BOOM!

Mo Heng’s dharma idol hammered realm number nine another time.

The realm barrier shattered like broken glass.

The Heaven Freezing Spell, which Ren Yuanji had fused into the realm barrier with Xiao Xihe’s residual domain power and his own power, scattered and vanished along with it.

Realm number nine abruptly sunk in the starry river.

What Nie Tian didn’t see was that thousands of clusters of pure spiritual power fell out of the heavens in realm number nine.

Branded with Mo Heng’s profound understanding of the energy of Heaven and Earth, they chased after the Nether Spirit Society disciples as if they had their own awareness.

The eight nether bridges fell apart at almost the same time. Numerous Nether Spirit Society disciples were bombarded to death.

Ren Yuanji’s face was covered in grimy blood. The gauze wrapping his body peeled off and fluttered in the wind.

Every inch of his revealed skin was covered in all sorts of spells, which, however, soon vanished one after another.

Bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, he screamed nonstop.

Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher, who had just entered this realm, looked skywards. Then, he quickly gripped Pergson and shot into the starry river.

Ling You and Zhao Heng also looked up into the sky.

A colossal hand that had reached out of the depths of the heavens seemed to be stirring the heavens randomly.

Upon contact with the clusters of spiritual power, the Nether Spirit Society disciples and their numerous nether spirits and nether deities vanished like scattered smoke.

“Thank god! It’s grand elder Mo Heng!” Many of Huang Jinnan’s subordinates yelled, congratulating themselves for surviving this disaster.

However, the repeated heavy blows seemed to have destroyed the fundamental structure of realm number nine. Not only could it not channel power from the starry river anymore, but the nether power that wreathed it was also scattering and disappearing at an alarming rate.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Just like that, Mo Heng’s repeated hammering reduced an originally healthy realm to a dead realm.

But of course, as far as Mo Heng was concerned, even if the entire Domain of Nether Heaven was destroyed, the Nether Spirit Society would have only themselves to blame.

CRACK! CRACK!

Before long, realm number nine started to fall apart, with large pieces of land separating and drifting away.

All of Huang Jinnan’s subordinates and Ling You hastily gathered up on a huge piece of land that drifted into the distant starry river.

Meanwhile, Grand Monarch Withered Bones sat on his altar made of bones and watched everything in silence, not even the slightest emotions appearing in his emerald green eyes.

Apparently, he didn’t care what happened to realm number nine at all.

WHOOSH!

The ninth grade Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher landed on one of the Bonebrutes’ ancient starships with Pergson.

Gazing up at the monarch who was sitting on the bone altar, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher reported in the Bonebrutes’ language, “Grand monarch! That good-for-nothing Ren Yuanji from the Death Curse Sect let a girl from the Void Spirit Society escape from realm number nine with a Divine Son and a Son of the Stars. His Heaven Freezing Spell didn’t stop them at all.”

“He’s useless indeed,” Grand Monarch Withered Bones said plainly. “The only reason I didn’t stop Mo Heng was because I learned that those three chosen ones had somehow escaped. The three of them will be cornerstones of the humans’ future. None of the other Saint and Void domain experts in realm number nine will be able to affect the big picture.”

Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher nodded to show that he understood.

He was aware that by activating his dharma idol to shatter the Heaven Freezing Spell and destroy realm number nine, Mo Heng must have consumed a significant amount of power.

The reason why Grand Monarch Withered Bones had sat back while Mo Heng eliminated the Nether Spirit Society disciples, heavily injured Ren Yuanji, and saved Zhao Heng, Ling You, and the others was because he wanted Mo Heng to consume his power before he stepped up.

After all, it didn’t matter to him at all whether they died or not.

If he could kill or severely injure Mo Heng, every loss would be worth it.

The battle between the two of them was what would fundamentally determine the future of the Domain of Nether Heaven. Nothing and no one else mattered.

“I’ll deal with Mo Heng myself,” Grand Monarch Withered Bones said, “Bone Crusher, you go search for those three human chosen ones who escaped from realm number nine. The Domain of Nether Heaven is sealed now. Even God domain experts from the Void Spirit Society won’t be able to teleport here directly. If they want to get in here, they’ll have to rely on ancient starships. That means we’ll have enough time to finish our job before the humans’ joint forces arrive.

