The group of Qi warriors from the Spirit G.o.d Sect in the Realm of Dark Underworld found a suitable location in the dense forest and sat down.
Yao Shou was the only one who went to sit beside Zhen Huilan and the other powerful Tool Sect members, and chatted with her every now and then.
Nie Tian and the other Tool Sect juniors watched the Spirit G.o.d Sect Qi warriors from afar, not saying a word.
Even the most talkative one among them, Zhu Han, had become completely silent.
It was as if Yao Shou’s att.i.tude had already made him realize that the Tool Sect was no longer respected and revered by the other major powers.
If it weren’t for Zhen Huilan’s former a.s.sociation with Yao Shou, and if Bai Yu weren’t here, those from the Spirit G.o.d Sect probably wouldn’t have initiated a talk, but a b.l.o.o.d.y fight instead.
This night seemed especially long.
Every now and then, Nie Tian would be awoken from his cultivation by bloodcurdling screams in the distance. Since he didn’t dare to unleash his Heaven Eyes, he wasn’t sure what was happening.
However, he was certain that people were being killed.
“The other sects are clearing the mountain range,” Huang Yuan said in a low voice.
Zhu Han kept silent, his face grim.
Wu Ling nodded and said, “Yeah, those sects don’t want any local Qi warrior organizations to be a part of this. So they issued an expelling order earlier, demanding all local Qi warriors leave the mountain range as quickly as possible. Now, the deadline must have arrived. Once they discover any risk-takers that dared to linger in the region, they’ll kill them on site.”
A sense of chilliness rose in Nie Tian’s heart.
As of this moment, he finally realized how overbearing powerful sects like the Spirit G.o.d Sect, Flame G.o.d Sect, and Poison Sect actually were.
The six spatial rifts had appeared in the Realm of Split Void, yet they came over and kicked the local Qi warriors out of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.
When they found local Qi warriors who failed to leave past the deadline they had given, they killed them on sight.
In their eyes, none of the local Qi warrior organizations, including the Blood Skull, deserved to enter that mysterious dimension with them.
Deep in the night...
A Qi warrior who had lost his left arm suddenly jumped out of the dense forest, crying as he shot towards the spatial rift.
SHEW!
A Qi warrior dressed in Ice Pavilion sect garments shot out of the forest after the man. However, as soon as he looked down and saw people from both the Spirit G.o.d Sect and the Tool Sect, he went blank briefly.
“s.h.i.+ Hui!” Pei Qiqi exclaimed.
Nie Tian looked up, and realized that the Qi warrior who had lost his left arm was none other than the Blood Skull’s former guest elder, s.h.i.+ Hui.
After breaking away from the Blood Skull, s.h.i.+ Hui had joined the Wild Fire, and threatened to kill him to avenge s.h.i.+ Nan.
He hadn’t expected that s.h.i.+ Hui would end up in such sore straits.
s.h.i.+ Hui’s entire left side was now covered in frost. He seemed to have great difficulty moving that side.
Even so, his eyes were locked onto the spatial rift, which had still yet to stabilize. Apparently, he wanted to enter it with all of his heart.
Fierce sword intent suddenly burst forth from within him as he shot towards the spatial rift like a flying sword.
His eyes were filled with obsession. Yao Shou, who was sitting under the spatial rift, sighed, shaking his head. “Another foolish gambler.”
Then, he reached out his hand and made a grabbing motion in the air towards s.h.i.+ Hui.
In the next moment, a dark, mysterious vortex came to form in Yao Shou’s palm.
The vortex thrummed with wave after wave of suffocating soul fluctuations as it shot up into the air and enveloped s.h.i.+ Hui, who was only one step away from the spatial rift.
s.h.i.+ Hui held his head with his one good hand and let out miserable wails, while blood spilled from his increasingly bulging eyes.
His das.h.i.+ng momentum was instantly stopped, and then his saggy body fell to the ground.
A hundred meters away, Nie Tian watched s.h.i.+ Hui’s body crash to the ground, and could feel that his soul had shattered and dissipated, as if it had been erased by the dark vortex unleashed by Yao Shou.
Seeing that Yao Shou had killed s.h.i.+ Hui, the Ice Pavilion sect pursuer bowed towards him and said respectfully, “Thank you. As you were.”
With these words, he left with a puzzled heart.
He seemed to wonder why people from the Spirit G.o.d Sect were with people from the Tool Sect.
Yao Shou didn’t spare s.h.i.+ Hui’s corpse another glance. His eyes once again narrowed, as he seemed to have absolutely no interest in pillaging it. Perhaps in his eyes, the late Greater Heaven stage s.h.i.+ Hui wouldn’t possibly possess any valuable spiritual materials that he would set his eyes on.
Zhen Huilan, Bai Yu, and Zhu Lian didn’t say anything either. They went right back to their quiet conversation, as if they didn’t just witness s.h.i.+ Hui’s death.
