On the Day $\times$ Month $\times$, in Fengcheng, the capital of the Great Stone Kingdom, Feng Wuji, a Seventh-Grade Spirit Master, was defeated! On the Day $\times$ Month $\times$, on Changchun Mountain, Wang Tanzhong, an Eighth-Grade King, was defeated! On the Day $\times$ Month $\times$, the Sect Master of Xuanyang Yixin Sect, True Man Yue, an Eighth-Grade King, was defeated! On the Day $\times$ Month $\times$, the Luo Family, the first noble house of the West Martial Empire, Luo Yunxian, a Seventh-Grade Spirit Master, was defeated! On the Day $\times$ Month $\times$, in the Nu Cang Mountain Range, the Sect Master of Shenxiu Sect... ... Time flowed like water, and the mental imprints on Nie Kong's sheet of spirit-patterned paper grew more numerous.

More than a month later, on the edge of the Zongheng Mountain Range, at the Tian Di Sect's outpost, the 'Heavenly Fragrance Hall' was sealed tight. In the silent space, Nie Kong and the Grand Elder of the Tian Di Sect, Hua You, sat facing each other.

Outside the hall, a large crowd of disciples and experts from the Tian Di Sect, having heard the news, had gathered.

"Nie Kong challenges Grand Elder Hua You!"

The moment Nie Kong presented his challenge letter and stepped onto the mountain of the Tian Di Sect, this news spread like wildfire throughout the sect. Nie Kong did not publicize the scenes of his duels, yet the news of his challenges against Seventh-Grade Spirit Masters and Eighth-Grade Kings across the Heaven Spirit Continent had been spreading rampantly for the past two months.

Defeating Mu Chonglou, an Eighth-Grade King from the Mu Family of Luocheng, with his superior affinity for flora; Overpowering You Li, an Eighth-Grade King from the Hunter Immortal Sect, with his incomparably swift refining speed; Greatly triumphing over Ling Xiao, an Eighth-Grade King from the North Sea Lang Na Sect, by simultaneously refining the highest number of items; Utterly crushing Wang Tanzhong, an Eighth-Grade King from Changchun Mountain, with his formidable testing ability; Making True Man Yue, an Eighth-Grade King from Xuanyang Yixin Sect, wish for death with his superhuman detoxification methods...

No matter which King he faced, Nie Kong defeated them in the very domain they excelled in.

If Eighth-Grade Kings fared this poorly, the Seventh-Grade Spirit Masters stood no chance against Nie Kong's advance. Nie Kong traveled from south to north, from east to west, and then back from north to south; he had been utterly undefeated, sweeping aside all opposition, without a single Spirit Master able to let him taste the flavor of failure.

In the span of just a few dozen days, the name Nie Kong once again echoed across the continent.

The Grand Elder of the Tian Di Sect, Hua You, was also an Eighth-Grade King and had known for a month that Nie Kong would certainly come here. Consequently, when the Sect Master inquired how he planned to handle the situation, Hua You had only given one response: as soon as Nie Kong arrived, have him invited directly into the 'Heavenly Fragrance Hall.'

At a moment like this, even if Hua You possessed no chance of victory, he had no choice but to welcome the challenge. As expected, Nie Kong had finally arrived today!

"Junior Brother Feng Guan, your Ji Yang Nie Family is truly astonishing to have produced such a prodigious talent. Not only did he seize the Spirit Mansion and humiliate the Spirit God Hall, but his refining skill is also so astounding—defeating six Kings in a row: Mu Wanqing, Mu Chonglou, You Li, Ling Xiao, Tanzhong, and True Man Yue, tsk, tsk..." "Indeed. The former First King was Meng Feiyang, the City Lord of Lingyu City, but it seems that title must now pass to Nie Kong." "Grand Elder will also likely have trouble defeating Nie Kong this time! Senior Brother Feng Guan, you are also from the Nie Family, and your relationship with Nie Kong should be quite good. Why not ask this junior brother to introduce you? I have a younger sister who is not only beautiful but also possesses excellent aptitude for refining. It would be wonderful if she could apprentice under Nie Kong." "..."

