In another place in the starry river that was tens of thousands of kilometers away.
Eyes red with fury, He Lianxiong looked back repeatedly.
Numerous cl.u.s.ters of Domain-corroding Flames were pursuing him like shadows that showed up wherever he went.
Behind the whizzing Domain-corroding Flames, a Fiend called out from time to time, as if to give orders.
POOH!
Boiling lava flew out of the long sleeve of a late Saint domain subordinate of He Lianxiong.
His name was Shen Jing. He had followed He Lianxiong for many years, and was his strongest subordinate.
As a master of flame power, he practiced incantations that were closely related to earthflame.
For this reason, there was an erupting volcano in the depths of his flame domain. It was the lava it had provided that had helped He Lianxiong burst through the Fiend’s blockade.
“I only have two subordinates left. All the others have died at the Fiends’ hands!” He Lianxiong howled painfully, fighting his urge to turn around and perish together with the pursuing Fiends.
However, he understood that, given his current strength, if he stayed and fought the Fiends, the only result would be him dying in the Domain of Heaven’s Origin. Even his body might be looted by the Fiends and considered a battle trophy.
He had never expected that he would be ambushed by a group of powerful Fiends led by the Poisoner on his way to help Hou Chulan after receiving Ruan Qingliu’s message.
Lamson, the Poisoner, was a late ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch.
Upon encountering them, Lamson had unleashed Domain-corroding Flames on his subordinates.
Everyone’s domain was poisoned by the bizarre flames. Even Shen Jing couldn’t help everyone get rid of the flames under Lamson and the other Fiends’ storm of attacks.
As a result, his subordinates had suffered heavy casualties.
He, Shen Jing, and another named Xu Yi, who was a middle Saint domain expert in metal power, were the only ones that had managed to burst through the Fiends’ blockade and escape.
Even so, Lamson, the Poisoner, pursued them unrelentingly, manipulating the Domain-corroding Flames.
“Master!” Shen Jing sent him a soul message. “I’m about to run out of lava. You should go join the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect. I’ll buy you as much time as possible.”
Heart burning with anxiety, Xu Yi also urged him through soul messages, “Go, Master!”
He Lianxiong fell silent.
At this moment, the pursuing Domain-corroding Flames suddenly streamed back to Lamson, the Poisoner, and vanished into a green vessel in his palm like baby swallows returning to their nest.
Then, Lamson raised his hand, ordering something in their own language.
In the next moment, all of the pursuing Fiends came to a sudden stop and fixed him with confused looks.
From a few hundred meters behind, Lamson fixed his icy eyes on He Lianxiong for a few seconds before saying in their language, “Let’s go back.”
After giving the order, he turned around and left, without giving any explanations.
His subordinates went blank for a brief moment before leaving reluctantly as well, giving up on pursuing He Lianxiong and his remaining subordinates.
Enveloped in his flame domain, Shen Jing watched the Poisoner leave with his people. Surprised and confused, he asked, “What’s happening? What are they doing? Lamson must be able to tell that I’m about to run out of lava. If they continued to pursue us, it wouldn’t be long before the Domain-corroding Flames got all of us. I don’t understand why they chose to leave now.”
Xu Yi was also baffled, floating in his domain that was s.h.i.+ning with golden light.
He Lianxiong let out a sigh of relief. “Fiends are a peculiar people. I don’t know what they’re doing either.”
RING! RING!
At that moment, a silver bracelet on He Lianxiong’s wrist gave rise to a series of rapid rings.
Shen Jing’s eyes lit up. “Finally... We’re finally in touch with Ruan Qingliu again!”
The silver bracelet was a Sound Bracelet forged by experts of the Void Spirit Society. Its spatial wonders allowed those who held them to communicate with each other, even if they were traveling in the starry river.
Since they were very expensive, very few people possessed them, even among the experts from the four great sects.
Earlier, when He Lianxiong and his people had first started running, he had made repeated attempts to reach Ruan Qingliu via his Sound Bracelet, but failed.
It was as if there had been some sort of barrier between them, preventing their Sound Bracelets from interacting.
Only now were they finally able to get their messages through.
With a finger, He Lianxiong pointed at the silver bracelet, fusing a wisp of his soul awareness into it. A series of expressions flashed across his face as he resolved Ruan Qingliu’s message.
