Everyone in Desolate City found it hard to believe how warm and respectful Yue Yanxi was towards Nie Tian.

The Lei brothers headed towards the volcano where they had set up their base as soon as Nie Tian and Yue Yanxi left Desolate City on that bird-like air-transportation spiritual tool.

Since the Spirit God Sect and the Poison Sect had been the first ones to submit to the Lei Clan, all of their disciples had been arranged to stay in their quarters on that volcano.

Xia Yi had come by himself, so there weren’t any Flame God Sect disciples on that volcano or in Desolate City.

At this point, word of the deaths of Xia Yi and the other two hadn’t spread outside of Desolate City yet.

Strong killing intent could be seen in the Lei brothers’ eyes as the two of them flew directly towards the volcano.

A heated discussion burst out among the crowd. Some were overjoyed to see what had happened to Xia Yi and the other two, while others sighed in sorrow.

“Those three sects are doomed.”

“Who would have thought that the grand elder of the Divine Flame Sect would treat Nie Tian this way?”

“This is so ironic. Xia Yi thought he was such a smart guy for seizing the opportunity to take the Flame Dragon Armor from Nie Tian. Who would have thought that the person the three of them killed together was actually the son of the Divine Flame Sect’s sectmaster?”

“Nie Tian is such a lucky man!”

Lei Zhenyu from the Thunder Mountain Sect and Di Ruyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect snuck out of the central square to the Heaven Expanse Sect’s temporary quarters in Desolate City.

With a bitter expression, Lei Zhenyu said, “Brother Di, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to help you. It was just that my hands were tied. I never thought that the grand elder of the Divine Flame Sect would attach such importance to Nie Tian. Even the clanmaster of the Lei Clan didn’t dare to question his decisions. What could I have done?”

Face grim, Di Ruyun said, sagging his head, “What’s done is done. I suppose I can only accept it now.”

Neither Yu Wei nor Ji Qingyun were core members of the Heaven Expanse Sect. Yu Wei was only the granddaughter of one of their elders, while Ji Qingyun was one of their elders.

Their deaths weren’t that hard to swallow. What truly worried him was that Nie Tian might still find fault with the Heaven Expanse Sect.

“I’ll give my apologies to Nie Tian when he’s back,” Di Ruyun said. “I hope that’ll be enough for him let go of this matter.” 

With a bitter expression, Lei Zhenyu said, “I’m afraid I’ll also have to behave myself in front of Nie Tian from now on. Originally, Hua Mu gave me the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon and three Spirit Channeling grade treasures in exchange for Nie Tian’s life. There was a thunder-attributed one I liked very much among them. Who would have thought that things would make such an unexpected turn?”

“The Flame God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect are doomed,” Di Ruyun said, strong desire filling his eyes. “Their realms will be open for a new owner.” 

Lei Zhenyu shook his head. “But I’m afraid that it won’t have anything to do with us whatsoever.” 

…

Inside a isolated room, Ling Dong messed up his own hair and bellowed like a trapped beast. “What the hell happened?! How is this possible?! What did that Nie Tian brat rely on to make the grand elder of the Divine Flame Sect so cautious when facing him and so afraid that he would be displeased?”

Ling Dong had always detested Nie Tian. He believed that it was Nie Tian who had stolen the fragmentary star mark that should have belonged to Ning Yang and the Heaven Palace Sect.

Furthermore, he felt offended by the fact that Nie Tian had never showed much respect when facing him.

He had truly hoped to see the Divine Flame Sect strip Nie Tian of his fragmentary star marks and kill him in a brutal manner.

However, he didn’t get what he had hoped for.

Zhao Luofeng let out a deep breath and said, “You need to restrain yourself from speaking against or doing anything that would offend Nie Tian from now on. The arrival of the Divine Flame Sect has turned the situation around completely. Even if our patriarch manages to break through into the Void domain, it won’t change anything.

“Nie Tian’s unparalleled status in the Domain of the Falling Stars is already established, and no one can change that for now. If you still harbor intentions of dealing with him, you’ll only bring trouble to our sect.

“I’ll go meet him after he returns to show him our desire to establish a friendly relationship with him.”

With shock written across his face, Ling Dong exclaimed, “Are you going to give in to him already, sectmaster?!”

“Have you still not seen the reality here? Since Nie Tian has received the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace’s legacies, he’s already become a crucial member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. Even the Divine Flame Sect doesn’t dare to do anything to him. What makes you think we can?” With a bitter smile, Zhao Luofeng added, “Fortunately, we didn’t make an attempt on Nie Tian’s life. Otherwise, our entire sect would have been wiped out by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace...”

Upon hearing these words, Ling Dong shuddered, not daring to make another counter-statement.

…

Floating high in the sky, Hua Mu gazed off in the volcano’s direction and exclaimed, “Look! Over there! The Lei brothers have made their move!”

