Silence and peace were restored to the Realm of Crystal Snow, which made the Heavenly Ice Sect Qi warriors even more convinced that a G.o.d domain expert had been secretly helping Nie Tian.
Patriarch Snowy Peak was dumbfounded.
In fact, he hadn’t been sure of this a.s.sumption of his that the upheaval in the Realm of Crystal Snow actually had something to do with Nie Tian.
Like men who were critically ill would turn to any doctor they could find, he had only gone with it because he had been desperate to stop the destructive changes.
He actually had a certain understanding of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, and knew that it was almost impossible for a newborn Son of the Stars to receive the a.s.sistance of a G.o.d domain expert.
Furthermore, as far as he understood, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace didn’t have any G.o.d domain experts that were well-versed in flame power incantations.
But surprisingly, the changes in the Realm of Crystal Snow had ended as soon as Nie Tian had left.
This proved his a.s.sumption: Nie Tian was the reason behind the devastating changes in the Realm of Crystal Snow and the other eight realms.
“The one who’s looking after Nie Tian must not be from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace...” Snapping out of his thoughts, Patriarch Snowy Peak fixed Patriarch Icy Crystal with a stern look and asked, “Who’s the person that asked you to do this?”
He was actually aware that Patriarch Icy Crystal had reached an agreement with someone to imprison Nie Tian for a period of time, so that he would lose face.
He hadn’t a.s.sumed that it would be a big deal, and had thus given tacit permission to it.
Who would have thought Nie Tian would have an unidentified G.o.d domain expert secretly watching over him the whole time?
If he had known about this, he would have never allowed Patriarch Icy Crystal to make this secret deal with that person.
Patriarch Icy Crystal still hadn’t recovered from his panic as he answered, “I couldn’t tell. He wore a mask and hid his aura. He just offered me the rare spiritual materials I needed to upgrade my domain in exchange for trapping Nie Tian for at least two years, or frustrating him to the point where he gives up.”
“Where are those spiritual materials now?” Patriarch Snowy Peak asked, his brow furrowed.
“I already used them to refine my domain,” Patriarch Icy Crystal said with a frustrated and regretful expression.
“Since the seventh Son of the Stars had an unidentified G.o.d domain expert at his back, we’ve got to adopt a new strategy...” After a short pause, Patriarch Snowy Peak ordered the others, “Spread word to the nearby domains that our sect has admitted our mistake and apologized to Nie Tian. Later, I’ll visit our treasure vault to pick out some spiritual materials that’ll help with Nie Tian’s cultivation as compensation.”
With these words, he sighed and congratulated himself. “Fortunately, Nie Tian left on his own. Otherwise, the Realm of Crystal Snow, which we’ve spent so much effort and time building, might have soon been reduced to a dead realm.”
...
In the endless starry river.
Jing Rou and Duan s.h.i.+hu’s ancient stars.h.i.+p sailed at a moderate speed.
Nie Tian still had the peculiar feeling of being watched, which made him very uncomfortable. “It seems to be that cl.u.s.ter of Divine Flame alright.”
Even standing in the main cabin, Jing Feiyang spread his immense soul awareness to the Realm of Crystal Snow.
His eyes shone with the light of incredulity. “The turbulences in the Realm of Crystal Snow ended as soon as we left. From the look of it, it has been secretly following us the whole time. Even I can’t track it, and you can only sense its presence by a subtle feeling, but also can’t determine its location.”
“The changes in Realm of Crystal Snow have stopped?!” Jing Rou asked, looking surprised. “If that’s the case, wouldn’t it verify Patriarch Snowy Peak’s a.s.sumption that a G.o.d domain expert has been secretly helping Nie Tian?”
Jing Feiyang seemed to be amused. “It appears so. This is actually good for us. At least Patriarch Snowy Peak and the entire Heavenly Ice Sect must regret messing with Nie Tian. I’ve heard something about Patriarch Snowy Peak. He prioritizes the safety of the Heavenly Ice Sect and himself over everything else, so he’ll definitely think up every possible method to resolve this unpleasant incident.”
Nie Tian smiled somewhat awkwardly. “I didn’t know that the Divine Flame was following us the whole time either.”
