Inside a cabin, Jing Feiyang looked at Nie Tian, who had just returned, and said in a soft voice, “It was the White Rose’s people.”
With a profound magic, he concealed the divine seals he had unleashed, and used them to track Old Shadow Eccentric. Eventually, he saw him meet up with those who were dressed in white robes.
Jing Rou’s expression flickered with astonishment. “The White Rose?! She’s also at the early Saint domain, isn’t she?!”
Jing Feiyang nodded. “It’s indeed a bit tricky now. It’s hard to believe that even the White Rose was bought to do this job.”
“Who’s the White Rose?” Nie Tian asked curiously.
“The White Rose is the nickname of a female Qi warrior from the Domain of Endless Snow,” Jing Feiyang explained. “In fact, she was Patriarch Snowy Peak’s martial sister in the Heavenly Ice Sect. She should have been the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Ice Sect. However, Patriarch Snowy Peak seemed to have set her up during some internal strife, and had her expelled from their sect.
“So she and some of her faithful followers went wandering in the starry river among different powerful domains, and started leading the lives of Hunters.
“Any Qi warrior would have to rely on all kinds of precious materials to progress in their cultivation. After being expelled from the Heavenly Ice Sect, which used to be her strong backer, she could only ambush ancient stars.h.i.+ps that travel between different domains and plunder their valuables to support her own cultivation.
“Soon, the White Rose became one of the most famous Hunters among the domains in this region.
“However, the White Rose and her subordinates usually adopt mild measures. Normally speaking, as long as their target stars.h.i.+ps give up their cultivation resources, they will show them a way out, instead of slaughtering them all.
“The White Rose also has Void domain experts among her subordinates. It seems that the reason why she paid Old Shadow Eccentric to do this job for her, instead of sending one of her own, is because she’s also afraid of your backer, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.”
Brow furrowed, Nie Tian muttered, “The early Saint domain... It’s hard to believe someone with such a high cultivation base would want to lead the life of a Hunter.”
“She had no choice,” Jing Feiyang said. “She hadn’t entered the Saint domain when she first descended to the rank of Hunter. She was only at the middle Void domain back then. At that time, the Domain of Endless Snow, the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Vast Darkness, and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries all had powerful sects who didn’t want to ruin their relations.h.i.+p with Patriarch Snowy Peak by accepting her.
“Back then, she wasn’t powerful enough to defy any of these sects.
“When she lowered herself to become a Hunter and entered the Saint domain with the help of the cultivation resources she had plundered, she was finally strong enough to set up her own sect in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. However, she had also offended too many people due to her line of business.
“Under such circ.u.mstances, if she actually established her own sect in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, which is the weakest of the four domains, it would have become a clear target for her enemies.
“Therefore, she could only remain a Hunter, wander the s.p.a.ce between different domains, and make a living by looting cultivation resources.”
Jing Feiyang seemed to be empathetic as he talked about her, as if he felt genuinely sorry for what she had gone through.
“Luckily for us, it was the White Rose’s people, not the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood,” Duan s.h.i.+hu said, looking somewhat relieved. “Back in my hunting days, I only roamed the surroundings of the Domain of Heaven Python. I never dared to hunt in areas between domains. The White Rose has a good name among the Hunters. Back in the day, when I was pursued by the Divine Seal Sect, I even thought of joining her cause.
“But the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood is a whole other story.”
Nie Tian just stood there and listened as the three of them explained about the Hunters. From them, he learned that there were two major Hunter forces in this vicinity: the White Rose and the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood.
The White Rose’s people had certain moral principles. Normally, they wouldn’t take lives after getting the resources they wanted.
However, that wasn’t the case with the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood.
Not only would they loot all of their targets’ valuables, but they would also kill every single one of them.
They were cruel and evil people, who were bereft of any moral principles. It was said that they had even made deals with outsiders, including selling the remains of their own kind to Bonebrutes, in exchange for spiritual materials that could be used to build personal domains.
The human domains in this region had a certain tolerance for the White Rose and her people, but they were all deeply disgusted by the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood.
The three major sects in the Domain of Heaven Python had joined the powerful sects from their neighboring domains in the encircling of the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood.
However, they had repeatedly failed to trap their leader in their operations, resulting in retaliations that were even more ruthless.
Even among the Hunter organizations, the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood had a bad name, and was spit on by other organizations.
As they spoke, their ancient stars.h.i.+p continued to sail at full speed through the domain that had been destroyed by the Divine Flame, with the Domain of Endless Snow as their destination.
A few days pa.s.sed...
Jing Feiyang, who was sitting in the lotus position, meditating and refining his true soul, suddenly opened his eyes.