Qi Bailu, Zong Zheng, Lu Yuanxi, Dong Wangling, and the other experts all rose into the air. They either gazed with their eyes or sensed with their immense soul awareness.

Either way, they all noticed that the volcano that had originally belonged to the Tool Sect was now wreathed in flashing lightning and rolling thunder.

Thick lightning bolts struck down from the highest heavens and infused into the eight floating thunder balls, plunging the entire volcano into an abyss of lightning and thunder.

Zhong Zheng sighed and said, “The Lei Clan is cleansing the Spirit God Sect and Poison Sect members. Since it was their sectmasters who teamed up and killed the son of the Divine Flame Sect’s sectmaster, and the Divine Flame Sect’s grand elder has given the order, of course they won’t show any mercy. It seems that the Poison Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Flame God Sect tried to steal a chicken, but ended up losing the rice used to lure it.” (idiom: try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off.)

“Brother Hua, do you think the Divine Flame Sect will set up a branch in the Realm of Unbounded Desolation?” Qi Bailu asked, his voice filled with concern.

The Realm of Unbounded Desolation was originally the Tool Sect’s territory, but they had been expelled from it by the Lei Clan. Previously, Qi Bailu had dropped the idea of returning to their headquarters in the Realm of Unbounded Desolation, thinking that the Divine Flame Sect and the Lei Clan must be on the same side.

However, now that he had witnessed the way Yue Yanxi treated Nie Tian, his hope was reignited.

Hua Mu smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry. Let’s wait for Nie Tian to come back. Only after he returns will we know for sure what the Divine Flame Sect’s attitude is. It seems that your sect’s fate will have a great deal to do with him. All we can do now is wait.”

Dong Wangling laughed broadly, the haze clouding his face long gone. With a loud and resounding voice, he said, “It seems to me that Nie Tian is the guardian of the Domain of the Falling Stars the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace chose for us. Even though Nie Tian has saved the Domain of the Falling Stars several times already, I didn’t think he was going to save us from the fate of becoming subordinate forces of the Divine Flame Sect this time. However, he did it again.

“It seems that as long as Nie Tian remains in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of the Falling Stars won’t be in big trouble.”

All of the experts knew that Dong Wangling had long since considered Nie Tian as half a Dong Clan member due to his relationship with Dong Li. He had set his mind at ease and smiled heartily the moment he had seen how warm Yue Yanxi had acted towards Nie Tian.

Even though everyone knew that Dong Wangling favored Nie Tian for a reason, after giving his words some thought, they all felt his comment made sense.

Come to think of it, every time the Domain of the Falling Stars had faced calamity, it had always been Nie Tian who had made significant contributions and turned the situation around.

It was actually not an exaggeration to call Nie Tian the guardian of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

…

WHOOSH!

At high noon, the air-transportation spiritual tool that looked like a blazing bird returned to Desolate City.

Yue Yanxi and Nie Tian talked and laughed as they came to a stop, and Nie Tian jumped off to the central square.

Hua Mu and the other experts were waiting for them in the square with faint smiles on their faces.

Lei Zhenyu and Di Ruyun, as well as Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong, who had ended their private conversation, were standing in a farther location, their eyes fixed on Nie Tian as well.

After Nie Tian landed in the square, Yue Yanxi swept his gaze across the powerful experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars with his eyes as he said with an ordering tone, “The Lei Clan will erase the Flame God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect from the Domain of the Falling Stars. Afterwards, the Lei Clan will remain in the Domain of the Falling Stars for some time to provide Nie Tian with whatever assistance he may need.

“Since the Domain of the Falling Stars belongs to Nie Tian, the Divine Flame Sect will not try to control it in any way.

“You local sects better give serious thought to how you’re going to do things in the future. The teleportation portals that connect the Divine Flame Sect with the Domain of the Falling Stars will be preserved. If any of you dares to give Nie Tian any trouble, our sect will be happy to come over and help Nie Tian take care of you.”

With these words, Yue Yanxi turned to smile at Nie Tian before steering his air-transportation spiritual tool towards the Lei Clan’s base.

Those who were close to Nie Tian gathered around him as soon as Yue Yanxi left, hoping to learn more about the situation.

“What did you talk about, Nie Tian? How come he’s so protective of you?”

“So does that mean you’ll be in charge of the entire Domain of the Falling Stars from now on? Even the Lei Clan will take orders from you?”

“So the Divine Flame Sect won’t come?”

Zhen Huilan also rushed to Nie Tian’s side with Pei Qiqi and Li Ye. “Nie Tian, the Lei Clan took our headquarters from us,” she said. “Can you make them give it back?” 

“The Lei Clan will soon move to the Thunder Mountain Sect’s headquarters in the Realm of Earth Sieve,” Nie Tian said. “The Realm of Unbounded Desolation will be returned to the Tool Sect.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Bailu, who was just about to ask Nie Tian the same thing, instantly felt relieved, his furrowed eyebrows straightening.

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