Standing under a sky-reaching tree, the blue-garbed Pei Qiqi looked as pure and quiet as a lotus as she said with an expressionless face, “Go on. Don’t mind me.” With these words, she sat down where she was, took out a medicinal pill, and swallowed it. Then, she closed her eyes to refine it and stimulate its efficacy.
Her cold and indifferent att.i.tude made Dong Li feel slightly annoyed, and she couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Her eyes rolled around as she searched in her mind for other tricks. However, at this moment, Pei Qiqi’s slender eyebrows suddenly furrowed as a hint of pain appeared on her face.
Nie Tian’s expression flickered.
He remembered that Pei Qiqi’s internal injuries hadn’t fully healed yet. Her recent battles with Poison Sect disciples might have worsened those injuries.
SHEW!
He blurred into action and appeared behind Pei Qiqi in the next moment. Without a word, he sat down, gently pressed his hands on her back, and practiced Heavenly Wood Heal.
Tens of thousands of wisps of liquidized wood power flew out of his fast-spinning vortex of wood power and infused into Pei Qiqi.
With Nie Tian behind her back, Pei Qiqi was facing Dong Li with her eyes closed.
However, at this moment, as Nie Tian rushed over to heal her injuries, her eyes quietly opened.
Face still expressionless, she shot a glance at Dong Li.
The smile immediately faded from Dong Li’s face as she let out a soft, cold snort.
Meanwhile...
Floating off the edge of the continent, Lu Bai’s face looked especially grim as he listened to Zhang Jiu describe the situation to him.
Looking frustrated, Sha Cheng bowed his head as he stood off to the side, not saying a word.
“You led a team of nine people back in there, yet just the two of you came back alive.” Lu Bai struggled to suppress his fury, yet he felt it increasingly hard as he saw Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi, who were watching them from some distance away with expressions as if they were enjoying a show. “I can’t believe those two Greater Heaven stage b.a.s.t.a.r.ds managed to kill so many of you, including Jin Lin!”
A bitter smile appeared on Zhang Jiu’s face.
Keh! Keh! Dong Tuodi cleared his throat to attract the Poison Sect members’ attention. Only after all of their eyes landed on him did he take his time to say, “It seems that the Poison Sect isn’t destined to explore this floating continent.”
With a stern expression, Qin Yi said loudly, “I’m gonna let this one pa.s.s, since Qiqi isn’t hurt.”
Dong Tuodi seemed to turn a blind eye to Lu Bai’s anger as he added, “Judging by the time, those from the Gu Clan, Cao Clan, and the Pill Pavilion Sect should be here any moment now.”
Lu Bai’s expression grew even grimmer.
He knew very well that the five Qi warrior powers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles always acted together, and this trip to this mysterious dimension was no exception.
Now that the Dong Clan and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were here, it meant the other three powers probably weren’t far away.
Considering the Dong Clan’s strength alone, the Poison Sect didn’t have absolute confidence in beating them in battle. If all of the other four powers came along...
After weighing the situation in his mind, Lu Bai eventually beckoned for his people to leave.
Dejected and despondent, the crowd of Poison Sect disciples sped away from the floating continent one after another.
Lu Bai, who was the last to leave, shot a cold glance at Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi, and said, “I’ll see you around!” With these words, he turned around and flew away.
With a disdainful smile, Dong Tuodi said, “Do you think you can scare me?”
Soon after Lu Bai left, Dong Baijie emerged from the floating continent. Gazing at the empty s.p.a.ce where the Poison Sect members used to be, he asked, “Where are those people from the Poison Sect?”
With a disdainful expression, Dong Tuodi said, “They left, of course. The Poison Sect has really gone downhill. They actually got a dozen Greater Heaven disciples killed by just two youngsters, and those who did come back were also in sore straits.”
After a pause, he asked, looking curious, “Baijie, I know Pei Qiqi is in there, but who’s the other one?”
Qin Yi and the Qi warriors from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce also shot curious gazes towards Dong Baijie.
Dong Baijie’s eyes flickered slightly before he said with a soft chuckle, “A friend of Little Li’s.”
“A friend...” After a moment of pondering, Dong Tuodi’s eyes lit up. “Don’t tell me it"s him!?”
Dong Baijie nodded gently.
Astonished, Dong Tuodi immediately said, “No wonder...”
As one of the senior members of the Dong Clan who had true power, he knew a great deal about Dong Li, especially her encounters in the Realm of Unbounded Desolation. After she had helped the Tool Sect find Zhao Shanling and brought back a Fruit of Life for their patriarch, he had paid even more attention to her.
Not only had the news of her obtaining a Fruit of Life caused a sensation in the entire Dong Clan, but the patriarch had also been very pleased.
In fact, it was thanks to the patriarch’s generous rewards that Dong Li was able to advance to the middle Greater Heaven stage within such a short time.
From the clues he had picked up and Dong Baijie’s implication, he was rather certain that Dong Li’s fortunate gains had a great deal to do with Nie Tian.
Now that he learned that the other one was Nie Tian, the sole successor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, Dong Tuodi thought everything made sense.
