Nie Tian was taken aback.
He examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that it was the Spirit Pearl, or to be exact, the five evil gods, that were channeling wisps of soul-nourishing power from the Seven-star Blue Sea into his sea of awareness.
At this moment, the five evil gods were letting out low cheerful growls in their respective regions inside the Spirit Pearl, as if to establish some profound spell formation.
The establishment of the spell formation seemed to have stimulated the Spirit Pearl, allowing it to gather wisps of soul-strengthening power from his surroundings.
Soon, he sensed another, deeper emotion from the five evil gods.
It was like they were missing something…
“What are they missing?”
Nie Tian was baffled, wondering what in the Seven-star Blue Sea the five evil gods could possibly miss.
Was it the Nether Realm that they missed?
The Spirit Pearl’s soul took it upon itself to explain, “Master, their stone statues appeared in the Nether Realm along with the Nether River. They weren’t there from the beginning. We don’t know why the Nether River flowed into the Nether Realm, and why their statues appeared with it.”
The Spirit Pearl’s soul had been a Phantasm grand patriarch, who had visited the place where the stone statues of the five evil gods stood to derive soul incantations from them before.
“If they’re not from the Nether Realm originally, what are they missing?” Nie Tian frowned and suddenly remembered the Stone Golems that had come out of the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea. “Don’t tell me they’re missing a heaven and earth that the sea connects to? Is there a spatial tunnel at the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea that connects to their ancestral land?”
WHOOSH!
At this moment, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect, who practiced body-refining incantations, slowly flew over with a valiant bearing.
The shrunken ninth grade Frost Blood Python coiled around her curvy waist like a sparkling belt of ice.
Nie Tian examined her with his bloodline power, and discovered that she, who was like a robust female cougar, was exuding a strong flesh aura. Enveloped in a sparkling icy shield, her well-built sexy physique slowly descended towards the sea.
Nie Tian looked quietly up at her as he continued to channel all sorts of power from the Seven-star Blue Sea into his domain and sea of awareness.
Yin Yanan looked down at him, and was surprised to discover that he had awoken.
“Nie Tian,” she called softly.
However, Nie Tian couldn’t hear what she said. He could only see her lips moving.
Finally, she descended into the sea.
Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and a few Saint domain experts that were close to Nie Tian hadn’t left. They floated over the sea, and waited to see if Yin Yanan could benefit from entering the Seven-star Blue Sea.
Upon contact with the Seven-star Blue Sea, Yin Yanan, who had moved flesh power around her body, tightened her whole body.
A shocked expression appeared on her face.
FZZZ!
Like horses that ran wild, countless wisps of unknown power madly attacked her flesh aura defense and the icy shield she and her Frost Blood Python had formed together.
CRACK!
The icy shield barely lasted a second before shattering.
All of a sudden, Yin Yanan started sinking towards the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea at a fast speed, fear and panic filling her face. The ninth grade Frost Blood Python exerted its frost power, but still couldn’t stop her from sinking.
Those who were observing from high above prepared to dive down to help her.
“Calm down!” Dong Li said sternly. “That Frost Blood Python is at the ninth grade, which makes it as powerful as an outsider grand patriarch. Also, Yin Yanan is one of very few who practices body-refining incantations. If even she can’t stop herself from sinking, which of you can say that you’ll be able to fish her out of the Seven-star Blue Sea?”
With these words, Dong Li turned to fix Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying with an inquiring gaze.
It seemed to her that if anyone could save Yin Yanan, it would be Mo Qianfan or Yu Suying, who were both at the God domain.
However, the two of them were clearly hesitant.
Their hesitation was because they deemed Yin Yanan to be of little importance, and that she wasn’t worth them risking their own safety.
Eventually, it was Zhao Shanling who stepped up and said, “Let me give it a try.”
He summoned the Voidspirit Pagoda and flew off. “I took a secret trip here to explore the Seven-star Blue Sea years ago, but didn’t find anything. But things seem to be different this time. Now, the sea appears to be filled with opportunities, but in fact, it’s filled with danger.”
The Voidspirit Pagoda whooshed out and warded off seawater with spatial power.
As he lost his spatial power at an alarming rate, he rapidly dove towards Yin Yanan, grabbed her, and pulled her out of the peculiar sea. Afterwards, he said, sounding still badly shaken, “The Seven-star Blue Sea has become far more dangerous than when I last entered it! Even with the Voidspirit Pagoda, I can’t stay underwater longer than a few seconds.”
