Chapter 593: Come to the Stage
Dong Li was the one who attracted the most attention inside the whole Blood Fighting Pit. Her shout instantly pulled the gazes of those swarming before her in Nie Tian’s direction. They eagerly searched for Nie Tian in the crowd.
The few Dong Clan members who were standing beside Dong Li also jerked their heads in Nie Tian’s direction and started searching.
Most of them hadn’t seen Nie Tian in person. However, his name had become more and more well-known among them, especially after the Dong Clan juniors had returned to their clan this time. Those juniors’ eyes had been filled with respect when they had talked about him. Even Dong Li couldn’t mask her happiness whenever his name was mentioned.
This had made these Dong Clan seniors more and more curious.
All of the Dong Clan seniors knew that, even though Dong Li had a bad name, she had actually preserved her moral integrity.
Knowing Dong Li well, they knew that she just liked to trick the so-called talented youngsters who drooled over her beauty. However, whenever she talked about those lechers, her eyes were always filled with disdain and contempt, which was completely different from her happy and beaming expression when she talked about Nie Tian.
Not just her, even Dong Baijie, who the entire Dong Clan spoke highly of, had given an unprecedentedly high opinion of Nie Tian after he had returned from that dimension.
Dong Baijie made an assumption that, if there were no mishaps, Nie Tian would soon become the brightest star that outshone all of the so-called chosen ones throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.
Some of the Dong Clan seniors might still have doubts about Dong Li’s sense of judgment, but they had been very surprised that Dong Baijie would have such a high opinion of him.
Upon hearing Dong Li calling out to Nie Tian, the Dong Clan members rapidly found Nie Tian in the crowd.
“You go ahead. I still have business to take care of.” With these words, Hu Rong gave Nie Tian a meaningful look, signaling Nie Tian to go to the Dong Clan members before leaving quietly.
Therefore, under everyone’s curious gazes, Nie Tian walked towards the Dong Clan members with a smile on his face.
Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the others followed along.
The bustling crowd suddenly stopped and split up, forming an open path for Nie Tian.
Dong Li, who had applied a bit of makeup, appeared more and more gorgeous as Nie Tian looked at her.
She was wearing close-fitting black garments, which brought out her perfectly-proportioned body.
A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she stood and waited for Nie Tian before the other Dong Clan members. Her unmatched beauty made her stand out, and attracted almost everyone’s attention.
Even some self-possessed Profound realm experts found it hard to tear their eyes from her.
Even Qin Yan, who was standing not far from her, was overshadowed by her singular beauty.
“Does this whole pile of spiritual materials belong to him, Ms. Dong?” One of the Profound realm experts from the Poison Sect asked, frowning in disbelief.
Dong Li smiled charmingly as she nodded and said, “Exactly, he’s the one I’ve been waiting for.”
The Poison Sect expert named Hou Qingsen had his eyes on an item in the larger pile of spiritual materials before Dong Li. He had proposed to trade or purchase it from her, but Dong Li had shaken her head and told him that she wouldn’t make any decisions before the owner of the spiritual materials arrived.
Considering that, Hou Qingsen could only wait.
There were many more like Hou Qingsen, who had set their minds on items in Nie Tian’s pile of spiritual materials, but had to wait under Dong Li’s instruction.
The Worldly realm and Profound realm experts, who had been gathered before Dong Li for some time, started discussing the matter with each other in low voices, and gradually figured out who Nie Tian was.
“Nie Tian...”
“That name sounds so familiar. Where have I heard it before?”
“Nie Tian... Nie Tian... Is he the Nie Tian from the Realm of Flame Heaven?”
“Is he the one who obtained the legacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace and sealed the three spatial rifts with secret magics?”
“It must be him. Who else could it be?”
Seeing that Dong Li didn’t deny it, but instead nodded smilingly, they all gasped with astonishment.
“So it is him!” Someone exclaimed.
Most of the Qi warriors from the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars hadn’t met Nie Tian in person before, since he had assumed different identities and stayed off the grid to avoid the Flame God Sect and the Heaven Palace Sect.
For the same reason, their knowledge of Nie Tian was basically limited to that he was from the Realm of Flame Heaven, and had risen to prominence after obtaining fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial and sealing the three major spatial rifts.
In fact, this was the first time Nie Tian had presented himself before powerful experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars.
Upon hearing that the person Dong Li had been waiting was the successor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, many Qi warriors who had been originally gathered before Ye Qin, Qian Xin, Cao Qiushui, and the other chosen ones from the major sects had their interest piqued.
They either quietly gathered towards her, or gazed in her direction from afar.
Seeing that Dong Li only smiled admiringly at Nie Tian as he approached, Dong Baijie hastily introduced his clan members to Nie Tian. “This is our clan senior, Dong Tengfei.”
Dong Tengfei smiled and nodded slightly at Nie Tian.
Nie Tian bowed respectfully in return and said, “Greetings, Senior Dong.”
Dong Tengfei waved his hand, signaling him to not stand on ceremony. With a warm smile, he said, “No need to be so courteous. I’m only here to help Baijie and Li. Don’t mind me. Also, I heard what you’ve done for our juniors. You did a good job.”
“Alright, alright.” Dong Li interrupted him with a bright smile on her face. She quickly glanced over the ones who had waited for quite some time and said, “Now that the owner is here, you can ask him about whatever you’re interested in.”
“Wait,” Nie Tian called out softly as he bowed slightly towards Li Jing. “Would you come and choose first, Senior Li?”
The way he saw it, the value of the Bone Blood Demon, which had been at the eighth grade when it had been alive, had immeasurable value to him.