The person who had forcibly taken a fragmentary star mark from Dong Baijie and obtained another one from Ning Yang was naturally by no means ordinary.
“Did you find anything noteworthy in there?” Dong Tuodi asked.
“I haven’t gotten the chance to conduct a thorough search yet.”
“Alright, go back and try your best to uncover the secrets of this floating continent.”
“I will.” With these words, Dong Baijie turned around and sped away.
“Who’s that person you were talking about?” Qin Yi asked.
“Umm, he’s just a good friend of Little Li’s.” Dong Tuodi muddled through his answer.
At the heart of the floating continent.
With the help of Heavenly Wood Heal, Nie Tian once again helped Pei Qiqi heal her injuries with his liquidized wood power.
After recently healing her twice and attacking his enemies with Heavenly Wood Thorns, he had consumed more than half of the liquidized wood power he had acc.u.mulated.
After withdrawing his hands, Nie Tian seemed somewhat tired as he said in a low voice, “You should be fine now.”
Pei Qiqi closed her eyes and briefly examined the changes inside of her, then she asked softly, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Nie Tian said with a smile and rose to his feet. “If we were somewhere else, it would take me quite some time to restore the power I’ve consumed. However, I can recover much faster in this place, so don’t worry.”
After stepping away from Pei Qiqi and Dong Li to a secluded corner, he glanced around and saw no one around. Then, he started forming sparkling, green energy b.a.l.l.s and channeling concentrated wood power from them into his vortex of wood power.
In the meantime, he kept a close watch on everything in the vicinity with the help of his nine Heaven Eyes. He saw Qin Yan and Dong Kang roaming about and searching aimlessly.
From the expressions on their faces, he could tell they hadn’t found anything.
It appeared that they would keep looking for some time, and none of them would return shortly.
Dong Li came up to him, hoping to talk to him, yet after finding that he seemed to be practicing cultivation by forming energy b.a.l.l.s, she turned around and walked away.
Time pa.s.sed quickly.
Two hours later, by forming and absorbing the wood power from three energy b.a.l.l.s, he had recovered most of his wood power.
Also at that moment, Dong Baijie, Dong Kang, Qin Yan, and others from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce returned one after another.
“So?” Dong Li asked. “Found anything?”
Everyone shook their heads. They had conducted a thorough search of the entire continent, yet none of them had discovered any valuable spiritual materials.
Dong Li’s eyes rolled about in their sockets before her gaze suddenly fixed on Nie Tian.
Even though she hadn’t left and searched other parts of the continent, she felt a sense of familiarity towards the exceedingly tall trees around her.
They were identical with the ancient trees she had seen in the magical land which Nie Tian had found and entered with her in the Realm of Unbounded Desolation.
It occurred to her that the special ward preventing Profound and Worldly realm experts from entering this floating continent also contained the profound truths of wood power.
Therefore, she was convinced that if there were any secrets in this mysterious place, others might not be able to find them, but Nie Tian must be able to!
“Brother, cousin,” Dong Li said with a smile. “You can take another look around. If you really can’t find anything, you can just wait outside with our seniors.”
Knowing her too well, Dong Baijie realized that she might have other plans in mind, and thus nodded.
Looking at Nie Tian from afar, Dong Baijie opened his mouth to call out to him, “Uh...”
However, he had to stop, since he didn’t know how he should address Nie Tian now that he was wearing another mask.
Nie Tian saw through his dilemma, and thus stated his a.s.sumed name, “Mu Han.”
“Oh, right, Mu Han,” Dong Baijie said. “There isn’t anyone else on this continent, right?”
“No, not at the moment.”
“Good,” Dong Baijie said with a smile. “All of the Poison Sect members have left. You can come with us when you’re ready to leave.”
Upon hearing that people from the Poison Sect had left, Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief and said, “I still need to think about it.”
“Alright, I’ll see you later.” With these words, Dong Baijie left with Dong Kang.
“You guys can go with them,” Qin Yan order the members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.
“Why are you not going, Qin Yan?” Dong Li sounded somewhat displeased.
“I’m not leaving because you’re not leaving.” Qin Yan pursed her lips into a smile and sat down, looking determined.
The news of Dong Li bringing a Fruit of Life back from the Realm of Unbounded Desolation not only created a major stir in the Dong Clan, but also shocked every clan and sect in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.
Since she had always been tight with Dong Li, she had long since speculated that Dong Li’s wondrous encounters had something to do with Nie Tian.
Therefore, she had a feeling that she would have to rely on Nie Tian and Dong Li if she were to discover the secrets of this strange continent. That was why she refused to leave.
Dong Li shot a dirty look at her. “Whatever.”
Qin Yan pretended she didn’t see that.
Nie Tian came over and saw the three women gathered in this area. Not wis.h.i.+ng to stay here, he said, “We encountered those from the Poison Sect right after we came here, so I haven’t had the chance to uncover the secrets of this continent. I’m gonna take a look around.”
With these words, he avoided meeting the strange gazes of the three women and suddenly vanished into thin air.