Li Langfeng couldn’t help but call out, “Good boy!”

He didn’t expect that Nie Tian would actually have the audacity to chop off Ning Yang’s head.

Since the Heaven Palace Sect hadn’t formally declared that they had expelled him, he was still a member of the Heaven Palace Sect.

Not only that, but the Heaven Palace Sect had also placed high hopes in him. They had thrown in endless resources and effort to build him up into a future star, which was apparent from the exquisite golden sword and shield he used

Ever since Xue Long had made his deal with the Spirit Condor, the thought of killing Ning Yang had never entered his mind. When he had learned that Li Langfeng would also join their operation against Ning Yang, he had repeatedly warned Li Langfeng against killing Ning Yang.

Even just now, when Pei Qiqi had been caught up in the moment and almost killed Ning Yang, he had hastily interrupted her. After a second thought, the calmed Pei Qiqi had also dropped the idea of killing Ning Yang.

This was enough evidence that neither Xue Long nor Pei Qiqi had the audacity to kill Ning Yang.

In Li Langfeng’s eyes, Nie Tian would behave exactly the same as those two. He would probably also be held back by his worries, and wouldn’t dare to launch the murderous strike.

However, Nie Tian actually did!

Furthermore, that was after he had offered to do it and shoulder the responsibility for Nie Tian. Right after Nie Tian respectfully refused his offer, he had chopped off Ning Yang’s head without the slightest hesitation.

That was why he came to think very highly of Nie Tian and became full of praise.

“The fact that you actually dare to kill Ning Yang proves that you didn’t obtain those fragmentary star marks by accident. Only those who are strong and fearless deserve those legacy marks from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. I’m truly impressed, kid!”

Xue Long and Pei Qiqi, however, stood speechless as they stared at Ning Yang’s severed head and open eyes, as if they were shocked by Nie Tian’s fierceness and cruelty.

At that moment, Nie Tian said with a surprisingly calm tone, “We’re different. I can feel Ning Yang’s hatred towards me. If I don’t kill him, sooner or later, he’ll seek me out and have his revenge. Since he’s too powerful, if I let him live, the next time we meet, I’ll be the one to die.

“The only way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to kill him and put an end to his threat!”

“Exactly, this is what you’re supposed to do.” An admiring smile appeared on Li Langfeng’s normally gloomy face.

Completely depleted, Nie Tian dropped heavily to the ground. He felt he even had difficulty turning his head as he said, “Uncle Xue, Senior Martial Sister, you can go ahead and take Ning Yang’s valuables.”

After he sat down, the Flame Dragon Armor flew up into the air before turning into a streak of fiery light and disappearing into his bracelet of holding.

The blood-colored light screen disintegrated. His blood, flame power, and flesh power returned to his body like floating streams of flames and blood.

Nie Tian examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that his battle against Ning Yang had drained almost all of his strength.

With a single glance at Xue Long and Pei Qiqi, he could tell that they were in a situation similar to his, their expressions so exhausted that it seemed as if they could collapse at any moment.

“You don’t want any of Ning Yang’s valuables?” Xue Long asked softly.

“No, I don’t.” Sincerity could be seen on Nie Tian’s face. “You put in so much effort to help me fight him that you almost got killed by him. You did all that for me. It’s only fair that you take his valuables.”

Pei Qiqi, who had been caught up in Nie Tian’s crazy act of killing Ning Yang, finally resumed a calm state of mind and said, “Do you know that golden sword and shield of his are of Premium grade? The way I see it, both of them are spiritual tools of great value, and they are only slightly inferior to Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools.

“You’re right.” Xue Long chimed in. “Those two spiritual tools the Heaven Palace Sect bestowed upon him are definitely beyond ordinary. Each of them must be worth more than 100,000 spirit stones.”

“It’s alright. What I got is far more valuable.” Nie Tian pointed to his chest, where his fragmentary star marks were.

Xue Long and Pei Qiqi instantly understood what he meant.

After realizing that Nie Tian had obtained the third legacy mark of Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace from Ning Yang, they no longer had the feeling that they were being given more than they deserved.

The two of them exchanged a glance, then stepped towards Ning Yang’s corpse. Pei Qiqi took the golden sword, while Xue Long placed one hand on the abdomen of Ning Yang’s corpse, and slowly detached and pulled out the golden shield from it.

Afterwards, Pei Qiqi, who was an expert in spatial magics, took Ning Yang’s ring of holding and lifted its restrictive spell.

CLATTER!

