After a thorough interrogation, Qin Sang had the Demon Flame Sect's situation completely mapped out in his mind.
The late Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Luo was a disciple of Daoist Jiupao and the newly appointed Demon Flame Emissary. Within the Demon Flame Sect today, he held the highest status and greatest strength, managing the sect in Daoist Jiupao's stead.
Aside from the three captured in the cavern, eleven remnants of the Kuiyin Sect remained in the sect. One was in the late Foundation Establishment stage, while the rest were mostly in the middle Foundation Establishment stage.
Even a dying centipede dies hard; this showed just how deep the Kuiyin Sect's foundations ran.
Daoist Jiupao had intended to sever all ties with the Kuiyin Sect, so he had strictly forbidden the remnants, with the exception of Cultivator Luo, from contacting any newly inducted disciples of the Demon Flame Sect. They normally absorbed enough yin baleful qi in the cavern and then returned to the back mountain to cultivate in seclusion, never interacting with the new disciples.
Back in the Kuiyin Sect, Daoist Jiupao had been their master or martial uncle. After being hunted by the Yuanzhao Sect for decades, living in constant terror, they had finally found a shelter under Daoist Jiupao's protection. Not one dared disobey his orders.
After carrying out a possession, one inevitably required time to restore their strength. Daoist Jiupao had been utterly confident of success, so before the attempt, he had decreed that all disciples under his banner return to the sect. Even those originally assigned to defend Qingyang City had found pretexts to return and await Daoist Jiupao's emergence.
Consequently, all the Kuiyin Sect remnants summoned under his command were currently waiting in the Demon Flame Sect for news. Qin Sang was spared the trouble of tracking them down across the land.
Qin Sang flashed out of the cavern and retrieved Daoist Jiupao's sole relic—the iron thumb ring.
Daoist Jiupao had designated this iron thumb ring as the token of authority for the sect master of the Demon Flame Sect. He had once decreed that no matter who appeared with it in the future, the entire sect was to honor that person as sect master.
This piece of information made Qin Sang discard his original plan of disbanding the Demon Flame Sect's disciples, giving him a new idea instead.
After executing the three captives and storing them in his corpse puppet pouch, Qin Sang donned a black robe, slipped on the iron thumb ring, and soared to the foot of Earth Fire Mountain, openly flying toward the Demon Flame Sect.
The Demon Flame Sect's mountain-protecting grand formation remained active at all times. To mortals, the red-leaf spirit trees looked ordinary enough, but only cultivators knew the deadly peril concealed within. Every spirit tree in the forest was a lethal trap capable of countless variations.
Just as Qin Sang reached the edge of the formation, a shout rang out from within.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
Qin Sang paused in his tracks. Without removing his black robe, he raised his right hand to reveal the iron thumb ring.
"The Sect Master has returned!"
A muffled exclamation came from inside the formation, followed by a figure darting out from the woods and bowing deeply before Qin Sang. "Disciple Lu Xing pays respects to the Sect Master! Please forgive my offense!"
"It was I who ordered you to seal the mountain-protecting grand formation. What offense could there be?"
Noticing a trace of suspicion still lingering in Lu Xing's eyes, Qin Sang remained motionless. Sweeping his gaze over the man, he asked indifferently, "Where are Luo Xiao and Meigu?"
Luo Xiao was the late Foundation Establishment cultivator Qin Sang had captured in the underground cavern.
The doubt in Lu Xing's eyes vanished instantly. He replied at once, "Reporting to the Sect Master, Senior Brother Luo left the mountain last night for parts unknown and instructed me to guard the mountain gate. Senior Sister Meigu is currently giving a sermon at the Daoist arena, guiding the juniors in their cultivation. I shall summon Senior Sister Meigu right away..."
"No need!"
Qin Sang waved a hand and strode into the Demon Flame Sect. "I shall head to the back mountain first. In my stead, relay my command to Meigu and the others to wait for me at the arena..."
As he spoke, Qin Sang activated his movement technique and vanished into the forest, leaving only the fading echo of his voice behind.
