After an unknown period of time pa.s.sed, Nie Tian awoke from his cultivation. Out of the pile of Flame Crystals in front of him, seven had been drained of their flame power and shattered into pieces of mundane rock.
The vortex of flame power within his spiritual sea clearly increased in size by a significant amount after this round of cultivation.
The flame power contained within it was much thicker and purer than it was before his fight with Jia Peng.
Previously, his meridians and muscles had suffered a certain degree of damage as a result of the earth power that lay within Jia Peng’s attack.
Nie Tian had deliberately consumed a large amount of spirit beast meat before cultivating. The pure flesh power that came with it seemed to have quietly spread throughout his body, healing his internal injuries without him even realizing it.
Standing about ten meters away, Zheng Bin said with a warm smile, “You’re finally awake.”
Wearing white garments, he looked rather handsome.
Nie Tian rose, nodded his head, and said, “How long was I out for?”
He didn’t have any instruments that could tell time. However, from his experience in the Green Illusion dimension, he knew Zheng Bin had an instrument that could tell the time within mysterious realms.
“Two days,” Zheng Bin replied.
Nie Tian rubbed his nose and he said with a chuckle, “It seems our luck isn’t that bad after all. It’s hard to imagine that no one actually discovered us during these last two days.”
“Hahaha!” Zheng Bin also laughed, “You know what? I don’t know why, but after we killed Jia Peng together, I’m suddenly not that scared anymore. Of course, it’s mainly thanks to you. Your fearlessness when facing Jia Peng seems to have inspired me. I’m certain that I will be able to obtain a lifelong benefit from my experience here, given that I can live through the Heaven Gate trial!”
“Oh, really?” Nie Tian was both surprised and flattered.
Zheng Bin rose to his feet. “Yeah, it seems to me that you don’t have the word fear in your vocabulary. Of course, it might be all the trump cards up your sleeves that allow you to have such inexorable confidence.”
He looked towards a distant meteor that was floating in the starry sky as he said, “Perhaps it’s time we looked around in other places.”
This was him proposing to leave and explore.
He wouldn’t have the confidence and courage to leave this seemingly safe place if he were to go off alone.
The various miraculous methods that Nie Tian had used to fight Jia Peng made Zheng Bin feel that he would be much safer if he traveled together with Nie Tian.
He had already made up his mind that he would stick together with Nie Tian during the Heavenly Gate trial as long as he could.
“Sure..." Nie Tian also rose to his feet.
He had already obtained a primary understanding of the Flame Spirit Incantation after the last two days of cultivation. His injuries had also fully healed.
At present, he was at his peak state, and had also developed a high confidence in the might of the chaotic magnetic field.
Therefore he also believed that it was time to explore other places.
After the two of them reached an agreement, they left the meteor that they had never dared to leave before, and moved towards nearby meteors.
Within the icy river of stars, they explored meteor after meteor. They would go to a nearby meteor to search for life. After finding no signs of life, they would head towards another one.
Time quickly pa.s.sed. Within the blink of an eye, another three days went by.
They had already moved far away from the meteor they originally hid on. However, they still couldn’t find any signs of life.
All they had found were a few frozen corpses. There were corpses of people from the Mystic Mist sect, Ghost sect, and Blood sect, all of them killed brutally.
Mentally prepared for the cruelty and fierceness of the Heaven Gate trial, Nie Tian turned a blind eye to the corpses, and seemed completely unaffected.
Zheng Bin had already known that Jia Peng had killed some of his senior martial brothers, so he also maintained his calm when seeing the corpses.
The two of them took their time to cultivate and meticulously traveled from one meteor to another, without any destination in mind.
One day...
As they traveled, Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness every so often to scan for any abnormalities in the surroundings. He suddenly detected an intense b.l.o.o.d.y aura in front of them.
As he narrowed his eyes, his psychic awareness seemed to become invisible tentacles, stretching out of his soul and carefully probing forwards.
Gradually, he discovered the traces of the blood strings from a Earth Web underneath the earth that lay ahead.
Nie Tian held his steps. “It’s the Earth Web!”
With furrowed brows, he looked at the icy ground in front of him, which was filled with scattered stones, while indicating for Zheng Bin to stop.
Zheng Bin’s expression faintly changed. “People from the Blood sect?”
Nie Tian nodded. Pointing towards the scattered stones in front of him, he said, “There are blood strings under the ground.”
Although they were both at the the early Lesser Heaven stage, Zheng Bin’s psychic power wasn’t as strong as Nie Tian’s. Therefore, he couldn’t sense the abnormalities that lay under the ground in front of them.
However, by this point, he was very certain that it was Nie Tian who had discovered the underground movements while they were in the Green Illusion dimension, and that it was Nie Tian who had discovered Yu Tong secretly activating her technique.
Having a new level of respect toward Nie Tian, Zheng Bin pondered for a moment before asking, “What do you think we should do? Do we... go back?”
There were a large number of enormous meteors in the vicinity. If they wanted to, they could keep away from the trial takers from the Blood Sect and continue exploring other meteors.
“The Blood sect…” Nie Tian pondered inwardly, looking somewhat hesitatant.
However, at that moment, the psychic awareness that he spread out told him that someone was rapidly closing in.
Furthermore, he was incomparably familiar with that person’s aura.