“Remember: our primary targets are the three God domain experts. After them are the Sons of the Stars, Divine Children, and other chosen ones from the great sects.

“If we can finish them all off, the humans’ vital strength will be greatly undermined. It may take them ten thousand years to recover.”

Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher nodded. “I’m on it!”

The ancient starship he was on then sailed out of the battle zone into the distant starry river.

After he and Pergson vanished into the distance, Grand Monarch Withered Bones, who was one of the Bonebrutes’ three grand monarchs, finally steered his bone altar towards Mo Heng’s dharma idol, bringing endless death power.

Outsider grand monarchs and God domain human experts were beings at the top of the pyramid in this starry river. Now, a battle between two of them broke out officially.

The area of starry river outside realm number nine was instantly drowned by countless rays of blinding pale-gray light and dazzling spiritual light.

The clash of the two peak beings’ power instantly blasted the cracking realm number nine to countless pieces that flew in every direction.

As soon as the two of them engaged in battle, all of the ancient starships backed out of the area like shoals of fish that had sensed danger.

Within a very short time, not a single ancient starship was anywhere close to Grand Monarch Withered Bones or Mo Heng’s dharma idol, as if they had some mutual understanding.

Even though Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Huang Jinnan were observing from an extremely long distance away, they felt an overwhelming pressure.

It was as if just by observing the battle between Grand Monarch Withered Bones and Mo Heng’s dharma idol, they were consuming their vital energies at an alarming rate. Their hearts pounded so fast that it felt like they were going to explode.

PUFF! Huang Jinnan coughed up a mouthful of blood. His face grew even paler than Pei Qiqi’s as he said, “We’re not even strong enough to observe a battle at their level. Every clash of their flesh aura and spiritual power contains the profound mysteries of heaven and earth and bloodline secrets.

“Just by watching them, we risk being consumed by them and losing our minds.”

Pei Qiqi sighed softly and forced herself to close her eyes. “That’s true.”

A wisp of blood came out of the corner of her mouth, but she didn’t seem to notice it.

A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he also snapped out of his daze.

Only then did he realize that he had already lost a significant amount of soul power observing the battle between Grand Monarch Withered Bones and Mo Heng’s dharma idol.

Even his flesh power flow had become chaotic, as if Grand Monarch Withered Bones’ magical law of death had somehow infiltrated his body.

However, only after seeing Pei Qiqi and Huang Jinnan did he realize that the two of them had suffered even heavier injuries than he had.

“What should we do now?” Huang Jinnan asked with a bitter face.

Pei Qiqi pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, “We’re still too close to Grand Monarch Withered Bones. Just now, I saw one of the Bonebrutes’ ancient starships sailing away from the battle zone. If my speculation is correct, it must be coming for us. The Bonebrutes must know that even though we escaped from realm number nine, we couldn’t have gone very far due to the profound effect of the Heaven Freezing Spell.

“If it was Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher that came looking for us, we’re in trouble. He’ll be able to sense our auras once we enter his exceptionally large detection range.

“After he locates us, a large number of Bonebrutes will swarm in on us.”

Nie Tian then asked, “So you’re saying...?”

“We need to get as far away from realm number nine as we can,” Pei Qiqi said with determination. “We also need to steer clear of the other realms. I assume Sikong Cuo, Fang Yuan, and Lou Hongyan are experiencing the same thing we are. And since I’ve already lost contact with Senior Ji from my sect, seeking his help isn’t an option.”

Huang Jinnan hastily chimed in, “Realm number nine has fallen apart. Some of my subordinates must have seized the opportunity to escape. Should we try to find them?”

Pei Qiqi sighed. “I’ve consumed too much power getting us out of realm number nine. I won’t be able to use Void Travel again within a short time. Now, the Domain of Nether Heaven has become a giant cage. It’s difficult to enter, leave, or travel within it. So first, we don’t know where they are. Second, even if we do, I won’t be able to take you to them.”

“Well...” Huang Jinnan said with a deep frown.

“Our best choice is to hole up in one of the numerous dead realms in the Domain of Nether Heaven. They won’t search the dead realms first. And I doubt that the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and the outsiders have deployed any troops in those dead realms.” Pei Qiqi brought out her plan.

Nie Tian nodded.

Huang Jinnan pondered in silence for a few seconds and then also nodded, though somewhat reluctantly.