Each of the five major sects and three major clans had deployed one Void domain overseer here, and there happened to be eight stone statues here that had been awakened.
A fierce battle broke out as soon as Yue Yanxi and the other experts arrived at the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea.
Even the middle Void domain old man from the Trisword Sect, who had been cowering in the distance after the deaths of ten Trisword Sect juniors, showed himself.
In a flash, the void in that area seemed to be torn apart by countless explosions of spiritual light that were as fierce as the sun.
Enveloped in their ethereal private domains that were wreathed in spiritual incantations they had practiced for centuries, Yue Yanxi and the other experts unleashed vast soul fluctuations that spread out and filled heaven and earth.
Fierce sword intent unleashed by the middle Void domain expert from the Trisword Sect touched Nie Tian’s Heaven Eyes.
In the next moment, Nie Tian experienced agonizing pain in his mind, disabling him from holding his Heaven Eyes together.
It was unknown whether the Trisword Sect expert had done it on purpose, but he did cause Nie Tian’s Heaven Eyes to scatter and vanish.
Nie Tian let out a m.u.f.fled groan as the wisps of soul awareness in his Heaven Eyes returned to his mind.
He opened his eyes and gazed off towards the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea, but couldn’t see anything anymore.
“Who’s that expert from the Trisword Sect?” Nie Tian asked in a grim voice.
“Guan Yinchuan. Why?” Qiao Yunxi asked confusedly.
Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said, “His sword intent shot into and shattered the cl.u.s.ters of soul awareness I sent there to keep a watch on things. I have a feeling that he did that on purpose.”
Qiao Yunxi frowned slightly. “I don’t think so. My soul awareness was also influenced by a soul storm when the battle broke out over there, and I had to withdraw it. As far as I see it, he probably just sent his sword intent in all directions, and didn’t target you specially.”
With an expressionless face, Nie Tian said, “Perhaps.”
He glanced around and noticed that Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong had also withdrawn their soul awarenesses.
Then, he realized that considering their cultivation bases, even if they wanted to observe from here, they couldn’t get a clear view of the battle between the Void domain experts and the eight stone statues.
The spiritual power and soul power fluctuations created by the Void domain experts and the stone statues filled that entire area like a devastating storm.
The girls’ soul awarenesses would be greatly influenced if they approached that area.
They knew that they would be courting death if they sent their soul awarenesses there under such circ.u.mstances.
After pondering in silence for a while, Nie Tian added with a grim face, “I’m afraid this battle will be a tough one… Since we can’t even observe the battle from here, there’s no need for us to stay here anymore.”
“So where do you want to go?” Qiao Yunxi asked.
“Let’s return to your sect’s ancient stars.h.i.+p first,” Nie Tian said, his eyes narrowed. “The five major sects and three major clans will soon receive word of what’s happening here, and send more Void domain experts. Void domain experts from all over the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries will soon gather to the eight stone statues’ location.
“We won’t even be able to observe a battle that fierce, so we might as well leave now.”
With these words, he looked at Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong.
The two of them remained silent for a while before finally letting out a sigh and nodding.
Seeing that they had agreed to leave, Qiao Yunxi started the Flame Bird without saying anything.
The Flame Bird sped off at full speed.
After flying for quite a while, it arrived and descended on the Divine Flame Sect’s ancient stars.h.i.+p, where a teleportation portal stood.
An old man from the Divine Flame Sect was standing beside the teleportation portal. Upon seeing them, he seemed rather shaken up. “How’s the battle at the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea going?”
Qiao Yunxi shook her head. “We’re not sure. We just know grand elder and the other Void domain experts have initiated attacks. They’re hoping to destroy the ninth stone statue, or at least stop it from awakening. Our cultivation bases are too low to stay there and observe the battle with our soul awarenesses, so we could only come back here, where we’ll be able to teleport back to the Realm of Divine Flame right away if things go south.”
The man then said, “We’ve already informed our headquarters of the upheaval in the Seven-star Blue Sea. But many of our Void domain elders are either in secluded cultivation or out on exploration trips, and can’t come here at the first possible moment.”
Unlike Qiao Yunxi and the other girls, he had been very insecure and uneasy to learn that a large stone statue had appeared in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea.
Young people were usually daring and curious, but that clearly wasn’t the case for him.
He had a feeling that if the ninth statue actually surfaced, the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries would be bound to go through heaven-shaking, earth-shattering changes.
Even Patriarch Pure Heaven probably would have to avoid fighting it directly.
If it came down to that, the entire Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries would have to live in the shadows of those stone statues...
The old man’s expression suddenly flickered. “The other parties’ ancient stars.h.i.+ps are now sailing away from the Seven-star Blue Sea!”
The Seven-star Blue Sea was very vast, and the seven dead stars were separated from one another by great distances.
Nie Tian couldn’t see any of the ancient stars.h.i.+ps the old man was referring to by just relying on his eyesight, so he wondered how he could tell that the other parties’ ancient stars.h.i.+ps were evacuating.
