The Divine Flame Sect was the third most powerful among the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries.
Its reserve power was only behind the Pure Heaven Sect and the Beast-controlling Sect.
The Trisword Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Chu Clan, the Jian Clan, and the Guan Clan were all weaker than the Divine Flame Sect.
The former name of the realm that the Divine Flame Sect was based in was already untraceable, but since the Divine Flame Sect had established their headquarters here, the realm had been renamed as the Realm of Divine Flame.
Vaster than the Realm of Split Void, the Realm of Divine Flame was wreathed in spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that was laced with rich flame power.
Numerous active volcanoes stood in different parts of the Realm of Divine Flame, producing a shocking amount of fire-attributed spiritual materials.
Disciples of the Divine Flame Sect would normally be scattered in different areas, cultivating in different volcanoes. Only when they ran into difficult points in their cultivation would they return to their headquarters to seek help from their seniors.
After stepping out of the teleportation portal in the Divine Flame Sect’s headquarters, Nie Tian gazed around, and discovered that they were on top of a lofty volcano that formed a circle with five other volcanoes of the same size.
Each of the volcanoes was crimson and thousands of meters high. Countless detailed spell formations could be seen carved on the hard, crimson rocks.
A number of stone pavilions stood atop each volcano. In the mountain valley that was surrounded by the volcanoes, many figures were busy working. They were either practicing cultivation or communicating with one another about the problems they had encountered in their cultivation.
These six volcanoes formed a similar situation to the Tool Sect in the Realm of Unbounded Desolation. The hearts of these volcanoes had all been sealed by special spell formations, preventing them from erupting.
Disciples of the Divine Flame Sect would use those spell formations to channel flame power from the hearts of the volcanoes and slowly spread it evenly within the mountain valley.
Standing atop one of the volcanoes, Nie Tian sensed his surroundings with rapt attention, and discovered that his vortex of flame power was spinning faster than usual.
Even though he was doing nothing, his spinning vortex of flame power could take in more flame power than he usually could.
The teleportation portal they just came out of stood on the mountaintop, not concealed in a room or anything with a roof.
Yue Yanxi laughed broadly as he strode over to receive Nie Tian with incomparable warmth. “Welcome to the Divine Flame Sect, Nie Tian!”
Yue Yanxi seemed somewhat apologetic as he said, “My apologies. I thought only members of the Dong Clan were coming. Who would have thought that you would come too? Our sectmaster happens to be on one of his trips. Otherwise, he would have come to meet you too.”
Dong Wangling and his Dong Clan members, as well as Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect, appeared from behind Nie Tian and bowed towards Yue Yanxi. “Greetings, Senior Yue.”
Yue Yanxi was the grand elder of the Divine Flame Sect, whose status in the Divine Flame Sect was only second to the sectmaster.
Even in the entire Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, he was among the most respected figures. As powerful as Dong Wangling was, he felt overshadowed by Yue Yanxi’s noble status.
Dong Wangling had visited once, yet Yue Yanxi hadn’t shown up last time.
Instead, it was some other Soul realm expert from the Divine Flame Sect who had received him and made arrangements to teleport him to the Beast-controlling Sect.
He was well-aware that if Nie Tian hadn’t come with them this time, this grand elder of the Divine Flame Sect still wouldn’t have shown up.
Yue Yanxi hadn’t come to receive them because of him, but because of Nie Tian.
Yue Yanxi waved his hand. “Enough with the pleasantries.”
Then, he turned to Dong Wangling and said, “Congratulations to your clan. Now that a close bond has formed between your clan and the Beast-controlling Sect, you can be viewed as a part of the Beast-controlling Sect from now on.”
After a short pause, he asked, “Do you want to teleport to the Beast-controlling Sect now, or do you want to take a walk in our sect?”
“I’m hoping to select suitable spirit beasts for our juniors as soon as possible,” Dong Wangling answered.
Nodding, Yue Yanxi beckoned with his hand and ordered, “Activate the spell formation and teleport them to the Beast-controlling Sect.”
In his eyes, these members of the Dong Clan weren’t nearly as important as Nie Tian. Therefore, he didn’t try to talk them into staying for a meal or anything.
The Dong Clan members returned to the spell formation one after another, where they waited to be teleported to the Beast-controlling Sect.
Dong Li seemed somewhat reluctant to leave as she asked Nie Tian, “How long will you stay in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries?”
“I won’t stay here very long,” Nie Tian said with an apologetic expression. “The Beast-controlling Sect will help you a great deal. Your cultivation base will improve significantly with their help, and the incantations you practice will be perfected. Finding a spirit beast that agrees with you will raise your battle prowess to a whole new level. I’ll go visit you in the Beast-controlling Sect right after I’m finished with my business in the Domain of Heaven Python.”