After a brief glance at its insides, Pei Qiqi poured out every item within the ring of holding.

Xue Long rapidly discovered that there were mainly spirit stones and spiritual materials for cultivation and recuperation.

Other than those, there were also a few hundred Star Stones.

Obviously, Ning Yang was so confident in himself that he didn’t believe he would end up severely wounded from battles against others. Therefore, he didn’t bring a single bottle of medicinal pills with him.

The only truly valuable items on him were the sword and the shield.

“Here, these Star Stones will be useful to you.” Pei Qiqi piled the several hundred Star Stones in front of Nie Tian, since neither of them would need them.

Then, she and Xue Long went ahead and divided what was left.

Li Langfeng waited for them to finish dividing the spoils before saying, “I know that we’re all in poor conditions. The truth is my injuries are just as heavy as yours. Nevertheless, I’ve got to say that we shouldn’t stay here for too long. Those two Worldly realm experts from the Wild Fire won’t necessarily defeat that Phantasm.

“In my opinion, we need to put our recovery on hold and get out of here as soon as possible.”

“That Phantasm is really that formidable?” Xue Long asked with a grim expression.

Li Langfeng nodded slightly and answered, “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

Xue Long’s expression flickered as he hastily rose to his feet and said, “If that’s the case, let’s return to the Void Illusion Mountain Range first.”

Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi both nodded in assent.

SHEW!

A cluster of dark-green smoke rushed out of Li Langfeng’s fingertip and flew into Ning Yang’s corpse.

Afterwards, Ning Yang’s corpse melted into bloody water at a rate noticeable to the naked eye before it eventually disappeared, and the bloody water seeped into the sand.

After disposing of Ning Yang’s body, Li Langfeng turned to Nie Tian said with a composed tone, “You don’t need to worry, kid. We’ll unify our statement. Whenever people ask us about it, or the Heaven Palace Sect comes to inquire of us, I’ll tell them that Ning Yang was killed by that Phantasm. We’re the only ones who have witnessed his death. Plus, that Phantasm actually did attack Ning Yang.”

“That exactly what I’m thinking,” Nie Tian said with a smile.

Then, Li Langfeng continued, “Try your best to hide the truth. But if you can’t, you can just tell them that I did it. I won’t be around for long anyways. Perhaps I’ll already be down in the Yellow Springs before the Heaven Palace Sect can find me and make me pay for it.”

With these words, he took the initiative and sped off in the direction of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

For some reason, watching Li Langfeng run into the distance and thinking about his words, a sense of sadness rose from the bottom of Nie Tian’s heart.

Xue Long let out a sigh.

“Let’s move out,” Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face.

Afterwards, the four of them dragged their heavily-injured and exhausted bodies as they marched towards the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

Their return journey turned out surprisingly smooth, and they didn’t encounter any Hunters.

What they didn’t know was that as they returned to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, two more meteors fell from the heavens and plummeted to the earth almost simultaneously.

Two other Phantasms came out of them, their vague figures wreathed in dense, cyan phantasm Qi.

The first Phantasm that had descended upon the forbidden region had fought against the two Worldly realm Wild Fire experts for hours.

When the other two Phantasms landed and unleashed auras to search for their companion, the two Worldly realm Wild Fire experts immediately sensed their auras.

Surprised, they hastily ended their battle against the Phantasm and returned to Ash City.

It wasn’t long before the three Phantasms found each other and reunited at the crash site of the first fallen meteor.

Wreathed in the thick, cyan phantasm Qi, they started to exchange words.

“I accidentally encountered two young men who had been to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. Unfortunately, three Worldly realm human experts came successively. I was held off by them, and failed to kill those two young men and take away their legacy marks.”

“Those three legacy marks will allow them to seal the three opened spatial rifts. If we can figure out a way to kill those two young men and destroy those legacy marks, then the humans will never be able to cast the spell that will allow them to seal the spatial rifts. Then, it won’t be long before Demons swarm into the Domain of the Falling Stars, which will be good for the implementation of our plan.”

“They’ve headed towards the mountain range filled with active spatial rifts.”

“What a coincidence. That’s our destination too. Let’s do go the Demons a favor and help them destroy those legacy marks in that mountain range.”

“Let’s go! “

With these words, the three Phantasms also marched towards the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

Note:

1. The Earth (地 dì) – contains the Underworld (地狱 dìyù) in its depths. The Underworld is also commonly called the Netherworld (冥界 míngjiè) or the Yellow Springs (黄泉 huángquán). So, “down in the Yellow Springs” means “dead”.