Chapter 1268: Increased Pressure

“Sectmaster! Help!” Duan Hongwen’s shrill cries came from the lofty mountain peak.

Suffering repeated bombardment from the layers of mixed energies controlled by Nie Tian’s Primal Chaos, the mountain peak that had transformed from Duan Hongwen’s dharma idol continued to lose its talismans. More and more of them shattered and perished.

Spiritual Qi, Demon Qi, impurities from the starry river, twisting power, splitting power, flame power...

More than a dozen different types of energies had been channeled from an unknown space by You Qimiao.

Compared to Nie Tian’s own power, those energies were far stronger.

However, it seemed that even the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation didn’t allow You Qimiao to refine those energies into himself. He could only cast them at his enemies, such as Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian at this moment.

However, it had seemed so easy when Nie Tian had captured and gained control of those energies with Primal Chaos.

He had now dealt a heavy blow to Duan Hongwen with the power You Qimiao had unleashed on Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying.

Rumble!

As countless talismans perished, Duan Hongwen’s dharma idol was forced to shrink into his true form.

He morphed into a streak of light that fled from Nie Tian’s magnetic field to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect’s berthed starship.

Only at this moment did You Qimiao’s exclamation rumble out, “You, you’re the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian?!”

The only reason why his reaction came so late was because Chu Rui had come at him with full force after he had launched his killing attack towards Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian.

Chu Rui’s storm of attacks had filled the void with dashing stars, forcing You Qimiao to focus on him.

Besides, he had been confident that the energies he had sent towards Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian with a flick of his sleeve would inflict severe damage upon them. Therefore, he hadn’t felt the need to pay attention to them anymore.

However, as Nie Tian had expected, that current of energies hadn’t been refined, and thus hadn’t had a profound connection to him.

Only now, as Duan Hongwen yelled for help, was You Qimiao alarmed, and jerked his head towards him, only to see the energies he had sent out being controlled by Nie Tian with his unique magnetic field.

His expression flickered strongly as he gave voice to his puzzlement. “I channeled those twisting mixed energies from a chaotic part of the starry river with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation! Why are you able to control them?”

“Duan Hongwen!”

With a cunning laugh, Mo Qianfan’s dharma idol strode forward in the void, the most violent lightning bolts condensing into a blade of lightning that was as wide as a river in his hand, with which he slashed towards the vice sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

He realized that Duan Hongwen had sustained heavy injuries after Nie Tian had crushed that mountain peak transformed from his dharma idol.

This was the time to launch the final killing attack.

“Heaven-purging Divine Light! Divine light purges the world!”

“Seven Purity Soul-channeling Incantation!”

Yu Suying and the seven Saint domain experts from the Profound Purity Palace exerted their power simultaneously.

While the seven Saint domain experts worked together to suppress You Qimiao’s soul will with their secret magic, preventing him from strengthening his exquisite incantations with his soul power, Yu Suying’s Heaven-purging Divine Light mysteriously vanished from the sky.

In the next moment, countless rays of it appeared right in front of the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, as if they had traveled through a spatial tunnel.

“Starry River Reverse!”

Chu Rui exerted his power as well. Spell formations that were vested with the profound truths of star power revealed themselves one after another in the river of stars he was standing on.

Then, the river of stars was cast towards You Qimiao, where it forcibly reversed the changes the peculiar gold and silver fish had inflicted upon the Realm of Maelstrom.

“Heaven Split!”

As Yin Xingtian raised his sword, hundreds of thousands of sword reflections appeared, along with countless reflections of himself that wielded them. Together, they cast numerous different sword magics towards You Qimiao.

BOOM! BANG! BANG!

In a split second, the area where You Qimiao was standing was filled with blasts of devastating power that made even Saint domain experts suffer from splitting headaches.

As fragments of shattered power fell from the sky, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, Jing Feiyang, and the other Saint domain experts, who were observing on the ground, were deeply scared. They hastily activated their domains to envelop those who were weaker, then flew off to distant locations.

More than a dozen green stone pavilions of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Divine Seal Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect, each of which was close to a hundred meters high, toppled upon contact with the splashing fragmented power.

People could be seen fleeing and screaming in different areas of the Realm of Maelstrom.

“Sectmaster!”

Duan Hongwen’s desperate cries continued to echo out from an area filled with slithering lightning bolts.

Apparently, as badly injured as he was, he was having a difficult time defending against Mo Qianfan’s heavy blows.

“Chu Rui, Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan...”

You Qimiao’s bone-chilling voice came from his two currents, one being Yin and the other being Yang.

WHOOSH!

More currents that were either frigid cold or blazing hot suddenly swirled out of the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror.

The intensity of the divine light emanated by this Immortal grade divine tool was instantly magnified as it flashed to Duan Hongwen’s location like a bolt of lightning, and enveloped him.

“We’re not alone in this operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. I hope you’ll still be standing by their side when I come back.”

WHOOSH!

Gathering the two currents, the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror shot up into the spatial rift through which the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect’s ancient starship had arrived, dragging glorious tails as it did.