His soul messages were instantly sent to the cabins Nie Tian, Duan s.h.i.+hu, and Jing Rou were in, and three of them hastily came to the main cabin.
“Bad news," Jing Feiyang said with a grim face. “The b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood’s people are here.”
Jing Rou hastily summoned that prismatic crystal of hers.
Reflected in it was the area in front of their ancient stars.h.i.+p, where three ancient stars.h.i.+ps that were slightly smaller than theirs were berthed.
Blood-red banners hung high on all three of them.
Numerous skulls could be seen strapped on either side of the stars.h.i.+ps. The majority of them belonged to humans, while a few belonged to outsiders and large Ancientbeasts. Many of them still had blood and shreds of flesh on them. A mere glance at them would make people’s hair stand on end.
At the same time, the three ancient stars.h.i.+ps exuded a strong b.l.o.o.d.y aura, as if they were enormous beasts that hunted in the starry river.
One figure after another quickly flashed into appearance on their decks.
Some of them summoned their air-transportation spiritual tools. Like shoals of bloodthirsty fish, they flew towards Nie Tian’s ancient stars.h.i.+p with sinister smiles on their faces.
“It’s them alright,” Duan s.h.i.+hu said with strong killing intent on his face. “Since it’s them, a peaceful ending won’t be an option. Either they die, or we do!”
Being the former leader of a Hunter organization himself, he understood the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood’s way of doing things too well.
As soon as he was convinced that the incomers were from the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood, he realized that this would be completely different from their previous encounter with Old Shadow Eccentric and the White Rose’s people.
“Father!” Jing Rou exclaimed softly.
Eyes narrowed, Jing Feiyang said to Jing Rou, “Their leader is now on the middle stars.h.i.+p. He probably doesn’t know that I’m here. Accelerate! Fly to them with the fastest speed possible!
Without saying a word, Jing Rou sent numerous spirit stones flying out of her palm to fill the power hub at the heart of the stars.h.i.+p.
Magical symbols of different colors that carried spell formations that would help the ancient stars.h.i.+p further accelerate flew out and slammed into the exterior of the stars.h.i.+p.
Immediately afterwards, the ancient stars.h.i.+p gave rise to deafening rumbles, unleas.h.i.+ng dazzling spiritual light.
BOOOOM!
A pillar of spiritual power shot out of the sharp prow of the stars.h.i.+p. Countless divine seals could be seen s.h.i.+ning like stars within it, improving its might severalfold, as it shot hundreds of meters into the distance.
“Hahaha! Karma has finally come for the Divine Seal Sect!” A loud voice resounded through the s.p.a.ce. “Back in the day, you joined in the encircling of our brothers. Many of them died at the hands of your sect.
“But today, the future of the Divine Seal Sect will die at my hands!”
As the resonant voice spread in all directions, the three berthed ancient stars.h.i.+ps suddenly split up.
The thousands of skulls of different races suddenly shot out simultaneously like cannonb.a.l.l.s. Like a sea of skulls, they crashed into the exterior of Nie Tian’s ancient stars.h.i.+p.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ancient stars.h.i.+p that had been forged from refined divine metal started to shake upon taking the repeated blows.
A layer of glowing spiritual power that enveloped the ancient stars.h.i.+p burst, sending numerous divine seals falling into the depths of the starry river like dying sparks.
The members of the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood, who had come on their air-transportation spiritual tools, took the opportunity to climb onto the stars.h.i.+p, laughing wildly as they did.
With blood-stained spiritual tools clutched in their hands, they hoped to enter the cabins through the entrance.
“These fools must have a death wish.” As Jing Feiyang let out a cold harrumph, countless divine seals flew whoos.h.i.+ng out of the main cabin.
Many incoming members of the b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood were hit by the divine seals. Their bodies exploded like ripe watermelons that had hit the ground, reduced to mists of blood and flesh that filled the air.
“Jing Feiyang!!” As the resonant voice echoed out once again, a man walked furiously out of of the middle ancient stars.h.i.+p.
Wreathed in blood-colored light, the man exuded a flesh aura that was extremely vigorous. It was just that his flesh aura seemed very impure, as if there was no way it could ever be purified.
At the same time, strong spiritual power spread out with him as the center, forming a peculiar domain that reeked with a foul, b.l.o.o.d.y smell.
b.l.o.o.d.y images kept flas.h.i.+ng across his domain, which, like a slaughterhouse, was filled with killing and atrocities.
More than ten thousand meters from their location, a group of white-garbed Qi warriors and Old Shadow Eccentric were gazing towards them from afar, their expressions flickering. “The b.l.o.o.d.y Despair Brotherhood!”
They were none other than the White Rose’s people, who had been charged with the task of bringing Nie Tian in alive.