In the starry river outside the Realm of Falling Snow...
Instead of summoning any spiritual tools, Patriarch Snowy Peak unleashed his domain after flying into the starry river.
As he did, an enormous sphere of ice and snow spread out with him at the center, inside of which a snow-capped mountain peak loomed, exuding a frigid aura.
Wisps of white frosty aura could be seen rising from Patriarch Snowy Peak as he stood on top of the snow-capped mountain peak, as if he were the one and only G.o.d that ruled that s.p.a.ce.
“Hmm?!” He suddenly jerked his head in a direction, a surprised look filling his face.
A splendid ancient stars.h.i.+p had suddenly appeared in the border region of the Domain of Endless Snow and the Domain of Flame’s End.
Brow furrowed, Patriarch Snowy Peak muttered, “It’s the Xie Clan from the Water Moon Sect in the Domain of Vast Darkness!”
He recognized the sigil on the ancient stars.h.i.+p after a brief glance.
Jing Feiyang looked surprised as well as he said, “How come people from the Xie Clan suddenly showed up here? The Water Moon Sect and the Heavenly Ice Sect have had many feuds with each other over the past few hundred years. These two sects are just as powerful. Neither of them could overtake the other. So the relations.h.i.+p between them has been strained the whole time. I wonder why they’ve come here.”
A puzzled expression appeared on Nie Tian’s face. “The Xie Clan...”
Xie Wanting and Xie Yunhai, who he had met in the Shatter Battlefield were a brother and sister pair from the Water Moon Sect.
When he had parted with Xie Wanting, she had even sincerely invited him to visit the Domain of Vast Darkness.
Apparently, she had been grateful to him for looking after her in the Shatter Battlefield.
It was also thanks to him that she had gained quite a fortune from her trip to the Shatter Battlefield.
“Is this Nie Tian?” Xie Wanting’s gentle voice echoed out from the border region between the Domain of Flame’s End and the Domain of Endless Snow.
Standing on the ancient stars.h.i.+p and enveloped in a protective ward, Nie Tian and the others could see that Xie Wanting, Xie Yunhai, and a good-looking middle-aged man were looking at him from afar.
Nie Tian smiled. “What brought you here?”
With a warm smile, Xie Wanting said, “We happened to be pa.s.sing through this area. I heard that you were close by, so we waited here, hoping to meet you again.”
Then, she turned to the middle-aged man beside her. “Oh right. Nie Tian, This is my father, Xie Qian, the current sectmaster of the Water Moon Sect.”
In a very respectful manner, Nie Tian clasped his hands and said, “Greetings, senior.”
“Nie Tian, thank you for taking care of Yunhai and Wanting in the Shatter Battlefield,” Xie Qian said in a warm and sincere manner. “They told me all about what happened in the Shatter Battlefield. I first wanted to go visit you in the Domain of Heaven Python to express my grat.i.tude.
“But we happened to pa.s.s this area on business. Learning that you were in the Domain of Endless Snow, we figured we might as well wait for you here so that I could meet and thank you in person.”
With these words, Xie Qian nodded slightly towards Jing Feiyang.
Jing Feiyang returned the salute promptly.
Jing Rou lowered her voice and explained to Nie Tian, “The Xie Clan is the backbone of the Water Moon Sect. It’s safe to say that they practically own the Water Moon Sect. Senior Xie Qian is at the middle Saint domain, which is the same as Patriarch Snowy Peak, but he entered the middle Saint domain earlier, so his cultivation base is a bit more solid.”
After pausing for a few seconds, she continued, “The Water Moon Sect is also slightly more powerful than the Heavenly Ice Sect.
“If we talk about domains, the Domain of Vast Darkness is also the most powerful domain in this area, stronger than the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, and the Domain of Endless Snow.
“However, since the Domain of Vast Darkness is fairly far from the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, and close to the Domain of Endless Snow, we don’t have a close connection with them. But one thing is for sure: the Water Moon Sect enjoys a much better reputation than the Heavenly Ice Sect, and the people from the Xie Clan are known for their breadth of mind.”
Nie Tian nodded as he listened attentively.
He could tell that Jing Rou had a rather high opinion of the Xie Clan from the Domain of Vast Darkness.
As they spoke, the Water Moon Sect’s ancient stars.h.i.+p slowly sailed to them.
As the distance between the two ancient stars.h.i.+ps rapidly shortened, Xie Qian leaped onto Nie Tian’s ancient stars.h.i.+p with Xie Yunhai and Xie Wanting.
Thousands of meters away, Patriarch Snowy Peak floated alone in the starry river. His face grew grimmer and grimmer as he watched Xie Qian from afar.
After hesitating for quite a while, he clenched his jaw and slowly approached them.
Xie Qian seemed to suddenly notice him. He turned in his direction and waved with a smile on his face. “Long time no see, Lin Xuefeng.”
