31: Chapter 31 The Ruthless Xuan Yi Sect

When Wu Li returned to the outside of the Immortal Cave again, the twilight had already turned into night.

Moonlight spilled over the corpses covering the ground, casting a ghastly white light.

He did not hesitate, starting with the body of the Vulture Demon, and transported them to Desolate Ridge trip by trip.

Wu Li flew several trips before he finished moving all the corpses.

Meanwhile.

About the time it takes to burn an incense stick after Wu Li left.

A disheveled figure flew over from the night.

Huo Xuan stepped on his Flying Sword, his dharma robe tattered, his left sleeve empty, clearly torn off by something. His face had several bloody scratches, his hair was messy, and his eyes were filled with irrepressible anger.

"That damned Zhao Heng, to think he still had such methods."

Huo Xuan had originally thought that with his Early Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, killing Zhao Heng, who was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, would be an easy task.

Unexpectedly, that Zhao Heng was hiding secrets on him.

Several high-grade Talismans, a jade pendant that could briefly hide his aura, and a self-destructing dharma sword; although these trinkets couldn't kill him, they wasted a great deal of Huo Xuan's time. If he had been any slower, Zhao Heng might have even escaped the range of Wanhui Mountain.

Fortunately, in the end, he was struck by his palm and fell into the rushing river; he shouldn't have survived.

Huo Xuan landed on the open space outside the Earth Lizard's Immortal Cave, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Hmm?"

He remembered that this place was covered in corpses.

But now, there was nothing left.

Moonlight spilled onto the empty ground, with only a few dried bloodstains and scattered rubble proving that a great battle had once taken place here.

The corpses had all disappeared.

"Is there someone else?"

A cold glint flashed in Huo Xuan's eyes. Then, immediately thinking of something, he turned and walked quickly toward the cave entrance, his figure flashing into the cave where the Earth Lizard had been.

The cave was in a mess.

There was a large hole in the stone wall, and rubble was scattered everywhere.

Huo Xuan's pupils shrank violently.

He walked quickly to the cave entrance and looked inside. The cave was empty, and there was nothing left on the stone platform.

"Damn it!"

"Who took the blood crystal!"

Huo Xuan punched the stone wall, causing rubble to splatter.

His face was livid, and his eyes were filled with rage.

This blood crystal was specially refined by the Xuanyi Sect to cultivate the Earth Lizard.

They had also painstakingly disguised themselves as a demonic Sect and slaughtered over a dozen Mortal villages to refine it. After the refinement was successful, the Xuanyi Sect specifically placed this item in a location to lure the Earth Lizard to take it.

This item had been absorbed by the Earth Lizard for years; the two complemented each other, and it was the final step in refining the soul banner.

"Who on earth is it?"

Huo Xuan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down as his mind raced.

Not many people knew he came here. Zhao Heng was already dead, and only a few Elders in the Sect knew... But those Elders could not have come to take it themselves.

After pondering for a moment, a flash of realization crossed Huo Xuan's eyes, which immediately turned into deeper gloom.

"Yunshan Sect?"

"Could it be that someone from the Yunshan Sect has been here?"

"No."

Huo Xuan turned and left, his footsteps hurried.

"If the matter of the blood crystal is exposed, it will be disastrous."

Huo Xuan had no time to think too much and took out a golden communication Talisman from his bosom.

He bit his fingertip, using his blood as ink, quickly wrote a few lines of small characters on the Talisman, then raised his hand and flicked it. The Talisman turned into a golden light and disappeared into the horizon.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Talisman responded.

A phantom projection emerged from the Talisman and hovered in front of Huo Xuan.

It was an old man with a hooked nose, a gaunt face, deep-set eye sockets, but eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

His hair was gray, and he wore a black dharma robe with a spreading black bird embroidered on the hem, which was the mark of an Inner Sect Elder of the Xuanyi Sect.

"Greetings, Elder Tuoba!"