Therefore, he felt that he owed the Blood Sect and Li Jing a great deal. He would only be happy if Li Jing had her eyes on some of the spiritual materials he had obtained.
“It’d be rude for me to turn down such an offer.” With these words, Li Jing smiled slightly, and walked up to the large pile of spiritual materials. Soon, her eyes were dazzled by the numerous rare spiritual materials, many of which had clearly been looted from outsiders.
She then unleashed her soul awareness to roam the pile of spiritual materials. Moments later, her eyes snapped open as she pointed at three items.
They were a fist-sized piece of crimson jade, a spirit plant with six leaves that was wreathed in a rich, bloody aura, and a crimson eye from some spirit beast.
Standing beside Dong Li, an old man who had gray hair and the Spirit Condor’s pattern embroidered on his garments, looked down at the three items and said slowly, “A seventh level Premium grade Blood Essence Stone... They’ve long since disappeared from the Domain of the Falling Stars. In fact, they could be found in the Domain of the Falling Stars when it was still a paradise for outsiders, but the outsider elders mined them and took them all away when they evacuated.
“Even though this kind of spiritual material doesn’t have a noticeable effect on most human Qi warriors, they seem to be extremely helpful for outsiders to upgrade their bloodline power.
“In outsiders’ realms, a Blood Essence Stone like this can be traded for five hundred thousand spirit stones at the very least.”
Upon hearing this, many people in the crowd gasped with shock.
“As for this six-leaf Spirit Blood Grass, it’s a sixth level Premium grade medicinal plant, and it also disappeared from the Domain of the Falling Stars long ago. This kind of spirit plant only grows after absorbing a copious amount of the blood of outsiders or spirit beasts, so they went extinct soon after the outsiders left the Domain of the Falling Stars. A Spirit Blood Grass like this is easily worth three hundred thousand spirit stones.
“The last one is an eye of a seventh grade Blood Eye Crocodile. The most powerful parts of a Blood Eye Crocodile are its eyes. It’s said that just by looking at living beings with its eyes, a Blood Eye Crocodile can cause destructive disorder to their blood. The strength of a seventh grade Blood Eye Crocodile is equal to that of a Soul realm expert. An eye from it is worth at least two million spirit stones.”
The old man from the Spirit Condor smiled slightly and turned to Li Jing, “You’ve got a good sense of judgment. These three things you picked suit the needs of your sect very well. Now that you have them, you’ll have a much easier time when you try to break through into the Soul realm.”
Li Jing smiled and said with a complicated look in her eyes, “Just these three items alone are worth about three million spirit stones!”
The old man from the Spirit Condor laughed and said, “Those are only the prices from before. The fact that they’re long extinct in the Domain of the Falling Stars has made them even more valuable. It’d be completely reasonable to double those prices.”
Fang Hui let out a soft sigh and said, “Congratulations, Sectmaster Li.”
He was well-aware that, after gaining those three precious materials, Li Jing would probably progress faster than all of the other Profound realm experts in the Realm of Flame Heaven, and this was all because she had outstanding vision and cultivated her relationship with Nie Tian at an early time.
Nie Tian laughed heartily as he stuffed the three items she had picked into her hands. “Don’t thank me, Senior Li. I’m actually glad that I have something that I can use to pay you back for the Bone Blood Demon. Otherwise, I wouldn’t feel right to take it.”
Li Jing received the precious cultivation materials and put them away in her ring of holding. With a warm and grateful expression, she said, “If that’s the case, I won’t stand on ceremony with you, Nie Tian. To tell you the truth, these three items are indeed very useful to me. If I can somehow enter the Soul realm someday, I won’t forget what you’ve done for me today.”
“There’s no need for you to say that, given our relationship,” Nie Tian said, smiling.
Li Jing was overjoyed to receive the three unearthly treasures, even though she did her utmost to mask her joy as she quietly stepped aside.
“Alright, time for you to state your needs.” With these words, Nie Tian took a glance at Hou Qingsen from the Poison Sect and said, “What do you need?”
“Those outsider incantation scrolls!" Hou Qingsen said, pointing at the few scrolls made of animal skin. “What’s the price?”
Nie Tian took a quick glance at them and realized they were the scrolls he had looted from one of the Fiends he had slaughtered.
The contents of those scrolls seemed to be some of the Fiends’ secret magics. It was said that the Realm of Black Marsh used to be home to Fiends. Meanwhile, the Poison Sect practiced numerous spiritual incantations that had countless ties with the Fiends.
That explained why an expert from the Poison Sect would show such a strong interest in the Fiends’ scrolls.
“I’m Hou Qingsen, one of the Poison Sect’s elders. Whatever you want in exchange for those scrolls, even if I don’t have it right now, the Poison Sect will spare no effort to get it for you within the shortest time possible!” With these words, Hou Qingsen took a deep breath and waited for Nie Tian’s reply, as if he knew that the contents of those Fiend scrolls would have a profound influence on the whole Poison Sect’s future.
“What’s your name again?” Nie Tian asked, his brow furrowed.
“Hou Qingsen.”
“No deal!” Nie Tian’s attitude took a sharp turn. He reached out and put the few animal skin scrolls away in his ring of holding. “I just remembered that I’ve already promised these scrolls to someone else.”
“Who?” Hou Qingsen asked anxiously.
Nie Tian gave a cold snort. “The person who you betrayed so you could kiss up to your friend in the Spirit God Sect.”
“That traitor Li Langfeng?!” Hou Qingsen exclaimed, shock spreading across his face.