As soon as Nie Tian heard that the golden bracelet belonged to a disciple of the Cloudsoaring Sect, his heart was clouded by a haze.
Even though Luo Xin didn’t say it, he guessed that his grandfather had traveled with that disciple.
Seeing that disciple’s important belonging in another’s possession was enough evidence that something had happened to him. The same thing could have happened to Nie Donghai.
Therefore, he instantly grew furious.
As he infused the Flame Star with his flame power, it gradually became as hot as a heated iron.
Kneeling on the ground, the man experienced a scalding pain in his left shoulder, as if his shoulder were burning up.
He looked up at Nie Tian’s face, and discovered that he was looking down at him like a bloodthirsty beast. Intense killing intent was on the verge of bursting out of his eyes.
His heart s.h.i.+vered as he was completely overwhelmed by Nie Tian’s imposing manner. He hastily said, “I found it. That’s all. I didn’t know who it belonged to!”
The other man, who was at the early Greater Heaven stage, wanted to come to his brother’s aid. However, Luo Xin was already standing in front of him.
After a brief examination, the man learned that Luo Xin was at the same cultivation stage as him, and Nie Tian, who was overtaking his brother, was at the late Heaven stage.
However, the intense, murderous aura unleashed by Nie Tian deeply shocked him, making him not dare to act rashly.
After the bloodbaths he had experienced in the Realm of Split Void, Nie Tian had long since grown numb when it came to killing people.
Numerous b.l.o.o.d.y battles had made Nie Tian develop a fierce aura, which only those who lived their lives on the edge of life and death would have developed through reaping countless lives.
“Let’s talk it out!” The Greater Heaven stage man also grew weak. “We found that golden bracelet. That’s the truth. I swear to G.o.d that we didn’t kill the owner of that bracelet. If I lied about that, may I be struck dead by lightning!”
Seeing his yielding att.i.tude, Luo Xin relaxed her tightened nerves.
She turned her head to check on Nie Tian, and she was somewhat chilled by his fierce killing intent.
She didn’t know what Nie Tian had gone through during the past two years, but Nie Tian’s current state really scared her.
“Nie... Umm... Wu Tian.” Luo Xin cleared her throat and continued, “They probably didn’t do anything. Let’s hear them out first.”
Nie Tian saw nothing but fear in his opponent’s eyes, so after a moment of silence, he slowly withdrew his Flame Star.
It had only been a few seconds, but the man’s garments had already been burnt off around his left shoulder.
Underneath the damaged garment, the flesh on his shoulder had already blackened. Grimacing, he hastily put a sizable distance between Nie Tian and himself, whereupon he took out a bottle of green liquid and applied it to his wound.
After a deep breath, he said with a bitter expression, “We found this golden bracelet in a forest of stone needles in the Dong Clan’s territory that we had visited to hunt spirit beasts...”
The two of them went on and explained the whole thing in great detail.
Afterwards, Luo Xin asked them a few questions and gained a rough idea of the location where they had found the bracelet. Then, she nodded, giving them permission to leave.
However, they didn’t dare to move their legs even though Luo Xing had given consent. Instead, they looked at Nie Tian, their expressions insecure and uneasy.
For some reason, they felt a much stronger threat from Nie Tian than Luo Xin, even though they could tell that Nie Tian’s cultivation base was clearly lower than Luo Xin’s.
They didn’t dare to move unless Nie Tian gave his consent.
“Alright, you can go now.” Nie Tian said with a grim expression.
Only then did the two of them feel like they had been absolved of the death penalty. After intentionally circling around Nie Tian, they picked up their pace and ran at full speed towards Water Moon City.
“I fear for my grandfather and aunt’s safety.” Nie Tian’s voice was full of concern.
“Let’s get over there as quickly as possible then,” Luo Xin replied.
“Let’s go.”
The two of them didn’t dare to waste any time, and sprinted towards the location given by the two men at their fastest possible speed.
At that moment, Nie Tian was beating himself up for failing to get the boat-shaped air-transportation spiritual tool left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace out of the mountain peak in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.
If he had secured it, even if they didn’t use the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce’s teleportation portals, they would have been able to ride it to the forest of stone needles within a much shorter time.
...
After marching around the clock for seven days straight, they finally arrived in the Dong Clan’s territory.
It was sundown. The foot of a magnificent mountain peak was lush with ancient trees. A number of lofty pavilions made of gray stone were well-s.p.a.ced among them.
A clear creek threaded through the stone pavilions.
All sorts of rare spirit plants could be seen on the mountain peak behind the stone pavilions, along with the tiny figures of people who were cultivating and harvesting the spirit plants.
Luo Xin and Nie Tian stopped on a wide stone pavement which led to the front gate of the Dong Clan.
“The Dong Clan was the first of the four powers to move to the Realm of a Hundred Battles. They established their headquarters by this mountain peak, which they named Spirit Plant Mountain, for it’s very well-suited for spirit plant cultivation. When the Dong Clan first arrived, there were only about a hundred kinds of rare spirit plants on Spirit Plant Mountain, and the mountain peak and its adjacent areas were roamed by herds of spirit beasts.