Eyebrows knitted, the old man pondered for a while before saying, “I doubt that grand elder and the others will be able to stop the ninth statue from awakening. You’d better not stay here anymore, and return to our headquarters through this teleportation portal first!”
Qiao Yunxi wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.
He gave Qiao Yunxi a stern look. “You need to go now!”
Qiao Yunxi smiled bitterly. “Alright... Since you’re my senior, I’ve got to listen to you...”
Even though this old man was only at the early Soul realm, his words seemed to carry more weight than Yue Yanxi’s.
What Nie Tian didn’t know was that this man was Qiao Bin, a senior of Qiao Yunxi’s. Like the Lei Clan, the Qiao Clan was also one of the Divine Flame Sect’s subordinate forces. The Qiao Clan had been mediocre among all of the Divine Flame Sect’s subordinate forces.
The Qiao Clan had only recently risen to prominence because Qiao Yunxi had become the Divine Flame Sect’s most valued chosen one.
Qiao Bin knew that the future of the Qiao Clan lay with Qiao Yunxi, so of course he wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her.
Due to his insistence, Qiao Yunxi walked reluctantly into the teleportation portal.
After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian believed there was no use in him sticking around, and thus also walked into the portal.
Afterwards, Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan followed him into the portal and prepared to leave.
Just as Qiao Bin was going to activate the spell formation and teleport them back to the Divine Flame Sect’s headquarters, a deafening sharp cry echoed out from the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea.
That cry seemed to have traveled through s.p.a.ce and instantly spread to their location.
Everyone shuddered violently upon hearing that sharp cry. Nie Tian felt as if his ears had been pierced, and his head hurt so much it felt like it was going to split.
The girls suffered just as much, as they all trembled, covering their ears.
Qiao Bin’s face turned pale with fright. “The ninth stone statue has awoken!” Not daring to waste another second, he hastily activated the spell formation.
The teleportation portal on the ancient stars.h.i.+p was instantly wreathed in rings of glowing spiritual light, through which Nie Tian gazed into the distance.
To his astonishment, he saw the eight stone statues surrounding the larger ninth statue, which had just risen from the Seven-star Blue Sea.
Even though they were still very far from Nie Tian’s location, it seemed as if the distance between them suddenly shortened as the ninth statue rose from the sea into the air.
With surprising clarity, Nie Tian saw Yue Yanxi and the other Void domain experts rising high into the void before plummeting in the next moment.
From the look of it, the ninth stone statue had inflicted severe damage on their private domains as soon as it awoke.
However, the nine stone statues didn’t seem to have any interest in Yue Yanxi or the other experts, as it shot into the void immediately afterwards.
Like ancient stars.h.i.+ps, they flew away at lightning speed, losing Yue Yanxi and the others in the blink of an eye.
As they did, a series of resounding voice came from their jade-like bodies, spreading in all directions. “Shatter... Shatter...”
Since they sounded very similar to the language of the Ancientspirits from the Desolate Antiquity Era, Nie Tian instantly understood them.
SHEW!
While Nie Tian was still confused and shocked by his new discovery, the teleportation was activated, and he and the three girls suddenly vanished from the ancient stars.h.i.+p.
In the next moment, he found himself standing in a spell formation that sat atop the volcano where the Divine Flame Sect’s headquarters was located.
Astonishment filled Yin Yanan’s fine face. “Shatter! Those stone statues seemed to be calling the word: Shatter! All disciples of our sect are required to learn the Ancientbeasts’ language. I believe I heard them right. The word they were calling was none other than ‘Shatter’!”
“That’s right. They were calling the word ‘Shatter’.” Nie Tian agreed with her.
“You heard them too?” Yin Yanan asked, looking surprised.
Nie Tian nodded.
Even though Qiao Yunxi and Mu Biqiong had also heard the stone statues, since they hadn’t learned the language of the Ancientspirits from the Desolate Antiquity Era, they didn’t know what they meant.
After Nie Tian and Yin Yanan confirmed that the words those stone statues had been calling was ‘Shatter’, they fell into pondering.
“Shatter... Shatter... Could they be referring to the Shatter Battlefield?” Qiao Yunxi muttered with a suspicious expression.
With a deep look in her eyes, Mu Biqiong chimed in, “I suppose they have some kind of connection to the Shatter Battlefield. It’s just that I don’t understand why they kept calling the word ‘Shatter’.”
With these words, they walked out of the teleportation portal, and saw that numerous Soul realm and Profound realm disciples of the Divine Flame Sect were already gathered by it.
They all looked as if they were facing formidable foes. From the look of it, they were ready to march through the teleportation portal to the battlefield at any moment.
An early Void domain old man, who had just awoken from his secluded cultivation, flew over from a nearby crimson mountain peak, and asked, “What’s the situation over there? How’s the battle between grand elder and those eight stone statues going?”
With furrowed eyebrows, Qiao Yunxi said with a concerned look, “The ninth stone statue has already awakened, Elder Mao. I saw the grand elder and the other Void domain seniors falling out of the sky as soon as the ninth stone statue awoke. They seemed to have been somehow struck by the ninth stone statue, but I don’t know how badly they were injured.”