Seeing that Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian had arrived, Nie Tian temporarily abandoned any notions of asking about the Ghostly Fire Wolf meat.
He rose to his feet after sitting quietly for a long time, looking at the two from afar.
The green-garbed Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian seemed distinctively thinner than before.
Jiang Lingzhu’s eyes were still bright and flickering, but she was covered in dirt, and her green robe was in tatters. From the holes he could see at the corners, Nie Tian could tell they had been caused by sharp weapons.
Meanwhile, Nie Xian, who was also from the Nie clan, looked even worse. His sect-issued green robe seemed as if it had been torn to pieces and then sewn back together.
At first glance, he looked like a beggar from the gutters of Black Cloud City, extremely dirty and disordered.
“Zheng Bin, water!” Jiang Lingzhu shouted as she approached, “Get us some water! How come you guys are here? Did you run into the Hell sect’s disciples in the volcano area?”
After coming closer, she suddenly caught sight of Nie Tian, and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ah! Nie Tian!”
“Nie Tian!” An incredible expression appeared on Nie Xian’s face. “You’re… you’re still alive?!?!”
As far as Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian were concerned, Nie Tian should have been dead already.
Wandering around in the desert by himself, how could he possibly escape from the Ghost sect and Blood sect?
When Yu Tong and Mo Xi had caught up to them, Yu Tong had told them about the Blood Searching Compass and that wherever they escaped to, she would be able to ferret them out.
It would be impossible for Nie Tian to hide all traces of himself from Yu Tong’s Blood Searching Compass.
When they found him, how could he possibly escape from the Blood sect and Ghost sect disciples, much less single-handedly defeat them?
Therefore, both of them believed that Nie Tian had long since died, and had never expected to meet him here.
“Long time no see,” Nie Tian said with a smile. “I can finally rest at ease now that I know the two of you are alive.”
“Jian Xuan!” Zheng Bin barked. “What are you waiting for? Go get them some water!”
Jian Xuan, who was still in a near-daze after the near-death experience from several days ago, snapped back to reality and quickly grabbed two water canteens, then ran over and handed them to Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian.
Casting away her usual lady-like manners, Jiang Lingzhu gulped down water as fast as she could, resulting in her straight, elegant neck being covered in sparkling drops of water.
Nie Xian virtually inhaled the water, and it wasn’t until he finished the entire canteen that he finally stopped and sat down weakly on the ground. Puzzled, he asked, “Nie Tian, did the Ghost sect and Blood sect find you?”
“A Ghost sect disciple found me, but I killed him,” Nie Tian explained in a low voice.
Nie Xian stared deeply at him for a moment, then nodded. “Well done.”
Ever since Nie Tian showed up and fought off Yu Tong, saving them from a perilous situation, he started to have a new level of respect for this clan brother of his.
He had a vague feeling that some sort of incomprehensible miracle must have happened to Nie Tian, making his true strength unfathomable.
Therefore, he had come to believe that Nie Tian, who had previously forced Yu Tong to retreat, would have the ability to kill him, if he had only encountered one Ghost sect disciple.
After finishing her canteen of fresh water, Jiang Lingzhu began to describe the fight between them and the Ghost sect and Blood sect, under the inquisitive gazes of Zheng Bin and the others.
Just as they had been about to emerge from the desert and enter the volcanic region, the Ghost sect and Blood sect’s disciples had caught up with them. A battle immediately broke out.
During the battle, Yu Tong from the Blood sect stepped into the Lesser Heaven stage, causing her strength to skyrocket. With numerous powerful forbidden techniques, her unparalleled, godly strength wasn’t something they could match.
They hadn’t been able to see even a shred of hope of victory.
Their only option was to spread out and run, so that Yu Tong and the others wouldn’t be able to trap everyone in one spot and kill them all.
After escaping from the battlefield, Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian exerted all effort to lose Mo Xi, who had been chasing them persistently, until they finally arrived at this place, looking completely bedraggled.
Ever since splitting up, they never saw Ye Gumo from the Cloudsoaring sect again, and had no idea what happened to him.
Neither did they encounter An Ying and her people, and were thus unsure about their fate as well.
After listening to their encounters, Nie Tian felt relieved, “If Mo Xi chased after you, then there should be quite a few survivors from the Spiritual Treasure sect.”
Jiang Lingzhu looked confused. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Since Mo Xi went after us, An Ying and her group should have been targeted by Yu Tong. She’s even more terrifying than Mo Xi. How can you be sure that An Ying will make it here alive?”
“Because Yu Tong went after Yuan Feng and Yun Song,” Nie Tian said with a calm and relaxed tone. “After killing them, that witch… targeted me next. Without her in the picture, those handful of Blood sect disciples couldn’t have possibly killed An Ying and Pan Tao all by themselves.”
