Feng Luo from the Blood sect glanced around. Face filled with confusion, he said, “Why are we here? Shouldn’t we be somewhere outside of the Hell sect?”
He looked towards Hong Can.
Hong Can frowned, shook his head, and said, “I don’t know. After all, this is the first time one of the Heaven Gates had opened in the Realm of Flame Heaven in centuries, and as far as I know, there aren’t any records of the past Heaven Gates.”
With a sigh, Feng Luo looked off into the direction of the Blood sect, expression filled with anxiety. “And we don’t know what’s happening in the Realm of Flame Heaven.”
Normally speaking, since the Heaven Gate had showed up in this place, it was impossible that members of the Blood sect hadn’t noticed it.
According to Feng Luo’s speculation, the Heaven Gate probably had been here for some time. It probably had appeared when Nie Tian had returned and the seven-colored light merged with the teleportation portal, activating the light gate in the middle.
The Heaven Gate should have been here for however long they had spent recuperating beside the teleportation portal.
It didn’t make sense that no one from the Blood sect had come after such a long time.
As he and Hong Can talked, the others gradually calmed down from the frustration of losing their Heaven Gate patterns.
Li Fan took a glance of Nie Tian’s left hand and noticed that the Heaven Gate pattern on his hand had also disappeared.
He seemed to have expected it to be different for him, but said nothing.
After sensing that the two hexagrams had shifted to his chest, Nie Tian didn’t plan to reveal it to anyone.
After all, it contained the most precious legacies that he had obtained from his trial in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.
He didn’t want others to raise questions, so he had joined them in mumbling something in frustration. After seeing that no one seemed to have seen through his little scheme, he finally felt relieved.
After all, the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation were of great importance. If Hong Can, Feng Luo, and Zou Yi had learned that he had them, he didn’t know for sure what they would do.
He knew he had to kept it a secret for the time being.
“What do you think we should do?” Zou Yi from the Ghost sect had a grim expression on his face as he asked. “Should we split up and return to our own sects or go to the Blood sect and see what information we can get from there?”
“Let’s go to the Blood sect,” Hong Can said. “I have a feeling that something is not right.”
“Alright.” The others also expressed their assent.
None of them want to be separated from the group and return to their sects before getting an idea of what was going on in the Realm of Flame Heaven.
If they did strike out on their own, they couldn’t be sure what they would run into on their way back.
They could encounter either outsider demons or cultivators from the other realms. Whichever it was, they wouldn’t be in a favorable situation if they traveled alone.
At that moment, Zou Yi called out to the crowd, sounding a bit frightened. “Look! Up in the sky!”
Everyone instantly looked up and saw a line of blackish-purple smoke flowing high in the sky like a river.
They had seen smoke like that floating above the Hell sect right before they had entered the Heaven Gate.
Back then, blackish-purple smoke like this had surged out of the network of numerous spacial rifts that had appeared near the Heaven Gate. The outsiders that had been bound by the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation had experienced a sudden boost in their strength as soon as they had absorbed the smoke. As a result, they had broken free from the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation and flown into the spacial rifts.
“Demon Qi!” Hong Can’s expression flickered.
Then he explained to everyone, “Years and years ago, demon Qi once filled every corner of the Realm of Flame Heaven. Although the demon Qi shares the same origin as spiritual Qi, the biggest difference is that it’s tainted with filth. Human Qi warriors can’t cultivate with the demon Qi, and if they do, they will lose their minds and become the outsider demons’ puppets.
“By the time the powerful human Qi warriors killed the majority of the outsiders and drove the survivors out of the realm, they used profound measures to purge the demon Qi and turn it into spiritual Qi that human Qi warriors could use.
“The outsiders, on the other hand, couldn’t draw power from the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.
“That was why we could use the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation to trap those outsiders for so many years. Without the demon Qi, they had no source of power; meanwhile the formation constantly drained their flesh power and used it to power our sect’s defensive system.
“Now that the demon Qi has appeared near the Blood sect, it must mean that…”
Hong Can glanced at the grim-faced Feng Luo and continued, “The Blood sect has been invaded by outsiders. Perhaps, numerous demons are roaming about in the Blood sect right now.”
Feng Luo’s face was very grim. He didn’t say a word, but he inwardly agreed with Hong Can’s speculations.
The moment he saw the river of blackish-purple demon Qi floating in the sky, he realized that the Blood sect had most likely been invaded.
With a concerned expression on his face, Qiu Heng from the Spiritual Treasure sect said in a soft voice, “Now that the Blood sect has been invaded, do we still go there? The Ghost sect is not far from the Blood sect. How about we go there instead?” Knowing that there was probably a swarm of outsiders in the Blood sect, all he wanted was to get as far from it as he could. He didn’t want to get into fierce fights the moment he returned to the Realm of Flame Heaven.
Feng Luo let out a cold harrumph and said, “You do what you like! As a disciple of the Blood sect, I’ll defend my sect with my life!”
With these words, he didn’t even look at the others and dashed straight towards the Blood sect.
Yu Tong followed him as soon as he moved out.
At that time, Nie Tian realized that all the others had remained in place and didn’t say anything.
After all, none of them were from the Blood sect, and they didn’t have the spirit to die for it.
This was especially true of the disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect, whose sect had been invaded by the Blood sect and Ghost sect. Numerous expressions flashed across Qiu Heng’s face as he beckoned for An Shiyi to say something.
He wanted An Shiyi to express her unwillingness to go to the Blood sect.
However, An Shiyi completely despised him, so she ignored his urging gaze.
Upon seeing her reaction, Qiu Heng cursed her inwardly. However, since he couldn’t do anything to her now, he could only secretly add it to his hatred towards her.
“We’re still quite a distance from the Ghost sect. Who knows what we will run into on our way there.” After a moment of hesitation, Hong Can made up his mind and said, “The disciples of the Hell sect will go to the Blood sect. The rest of you make your own choice.”
With these words, he led the other Hell sect survivors to chase after Feng Luo.
Upon seeing Hong Can leaving with such determination, Zou Yi from the Ghost sect spoke up, “The Ghost sect had always fought side by side with the Blood sect. We have more reasons to stand together now that the Realm of Flame Heaven is stricken by great calamities! Wait for us, Brother Hong! Count the Ghost sect in!”
With these words, he led members of the Ghost sect as they also ran in the Blood sect’s direction.
After all, the Hell sect, Ghost sect, and Blood sect had been in the same alliance. It was natural that the Ghost sect and Hell sect went to their aid when the Blood sect was in danger.
However, the Spiritual Treasure sect, Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect had been enemies with the other three sects.
Nie Tian didn’t know what choice they would make at this moment.
“What do you guys say?” Li Fan asked in a manly voice.
Guan Qiu from the Grayvale sect pondered for a moment and said, “With Hong Can and those other guys gone, our strength is significantly weakened, and there’s a long way ahead of us if we choose to return to our own sects. I think we should go with them and see what’s going on in the Blood sect.”
“That’s what I think too,” Li Fan agreed.
Shi Hang, the Greater Heaven stage expert from the Mystic Mist sect also nodded and said, “Agreed.”
Li Fan turned to look at Qiu Heng, the only one who hadn’t said anything. “What about you?”
“Well…” Qiu Heng smiled bitterly.
“Hmm. You do whatever you like.” Li Fan didn’t even wait for him to give an answer. He quickly turned to Nie Tian and Jiang Lingzhu and said, “Let’s go.”
“Wait. I’ll go with you,” An Shiyi suddenly called out and trotted to Nie Tian’s side.
Seeing that An Shiyi had made her stance, Qiu Heng’s face immediately sunk.