April 28th. The third day since Xiao Chen had left for Shattered Stone Valley.
News of the Tribulation Cultivator attack in Pingyuan County had already reached the Li Huo Sect.
Two other pieces of news arrived along with it.
First, the group of unidentified Tribulation Cultivators included not only a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but they also possessed a Demon Soldier.
During the pursuit, Patriarch Liu Zhiyuan of the Liu Family was ambushed and injured by the Demon Soldier.
Second, they had intentionally destroyed vast quantities of Spirit Grass and deliberately slaughtered numerous Spirit Farmers.
It didn’t look like a robbery for valuables; it was more like they were trying to sabotage production.
On April 29th, a token belonging to an Inner Sect Disciple turned up in the Marketplace.
The investigation by the sect’s Law Enforcement Hall led them to the Divine Fire Sect.
On April 30th, the Elders convened and decided to purge the Demon Sect’s agents who had infiltrated their territory.
After more than half a month of detailed investigation, on May 20th—the same day as the auction in Shattered Stone Valley—the Li Huo Sect mobilized a large number of Inner Sect Disciples and many of its affiliated powers, launching a purge across its entire territory.
The good news: in just three days, they captured over forty Demon Cultivators.
The bad news: they were all cannon fodder who had just recently joined the Divine Fire Sect. The real Demon Cultivators of the Divine Fire Sect had already fled.
As a result, the purge that should have ended in three days dragged on for twelve.
On this particular day, Su Yuanpeng led a team of the sect’s Inner Sect Disciples to the vicinity of Wind Howl Mountain to investigate a Loose Cultivator suspected of being a Demon Cultivator.
At first, they assumed it would be another fruitless search.
However, at the village entrance, Su Wanqing saw through the disguise of a Demon Cultivator posing as a mortal, capturing him alive.
Ordinarily, this would have been a stroke of good luck.
The problem was, this place just so happened to be a secret stronghold of the Divine Fire Sect.
And so, before they had a chance to celebrate, they found themselves surrounded by several Demon Cultivators.
The two sides were vastly mismatched in both numbers and Combat Power. The disciples were quickly trapped in the center of the village.
Fearing that a stalemate would work against them if they waited for Li Huo Sect reinforcements, the lead Demon Cultivator decisively activated the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, intending to end the battle quickly.
But just as the Su siblings had never expected to find several Demon Cultivators holed up here, the Demon Cultivators, in turn, never imagined they would run into the direct lineage heirs of the Su Family.
A Treasure Umbrella unfurled, blocking both Magic and poisonous mist.
A brocade kerchief swirled around them, intercepting Flying Swords and blades alike.
Of course, both Su Yuanpeng and Su Wanqing carried Defensive Spiritual Artifacts bestowed upon them by their family.
With the two of them pouring all their might into the artifacts, the Demon Cultivators found they couldn’t breach their defenses for the time being.
As the seconds ticked by, the three late-stage Qi Refining Demon Cultivators from the Divine Fire Sect grew anxious.
They took turns shouting threats and promises, trying to incite the other Li Huo Sect disciples to turn traitor and attack the Su siblings from within.
"If any of you help us break through these artifacts, I swear on my life I’ll let you leave here safely."
"Better you die than me. Seize this chance and live. If you wait, it’ll be too late."
"Keep being stubborn, and once their Magical Power runs out, we’ll rip out all your souls and refine you into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, where you’ll suffer for all eternity, never to be reborn!"
"You’re already trapped in our array, and we’re a good four hundred miles from the Li Huo Sect. Don’t even think about stalling for time. That’s just a daydream."
The Su siblings’ Magical Power began to wane, and the radius of their defense steadily shrank.
The five Inner Sect Disciples under their protection exchanged uncertain glances. Facing the threat of life and death, their resolve began to waver.
「Meanwhile.」
One of the Demon Cultivators took a moment to dispatch three of his underlings to slaughter the villagers and collect their blood, intending to gather more sacrificial offerings before making their escape.
These three were Loose Cultivators he had recently recruited after arriving in Li State.
Their Cultivation was mediocre, and they didn’t have a single defensive magical artifact between them.
They were at the village entrance, helping with the wicked slaughter, when thorns suddenly shot up from the ground and bound them tight as cocoons.
They didn’t even have time to make a sound.
Xiao Chen crept over and looted their bodies, finding only five Spirit Stones and three shoddy Flying Swords that could barely qualify as low-grade magical artifacts.
’Huh. You’re the poorest bunch of Demon Cultivators I’ve ever seen.’
As he drew near the black cloud, he was hit by an instinctive wave of revulsion, nausea, and agitation, even without using his Qi Observation Technique.
He felt much better only after activating his Golden Armor Technique.
’Charging in head-on would be a bad idea. It’d be a disaster if I got trapped too.’
Fortunately, Xiao Chen now had just the thing to deal with the black cloud before him.
It was the Fire Element Skill he had obtained from the Flame Pool Secret Realm: the *Li Huo Demon Vibration*.
This magic was incredibly powerful, but not only did it consume a great deal of Magical Power, the casting process was also exceptionally complex.
He had thought it wouldn’t be very practical in actual combat.