He also believed that the Heavenly Ice Sect would expend serious effort to fix their relations.h.i.+p with him after this incident.
Fan Kai and the others gasped as they listened to the conversation between them, finding everything that had happened hard to believe.
Not a single Heavenly Ice Sect Qi warrior had shown up on their way to the Realm of Crystal Snow.
However, now that they were heading back, the late Void domain expert who had guarded the piece of heavenly ice where Fan Kai and the others had been imprisoned appeared on their ancient stars.h.i.+p.
He said that Patriarch Snowy Peak was having precious materials prepared for him, which would be delivered to him shortly afterwards.
He also asked Nie Tian to try to stay clear of the realms of the Domain of Endless Snow. The Heavenly Ice Sect had learned their lesson.
His words made Nie Tian realize that the Heavenly Ice Sect had indeed been scared.
After the man left, he communicated with Jing Rou to make necessary adjustments to their route so that they would avoid the realms of the Domain of Endless Snow as much as they could.
At the same time, he sat in his cabin and focused on his cultivation.
As he did, not only did the strange feeling of being watched not go away, but it grew even stronger.
He examined himself carefully, and discovered to his surprise that this feeling was actually originating from his flame power sub-soul in his sea of awareness.
His flame power sub-soul was a profound mixture of his soul essence and understanding of flame power.
During the recent period of time, his flame power sub-soul had been focused on deriving enlightenment of two Earth grade incantations: the True Flame Incantation and Flame Dragon’s Cry.
It was this sub-soul that allowed him to sense the presence of that cl.u.s.ter of Divine Flame in a subtle way.
“Did my flame power sub-soul provoke the Divine Flame’s interest? If that’s the case, why didn’t it just show up and try to take it from me?”
He had a feeling that even Jing Feiyang, who was at the early Saint domain, wouldn’t be able to stop that cl.u.s.ter of Divine Flame.
If it wanted to do something to him, no one would be able to stop it.
He pondered for a long time, but still failed to think of what the Divine Flame might be after. Therefore, he could only put the matter aside and refocus on his cultivation.
It was then when he suddenly realized that the speed at which he refined his flame power core had somehow improved severalfold.
He examined himself carefully, and discovered that the speed at which he channeled Heavenflame Essence from Heavenflame Crystals had become seven times faster than before.
After coming to this wonderful discovery, he seized every moment to refine his flame power core with his Heavenflame Crystals, day and night without stopping.
Time flew. Two weeks pa.s.sed.
Their ancient stars.h.i.+p was finally about to sail out of the Domain of Endless Snow and into the Domain of Flame’s End, which had been destroyed by the cl.u.s.ter of Divine Flame.
At this time, Patriarch Snowy Peak finished selecting rare spiritual materials for Nie Tian from the Heavenly Ice Sect’s treasure vault.
It was a large selection of Star Stones, spiritual materials of wood and fire attributes, and valuable medicinal pills.
With the help of their teleportation portals, he arrived in the Realm of Falling Snow before Nie Tian’s ancient stars.h.i.+p did.
The Realm of Falling Snow was the first realm Nie Tian the others had crossed after entering the Domain of Endless Snow.
It was on the border of the Domain of Endless Snow, where Nie Tian and the other had to pa.s.s by to enter the Domain of Flame’s End.
Not just Patriarch Snowy Peak, but many other Heavenly Ice Sect elders also came on this trip.
Patriarch Icy Crystal was the only one who had been ordered to stay in the Realm of Crystal Snow, since the Heavenly Ice Sect was afraid that his appearance would cause unwanted trouble.
With knitted brow, Patriarch Snowy Peak gazed up into the heavens. “I hope the presents I’ve put together in a hurry will please that Son of the Stars.”
Then, he turned to the others and asked, “Have you spread the word I told you to?”
“Yes, sectmaster,” a man answered. “We’ve already spread word to the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, and the Domain of Vast Darkness, saying that you’ve apologized to Nie Tian and offered him valuable presents as compensation.”
Patriarch Snowy Peak nodded. “A newborn Son of the Stars needs face more than anything, so that’s what we’re giving him in full.”
A few hours later, Nie Tian’s ancient stars.h.i.+p entered Patriarch Snowy Peak’s detection range.
He flew out to greet him personally.