“What? Yu Tong tried to kill you?!” Jiang Lingzhu was greatly shocked. “How did you make it here alive?”
Nie Xian was also taken aback, his expression flickering as he looked over at Nie Tian.
Unlike the Mystic Mist sect disciples, they had personally witnessed Yu Tong’s formidable power. Even to this day, they would still tremble with fear upon hearing her name.
It was safe to say that it was because of Yu Tong stepping into the Lesser Heaven stage that they had no other choice but to split up and flee the battlefield.
Yu Tong had crushed their defenses practically single-handedly!
If such a frightening Yu Tong had locked her gaze onto Nie Tian, it was practically impossible for him to survive.
At that time, Li Xi explained on Nie Tian’s behalf, “It was only because Yu Tong had sustained injuries and lost her battle prowess after killing Yuan Feng and Yun Song that he managed to survive.”
Jiang Lingzhu glanced at him, furrowed her beautiful brow, and said, “What do you know?!”
Li Xi looked confused.
Jiang Lingzhu looked over at Nie Tian, the suspicion clear on her face. “When we split up and fled, both Yuan Feng and Yun Song had sustained different degrees of injuries and consumed even more power than Yu Tong. They didn’t have the slightest bit of fighting spirit. However, when Yu Tong started to chase after everyone, she was at her peak. Considering Yu Tong’s strength, I don’t think that killing them would consume much of her energy.”
“As for injuring Yu Tong…” She shook her head and said. “They wouldn’t have a chance.”
“Did you lie to us?” Zheng Bin’s face turned grim as he asked Nie Tian. “Did you or did you not run into Yu Tong? Did she really chase after you?”
“Liar!” cried Han Xin, the girl with the oval-shaped face.
The other Mystic Mist sect disciples also started to cast unpleasant glances towards Nie Tian.
After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Lingzhu continued in a low voice, “Nie Tian, I really can’t fathom your strength… I do believe that you would have been able to run away from Yu Tong if she hadn’t broken through into the Lesser Heaven stage. But after stepping into the Lesser Heaven stage, she was indeed extremely deadly! It would be almost impossible for you to escape from her control and make it here alive.”
Nie Tian smiled bitterly at heart, thinking to himself that it was indeed hard to cover up a lie without leaving the faintest trace.
There was no way that he would tell Jiang Lingzhu about how powerful the raging fist strike that he had picked up from the mysterious land was.
Therefore, after remaining silent for a while, he laughed somewhat embarrassedly and said, “Well, I did run into Yu Tong. However, she actually came across the Frost Python after she killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song. The Frost Python is the strongest spirit beast in the Green Illusion dimension, and during her fight with it she accidentally got injured.”
He knew that the Frost Python had gotten out of the Green Illusion dimension and would probably never show up again. As a second grade spirit beast, it also possessed formidable power. Hence, blaming Yu Tong’s injuries on it seemed the most reasonable.
“Oh, the Frost Python showed up. It makes sense then.” It seemed that Jiang Lingzhu finally bought his story. “That Frost Python was really something. It somehow possessed exceptional intelligence. From the look of it, it won’t be long before it enters the next level. It would be impossible for Yu Tong to single-handedly slaughter it without paying a heavy price.”
“You should have told us the truth,” Zheng Bin said coldly.
Voice full of disdain, Han Xin said, “So the real reason that you’re alive is because Yu Tong consumed considerable energy after killing Yuan Feng and the Frost Python successively. I really believed that … you possessed outstanding power.”
Li Xi joined the criticism. “By not telling us about the Frost Python, he hoped to fool us into thinking that he was capable and beyond ordinary.”
Nie Tian, on the other hand, stroked his nose, and ignored their comments.
After that, Zheng Bin continuously inquired Jiang Lingzhu about the details of their battle with the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, wishing to get a full understanding of their strength, and at the same time, perhaps find a way to handle them.
After being mocked by the Mystic Mist sect disciples, Nie Tian didn’t think it was a good time for him to ask about the Ghostly Fire Wolf’s meat. Therefore, he just sat beside Nie Xian.
Although Nie Xian was full of questions, he chose not to ask Nie Tian at that time. Instead, he took out the spirit stone that the Cloudsoaring sect had bestowed upon him, and started recovering.
Before long, Jiang Lingzhu finished her conversation with Zheng Bin. She didn’t immediately start recuperation, but rather pointed towards Nie Tian and said, “Come with me. I’ve got something to say to you.”
Confused, Nie Tian froze for a moment. Seeing that Jiang Lingzhu was already headed towards the other side of the stone wall, he could only rise to his feet and silently catch up to her.