244: Chapter 244 Crushed to Ashes

Ten breaths later, the dark purple flame was completely collected into the jade bottle.

Su Chengyuan capped the bottle with the utmost speed, pulled out a High Grade second-tier Seal Talisman from his Talisman bag, and stuck it onto the bottle. With a lead of spiritual power, the Seal Talisman transformed into a layer of pale gold light film, wrapping the entire jade bottle tightly. The aura and temperature of the Heavenly Flame seed were instantly suppressed.

The jade bottle felt slightly warm in his hand, no longer burning.

Su Chengyuan put the jade bottle into the deepest part of his Storage Pouch and let out a long breath.

"Go."

With his command, the seventeen people quickly cleaned up the remains of the battlefield. After confirming nothing was missed, they withdrew toward the valley entrance.

When he reached the valley entrance, Su Chengyuan stopped and looked back at Ten Thousand Snakes Valley behind him.

The valley was empty of people, leaving only scorched earth and cooling magma fissures everywhere.

There were quite a few traces of battle; if a Golden Core Cultivator came, they might be able to reconstruct the general process of the fight from the scene.

Su Chengyuan fished out over a dozen second-tier Detonation Talismans from his Talisman bag. With a lead of spiritual power, the Talismans turned into clumps of red light and flew to various key locations within the valley.

The edges of the fissure in the center of the stream bed, the battle marks on the rock walls, and the nodes where the Formation patterns were most dense.

"Scatter."

The seventeen people used their tools to ascend into the air and pull back their distance.

Su Chengyuan pinched a hand seal with one hand, and the dozen or so Detonation Talismans exploded simultaneously.

A series of roars echoed from the bottom of the valley as crushed stones shot into the sky and dust billowed.

Large sections of the rock walls on both sides of the valley entrance collapsed in the explosion, and countless massive boulders poured down, blocking the entire entrance tightly.

At this point, all traces of battle within the valley were buried under a thick pile of rubble.

After the dust settled, the entrance to Ten Thousand Snakes Valley had become a slope of jagged rocks, unrecognizable from its original appearance.

Su Chengyuan withdrew his gaze, looked no further, and ascended into the air on his tool.

Seventeen streaks of light rose from the ground, speeding toward the direction of Tianlan Province City.

That Golden Core Cultivator would arrive tomorrow; staying near here for even another moment was just asking for trouble.

Within Luoxia City, however, there was no need to worry.

The strongest people in the city were only Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Zhao Shan and the others had entered the city in batches and disguised themselves as Loose Cultivators.

The people from those five powers had seen their group's 'cultivation and appearance' in the valley with their own eyes; no matter how they investigated after returning, they wouldn't be able to match them up.

But they certainly couldn't return to Luoxia City right now.

During the flight, Su Chengyuan used his Divine Sense to transmit a message to Zhao Shan, telling him to return to Luoxia City alone to explain things clearly to the Qi Refining Guards staying behind at the shop: the shop would open as usual, business would continue as usual, and all Qi Refining personnel would stay in the city.

The shop was already open, and those Qi Refining Guards had entered the city with the identity of merchant guild workers, which was already known.

It was also plausible for the four Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the merchant guild to leave; merchant guilds had many affairs, and if anyone asked, they would just say they returned to the Prefecture City for business.

Moreover, the movements of those four people would never be linked to the events at Ten Thousand Snakes Valley, as their cultivation levels and appearances didn't match.

Zhao Shan took his orders, split off from the group, and turned into a streak of light heading toward Luoxia City.

Su Chengyuan led the remaining people and continued rushing toward Tianlan Province City.

Once Zhao Shan had settled things in Luoxia City, he would immediately set off to meet up with them.

By their estimation of travel time, by the time the effects of the second-tier Disguise Talismans wore off, they should already be over a thousand miles away from Luoxia City.

At that time, they would disperse and each make their own way back to the Prefecture City; that would be the most secure way.

...

Time reverted to a day and a half ago, Taining Province, Xuanyin Sect.

In the inner hall of the Protector Hall, Duanmu Bei was dressed in an ink-colored Daoist robe, sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat with his eyes closed, meditating on his Cultivation Technique. On the low table in front of him lay several half-finished Formation Plates.

At that moment, a Communication Jade Slip on his person suddenly lit up.

Duanmu Bei reached out to grab it and probed it with his Divine Sense.

