Chapter 1299: Deceleration
The disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace burst into a great clamor, as did those from the Void Spirit Society, the Heaven Span Pavilion, the Five Elements Sect, and other observers from various domains.
Anyone who had any idea of Gupi’s origin and formidable might thought Nie Tian had gone crazy.
Back in the day, even Ji Cang, Chu Yuan, and Qu Yi had failed to seal it, much less refine it. What could Nie Tian do to it?
Wasn’t he courting death by charging directly at it?
All of those Saint domain experts, who had traveled countless kilometers to this place in attempts to befriend Nie Tian and better their chances at entering the God domain, beat their chests and stamped their feet as they accused Nie Tian of not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth. (Idiom: having an exaggerated opinion of one’s abilities)
Yan Zhan, Wei Lai, and other experts charged into the heavens after him.
They wanted to drag him down from the Nine Star Heavens.
After all, the future of the sect lay with him!
However, by the time they charged into the Ninth Heaven of the Nine Star Heavens, Nie Tian, who had abandoned his Star Boat, had already reached the Seventh Heaven!
The miasma released by Gupi had already infiltrated the Seventh Heaven. In everyone’s eyes, it had become a deathtrap that would kill anyone who entered!
Wei Lai gasped with astonishment.
“Stop!” he yelled for everyone to stop chasing as he himself came to an abrupt stop.
At this moment, Nie Tian had entered the Seventh Heaven, while they were in the Ninth Heaven.
Bearing great sorrow and reluctance, Wei Lai shouted towards Dou Tianchen, Yan Zhan, Han Wanrong, and the others, “Nobody enters the Eighth Heaven!
“Gupi’s miasma may infiltrate the Eighth Heaven at any moment. Even the slightest contact with it may cause our domains to dissolve! Even our souls may be poisoned, and perish.”
One figure after another came to sudden stops in the Ninth Heaven.
Across the Eighth Heaven, they fixed their eyes on Nie Tian. “Nie Tian...”
The Seventh of the Nine Star Heavens was a shield that consisted of numerous flying streaks of starlight, all of which had been vested with profound Dao and secret magics by previous Lords of the Stars. There were also magical symbols and small spell formations that seemed to carry profound laws and rules of power other than star power inside it.
FIZZ! FIZZ!
The miasma released by Gupi came in colorful clusters. Its contact with the various talismans and spell formations gave rise to glorious sputtering lights.
Some emerald green, dark cyan, and ink black clusters of miasma seemed to have their own awareness, as they took the initiative to swoop towards Nie Tian like predators that had smelled blood.
They rapidly morphed into slim tentacles that couldn’t wait to drill into his nostrils, ears, and eyes.
Nie Tian, however, didn’t activate his domain.
That was because he had heard Chu Rui say that even God domain experts’ domains couldn’t ward off the miasma released by Gupi.
“Nie Tian!” Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui shouted. “You’re being foolish!”
After stuffing a handful of medicinal pills down his throat, he also charged into the Ninth Heaven. “You encountered the Fiends’ Domain-corroding Flames before. Those were special flames refined by Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiend race that could melt Void and Saint domain cultivators’ domains away and suppress God domain cultivators’ power. One of the main materials that were used to refine those Domain-corroding Flames were the special toxins that Gupi discharged as it fed.
“The Domain-corroding Flames couldn’t kill God domain experts or break their domains.
“However, their might isn’t even remotely comparable to that of Gupi’s! You can’t even imagine the destructive effect its toxins have on cultivators’ spiritual power shields and fleshly bodies!”
Chu Rui only shouted to restress the mightiness of Gupi because he hoped that Nie Tian would return immediately.
However, as soon as he finished, he discovered that the fatal toxins released by Gupi had already morphed into numerous slender tentacles and touched Nie Tian.
Technically, they had touched a special shield Nie Tian had enveloped himself in.
The shield was a mixture of his flesh aura and raging flames .
“Life Strengthening, Potential Stimulation, Blood Essence Seething...”
As one bloodline talent after another was activated, his well-built body bulked up instantly, every muscle bulging. This gave people a feeling that he was so explosive and powerful that he could split heaven and earth.
At the same time, he drew power from the flame spark in his spiritual sea and put on the Flame Dragon Armor.
