116: A branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect?

Guo Chengdao and the three Elders clearly felt the authority Xiao Shi had granted them.

This made them very happy.

They knew they had initially gained his trust.

From then on, they could communicate with each other via sound transmission.

After some deliberation, Guo Chengdao sent a sound transmission to Xiao Shi, saying,

“Although we all want to leave Cang Yan Territory now, I believe it would be more hopeful to choose the first path and relocate our sect to Rainfall Province or Water Cloud Province.”

“If we entrust the entire sect’s survival completely to Star Luo Territory… it would be too passive.”

“By choosing the first path, we can at least fight for it.”

“If we choose the second path, we can only leave it to fate and do nothing.”

Xiao Shi nodded.

He shared the same thought.

Although Cang Yan Territory’s actions this time were very cold and made them all uncomfortable,

under the current circumstances, they had no better choice.

Perhaps… they would have to remain in Cang Yan Territory.

This was also the tragedy of insufficient strength.

Of course.

Relocating the sect to Rainfall Province or Water Cloud Province was not an easy task either.

Especially with the current situation of numerous evil spirits and the presence of Ghoulish Spirits.

Long-distance relocation would be extremely difficult.

“If we are to undertake a long-distance relocation, I probably need to first derive more tiger talismans through the Crimson Tiger Totem…”

“Secondly, I must use the Crimson Tiger Totem to extract power from others and concentrate it on one person, thereby giving him the strength to confront Ghoulish Spirits!”

Xiao Shi thought to himself.

He no longer had a Battle Soul capable of killing Ghoulish Spirits.

So, he could only extract everyone’s power and condense it onto one person.

Guo Chengdao was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.

His cultivation was the highest in the sect.

He believed that by gathering everyone’s strength, he should be able to gain the power to defeat a Ghoulish Spirit.

Of course.

Xiao Shi had also considered extracting everyone’s power and condensing it onto himself.

But his current cultivation was, after all, only at the Qi Martial Realm.

His body might not be able to withstand the power of the Blood Martial Realm.

Moreover, if he were to act in front of everyone, there would be a risk of exposing his identity.

Guo Chengdao would be more suitable than him.

With a clear direction in mind,

Xiao Shi immediately began attempting to derive tiger talismans from the Crimson Tiger Totem that very day.

This derivation caused a certain degree of depletion to the Crimson Tiger Totem.

Given the current state of the Crimson Tiger Totem, it could only derive two tiger talismans at most.

“Two tiger talismans are definitely not enough.”

Xiao Shi shook his head.

After all, this was a long-distance relocation.

It was far from a short-distance movement like from Jin Yun City to Nan Lie Mountain.

He deeply felt the difficulty of it.

He mused that they still needed to act in concert with the Seven Stars Sect and other forces in Seven Stars Province, otherwise, relying solely on their Red Tiger Sect, such a long-distance relocation would be impossible.

By now,

the Red Tiger Sect outwardly seemed to be led by Guo Chengdao, but in reality, Xiao Shi had already become the decision-maker for major matters.

Just as they were preparing to contact other forces in Seven Stars Province,

it was already early morning.

Rumble!

The originally clear sky instantly roared with a storm, dark clouds suddenly spread, rolling outwards, covering the sky, obscuring the sun, bringing darkness and oppression to all directions in an instant.

Gale-force winds raged, thunder rumbled, and flashes of lightning streaked across the sky.

This strange celestial phenomenon immediately drew the attention of everyone in the Red Tiger Sect.

Boom!

With a deafening roar,

a thick bolt of lightning suddenly flashed above everyone.

It transformed into… an incredibly massive blue flying boat.

The entire blue flying boat was over thirty zhang long.

It exuded a majestic aura, emitting terrifying fluctuations.

Flashes of lightning permeated the four sides of the flying boat, as if this massive flying boat was precisely what caused the entire celestial anomaly.

At this moment, a figure stood at the front of the flying boat.

Due to the great distance from the ground, everyone couldn't see clearly, but they could feel the astonishing pressure emanating from this figure, capable of suppressing everyone.

Compared to him,

even Guo Chengdao and the three Blood Martial Realm Elders seemed dim.

This level of power… had exceeded most people's understanding.

They all realized at once.

This must be an existence above the Blood Martial Realm!

Previously in Seven Stars Province, there were no existences above the Blood Martial Realm.

The Blood Martial Realm was already the peak cultivation in Seven Stars Province!

Hence, most people still did not know what realm lay beyond the Blood Martial Realm.

Everyone watched the flying boat in the sky, their hearts trembling.

