Nie Tian’s abnormal behavior soon caught the attention of the Jian Clan and Guan Clan members again.
That was because he entered and exited the atmosphere of energies over and over again over the following days.
Every time, he would be able to last longer in there than his previous attempt.
It went from a few seconds to a few minutes in three days.
That was when Jian Gao started to become interested in Nie Tian’s identity. He came over while Nie Tian was recuperating with Heavenly Wood Heal, and started asking Qiao Yunxi questions in a devious manner.
The answer Qiao Yunxi gave him was still the same: he was a honored guest of the Divine Flame Sect.
Even though Jian Gao didn’t know much about body refining incantations, he could sense an increasingly vigorous flesh power from Nie Tian as he practiced cultivation.
Normally, limited by their body features, humans wouldn’t spend much time and energy on refining their bodies.
Only those who were born with unusually tough bodies and had access to ancient body refining incantations like Yin Yanan would chose to practice body refining incantations and spiritual power incantations at the same time.
He suspected that Nie Tian was such a kind of person.
However, there were only a handful of this kind of people throughout the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, and he knew every single one of them. Clearly, Nie Tian wasn’t among them.
“Is he from another domain?” Jian Gao thought to himself.
Soon, two weeks passed.
During this time, Nie Tian focused on tearing his meridians and rebuilding them with the help of the atmosphere of mixed energies.
The process of Meridian Toughening went fast and smoothly.
Even though he didn’t talk to anyone during this time, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect kept a close watch on him.
Jian Gao failed to get any information regarding Nie Tian’s background. Therefore, he could only give up, and went back to waiting anxiously for their Void domain experts.
They were worried that outsiders would find their way to this place before their experts arrived.
Qiao Yunxi also began to worry, since they had waited here for two weeks already, but Yue Yanxi still hadn’t flown out of that floating continent to take them in.
She assumed that the people from the Divine Flame Sect must have gotten into trouble in there. Otherwise, someone would have come out every once in a while to check whether she and Nie Tian had arrived. After all, they had left all those divine flame seals for them, and they must know the unique features of this atmosphere of mixed energies.
A few more days passed.
On this day, rapid sharp sounds rang out from a Sound Stone within Jian Gao’s sleeve.
Every Jian Clan and Guan Clan member shouted in high spirits, assuming that they were finally going to get what they had been waiting for, “Our elders are coming!”
A hint of delight also appeared on Jian Gao’s face as he sent a wisp of soul awareness into his Sound Stone to receive the new message.
However, his face dropped in the next moment.
“What’s wrong?” Guan Qi asked in a concerned voice.
“There’s been a mishap!” Jian Gao turned his head sideways. Gazing angrily into the distance, he continued, “The elders from our clans were ambushed on their way here, and they suffered heavy casualties!”
“How is that possible?!” Guan Qi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Our sects received our messages! Knowing that there are Void domain experts like Jiang Feng here, they must have sent in Void domain experts as well!”
Their exclamation caught Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi’s attention. The two of them then listened with rapt attention.
“Did they encounter those scum from the Bliss Mountain Sect?” Guan He asked angrily.
Face very grim, Jian Gao answered, “No.”
“Then it must be the outsiders!” Guan He blurted.
Jian Gao shook his head. “Not the outsiders. They were a group of Qi warriors with unknown identities. And they had more than one Void domain expert on their team!
“What’s unbelievable is that Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect was among them.
“It seems as if it was him who summoned those Qi Warriors to this region!”
“Xing Beichen!!” Yin Yanan spat.
“That’s right!” Jian Gao said with a grim face. “According to the message, those Qi Warriors even seemed to treat Xing Beichen with great respect!”
“Xing Beichen…” Yin Yanan said. “The sectmaster of the Trisword Sect brought him back to the Trisword Sect from one of his trips and made him a disciple. He’s not from the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries.”
Not many people knew this secret. Even Guan Qi and Jian Gao gasped after hearing about it.
“No wonder he dared to do such a crazy thing as to make an attempt on your lives,” Qiao Yunxi chimed in. “He must have sent word to his original sect and told them about the uniqueness of this forbidden region soon after coming here. His old sect probably sent powerful experts here through some special teleportation device after receiving his message.
“If they have sent multiple Void domain expert here and the experts all treat him with respect, then it must mean that he enjoys a lofty position within that sect.
“I bet that sect is more powerful than the Trisword Sect. Only that can explain why he had the audacity to try to kill you and I.”
Yin Yanan nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking.”
After learning about the situation, the Guan Clan and Jian Clan members started to grow restless, not knowing what to do.
Now, the floating continent before their eyes was still enveloped by an atmosphere of strange energies, making it inaccessible for them. Meanwhile, their aid had been assaulted by Xing Beichen and his foreign Qi Warrior friends. It remained a question of where the future would lead them.
SHEW!
At this very moment, Nie Tian once again flew back to the Flame Bird from the atmosphere of chaotic energies.
Just as he was about to resume toughening his meridians with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal, he shrewdly discovered the distress and bitterness on everyone’s faces.
He then asked Qiao Yunxi about it, and learned of what was going on.
During the past period of time, he had focused on strengthening himself with the help of the powers left by powerful outsiders and ancient spirit beasts, and had long since forgotten about charging through the atmosphere to land on the floating continent.
The way he saw it, his most important task right now was to find a secluded location to stabilize what he had recently achieved with Meridian Toughening.
Who would have thought that he would have to give up on that thought due to the sudden change in the situation?
The effective range of Sound Stones was normally very limited. Since Jian Gao has received a message from their reinforcement team, that meant they weren’t far from this location. The same went for Xing Beichen and his people.
Perhaps they would arrive soon.
If their reinforcement team was no match for those foreign Qi Warriors, then adding in Jian Gao and these people probably wouldn’t change anything.
Facing Void domain experts, none of their means would work. Therefore, their only hope to survive this perilous situation was to meet up with Yue Yanxi as soon as possible.
“Dammit! Why does it have to be now?!” Yin Yanan spat. “My Frost Blood Python is now at a crucial juncture, and can’t unleash its full strength. Otherwise, I’d be able to go through that layer of mixed energies with ease!”
Qiao Yunxi also grew uneasy. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
After pondering for a moment, Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat and jumped in. Then, he beckoned the girls. “Put your Flame Bird away. I’m not completely sure that this spiritual tool will be able to get us through the atmosphere of energies, but I’ll take my chances. Do you want to join me?”
The girls sudden remembered that the Star Boat was a magical item from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. A shred of hope was born in their hearts.
After a moment of hesitation, Qiao Yunxi put the Flame Bird away, and the two of them leapt into the Star Boat.
“Good luck to you.” With a quick glance at Jian Gao and Guan Qi, Nie Tian took out Star Stones from within his ring of holding and spread them across the bottom of the Star Boat.
Immediately afterwards, he activated the Star Boat, which pierced into the atmosphere of chaotic energies like a shooting star.