The inter-realm teleportation portal in Shatter City was still under construction.
Therefore, Nie Tian still couldn’t use it to return to the Realm of Flame Heaven to meet Wu Ji yet.
Meanwhile, the cleansing operation in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was still ongoing. Worldly realm and Profound realm experts from the major sects were hunting down the remaining outsiders to reap their spoils.
Qi warriors in the Realm of Split Void had also heard about this.
However, considering their status and strength, they wouldn’t be allowed to split the spoils with the major sects even if the inter-realm teleportation portal was fully functional.
After receiving Zhen Huilan’s notification, the members of the Wild Fire, the Blood Skull, and the Dark Moon who had fled to remote, desolate corners of the Realm of Split Void had returned to their old headquarters.
Then, as Li Ye unintentionally spread the word that Nie Tian had returned to Shatter City, Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull, came to visit Nie Tian with his son, Cai Yuan, and his daughter, Cai Yue.
As soon as they arrived. Cai Lan presented a ring of holding that was filled with all sorts of spiritual materials and spirit stones to Nie Tian, and said that it was to thank him for what he had done.
Nie Tian briefly examined the contents of the ring with a wisp of his psychic awareness, and discovered that it was stocked with fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials, as well as some Star Stones.
Apparently, Cai Lan knew what Nie Tian needed and had gathered a careful selection before coming.
Afterwards, Cai Lan said that, as long as Nie Tian continued to acknowledge his ident.i.ty as the Blood Skull’s guest elder, the Blood Skull would be happy to give him thirty percent of their annual income as remuneration.
After the recent messy incident in the Realm of Split Void, Cai Lan now had a clear understanding that if they didn’t have a Soul realm expert to back them, whatever they acc.u.mulated in Shatter City could all be wiped out very easily.
If a similar incident happened again, and powerful experts descended upon the Realm of Split Void again, the Blood Skull and Shatter City would fall victim to their unfair treatment again.
In Cai Lan’s eyes, Nie Tian would be a perfect backer.
As long as people knew that Nie Tian was still the Blood Skull’s guest elder, even if he didn’t stay in Shatter City at all times, those who wanted to undermine the Blood Skull would have to think twice before making their moves.
Because of this, both Cai Yuan, who had gone through a lot with Nie Tian, and Cai Yue, who had rather resented Nie Tian, behaved very cautiously this time.
Like Li Ye, Cai Yuan and Cai Yue had both been arranged to wait out the crisis in the Spirit Condor’s headquarters.
They had returned with Li Ye.
Looking at Nie Tian, Cai Yuan sighed inwardly, as he suddenly realized that inviting Nie Tian to be their guest elder was the wisest decision he had made his whole life.
Cai Yue, who had never like Nie Tian and almost fought him over the use of the Blood Skull’s cultivation rooms, started to look at Nie Tian with a admiring and respectful look in her eyes.
At this point, Nie Tian no longer wore a mask.
Even the Heaven Palace Sect and Xia Yi hadn’t dared to harm him. Who else in the Domain of the Falling Stars would he feel the need to hide his ident.i.ty from?
After expressing his sincere grat.i.tude, Cai Lan left with his children.
Soon after he left, the heads of the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire came to visit Nie Tian with a number of their members.
Like Cai Lan, they both presented gifts and expressed their grat.i.tude.
Compared to the gifts from Cai Lan, there were even more valuables in the rings of holding they gave Nie Tian.
According to them, if Nie Tian hadn’t set the stage for the human alliance’s victory in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, they would still have been cowering in remote areas and losing members to mutant spirit beasts.
As long as there were still outsiders garrisoned the Void Illusion Mountain Range, they wouldn’t have dared to come out from hiding.
However, Nie Tian had solved their problem by ending the crisis in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.
Hu Han and Fu Heng from the Wild Fire were among the visitors that came to see him.
They also thanked Nie Tian, saying that they perhaps wouldn’t have lived to this point if Nie Tian hadn’t left them those spirit stones.
Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had hostile looks in their eyes when they saw Hu Han. Upon meeting their gazes, Hu Han expressed her grat.i.tude repeatedly and remained very humble. Even though Pei Qiqi and Li Ye didn’t hold her responsible for her deeds, they gave her some nasty glares.
