In the central area of the Shatter Battlefield.

Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi traveled through the energy shield in the blink of an eye with the help of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The split earth shook violently as the glorious rainbow-like energy shield gradually sank and vanished into the depths of the earth.

Having suddenly left the special space where all kinds of energies were extremely rich and pure, Nie Tian was unadapted to the environment on the outside.

He took a deep breath.

Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian sensed his surroundings with rapt attention. “The various energies of heaven and earth and flesh auras left by powerful outsiders out here seem to have been absorbed to a large extent, and become almost too faint to detect.”

Pei Qiqi glanced around and also released her soul awareness to scan the vicinity, but didn’t find anyone. “It seems that Xuan Guangyu and Hong Minghui left at some point.”

To their surprise, they didn’t find any Qi warriors that had been misled by Hong Minghui and thus believed that a precious treasure lay within the Star Behemoth’s unique space.

There wasn’t a single Qi warrior, outsider, or Ancientspirit in the area.

Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were the only ones there.

At this moment, Nie Tian’s bloodline was in a state where it could break through into the eighth grade at any time.

His cultivation base had risen to the late Soul realm, where the crystallization of his spiritual cores had completed.

His true soul had also become more refined and clear, as his soul power had become more powerful.

With his current strength and battle prowess, he was confident that if he ran into Ophelia now, he would be able to win much more effortlessly.

WHOOSH!

He summoned the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

At this point, the bone had grown to be a hundred and fifty meters long, and crimson like a long, blood-colored crystal. A network of very conspicuous veins could be seen within it, through which thick blood was flowing.

However, as Nie Tian examined it with his soul awareness, he found that it seemed to have entered a deep slumber.

He attempted to activate it with his bloodline, but still failed to see any reaction.

“After absorbing all that Blood Essence from me and the soul power from those evil spirits, it seems to have entered dormancy, where it digests the power and prepares itself for an upgrade or transformation...” Nie Tian muttered to himself, realizing that this wondrous bone might have come to a crucial moment.

After the bone’s soul awoke from its slumber and its internal changes were complete, he would be able to use it again.

At that time, it would definitely become even more wondrous. Its brand new bloodline wonders would further improve his battle prowess.

Given time, it might eventually become a so-called divine tool that only he could wield.

“Talk about the wonders of a super-large-scale realm!” Pei Qiqi marveled. “The Shatter Battlefield was practically ripped apart earlier, but now the broken pieces seem to have come back together. And the realm is channeling a wide array of energies from the depths of the starry river, setting itself on a path to recovery.”

She didn’t put the Space Boundaries Crystal away immediately after they came out from the depths of the earth.

Instead, it continued to spin in her palm.

Its many facets showed clear reflections of what was happening in different parts of the Shatter Battlefield.

Through it, Pei Qiqi could perceive even the slightest changes in any part of the Shatter Battlefield.

“Hmm?!” Pei Qiqi exclaimed softly, before casually opening and dragging Nie Tian into a spatial rift.

In a split second, the two of them appeared in the place where Wu Ji was practicing cultivation.

The river of time was still floating in the heavens, and Wu Ji’s time domain remained connected to it. However, he had already entered the Saint domain.

The first cultivator from the Domain of the Falling Stars to enter the Saint domain was neither Zhao Shanling nor Fan Kai. It was Wu Ji!

Upon arriving, Nie Tian called out, “Master!”

With a single glance at Wu Ji, who was floating in the river of time, he had a strange, indescribable feeling.

It was something he had never felt before.

It was as if his master, Wu Ji, had become another person, or rather many different persons...

Wu Ji drifted in the glorious, winding river of time like a tiny boat, while his time domain slowly fluctuated in the river of time like a drop of water that had merged with a grand river.

Even though there didn’t seem to be any changes in his appearance, his eyes kept flickering.

Upon hearing Nie Tian’s call, he seemed to slowly awake from the long lost ages. He turned around and took a look at Nie Tian.

Only after a while did he seem to recover his memories about Nie Tian. A warm smile appearing on his face, he said, “I’m glad that you’re fine.”

“Master, you... give me a strange feeling,” Nie Tian said honestly.

Wu Ji frowned. After a moment of pondering, he took his time to say, “I don’t know why, but I seem to have recovered some of my memories after I entered the Saint domain and truly merged with this mysterious river...”

Nie Tian’s expression flickered with astonishment. “Your memories? What do you mean? Why would your memories be in the river of time?”

Pei Qiqi was also surprised.

Even Wu Ji himself seemed to be baffled. “They’re my memories, but seem to belong to another me.. It seems that I was another person... I’m still trying to find the answer, so I suppose I’ll stay here for some time.”

Nie Tian gasped. “Another person?!”

Looking somewhat tired, Wu Ji waved his hand and said, “You may leave to take care of your business. I have yet to find my true self in this river of time.”

“Let’s go.” With these words, Pei Qiqi split open another spatial rift and dragged Nie Tian into it before he could say anything.

“What’s with the rush? I still have questions to ask him!” Nie Tian said unpleasantly.

“I don’t know why, but your master gave me a strange, dangerous feeling,” Pei Qiqi explained. “Besides, the origin of that river of time doesn’t lie in the Shatter Battlefield. My Space Boundaries Crystal was born in the Shatter Battlefield. However, when it developed its own awareness, the river of time had already existed for who knows how long.

“So even it doesn’t know where the origin of the river of time lies. What we saw was only one of its many branches. Your master, however, may be able to find its true origin by tracking that branch.

“Or perhaps he has done that already, and uncovered deeper secrets from its origin.”

Hearing this, Nie Tian frowned. “What do you mean by ‘deeper secrets’?”

“Like what your master said himself, he may actually be someone entirely different. Perhaps he was reborn from a surviving wisp of soul awareness from some sage.” Pei Qiqi’s eyes glittered brightly as she spoke. “People like your master who can master time power and channel the river of time are extremely special. Things usually happen for a reason.”

A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian.

“Alright, we’ll only be able to learn the truth after your master finds the truth.” With these words, Pei Qiqi grabbed Nie Tian and vanished again.

WHOOSH!

In the next moment, the two of them appeared at the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace’s large-scale teleportation portal in the Shatter Battlefield.

Kan Zhisheng was still guarding it.

This whole time, he had been waiting for Nie Tian to come out of that special space and return to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace’s headquarters through this portal.

Upon seeing Nie Tian, he grew excited. “You’ve finally come out! This is great! I was worried that there were some mishaps!”

Nie Tian shrugged. “Everything went well.”

“You’ve entered the late Soul realm?!” An exclamation escaped Kan Zhisheng’s mouth.

“Yeah, I’m going back to our headquarters.” With these words, Nie Tian turned to give Pei Qiqi a look, and asked, “What about you? Do you want to go with me, or do you want to return to your sect?”

“Umm, Nie Tian...” Kan Zhisheng said with a strange look on his face. “Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng, they’re your followers, right?”

Nie Tian’s face grew grim. “What’s going on?"

“Someone found out about them and informed our sect of their findings,” Kan Zhisheng said with an apologetic expression. “Vice Sectmaster Luo was infuriated. Under his command, our people are currently conducting thorough searches in your three domains in order to uncover the truth as soon as possible.”

“Luo Wanxiang is messing with me again?!” Nie Tian said angrily.