In the Demon grand monarch’s sea of flesh aura.
Nie Tian and the others flew through it on the Voidheaven Boat, or by stimulating their domains.
The sea of light-purple flesh aura that was mixed with rolling pitch-black Demon qi stretched as far as the eye could see, as if it would never end.
Traveling in it, people had to form all sorts of s.h.i.+elds or domains to fend off the Demon grand monarch’s flesh aura and raging Demon qi.
Once the Demon grand monarch’s flesh aura infiltrated their defenses and entered their bodies, they would soon demonize.
If that happened, they would descend to slaves of the Demon grand monarch’s will and become his puppets, which knew nothing but killing for him.
Such demonization was different from what Han Yu had gone through. He clearly had his own awareness even though he had merged with the Demoneyes Flower.
BZZZ! BZZZ!
Fragmentary purple lightning kept sputtering from the s.h.i.+eld that enveloped the Voidheaven Boat.
Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi just sat silently on the boat, and watched as the grand monarch’s flesh aura continued to corrode the boat’s defense.
They had Qi warriors flying ahead of and behind them.
Qi Lianshan, Yang Fan, Huang Jinnan, and Lou Hongyan relied on either their domains or air-transportation spiritual tools to keep the Demon grand monarch’s flesh and blood away. It wasn’t easy for any of them.
Gazing ahead, Pei Qiqi said, “Since that Demon grand monarch spread his flesh aura over this entire area, he should have been able to detect us as soon as we entered it. Given his strength, even if he isn’t well-versed in spatial power, getting here should be as easy as turning his hand over to him. But since he’s not here, there’s only one possible explanation: he’s otherwise occupied, and can’t come for us himself.”
Nie Tian chimed in, “Elder Mo Heng, Senior Ji, and Senior Lu are all at the G.o.d domain. The outsider grand monarchs that have entered the Domain of Nether Heaven must be focusing their energy on the three of them. If what I suspect is true, the battles between them are still ongoing. It’s understandable that they wouldn’t want to jeopardize their battle results just to come here to kill us.”
Pei Qiqi nodded slightly and said with a frown, “Since that Demon grand monarch must have learned of our whereabouts, he’ll definitely send his people after us. Besides, that Han Yu had an encounter with us himself. Even though the teleportation portal he guarded has been destroyed, there might be other similar ones in nearby areas.
“Through those special teleportation portals, Han Yu and other Demon forces will be able to catch up to us much more easily.
“Let’s hope we get out of this sea of flesh aura before they do.”
She was well-aware that the Demons’ battle prowess would improve significantly when fighting in this sea of the Demon grand monarch’s flesh aura.
If the Demon grand monarch wanted to, he could even fuse the sea of his flesh aura into some of the Demon pursuers, and make their strength soar through the heavens.
However, their battle prowess would be greatly limited if they were to fight in this sea of the Demon grand monarch’s flesh aura.
With themselves weakened and their Demon pursuers strengthened, if they actually got into a battle with them, they would most likely end up losing.
With a bitter smile, Nie Tian said, “That senior martial brother of mine is formidable indeed. He even managed to harness and merge with a Demon Eyes Flower, which is known as the deadliest demonic plant. And from the look of it, he still has his independent awareness, and has full control of the Demon Eyes Flower’s power, instead of being a puppet of the demonic plant.”
“Yeah, you can’t have any scruples about killing him if you encounter him again.” Pei Qiqi clearly still had lingering fears about the man. “Even though he hasn’t been demonized, his mind has been corrupted. He doesn’t even consider himself a human anymore. A man like him is even more dangerous than the Demons. You’ve got to kill him without hesitation when an opportunity presents itself.”
Nie Tian nodded. “Of course I won’t hold back. It’s just that...”
In Nie Tian’s senses, even a ninth grade Demon grand patriarch might not be able to win a battle against Han Yu, who had become one with that Demon Eyes Flower.
By relying on his seventh grade bloodline power and that Star Behemoth bone, he was able to kill eighth grade outsiders.
However, he knew that he still didn’t have what it took to contend against a ninth grade outsider, much less the Demon Eyes Flower, which was even stronger.
On top of that, even though he hadn’t gotten into a direct battle against Han Yu’s true self, he had sensed shockingly intense demonic power running inside of him as well.
Looking around at the sea of rich flesh aura and rolling Demon qi they were in, Nie Tian became absorbed in his thoughts. “A Demon grand monarch’s sea of flesh aura...
“That’s basically a sea of flesh power. And Life Drain allows me to channel flesh power from almost all outsider races, except Bonebrutes. Will it work on this sea of flesh aura?
