Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 1472 - 1472 0844 Crabs Crossing the Street

Chapter 1472: Chapter 0844: Crabs Crossing the Street Chapter 1472: Chapter 0844: Crabs Crossing the Street Chapter 0844: Crab Crossing the Street

Seeing the spirit stones Qi Tian had taken out, Huo Yunbiao called out to him, transmitting his thoughts to Qi Tian through his spiritual power, telling Qi Tian to follow him to his underground lair to have a look.

Qi Tian rode on Huo Yunbiao’s back, traveling downward, delving over a hundred miles into the earth until they finally arrived at Huo Yunbiao’s lair.

Huo Yunbiao’s lair was built next to a magma lake, and Qi Tian noticed that the place was a mess, completely unplanned. However, since it was highly likely that Huo Yunbiao wouldn’t be able to continue living there, Qi Tian couldn’t be bothered to organize it for him and collected all the treasures Huo Yunbiao had accumulated over the years.

These treasures were primarily a mountainous accumulation of spirit stones, most of which were top-grade and many were top-ninth grade. There wasn’t a single low-grade spirit stone among them. Besides spirit stones, there were also many natural treasures unique to this secret domain. As the king of this secret domain, the treasures Huo Yunbiao had collected were naturally the finest, even unique ones.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Qi Tian swept away years of Huo Yunbiao’s collection, virtually taking away the essence of the natural treasures in this secret domain, leaving little chance of others making a similar haul—it was now impossible.

Watching as Qi Tian took away all the treasures he had painstakingly gathered over the years, Huo Yunbiao was so distressed that he whimpered, but he was utterly helpless.

After collecting everything, Qi Tian rode Huo Yunbiao back to the surface. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to collapse the passageway behind them, to prevent anyone from following the path underground.

Once back on the surface, Qi Tian looked at Xu Xinge and another Nascent Soul Master, who he had laid side by side. The two could be described as brothers in distress, both barely clinging to life. If left here without care, it wouldn’t be long before both perished.

Qi Tian sighed, waved his hand and sent Huo Yunbiao into the Spirit Beast Bracelet. Then, holding one injured Nascent Soul Master in each hand, he crushed a Teleportation Talisman. A brilliance flashed, enveloping the three of them, and they shot upward, tearing through the void and transporting them outside of the secret domain.

Outside the secret domain, hundreds of cultivators had already gathered, all from the two Sacred Cultivation Places, with a small portion being Nascent Soul Masters representing various schools and factions from the Sacred Cultivation Places. Any faction with a Nascent Soul Master had sent representatives.

As time passed, both Sacred Cultivation Places became certain that the recent period was crucial for deciding the ownership of the secret domain. Their gathering served two purposes: to ensure that the rights to the secret domain would be secured as per previously agreed upon methods, preventing the losing side from reneging, and to immediately decide how the benefits of the secret domain would be divided once its ownership was settled.

In this period, the cultivators gathered here were all extremely anxious. They had initially sent forty cultivators into the secret domain to contest for it, and as time went on, over thirty had returned, one after another. The rest hadn’t shown up at all, leaving them unable to determine if these missing combatants had perished within the secret domain or were still inside, fighting for it.

Logically, they shouldn’t have dragged out the time so long, but nobody could guarantee that accidents wouldn’t occur.

The two Sacred Cultivation Places fell into a heated argument, discussing whether to send more cultivators into the Holy Land. The cultivators who entered the secret realm had mostly left their marks within their respective sect’s influence. Through these marks, it was possible to confirm whether they were alive or dead. However, the space barrier between the secret realm and the greater world rendered those marks unresponsive, making it temporarily impossible to determine the cultivators’ fates. But as long as they could bring these marks into the secret realm, they would be able to ascertain instantly whether those who hadn’t emerged were alive or dead.

It was the most straightforward and quick method. The problem was, both Sacred Cultivation Places were worried that the other side taking marks into the secret realm was just a front. In reality, it was very possible that they would take advantage of the opportunity to secretly glean cultivation resources from the secret realm. That was the more primary motive. An even deeper purpose could be to send all sorts of combat supplies to any surviving compatriots under the guise of this mission.

If the latter speculation was reality, then the problem would be significant. At the least, it could significantly delay the determination of the secret realm’s ownership. At worst, it could change the secret realm’s rightful ownership. For instance, what if someone from one side was severely injured, losing their fighting capabilities, unable to further contest for the ownership rights, yet they received timely aid, instantly resurrecting at full health. In contrast, the less fortunate party received no reinforcements and was doomed to be defeated by the fully recovered opponent?

The cultivators from the two Sacred Cultivation Places couldn’t trust each other. They argued back and forth, with no resolution both parties could accept.

While they argued incessantly, Qi Tian arrived with Xu Xinge and another Nascent Soul Master. As they landed, a flash of white light appeared, causing a commotion that, coupled with the continuous attention, meant they were spotted as soon as they arrived.

People immediately started to crowd around. Some recognized Qi Tian. After all, he was the only cultivator who had entered the secret realm at the Gold Core Realm, and it would have been hard for others not to recognize him.

“Look, it’s Qi Tian. He’s only coming out now, how incredible. I thought he would be expelled on the first day, but he lasted until now. How did he do that? Could he have hidden away after entering the secret realm? Otherwise, how could he have survived till now?”

“Quick, look at what he’s carrying in his hand. Is that a person?”

…

Qi Tian, regardless of how the others were discussing him, shouted loudly, “Is there any Sir from the Ink Flood Dragon Association here? If so, come over quickly and take Qi away. He encountered danger in the secret realm, was seriously injured, and his life is hanging by a thread. Luckily, he ran into me and I fed him a top-ninth grade elixir, saving his life for the moment. But time is of the essence for his treatment; otherwise, he won’t survive. And this fellow here, does anyone recognize him? Hurry and inform his friends and relatives to come over and take him away; he’s also been gravely injured. If I hadn’t rescued him, he would’ve been dead long ago.”

Members of the Ink Flood Dragon Association quickly ran over. Leading them was Wu Huahui, who had been the leader of Qi Tian’s group. He was followed by two Nascent Soul Masters. Whether intentionally or out of forgetfulness, the three of them didn’t suppress their domination, releasing their overwhelming Nascent Soul aura unrestrained, pressuring from all sides, arrogant and unbridled, like a crab crossing the road.