In the Realm of Divine Seal.

Duan Shihu arrived through the teleportation portal in the Realm of Maelstrom.

Before the Divine Seal Sect had come and set up their headquarters in it, the Realm of Divine Seal had been called something else.

However, after the Divine Seal Sect had risen up and become the most powerful sect in the Domain of Heaven Python, it was renamed the Realm of Divine Seal.

In the middle of a magnificent city, Duan Shihu walked out of a teleportation portal and gazed off into the distance, standing on a stone pavilion that towered over all of the others.

Multicolored magical symbols could be seen swimming around over the city like fish.

The solid city walls were carved with numerous complicated spell formations that absorbed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and powered the divine seals that had guarded this city for thousands of years.

Three enormous ancient starships were berthed in the spacious central square. Many disciples of the Divine Seal Sect were lining up to enter them.

Jing Rou walked up to him from behind and said softly, “Father is waiting, husband.”

Duan Shihu nodded slightly before leaving with Jing Rou to see the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect, Jing Feiyang.

In the Divine Seal Sect’s grand hall, Jing Feiyang was sitting in the main seat, while his wife was standing quietly beside him. Both her quality and appearance were very similar to Jing Rou’s.

Even seated, Jing Feiyang’s magnificent figure was very eye-catching. However, he had the appearance of a man in his forties, handsome and cultured.

He was none other than the most powerful person throughout the Domain of Heaven Python, who was at the early Saint domain.

Numerous Void domain experts were waiting with somber expressions on either side of the hall, Meng Li among them.

As Duan Shihu entered the grand hall, everyone’s gazes fixed on him.

Magical symbols could be seen floating in the depths of Jing Feiyang’s slender eyes as he asked with a smile, “Didn’t you ask to stay in the Realm of Maelstrom for a while? Why did you suddenly return?” 

It was as if he didn’t know that a joint army of Demons and Phantasms was marching on their headquarters.

“The teleportation portal that connects to the Realm of Split Void is now operable,” Duan Shihu reported.

“Finally, some good news,” Jing Feiyang said, smiling. “That person named Zhao Shanling came back, didn’t he?”

Duan Shihu nodded. “Yes.”

He intentionally hid the part about Pei Qiqi returning and making the teleportation portal operable even without Zhao Shanling.

“Zhao Shanling came back,” Duan Shihu added. “And thanks to his profound knowledge of spatial power, that Yuan Jiuchuan was sent off to a space disruption zone.”

“He actually banished the Thunder Devil to a space disruption zone...” Jing Feiyang went blank briefly before a wide smile appeared on his face. “Another bit of good news.”

At this moment, Meng Li chimed in anxiously, “When will your junior martial brother be able to break through into the Profound realm?” 

Jing Feiyang didn’t seem anxious at all, yet Meng Li seemed quite worried about the situation the Domain of Heaven Python was in.

The outsiders had raided many realms in the Domain of Heaven Python. Countless people had been massacred.

At this very moment, the Demon and Phantasm ancient starships were marching on the Realm of Divine Seal.

Many Divine Seal Sect disciples with low cultivation bases were being shipped to certain secluded dead realms in the Domain of Heaven Python.

Since there were a large number of dead realms, and the outsiders wouldn’t pay attention to them, they would be safe there for the time being.

However, since the dead realms were unfit for cultivation, whose with low cultivation bases couldn’t stay in them for very long either.

Duan Shihu spread his hands and said with a somewhat frustrated expression, “My junior martial brother is still practicing cultivation wholeheartedly. As for when he’ll be able to make the breakthrough, I’m not quite sure either. However, that Zhao Shanling is making preparations to kill Xing Lifeng after learning that he has left the Bonebrutes and is now in the Xing Clan in the Realm of Brown Clouds.”

Jing Feiyang’s eyes lit up. “His confidence is admirable, but will he succeed?”

“Xing Lifeng has already entered the late Void domain!” Meng Li exclaimed softly. “Sectmaster may be the only one who can beat him in battle. Those with the same cultivation base as his might not even be able to handle him in battle. Even if they could somehow defeat him, they wouldn’t have total confidence in killing him. What gives that Zhao Shanling such confidence?”

“I don’t know either,” Duan Shihu said. After a moment of hesitation, he added, “But my junior martial brother suspects that the Voidspirit Pagoda in Zhao Shanling’s possession might be one of the Void Spirit Society’s lost treasures. The secret magics and incantations he practices might also have close connections to the Void Spirit Society.”

