Chapter 71

The trial participants from the Xuanwu Palace all fell silent, the venue as quiet as a graveyard.

No one doubted the authenticity of Nie Tian's words.

If Nie Tian had not captured Jian Xuan and not shown his fierce means, they might still have thought that Nie Tian was exaggerating to avoid being captured by them.

However, Zheng Bin had already clearly stated that he would temporarily ignore Nie Tian and wait for the others from the Spirit Treasure Pavilion to arrive before taking action.

This meant that Nie Tian was absolutely safe at the moment and did not need to worry about his situation.

In such a situation, Nie Tian had no need to exaggerate.

"Ghost Sect, Blood Sect..."

The young men and women, upon hearing that the Ghost Sect and Blood Sect had invaded the Qinghuang Realm, looked somewhat desolate and helpless.

The Ghost Sect and Blood Sect were like two massive mountains, weighing heavily on their chests, the pressure so great that they could hardly breathe.

Especially, from Nie Tian's words, they learned that the Gray Valley had been completely annihilated.

Yuan Feng of the Gray Valley was known for being a difficult opponent, and the forces the Gray Valley sent into the Qinghuang Realm were no weaker than theirs!

If even the Gray Valley had been wiped out, and if they had not been lucky enough to not encounter any disciples of the Ghost Sect or Blood Sect in the volcanic area, how many of them would have survived until now?

They did not dare to think further.

After a while, Zheng Bin took a deep breath and was the first to break free from his shock. He pointed at Li Xi and ordered, "Go get some spirit beast meat for him."

This time, Li Xi did not argue. He silently went to their previous gathering place, picked up a large piece of roasted spirit beast meat, and walked towards Nie Tian with a complicated expression, handing over the large piece of meat.

Nie Tian nodded, did not say thanks, and took the spirit beast meat, tearing it apart and eating it voraciously.

All the trial participants from the Xuanwu Palace watched him eat heartily, no one spoke, and the atmosphere was unusually solemn.

They naturally gathered around Nie Tian, waiting silently.

The clear-faced girl who first discovered Nie Tian looked at his bare upper body, hesitated for a moment, and then took a white shirt from beside the Ghostfire Wolf, gently tossing it to Nie Tian.

Nie Tian quickly devoured the dozen pounds of spirit beast meat. To avoid frightening these Xuanwu Palace trial participants, he did not ask for more food.

Picking up the white shirt from the ground, he put it on and then said, "What do you want to know?"

"Everything you experienced!" Zheng Bin said solemnly.

"Alright." Nie Tian nodded lightly and did not hide anything, detailing the encounters with the Ghost Sect and Blood Sect disciples and the several small-scale battles they had.

As for the deaths of Yuan Feng and Yun Song, he naturally blamed them on Yu Tong of the Blood Sect.

He believed that even if Yu Tong appeared, due to her status as a Blood Sect disciple, the Xuanwu Palace people would never believe that Yu Tong said he killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song.

He firmly placed the blame for killing Yuan Feng and Yun Song on Yu Tong, believing she would not refute it.

For him, if the fact that he killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song was exposed, he would have to face the wrath of the four sects.

But for Yu Tong, who entered the Qinghuang Realm to kill Yuan Feng and others, it was a matter of honor.

—Yu Tong should be willing to take the blame.

"You killed a disciple of the Ghost Sect and escaped from Yu Tong of the Blood Sect? Did Yu Tong... break through to the Postnatal Realm in the Qinghuang Realm?"

After he narrated the events, the oval-faced girl looked at him with suspicion, seemingly disbelieving.

"Blowing hot air..." Li Xi also muttered under his breath.

The other Xuanwu Palace trial participants also seemed to doubt the authenticity of his words, thinking he was embellishing.

In their eyes, Yu Tong, who had broken through to the Postnatal Realm, was an invincible existence in the Qinghuang Realm.

If even Yuan Feng was killed by Yu Tong, how could an unknown Nie Tian survive?

They could not imagine that Nie Tian not only escaped Yu Tong's pursuit but also inflicted serious injuries on her twice.

"Oh, I might not have explained clearly enough, causing some misunderstanding." Nie Tian remained calm and said, "After killing Yuan Feng and Yun Song, Yu Tong herself was also injured and had expended too much energy. That's why I was able to barely escape her pursuit and make it here in a sorry state."

What he most wanted was for the Xuanwu Palace people to believe that Yu Tong had killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song.

Since the Xuanwu Palace people did not believe his first explanation, he provided a more plausible one.