“Before, when Fang Tianyi’s domain was invaded by Grand Patriarch Cardy’s flesh aura, I was only able to neutralize it, instead of refining it.
“But, my bloodline has advanced to the seventh grade, and my bloodline power has been enhanced. Does this mean I can give it a shot now?”
With these thoughts, a wisp of crimson flesh aura that was as fine as a hair flew out of the tip of Nie Tian’s left index finger, and extended through the Voidheaven Boat’s protective s.h.i.+eld.
Taken aback, Pei Qiqi exclaimed, “What are you doing?!”
Nie Tian didn’t respond. Instead, his soul awareness interacted with his bloodline power in a profound way, allowing him to sense the surroundings of the wisp of his flesh aura as it extended into the Demon grand monarch’s sea of flesh aura like a tentacle. “Life Drain!” he bellowed inwardly.
FIZZ! FIZZ!
Strange sounds suddenly came from the extending string of blood-colored light. The Demon grand monarch’s light-purple flesh aura that had spread thin over this entire area seemed to be stirred.
The flesh aura around the blood string was rather thin at first, but now, it suddenly concentrated, and became much thicker.
The grand monarch’s soul awareness seemed to loom in the depths of the concentrated flesh aura, along with remote, hysterical roars.
Numerous fragmentary purple crystals rapidly came to form in the purple flesh aura.
Then, they exploded one after another, sending out glorious purple light that quickly vanished.
Vanis.h.i.+ng with them was Nie Tian’s wisp of flesh aura.
With narrowed eyes, Nie Tian watched his wisp of flesh aura perish, but didn’t regret making the attempt. “Same result. I can only neutralize a bit of the grand monarch’s flesh aura, but not absorb it. The power within that crystallized flesh aura seems to be the original demonic power. Come to think of it, Cardy’s flesh aura contained the flesh power of another grand patriarch...”
After pondering for a while, Nie Tian reached the conclusion that Demon grand monarchs’ flesh auras contained the so-called original demonic power, which he could only neutralize with his bloodline magics for the time being, instead of refining.
However, when the wisp of his flesh aura had entered the sea of the grand monarch’s flesh aura, the drops of Blood Essence in his heart had suddenly grown restless, as if they had craved Blood Essence Seething.
Not just that, but the green aura in his heart that was branded with the profound truths of his bloodline also yearned for action.
“Perhaps I’ve got to give my bloodline more time to grow and upgrade. I might be able to refine any grand monarch’s flesh aura, along with the original demonic power within it, after my bloodline advances to the eighth or ninth grade.”
The unusual reaction and strong desire of the green aura filled Nie Tian’s heart with hope.
He was more and more convinced that someday, when his bloodline reached a certain grade, it would be as easy as pie for him to refine the flesh aura of a grand monarch.
“I’ve got to find as many high-grade outsider or Ancientbeast corpses as I can after leaving the Domain of Nether Heaven. I need to condense the fifty drops of Blood Essence I need to enter the Blood Realm as soon as possible. I also need to satisfy that green aura’s endless need for flesh power, so that it can enter its next upgrade cycle.”
Nie Tian decided what his next move would be after his escape.
A few days later, Qi Lianshan, who had been traveling at the end of the formation, suddenly flew over to Pei Qiqi. “Several Demon ancient stars.h.i.+ps are heading in our direction!”
Surprised, Pei Qiqi asked, “How long will it be before they catch up to us?”
Qi Lianshan let out a low sigh. “A day or two. While our speed is limited when traveling in the grand monarch’s flesh aura sea, the Demon ancient stars.h.i.+ps run on Demon qi. Not only will their speed not be limited, but they can travel even faster here. I don’t know how long it’ll take for us to cross this sea of flesh aura. I doubt that we’ll be able to get out of it before they catch up to us.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t use Void Travel to cross this sea of the grand monarch flesh aura,” Pei Qiqi said, looking frustrated.
After pausing to think for a moment, Qi Lianshan said, “I had a talk with Yang Fan and the others. When the Demon ancient stars.h.i.+ps catch up to us, we’ll stay and fight them, while you keep going forward with Huang Jinnan, Nie Tian, and Lou Hongyan. Get out of the flesh aura sea as quickly as possible. Only if you get out here safely will we have a chance at surviving this tribulation.”
Upon hearing this, Nie Tian turned to look at Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan.
He noticed that Yang Fan and Lou Hongyan’s other subordinates were gathered around them, and having the same conversation.
From the look of it, Qi Lianshan and Yang Fan had long since thought of this move, probably from the moment they had entered the Demon grand monarch’s sea of flesh aura.
The seniors had long since been prepared to give their lives for Pei Qiqi, Huang Jinnan, Nie Tian, and Lou Hongyan.