Guo Chengdao took a deep breath.

He was about to speak and inquire.

But at this moment, the figure on the blue flying boat in the sky let out a low voice, each word like thunder, exploding in all directions.

“Red Tiger Sect, listen to my command!”

“You have been chosen by my Rapid Shadow Palace, and from now on, you shall be an affiliated sect of my Rapid Shadow Palace.”

As the words spread,

Guo Chengdao and the three Elders’ breathing all quickened.

They knew deeply… Rapid Shadow Palace was a massive sect within Star Luo Territory!

They had previously been worried whether they would be accepted by Star Luo Territory.

They hadn’t expected to be chosen so smoothly!

This filled Guo Chengdao and the three Elders with a surge of ecstasy.

However, what they hadn’t expected was… Rapid Shadow Palace’s visit this time was not to incorporate Seven Stars Province into its own territory!

“Now, I will lead you all to leave Seven Stars Province and head to Tian Dou Province!”

With the words spoken by the figure on the flying boat,

a huge suction force

immediately emanated from the flying boat.

It enveloped everyone in the Red Tiger Sect.

The next moment,

everyone from the Red Tiger Sect instantly vanished from within the sect.

And appeared on the massive blue flying boat.

Only then

did they see clearly that the one standing on the blue flying boat was indeed a tall, white-haired old man clad in a blue battle robe.

His eyes seemed to condense lightning,

making it difficult for people to look directly at him.

His terrifying cultivation fluctuations made them tremble with fear, feeling as if they were standing before not a person, but an unparalleled fierce beast.

There was a fear that originated from the depths of their souls, from the very core of their life.

Behind the old man,

there were also three young people.

Two men and one woman.

All of them wore blue battle robes.

Judging by the cultivation fluctuations emanating from them, they all seemed to be in the Blood Martial Realm.

Guo Chengdao endured his fear of the white-haired old man, struggling to keep his body from trembling in front of him, and respectfully clasped his fists, saying,

“G-great one, may I ask if our Red Tiger Sect’s Outer Sect Disciples can also be taken along?”

He noticed

that only the people from their main Red Tiger Sect were currently on the flying boat; the Outer Sect Disciples from the branch sect had not been brought up.

The white-haired old man glanced at him indifferently.

“Entering Martial Realm cultivators are abundant in Tian Dou Province.”

Just one sentence

rejected Guo Chengdao’s request.

Guo Chengdao opened his mouth.

He wanted to request again.

But he detected a hint of impatience on the other party’s face.

He could only fall silent, a bitter expression on his face.

He felt an undeniable domineering aura from the other party.

He also knew in his heart that for a small sect like theirs, it was already the greatest benevolence for the other party to come and take them away.

They had no right to ask for anything more from him.

After bringing the Red Tiger Sect members onto the flying boat,

the white-haired old man waved his hand.

The entire massive blue flying boat instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning, vanishing in an instant.

Although the speed was astonishing,

there was a barrier on the flying boat that prevented everyone inside from being affected.

Otherwise, at such an incredible speed, most people’s bodies would not be able to withstand it.

The disciples of the Red Tiger Sect were somewhat uneasy on the flying boat.

The pressure exerted by the white-haired old man in front of them was simply too immense.

Even Guo Chengdao didn’t dare to speak much more.

Fearing to anger the other party.

Among the crowd,

Xiao Shi was quite surprised by the Rapid Shadow Palace’s arrival and their lack of action to clear the evil spirits from the area.

Originally, they had thought… once people from Star Luo Territory arrived,

they would definitely clear the evil spirits from Seven Stars Province, restoring it to normalcy, and thus incorporate the entire Seven Stars Province into Star Luo Territory’s domain.

However, after the Rapid Shadow Palace arrived… they merely took away the people of the Red Tiger Sect.

There was no intention whatsoever of clearing the numerous evil spirits in Seven Stars Province.

They clearly did not intend to incorporate Seven Stars Province into their territory.

“Could it be that they are only interested in the forces within Seven Stars Province?”

Xiao Shi really couldn’t fathom the Rapid Shadow Palace’s intentions.

Logically speaking,

the forces within Seven Stars Province would not hold much significance or value to them.

After all, small forces like these

were countless throughout Star Luo Territory.

It wasn’t worth them making a special trip to take them away.

There must be… some unknown hidden reason behind this.

At the same time,

under the rapid movement of the entire flying boat,

the flying boat soon arrived above the Seven Stars Sect.

