Chapter 230: The Void Illusion Mountain Range (1/2)

First thing in the morning, Li Ye came to Nie Tian’s room and took him to the courtyard.

A short while later, Pei Qiqi arrived in a long, ocean-blue dress.

Seeing her again after two weeks, Nie Tian’s eyes lit up as he was once again captivated by her stunning beauty.

He even had to draw power from the seven fragmentary stars in his soul to calm his pounding heart.

“Hua Tian?” Pei Qiqi walked closer in a graceful fashion. After a glance at Nie Tian, she turned to Li Ye and asked, “What’s he doing here?”

“Senior Martial Sister, I have discovered that although his cultivation base is low, his physical strength is rather impressive,” Li Ye hastily explained. “He can sever a Blackbound Wood log without using his spiritual power. As you know, the place we’re going to is very special. The more we use our spiritual power, the more fluctuations we’ll trigger.

“If we bring him with us, he can help us carry more stuff back without putting us in danger.”

Pei Qiqi hesitated for a moment before saying, “His cultivation base is way too low. I’m afraid that he won’t be able to resist the tainted spiritual Qi, and it will corrupt his mind before we even get to our destination. We’re going on a mission. I don’t want to take a burden with us.”

“Rest assured, Senior Martial Sister. I’ll take care of him if it comes to that. You won’t have to do anything.” Li Ye gave his word.

“A burden?” Nie Tian rubbed his nose, an unpleasant expression filling his face.

Ever since he had left the Nie clan, he had never been proven to be a burden, not during the Green Illusion dimension trial, nor the turmoil in the Scarlet Flame Mountain Range, or the Heaven Gate trial.

He found it laughable that he had become a burden in Pei Qiqi’s eyes.

“You want to protect him all the way there? You think he’s worth it?” Pei Qiqi asked again.

Li Ye nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” Pei Qiqi didn’t say another word, but rather headed out towards the teleportation portal in the city square.

Nie Tian and Li Ye followed her.

This was the first time that Nie Tian had the opportunity to walk out of his residence after he had come to Shatter City. He kept glancing around as they walked.

Complicated banners hung high up from numerous stone pavilions on both sides of the wide streets.

All sorts of advertisements were written on the banners; some said spiritual materials, some said spiritual tools, some said unexplored dimensions, some said latest information on the Void Illusion Mountain Range, while others said quest recruitment. People could find almost everything they needed in those shops.

Among the numerous Qi warriors that walked in the early morning streets, most had rather high cultivation bases.

Nie Tian used his Heaven Eye to examine a few of them, and found that the Qi warriors that were going into or coming out of those pavilions were all powerful Heaven or Greater Heaven stage experts.

He even discovered two Worldly realm Qi warriors.

Although none of those Qi warriors summoned their spiritual power, Nie Tian managed to detect intense killing intent from every one of them.

Apparently, as Hua Mu had warned him, no one in Shatter City was innocent. They all had blood on their hands and had risen from piles of dead enemies.

To Nie Tian’s surprise, many of those powerful experts in the street recognized Pei Qiqi, and greeted her with smiles filling their faces.

“Greetings, Miss Pei.”

“Long time no see, Miss Pei.”

“Please tell your master that I send my regards.”

Pei Qiqi, on the other hand, only nodded to a few of them, neglecting most of the greeters. The only verbal response she gave was to a Worldly realm Qi warrior, who asked her to give his regards to her master, and the response was: “Sure”.

What made Nie Tian even more surprised and confused was that, not only did none of them seem to be irritated by her indifference, but not a single one of them dared to show even the slightest lust in their eyes.

After all, Pei Qiqi was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. He had even momentarily got lost in a daze the first time he had met her.

It appeared to Nie Tian that all the powerful experts in Shatter City lived their lives on the edge. From their imposing manner when they talked to others, he could tell that none of them were gentlemen.

Even still, they were all very well-behaved when they greeted Pei Qiqi. Their words were proper and their eyes didn’t wander, which Nie Tian found very odd.

Harboring suspicion in mind, he observed increasingly closely, and that was when he saw fear in some greeters’ eyes.

It was as if, in those people’s eyes, the unearthly beautiful Pei Qiqi was some wild beast that could go mad and eat them alive at any moment.

This made Nie Tian look at her differently, and subconsciously keep a sizable distance between her and himself.

Pei Qiqi’s face remained cold and expressionless the entire time, and she didn’t smile back at anyone.

Eventually, the three of them arrived by a teleportation portal in the central square.

The moment they arrived, a few black-robed men with Blood Skulls embroidered on their chests approached Pei Qiqi, smiling.

Compared to the fierceness and coldness they had exhibited toward Nie Tian the day he and Hua Mu had arrived, they were now like completely different people.

Facing Pei Qiqi, not only did they put away their domineering manners, but they even seemed a bit flattering.