Chapter 222: Three Great Rifts
The demon Qi that flowed out of the pit gradually filled the area in a fifty miles range, within which not a single wisp of the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth could be found.
WHOOSH!
The enormous demon Qi vortex appeared from the direction of the Ghost Sect and flew toward the huge pit while carrying numerous low-tier outsiders.
As the vortex landed next to the bottomless pit, a significant amount of low-tier outsiders marched out of it and stepped to the edge of the pit.
Under the leadership of Zelia, Caro, and Groete, high-tier outsiders also descended to the edge of the pit from the top of the demon Qi vortex.
At that moment, strong spatial fluctuations were suddenly born within the pit, as if it had become a portal that led to another heaven and earth.
“The portal is open. The three rifts that lead to our world have all opened.” Face calm, Zelia looked into the unfathomable, dark pit. It seemed that she wasn’t very frustrated by their failure to take the Realm of Flame Heaven. “Now that the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace have reappeared in this world through the Heaven Gate trial, the game between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace and us has finally begun.
“Those three rifts were sealed by saints from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace thousands of years ago.
“Now they’re open again. The Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars won’t be able to seal them with their strength alone.
“Only by obtaining the first, middle, and last part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation will a person be able to learn the secret magic of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, and use it to channel power from the starry river to reseal the rifts.” With these words, Zelia turned to look at the three enormous mountain peaks surrounding the pit.
She knew perfectly well that they weren’t naturally formed. Instead, they had been moved from other parts of the Realm of Flame Heaven by saints with divine abilities from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.
There were powerful, secret formations hidden within each of the mountain peaks, with every formation having its own central hub.
Only the person who had all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation would be able to use the incantation to restart the grand spell formation and channel power from the starry river to seal the portal.
Caro, who was covered in black armor from head to toe, asked, “My lord, the other two rifts are in the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. The human Qi warriors in those realms are more powerful than the ones in the Realm of Flame Heaven. Do they have the ability to stop the spread of the demon Qi?”
“No, they don’t.” Arrogance could be seen on Zelia’s face. “If they did have a way to do that, they wouldn’t have sent their most powerful experts to the Heaven Gate trial and fought others to the death for the three parts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.
“The reason why the powerful clans from our world chose not to invade the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations was that they knew that they wouldn’t have the best odds if they fought those powerful experts on their turf, where the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth was everywhere.
“Meanwhile, powerful human experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars probably won’t dare to travel to our world via the spatial rifts.
“The reason why we chose to attack the Realm of Flame Heaven was because human cultivators in this realm are too weak to stop us from traveling here and returning.
“However, it’s safe to say that the moment the three great spatial rifts are opened, the war between us and the Domain of the Falling Stars will have begun.
“If the three great spatial rifts can stay open, it’ll take no more than five decades to fill the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of Flame Heaven with demon Qi.
“If we step into the three realms via the spatial rifts at that time, we’ll definitely gain the upper hand in fighting against the human Qi warriors.
“That’s when we’ll start the full-blown war against the Domain of the Falling Stars.”
Caro frowned and said, “The leaders of the Domain of the Falling Stars probably also know about this. I bet they’ll try to find a way to gather all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. If they somehow manage to do that, they would be able to reseal the spatial rifts in the three realms. What will we do if it comes to that?”
Zelia chuckled and said, “It’s not as easy as it sounds. The Qi warrior powers in the Domain of the Falling Stars aren’t as united as you may think. They fight and kill each other all the time. What else do you think was stopping powerful experts from the other realms from coming to help defend the Realm of Flame Heaven?
“It’s almost impossible for one person to gather all three parts of the incantation. Furthermore, that person will need to be strong and intelligent enough to achieve total mastery of the legacies that hide with those magical symbols. Only then will they be able to restart the spell formations.
“Whoever obtains a part of the incantation won’t give it away so easily. It’ll take quite some time for one person to get all the parts, and during that period of time, the Domain of the Falling Stars will remain in turmoil.
“Also, as soon as we go back, I’ll request that our monarchs cast secret bloodline spells to speed up the spread of the demon Qi.