Xiao Shi had initially thought that the Rapid Shadow Palace would take the Seven Stars Sect along, just as they had treated the Red Tiger Sect earlier.

However, even though the entire flying boat reached the skies above the Seven Stars Sect, it did not stop for a moment, flying directly past.

There was absolutely no intention of accepting the Seven Stars Sect!

This made Xiao Shi even more surprised.

“Could it be that they came all this way just to… take away the Red Tiger Sect!?”

It wasn’t just Xiao Shi who was surprised.

Guo Chengdao and the three Elders also felt a stir in their hearts.

Although their Red Tiger Sect was one of the top sects in Seven Stars Province,

in terms of strength, it was far inferior to the Seven Stars Sect.

However, the Rapid Shadow Palace chose to take them away and ignored the Seven Stars Sect.

This greatly astonished them.

In an instant,

the entire flying boat had already flown out of Seven Stars Province.

Apart from the Red Tiger Sect, it did not take away any other force from Seven Stars Province.

Now, not only Xiao Shi and Guo Chengdao were shocked and confused,

even the three young people beside the white-haired old man had been filled with strong bewilderment and confusion throughout the journey.

“This Red Tiger Sect is merely an inconspicuous small sect. Why did Master specifically come to take them away?”

One of the three young people couldn’t help but ask.

The white-haired old man looked straight ahead.

His gaze was ethereal.

He said indifferently,

“I presume you all know that within the former Great Wu Dynasty, there existed a powerful sect, named… Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.”

“Crimson Tiger…”

“was one of the Four Symbols of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect!”

The three young people were all startled at once.

Although they had never seen the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect of yesteryear, they had heard about the power and terror of this sect.

However, with the collapse of the Great Wu Dynasty’s imperial power,

the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect had also disintegrated many years ago.

“Master suspects that this Red Tiger Sect is related to the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect?”

One of the young people asked.

“Indeed.”

The white-haired old man nodded.

“Although the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect no longer exists, even if this Red Tiger Sect truly is the Crimson Tiger branch of the Four Symbols from back then, it is now merely a completely fallen and dilapidated small sect, but it still holds some value…”

“Perhaps, through this sect, we might grasp the profound meaning of that realm, and by then…”

As the white-haired old man spoke,

the three young people all understood their Master’s meaning.

No wonder their Master had specifically come this time to take away this inconspicuous sect.

However, they also knew.

This Red Tiger Sect might not necessarily be the Crimson Tiger branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect from back then.

It was possible that it was just a similar name.

After all, with the vastness of the entire Tianwu Continent, sects with the same name were not uncommon.

But even if this Red Tiger Sect was not the Crimson Tiger branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect,

their coming to take them away

was not a difficult matter.

It was merely a trivial effort.

It would not incur any loss for them.

But if this Red Tiger Sect truly was the Crimson Tiger branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect,

then their actions this time… would be very significant!

As for the entire Seven Stars Province,

although they had the ability to clear these evil spirits,

it held little significance.

Star Luo Territory itself had no intention of occupying Seven Stars Province.

After all, Seven Stars Province was merely a barren small province.

It was just a small bonus in the game between the two great territories.

Being able to make Cang Yan Territory lose a province was already enough for Star Luo Territory; they weren't absolutely set on having this barren small province.

The more important significance was the victory in the mutual game.

“Cang Yan Territory thought that by turning this place into an evil spirit world, they could disgust us, little did they know… we had already anticipated they would do so.”

The white-haired old man gazed at the gradually receding Seven Stars Province.

He sneered inwardly.

Through this game, they had also successfully probed some of Cang Yan Territory’s modus operandi.

They realized that Cang Yan Territory was a territory with no bottom line.

In order not to let them obtain Seven Stars Province, they actually reached an agreement with the constantly hostile Heretical Organization, turning the entire Seven Stars Province into an evil spirit world.

This was something their Star Luo Territory could not do.

Although their Star Luo Territory also prioritized interests,

they could not collude with a malignant tumor like the Heretical Organization.

In this game,

although Star Luo Territory was in the upper hand,

the white-haired old man also knew.

This was merely the initial game between the two great territories.

Afterwards… the games between the two sides would become more and more frequent.

“I believe that soon, the two great territories will engage in war!”

The white-haired old man’s expression was solemn.

There was also a sense of urgency within him.

An urgency to grasp the profound meaning of that realm before war arrived.

“Red Tiger Sect… don’t disappoint me!”

He cast a deep glance at the many Red Tiger Sect disciples on the flying boat.

He had already thought about how to arrange the Red Tiger Sect.