Afterwards, Fan Kai and Lei Tianqi’s conversation ended, and they fixed their eyes on the bamboo forest in silence.
Hua Mu and the other experts fell silent too. Dong Li and the other juniors were even more nervous, and none of them dared to make a sound.
In utter silence, everyone snuck glances at Fan Kai from time to time, their faces grim.
None of them knew why he was here.
The truth was that before Lei Tianqi had come along, Fan Kai had been the most powerful Qi warrior throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars all along.
Rumors about him had spread far and wide in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Everyone knew about him and held reverence towards him.
That included Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, and Qi Bailu.
Questions exploded in people’s minds as they grew worried.
“He’s entered the Void domain... Can it be the Heaven Palace Sect has grown sick of being overlooked?”
“Is he here to threaten Nie Tian?”
“What in the world does the Heaven Palace Sect want?”
They had already grown used to the hard-earned peace in the Domain of the Falling Stars. No more conflicts had broken out since the second outsider invasion and the deaths of Xia Yi and his allies.
Everyone knew that it was Nie Tian who had given them such peace.
Now that Fan Kai had entered the Void domain, was he going to break the peace and wage another war?
However, by the time Hua Mu and the other experts laid their eyes on Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong, their worries were gone.
Even though Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong also looked calm, Hua Mu and the others sensed a shred of sadness from them.
Their sadness was mixed with grudges, but also their submission to fate...
Dong w.a.n.gling’s eyes lit up as he seemed to suddenly realize something. “Don’t tell me they’re here to...”
The worries in Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, Zong Zheng, and the others’ eyes rapidly faded.
At this very moment, Nie Tian walked out of the bamboo forest.
With a surprised expression, he glanced around at the people gathered outside the bamboo forest, thinking to himself, “What’s with the sudden silence?”
He had heard loud clamors from outside the bamboo forest when Nie Donghai had suggested that it was about time he went out. However, as he came out, the clamor died out instantly.
He took another close look at the crowd, and discovered that Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, and Fan Kai were among the people present.
With a single look at Fan Kai, he realized that the pale old man must be the peak expert from the Heaven Palace Sect, whom he had heard of on many occasions.
“Void domain?!”
He, who had met Jiang Feng, Ke Jinpeng, and other Void domain experts, instantly realized that the old man had broken through, and become the first cultivator throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars to enter the Void domain.
If it were before, and he saw a Void domain expert from the Heaven Palace Sect standing before him, his expression would definitely flicker drastically.
However, at this moment, his expression was surprisingly calm.
After all, he had seen and dealt with many Void domain experts by this point.
The old man took a step forward the moment Nie Tian walked out of the bamboo forest. He bowed under everyone’s gaze and said with a sincere tone, “This humble one is Fan Kai from the Heaven Palace Sect, and I’m here to atone for our mistakes.”
Fan Kai’s words broke the gruesome silence like a huge rock that was cast into a lake, giving rise to enormous waves among the crowd.
“He’s here to atone for his mistakes?!!”
Even though the experts present had already suspected what he was going to do, they were still deeply shaken as they heard him say the actual words.
This meant that the Heaven Palace Sect, which had dominated the Domain of the Falling Stars for thousands of years, had officially bowed their heads in front of Nie Tian.
Even this old man, who had finally entered the Void domain with a lifetime of effort, came to ask for Nie Tian’s forgiveness. Which other sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars would still dare to contend against Nie Tian?
Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian smiled and said, “Atone for your mistakes? How are you going to do that?”
The Heaven Palace Sect had weighed down on him like a majestic mountain since the day he had obtained the fragmentary star marks.
Because of that, he had been forced to leave the Realm of Flame Heaven and hole up in the Realm of Split Void under another name.
Every day, he had worried that the Heaven Palace Sect would find him and take everything from him.
Later, when the outsiders had launched a ma.s.s invasion, the Heaven Palace Sect had forced all of the major sects to send their most powerful experts to join the battle in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. For many reasons, Nie Tian had been forced to go as well.
Eventually, he had destroyed the Phantasms’ ancient stars.h.i.+p with the grand spell formation the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace had left for him, turning the situation around almost single-handedly. Even the Heaven Palace Sect had adopted a low profile after witnessing the terrifying might he had displayed.
Later, Yue Yanxi from the Divine Flame Sect had come along and demonstrated his desire to establish a friendly relations.h.i.+p with Nie Tian. He had even left Lei Tianqi in the Domain of the Falling Stars to ensure that every sect observed the new order, especially the Heaven Palace Sect.
Now that Fan Kai had entered the Void domain, the Heaven Palace Sect would be able to give Nie Tian serious trouble if they wanted to.
However, to everyone’s surprise, they had suddenly changed their att.i.tude and admitted to their mistakes. Yet how far they would go to atone for their previous poor decisions was still unknown.
“The Heaven Palace Sect is willing to become your subordinate sect and take orders from you from now on,” Fan Kai said in a determined voice.
A clamor instantly burst through the crowd. “Subordinate sect?!”
Lei Tianqi went blank for a moment before taking a deep look at Fan Kai and thinking to himself, “It’s not too late. He’s the most powerful cultivator throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars after all. Now, he’s finally thought it through, and realized how he would be able to save his sect.”
Grim looks filled Ling Dong’s and Zhao Luofeng’s eyes.
Nie Tian remained silent for quite a while before nodding and saying, “I see. Now that your sect wishes to become my subordinate sect, I’ll let go of our unfortunate past.”
Fan Kai’s expression lit up a bit as he said, “If you don’t have any instructions for us, I’d like to return to the Realm of Mystic Heaven now. We’ll rebuild our headquarters there, and wait for your command. You’ll have our absolute obedience from now on.
Nie Tian nodded. “Alright."
With a faint smile, Fan Kai jumped into the golden chariot, and then said to Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong, “Let’s go. We need to rebuild our headquarters as soon as possible.”
Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong wished to speak, but stopped on second thought, and flew into the golden chariot as well.
The war chariot rose into the sky with a loud whoosh.
Hua Mu smiled and muttered as he saw through Fan Kai’s intentions, “They’re demonstrating their submissive att.i.tude by choosing the Realm of Mystic Heaven to rebuild their headquarters. The grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace is still there. Nie Tian can activate it any time he wants. Since that grand spell formation destroyed the Phantasm’s ancient stars.h.i.+p easily, it’ll be able to topple the Heaven Palace Sect’s new headquarters too.
“The Heaven Palace Sect sent Nie Tian a message by not choosing the Realm of Dark Underworld or the Realm of Black Marsh to rebuild their headquarters, telling him that they’ve put their lives in his hands.
“Fan Kai must have believed that this was the only way they would be able to win Nie Tian’s forgiveness and trust.”
Many people in the crowd heard Hua Mu’s words. After pondering the situation briefly, they all thought his words made sense, and realized what Fan Kai had been after.
At this moment, Lei Tianqi’s expression grew serious as he asked in a low voice, “Nie Tian, did you meet with the grand elder in the region they went to explore or not? What happened there?”
Hua Mu’s words had plunged everyone into deep thought, but upon hearing Lei Tianqi’s questions, everyone fixed their eyes on Nie Tian again.
After all, this was the reason why they had come here without the slightest delay.
Nie Tian grinned. “Of course we met. Not only did I meet Senior Yue, but I also met Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect, Jian Tong from the Jian Clan, and Guan Fu from the Guan Clan.”
“May I know what happened there?” Lei Tianqi maintained a humble att.i.tude when talking to Nie Tian.
Nie Tian pondered for a while before giving him a brief explanation of his encounters that he figured he could tell them about.