Only after a long while did he withdraw his soul awareness and say, “Chulan’s team encountered a group of Phantasms. Young Monarch Froste led the group himself, and they also unleashed the Fiends’ Domain-corroding Flames on them.”
Shen Jing gasped with astonishment. “If I remember correctly, none of her subordinates practice flame power like I do. They probably don’t have any lava to suppress the Domain-corroding Flames. The reason why I have lava with me is because I fought in the Dead Star Sea not long ago, and was worried that we’d run into Fiends.
“The Divine Daughter of the wood element sect doesn’t seem to have a subordinate like me. Her team must have suffered a great deal from the Domain-corroding Flames.
“How many of them are still alive?”
Xu Yi, who was at the middle Saint domain, chimed in with a ghastly face, “The three of us are the only survivors of our team. I’m afraid they...”
The way Shen Jing and Xu Yi saw it, Hou Chulan must have suffered even more casualties facing the Domain-corroding Flames in the starry river.
They were even surprised by the fact that someone had survived and gotten in contact with them.
“They only lost two early Saint domain members,” He Lianxiong said with a complicated expression.
“Only two?!” Xu Yi exclaimed. “That’s impossible! There’s no way! I took a good look at the Divine Daughter’s force when we arrived. If they actually faced Domain-corroding Flames, they must have suffered more casualties than us!”
“Not just that, but they also killed a few eighth grade Phantasms and a ninth grade grand patriarch,” He Lianxiong added. “Unbelievable, right?”
Disbelief filled Shen Jing’s face as he asked, “How did they do that?”
“From what Ruan Qingliu told me... the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace played an important role,” He Lianxiong said with a hint of bitterness at the corner of his mouth. He clearly didn’t want to believe this either.
Their team had been stronger, and they had Shen Jing, an expert who could suppress the Domain-corroding Flames with lava, on their team. However, only the three of them had survived, and they had failed to kill any Fiends.
They had been at an absolute disadvantage since the moment they had encountered their enemy. They hadn’t been able to launch any effective counterattacks.
However, Hou Chulan’s team had not only suffered fewer casualties, but they had even killed a grand monarch. This was a bit hard for them to accept.
“Nie Tian!!” Shen Jing and Xu Yi exclaimed simultaneously, their eyes filled with suspicion.
“You must find it hard to believe. I do too.” With these words, He Lianxiong sighed and waved his hand. “Anyways, let’s go meet them first. They’re not far away.”
The three of them then moved out according to the directions they received via the silver bracelet.
...
Ruan Qingliu removed her finger from her silver bracelet, and said to the team with a heavy tone, “Nie Tian was right. He Lianxiong and his men were ambushed by a group of Fiends led by Lamson, the Poisoner. He Lianxiong, Shen Jing, and Xu Yi are the only ones who have survived.”
Saddened by the news, Hou Chulan said, “We got He Lianxiong into this trouble.”
“I guess we did,” Ruan Qingliu chimed in, sagging her head. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have gone to find him and ask him to join us in this operation in the Domain of Heaven’s Origin.”
Standing on his Star Boat, Nie Tian remained silent.
With Lu Jiefeng’s fleshly body destroyed and numerous Void and Saint domain experts annihilated, the humans had lost the battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven.
This battle in the Domain of Heaven’s Origin also ended in humanity’s defeat, with He Lianxiong suffering heavy losses. More than half of the force he had acc.u.mulated over the past centuries had been wiped out.
Hou Chulan had also lost two early Saint domain subordinates.
“If Nie Tian hadn’t injured Froste and forced him to leave the battlefield, we...” The thought of what might have happened sent a chill down Ruan Qingliu’s spine. “Nie Tian, thanks to you, we didn’t suffer too heavy losses. You’ve helped our sect preserve our strength once again.”
Nie Tian waved his hand. “Now is not the time to thank me. I think it’s no longer necessary to search for that teleportation portal. Let’s figure out a way to find and execute the traitors first.”
These words filled Hou Chulan’s eyes with intense killing intent.
SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!
At this moment, He Lianxiong, Shen Jing, and Xu Yi finally showed up in their sight, looking down and weak.