The trial takers from the three sects waited silently by the Secret Dimension Gate.
Unfortunately, no other survivors arrived in the following days.
It was only half a month away from the conclusion of the Green Illusion dimension trial. Logically speaking, if there were other survivors, they would have arrived already.
Even though no one said anything, everyone was sure that those who hadn’t arrived had most likely been killed by the Ghost sect and the Blood sect.
During that period of time, Nie Tian couldn’t obtain enough spirit beast meat to cultivate at a high speed.
His daily allotted portion of spirit beast meat wasn’t even one tenth of what he had gotten in the past. He wasn’t even able to get enough to sate his hunger.
Han Xin took small bites of the spirit beast meat in her hand as she glared at Nie Tian. “It’s all because of that Nie Tian,” she said. “If he hadn’t eaten so much earlier, we wouldn’t be left with so little rations of food now.”
The other trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect also glowered at Nie Tian while roasting the spirit beast meat.
Sitting beside Pan Tao, Jiang Lingzhu, and their group, Nie Tian pretended that he hadn’t heard their whispers.
The spirit beast meat the Mystic Mist sect had brought to this place was originally more than enough to support them until the gate reopened, so when Nie Tian had requested spirit beast meat earlier, Zheng Bin wasn’t stingy at all and had accommodated his need as much as possible.
However, with the arrival of Jiang Lingzhu, Nie Xian, An Ying, and the others, food stores immediately ran low.
Due to the pursuit of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, Jiang Lingzhu, An Ying, and the others were forced to travel light, and as a result most of their spirit beast meat had been discarded along the way.
Although Jiang Lingzhu possessed a bracelet of holding, due to her lack of experience, she hadn’t thought to stock up on food.
The food that they had been carrying had been consumed long before they arrived at the gate.
Furthermore, there weren’t any spirit beasts near the Secret Dimension Gate, and they didn’t dare to travel too far to hunt, for fear the Blood sect and the Ghost sect might launch an assault on them. Therefore, they had no choice but to ask for food from the Mystic Mist sect.
Yet, Nie Tian alone had devoured a large proportion of the Mystic Mist sect’s meat stock during the past few days.
There was still half a month left until the Secret Dimension Gate would open, and unfortunately, they were already seeing the bottom of the spirit beast meat storage.
Without a better solution, they could only eat less and live frugally, hoping that they could rough it out till the day the gate was reopened.
However, whenever the Mystic Mist sect disciples felt starving, they would think of Nie Tian, the “bottomless pit”.
In the same way, whenever it came time to distribute food, they would stare at Nie Tian resentfully, and whisper curses.
Knowing that he wouldn’t win in an argument, Nie Tian completely ignored their grumbling and pretended he heard nothing.
Grrr.
After swallowing a small piece of spirit beast meat, a loud sound rumbled out from Nie Tian’s belly. With a bitter expression, he rubbed his belly and murmured, “Just hang in there for a few more days.”
Now that they had a food shortage, Nie Tian was being rationed just as much as everyone else.
Even those who had small appetites couldn’t get full, not to mention him.
At this moment, Jiang Miao, who was sitting next to Nie Tian, handed her ration of spirit beast meat to him. “Here, take it,” she whispered. “I don’t eat much, and I’m not hungry anyway.
“Well, look what we have here!” Jiang Lingzhu said with a taunting laugh.
An Ying glanced over, but said nothing as she quietly went back to her share.
Pan Tao chuckled.
Jiang Miao’s face immediately flushed. Embarrassed, she lowered her head, not daring to look at Nie Tian.
Nie Tian froze for a moment, looking at Jiang Miao, confused. Soon, he noticed that the baby-faced Jiang Miao was clearly thinner than before.
Nie Tian didn’t reached out to grab the meat, but rather stood up and said, “Thank you, but actually I’m not that hungry. I’ll go take a look in the vicinity to see if I can find stuff to eat.”
“You can’t go out there!” Jiang Miao replied hastily. “It’s too dangerous!”
A bit farther away, Nie Xian’s face grew grim. “Don’t do it, Nie Tian. People from the Blood sect and the Ghost sect could show up at any moment. If you accidentally run into those devils, I’m afraid you won’t be able to return to us.”
“It’s alright, I won’t go far,” Nie Tian promised. “If anything comes up, I’ll return immediately.”
Pan Tao rose to his feet. “I’m a little bored myself. I’ll go with you.”
“Me, too,” said Jiang Lingzhu, standing up and grinning. “I could use some walking and stretching.”
Their conversation and actions were immediately noticed by Zheng Bin, who came over and asked about the situation.
After realizing what they planned to do, Zheng Bin turned to Jiang Lingzhu, expression dour as he said, “No one knows when the disciples of the Ghost sect and Blood sect will appear, or how many people they have. If you all go, we’ll fall short on battle power. If by chance the Ghost sect and Blood sect raid us while you’re gone, I’m afraid we won’t be able to hold our own.”
With a shrug, Jiang Lingzhu sat back down. “Alright then, I’ll stay.”
Inwardly, she knew that Zheng Bin’s words made sense; if she left the crowd at this time, it would put her, Zheng Bin, and everyone else in danger. Therefore, she looked at the bigger picture and chose to stay.
“What about us?” Pan Tao asked. He didn’t look very happy, and was apparently disgruntled at being controlled by Zheng Bin.
Zheng Bin’s gaze shifted between Pan Tao and Nie Tian, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, “If it’s just the two of you, I’m okay with it.”
Pan Tao let out a cold harrumph. “Are you saying that we don’t matter?”
“I’m not looking for an argument,” Zheng Bin replied. “But I hope you two will take my advice and stay put. It would be better for everyone.”
“Sorry,” Pan Tao replied. “I don’t like being told what to do.” With that, he turned and left.
Nie Tian smiled and caught up with him.
…
Meanwhile…
Seven disciples of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, under the leadership of Yu Tong and Mo Xi, were standing on a pile of dried bones. As for Yu Tong, she was in the middle holding the Blood Searching Compass.
After a moment passed, she put it away. Her beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowed as she said, “Sixteen people, only five hundred meters away from us. Those who escaped from the palm of our hands should have merged with those from the Mystic Mist sect. They’re right at the Secret Dimension Gate, waiting for it to reopen. We only have half a month left.”
“Sixteen?” Mo Xi grinned. “Last time we ran into them at the border of the desert, they had more people. Didn’t we slaughter many of them and send the rest fleeing? What are you hesitating over, Yu Tong? You’ve broken through into the Lesser Heaven stage. Who could match your strength?”
Heart seething with hatred, Yu Tong murmured to herself, “There’s one…”
She took a deep breath, and a blood-colored light flashed in her pupils, “Seven against sixteen. We’re too outnumbered. In order to be safe… I’m going to use the Earth Web!”
“The Earth Web!” Mo Xi and the others exclaimed at the same time, looking at her with faces full of disbelief.
With a grim expression, Mo Xi said, “The Earth Web is a dangerous forbidden technique. Only Qi warriors with Heaven stage or higher cultivation bases should be able to use it. Plus, even if a Heaven stage Qi warrior were to use the Earth Web, that person would inevitably sustain a vital injury afterwards! You just entered the Lesser Heaven stage. You won’t be able to use it. And you shouldn’t exert yourself!”
“I can wield it with the help of the Blood Bead,” Yu Tong said firmly, as she took out a eye-shaped, blood-colored bead from her bracelet of holding.
“Nie Tian!” she bellowed inwardly.
A Blood sect teenager said anxiously, “Senior martial sister, even if you manage to use the Earth Web with the Blood Bead’s help, you’ll suffer from the backlash yourself.”
“Yu Tong, you’re very important to your sect,” Mo Xi continued, “much more important than the result of this trial. I hope you understand this. I’ve gone on missions with you before. You’ve always been rational and don’t force yourself beyond your limits. I bet you know that if your sect learns about you using the Earth Web to kill those guys, and hurting yourself in the process, they will punish you instead of rewarding you, right?
“What happened to you? Some of them truly infuriated you, didn’t they? How come you’re so reckless now?”
“You’re in no place to criticize me for my decisions!” Yu Tong lashed out.
She didn’t give Mo Xi or others the opportunity to say more before suddenly pressing her hand onto her bracelet of holding. The next moment, several buckets of blood flew out of it and poured onto the ground beneath her.
In a flash, an intense, bloody reek filled the air, as a scarlet blood aura gradually emitted from within her.
Under the influence and control of her Blood Bead, the enormous amount of blood seeped into the ground and extended out in every direction like veins as they closed in on Zheng Bin and the others.