Saint domain experts from various domains gathered to Ye Wenhan’s side. After observing attentively for a while with narrowed eyes, they burst into a heated discussion.
“Is that puppet made from a dead Bonebrute?”
“That puppet refined from an eighth grade Bonebrute through a secret method is actually scattering the miasma released by Gupi?!”
“The Bonebrutes surely are the most special race among the myriad races in this starry river.”
“Nie Tian is resourceful indeed!”
Huang Jinnan chuckled and said, “I didn’t know that not only do Bonebrutes have natural advantages when facing Fiends, but they can also handle such fatal toxins.”
Ji Yuanquan smiled and said, “That Bonebrute puppet is actually making a difference.”
“Not necessarily,” Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion said softly. He was the only one who still seemed deeply worried. “Perhaps tenth grade Bonebrutes can simply ignore the toxins released by Gupi, but ninth and eighth grade Bonebrutes might not be able to resist those fatal toxins completely. You’ve got to know that Gupi’s toxins are not only destructive to our domains and fleshly bodies, but our souls as well!”
Everyone’s expressions changed as they heard these words.
“So Nie Tian...” Hou Chulan said.
Ye Wenhan took a deep breath. Staring at the surging miasma in Jiang Yuanchi’s dark gray domain and sensing the strange flesh aura within it, he said with a heavy tone, “Those are only tentacles transformed from the toxic miasma released by Gupi, not its actual tentacles. The Gupi hasn’t brought out its true might yet.”
“How mighty is Gupi really?” He Lianxiong asked.
“What makes it truly powerful are the actual tentacles that come out of its true form,” Ye Wenhan explained. “They’re much more destructive than the tentacles condensed from the poisonous miasma it releases. However, what worries me the most is what kind of relations.h.i.+p Jiang Yuanchi and Gupi have now.”
“Gupi is an intelligent creature, right?” Hou Chulan asked.
Ye Wenhan nodded. “Of course, it’s every bit as intelligent as any higher being we know. So if it has escaped Jiang Yuanchi’s control, or worse, if it has possessed him, then the consequences...”
With these words, he couldn’t help but s.h.i.+ver, his face turning pale with fright.
Ji Yuanquan shook his head repeatedly. “No! That’s impossible! Jiang Yuanchi is the sectmaster of the Shadow Society. He’s sealed Gupi with secret shadow magics for ages. No one understands its might better than him. And he’s a smart man. He wouldn’t let something like that happen.”
Ye Wenhan sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
FIZZ! FIZZ!
In front of the Bone Blood Demon’s chest, the special s.h.i.+eld Nie Tian had enveloped himself with would be fixed by his surging flesh power as soon as it was corroded and compromised.
The Bone Blood Demon continued to swing its bony arms, which looked like huge swords wreathed in pale-gray death power, chopping and scattering the miasma.
Failing to condense into tentacles to attack Nie Tian, the miasma that actually touched Nie Tian’s protective s.h.i.+eld turned out to be much less destructive.
Surprisingly, with the help of the Bone Blood Demon, Nie Tian’s special s.h.i.+eld actually managed to resist the miasma and keep Nie Tian safe in the Seventh Heaven.
Even so, more miasma spread towards the Eighth Heaven.
Nie Tian frowned. “It seems that I can resist Gupi’s toxins to a large extent with this s.h.i.+eld of mixed flesh power and power from the flame spark. And the Bone Blood Demon has proven to be able to slow down the miasma as it spreads toward the Eighth Heaven. The only problem is that I still can’t find a way to refine or wipe the miasma out completely.”
Chu Rui was right. Even though the Bonebrutes’ unique features might make them invulnerable to Gupi’s toxins, they couldn’t kill them either.
Even though his Bone Blood Demon could scatter the poisonous miasma, it couldn’t refine or wipe it out.
The miasma would regather once it spread far away from it.
Gradually, Nie Tian noticed something.
The miasma didn’t seem to be concentrated enough to melt his protective s.h.i.+eld anymore once it scattered and regathered. Even the miasma itself seemed to notice this.
Therefore, it started to move away from the Bone Blood Demon, and away from him.
Because of this, Nie Tian didn’t have to exert himself to resist the miasma anymore.
The regathered miasma picked up speed as it spread towards the Eighth Heaven, as if it intended to breach the last two defensive lines so it could finally disperse into the Realm of Fragmentary Star.
“This miasma clearly has its own awareness!”
