FZZZ!

Mo Qianfan suddenly descended into the Primal Yang Sect’s headquarters.

Ning Ji and the other Primal Yang Sect elders were waiting solemnly. Upon seeing him, Ning Ji stepped forward and handed him a ring of holding. “Brother Mo, here are some more spirit beast and outsider corpses that we gathered from the other realms.”

Many Qi warriors from the Domain of Primal Yang standing behind him frowned.

The same went for Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa.

After receiving the ring of holding, Mo Qianfan examined its contents with his soul awareness. Then, he nodded and said, “Nice. However, Nie Tian needs a tremendous amount of spirit beast and outsider corpses. Let’s see if we can find more for him.”

“We shall do our best,” Ning Ji said.

“Well...” Zhang Qiling finally couldn’t wait anymore. He frowned and asked, “Brother Mo, what has Nie Tian been doing? I examined that region he’s in with my soul awareness and somehow felt a blood-chilling fear. I have a feeling that he’s doing something that has great influence. He’s not doing anything dangerous, is he?”

Upon hearing this, the Qi warriors from across the Domain of Primal Yang fixed Mo Qianfan with burning gazes.

They also wanted to know the answer to Zhang Qiling’s question.

Saint domain experts usually had keen perception, and could capture even the most subtle changes that happened in a realm.

Even if Nie Tian hadn’t demanded a tremendous amount of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses, they would have noticed that there was something wrong.

Every time they focused their senses in Nie Tian’s direction, they would feel a sense of repression, as if something extremely dangerous was slowly brewing in the region where he was, making them feel uneasy and insecure.

Clearly, Mo Qianfan knew what was happening.

“You’re right. He’s doing something. However, there’s nothing to worry about.” Mo Qianfan was intentionally vague about it. “All you need to do is gather more spirit beast meat and outsider corpses for him.”

After pausing for a brief moment, he turned to Yin Xingtian, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling, and said, “As for you, things are finished here. So if you have other business to attend to, you may leave now.”

“I’ve got nothing to do for now,” Zhang Qiling said.

Yin Xingtian and Li Wanfa remained silent.

“Well, suit yourselves,” Mo Qianfan said with an expressionless face. Then, he told the members of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo Clan that they might leave the Primal Yang Sect for the Domain of Endless Thunder, while he himself would remain in the Primal Yang Sect and manage the situation for Nie Tian.

...

Strange changes suddenly happened in a region under the seven scorching suns in the Realm of Red Sun.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Whirls of swirling cyan Phantasm Qi suddenly flew out from the Spirit Pearl one after another.

The Spirit Pearl floated over Nie Tian like a misty, cyan sun as it started to release whirls of pure Phantasm Qi that originated from the Nether Realm.

The whirls of Phantasm Qi gradually gathered in the air over Nie Tian, and then morphed into five seemingly bottomless cyan holes that looked like the man-devouring mouths of evil gods.

Nie Tian’s expression flickered with astonishment.

Looking up at the deep, cyan holes, he had a feeling that they might connect to some place he didn’t know.

All of a sudden, the five evil spirits that were only about ten meters tall now flew into the holes one after another.

Most of their bodies entered the holes, yet their heads remained outside, where they continued to swallow the Blood Essence Nie Tian continued to refine and provide for them.

“Hmm?!”

Nie Tian noticed that torrential Phantasm Qi started to spill from the five holes in the air.

The evil spirits then started to breathe in the spilling Phantasm Qi like sponges absorbing water.

As they did, their slightly shriveled bodies expanded bit by bit.

“Where is this Phantasm Qi coming from?” Nie Tian was baffled about the reason for the appearance of the holes and the origin of the Phantasm Qi.

At this moment, a message came through from the Spirit Pearl. “All this Phantasm Qi is coming from the Phantasms’ ancestral land: the Nether Realm. I don’t know why this is happening either, but I know that a profound connection has somehow formed between the Nether Realm and the five regions that were ruled by them.

“Something in the far north of the Nether Realm seems to be interacting with them and providing them with Phantasm Qi.”

Nie Tian’s expression flickered with astonishment. “If these holes connect to the Nether Realm, will the Phantasms notice what’s happening and march here through them?”

“I don’t know,” The Spirit Pearl answered.

FIZZ! FIZZ!

As they were talking, the five evil spirits finished Nie Tian’s Blood Essence once again, and called out for more.

Though reluctant, Nie Tian activated Life Drain to channel flesh power from the piles of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses in front of him to generate more Blood Essence.

This process was repeated over the next two weeks.

Nie Tian looked up at the five evil spirits, which had expanded ten times over and become about a hundred meters tall after only two weeks. “It seems that their auras have risen to match that of peak eighth grade outsiders, and it won’t be long before they reach the heights of ninth grade outsiders.”

Furthermore, they were no longer pure spirit-form beings. They had developed fleshly bodies and flesh power that was unique to the Phantasms.