Hu Han once again expressed, in a very subtle fas.h.i.+on, that she would be willing to offer herself to Nie Tian.
However, Nie Tian didn’t show the slightest interest, but rather waved his hand, signaling for her to leave.
Over the next few days, some rogue cultivators came to visit Nie Tian as well, hoping to form some ties with him.
However, Nie Tian refused to meet them, telling them that he was in the middle of cultivation.
During this time, he replenished the star power he had consumed in the Realm of Mystic Heaven with some Star Stones. Meanwhile, Zhen Huilan finally finished reestablis.h.i.+ng a brand-new inter-realm teleportation portal in Shatter City.
Therefore, Nie Tian planned to return to the Realm of Flame Heaven through it.
Just as he was about to leave, Li Ye came up to him and asked to go with him, saying that even if Nie Tian didn’t have any equipment forging needs, he could forge suitable spiritual tools for his family.
Nie Tian thought his grandfather and aunt might actually have such needs, and thus agreed to take him.
Therefore, the two of them teleported to the Realm of Flame Heaven through the newly established inter-realm teleportation portal.
In the Cloudsoaring Sect’s headquarters.
Elder Chen Musheng was the one who was in charge of the inter-realm teleportation portal in the Cloudsoaring Sect. He had always been cold towards the Nie Clan. Back when the Nie Clan had been bullied by others, he had chosen to turn a blind eye towards it.
At this moment, he sprang to his feet as he saw Nie Tian and Li Ye appearing in the inter-realm teleportation portal.
Under the shocked gazes of the Cloudsoaring Sect disciples, he bowed slightly and said, “Long time no see, Nie Tian. I was in the wrong. I hope that you can forgive an old fool like me.”
Nie Tian shot him a sideways glance and asked, “Is my grandfather here?”
“Yes, he is. I’ll take you to him.” Chen Musheng answered as he hastily walked over to lead the way for Nie Tian. Turning his head back, he said, “Well, many people have visited our sect recently. In fact, I’ve never seen so many people coming to our sect.”
Surprised, Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness to scan his surroundings.
He instantly sensed numerous powerful auras on Cloudsoaring Mountain and in the nearby valley.
Many of them didn’t seem to belong to the Cloudsoaring Sect. They probably weren’t even from the Realm of Flame Heaven.
Judging from the sense of familiarity he felt with some of the auras, he was certain that some of them were his acquaintances.
“What happened?” He asked.
With a wry smile, Chen Musheng said, “Word of what you did in the Realm of Mystic Heaven has long since spread across the Domain of the Falling Stars. The cleansing operation in the Realm of Mystic Heaven is reaching the end. Many didn’t know where you went and a.s.sumed that you returned to the Realm of Flame Heaven, so they came to see you.
“Miss Dong and a few Dong Clan members were the first ones to come.
“As a core disciple of the Ice Pavilion Sect, Xuan Ke came soon afterwards, along with a handful of Worldly realm and Profound realm experts.
“The Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the Cao Clan, the Gu Clan, the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, and the Tool Sect have also sent people here.
“Even the Poison Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Spirit G.o.d Sect have sent people to pay their respects.
“They came with heavy gifts and asked to see your grandfather. However, Mr. Nie didn’t accept their gifts, and they left after meeting martial uncle.
“People from the Heaven Palace Sect also came. They said that they would throw a victory party in a few days, and they came to invite you.”
Chen Musheng detailedly explained what had happened in the Cloudsoaring Sect recently as he led the way for Nie Tian.
During the time Nie Tian had stayed in Shatter City, waiting for the inter-realm teleportation portal to be constructed, the Cloudsoaring Sect seemed to have become the center of the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, attracting countless powerful figures.
Almost all of the major sects had sent people to come pay their respects with abundant gifts, with the Flame G.o.d Sect being the only exception.
The Cloudsoaring Sect had politely told them to return to their sects after a brief stay.
However, the Dong Clan, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect, which had stood by Nie Tian before, were received with great hospitality. They were provided with board and lodging, so they could wait for Nie Tian to return.
Li Ye snorted with an envious expression. “You lucky dog. You’re probably the most popular person in the Domain of the Falling Stars now. Master shouldn’t have arranged for me to go to the Spirit Condor’s headquarters and cost me the opportunity to come to the center of the stage. Otherwise, Li Ye would have long since become a household name.”