The two of them had spent more time apart than together since Nie Tian had entered that space disruption zone with Zhao Shanling.
He had spent the past few years traveling the starry river. He had even rarely returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars.
He knew that Dong Li had complaints about this, yet things in this world were usually hard to predict. He often had no choice in matters.
Dong Li smiled. “Alright, I’ll wait for you in the Beast-controlling Sect. If you don’t come, then I’ll go find you in the Domain of Heaven Python.”
Nie Tian nodded. “Sure.”
Immediately afterwards, the spell formation was activated, and Dong Wangling and the other Dong Clan members were teleported to the Beast-controlling Sect.
Yue Yanxi’s expression flickered. “The Domain of Heaven Python?!”
Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, also frowned upon hearing this.
Both Yue Yanxi and Mu Biqiong had met Ke Jinpeng from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect in the Realm of Shattered Earth.
Through the conversations between Ke Jinpeng and Xing Beichen, they had learned that Ke Jinpeng and the other Void domain experts had been from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, which was a powerful sect from the Domain of Heaven Python.
Later, after Nie Tian had killed Ke Jinpeng and Xing Beichen with the help of the grand spell formation in the Realm of Shattered Earth, he had cautiously reminded the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples to keep their mouths shut about this incident.
Originally, he had intentionally avoided contact with the Domain of Heaven Python, fearing that he would attract the Thousandsword Mountain Sect’s attention.
Why on earth would he go to the Domain of Heaven Python all of a sudden?
Nie Tian’s face grew grim as he explained to Yue Yanxi, “There was a mishap. A respected senior of mine was killed by a chosen one from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, so I took a trip to the Domain of Heaven Python…”
He went on and briefly explained what had happened, but intentionally left out many details.
Even so, Yue Yanxi’s expression flickered, showing a strong interest, after learning that there was a special realm in the Domain of Heaven Python where outsiders of various races could visit and trade with humans, and that spatial rifts that led to the Shatter Battlefield would soon open in that realm.
“The Realm of Maelstrom?! The Shatter Battlefield?!” Many Divine Flame Sect disciples in the vicinity also gasped with astonishment, and showed strong interest in visiting this special realm.
Mu Biqiong took a deep breath, her eyes lighting up. Apparently, she looked forward to visiting it as well.
After suppressing his desire to ask Nie Tian about the Realm of Maelstrom, Yue Yanxi narrowed his eyes and asked with a faint smile, “What do you intend to demand from the Bliss Mountain Sect using this girl?”
Mu Biqiong grew angry upon hearing this, but didn’t reveal it.
Nie Tian shot her a glance and said, “She didn’t suffer in the slightest during the time I had her as my prisoner. Not just that, she even advanced to the late Worldly realm, which makes her cultivation base even higher than mine. Just considering the fact that she came to significant gains and made a breakthrough in cultivation in my private realm, the Bliss Mountain Sect should express their gratitude towards me, right?”
Taken aback, Yue Yanxi asked, “Her breakthrough had something to do with that place?”
Nie Tian snorted and said, “Of course! Not just her, Yin Yanan also only broke through into the Profound realm because of the special environment there. Even her Frost Blood Python benefited greatly there.”
Yue Yanxi sighed, and with a bitter smile, he said, “I should have left Qiao Yunxi there too. We spent a long time searching its surrounding areas after leaving your realm, but found nothing. I’m afraid that that realm created by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace is the only thing that’s truly special about that forbidden region.”
After a short pause, he added with an anticipating expression, “By the way, you’ve come at a perfect time. An interesting thing just happened in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. I think you should go take a look.”
“What interesting thing?” Nie Tian asked curiously.
“There are five major sects and three major clans in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, but only four sects and three clans sent people to that forbidden region,” Yue Yanxi said. “One sect didn’t send any people there. Do you still remember?”
After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, “Yeah, people from the Beast-controlling Sect, the Divine Flame Sect, the Trisword Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Chu Clan, the Jian Clan, and the Guan Clan appeared in that region. People from the Pure Heaven Sect didn’t seem to have appeared there, so is the Pure Heaven Sect who you’re talking about?”
Yue Yanxi’s expression grew serious. “Exactly. The Pure Heaven Sect is actually the most powerful force in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. For the past thousand years, Patriarch Pure Heaven has been the strongest Qi warrior throughout the entire Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. No one could threaten his status. Now, he’s only one step away from entering the Saint domain. Once he does, the whole domain will change because of it.”
Looking unimpressed, Nie Tian muttered to himself, “So what?”
After his journey in the Domain of Heaven Python, he had learned that the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect all had Saint domain experts. Therefore, he didn’t feel very impressed by this Patriarch Pure Heaven, who was at the peak of the Void domain.