Tao Qianfang's voice came from the Jade Slip, sounding somewhat urgent: "Senior Martial Uncle, something has happened at the bottom of the valley. This Disciple is using the Ghostly Realm Delusion Kill Array you gave me to deal with it, but the opponents are numerous and their cultivation is not mediocre. We brothers fear we cannot hold out for long."

Duanmu Bei frowned. "Has the Formation been affected?"

"It's stable for now, but my side is consuming resources too quickly. If we can't hold on, we won't be able to look after the Formation side."

"Hold it for me for three days." Duanmu Bei's voice darkened, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. "I will compensate you for any resource losses afterward. Nothing must happen to the Formation, do you hear me clearly?"

The other end of the Jade Slip was silent for a breath before Tao Qianfang replied, "This Disciple understands. Rest assured, Senior Martial Uncle."

Duanmu Bei put away the Jade Slip, his expression darkening.

He casually pushed the Formation Plate in his hand aside and stood up to walk out of the hall.

That Formation underground was one he had spent several years setting up. The Materials for the Formation eye alone had consumed many of the Sect's resources. Now that decades had passed and he was about to reap the benefits, there absolutely could be no failure at this time.

He only hoped Tao Qianfang and the others could hold out properly for these three days.

Duanmu Bei left the Sect's great array and flew at full speed toward Ten Thousand Snakes Valley.

However, after flying for less than a day and a half, an Induction Jade Talisman within his body, which was connected to the roots of the Formation, suddenly shattered.

Duanmu Bei's figure paused, and he hovered in mid-air.

The jade Talisman shattering meant the Formation had been completely triggered, and the thing underground... was gone... just like that.

Duanmu Bei's face twitched, and a surge of blood rose in his chest, which he almost couldn't suppress.

Three years of setting the array, over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones worth of Materials invested, and decades of planning—now it was all gone just like that?

Duanmu Bei grit his teeth and stood atop the clouds for a few breaths.

Since the thing underground was gone, Tao Qianfang and those dozen or so Disciples were likely gone as well.

He took a deep breath, formed hand seals, and the magic power in his body circulated rapidly. An ink-colored spiritual light exploded beneath his feet.

This was the Xuanyin Sect's speed-travel secret technique. It consumed an immense amount of magic power and was not used under normal circumstances, but he could not wait now.

The residual aura left by the Heavenly Flame after leaving the Formation would gradually dissipate. He had to reach the bottom of Ten Thousand Snakes Valley within a day to personally sense the traces of the aura left by that Heavenly Flame; otherwise, he wouldn't even have a clue to investigate.

His flight speed suddenly more than doubled. Wrapped in ink-colored spiritual light, Duanmu Bei charged toward Ten Thousand Snakes Valley.

No matter who took that Heavenly Flame, he would find them and grind their bones to ashes.

Xuanyin Sect, Soul Lamp Hall side hall.

Almost at the same moment, over a dozen soul lamps on the third row in the hall extinguished one after another. Gray-white smoke curled up from the wicks and dissipated into nothingness after a moment.

The soul fires of fifteen Foundation Establishment Disciples were all extinguished.

The Disciple on duty instantly turned pale and hurriedly ran to report to the corresponding Elder.

When the news reached the outside of the hall where those Disciples' Revered Master resided, a middle-aged Cultivator in gray robes was flipping through several rubbings of Cultivation Techniques.

After hearing the report, the rubbing in the gray-robed Cultivator's hand was crushed into a pile of dross.

He had taken a total of seventeen Personal Disciples under his wing.

The eldest and second Disciples remained in the Sect for closed-door cultivation, while the other fifteen had all gone to Ten Thousand Snakes Valley in the Xuanhuo Territory for a mission.

Now the soul lamps of these Disciples were all extinguished—fifteen whole Personal Disciples, and not one had returned.

He had operated in the Sect for so many years relying on having many Disciples who could handle affairs and were filial and diligent. The resources they handed over every year were more than those under most Elders.

Now, in a single night, only two Disciples remained. What difference was there between him and a lonely man now?

The Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, and Materials those Disciples scoured for him every year would all be gone from now on.

The gray-robed Cultivator shattered the spiritual wood table in front of him with a palm strike, sending wood splinters flying throughout the hall.

"Investigate! We must find out who did this."

(Next chapter will be a bit later.)