Since members of the Dong Clan and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were right ahead, it wasn’t convenient for Nie Tian to take out all of the branches and put them in a formation.
After learning that they were as tough as metal and could even be used as weapons in battle, he put them away and went on to practice cultivation with fire-attributed materials.
Two hours pa.s.sed...
Their Lightning Shuttle followed those from the Dong Clan and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce to another floating continent, where Qi warriors from the Cao Clan, the Gu Clan, and the Pill Pavilion Sect were gathered.
Unlike the last one, this floating continent was smaller, and there didn’t seem to be any spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth on it.
Gu Haofeng from the Gu Clan rushed over to Dong Li the moment her Rainbow Lightning landed and said excitedly, “Come and see what we’ve found!”
Not a single blade of gra.s.s could be seen on the barren and open land.
After the Lightning Shuttle landed, Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian followed the others to the location where the other three forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were gathered.
It was a cl.u.s.ter of dilapidated buildings that seemed to have been home to Bonebrutes.
Most of the buildings, which were built with gray bones, had already collapsed, with only two of them still standing.
The remains of a number of Bonebrutes were scattered around. After what could be tens of thousands of years, the remains were already bereft of any energy. A mere touch would reduce them to ashes.
Gu Yue, Cai Zhaoji, and Zhong Pu were the three Profound realm experts from the Gu Clan, the Cao Clan, and the Pill Pavilion Sect. All of them were at the late Profound realm.
After everyone gathered to their location, their gazes landed on Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian.
Under their inquiring gazes, Dong Tuodi said lightly, “We saw people from the Poison Sect chasing after them, so we brought them here with us.”
“She is Master Zhen’s disciple,” Qin Yi explained.
Gu Yue and the other experts seemed to be aware of Qin Yi’s deep friends.h.i.+p with Zhen Huilan, and thus didn’t say anything as Qin Yi stated Pei Qiqi’s ident.i.ty.
As for Nie Tian, since no one introduced him to them, they took it that he was a junior of the Tool Sect, and didn’t attach much importance to him.
All of the Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage members of the Cao Clan, Gu Clan, and Pill Pavilion Sect also focused their curious gazes on Pei Qiqi. None of them paid any attention to Nie Tian.
Nie Tian was slightly worried as he noticed that Gu Han from the Gu Clan and Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect were also among the crowd.
They had traveled together when they had gone to the Realm of Dark Underworld to explore the ‘Phantasm relic’. He was worried that these two Worldly realm experts would see through his disguise and ask him about the Spirit Pearl.
Cao Zhaoji led Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi as they went around the dilapidated buildings to a few gigantic footprints. Pointing at them, he said in a low voice, “Look at those footprints. They seem to belong to some kind of humongous beast.”
Out of curiosity, Nie Tian and the others also followed them over and saw the gigantic footprints.
Each of them were about six hundred square meters large. The footprints showed three toes, and the hard ground sank very deep at the toe areas.
“We’ve examined the remains of the Bonebrutes in the vicinity,” said Cao Zhaoji. “They seem to have been killed by whatever enormous beast left these footprints. It seems that this place used to be a Bonebrute settlement. A large beast suddenly charged into it and killed most of the residents.”
Gu Yue was the only female among the five Profound realm experts, and seemed to be in her forties. Eyebrows slightly furrowed, she said, “It’s a pity that, after so many years of erosion, the Bonebrutes’ remains have lost all of their energy and become useless. We’ve searched every inch of this place, and failed to discover any valuable tools or spiritual materials. And we couldn’t find the enormous beast that ravaged this settlement.”
Standing by Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian listened to the narration of the Profound realm experts, and reached his own opinion.
He believed that the incident had taken place during the ‘final war’, where a large creature from the bottom continent rushed into this Bonebrute settlement, causing the deaths of many Bonebrute residents.
After the incident, the survivors packed all of their valuables and left this place.
It was only natural that Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi, who had just come, would want to conduct their own search.
After hearing Cao Zhaoji and Gu Yue’s a.n.a.lysis, they nodded appreciatively and split up to conduct a thorough search of this floating continent.
Many members of the Dong Clan and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce also spread out to search in different areas.
Since those from the Cao Clan, the Gu Clan, and the Pill Pavilion Sect had already searched every corner of this floating continent and found nothing, some members stayed put.
Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi also stayed in place instead of going search with the others.
In Nie Tian’s eyes, if there actually were any secrets in this place, he would be in no position to uncover them.
Cao Zhaoji, Gu Yue, and Zhong Pu, three Profound realm experts, had already conducted a thorough search of this continent. Now, Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi were doing their own search to be sure. How would he be able to compete with these five?
Dong Li suddenly came over and said to Nie Tian, “Walk with me, Mu Han. I’ve got something to show you.”
With these words, she walked away, beckoning for Nie Tian to follow her.
“Umm, okay.” Completely confused, Nie Tian followed her away.
Off to the side, Qin Yan shot a glance at Pei Qiqi and asked with a faint smile, “Aren’t you going with them?”
Still expressionless, Pei Qiqi didn’t show the slightest interest in talking.
Gu Haofeng, however, took the initiative to walk up to Qin Yan, and with a curious look in his eyes, he asked, “Big Sister Qin Yan, who is that Mu Han person?”
