“The Thousandsword Mountain Sect!”
Nie Tian’s face fell upon hearing that the incoming people were from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.
Eyebrows furrowed, Qi Bailu said in a grim voice, “We have reason to believe it’s the Thousandsword Mountain Sect who’s been providing the Bonebrutes with a large amount of human corpses!”
Shocked by these words, Jing Rou asked, “How is that possible?!”
Duan Shihu gave a cold snort. “How’s that not possible? I’ve never seen anything in that Xing Bo. That bastard cousin of his, Xing Beichen, even lusted after you back in the day. Fortunately, I nearly killed him and forced him to leave the Domain of Heaven Python for good!
“Don’t you know what kind of person Xing Beichen is? Xing Bo looks like a decent person, but who knows whether he’s as degenerate as Xing Beichen at heart?
“The way I see it, Xing Bo may very well be the one who’s secretly colluded with the Bonebrutes!”
Taken aback, Nie Tian said, rubbing his chin, “Xing Bo is Xing Beichen’s cousin?”
“Yeah,” Duan Shihu said angrily. “As far as I see it, they’re jackals from the same lair! (Idiom: just as bad as each other) Not a single one from the Xing Clan is decent!”
Jing Rou shot him one of her sideways glances, yet her eyes were filled with smiles, as if she was rather happy that Duan Shihu had fought for her affection. “Alright, alright. You’ve driven him out of the Domain of Heaven Python already. What else do you want?”
“Xing Beichen has died,” Nie Tian said, smiling.
“Do you know him?” Duan Shihu asked with a puzzled expression.
Nie Tian nodded. “I don’t know about your history with him, senior martial brother. But I heard that he had offended someone in the Domain of Heaven Python, and was forced to take shelter in the Trisword Sect in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. He had even become their chosen one after his arrival.”
“I’m the one who he offended!” Duan Shihu said with a stern, awe-inspiring look. “I almost killed him back then. He knew that it’d only be a matter of time before I killed him if he stayed in the Domain of Heaven Python, so he fled the domain.”
With a grin, Nie Tian said, “If that’s the case, I took care of your unfinished business for you, senior martial brother.”
Even Jing Rou was shocked. “What!? Xing Beichen died at your hands? I know a little bit about the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. Even though they don’t have Saint domain experts, they have quite a few Void domain experts. But Shihu told me once that you don’t even have a single Void domain expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars.”
Nie Tian gave him a smile. “Xing Beichen was not the only one who died at my hands. There was also an expert named Ke Jinpeng, an expert named Sha Yan, and three other Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.”
After hearing these words, not only did Jing Rou find it unbelievable, but even Duan Shihu started to think that he was making a boast of his strength.
However, Ke Jinpeng and Sha Yan were indeed Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, who they had met before.
If he was telling the truth, it didn’t seem possible for even the entire Domain of the Falling Stars to kill Ke Jinpeng and the other four in battle.
If he was lying, how would he know about Ke Jinpeng and Sha Yan?
Both Duan Shihu and Jing Rou were deeply puzzled.
At this moment, the ancient starship from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect berthed in front of theirs, and Xing Bo greeted them in a loud voice.
“He’s discovered us, hasn’t he?” Qi Bailu seemed worried.
Duan Shihu smiled proudly and said, “Don’t worry, Senior Qi. They won’t be able to sense your presence as long as you stay in the cabin. You were able to sense me and Little Rou earlier because I wanted you to. I knew you were from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and thus gave you the opportunity to approach my starship.”
With these words, he gave Nie Tian a deep, meaningful look. “Let’s resume our conversation later. I’ll go meet Xing Bo first.”
Nie Tian nodded.
WHOOSH!
Jing Rou’s prism with four facets was floating silently over her palm.
Nie Tian and the others looked into it with rapt attention, and saw the image of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect’s ancient starship in it.
A thin young man that resembled Xing Beichen could be seen standing at the prow of the starship. Beside him stood a Soul realm expert. The entire ancient starship was enveloped and protected by a spiritual power ward.
Jing Rou left the prism for Nie Tian, and then followed Duan Shihu out of the cabin.
Countless magical symbols once again flew out of the ancient starship’s surface to ward off the deadly impurities.
“This senior martial brother of yours is so beyond ordinary,” Zhao Shanling, who had remained silent for a long time, said in a low voice. “He’s at the middle Profound realm, but his wife has already entered the late Profound realm. The Divine Seal Sect, where they’re from, must be every bit as powerful as the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect, if not more powerful.”