Among the newly inducted disciples of the Demon Flame Sect, with the exception of the anomaly that was Ji Wu, those who had successfully established their foundations were all merely in the early Foundation Establishment stage. Lu Xing had no hope of seeing through Qin Sang's movement technique.
Qin Sang slipped toward the grand halls of the back mountain alone. Having thoroughly extracted the details of the Kuiyin Sect remnants from Luo Xiao, he was prepared to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
To be safe, Qin Sang first laid down an isolation ward outside. Then, summoning the Ten Directions Yanluo Array and driving his ebony sword, he broke into one of the grand halls with brutal force.
The demonic cultivator meditating inside was caught completely off guard. With no power to resist, he was struck down on the spot.
A quarter of an hour later, all eleven Kuiyin Sect remnants in the Demon Flame Sect—without a single exception—had fallen to Qin Sang's blade.
Every one of them had once possessed Ten Directions Yanluo Banners, though most had been destroyed during their flight. The surviving banners had been reclaimed by Daoist Jiupao and bestowed upon the Four Demon Flame Emissaries as their trump cards for venturing outside.
All of these remnants yearned for the formidable might of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, but because the Yuanzhao Sect had never abandoned its pursuit, none dared slaughter innocents with reckless abandon.
White Flame's ten banners had been destroyed by Qin Sang using the Nine Nether Demonic Fire.
Ji Wu had originally possessed ten banners as well. During the battle of Hanshan City, Daoist Jiupao's magic treasure had been contaminated by the Blood Filth Divine Light. Driven into a corner, he had deployed Ji Wu's Ten Directions Yanluo Array to hold off Qin Sang, and those banners had been destroyed in the clash as well.
The other two Demon Flame Emissaries had held only six banners each.
Between killing all these Kuiyin Sect remnants and the spoils previously taken from the Demon Flame Emissaries, Qin Sang had gathered a total of only fourteen fully intact Ten Directions Yanluo Banners. He could not even piece together two complete sets.
The Ten Directions Yanluo Array was even more potent than a talisman treasure. Putting it up for auction would fetch an immense fortune, but Qin Sang had not yet achieved Core Formation and had to rely on the Ten Directions Yanluo Array to drive magic treasures. To be safe, it was better to keep them.
The last trace of the Kuiyin Sect left in the cultivation world had now been erased by Qin Sang. That powerful demonic sect, which had once shaken the Lesser Cold Domain and struck terror into the hearts of righteous cultivators, now existed only in the annals of history.
After slaying the remnants, Qin Sang collected his spoils, wiped away all traces of the battle, and flew toward the Daoist arena near the summit.
***
The Demon Flame Sect's Daoist arena was located very close to the mountain's peak. Standing upon it, one could clearly hear the rumbling of magma within the volcanic crater, and the air was scorching hot.
However, because the disciples of the Demon Flame Sect practiced a specialized technique, the heat caused them no discomfort.
At that moment, four figures stood upon the arena: three men and one woman.
Among them were Lu Xing and two young men of similar age, one named Zhao Shanran and the other styling himself Layman Hongye.
The woman was dressed in palace attire and carried a gentle demeanor. She was Meigu, the highest in cultivation among the four, having already sensed the bottleneck of the middle Foundation Establishment stage.
These four were the only remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Demon Flame Sect. Originally rogue cultivators with decent talent, they had successfully established their foundations after being recruited into the sect.
The four waited with growing anxiety. A full two hours had passed, yet the Sect Master was nowhere to be seen.
"Junior Brother Lu, has the Sect Master truly returned? You aren't playing a joke on us, are you?"
Growing impatient, Zhao Shanran questioned Lu Xing.
Lu Xing glared at him. "Senior Brother Zhao, do not speak recklessly! No matter how bold I might be, I would never dare fabricate the Sect Master's jade decree! I advise you to watch your words, lest disaster come from your own mouth..."
Before the words had completely left his mouth, a black-robed figure materialized out of thin air before the four of them.
There had not been the slightest warning.
The four blanched in terror. Catching sight of the iron thumb ring on Qin Sang's hand, they bowed in unison.
"Disciples pay respects to the Sect Master!"
Chapter 507