Even before it had broken free, the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames had been able to channel wisps of corpse power from the ghouls.
However, since the ancient altar had been enveloped in an invisible s.h.i.+eld, very little corpse power left the ghouls in its surroundings.
But it was completely different this time.
After the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames broke free from the ancient altar’s confinement, there seemed to be nothing that could stop it from absorbing corpse power anymore.
The fierce ghouls that were attacking and giving Huang Jinnan a headache suddenly burst into flames.
As they did, rivers of bleak white power poured out of them and converged on the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames.
The cl.u.s.ter of pale flames grew larger and larger.
On the other hand, the ghouls fell out of the air after being drained of their corpse power. By the time they hit the ground, they were shriveled and charred like half-burned logs.
Surprisingly, the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames didn’t seem eager to escape after leaving the altar. Instead, it continued to absorb corpse power from the ghouls in its surroundings.
SHEW!
Like a spiritual snake, the bolt of lightning also flew out through the shrinking hole in the s.h.i.+eld.
Huang Jinnan was still focused on subduing the piece of primal metal, and was therefore unable to collect the others at the same time.
Meanwhile, Nie Tian was looking at the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames and pondering a possible method to collect it, and thus ignored the bolt of lightning.
Unlike the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames, the bolt of lightning shot towards the perimeter of the square as soon as it broke free.
It left the s.p.a.cious square in the blink of an eye.
Han Sen, who had been waiting outside the square for a long time, chased after it, looking ecstatic.
“Dammit!” Huang Jinnan cursed, but instead of chasing after it, he fixed his eyes on the grayish-brown ball that had just flown out of the shrinking hole.
The cl.u.s.ter of pale flames was burning increasingly fiercely as more and more ghouls in the vicinity burst into flames. Wisps of corpse power poured out of them and converged madly on it from different directions.
“Nie Tian, that cl.u.s.ter of flames is corpse power essence that carries extremely deadly toxins,” Huang Jinnan exclaimed mildly. “If we can’t collect it ,we might as well leave it alone! It’s not the kind of spiritual material you need. Only Qi warriors who practice dark magics will be able to make use of it. Even if you go to great lengths to finally collect it, it’ll only be something you can trade.
“Besides, those flames are a hundred times more corrosive than the tainted energies we’re facing.
“One touch of them can even render spiritual tools useless, since they can a.s.similate and kill their souls.”
Nie Tian’s expression flickered.
He frowned as a series of ideas flashed across his mind. “That cl.u.s.ter of pale flames has its own awareness. Neither my spiritual tools nor I can touch it. How on earth would I be able to collect it?”
All of a sudden, he remembered the special sealing magic he had learned from the mysterious land where t.i.tans were buried.
Even though he hadn’t had a chance to use that sealing magic since he had learned it, he was convinced that it must be very powerful if he used it right.
Therefore, he summoned his spiritual power, flesh power, and soul power simultaneously, and condensed them in the mysterious way indicated by the secret sealing magic.
A mysterious magical symbol suddenly appeared in front of him.
Vague and illusory, it was in the shape of the word ‘seal’.
As a condensation of every kind of power he possessed, the magical symbol continued to channel power from him after it came to form.
“Seal!” As Nie Tian exclaimed the word, the illusory magical symbol flew directly into the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames.
As the magical symbols started to s.h.i.+ne in the depths of the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames, the blazing flames gradually grew weaker.
Because of this, the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames instantly stopped channeling corpse power and toxins from the ghouls in the vicinity.
The magical symbol somehow grew larger within the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames. As it did, wisps of pale flames started to fuse into the illusory symbols, and the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames shrank.
The illusory magical symbols floated quietly as the cl.u.s.ter of pale flames eventually vanished into it.
After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian made a grab for it. However, as soon as his finger touched the illusory magical symbol, it flew directly into his ring of holding.
He then sent a wisp of his soul awareness into his ring of holding, only to see the illusory magical symbol floating in silence.
Huang Jinnan gasped.
He stared at Nie Tian for a long time, failing to tell what that illusory symbol was.
He remembered the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace’s secret sealing magics to be completely different from the one Nie Tian had just cast.
Therefore, he was absolutely certain that the illusory magical symbol Nie Tian had just formed wasn’t from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.