“Rumor had it that Spirit Plant Mountain was originally the habitat of a fierce sixth grade spirit beast. After the Dong Clan’s arrival, they slaughtered the sixth grade spirit beast along with all the other spirit beasts in the vicinity, and took Spirit Plant Mountain for their own.
“Afterwards, they brought in many valuable and rare spirit plants from the other realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars and grew them on Spirit Plant Mountain. Gradually, the mountain became the Dong Clan’s source of income.
“The annual revenue created by the spirit plants on Spirit Plant Mountain alone is easily over a million spirit stones.
“The Pill Pavilion Sect and many other alchemy sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars come to purchase all sorts of rare spirit plants from the Dong Clan year-round.”
Standing in front of the Dong Clan, Luo Xin introduced the Dong Clan to Nie Tian, whose eyes were seized by the lofty stone pavilions.
From time to time, Qi warriors would walk past them on their way into or out of the Dong Clan.
Most of those who were going towards the Dong Clan seemed rather bedraggled, as if they had just survived b.l.o.o.d.y battles, and were hoping to return to Water Moon City via the Dong Clan’s teleportation portal.
However, those who were coming out of the Dong Clan’s front gate were usually in high spirits. They seemed to be exploration teams from Water Moon City who were planning to hunt spirit beasts in the area.
“The Dong Clan...” Nie Tian muttered to himself as he thought of Dong Baijie and Dong Li.
In the Realm of Split Void, he had deeply humiliated Dong Li by ruining her plan and killing many of her men.
However, later when Dong Baijie had sought him out in Shatter City, not only had he not held him accountable for his deeds, but he had even given him Star Stones and a mask as gifts, which confused him deeply.
Was it possible that Dong Baijie hadn’t had a chance to meet with Dong Li and learn about the friction between them before his encounter with him?
Furthermore, since Dong Li was an important member of the Dong Clan, why in the world did she take on a fake name and lead a group of powerful experts to the Realm of Split Void, where they had conducted degrading Hunters’ business?
“How powerful is the Dong Clan?” Nie Tian asked.
“Very powerful!” Luo Xin seemed to feel deep veneration. “It’s said that the patriarch of the Dong Clan has already stepped into the Soul realm. Even in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, he’s among the most powerful experts. However, supposedly, he practices secluded cultivation in the mountains all year-round, and seldom returns to the Dong Clan.”
“Soul realm!” A shudder ran through Nie Tian’s body.
No wonder Dong Li and her Fang members had dared to do whatever they liked near Shatter City without showing the slightest fear towards the Blood Skull.
Based on what Nie Tian knew, Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull, was only at the Profound realm, inferior to the Dong Clan’s patriarch’s cultivation base.
Dong Li’s daring actions in the Realm of Split Void all made sense now. Dong Li was backed by a Soul realm patriarch and a powerful clan, and her sect’s Spirit Plant Mountain was a well-known treasured land in the Domain of the Falling Stars.
With these thoughts, Nie Tian muttered to himself, “Hopefully, we won’t run into Dong Li.”
“Do you know each other?” Luo Xin seemed surprised. “She is the precious daughter of the Dong Clan’s clanmaster. I’ve heard that she has recently returned from her tempering trip to another realm, and she has just broken through to the Greater Heaven stage. If you know her, maybe you can talk to her. It would be a lot easier if she agrees to help us search for your grandfather and aunt.”
Nie Tian’s face turned grim as he shook his head and said, “No, I don’t know her.”
If he wasn’t aware of the relations.h.i.+p between Dong Baijie and Dong Li, Nie Tian might have put every scruple aside and gone to ask Dong Baijie for help, since this concerned his grandfather and aunt’s safety.
However, Dong Baijie was Dong Li’s older brother...
“Oh, okay, never mind.” Disappointment could be seen on Luo Xin’s face. “So, there’s no need to go to the Dong Clan now. I know the location. Let’s go there directly.”
“Sure, let’s go.” With these words, Nie Tian and Luo Xin turned around and walked away.
At that moment, a Qi warrior walked past them. As he did, he took a few glances at Nie Tian. A surprised look could be seen in his eyes.
The man picked up his pace and scurried into the Dong Clan. He asked for Dong Baijie, but was told that he had gone to the Pill Pavilion Sect. Then, he went to visit Dong Li without any delay.
In a luxurious side-room, Dong Li and her loyal subordinate, Han Mu, were having a discussion.
“What’s the matter?” Dong Li asked the man as she stretched her curvaceous waist, a listless expression filling her gorgeous face, which was completely different from the one Nie Tian had seen in the Realm of Split Void.
Apparently, Dong Li had changed her appearance when she had been in the Realm of Split Void.
This was how she really looked.
“Miss, I just saw a man wearing one of our young master’s masks,” The man said very respectfully. “I’ve seen young master wear that mask before, so I recognized it at first sight.”
“Nie Tian!”
Dong Li and Han Mu called out simultaneously.