Having just escaped death, Yin Yanan looked down at Nie Tian, who was still immersed in the sea. “But why is he…?”
“Who the hell knows?!” Zhao Shanling cursed in a low voice.
At that moment, Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, suddenly exclaimed. “Look!”
People then shifted their gazes from Yin Yanan back to the Seven-star Blue Sea.
In a corner of the sea, waves were rising due to Nie Tian’s twisting ripping magnetic field. However, for some reason, the sea suddenly quieted down.
The surface of the sea soon became as serene as a mirror that reflected glorious light.
That was when a mysterious stream with a color different from the sea appeared in the gorgeous sea, and quietly flowed towards the center of it. More surprisingly, the stream exuded rich Phantasm Qi!
“What’s that?” Even Zhao Shanling was dumbstruck, not sure what he was looking at.
Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Palace went blank for a while before suddenly exclaiming, “Don’t tell me that that’s the legendary Nether River that runs through the Nether Realm!”
Everyone was flabbergasted upon hearing her speculation. But immediately afterwards, they all shook their heads in disbelief.
“What? The Nether River?”
“How is that possible?”
It was said that the Nether River was the place where the Phantasms had been born, and the origin of all of their bloodlines and soul magics. Like the river of time, from which Wu Ji had derived enlightenment, the Nether River also held countless secrets.
Even today, no Phantasm grand monarchs dared to say that they had uncovered all of the Nether River’s secrets.
No one in their long history had!
Even their most ancient records and legends didn’t explain the origin of that wondrous river that only ran through the Nether Realm.
Now, why did it suddenly show up in the Seven-star Blue Sea?
This was unbelievable!
Mo Qianfan took a deep breath and said with a concerned tone, “The Phantasm Qi is growing richer and richer. Even the mixed energies in the Seven-star Blue Sea are failing to drown it out. Perhaps that actually is a branch of the Nether River. Didn’t Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan say that the Seven-star Blue Sea is a Realm Sea?
“If it connects to another heaven and earth, I suppose it’s possible for the Nether River to flow into it from the Nether Realm.”
“Wait!” Yu Suying shook her head. “If this Realm Sea actually connects to the Phantasms’ ancestral land, then how come they’ve never invaded through it? There aren’t any records of the Phantasms invading the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries over the past hundreds of thousands of years.”
People held different opinions.
However, they soon discovered that the stream, which had magically appeared in the Seven-star Blue Sea, was flowing directly towards Nie Tian, like a long sword.
“It’s not going to hurt Nie Tian, is it?” Dong Li asked, looking a bit nervous.
Yu Suying shook her head. “No, it’s not. It seems to me that it’s being attracted by Nie Tian.”
“Attracted?”
WHOOSH!
The invaluable Phantasm treasure, the Spirit Pearl, suddenly flew out of Nie Tian’s ring of holding, wreathed in a misty cyan aura, before it shrank and embedded itself in Nie Tian’s forehead, like a third eye between his eyebrows.
It looked very similar to the prismatic crystal on every Phantasm’s forehead.
The five evil gods could no longer suppress their excitement as they flew out to have a good swim in the Seven-star Blue Sea.
The evil god of bloodlust, which had suffered heavy blows from Grand Monarch Bloodlust, recovered rapidly.
As their master, Nie Tian discovered that its aura was growing stronger with every passing second. Therefore, he knew that it wouldn’t be long before it fully recovered from its injuries.
Flabbergasted, the Spirit Pearl’s soul cried out, “Master, that river is none other than the Nether River that runs through my people’s ancestral land, the Nether Realm!
“Even though it seems to be a branch, it’s still the Nether River! Why on earth would it suddenly appear in the human heaven and earth? What secrets does this sea hold that are making the evil gods so excited, and the Nether River stretch all the way here?!”
A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian. “So that actually is the Nether River!”
At this moment, the Spirit Pearl that was embedded in his forehead seemed to actually become his third eye, as he gained another view through it!
The branch of the Nether River he saw through this ‘eye’ was completely different from the Nether River that Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and everyone else who was floating over the sea saw.
Deeply shaken, he observed the Nether River with rapt attention. He could see spirits drifting in it and soul strands interweaving in a wondrous way, as if they represented a specific method to use soul power.
“A soul magic!”