“Gupi can easily corrode Qi warriors’ power and melt their domains away. If that’s the case, I just won’t use human power against it. Instead, I’ll fight it with my flesh power and power from my unique treasures, and see how it’ll work out.”
With this thought in mind, he operated his bloodline power.
FIZZ!
The moment the tentacles morphed from Gupi’s miasma made contact with his special shield, a corrosive power that was a thousand times stronger than that of any acid impacted the shield, giving rise to a large amount of fiery sparks.
The shield was a condensation of his flesh power and the power from the wondrous flame spark.
For this reason, not only was it stronger than the flesh aura seas of many powerful outsiders, but it also had its own unique wonders.
Even so, it didn’t hold very long under Gupi’s ‘miasma tentacles’ before holes started to appear in it.
This forced Nie Tian to draw more flesh power to mend the holes, so that the shield would endure.
“This toxic miasma is mighty indeed, and it’s only something Gupi released, not part of its body.”
His expression flickered as he forced himself to focus. His mind operated at a high speed as he sensed the acidic toxins in the miasma and, at the same time, searched for a solution.
“Nie Tian, even powerful outsiders and Ancientspirits would tremble before Gupi!” Chu Rui exclaimed. “Among the numerous races in this starry river, perhaps only mighty Bonebrutes can resist their toxins! Only ninth and tenth grade Bonebrutes that have developed their Impregnable Form can be unharmed by their toxins!
“Even so, they won’t be able to kill Gupi, as Gupi won’t be able to kill them.”
Bonebrutes were born without flesh and blood, only wondrous bones.
Powerful Bonebrutes with great mastery of their Impregnable Form couldn’t be harmed by any toxins. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they were Fiends’ natural bane.
“Bonebrutes...”
Nie Tian went blank for a moment before an idea suddenly came to him. With a thought, he summoned the Bone Blood Demon, which had lain forgotten in his ring of holding for years.
Since it was only at the eighth grade, under normal circumstances, it couldn’t provide him with much help anymore.
Furthermore, since it didn’t have much room to improve, and its death power coupled with his life bloodline poorly, he didn’t want to waste his Blood Essence on it. That was why it had been left in his ring of holding to gather dust.
But now, after hearing Chu Rui’s shouts, he realized that its moment was here.
As soon as the Bone Blood Demon flew out, countless star talismans swooped over in an attempt to annihilate it.
Nie Tian’s expression flickered as he hastily drew wisps of aura from his star souls and fused them into the Bone Blood Demon.
After the wisps of aura flew out of Nie Tian’s sea of awareness into the Bone Blood Demon, they seemed to serve as an amulet that kept the star talismans and spell formations in the Seventh Heaven from seeing it as an enemy.
SHEW!
Enveloped in his special shield, Nie Tian blurred into action. In the next moment, he stopped right in front of the Bone Blood Demon’s chest, which was very close to its heart.
More colorful ‘tentacles’ released by Gupi came after Nie Tian.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The Bone Blood Demon, which was only at the eighth grade, but had been strengthened over and over by Nie Tian, started to brandish its bony arms, releasing an aura of death. With its huge claws, it swatted and tore at the tentacles of miasma.
Scattered by the Bone Blood Demon, the spreading miasma seemed to be unable to concentrate anymore.
Therefore, the speed at which it spread towards the Eighth Heaven clearly became slower.
In the Ninth Heaven, Chu Rui, Wei Lai, and the others exclaimed in shock, “A puppet refined from a Bonebrute!”
“I heard that, back in the day, that puppet used to be of great help to Nie Tian in battle,” Fang Yuan said. “But as he grew stronger and stronger, that eighth grade Bonebrute puppet was no longer helpful. Who would have thought...”
Chu Rui’s expression flickered as he exclaimed in high spirits, “Powerful Bonebrutes with profound mastery of Impregnable Form can ignore the acidic toxins released by Gupi! As you can see, that puppet of Nie Tian’s is scattering the miasma with the death aura it releases with swings of its bony arms!”
Seeing hope, Wei Lai said, “I can see that the miasma has been slowed down!”
Yan Zhan was thrilled. “This means that Nie Tian’s plan with that Bonebrute puppet is working!”