In the Ninth Heaven, Yan Zhan wasn’t elated for long before his expression flickered. He noticed that the miasma scattered by the Bone Blood Demon circled around Nie Tian’s location, then after regathering, pierced towards the border between the Seventh and Eighth Heaven with great force, like an awl.
Chu Rui smiled bitterly and said, “Gupi is controlling that miasma. Like I said, Gupi is very intelligent. Even from beyond so many layers of the Nine Star Heavens, it can still manipulate its miasma with such precision. Is Jiang Yuanchi suppressing it or not?”
“Even though Nie Tian is unharmed, he doesn’t seem to be able to stop that miasma from spreading,” Xin Qing said, looking anxious.
“You!” Eyes wide, Wei Lai turned and pointed at Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, w.a.n.g Meijia, and Han Wanrong, demanding that they return to the Fragmentary Star Palace to arrange for core disciples to evacuate through teleportation portals in order to preserve their hope for a future.
After hesitating for a few seconds, the several Sons of the Stars headed down.
Chu Rui sighed and called out, “Nie Tian! No more futile attempts! The future of our sect lies with you! You need to leave the Realm of Fragmentary Star now! Gupi is unbeatable, not to mention there’s also Jiang Yuanchi! Come back now! What you’re doing to that miasma is meaningless!”
Nie Tian didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, he pondered, “If Jiang Yuanchi sealed the Gupi with his shadow magic, can I seal the miasma with a similar magic?”
He searched his memories and found several sealing magics, most of which came from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. There were also a few that had been pa.s.sed on to him by his master, Wu Ji.
However, he didn’t think any of them would help him now.
All of a sudden, a spiritual light flashed across his mind like a bolt of lightning, showing him a direction. “Wait! There is a wondrous sealing magic I can use!”
He remembered the sealing magic he had derived from the buried t.i.tans in the magical land the Flame Dragon Armor had taken him to. It allowed him to create an Illusory Ancient Talisman that was in the shape of the character ‘Seal’.
He had used that sealing magic to seal a cl.u.s.ter of corpse flame he had encountered in the Stone Golem capital in the Shatter Battlefield.
That cl.u.s.ter of corpse flame was also extremely toxic. A mere touch of it would melt people’s flesh away.
Eventually, he had sealed it with the Illusory Ancient Talismans and presented it to Li Langfeng, who had later refined it into himself bit by bit. This had allowed him to make a series of breakthroughs in his cultivation.
What Nie Tian was facing now wasn’t the actual tentacles of Gupi, but rather some toxic miasma released by it. Could it be sealed by an Illusory Ancient Talisman?
With this thought in mind, he hesitated no more.
“Seal!”
As he exclaimed the word, his hand wove in the air to summon all sorts of spiritual power, flesh power, and soul power to condense and weave into the Illusory Ancient Talisman as he remembered it.
FIZZ! FIZZ!
As wisps of power flew out to interweave in front of his chest, the star power in the Seventh Heaven also answered his summons, and flew from every direction to join the action.
Countless seemingly disorderly lines gradually wove into a gorgeous pattern, as if an ancient G.o.d were drawing it with a divine brush.
Moments later, a mysterious ancient talisman came to form half a meter in front of him.
A remote, thick, deep, and vast aura burst forth from within the Illusory Ancient Talisman. Nie Tian’s wisps of soul awareness guided it to float towards the regions where the miasma was the thickest.
“Go!”
Upon receiving Nie Tian’s command, the Illusory Ancient Talisman swooped towards the miasma.
WHOOs.h.!.+ WHOOs.h.!.+ WHOOs.h.!.+ WHOOs.h.!.+
Wherever the Illusory Ancient Talisman flew, wisps of colorful toxic miasma were absorbed by it, like metal dust attracted by magnets.
“It’s working!”
Nie Tian’s eyes lit up. He stared unblinkingly at the Illusory Ancient Talisman, the light of excitement filling his eyes.
Under his gaze, the poisonous miasma was drawn into the Illusory Ancient Talisman wherever it glided.
Soon, the Illusory Ancient Talisman reached the part where the toxic miasma was the most concentrated.
WHOOs.h.!.+
Wisp after wisp of colorful miasma was channeled into the Illusory Ancient Talisman and disappeared like an eraser wiping a blackboard.
Gradually, the Illusory Ancient Talisman turned into a multicolored sphere that emanated suffocating light.