Sure enough, the Xuanwu Palace trial participants who heard his explanation this time clearly believed it.

They also privately thought that Yu Tong must have had some problem; otherwise, with her Postnatal Realm strength, she would never have allowed Nie Tian to survive.

"Even if Yu Tong was injured and had expended energy, your ability to survive her pursuit is enough to prove your extraordinary nature." Zheng Bin's expression was solemn as he turned to look at the others from the Xuanwu Palace and said, "Yu Tong of the Blood Sect, many of you have never even heard of her, and you don't know how terrifying she is."

"Let me put it this way, even if Yu Tong is still at the Qi Refinement stage, I am not her match."

"If she has truly broken through to the Postnatal Realm, if I were to fight her, I wouldn't even be able to escape, let alone win."

Zheng Bin's expression was serious. He did not exaggerate his strength in front of everyone but honestly expressed his feelings.

"Brother Bin, then, are we doomed?" Li Xi looked dejected.

"What can we do? The Blood Sect and Ghost Sect are so powerful. They might already be targeting us and could appear at any time!" The oval-faced girl was clearly panicked, subconsciously looking around as if the Ghost Sect and Blood Sect would appear at any moment.

"One step at a time. I only hope that An Ying and Jiang Lingzhu are still alive and can come to our aid as soon as possible." Zheng Bin was also uncertain.

As they conversed, Nie Tian gradually felt a warm current beginning to spread from his stomach.

He knew that the spirit beast meat he had just eaten, after a while of digestion, was slowly releasing energy.

"I have traveled a long distance and am very tired. I need time to recover, so I won't talk much with you." He informed Zheng Bin and then planned to close his eyes, focusing on using the Qi Refinement technique to guide the energy to continue expanding his Spirit Sea, hoping to increase his strength as much as possible.

"Alright, if you have any needs, you can tell us, and we will try to meet them." Zheng Bin nodded.

"If you don't mind, could you get me more spirit beast meat? I have been hungry for a long time and need more food." Nie Tian immediately responded.

"No problem." Zheng Bin was very accommodating and instructed Li Xi to bring more spirit beast meat for Nie Tian.

Nie Tian ate voraciously again, and after finishing, he thanked Zheng Bin lightly and then closed his eyes to focus on cultivation.

In the following days, he hardly left his spot, asking the Xuanwu Palace people for food each time he finished cultivating.

After consuming a large amount of spirit beast meat, he did not waste words but immediately closed his eyes to cultivate, not interacting with any of the Xuanwu Palace trial participants.

Initially, Zheng Bin and the others from the Xuanwu Palace thought he was extremely hungry, so they did not mind him eating more.

Later, as Nie Tian asked for more and more spirit beast meat, they gradually realized a fact—Nie Tian had an astonishing appetite!

Privately, they had already started calling Nie Tian "food bucket."

However, since they had enough spirit beast meat, they did not argue with Nie Tian and always met his requests, providing him with nearly ten people's worth of spirit beast meat each time.

Knowing that Yu Tong would not let him off easily, Nie Tian remained tense. Now that the Xuanwu Palace was protecting him and he had a sufficient supply of spirit beast meat, he naturally would not miss this excellent opportunity.

He continuously consumed spirit beast meat, using it to expand his Spirit Sea and prepare for future battles.

"Unfortunately, the energy formed by first-grade spirit beast meat is still too little."

One day, he woke up from his intense cultivation, checked his Spirit Sea, and found that after several days of cultivation, his Spirit Sea had only expanded by one and a half times.

The energy contained in second-grade spirit beasts was seven times that of first-grade spirit beasts, and using first-grade spirit beasts for cultivation was seven times slower.

"The Ghostfire Wolf is also a second-grade spirit beast. I wonder if they brought the Ghostfire Wolf's meat after killing it?" Dissatisfied with the speed of cultivation, Nie Tian suddenly looked at the Ghostfire Wolf's head.

Just as he was about to ask, he suddenly heard a strange sound. Soon after, he saw Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian emerge from a pile of rocks.

"Five days have passed, finally, someone has come!" Li Xi said excitedly.

"Jiang Lingzhu!" Zheng Bin's expression changed.

"Zheng Bin! You're actually here!" Jiang Lingzhu, upon seeing Zheng Bin, was also instantly excited, "That's great, I thought we were doomed, but it's good that you're here!"

She felt like a drowning person who had suddenly seen a chance to survive, suddenly becoming invigorated.

...