Just so abruptly, You Qimiao evacuated with his vice sectmaster, Duan Hongwen.

Seeing this, Yu Suying, Chu Rui, and Yin Xingtian withdrew their power one after another.

The streaks of light that were flying towards remote areas of the Realm of Maelstrom like colorful ribbons also stopped in midair.

CRACK!

For some reason, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect’s berthed ancient starship started to fall apart, starting from the teleportation portal inside of it. Debris rained down from the sky.

Clad in a suit of golden armor, Huang Jinnan from the metal element sect stared blankly at the spatial rift in the heavens. “They left just like that?” 

Astonishment could be seen on Hou Chulan’s elegantly beautiful face as she quietly rose into the air, emanating a rich life force that seemed to be able to nourish all things in this realm. Looking radiant, she said, “You Qimiao is a smart man. Perhaps he can single-handedly handle Chu Rui, Yin Xingtian, and Yu Suying in battle, but what about Duan Hongwen?

“You saw it yourself that he was on the verge of breaking down. Aside from him, Duan Hongwen is the only other God domain expert the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has. Weak as he may be, he’s still a God domain expert. You Qimiao spends most of his time traveling and practicing secluded cultivation. Managing a sect isn’t his strong suit.

“However, Duan Hongwen happens to be good at it. The two of them make up for each other’s weaknesses.

“If Duan Hongwen died here, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect would lose a wing, and he wouldn’t be able to spend as much time as he wanted practicing secluded cultivation. So he didn’t leave out of his fear towards Chu Rui or Yu Suying. He only did it to save his sect’s strength.”

Hou Chulan’s analysis was rational.

Lou Hongyan also nodded slightly. “Since the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect dared to make this move, they definitely knew what they’re doing. What I’m curious about is what other sects have joined this operation, aside from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Profound Purity Palace, which had been previously persuaded.”

The three Divine Sons and Daughters whispered to one another in a remote corner of the Realm of Maelstrom.

Frowning, Yu Suying said, “We only dodged one strike. You Qimiao didn’t lose sight of the big picture. He’s well-aware of what needs to be done in order for the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to benefit the most from this. I bet when he comes back, he’ll have God domain experts from other sects by his side.

“It’s also a possibility that they’ll join up to get rid of the other obstacles first. After that, they’ll return to take the Domain of Heaven Python as their last move.”

Face grim, Chu Rui asked, “Who else has joined this operation?”

Yu Suying let out a sigh and said, “The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect. Adding my sect, we’re the four sects I know of that have joined this operation. Clearly, my sect’s reserve power isn’t the most profound among the four.”

Yin Xingtian’s eyes widened. “The Shadow Society! The Jade Heaven Sect!

“Both of those sects have God domain experts. Also, it’s been ten thousand years since people have seen the sectmaster of the Shadow Society. Is he still alive?”

Yu Suying nodded. “I only agreed to join this operation because, for one thing, I learned that You Qimiao had entered the middle God domain, and for another, I received a letter personally written by the sectmaster of the Shadow Society.”

Chu Rui’s expression flickered. “A letter?” 

“Judging by the power that letter exuded, I learned that not only was the sectmaster of the Shadow Society alive, but his cultivation base might have risen above You Qimiao’s,” Yu Suying said, without trying to hide anything. “Back then, I thought that if the sectmaster of the Shadow Society was going to lead this operation, even if Mo Heng were back, I doubt he’d be able to defeat him.

“As for you, I assumed that You Qimiao himself would be more than capable of suppressing you.

“And for Luo Wanxiang, since he’s always been the weakest, we didn’t attach much importance to him.”

WHOOSH!

Mo Qianfan flew over. Upon hearing their conversation, he said, “If this operation was led by the sectmaster of the Shadow Society and joined by the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Jade Heaven Sect, and your sect, I suppose your alliance did have a good chance at overthrowing the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, considering its current position...”

“That’s what I thought,” Yu Suying said, without taking Chu Rui’s feelings into consideration. “Especially when the late God domain leaders of the other three great sects aren’t around. Plus, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society is old friends with the leaders of the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society. Even if they were available, they might turn a blind eye to this.”

“So the Shadow Society is behind all this!” Hou Chulan exclaimed in astonishment.

Huang Jinnan also shuddered with surprise and said, “The Shadow Society! The sectmaster of the Shadow Society! I once overheard the seniors saying that the four great sects owed the Shadow Society a great favor in the early days. They said that the Shadow Society made significant contributions and sacrifices when defending against the outsiders. They owed their victory to the Shadow Society.”

Lou Hongyan’s expression also changed as she said, “If it’s really the Shadow Society that plans on taking the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace’s place...”

RUMBLE!

While everyone was distressed by the Shadow Society’s participation in the operation, Nie Tian and his magnetic field suddenly shot up into the starry river through the wide vortex-like opening in the heavens, surrounded by the colorful layers of energies You Qimiao had left behind.

“What’s wrong with Nie Tian?”