Many Divine Seal Sect elders in the great hall were shaken after hearing these words. “The Void Spirit Society?!”

The flames of hope once again burned in their eyes as a clamor burst out among them.

“It’s hard to believe that a remote corner like the Domain of the Falling Stars actually produced incredible figures like Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling!”

“Nie Tian has close connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. Since that Zhao Shanling holds the Void Spirit Society’s legacy, it probably means he has connections to the Void Spirit Society.”

“Perhaps that man actually can kill Xing Lifeng!”

“Xing Lifeng is the source of this calamity! He first colluded with the Bonebrutes and stormed the Thousandsword Mountain Sect with the help of a ninth grade Bonebrute grand patriarch!”

“Only after that did the ancient outsider starships sail into the Domain of Heaven Python. Even death cannot atone for his crime!”

However, as soon as Jing Feiyang spoke, everyone fell silent. “Xing Lifeng deserves to die, yet his death won’t turn the situation around. Have your subordinates keep a close watch on him. But the crucial part is whether your junior martial brother will be able to enter the Profound realm and help us establish connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace within a short time.

“This city will stand for a while even if ninth grade Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs arrive.

“Our grand spell formation consists of countless magical seals that we’ve accumulated over thousands of years. It won’t be easily breached.”

Duan Shihu nodded. “Got it.”

...

Two weeks passed.

At the top of the stone pavilion the Divine Seal Sect had assigned to Nie Tian in the Realm of Maelstrom.

With the help of the numerous materials that contained soul power, which Jing Rou had gone to great lengths to find for him, Nie Tian finally formed his third sub-soul.

The third sub-soul was branded with many secrets about star power.

As soon as it came to form, Nie Tian was struck by a fascinating feeling that not only were his star power sub-soul and vortex of star power connected in a profound, unobstructed way, but even the third fragmentary star mark seemed to light up because of the change.

At this moment, many more ancient magical symbols suddenly appeared within the second fragmentary star mark.

Originally, the second fragmentary star mark had recorded two secret magics: Star Soul and Starchain.

The appearance of new ancient magical symbols meant that a brand-new soul magic had revealed itself.

Nie Tian’s sub-souls shone brightly in his sea of awareness as they took it upon themselves to realign the newborn ancient magical symbols and analyze the profound mysteries within them.

At the same time, his two other sub-souls resonated with his true soul.

As that happened, fundamental changes seemed to be triggered in his spiritual core and three vortexes of different attributes.

WHOOSH!

Nie Tian instantly experienced a peculiar feeling that his soul had been separated from his body.

While he was lost in this feeling, he suddenly saw his true soul floating ethereally out from between his eyebrows.

An ecstatic look then appeared in his eyes. “The Profound realm!”

The ability to separate one’s soul from one’s body marked a cultivator’s advancement to the Profound realm.

Only after possessing such an ability would a cultivator have a chance at securing his true soul and seeking to be reborn in case his fleshly body was destroyed in battle.

It was just that Nie Tian felt rather weak and unsteady when his true soul left his fleshly body, as if, at the Profound realm, his true soul was still not refined enough to be separated from his fleshly body for a considerable period of time.

This meant that if his fleshly body perished at the Profound realm, his true soul wouldn’t be able to drift along by itself for too long.

“Perhaps only after entering the Soul realm will my true soul be free of the restraints of my flesh and blood, and be able to travel around over a long period of time.”

As soon as Nie Tian came to such enlightenment, he sensed great changes in his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

His spiritual core and three vortexes all showed a strong desire for more power.

Then, his true soul flew unstably back to his sea of awareness after only a few seconds of separation.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Numerous spiritual materials of different attributes were piled up in front of him.

He instantly calmed himself, as he knew that he had merely eliminated the barrier in his cultivation, but hadn’t completed the breakthrough yet.

Therefore, he started channeling power from the cultivation materials into his spiritual sea, heedless of anything else.

As he did, bits of star power fell out of the starry river through the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom that looked like a well.

Like snowflakes, they melted as soon as they touched him, but then reappeared in his vortex of star power.

The Nine Stars Flower shone dazzlingly as it seemed to be helping him gather star power.

The three tree leaves he had gained from the Stone Golem capital also grew active in the lake of liquid wood power at the bottom of the vortex of wood power, as if to help him improve his efficiency of absorbing wood power.

Nie Tian thus closed his eyes to eliminate all distracting thoughts from his mind, and focus on the refinement of his spiritual core and three vortexes.

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