Since this wasn’t going to be a large-scale inter-racial battle, Sikong Cuo hadn’t brought any of his subordinates with him.

Even Luo Wanxiang, who had been protecting his interests the whole time, didn’t come with him.

The reason why he had rushed here at the first possible moment was because he intended to ask Mo Heng why he had chosen Nie Tian to fight a duel against an eighth grade Demon of the Demons’ choice, instead of him.

He understood the potential problem in this better than anyone.

If Nie Tian somehow won the duel, he would instantly replace him and become the Son of the Stars that had the best chance to become the next Lord of the Stars.

All of the elders would review their choices.

If that happened, all of the efforts he had made these years would be in vain.

“This is the grand elder’s decision,” Wei Lai said expressionlessly.

Sikong Cuo shot Nie Tian a cold look and said aloud, “I’ll go ask the grand elder about it!”

With these words, he left in a hurry.

Standing by Nie Tian’s side, Dong Li asked, “Who’s that?” 

“Sikong Cuo. Like me, he’s also a Son of the Stars.” Nie Tian explained.

“Oh, so he’s Sikong Cuo.” Dong Li had a fairly good knowledge of every Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. Upon hearing the name, she immediately realized why Sikong Cuo was so angry.

“Don’t mind him,” Yan Zhan said bluntly. Clearly, he had decided to place all of his bets on Nie Tian. “The vice sectmasters suffered heavy injuries. They don’t have the kind of energy to manage sect affairs. And considering we can’t get in touch with the sectmaster for now, the grand elder is in control of everything.”

Wei Lai chimed in, “He won’t be able to sway the grand elder.”

With these words, the four of them walked out of the cabin where the teleportation portal was.

As soon as they arrived on deck, they saw Sikong Cuo crouching beside Mo Heng and questioning him in a low, indignant voice.

Mo Heng remained expressionless as he listened. Only after Sikong Cuo finished did he take his time to say, “You’re at the Void domain. Even if you win a duel against an eighth grade Demon, it won’t be a big victory. But if you lose, our sect’s name will suffer greatly.

“If you really want to fight a duel, your opponent will have to be a ninth grade grand patriarch. Only that will mean something.”

Sikong Cuo’s face froze.

“And it’ll have to be a ninth grade grand patriarch of the Demons’ choice, which means it’ll most likely be a late ninth grade grand patriarch,” Mo Heng said coldly.

Sikong Cuo fell silent, lost in thought.

Only after a while did he come out of his daze and take a sideways glance at Nie Tian, who had emerged from below deck. “You really think he can defeat an eighth grade Demon?”

“He’s at the Soul realm,” Mo Heng said with an expressionless face. “Even if he loses, we’ll only lose that dark stone and him. That dark stone is something he took from the Sixth Demon Realm. It’s not ours in the first place. And it’ll be understandable if he loses to an eighth grade Demon. Our sect won’t lose face because of it.”

Sikong Cuo’s expression flickered, a complicated look appearing in his eyes. “So...”

His evil nature made him suspect that Mo Heng was doing this because he disliked Nie Tian, and wanted to get rid of him.

Mo Heng had been careful every time he had seen Nie Tian. No one knew about their secret meetings. Therefore, even Sikong Cuo didn’t know what was going on between the two of them.

Mo Heng started to become impatient. “So like I said, if you want to fight a duel, it’ll have to be against a ninth grade Demon grand patriarch. You can think about it.” 

After a moment of hesitation, Sikong Cuo turned around and left.

As he walked past Nie Tian, he let out a cunning laugh and said, “Good luck, junior martial brother. I’ll be back when your duel starts.”

Nie Tian didn’t say anything.

...

Nie Tian walked to Mo Heng’s side and bowed respectfully. “Grand Elder.”

At this point, all of the powerful experts from the Void Spirit Society, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Five Elements Sect that had come to talk to Mo Heng had already returned to their respective starships.

One after another, they spread out behind the starship Mo Heng was on.

Nie Tian’s arrival attracted a lot of attention.

Heated discussion burst out on the nearby starships as numerous sets of eyes fixed on Nie Tian, making him very uncomfortable.