Hua Mu and the other experts nodded vigorously, as they were all fully convinced.
Xing Beichen had been from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, but since he had offended Duan Shihu, Duan Shihu had nearly killed him, and driven him out of the Domain of Heaven Python.
This alone proved that Duan Shihu wasn’t afraid of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.
“This senior martial brother of mine is indeed outstanding,” Nie Tian said. “My master broke the barriers in his cultivation and entered the Soul realm only recently. However, it’s only been a few decades since he left the Domain of the Falling Stars, and he’s already entered the middle Profound realm. Considering the speed at which he’s progressed in his cultivation, I’m afraid it won’t be long before he overtakes my master.”
Hua Mu sighed. “His cultivation environment and resources are different from ours. After all, this is the Domain of Heaven Python, a Qi warrior domain that’s even more advanced than the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. The fact that he came here, married that woman, and had this ancient starship to themselves is enough evidence of their lofty status in the Divine Seal Sect.
“Their cultivation talent is extraordinary to start with. Adding in their access to rich cultivation resources and accomplished mentors, it’s only natural that they’ve been making rapid progress in their cultivation.”
Zhao Shanling said. “Your master is truly unique. The profundity of time power, which he practices, must exceed your imagination. Even Heaven envies people like your master. That’s why he suffered from his lifespan problem. But now that he’s made the most important breakthrough in his cultivation, considering his talent, he’ll be able to make continuous progress. He’s bound to shine across the boundless starry river in the future!”
Nie Tian grinned. “I too believe he’ll shake this universe one day!”
In the four-faceted prism, Duan Shihu asked with a cold, arrogant tone, “What are you doing here, Xing Bo?”
Nie Tian and the other experts were able to see every move he made and catch every word he said through the prism.
Xing Bo bowed respectfully towards the couple, adopting a very low profile. “Greetings, Brother Duan, Sister Jing.”
He hadn’t been so humble even when he had talked to Zhong Shishu from the Golden Vast Sect.
From his expression and tone, Nie Tian could tell that he was actually rather afraid of Duan Shihu and Jing Rou. Only out of heartfelt fear would someone be so apprehensive.
He had not only a Soul realm expert at his back, but also an ancient starship at his disposal, yet he behaved so obsequiously towards Duan Shihu and Jing Rou. This alone provided answers to many questions.
“We’ve been working together with the Golden Vast Sect to capture a few foreign Qi warriors in this region,” Xing Bo said with a justified expression. “They are from a place called the Domain of the Falling Stars. They’ve colluded with Bonebrutes and have been providing them with a large number of human corpses.
“Most of them are at the Soul realm. Some are even skilled in spatial magics.
“They escaped from the Golden Vast Sect not so long ago with the help of some spatial power spiritual tool. We searched that dead star, but didn’t find any traces of them.
“So I suspected that they might have left that dead star and come to this region.
“I was worried that you would run into them and get into trouble, so I came over to inform you. I suggest you be extra careful, and don’t leave your ancient starship for the time being.
“As long as you stay inside, considering the grade of this ancient starship, you surely won’t need to fear a few Soul realm Qi warriors.”
Xing Bo was full of smiles, completely unsuspicious of who might be hiding inside this ancient starship, which belonged to the Divine Seal Sect.
“Noted.” Duan Shihu sounded rather impatient. He waved his hand at Xing Bo and added, “If that’s all, you may leave now. I never liked anyone from your family.”
Xing Bo’s smile didn’t change in the slightest as he nodded and said, “Alright, we’re leaving now.”
“Oh, wait.” Jing Rou stopped him. “Our sect will go do a thorough investigation of that dead star you said people from the Domain of the Falling Stars showed up on. I can’t believe foreign Qi warriors are actually providing Bonebrutes with corpses of their own kind. This is totally unacceptable. It’s our duty to get to the bottom of this.”
Xing Bo’s smile suddenly froze. “Your sect wants to go there and investigate?”
Jing Rou nodded. “Exactly. We’ll inform you of our findings after we get a full understanding of what’s going on. Neither your sect or the Golden Vast Sect has experts with deep understanding of spatial power. It’ll be hard for you guys to find clues anyway. We might as well take over the investigation and send in our spatial power experts.”
“Umm… alright,” Xing Bo said. “We’ll stand by while you do your investigation.”
“Good,” Jing Rou said.
“Okay, we’d better go now.” With these words, Xing Bo turned around and entered the cabin of his ancient starship. As soon as he did, his face fell and he bellowed, “Dammit! The Divine Seal Sect has also set their mind on the Domain of the Falling Stars!”