“He seems to be an old friend of Dong Li’s,” Qin Yan answered with a smile.
“Dong Li’s old friend?” Gu Haofeng asked, his eyebrows furrowed. “How come I don’t know that she has such an old friend? Is he a member of the Tool Sect?”
Since he had heard that Dong Li had helped the Tool Sect find Zhao Shanling’s hiding place and secured a Fruit of Life from the Realm of Unbounded Desolation, he a.s.sumed that Nie Tian was a friend she had made in the Tool Sect.
“How would I know? If you’re so curious, you might as well go ask Dong Li yourself.” With a soft chuckle, Qin Yan’s bright eyes glittered as she added, “However, the way I see it, he and Dong Li are not just friends.”
A hint of anger appeared in Gu Haofeng’s eyes. “Not just friends?”
“Can’t you see it?” asked Qin Yan. “When have you ever seen Dong Li give things to others? She has always been the one to take things from others.”
Upon hearing her words, Gu Haofeng’s face grew increasingly long.
Gazing coldly in the direction where Dong Li and Nie Tian had left, he hesitated for a moment before going in that direction as well.
After he left, Pei Qiqi looked coldly at Qin Yan and asked, “Do you find this enjoyable?”
“I do,” Qin Yan replied, smiling. “I enjoy watching people fight for the affection of another. Do you have a problem with that?”
Pei Qiqi let out a cold harrumph and didn’t give any response.
Meanwhile...
Dong Li led Nie Tian to a secluded location, where she took out a large amount of spirit beast meat, which was cooled by frosty stones, from within her ring of holding, and said to him, “When we traveled together before, I noticed that you needed to consume large amounts of spirit beast meat every day. I was worried that you’d run out, so I stocked up on some for you just in case.”
She always paid attention to details. Back when they had traveled together in the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Unbounded Desolation, she had noticed Nie Tian’s shockingly big appet.i.te.
Even though she didn’t understand the reason behind it, she figured that Nie Tian would need a large amount of spirit beast meat. Therefore, she had purchased some the last time she had returned to her clan.
The Realm of a Hundred Battles was the realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars where the most spirit beasts lived. Many people would come from the other realms to hunt spirit beasts for their precious parts.
Because of that, not only was spirit beast meat sold at very low prices in the Realm of Unbounded Desolation, but fifth grade spirit beast meat could easily be found.
Most of the spirit beast meat she had purchased for Nie Tian was from fourth grade spirit beasts, but there was also some fifth grade spirit beast meat. Obviously, she had put a lot of thought into it.
Looking at the spirit beast meat that had been piled into a hill, and noticing that the meat was being refrigerated by frosty stones to keep it from deteriorating and losing its energy, Nie Tian was touched.
Ever since he had awakened the Life Drain bloodline talent, he developed a brand new method of absorbing flesh power.
Using Life Drain to absorb flesh power from spirit beast meat was much more efficient than consuming the meat and letting his digestive system to do the work. This was also the reason why he was already seeing the bottom of his stock of spirit beast meat, which he had purchased in the Dong Clan.
Warmth filled his heart as he looked at the spirit beast meat Dong Li had prepared for him.
“Thank you,” Nie Tian said sincerely.
“You don’t have to be so courteous with me,” Dong Li said with a hearty smile. “Put it away now. Otherwise, people might see it and ask questions.”
“Alright.” The ring of holding on Nie Tian’s finger flickered, and the large pile of spirit beast meat disappeared into it.
“Why didn’t you ride with me in my Rainbow Lightning?” Dong Li suddenly changed the subject.
With a dry smile, Nie Tian spread out his hands, and said, “I came here with Senior Martial Sister Pei.”
Dong Li snorted disdainfully. “What do you like about that cold woman?” She took the initiative to lean towards Nie Tian. Only when her scented body was about to press against him did she stop and say, “I want you to follow me in the operations to come. As long as I’m around, you won’t have to worry about those from the Flame G.o.d Sect, the Spirit G.o.d Sect, or the Poison Sect.
“Pei Qiqi’s master has long since lost her influence now that the Tool Sect is swaying.
“You came here with the Tool Sect. You must have noticed that the way the other sects treat them now is different from before, right? Neither Pei Qiqi nor her master are going to receive the same kind of respect they did before.
“Meanwhile, it’s a whole other story with my team from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. We have five Profound realm experts on our team, all of whom are at the late Profound realm.
“Very few people will have the audacity to mess with us here.”
She eventually led the conversation back to her main topic as she went on and on about how weak the Tool Sect’s team was, and how powerful her team was.
Just as Nie Tian was about to say something, he noticed an unusual movement and looked behind Dong Li.
He found that Gu Haofeng was standing by a large rock and looking coldly at him, his face filled with jealousy and anger.
As Dong Li looked over her shoulder and discovered it was Gu Haofeng, her face dropped. With an impatient and angry tone, she blurted, “What the h.e.l.l did you follow us here for?”
“I’ve got something to discuss with you,” Gu Haofeng said.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you!” Dong Li said very harshly. “Get the h.e.l.l out of here!”
Gu Haofeng didn’t know what else to say. With a sulking face, he turned around and left.