With his level of familiarity with the Phantasms, he felt that the five evil spirits’ flesh power had already grown to the point where it matched that of eighth grade Phantasms, and were on their way to reach that of ninth grade Phantasms.

However, the transformation of the evil spirits stopped at this moment.

Nie Tian calculated inwardly, and realized that he had expended over a thousand drops of Blood Essence for the five evil spirits to finish this round of transformation, which far exceeded his expectations.

A sense of depletion overtook him.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Floating at the mouths of the deep, cyan holes in the air, the enormous evil spirits exuded auras so terrifyingly strong that they could destroy heaven and earth and hold all lives in awe.

With a knitted brow, Nie Tian stared at the five Phantasm Qi-spilling holes, and had a feeling that Phantasms might charge through them at any moment.

As his apprehension grew stronger, the five evil spirits suddenly shrank and flew back into the Spirit Pearl, along with the holes.

He instantly examined the Spirit Pearl with his soul awareness, and discovered that as soon as the five evil spirits returned to the Spirit Pearl, the holes merged with the cyan space inside that was filled with despair, fear, bloodlust, rage, and hatred.

After returning to their respective regions, the evil spirits started drawing power from the captured discarnate souls to strengthen themselves.

“They’re no longer in pure spirit form,” the Spirit Pearl’s soul said. “They should be called evil gods from now on.”

Then, it seemed to remember something, as it added, “For some reason, I’m starting to feel insecure around them. Technically speaking, it was the Spirit Pearl itself that gave birth to the five of them, not me. I was able to control them before, but I don’t seem to have much restraining power over them now.”

Nie Tian’s expression flickered. “What do you mean?”

“They’ll only answer your summons from now on,” the Spirit Pearl’s soul answered. “I can sense your aura on them.”

“That’s probably because my Blood Essence allowed them to build their fleshly bodies,” Nie Tian said.

“Anyways, you’re the only one who can command them from now on,” The Spirit Pearl’s seal responded. “I can only keep an eye on them for you in the Spirit Pearl. I won’t be able to order them around anymore.”

...

In the northernmost part of the Nether Realm.

To answer Grand Monarch Dark Nether’s summons, more than a dozen Phantasm grand patriarchs rushed over from other realms or other parts of the starry river.

Floating among the mountain peaks, they examined the Nether River, and sensed the profound changes that had happened to the five enormous statues with their bloodline power and soul awareness.

After an unknown period of time, the strange changes with the statues somehow suddenly stopped. They stopped gathering Phantasm Qi and absorbing the cyan sparks that rose from the Nether River.

Curious lights interwove within the prismatic crystals between the eyebrows of a peak ninth grade Phantasm grand monarch, who planned to make his attempt to advance to the tenth grade soon.

His name was Kleist. He seemed absorbed in thought as he looked at the five statues with a Spirit Pearl that was identical to Nie Tian’s floating in his palm.

Many had their eyes on him.

The Spirit Pearl in his palm had emanated cyan light just a moment ago, but now, as the unusual changes with the statues stopped, its light gradually died out too.

After a moment of silence, Grand Monarch Dark Nether looked deeply at him and asked, “Did the changes have something to do with your Spirit Pearl?

“What did you sense within the Spirit Pearl? Did these statues, which have been here since ancient times and we call evil gods, incur any changes in your Spirit Pearl?”

“I did sense something, Lord Dark Nether,” Kleist answered in a grim voice. “But it seemed to be coming from another Spirit Pearl.”

“Another Spirit Pearl?” Grand Monarch Dark Nether pondered before asking with a confused expression, “Isn’t the other Spirit Pearl sealed and guarded in our headquarters?”

“Lord, did you forget that we had three Spirit Pearls?” Kleist tried to remind him. “One is in my hands. One was sealed away after the passing of that mighty one. And there’s a third one which was lost many years ago. Froste once told us that the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace has that Spirit Pearl now.”

Grand Monarch Dark Nether’s expression flickered drastically. “You’re saying that the changes had something to do with that Spirit Pearl, which is currently in the hands of a human?!”

Kleist nodded heavily. “I think so. Even though I don’t know exactly what happened, I had a feeling that it was his Spirit Pearl that triggered the changes in the statues. And all of the Phantasm Qi and memory sparks the statues gathered from here were channeled to that Spirit Pearl.”

“Nie Tian! That human kid!” Grand Monarch Dark Nether bellowed.

“Lord, allow me to take a trip to the human world through our secret tunnel,” Kleist said.

“You’re only a step away from entering the tenth grade and joining our ranks as a grand monarch. I don’t think the time is right for you to go now.” Grand Monarch Dark Nether advised against it.

“Perhaps my opportunity to enter the tenth grade lies with that Spirit Pearl. Who knows?” Kleist said with an anticipating expression.