Chapter 1041: A Lost Battle
Sikong Cuo was clearly skeptical about the truthfulness of Nie Tian’s words.
However, since Nie Tian and his people killing those Demons and Phantasms had actually been in his favor, he didn’t say anything about it.
Of course, he didn’t know that Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher’s target had been Nie Tian and the others at first, and it was through Pei Qiqi that they had communicated with Fan Wen and shifted this ‘trouble’ to Sikong Cuo, causing him heavy losses.
If he knew Nie Tian had set him up, he would have been even more furious.
“Did the Void Spirit Society elder who was traveling with you die too?” Wei Lai asked, frowning.
Sikong Cuo shook his head. “No. We fled in different directions when the Demon starships hit us. Elder Fan Wen got separated from us.
“But considering that she’s well-versed in spatial power, she might have lived.”
Wei Lai nodded slightly. “You’re right. In order to kill spatial power experts, people would have to be several levels higher than them. However, all of the outsider grand monarchs in the Domain of Nether Heaven are otherwise occupied, and don’t have the time to deal with them personally. I suppose the Void Spirit Society has suffered the least casualties this time.”
After picking Sikong Cuo and the other two up, the Heavenly Thunder Sect’s ancient starship set out again.
Meanwhile, pieces of news came successively.
Nie Tian soon learned that the outsiders and crooked human forces that had plagued the Domain of Nether Heaven had retreated upon learning about the arrival of Luo Wanxiang, their vice sectmaster, and Xuan Guangyu from the Void Spirit Society.
All of them had evacuated through their special teleportation portals, including the outsiders and disciples of the Death Curse Sect and Nether Spirit Society.
They all retreated to the same destination: the world beyond the Dead Star Sea.
It wasn’t very long before Wei Lai received word saying that Lu Jiefeng from the Five Elements Sect had had his dharma idol shattered and fleshly body destroyed by the joint efforts of Grand Monarch Dark Nether and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.
But fortunately, thanks to Xuan Guangyu’s timely arrival, a wisp of his soul had managed to escape.
If he had arrived a bit later, Grand Monarch Dark Nether and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society would have refined that last wisp of Lu Jiefeng’s soul, eliminating his chance at rebirth.
As for Mo Heng and Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society, they had only been slightly injured during their fights against Grand Monarch Withered Bones and Grand Monarch Blood Axe.
Lu Jiefeng turned out to be the greatest casualty for the humans in this extensive battle.
Aside from him, the three great sects had also lost a number of Void and Saint domain experts, such as Sikong Cuo, Lou Hongyan, and Fang Yuan’s subordinates.
By contrast, Huang Jinnan’s subordinates and Ling You, who had decided to give their lives to protect Huang Jinnan and Pei Qiqi, had survived after Mo Heng had shattered the Heaven Freezing Spell sealing realm number nine.
After the battle ended, Xuan Guangyu had personally escorted Lu Jiefeng’s discarnate soul back to the Five Elements Sect. As a God domain expert who had had his dharma idol destroyed, Lu Jiefeng would have to seek an opportunity to be reborn. However, even if his rebirth turned out to be successful, who knew how long it would take for him to return to the God domain.
Considering these results, the humans had actually lost this battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven.
After all, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had evacuated, along with all of the outsider grand monarchs.
As for the humans, while Lu Jiefeng was currently only half-dead, many Void and Saint domain experts had been brutally killed by the outsiders and disciples of the Nether Spirit Society and Death Curse Sect, their bodies and souls reduced to battle spoils for the Bonebrutes and Nether Spirit Society disciples.
Nie Tian stayed on the Heavenly Thunder Sect’s ancient starship as it traveled around in the Domain of Nether Heaven. During this time, many survivors learned about their arrival and gathered to them.
Days passed, and Fang Yuan showed up with his subordinates.
He was also surprised to see that Nie Tian was safe and sound. After brief communication, he was even more amazed to learn that Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had actually gotten their team through Grand Monarch Blood Axe’s sea of flesh aura, and spread word of what had happened here, which had helped end this tribulation.
Their search for survivors went on for two weeks.
Survivors from the three sects, who had been holed up in secluded corners of the domain, gradually came out to join the search teams. However, not a single outsider or disciple of the Death Curse Sect or Nether Spirit Society showed up again.
Before long, all of the outsider teleportation portals had been dug out and destroyed.
