Nie Tian let out a cold laugh. “The Heaven Palace Sect? What right do they have to command the other sects?”
“Plus, every time my master uses his time power, he shortens his own lifespan.
“He has already made great contributions to the Domain of the Falling Stars by slaughtering two seventh grade outsiders in the Realm of Flame Heaven.
“There’s no way that he’s going to help defend the Heaven Palace Sect!”
Nie Tian had a deep-rooted hatred towards the Heaven Palace Sect, which had dominated the Domain of the Falling Stars over the years.
They had bossed the other sects around by relying on the fact that they had the only late Soul realm expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars.
Whenever an opportunity to gain benefits presented itself, they were always the first to take a big piece of the cake. However, they had always failed to turn the situation around when the Domain of the Falling Stars faced calamities.
It was the same this time.
Even though the outsiders had changed their plans and decided to focus their power to sack the Heaven Palace Sect first, the Heaven Palace Sect’s patriarch still refused to end his secluded cultivation before he entered the Void domain.
Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong knew that, with just the two of them, they wouldn’t be able to protect the Heaven Palace Sect. Therefore, they demanded that Wu Ji, Nie Tian’s Bone Blood Demon, and the Soul realm experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles come to their aid.
Nie Tian spat on such a unilateral decision from the Heaven Palace Sect.
Eyebrows furrowed, Don Qianqi explained, “Those from the Heaven Palace Sect mean that since the outsiders have united against one of our sects, we should do the same. Especially now that the seventh grade outsiders in the Realm of Flame Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles are almost wiped out, we’d have an advantage in numbers after joining up.”
“Oh, one more thing,” Qin Yan said, somewhat gloatingly. “The Realm of Earth Sieve has fallen.”
Dong Li was taken aback. “What!?”
“The outsiders destroyed the grand spell formations of the Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect,” Qin Yan took her time to explain. “When their grand spell formations shattered, the majority of their disciples were already evacuated to their arcane realms. Even still, quite a few of their disciples were killed by the outsiders.
“Their Soul realm experts have already teleported to the Heaven Expanse Sect.
“They blew up their inter-realm teleportation portals when they left.
“They’ve suffered serious losses this time. Right now, they’re in the Heaven Expanse Sect, helping with the defenses.
“The situation in the Realm of Dark Underworld is not so good either. Most of the disciples of the Spirit G.o.d Sect have long since evacuated their sect.
“That’s because they knew that since Hua Mu had recently shattered their grand spell formation, it hasn’t recovered from the damage yet. Right now, the sectmaster of the Spirit G.o.d Sect, who has been hiding in the Flame G.o.d Sect, is preparing to answer the Heaven Palace Sect’s summons and go help them defend against the outsiders. But it seems that Xia Yi, the Flame G.o.d, who’s in a crucial moment in his breakthrough, doesn’t plan to end his secluded cultivation.”
Dong Qianqi sighed and chimed in, “As much as I’m pleased to know that the Realm of Earth Sieve has gotten what they deserve, it’s not good news for us.”
“What should we do, sectmaster?” Dong Tengfei asked him in a solemn voice. “Do we answer the Heaven Palace Sect’s summons and march all of our powerful experts into the Realm of Mystic Heaven?”
“We don’t seem to have a choice,” Dong Qianqi said with a grim face. “Right now, we need to stand as one. If the Heaven Palace Sect is indeed sacked by the outsiders, and Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong are killed, the advantage we’ve gained with great efforts will vanish. Also, if they are able to sack the Heaven Palace Sect, there’s no reason why they can’t take the other sects one by one.
“We’ll have to win the battle in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.”
After a short pause, Dong Qianqi smiled bitterly and continued, “Plus, the patriarch of the Heaven Palace Sect is trying to break through into the Void domain. If he succeeds, he’ll become the only Void domain expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars. If he decides to settle accounts with us after defeating the outsiders, none of us will stand a chance fighting him.
“One more thing...” With these words, he gazed off into the distance. “Zhao Shanling is Zhao Luofeng’s younger brother. He made great contributions to our victory in the Realm of Flame Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Even though they say they’ll grow old and die without saying a word to each other, they’re still brothers.