A bitter look appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Yu Tong!”
He was well aware how much Yu Tong hated him, and he was fairly certain that she would immediately strike the second she saw him, without even saying a word.
“Let’s go.” Without wasting a moment, Nie Tian turned around, wis.h.i.+ng to leave as soon as possible.
Upon hearing Yu Tong’s name, Zheng Bin also had a headache, since he also knew that the woman was quite a character.
Zheng Bin hurriedly sped away after Nie Tian.
SHEW!
A scarlet, b.l.o.o.d.y figure suddenly dashed over, at a speed so fast that it seemed as if she had turned into a stream of light. It stopped after reaching the limit of the Earth Web.
The figure was none other than the witch Yu Tong.
Wearing red garments from head to toe, she stood at the edge of the Earth Web’s reach, seemingly cautious with her next movement.
It was as if… she didn’t dare to leave the area that the Earth Web covered.
“Nie Tian!” Having found out that the person trying to escape was Nie Tian, she was instantly agitated.
In an instant, her pupils became bloodshot, appearing demonic yet gorgeous.
At this moment, Feng Luo from the Blood sect also arrived like a flash of light. “Nie Tian...”
After seeing Yu Tong bursting into a fuming rage after finding out it was Nie Tian, Feng Luo hastily said, “Little Tong, don’t be impulsive! Times have changed! This isn’t the Realm of Flame Heaven, and our realm is about to face huge calamity! From now on, the seven sects of the Realm of Flame Heaven are in the same boat! You must temporarily put aside the grudges you have against Nie Tian!”
As he spoke, Nie Tian noticed that the early Greater Heaven stage Feng Luo seemed somewhat pale, as if he had exhausted plenty of his strength.
“Uncle Feng, I, I can’t... not after everything he’s done to me!” Yu Tong clenched her teeth as she said.
“I understand,” Feng Luo smiled bitterly. Then he cast a fierce glare towards Nie Tian, as he remembered the despicable things he had done to Yu Tong when they were in the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range. “This d.a.m.n brat truly deserves to be killed. If we can pull through the calamity that’ll hit the Realm of Flame Heaven, I will personally arrange for you to have a fair fight with him. However... considering where we are now, we can’t afford to waste any strength on him!”
Yu Tong’s demonic eyes were still fixed on Nie Tian, she gradually tuned down her hatred toward Nie Tian after hearing Feng Luo’s exhortation.
On the other hand, Nie Tian also stopped fleeing after hearing Feng Luo’s words.
“What are you doing?” Zheng Bin said with an anxious look on his face.
Yu Tong’s appearance alone had given him have a headache. Adding in the early Greater Heaven stage Feng Luo, his only thought now was to run as far away as he could.
If it were another time, he would have long since abandoned Nie Tian and escaped by himself after seeing his foolish behavior.
However, now he decided to stay with Nie Tian, although he was inwardly questioning Nie Tian’s choice.
Nie Tian turned around and spoke loudly to Feng Luo and Yu Tong, “Senior Feng Luo is correct. In the past, the seven sects were incompatible as fire and water. It was natural that we started killing each other whenever we met. However, it’s a different time now. The Realm of Flame Heaven will soon be invaded by demons. By the time we return, it’s possible that the Realm of Flame Heaven will have already been overtaken.
“Even if the seven sects have joined forces and fought off the invading demons, I’m afraid that their strength will definitely be greatly weakened. Then the ambitious ones from the other realms will very likely swoop in and take the opportunity to seize the Realm of Flame Heaven for themselves.
“This is only what will possibly happen to the Realm of Flame Heaven.
“Within the Heaven Gate trial, there are still many from the other realms, like Jia Peng, who are slaughtering our people.
“Facing a situation like this, if still we continue fighting among ourselves, won’t we be digging our own grave?”
With these words, Nie Tian even slowly walked towards Feng Luo and Yu Tong.
Zheng Bin seemed to be floundering over what he should do. After a while of pondering, he also approached Feng Luo.
Feng Luo gave a cold snort as he stared at Nie Tian. “As much as I dislike you, at least you’ve got some logic there. However, you two are too weak. You have nothing to offer if we let you tag along. Since we all came from the Realm of Flame Heaven, I’ll let you off the hook. You can go fend for yourselves.”
He waved his hands, indicating for Nie Tian and Zheng Bin go away.
“But Senior Feng Luo, we’ve killed Jia Peng from the Realm of Earth Sieve!” Zheng Bin shouted loudly, “Are we qualified to travel with you now?”
“You’ve killed Jia Peng?” Feng Luo sneered. “Are you joking?”
Zheng Bin raised his hand high in the air as he showed the seven light dots on the back of his hand to Feng Luo, “Look for yourself!”
Eyes narrowing, Feng Luo took a close look at Zheng Bin’s hand. Finally intrigued, he asked, “Did you two really kill Jia Peng?”
“Sure as h.e.l.l!” replied Zheng Bin.
Feng Luo hesitated for a moment before exhorting Yu Tong in a low voice. Then he beckoned for them to come over and said, “Come on. I need you to give me a rational explanation as to how the two of you managed to kill Jia Peng, a powerful expert with a cultivation base of the middle Greater Heaven, with your petty strength!”
“Okay!” Zheng Bin replied as he stepped towards Feng Luo.
Nie Tian also walked over.