The Spirit Pearl’s soul had been transformed from the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch after Nie Tian had fused it with a wisp of his soul essence.

The Flame Dragon Armor’s soul was the soul of a dragon.

Nie Tian deemed that since the Spirit Pearl and the Flame Dragon Armor had been able to detect the wonders of this mire, they might know something about the owner of the heart in the mire, especially the Flame Dragon Armor.

Flame dragons belonged to the dragon race, which were Ancientspirits.

An extremely clear soul message from the Flame Dragon Armor instantly entered Nie Tian’s sea of awareness. “It’s a Thunder-devouring Whale!”

FIZZ! FIZZ!

He looked down and saw faint electric arcs forming in the blue flames.

He consumed his spiritual power at a high rate as the ward he established around him with flame power, star power, and wood power was repeatedly bombarded by the blue flames.

BOOM!

He stimulated the Star Stones at the bottom of his Star Boat, releasing a star power ward.

As soon as the ward came to form, numerous tiny stars appeared over him. Then, as he cast the Fragmentary Star Incantation, a firmer defense was established around the Star Boat.

Thanks to the newly-established defense, the clusters of blue flames that had shot skywards from the mire failed to harm anyone on the Star Boat.

In a loud voice, Nie Tian said, “The Ancientbeast under the mire is a Thunder-devouring Whale. It was at the tenth grade before it somehow died here. I suspect that at the beginning, Ancientspirits brought their human slaves to explore the part of the starry river that we now live in. However, humanity gained power and rose up, leading to the deaths of many Ancientspirits. Their residual flesh aura seas or Blood Essence went through changes over time, and eventually transformed into this strange heaven and earth.”

Zhao Shanling shook his head. “A Thunder-devouring Whale? I’ve never heard of such an Ancientbeast race.”

Dong Li also shook her head, looking lost.

Yin Yanan, however, gasped with astonishment and asked, “A tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale? As far as I know, the strongest Thunder-devouring Whales in the Ancientbeast realms now are only at the eighth grade. I’ve never heard of any tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whales. They must have lived in a time far too remote.”

Zhao Shanling summoned his Voidspirit Pagoda, while Dong Li enveloped herself in thick darkness. Both of them raised their guard. However, the blue flames didn’t view them as their targets at all.

Therefore, they had the easiest time.

“Thunder-devouring Whales are...” Pieces of new information came from the Flame Dragon Armor one after another.

Coupled with Yin Yanan’s explanation, Nie Tian soon learned that Thunder-devouring Whales fed on thunderclouds and relied on special lightning pools in the highest heavens in certain realms to strengthen their bloodlines.

While low-tier Thunder-devouring Whales could only feed on regular lightning and thunder, ninth grade Thunder-devouring Whales were said to have the ability to travel through the starry river and find thunderclouds to devour.

As for tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whales, they could detect lightning pools in certain special realms as they wandered in the starry river. Then, they would travel countless kilometers to refine them in order to strengthen their bloodlines.

Thunder-devouring Whales carried lightning bloodlines, which made them one of the numerous lightning-attributed Ancientbeast races.

BANG BANG BANG!

As Nie Tian pondered, the mire underneath them started to boil, causing mud to splash.

All of a sudden, a huge blue-violet heart surfaced.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The heart, which covered several acres of land, pounded violently.

An especially conspicuous Bloodline Crystal Chain that was translucent and sparkling caught Nie Tian’s eyes. Many veins could be seen stretching out of the heart deep into the mud.

The gigantic, madly-beating heart thrummed with strong flesh power.

Then, as numerous complicated Bloodline Crystal Chains lit up in the heart, soul-shaking rolls of thunder blasted out.

RUUUUMBLE! RUUUUMBLE!

Deafening rolls of thunder echoed on and on, causing this entire heaven and earth that had transformed from a flesh aura sea to tremble.

Repeatedly bombarded by the mighty thunder rolls, everyone had grim looks on their faces. Even the cold-eyed black tortoise started to lose its poise.

FIZZ!

Accompanied by a thunder clap, bolts of blue lightning suddenly struck from an unknown source.

By the time everyone noticed them, fine lightning bolts that carried flesh aura had already pierced into their seas of awareness.

Lightning and thunder had a naturally subduing effect on souls and spirits of all forms.

Even Nie Tian felt a numbness in his scalp and a splitting pain in his head.

The Spirit Pearl immediately detected danger, and retreated to his ring of holding.

At such a moment, the Spirit Pearl couldn’t provide him with any assistance.

The tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale, which had just stimulated its bloodline, happened to be its bane.

CRACK!

A jade medallion on Zhao Shanling’s wrist suddenly shattered.

Frowning, he turned to Nie Tian and said, “The altar through which we came here just broke. The Thunder-devouring Whale’s power is causing unbalance in this heaven and earth. The spell formation I drew earlier couldn’t withstand the pressure, and shattered.”

The look in Nie Tian’s eyes grew grimmer and grimmer. “So that means we’re not leaving here anytime soon.”

“This whole place is a trap.” Zhao Shanling said, his Voidspirit Pagoda floating inches over his head like a magical hat.

Glowing spatial blades fell continuously like a curtain of pearls.

“This place could have been a blessed land for spirit beasts at first,” he continued. “However, after this Thunder-devouring Whale died here, it had to think up every possible method to obtain flesh power from living beings that carried rich flesh auras in order to come back to life.

“Its resurrection will mean the deaths of many others.

“The life and death of everything in this starry river follows a law. The resurrection of one being is bound to cause the deaths of others. Only to reforge its heart and the veins attached to it, the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale has claimed the lives of many living beings, including even its own kind.

“It didn’t even mind killing its own kind, much less us.”

Dong Li chimed in. “This is a scheme.”

ROOOAARRRR!!

The black tortoise finally couldn’t help but let out a bellow. Then, as it shook its body, it rapidly expanded like an inflated balloon.

Yin Yanan’s Frost Blood Python, however, trembled in fear and didn’t dare to make any moves against the Thunder-devouring Whale, whose bloodline suppressed its own.

After the black tortoise stopped expanding and assumed its mightiest form, the Frost Blood Python became even more fearful.

“It’s still just a heart.” After hesitating for a few seconds, Nie Tian summoned the slumbering Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

The bone’s soul didn’t give him any response, nor could he stimulate and strengthen it with his bloodline so that it could activate its profound bloodline talents.

All he did was assume a firm grip of the bone and leap out of the Star Boat.

Like a burning falling star, he and the bone pierced down towards the exposed heart in the mire.

BOOOOM!

At that moment, his heart suddenly started to pound madly.

The green aura within his heart that embodied his life bloodline seemed to suddenly be awakened from its prolonged dormancy, which meant that his bloodline upgrade was complete, and the awakening of brand new bloodline talents was at hand.

What a pleasant surprise!