“If Zhao Shanling sides with his brother on this matter, and if we refuse to go help defend the Heaven Palace Sect, he’s more than capable of reopening the spatial rifts that lead to the Realm of Flame Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles for the outsiders.”
Nie Tian was taken aback.
Dong Qianqi nodded at him, looking frustrated. “It’s true. Only a few people know about their relations.h.i.+p.”
After learning that Zhao Shanling was Zhao Luofeng’s younger brother, Nie Tian felt a headache. He was worried that Zhao Shanling would retaliate by unsealing the spatial rifts in the Realm of Flame Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles for the outsiders and restoring chaos to the two realms.
That maniac could never be predicted. If he suddenly started to value familial love, he was completely capable of doing such a crazy thing.
Dong Qianqi and Qin Yan’s words silenced everyone present. They started to feel that the situation was once again clouded by many uncertainties, and were no longer confident that they would ride out this calamity.
“Let’s wait for our Soul realm experts to return so we can hear their opinions,” Dong Qianqi said with furrowed eyebrows.
Therefore, everyone waited in the Dong Clan.
In the following days, Qin Yan contacted the Spirit Condor’s headquarters from time to time, and learned that the Soul realm experts of the Tool Sect from the Realm of Unbounded Desolation, the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Poison Sect from the Realm of Black Marsh had all gone to the Realm of Mystic Heaven, where they were prepared to fight the outsiders to the death.
Meanwhile, the Heaven Palace Sect had sent a few more messages demanding that the Soul realm experts join the battle in the Realm of Mystic Heaven after finis.h.i.+ng off the outsiders in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.
Another day pa.s.sed...
Qin Yan received shocking news from the Spirit Condor, which was that Xia Yi, the Flame G.o.d, had successfully entered the late Soul realm.
The Domain of the Falling Stars finally had its second late Soul realm expert.
As soon as Xia Yi entered the late Soul realm, he spread the word that if Nie Tian returned the Flame Dragon Armor to him, he would go to the Heaven Palace Sect and contend against the late seventh grade Phantasm expert named Basto.
According to him, since he had just entered the late Soul realm, he would have to rely on the Flame Dragon Armor, which agreed with his incantations perfectly, to fight Basto.
Furthermore, he claimed that the Flame Dragon Armor had originally belonged to the Flame G.o.d Sect, and that he was just demanding that it be returned to its rightful owner.
By now, he had received the support of the Heaven Palace Sect, the Poison Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, and the Spirit G.o.d Sect.
Nie Tian snorted coldly. “There’s no way that I’m going to give up the Flame Dragon Armor! Xia Yi never possessed the Blood Core of the Flame Dragon Armor. What he had back then was just an empty sh.e.l.l! The Flame Dragon Armor is only complete and repaired because of what I’ve done over the years! He can quit imagining that I’ll give it to him!”
Nie Tian made his stance perfectly clear.
“The experts from the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Realm of Unbounded Desolation tried to negotiate with Xia Yi on this matter,” Qin Yan said with a serious expression. “Xing Huanyue, Li Muyang, and Qi Bailu suggested that Xia Yi borrow the Flame Dragon from you and return it to you when the crisis is over. However, Xia Yi has maintained a strong att.i.tude on this matter. He insists that the Flame Dragon Armor belongs to him.
“He claimed that only after getting it back will he go fight the most powerful outsider named Basto. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be strong enough to fight a late seventh grade outsider.
“Since the patriarch of the Heaven Palace Sect is still in the middle of his secluded cultivation, Xia Yi is the only one who has a chance at stopping Basto. If he refuses to step up, it’ll take several middle Soul realm experts to join up to defend against Basto.
“Then, even if we get all of the other Soul realm experts to the Heaven Palace Sect, we still might not be able to defeat the outsiders.
“That means that Xia Yi is now the person who can determine the result of this war.”
Sitting on the ground in the lotus position, face grim, Nie Tian said with great determination, “I won’t give him the Flame Dragon Armor, no matter what!”
Dong Qianqi and the others looked blankly at him, not knowing what to say. They all sighed inwardly and remained silent.
Xia Yi’s action was actually very similar to Zhao Shanling’s. They both threatened to refuse to save the day to get what they wanted.
Qi Bailu had eventually given in to Qi Bailu. What would Nie Tian choose?