Seeing their indifferent att.i.tudes, Nie Tian took a deep breath to calm himself and resumed his cultivation.
After a while, a Profound realm expert dressed in Flame G.o.d Sect garments descended from the air like a burning meteor. He also noticed the uncommon scene as soon as he came to a stop.
“Yao Shou!” Face filled with surprise and confusion, he looked back and forth between Yao Shou and the people from the Tool Sect.
The expression of every Tool Sect member, including Zhen Huilan, grew grave the moment they saw that Flame G.o.d Sect expert.
Not long ago, the Flame G.o.d Sect had looted a copious amount of earthflame essence from the Realm of Unbounded Desolation while Zhao Shanling kept the Tool Sect busy. Those from the Tool Sect held deep grudges because of that.
Hence, it was only natural that they didn’t have pleasant looks on their faces when they saw their enemy.
Yao Shou, who was also from the Realm of Dark Underworld, cleared his throat and said, “Gongsun Pu, we’ve already reached a mutual understanding with the Tool Sect. The Spirit G.o.d Sect and the Tool Sect are guarding this spatial rift together.”
Gongsun Pu from the Flame G.o.d Sect had actually harbored the same intentions as Yao Shou had before.
He had also planned to s.n.a.t.c.h the spatial rift directly from the Tool Sect.
However, now that he saw Yao Shou here and learned that the Spirit G.o.d Sect had made a deal with the Tool Sect to guard this spatial rift together, he grew hesitant.
“Alright,” he said. “Since we’re both from the Realm of Dark Underworld, I’ll give you face and leave you alone.”
After a pause, he shot a glance at Zhu Lian and said, “It’s your lucky day today.”
With these words, he morphed into a streak of flames and disappeared into the distant sky.
The expressions of the Tool Sect members grew even grimmer than before as the atmosphere grew more and more stifling.
Everyone could see that if the Spirit G.o.d Sect weren’t here, Gongsun Pu from the Flame G.o.d Sect definitely would have started a fight to seize the spatial rift.
Yao Shou spread out his hands, smiling. “As you just saw, if we hadn’t joined hands, but instead you guys had guarded this spatial rift alone, other sects would have come and try to take it, even if I hadn’t.”
Awkward expressions appeared on Zhen Huilan and Bai Yu’s faces.
Even Zhu Lian didn’t seem as angry as before, as if he had finally found peace with the truth.
Over the following few days, Nie Tian often heard people fighting and screaming in the vicinity as everyone waited for the spatial rift to stabilize. Occasionally, some local Qi warriors would risk their lives by attempting to enter the spatial rift. However, every one of them was annihilated by powerful experts from the Spirit G.o.d Sect effortlessly.
Nie Tian also noticed that a handful of Blood Skull members were killed by powerful experts from the Ice Pavilion sect and Thunder Mountain Sect before they got anywhere near the spatial rift.
That was when he realized what s.h.i.+ Qing had meant previously by saying that the Void Illusion Mountain Range had turned into h.e.l.l on earth.
From the look of it, the powerful sects from the other eight realms planned to killed every local Qi warrior that dared to remain in the mountain range before those spatial rifts fully stabilized.
Just like Pei Qiqi had said, people were dying every day, and the entire Realm of Split Void had fallen into chaos. He could only watch as things like this happened.
During this time, some of the other sects had also sent people here in attempts to take the spatial rift from the Tool Sect. However, they all started weighing their choices upon seeing the people from the Spirit G.o.d Sect, and eventually left.
Just like that, the Spirit G.o.d Sect and the Tool Sect managed to hold the spatial rift together.
One day, at midday.
Zhen Huilan, who was cultivating under the spatial rift, suddenly opened her eyes and said, “Alright, we can enter now.”
Upon hearing these words, everyone who had been waiting for quite some time rose with force and spirit.
Yao Shou rose to his feet and said to Zhen Huilan, “You may go in first.”
Zhen Huilan nodded, and after brief hesitation, she said, “You actually don’t have to arrange for people to stay here and guard the spatial rift. The spatial energy fluctuations within the six spatial rifts actually follow certain patterns. At this moment, this spatial rift is stable, and we’ll be safe to enter it, but it’ll become extremely turbulent and violent in an hour.
“If you fail to enter in an hour, you’ll miss your chance.
“Even I can’t predict when it will calm down and become stable again.”
Looking grateful, Yao Shou said, “Thank you for telling me this, Master Zhen.”
Zhen Huilan waved at Pei Qiqi and the other juniors, beckoning them to enter the spatial rift one after another. “Hurry up. Don’t dawdle.”
Without any delay, Nie Tian rose to his feet and followed the Tool Sect juniors into the spatial rift.
After everyone from the Tool Sect was in, Zhen Huilan turned to Yao Shou and said, “Watch the time.”