In the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Dong Clan, which had been at its height of power, was now in ruins.
Sitting among the broken walls and toppled pavilions, Dong Li muttered to herself, heartbroken.
Qin Yan, Qian Xin, and many other juniors sat by her side and consoled her in soft voices.
However, she seemed as if she couldn’t hear them, and continued wallowing in grief.
Fan Kai, Hua Mu, and other experts who had entered the Void domain had already rushed over from the other realms. Now they were standing guard around the Dong Clan’s headquarters, lest that Demon grand patriarch named Catie come back.
It had been ten days since Nie Tian had left.
SHEW!
The Star Boat descended from the heavens and landed next to Dong Li.
Dong Li snapped out of her daze. Eyes filled with heartbroken sorrow, she asked, “Did you kill that Demon bitch who massacred my entire clan?”
Nie Tian avoided her eyes and shook his head. “Not yet. That Demon grand patriarch’s three-headed python is quite special. It’s skilled at spatial manipulation magics, so it vanished as soon as it charged out of the Realm of a Hundred Battles. But don’t give up hope yet. Senior Martial Sister Pei is here. She’s searching all over the Domain of the Falling Stars for her with Yan Zhan and the others as we speak.”
“Pei Qiqi?” Dong Li asked with a frown.
“She has a unique spatial treasure that can capture even the faintest spatial fluctuations,” Nie Tian explained. “As long as that Catie is still in the Domain of the Falling Stars, she won’t be able to hide for long.”
“What if she’s already left the Domain of the Falling Stars?” Dong Li asked.
After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, “Even if she has, she’ll have to return to the Demon realms through the teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. We can find that teleportation portal and cut off her retreat.”
“I didn’t expect that I’d have to rely on her to have my revenge,” Dong Li said with a bitter, self-mocking smile.
However, a moment later, a determined look suddenly appeared in her eyes as she said, “Since I’m still alive, I’ll avenge my clan! Tell me about that grand patriarch Catie.”
Nie Tian hesitated briefly before saying, “She’s from the Bispo Clan, which is currently lead by a grand monarch: Grand Monarch Bloodlust.”
Dong Li’s expression froze. “Grand monarch…”
Without saying another word, she retreated to the mountain valley where the dark stone was kept with her black tortoise.
Nie Tian understood that she must need some time to process this calamity her clan had gone through. A few words weren’t going to cheer her up.
After she left, Nie Tian briefly explained the situation to Qin Yan and the other juniors. He also told them to be vigilant and keep an eye on Dong Li, then flew out of the Realm of a Hundred Battles on his Star Boat.
His Star Boat soon berthed in the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles.
After placing the Star Behemoth bone beside him, he started channeling power from the starry river with the help of the Nine Stars Flower, the flame spark, and the Godspirit Tree within him.
Pei Qiqi played a key role in searching for Catie. Him being there wouldn’t make much of a difference.
As long as Pei Qiqi could locate her, Yan Zhan, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang would be able to make sure that she didn’t leave the Domain of the Falling Stars alive, especially now that Cardy, who had been at the peak of the ninth grade, had been taken care of.
Furthermore, since that teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries had probably been transferred by that three-headed python of Catie’s, capturing her would probably allow them to find it as well.
This Demon invasion had put Nie Tian under new pressure, and made him realize that if he didn’t enter the Saint domain or make new breakthroughs in his bloodline, he wouldn’t be able to rely on himself to turn the situation around.
"Power! I need to achieve a higher cultivation base and bloodline grade!” With this thought, Nie Tian forced himself to calm down and let the three treasures within him process the mixed energies in the starry river. Meanwhile, he himself focused on generating more Blood Essence with the outsider corpses Hou Chulan had given him, and fusing it into the Flame Dragon Armor and the Star Behemoth bone.
At this point, he had already set the Bone Blood Demon aside.
Since it was only at the eighth grade, and the help it could give him was very limited, it was no longer worth it to waste his precious Blood Essence on it.
Therefore, he spent most of his time strengthening the Flame Dragon Armor and that bone.
He had already used what had been left of the Demon corpses he had gained from the Demon realms to toughen Pei Qiqi’s body.
What he had left now were the three powerful corpses Hou Chulan had given him as a reward.
