dark stone was kept at a speed that was far faster than the Star Boat.
In the secluded mountain valley that was wreathed in ink-black dark power.
Blood stained the corner of Dong Li’s mouth as she continued to draw dark power from her spiritual sea to fuse into her black phoenix beast spirit.
Infused with power, the black phoenix beast spirit helped the black tortoise contend against Catie.
At this moment, Catie was surrounded by numerous fluctuating purple blood bubbles.
Each and every blood bubble contained a drop of her Blood Essence, which seemed to carry the faint aura of Grand Monarch Bloodlust.
Like purple crystals, they all emanated a cold, unsettling light.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
All of a sudden, they seethed and exploded one after another, crushing the flickering dark power essence pressuring her.
Enraged, Catie activated the Demons’ Indestructible Form and expanded to almost a hundred meters tall.
Clad in a suit of pitch-black battle armor, she swung a huge blade towards the dark stone.
Intense demonic light whizzed forward, splitting the darkness that enveloped the depths of the mountain valley, giving rise to crisp crackles.
The black phoenix beast spirit, the black tortoise, and Dong Li stimulated their power simultaneously to conjure multiple black wards.
However, the black defensive wards twisted violently under the tremendous pressure from the demonic light, as if they could burst at any moment.
Dong Li couldn’t help but cough up another mouthful of blood.
At this moment, the enlarged black tortoise lifted its huge foot and stomped on the three-headed python’s winding tail with great force.
Blood instantly spilled from the python’s tail.
Then, the black tortoise took the opportunity to sprint to Catie, each step giving rise to a loud thump.
Seeing this, Catie lifted her large blade, and the rolling Demon qi enveloping this area was sucked into it.
CRACK!
She brought the blade down on the black tortoise’s shell. The collision sent sparks in all directions, yet she failed to split the black tortoise in half with the strike.
Her expression flickered with deep surprise.
However, it was also at this moment that she sensed danger.
Her eyes widened as she jerked her head towards the rapidly incoming figures. “Saint domain experts!”
She hadn’t expected that she would encounter a tough enemy like the black tortoise in such an insignificant domain where they hadn’t even produced a single Saint domain expert.
She had assumed this mission to be an easy one. Who would have thought that even though she had exerted all her means, she would still fail to complete it in time?
Seeing the incoming Saint domain experts, she realized that if she stayed, she would only get herself killed.
Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, she let out a fierce roar.
In the next moment, the three-headed python sprang out of the darkness and back to her side with a bloody tail.
At the same time, her enormous body rapidly shrank back to the size of a normal high-tier Demon.
WHOOSH!
She vanished into one of the python’s mouths.
Then, the three-headed python shot skywards, shedding its skin.
As it did that, it shrank to half its original size, but the speed at which it shot out of the Realm of a Hundred Battles increased significantly.
The same thing happened a few more times.
Every time it shed its skin, it would shrink down to a large extent, but its speed would soar.
Soon, the three-headed python shot through the barrier of the Realm of a Hundred Battles into the boundless starry river like a bolt of purple lightning.
By the time Yan Zhan and the others reached the mountain valley that was wreathed in dark power, it was long gone.
However, without thinking about it, the three Saint domain chased her into the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles, enveloped in their respective domains.
Only after they left did Nie Tian’s Star Boat gradually approach.
His expression grew very grim as he passed the Dong Clan’s headquarters.
The entire headquarters has been razed to the ground. He scanned the ruins with his bloodline power, but failed to detect a single wisp of flesh aura. This meant most of the Dong Clan members must have died.
Perhaps their only survivors were those like Dong Baijie, who had been arranged to study incantations in the Beast-controlling Sect.
At this moment, Dong Li’s heartbroken weeping echoed out from the heart of the mountain valley filled with dark power.
Dong Li finally realized that her entire clan had been massacred by that Demon grand patriarch.
Like a black mountain peak, the black tortoise that had expanded a thousand times over slowly rose from the complete darkness into the sky.