The young man being addressed as "Junior Brother Feng Guan" and "Senior Brother Feng Guan" was tall, handsome, and appeared to be only twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

He was Nie Fengguan, the second son of Nie Qingsong, the head of the Ji Yang Nie Family.

Hearing the murmurs around him, Nie Fengguan could not help but offer a bitter smile internally. Ever since news of Nie Kong's unchallenged victories spread to the Tian Di Sect, the attitude of his peers toward him had drastically changed. Those who were close became closer, and even those who had previously feuded with his elder sister began actively seeking connection and familiarity.

Those wanting to meet Nie Kong, those hoping to introduce their sisters to him, and those wanting to beg Nie Kong to refine a spirit pill or two... all approached him, causing him endless annoyance.

The truth was, while they both hailed from the Ji Yang Nie Family, they had almost no interaction with each other. Back then, although his talent couldn't compare to his elder brother Nie Fenglei or fourth sister Nie Fenghua, he was still considered a favored genius within the Nie Family. Nie Kong, however, was a sickly whelp barely clinging to life on a sickbed. What kind of camaraderie could they possibly share?

Forget camaraderie—there was even a lingering resentment.

His third brother had essentially died because of Nie Kong. Upon hearing the news, he had considered returning to Ji Yang to teach Nie Kong a severe lesson, but he only gave up because Nie Kong had already left for Lingyu City. Just a few days ago, he had received a message from his elder brother saying he had been humiliated by Nie Kong.

Knowing the full details, Nie Fengguan had sighed deeply in private.

He understood Nie Fenglei's ambitions very clearly. Nie Fenglei was deeply infatuated with the Saintess of the Moluo Sacred Mountain. With his strength and potential, he had an eighty percent chance of becoming the Saint Son of the Moluo Sacred Mountain, and becoming the Saint Son would allow him to unite with the Moluo Saintess, thus realizing his beautiful dream. Unfortunately, the current Saint Son of the Moluo Sacred Mountain was not Nie Fenglei, but Mo Ye.

In Ji Yang City, Nie Fenglei curried favor with Mo Ye and forced that woman to attend a banquet, not only hoping to deepen the Nie Family’s ties with the Moluo Sacred Mountain but also planning to use the woman to scheme against Mo Ye, causing him to lose face in front of the Moluo Saintess. Yet, no one expected that woman to be Nie Kong's.

Moreover, Nie Kong possessed such terrifying strength. As a result, not only was Nie Fenglei reprimanded by the family, but Mo Ye also left Ji Yang City in disgrace.

Because of Nie Fenglei and Nie Fenghua, Nie Fengguan held not an ounce of goodwill toward Nie Kong, yet he also knew that with his current strength, he posed absolutely no threat to Nie Kong. Even if he possessed the strength, the family would never allow him to do anything detrimental to Nie Kong.

That sickly fellow from the Nie Family, once regarded as no better than a waste, now possessed the strength of a Heaven Spirit powerhouse and was trending toward becoming the First King under heaven. As for the former favored sons of the Nie Family, they could now only look up to that weakling. With the tides of fate having turned to this extent, Nie Fengguan felt a significant bitterness in his heart.

"I wonder how things are going inside? Senior Brother Feng Guan, will you help us or not? Say something!" "After sparring with our Tian Di Sect's Grand Elder, where will Nie Kong challenge next? The Spirit God Hall? I heard there are two Kings residing there!" "Nie Kong has such a deep feud with the Spirit God Hall; wouldn't going there be walking right into a trap!" "Walking into a trap? Do you take the Yin Ruins for fools? If the Spirit God Hall truly dared to move against Nie Kong, they would have acted long ago; there wouldn't be this utter silence." "..."

Regardless of what Nie Fengguan was contemplating, the chatter from the surrounding Tian Di Sect disciples showed no sign of stopping. Meanwhile, inside the Heavenly Fragrance Hall ahead, the scene was entirely different.

Nie Kong and the Grand Elder of the Tian Di Sect, Hua You, who had been sitting with their eyes closed, opened them almost simultaneously. They each picked up a brush and began writing on the paper before them, ink trailing from the tips of their brushes in continuous streams. Both of their hands moved like dragons and snakes, the speed of their writing being astonishingly fast.

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