“If they agree to help, we might only need ten years to fill the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of Flame Heaven with demon Qi, and turn them into our paradise.
“It’s just a matter of time before all nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars become our colonies. The great clans have longed for them for quite some time. Nothing will stop them.” With these words, Zelia softly waved her hand and said, “Let’s go home.”
Immediately afterwards, the enormous demon Qi vortex moved over and enveloped all high-tier and low-tier outsiders. Then it carried them into the depths of the bottomless pit and vanished in the spatial fluctuations.
In the Realm of a Thousand Devastations...
Wisps of demon Qi were coming out of a huge pit in the ground that was exactly the same as the one in the Realm of Flame Heaven.
Around the unfathomable pit were also three exceptionally high mountain peaks that reached thousands of meters into the sky.
On the top of one mountain peak stood a handful human cultivators. They all had grim expressions on their faces as they looked down at the pit that was wreathed with demon Qi.
“The fact that the outsiders aren’t here doesn’t mean that they won’t come. As long as this spatial rift isn’t sealed, more demon Qi will pour into the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.”
“If we don’t do anything about it, we won’t have a smidgen of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth left in our realm in a few decades. At that time, the truly powerful outsider clans will throw their full strength at the Domain of the Falling Stars.”
“None of our disciples returned from the Heaven Gate trial with legacies from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. Even the Heaven Palace Sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven only got their hands on one part. I heard that the other two parts were seized by a kid from the Realm of Flame Heaven, as unbelievable as it sounds.”
“The Heaven Palace Sect originally planned to have Su Lin and Ning Yang obtain all three parts of the incantation, but they somehow failed.”
“If we can’t unite the three parts, we won’t be able to seal the three great spatial rifts and stop the poisonous demon Qi from spreading into the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of Flame Heaven. If we can’t do that, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in these realms will grow fainter and fainter, and soon be completely replaced by demon Qi. At that time, these realms will no longer be suitable for Qi warriors to practice cultivation in.”
“Rest assured, this is a more urgent matter to the Heaven Palace Sect than us. The spatial rift in the Realm of Mystic Heaven appeared right outside the Heaven Palace Sect. If the demon Qi keeps spreading, they’ll be forced to move their sect to another location. They won’t let others have the other two parts of the incantation for long.”
“I guess you’re right. So let’s wait and see what the Heaven Palace Sect’s next move will be.”
After observing the huge pit and discussing for a short while, the experts from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations soared into the sky and disappeared.
In the Heaven Palace Sect, the realm of Mystic Heaven...
Su Lin and Ning Yang were on their knees in a magnificent stone palace. After bringing out all their encounters in the Heaven Gate trial, they bowed their heads low and fell into silence.
In the middle of the stone palace, a spirit was floating in front of them. It was so blurry and was flickering so much that it seemed that it could disappear at any moment.
After remaining silent for quite a while, the spirit said in a profound, calm voice, “If we can’t obtain the whole incantation, we won’t be able to seal the three great spatial rifts that lead to the demons’ world. If we sit around and let it happen, the Realm of Flame Heaven, the smallest of the three, will drown in demon Qi in no more than two decades.
“By that time, the Realm of Flame Heaven will completely lose its value, and all of its human residents will evacuate.
“If it comes to that, everything we’ve done will be in vain. I’ll send messages to the Realm of Earth Sieve and the Realm of Dark Underworld to tell them to stop their operations against the Realm of Flame Heaven. Meanwhile, I need you two to go to the Realm of Flame Heaven with my edict. You’ll find the boy who has the other two parts of the incantation and gather all three parts.”
At that moment, a command medallion that seemed to be made of gold and jade flew out from within the floating spirit and stopped in front of Ning Yang, floating.
“Show it to Chang Sen, sectmaster of the Hell Sect, and he’ll know what to do.”
“Got it,” Ning Yang and Su Lin said simultaneously, their faces still facing the floor.
The floating spirit gave a cold harrumph. “If you two fail again this time, you know what punishment awaits, don’t you?”
Fear could be seen on Ning Yang and Su Lin’s ghastly faces as they couldn’t help but shiver.