To break the rules and directly become a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect!

To help his grandfather reclaim the position of clanmaster; to fully heal his injuries and give him the chance to continue treading path of cultivation!

What Li Fan had offered was so appealing to Nie Tian that he was on the verge of revealing the truth in exchange for all the benefits.

However, just when he was going to open his mouth, he suddenly thought of the miracles within that miraculous world.

The eight huge fire dragons, the ancient, dilapidated altar, and the giant arms that pointed to the heavens were all extremely fascinating, and had been haunting his mind day and night.

He had the vague feeling that, compared to the wonders of that mysterious world, Li Fan’s offer was not even worth mentioning.

However, Nie Tian couldn’t bear to see Nie Donghai keep struggling in his current state, with injuries that had been dragging him down for years. He wanted to relieve his grandfather of his miseries by telling the truth.

He ached over the tough choice, and couldn’t help but look over at Nie Donghai, as if begging to be rescued.

He noticed that Nie Donghai had taken in a deep breath to calm himself, and was now wearing an unwavering expression.

“What? Did you remember something?” Li Fan threw an inciting glance at Nie Tian while simultaneously thinking to himself, “How can a little kid like you not be moved by such temptations?”

He truly believed Nie Tian was about to spill the truth.

“No, I didn’t remember anything.” Nie Tian shook his head bitterly. “Perhaps I’ll think of something in the future. Once I do, I’ll definitely go find you, uncle Li.”

“Little bastard!” Li Fan cursed in his heart. Finally giving up, he said, “Ok, never mind. You’d better take care of yourself and be extra careful. If you’re abducted again, we’d have to send out a lot of people to look for you all over the world again.”

With these words, Li Fan didn’t pause for a second before leaving.

After he stepped out of the gate, Nie Donghai looked Nie Tian in the eye, signaling for him to remain silent for the moment.

A quarter-hour later, when Nie Donghai was convinced that Li Fan was long gone, he finally said, “We’re good now.”

Nie Tian felt guilty and was eager to explain. “Grandfather, I...”

Nie Donghai waved his hand and said, “You’re no longer a child. I trust your judgement. Considering you didn’t tell Li Fan the truth, I can well imagine that the wonders you encountered must have been beyond my imagination.”

Nie Tian bowed his head and said in a low voice, “I feel like if I make full use of my miraculous encounters, then even if I can’t enter the Cloudsoaring sect, I should be able to make extraordinary achievements. I also believe that someday, I can personally help you reclaim the position of clanmaster and heal your injuries.

Nie Donghai was deeply moved. More certain than ever that Nie Tian had experienced some very unusual encounters, he said, “From now on, you have to seal that secret up tight! Don’t reveal it to anyone before you are strong enough to keep it safe personally! Including me! And your aunt!”

Nie Tian nodded his head resolutely. “I understand.”

He secretly vowed that in the future he would make up for the things Nie Donghai had missed because of him keeping the secrets of that mysterious world. In fact, he would pay him back in double.

At that moment, Nie Qian walked in with a pink envelope in her hand, and stared at Nie Tian with a strange expression. Turning to Nie Donghai, she said, “Father, the An clan has sent us a letter. I can’t believe that An Shiyi wants to invite Little Tian to their clan.”

“An Shiyi?” Nie Donghai frowned and said, “Tell the messenger that Nie Tian has fallen ill, and he won’t be able to leave his residence.”

"Okay." Nie Qian nodded her head and glared at Nie Tian. “Well this is what you get when you try your hand at flirting when so young! Happy now? It won’t be long before that temptress comes knocking.”

Nie Tian smiled embarrassedly, lowering his gaze.

“Nonsense!” Nie Donghai harrumphed coldly. “That girl never does things without planning ahead. Considering how she rose up in Black Cloud City, and managed to become so popular in the Spiritual Treasure sect, what do you think she’s been relying on?”

Before Nie Qian could open her mouth, Nie Donghai grimaced and continued, “After failing to observe another anomaly, she must want to dig into Little Tian and ask where he was during the ten days he went missing.”

Nie Qian was also curious about the truth. “I noticed that Mr. Li just left, so...”

“From now on, you aren’t allowed to ask any more questions regarding that matter!” Nie Donghai said sternly.

“Fine," Nie Qian replied, clearly not very happy.

“Go respond to the An clan.” After instructing her to leave, Nie Donghai turned back to Nie Tian and said, “Remember, stay away from An Shiyi. She is the most terrifying character in Black Cloud City. Several years ago, the Yun clan attempted to challenge the An clan’s position in Black Cloud City. The results were that a large number of them were either killed or severely injured.