“Nie Tian is here!”

“Is that the seventh Son of the Stars who Mo Heng chose to fight an eighth grade Demon?”

“He’s the one.”

Mo Heng looked up. “I hope you don’t blame me for setting up a duel for you without consulting you first.” 

Nie Tian laughed. “How can I? You fought and defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust as soon as you entered the middle God domain, and now you’ve challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel. You dare to do such a crazy thing, so what do I have to be afraid of? Worst comes to worst, I’ll die for our sect.”

“Die? You’re not going to die.” Mo Heng said with great certainty.

After that, Mo Heng told Nie Tian to relax and wait for the Demons’ response.

Huang Jinnan, Hou Chulan, Lou Hongyan, and others that were close to Nie Tian approached him, and showed concern after greeting Mo Heng.

Before long, the other three Sons of the Stars, Dou Tianchen, Wang Meijia, and Fang Yuan, arrived successively.

Dou Tianchen and Wang Meijia greeted Mo Heng first.

They didn’t come to advise against the duel between Nie Tian and an eighth grade Demon. Instead, they came to advise Mo Heng against fighting Grand Monarch Primal Demon just yet. They thought that he would only lose his life by trying to save the sect’s face.

However, Mo Heng had made up his mind. No matter what they said, his fighting spirit remained unwavering.

They could only give up.

Fang Yuan, who was rather close to Nie Tian, had been worried upon hearing about his duel against an eighth grade Demon. He hastily asked Nie Tian whether he was confident about his victory. Nie Tian, however, couldn’t give him any promises. He only told him that he would have to wait till his opponent was determined to know his odds.

Time passed bit by bit.

Many people from the four great sects sailed to this place. Some were there to support Mo Heng and Nie Tian, while others were only there to obtain the results firsthand.

Through the dark purple ward, Bonebrutes, Fiends, and Phantasms could also been seen arriving in the Demons’ stronghold.

However, the Demons still hadn’t given a response.

This was a matter of great importance. Only Grand Monarch Primal Demon could accept or refuse the challenge.

A few days later, a high-tier Demon suddenly rose from the ward-enveloped land.

“Gutas!” Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, staring through the floating debris at the high-tier Demon that had charged out of the Demon stronghold.

The floating land was protected by the dark purple ward, which even Mo Heng wouldn’t be able to break within a short time.

Gutas had been safe on the floating land, but now that he had come out into the starry river, many of the powerful human experts present would be able to kill him with a single strike.

From the broken memories the Spirit Pearl had stripped from Catie’s discarnate soul, Nie Tian had already learned that Gutas was behind the invasion of the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, and the fact that he was Grand Monarch Bloodlust’s direct descendant.

When enemies come face to face, their eyes blaze with hate.

While he, who had been held responsible for Catie’s death, glared at Gutas, Gutas glared back at him.

“You’re the messenger, right?” Mo Heng’s indifferent voice echoed out.

Only then did Gutas remember his mission, and put his hate towards Nie Tian aside for the moment. Facing the powerful human who had recently defeated his father, he said respectfully, “I have a message from Grand Monarch Primal Demon. He has agreed to the first duel you proposed. The Heavenly Stellar Stream has already been unsealed, and will be brought here in no time.

“And we’re choosing a suitable candidate to fight the seventh Son of the Stars.

“However, Grand Monarch Primal Demon has not agreed to the duel between you and him just yet.

“He said that only if Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars, defeats our champion will he be convinced that the members of your sect have what it takes to challenge my people with higher grades, and then fight that duel with you.

“If Nie Tian loses, then he won’t have any reason to believe that you’re strong enough to challenge him.”

As soon as he said these words, a clamor burst through the human starships.

“The result of Nie Tian’s duel will determine whether Grand Monarch Primal Demon will agree to his duel against the grand elder!” Wei Lai exclaimed in shock. 

Then, he fixed Nie Tian with a complicated look from afar. “Will this become his mental devil? If he wins, he’ll be entering the grand elder into a deadly duel. If he loses, the grand elder will be saved from his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.”

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