Patriarch Snowy Peak, whose real name was Lin Xuefeng, looked sullen as he said, “According to our agreement, ancient stars.h.i.+ps from your sect aren’t allowed to enter the Domain of Endless Snow in the hundred years to come. But now, you’ve crossed into the Domain of Endless Snow.”
“Come on, do we have to be so calculating?” Xie Qian said with a playful tone. “We’re only here to see a friend, and we’ll be on our way in a bit. Don’t be so nervous.”
“See a friend?” Patriarch Snowy Peak said, fixing the Water Moon Sect’s ancient stars.h.i.+p with a cold stare. “Do you have to bring so many people with you if you’re just here to see a friend?”
Nie Tian hadn’t noticed that a large number of powerful experts were hiding in the cabins of the Water Moon Sect’s ancient stars.h.i.+p.
Thanks to his middle Saint domain cultivation base and keen soul detection, Patriarch Snowy Peak had long since realized that more than a dozen Void domain experts from the Water Moon Sect were hiding in the cabins.
They had brought half of their sect’s Void domain experts on this trip, and claimed that this was just a visit between friends?
With a hearty smile, Xie Qian said, “I knew they wouldn’t escape your eyes. The truth is that we’ve just returned from an exploration trip. In order to prevent misunderstandings, I told them to stay inside their cabins. I only did it so that you wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Oh, by the way, I heard that Patriarch Icy Crystal imprisoned Nie Tian’s people. Would you give me face and release them, old friend?”
Patriarch Snowy Peak snorted. “They’re already with Nie Tian.”
Taken aback, Xie Qian turned to fix Nie Tian with a surprised look. “You have them with you?”
Nie Tian nodded.
“Good, good,” Xie Qian said, smiling. “We’re going to live and see each other a lot in this part of the starry river. We’ll all benefit if we get along.
“The Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace has already a.s.signed the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries to Nie Tian. At the same time, we, the Water Moon Sect, are hoping to form an alliance with Nie Tian. Once we do, we’ll be family.
“It’s a good thing that you’ve released his people. Let’s resort to talks from now on. I’m not a fan of fighting and killing.”
Xie Qian used both reason and threats in his speech.
Everyone heard his support for Nie Tian in his speech, and came to realize that this trip of his had been designed to help Nie Tian get his people back from the Heavenly Ice Sect.
Perhaps the inter-domain travel had prevented him from receiving the latest news from their headquarters, so he a.s.sumed that Patriarch Snowy Peak had thought things through, and eventually released Nie Tian’s people voluntarily. He didn’t know that wasn’t the case at all.
Patriarch Snowy Peak’s eyes flickered subtly as he grew increasingly uneasy. “The Water Moon Sect wants to form an alliance with Nie Tian… First a G.o.d domain expert who practices flame power, now the Water Moon Sect... How many forces does this Son of the Stars have at his back?”
Patriarch Snowy Peak pondered briefly before deciding to end his conversation with Xie Qian. He tossed a ring of holding to Nie Tian.
Afterwards, he clasped his hands and bowed. “We’re truly sorry for Patriarch Icy Crystal’s action of imprisoning your people. Inside that ring of holding are some cultivation resources I’ve picked out as compensation. I hope you can forget this unpleasant incident and give a way out to a small sect like ours.”
Xie Qian, who had been smiling the whole time, was suddenly dumbstruck.
His gaze switched back and forth between Nie Tian and Patriarch Snowy Peak as he gradually frowned in confusion.
As a matter of fact, the true purpose of his trip was to help Nie Tian demand his people back to repay him for what he had done for his children in the Shatter Battlefield.
He knew Patriarch Snowy Peak very well, and had learned about Patriarch Icy Crystal’s scheme due to some information he had received. He had been convinced that Nie Tian wouldn’t be able to leave the Domain of Endless Snow so easily. He had never thought that there would be such a surprising twist, that the Heavenly Ice Sect would admit their mistake so completely.
Nie Tian grabbed the ring of holding and put it away without checking its contents.
“There’s only one thing I’d like to know,” Nie Tian said coldly. “Who put Patriarch Icy Crystal up to trapping me in the Realm of Crystal Snow?”
Just as Patriarch Snowy Peak was going to say something, Xie Qian beat him to it. “As far as I know, Patriarch Snowy Peak received precious domain-building materials from someone.”
Patriarch Snowy Peak shot him a sideways glance, and then said with a bitter expression, “To tell you the truth, I didn’t know about this, and I asked him about that person’s ident.i.ty... But he doesn’t know who that person is either, since he used a mask and changed his aura.”
“Is that the truth?”
“A hundred percent!”
Nie Tian waved at him. “So be it.”
Patriarch Snowy Peak was rather nervous as he looked at Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang. Then, with a sigh, he bowed and flew back to the Realm of Falling Snow.