While the injured ones left through the teleportation portal on the Heavenly Thunder Sect’s ancient starship, Nie Tian stayed.
According to Wei Lai, while Xuan Guangyu had escorted Lu Jiefeng’s discarnate soul back to the Five Elements Sect, the other God domain experts, who had consumed significant amounts of power, had also returned to their headquarters without delay.
They were either taking time to recover their strength, or directly sent off to other battlefields to defend against outsider invaders.
Everyone felt frustrated by the fact that the battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven had ended in a loss for humanity.
Shortly afterwards, Wei Lai arranged for Nie Tian, Fang Yuan, and Sikong Cuo, the three Sons of the Stars, to return to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.
At the inter-domain teleportation portal inside a grand palace in Fragmentary Star City.
“Battles are still ongoing in the Dead Star Sea and the other invaded domains,” Wei Lai said. “The three of you have suffered casualties and sustained injuries to different extents during the battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven. So don’t worry about joining the other battles for the time being.
“Meanwhile, the outsiders and the Nether Spirit Society and Death Curse Sect disciples you’ve killed, as well as any significant contributions you’ve made in this battle, will translate into contribution points and be awarded to you after we communicate with the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect.
“Alright, you may return to your own domains now, and check if there is any hidden danger.”
Afterwards, the three Sons of the Stars stepped out of the grand palace and summoned their respective Star Boats.
Sikong Cuo left without saying a word.
Nie Tian, however, turned to Fang Yuan and asked, “Do you have any high-grade outsider corpses, senior martial brother? I’m planning to buy as many as I can find.”
“I have some, but not a lot,” Fang Yuan said. After a moment of pondering, he added, “How about you take the ones I have, and I’ll try and see if I can get you more.”
“That’d be great,” Nie Tian said. “I’ll pay for them with spirit jades.”
Fang Yuan smiled and shook his head. “There’s no need for that. You did me a great favor by refining Grand Patriarch Cardy’s residual flesh aura and healing my clanmaster’s domain. Consider these outsider corpses my way of saying thank you. In fact, why don’t you go ahead and return to your base first? I’ll have my people take the other outsiders corpses to you in the Domain of Heaven Python after I’m finished.”
“Hmm... That’d be awesome. Many thanks.” Nie Tian didn’t refuse his kind offer.
After that, they parted ways.
Nie Tian returned to the Vast Heaven Pavilion, where he activated the teleportation portal and arrived in the Realm of Split Void. Then from there, he teleported to the Realm of Maelstrom in the Domain of Heaven Python.
Of the three domains that belonged to him, the Domain of Heaven Python was the most developed and powerful. After Kan Zhisheng had established another inter-domain teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, the three domains had become interconnected.
The Realm of Maelstrom remained his base.
After his return, as the ‘manager’ of the Domain of the Falling Stars, Li Langfeng, who had recently entered the early Soul realm, came to report the latest situation to him.
Yue Yanxi, who had entered the late Void domain, also reported to him from the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries.
Jing Feiyang, who had derived brand new enlightenments from the Heavenly Talisman and broken through into the middle Saint domain, also came to see him.
Meanwhile, Qu Mingde, Quan Zixuan, and the sectmasters of the Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine Flame Sect were still in secluded cultivation, trying to make breakthroughs in their cultivation with the help of what they had gained from the Realm of Remote Heaven.
Through Li Langfeng, Yue Yanxi, and Jing Feiyang, Nie Tian learned that none of his domains had been invaded by outsiders or crooked human sects.
Even so, Jing Feiyang and the others were deeply worried, and urged Nie Tian to raise his guard after learning about the battles that were taking place in the invaded domains.
They all felt a lot of pressure after learning that even Lu Jiefeng, a God domain expert from the Five Elements Sect, had been struck down, with only a wisp of his soul escaping the battlefield.
Jing Feiyang sighed. “From the look of it, humanity will experience turbulence over a long period of time. The outsiders have finally found a way to unravel us: from the inside. The Death Curse Sect and Nether Spirit Society are only the rats we know of. There must be plenty of others we haven’t seen that are and will continue to undermine us.”
“We’re in a perilous time. I wonder how long it’ll last.”
With a profound look in his eyes, Nie Tian said, “I’m going into secluded cultivation and try to break through into the Soul realm. I need you to look after your domains during this time. Kill any outsiders or ill-intended humans who dare to cause trouble!”