Standing on its shell, Dong Li gazed off in her clan’s direction, full of tears.
“This is all my fault,” she muttered with glazed eyes, as if she had lost her soul. “If I hadn’t taken that dark stone here, my clan wouldn’t have suffered such a disastrous fate.”
The Star Boat approached. Nie Tian jumped onto the black tortoise’s shell and sighed. “I tried my best to prepare for what the Demons might throw at us. Who would have thought that they would still find a way to the Realm of a Hundred Battles? What happened to your clan is my fault.”
“Go kill that Demon bitch for me!!” Dong Li screamed.
Nie Tian went black for a brief moment before nodding gently and saying, “Rest assured. I won’t allow that Demon grand patriarch to return to the Demon realms alive!”
With these words, he jumped back onto his Star Boat, which shot into the heavens, giving rise to a loud whoosh.
Only after he left did the young leaders of the Cao Clan, the Gu Clan, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce gradually arrive.
Qin Yan and the others consoled Dong Li upon arriving.
In the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles…
Nie Tian flew over and found Yan Zhan, Jing Feiyang, and Xie Qian floating there with confused looks on their faces.
Face grim, Nie Tian asked, “Where’s that Demon grand patriarch?”
Jing Feiyang and Xie Qian were somewhat embarrassed.
Yan Zhan broke the silence by sighing and saying, “Nie Tian, that Demon’s name is Catie. She’s a grand patriarch from the Bispo Clan. In fact, we fought her more than once in the Dead Star Sea. She’s only at the early ninth grade, and her battle prowess is probably the poorest among all of the Demon grand patriarchs.
“However, that demonic python of hers is far beyond ordinary. Back in the day, Grand Monarch Bloodlust captured a mysterious beast from a space disruption zone. It hybridized with a powerful low-tier Demon and gave birth to that python.
“As you know, the python has three heads. One of them has inherited the bloodline of that mysterious beast captured from a space disruption zone, and is well-versed in spatial manipulation magics.
“That gives it the ability to create teleportation portals out of thin air. So I suppose the hidden teleportation portal we’ve been looking for in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries was actually a teleportation portal it created.
“Because of this, once Catie escapes into the starry river with that python, she’ll be very hard to catch, like a fish that’s returned to the sea.
“I witnessed her uncanny escape methods when I fought the Demons in the Dead Star Sea. And that’s what allowed her to arrive in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries without us finding out.”
Neither Jing Feiyang nor Xie Qian knew anything about Catie, much less about that demonic python.
After hearing Yan Zhan’s words, their expressions also flickered with astonishment.
There were unique beings that lived in space disruption zones that were born with a high mastery of spatial power.
Many powerful outsider experts would capture and use them to create spatial rifts or establish all sorts of teleportation portals. Experts from the Void Spirit Society were also skilled at capturing those creatures.
Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. “Are you saying there’s nothing we can do to capture that Catie?”
Yan Zhan pondered for a moment and said, “Not necessarily. Perhaps Miss Pei from the Void Spirit Society will be able to help us locate and trap her.”
Enlightened, Nie Tian muttered, “Senior Martial Sister Pei…”
Just as he was going to arrange for people to contact Pei Qiqi, Yan Zhan suggested, “I think we’d better forget about Catie for now. We came all the way here from the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries for a purpose.”
“That other Demon grand patriarch in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven,” Nie Tian muttered with a thoughtful expression.
Yan Zhan nodded vigorously. “Exactly. That Demon grand patriarch is much harder to deal with than Catie. Catie is only well-versed in escape skills with the help of that demonic python. Her battle prowess is actually not worth mentioning. But that grand patriarch in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven represents the peak strength of this Demon invasion!”
“Cardy!” Nie Tian exclaimed softly.
Yan Zhan nodded again. “Exactly. Only Cardy didn’t show up in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. I bet it’s him.”
“Let’s go get him!”