The old man's name was Tuoba Zhen, and he was the Grand Elder of the Xuanyi Sect's Inner Sect with Peak Foundation Establishment cultivation, belonging to the strongest combat power of the entire Sect.

"Huo Xuan, how is the soul banner?"

Tuoba Zhen's voice was hoarse and low, without any nonsense.

Huo Xuan bowed and said quickly: "Reporting to Elder, the soul banner is complete. The demon soul of the Earth Lizard Ancestor has been sealed within it, and it is of Golden Core quality."

A hint of satisfaction flashed in Tuoba Zhen's eyes, and he nodded.

Huo Xuan paused, his voice lowering a bit: "But... the blood crystal is lost."

Tuoba Zhen's brows furrowed violently, and his sharp gaze pierced Huo Xuan like a knife.

"What?"

"Lost? What happened?"

"When this Disciple arrived, the corpses outside the Immortal Cave had all disappeared, and the secret chamber where the blood crystal was hidden had also been ransacked."

Huo Xuan gritted his teeth, "This Disciple suspects that someone got ahead of me."

"Who?"

Tuoba Zhen's voice turned cold.

Huo Xuan took a deep breath: "This Disciple suspects the Yunshan Sect, but there is no evidence, it is just a suspicion."

Tuoba Zhen's eyes narrowed. After a moment of silence, he spoke slowly: "The Yunshan Sect..."

"That shouldn't be. I know the Yunshan Sect Master, Chen Xuanyang; he is timid, cowardly, and set in his ways. He is not the type of person with the courage to lay out such a plan."

Huo Xuan did not answer, just kept his head down, waiting for the old man's decision.

After a moment.

Tuoba Zhen's voice sounded again, carrying a chilling killing intent.

"Forget it. Regardless of whether it is them or not, since there is a suspicion, we must silence them."

Huo Xuan looked up, a flash of confusion in his eyes: "Does Elder mean..."

"If the original blood crystal cannot be retrieved, then use the blood of everyone in the Yunshan Sect to refine a new one."

"At worst, we will pin this matter on the demonic Sect later."

"Or... define the Yunshan Sect directly as spies planted by the demonic Sect, and then our Xuanyi Sect will take action to destroy the Yunshan Sect. In this way, it will be our Sect eliminating demons and defending the Dao."

"Hmm, let's do that. Huo Xuan, in a moment, you will do something according to what I say..."

Tuoba Zhen's voice was as calm as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

"The soul banner is complete, and the revival of the Xuanyi Sect is imminent. We cannot let a small character like the Yunshan Sect become a flaw in our Sect."

Huo Xuan nodded: "I understand."

"Go."

After speaking.

Tuoba Zhen's phantom slowly dissipated, and the communication Talisman turned into ashes, drifting down from between Huo Xuan's fingers.

Huo Xuan withdrew his hand, took one last look at the Wanhui Mountain Range, stepped on his Flying Sword, and flew toward the direction outside Wanhui Mountain.

...

Meanwhile.

Wu Li squatted by the nest in Desolate Ridge, looking at the mountain of flesh, blood, and treasures, his bean-sized black pupils filled with satisfaction.

He was panting heavily, his feathers soaked with sweat and sticking to his body; he looked extremely disheveled, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

"This trip was worth it... this trip was worth it..."

Wu Li whispered to himself, his hoarse voice filled with irrepressible excitement.

The night was like ink, and Desolate Ridge was shrouded in dead silence.

Wu Li squatted by the nest, looking at the mountain of flesh and blood in front of him, and took a deep breath.

"Let's improve first."

The mantras of the Blood Eye Pagoda Sutra appeared in his mind...

"Use blood as the sutra, condense the sutra into a curse, gather the curse to form the pupil..."

Blood-colored scriptures emerged from under Wu Li's feathers, one, two, three... more and more, denser and denser.

Those scriptures swirled around Wu Li's body, forming circles of blood-colored halos.

Then the blood light spread...

The essence blood of the various corpses seeped out from the bodies, slowly rising into mid-air and gathering together.