They were an early ninth grade Demon, an early ninth grade Phantasm, and a middle ninth grade flame qilin.
He started with the Demon. He activated Life Drain, generated Blood Essence, and fused it into the Flame Dragon Armor and that bone.
Two weeks later, the Demon grand patriarch’s corpse was drained of its flesh power.
The bone had expanded to more than fifty meters long.
With shimmering blood-colored lights running within it, the translucent bone was extremely eye-catching in the dark starry river.
The meridians within the bone had also become unprecedentedly clear, and seemed to carry wonders that Nie Tian couldn’t fathom yet.
The Flame Dragon Armor’s soul within the Blood Core had now transcended, and become a dragon soul.
Now, the Flame Dragon Armor was not only filled with a rich flesh aura, but strong soul fluctuations as well.
WHOOSH!
Nie Tian took the flame qilin out of his ring of holding.
Just as he was about to absorb and refine its flesh power, the Flame Dragon Armor suddenly sent him a soul message.
The Flame Dragon Armor hoped to refine the enormous flame qilin by itself!
“You don’t even need my help now…?” Nie Tian pondered briefly before giving the flame qilin to the Flame Dragon Armor with a trusting heart.
The Flame Dragon Armor’s soul had been a flame dragon, whose attribute was the same as a flame qilin, so he assumed that it made sense that it could absorb the flame qilin’s residual power on its own.
After receiving Nie Tian’s permission, the Flame Dragon Armor instantly morphed into a huge dragon of flames that engulfed the flame qilin and started absorbing its residual power bit by bit.
Seeing this, Nie Tian took out the remaining Phantasm grand patriarch corpse, and began refining and fusing Blood Essence into the bone.
He noticed that with every drop of Blood Essence he fused into it, the bone would undergo a slight but visible growth, and more fine Bloodline Crystal Chains would form within its meridians.
The bone’s flesh aura had been rich to begin with. Now, as more and more Blood Essence was fused into it, its flesh aura became increasingly profound, and it glittered with increasingly dazzling crimson light.
Nie Tian examined it with his bloodline power and came to a shocking discovery. “Such a strong flesh aura… I suppose it matches that of a ninth grade grand patriarch…
“It’s said that Star Behemoths were the true overlords of the starry river back in the Primal Era. As large as realms, they preyed on titans and the first Demons. They were chosen by the heavens. Standing at the top of the food chain, they were the ultimate predators of this starry river.
“Can my Blood Essence really bring a Star Behemoth back to life by relying on nothing but a bone?”
The mere thought thrilled him.
FIZZ! FIZZ!
While his imagination ran wild, the mysterious meridians within the bone suddenly lit up.
Thanks to his profound connection with the bone, Nie Tian shrewdly realized that it seemed to have locked down on something.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
An intense crimson flesh aura rose from the bone, enveloping everything around it, including Nie Tian.
Then, like a bolt of crimson lightning, it shot into the distant starry river.
In the starry river south of the Realm of a Hundred Battles…
Catie from the Bispo Clan quietly appeared, along with her three-headed python, which was now dozens of times smaller. With a cold look in her eyes, she gazed at the Realm of a Hundred Battles.
A hint of a brutal smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she said, “The most dangerous place is the safest place. I bet they didn’t think I’d return to the Realm of a Hundred Battles so soon.”
However, just as she was about to reenter the Realm of a Hundred Battles to snipe Dong Li and take the dark stone away, a sudden sense of fear struck her.
It seemed to be a fear that had been branded in the deepest part of her bloodline.
It was a trembling despair, as if she had been locked down by her natural enemy!
Catie’s face turned pale. “What is it that’s inspiring such despair in my noble bloodline?”
At that moment, a scene was awakened from the deepest part of her bloodline, and presented itself before her eyes.
It was a scene of a terrifying figure that was as vast as a realm preying on Demons in the depths of the starry river.
Those Demons were the ancestors of the Demons now. They were referred to as Ancient Demons.
As the first Demons, the Ancient Demons had gone through countless years of bloodline upgrades and evolution to become what the Demons were now.
Compared to their ancestors, the Demons nowadays were stronger. However, their bloodlines still carried their deep-rooted fears.
What Catie was experiencing now was a deep fear that her ancestors had felt for their natural enemy.