“From what I know, most of those members of the Yun clan died by her hands.

“Her path to the Spiritual Treasure sect was also soaked in blood. That woman never shows mercy. She has even killed more than a few Qi warriors of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

“You might not know it, but after she returned to Black Cloud City, the Yun clan suddenly became obedient again. Compared to her, Yuan Qiuying is nothing.”

From the way he talked, it was obvious that Nie Donghai feared An Shiyi, and was worried that Nie Tian might unwittingly offend her.

Nie Tian was secretly shocked. “I’ll do as you say.”

He knew that An Shiyi was fierce, but he didn’t expect her to be so fierce that even his grandfather considered her to be the most terrifying character in Black Cloud City.

Nie Donghai tousled his hair and said, “Alright. No need to worry too much. In that woman’s eyes, you, and in fact the entire Nie clan, are nobodies. And after all, we have the Cloudsoaring sect to back us. As long as you stay in our clan, she will have to give face to the Cloudsoaring sect, and won’t dare to act recklessly. Li Fan is gone. You don’t need to be so cautious from now on. Why don’t you try and study the dagger An Shiyi gave you? Plus... whatever matters you were avoiding earlier, you may try and engage with them now.”

After making these comments, he seemed to have remembered something all of a sudden, so he added meaningfully, “However, it would be better if strange things like spatial rifts do not reappear in our clan ever again, so that we could avoid new troubles.”

“I understand.” Nie Tian clearly understood what his grandfather meant.

“You may take your leave now." Nie Donghai waved his hand.

Nie Tian immediately went back to the third floor.

During the past three months, he had feared that Li Fan might notice something, hence he didn’t dare to touch the animal bone.

He even didn’t dare to take the liberty to touch the dagger An Shiyi had given him as a gift, which according to Nie Donghai was a Medium grade spiritual tool.

Spiritual tools were divided into five grades: Elementary, Medium, Premium, Spirit Channeling, and Immortal. There were seven levels in each grade.

Cultivation bases of Qi warriors were divided into ten stages: Qi Refining, Lesser Heaven, Heaven, Greater Heaven, Worldly Realm, Profound Realm, Soul Realm, Void Domain, Saint Domain, and God Domain. (I changed the Mortal Realm into Worldly Realm and Mystery Realm into Profound Realm to better fit the original meaning.)

Normally speaking, a Qi warrior of the Qi Refining stage or Lesser Heaven stage would be able to fully exhibit their power with a Elementary grade spiritual tool.

A Qi warrior should at least reach the Heaven stage to be able to fully display the power of a medium grade spiritual tool.

In the entire Nie clan, Medium grade spiritual tools were extremely rare.

That was the reason why Nie Beichuan didn’t care about losing face and demanded the dagger when he realized that what An Shiyi had gifted was a Medium grade spiritual tool.

“A Medium grade spiritual tool,” Nie Tian murmured. “That woman... was indeed generous with treasures.”

He took out the forearm-length crimson dagger, stroking his finger down the shiny, smooth surface and trying to use his spiritual power to trigger it to change.

BZZ!BZZ!

One after another, thin but dense threads of crimson flame instantly appeared from the dagger.

As the crimson dagger released flame energy, its tip started to emanate powerful flames!

By this point, the animal bone in his waist pocket seemed to have suddenly started to interact with the dagger, and became scorching hot.

Nie Tian couldn’t bear the heat and took the animal bone out from his waist pocket.

A strange attractive force was suddenly generated around the animal bone, as Nie Tian could clearly see the originally straight strings of light emanating from the tip of the dagger being bent into arches and trapped by the animal bone.

In the next moment, he saw the strings of red light emanating from the tip of the dagger being absorbed.

Dense strands of crimson flame were vanishing from the sides of the dagger at a speed that could be seen by the naked eye.

Soon the previously mysterious dagger was reduced to an ordinary item, dark and completely lifeless.

PUFF!

At last, a strange sound came from within the dagger, as if some restrictive spell were completely destroyed.

At the same time.

An Shiyi received the message that Nie Donghai explicitly rejected her invitation on behalf of Nie Tian.

PUFF!

A strange sound that was identical to that of the one emitted by the dagger rang out from something within her sleeves, and she couldn’t help but make a “Hum?!” sound.

“The Nie clan is so poor and weak now, so they definitely wouldn’t destroy a medium grade spiritual tool for no reason. The Crimson Sun Dagger was in that kid’s hands, and now it is completely destroyed. This is interesting.

“I am truly intrigued.”