The fact that Nie Tian was able to seal and collect the cl.u.s.ter of deadly flames impressed him deeply. Now, he felt that Nie Tian was veiled by an added layer of mystery.
WHOOs.h.!.+
After the grayish-brown ball left the altar, the hole that Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan had made in the s.h.i.+eld enveloping it finally healed.
Huang Jinnan let out an excited exclamation as he shot towards it like a streak of golden lightning, and then made a grab for it with his large hand.
Wreathed in dazzling golden metal power, his large hand clutched the ball firmly.
The grayish-brown ball struggled madly, causing the earth to shake violently, and giving rise to loud rumbles. The stone floor around the altar cracked; many of the stone columns that had cracked earlier exploded and toppled.
Even the lofty stone pavilions at the perimeter of the square shook so hard that they almost collapsed.
BANG BANG BANG!
The sounds of energies clas.h.i.+ng filled the air as the stone columns toppled and cracks spread across the stone floor.
As an idea entered his mind, Nie Tian left his current location to fly among the cracking stone columns, with the Spirit Pearl floating over his head.
Many evil spirits were still trapped within some of the stone columns.
Like a magnet, the Spirit Pearl attracted the evil spirits that were trapped in the toppling stone columns.
As he threaded through the collapsing stone columns, evil spirits flew uncontrollably into the Spirit Pearl like rivers rus.h.i.+ng into the sea.
After finally collecting the grayish-brown ball, Huang Jinnan shouted in high spirits, “Time to go, Nie Tian!”
Then, he flew directly towards the perimeter of the square on his golden chariot. “The spell formation holding this place together is already broken. Let’s get out of here now!”
Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian jerked his head around, and discovered that many ghouls had already wandered beyond the edge of the square, which meant the mysterious force that had sealed the square had disappeared when the changes had taken place.
“You go on! I’ll be right behind you!” WIth these words, Nie Tian flew to some other toppling stone columns on his Star Boat to collect more evil spirits with his Spirit Pearl.
Meanwhile, the chosen ones from the various domains and Yin Yanan and the girls rapidly ended their battle against the ghouls and evil spirits and withdrew from the square after hearing Huang Jinnan’s shout.
After a moment of hesitation, Huang Jinnan flew out of the square on his golden chariot.
Afterward, he shouted somewhat anxiously, “Nie Tian! The Stone Golems may arrive at any moment. We need to leave not just this Stone Golem capital, but the b.l.o.o.d.y Grave Mountain Range!”
At this moment, the last standing stone column shattered and collapsed, and the evil spirits trapped inside were absorbed by the Spirit Pearl.
Nie Tian did a quick scan of the Spirit Pearl, and discovered that close to a thousand evil spirits had been added to it, all of which had been collected from the toppling stone columns.
Some other evil spirits hovered over the square and followed him from afar.
If he wanted to collect them as well, he would have to hide his Spirit Pearl in his ring of holding and wait for them to pounce on him to take it back out.
However, they were on a tight schedule, and the originally distant rumbles were growing increasingly close and intense.
After pondering for a few seconds, he paved the Star Boat with fresh Star Stones and flew out of the square to the place where Yin Yanan and the girls were waiting. The Spirit Pearl floated over him the whole time.
The girls jumped on board as soon as he arrived.
“Follow me!” Without any delay, Huang Jinnan took the initiative to fly off on his golden chariot like a golden lightning bolt that streaked across the sky.
Nie Tian’s Star Boat followed along.
In fact, it was the only air-transportation spiritual tool that could keep up with the golden chariot. All of the other chosen ones’ air-transportation spiritual tools lagged behind, and the distance between them grew greater and greater.
Huang Jinnan took out his Sound Stone and whispered into it from time to time, as if to inform the chosen ones from the various domains of a destination.
After flying at full speed for few minutes, the golden chariot and the Star Boat were the first to emerge from the Stone Golem capital.
However, Huang Jinnan didn’t have the slightest intention to slow down. Instead, he kept flying at full speed towards the destination he had informed the others about.
Nie Tian refilled his Star Boat with fresh Star Stones from time to time to keep up with him.
A few days later, the golden chariot and the Star Boat finally left the b.l.o.o.d.y Grave Mountain Range and returned to the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield.