There were still a considerable number of Demons in the Second Demon Realm.

If Nie Tian went to kill Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in the Second Demon Realm with the five evil gods, it would definitely lead to the deaths of many Demons.

Even though Grand Monarch Hell Demon was a rebel, he was a Demon after all, and he was to shoulder the responsibility of leading the remaining Demons while Grand Monarch Primal Demon was missing.

Therefore, he didn’t want to see a large number of his people die miserable deaths when Nie Tian dealt with Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in the Second Demon Realm.

After Nie Tian left, he first disposed of Grand Monarch Ash Bone’s residual death power outside the Sixth Demon Realm, and then sealed the Bell of Death with spells. Lastly, he sent word to the Doomed Star Sea via a secret method, informing those who were fighting the three races from the Void World that they could make adjustments accordingly.

...

In the Second Demon Realm.

Unlike the Sixth Demon Realm, the Second Demon Realm wasn’t a sphere, but rather a vast, irregularly-shaped flat land.

Since it was enveloped in blackish-violet Demon Qi, Nie Tian observed from afar, but failed to see what was going on in it.

Only after he activated his life bloodline did he vaguely sense clusters of life auras in it.

“Hmm?!” He frowned, his expression growing cold. “Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory isn’t in the Second Demon Realm!”

“He’s not?” Taken aback, the evil god of bloodlust immediately cast a bloodline magic. A cyan cloud of soul power then flew out from the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows, and stopped in front of the Second Demon Realm.

The cloud burst forth with countless rays of soul-detecting light.

Looking down, Nie Tian could sense that the soul fluctuations of the Demons in the Second Demon Realm were affected by the cloud, and manifested in full.

“You’re right. He’s not here.” Through his soul-detecting bloodline magic, the evil god of bloodlust found out that the strongest Demons in the Second Demon Realm were only at the eighth grade.

“Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory did fly in the Second Demon Realm’s direction,” the evil god of hatred chimed in. “I planted a wisp of hatred in his body. That wisp of hatred arrived in the Second Demon Realm with him. I’m sure of it. Only then did he find out about it and refine it with the Blood Purgatory Sea. I guess he escaped through some teleportation portal in the Second Demon Realm.”

“I suppose that’s the case,” The evil god of bloodlust said.

The other three evil gods also joined the conversation, discussing Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory’s possible whereabouts.

They all agreed that he must have left the Second Demon Realm.

Before Nie Tian could give them instructions, the five of them ripped the realm barrier open with their sharp claws and descended upon the Second Demon Realm like satanic creatures.

Nie Tian, however, remained where he was in the starry river.

He suddenly realized that the five evil gods weren’t his so-called puppets anymore.

Instead, they were independent beings with complete souls and fleshly bodies now, practically no different from the fearsome late tenth grade grand monarchs they had been in their previous lives!

“Are those Heavenly Spirit Seals the only reason why they’re not rising against me?” he asked himself inwardly.

The Heavenly Spirit Seals that had been cast upon the five evil gods looked like five crystals embedded in their foreheads between their eyebrows. Their purpose was to manipulate their minds and force them to obey him.

In many ways, the Heavenly Spirit Seals were very similar to the prismatic crystals on the foreheads of the Phantasms.

However, before the evil gods had finished gathering their soul fragments and memories, they had shown strong resentment and hostility towards him.

Now, as time had passed, they seemed to have changed somehow. They had gradually accepted him as their new master and become willing to fight for him.

Nie Tian’s eyes lit up. “There’s another important reason other than the Heavenly Spirit Seals! The Nether River! I’ve derived profound truths from the Nether River branches in the Silent Star Sea, the Seven Stars Realm Sea, and the Spirit World. And I’ve gained the Spirit Scepter! In other words, I’m gradually gaining all of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit’s legacies!”

As his train of thought came to this point, he felt suddenly enlightened.

The Heavenly Spirit Seals might be part of the reason why the five evil gods had truly acknowledged him. However, more importantly, he had inherited the profound wonders of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit’s soul magics.

He also shouldered the responsibility of guiding the Phantasms and helping those bloodline descendants of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit find a new home.

He even had to help Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit cleanse the tainted Nether River branch in the Realm of Dark Souls!

“The Realm of Dark Souls in the Void World!”

Even though that branch of the Nether River had been tainted by an unknown power, it was part of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit’s legacies. It had benefited countless Netherspirits, and still carried Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit’s numerous profound soul wonders.

“Perhaps I should pay the Realm of Dark Underworld a visit after the battles in the Spirit World and the Mortal World come to an end,” 

Nie Tian thought to himself. 

“I have the Spirit Scepter and the five evil gods, and I’ve refined more than one Nether River branch. Once I purge that Nether River branch in the Netherspirits’ ancestral land of its impurities, it’ll probably acknowledge me too!”

FIZZ! FIZZ!

The evil god of fear ripped the blackish-violet realm barrier of the Second Demon Realm to shreds with his sharp claws.

The vast Second Demon Realm was finally presented to Nie Tian with great clarity.

In the middle of the colossal continent was a vast hole that kept exuding intense flesh auras.

“Master, that’s where the Blood Purgatory Sea was,” the evil god of bloodlust said, standing by the edge of the vast hole. “Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory must have drained it when he left. It appears that a beam of Grand Monarch Ash Bone’s death power also reached here, but Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory erased it before he left.”

The evil god of fear joined the conversation by saying, “Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory left through a teleportation altar. Judging from the coordinates set up in the altar, he left for a domain that belonged to Xuan Guangyu, the late vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.”

Nie Tian’s expression flickered with astonishment. “Xuan Guangyu! That vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had secret connections with the Demons?”

It appeared that no one could answer that question now, since Xuan Guangyu had already been killed by Pei Yukong. Both his body and soul had perished.

The evil god of bloodlust seemed regretful as he said, “Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory must have hidden his aura, fleeing from place to place in the Mortal World. The Mortal World covers a vast expanse of the starry river. There are many places that haven’t even been explored yet. As a late tenth grade grand monarch, if he’s bent on hiding from us, it’s going to be very difficult to capture him. Perhaps only experts with extremely high attainments in spatial power can help us locate him in the boundless Mortal World.”

Hundreds of seventh and eighth grade Demons were scattered around the vast emptied hole in the ground.

They looked up at the five evil gods and implored in mortal fear, “Please don’t kill us, grand monarchs!”

“Mercy! Our people have been allies with the Phantasms for generations!”

“Spare our lives, please!”

With indifferent eyes, the evil gods didn’t give any response.

Nie Tian pondered for a moment before saying, “Grand Monarch Hell Demon will take over here. Why don’t you go search the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Demon Realms, and see if there are other Demon grand monarchs hiding in them?”

“We’re on it!” The five evil gods turned around and flew off.

The Demons’ six major realms weren’t very far from one another. The evil gods’ current strength allowed them to shuttle through the starry river like cyan lightning bolts.

Besides, each and every one of them was well-versed in ancient soul magics. The combination of their flesh and soul power allowed them to locate the strongest being in every Demon realm effortlessly. 

It wasn’t very long before the five evil gods returned one after another. Gathered around Nie Tian, they started reporting their findings.

“None of the other Demon realms have powerful Demon experts in them. The strongest ones we’ve found in them are also only at the eighth grade.”

“And there are very few Demons in those realms too, only about three thousand of them in total. Most of them are at the seventh grade or lower, with fleshly bodies too weak to travel through the starry river without starships.”

“Master, we didn’t find any spiritual crystal reserves, powerful demonic tools, or Demon Blood Essence in the First Demon Realm.”

“They must have been shipped away long ago...”

Nie Tian listened in silence until they finished. Then, he nodded and said with a grim expression, “If that’s the case, inform Grand Monarch Hell Demon. Tell him to gather the remaining Demons in the Spirit World. There are more Demons in the Mortal World that also need his leadership. As for you, why don’t you divide and conquer? Some of you stay and oversee things in the Spirit World, while the rest leave for the Mortal World?

“There are also a large number of Phantasms in the Mortal World. With Grand Monarch Nether River and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind out of the picture, only you can bring them to heel now.”

Having been revived in a real sense, the evil gods could comprehend issues with minimal instructions now. They all nodded to show that they understood after Nie Tian finished.

“Master... are you sure you don’t need us to be by your side?” The evil god of bloodlust asked.

“No, not for now,” Nie Tian answered. “I’m going to the Realm of Middle Continent to figure out the origin of those strange changes. And I need to have a talk with the Tree of Life. After all that, perhaps I’ll take a trip to the Void World or the Doomed Star Sea.”

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