After processing the scene, they collected a few items suspected to have been left by the Demon Cultivator to bring back for their report.
Yin Biqin had bled to death. Xiao Chen inspected the corpse with his Fireball Technique before taking her Storage Bag.
The group returned to the Li Huo Sect.
Along the way, the Su Family siblings thanked him profusely.
Su Yuanpeng, in particular, looked like he wanted to drag Xiao Chen into a pact of sworn brotherhood.
Xiao Chen flatly refused. "There’s no need for that. Once you reach the Foundation Establishnt realm, just toss three or four thousand Spirit Stones, and we’ll call it even."
Su Yuanpeng agreed without hesitation. "Don’t worry, Xiao. I’ll be sure to repay you double the Spirit Stones I owe."
He even thumped his chest and declared, "If you need anything in the future, just say the word."
As soon as he returned to the sect, Xiao Chen heard so big news.
The team Ye Fei was on had been ambushed by a large group of Demon Cultivators. Only a single disciple had managed to break through and report back.
By the ti the Sect Elders arrived, everyone else had vanished without a trace.
With six Inner Sect Disciples missing, their lives uncertain, the Elders of the Li Huo Sect could no longer sit still.
Many Honored Guest Elders who had previously thought the sect was making a mountain out of a molehill now stepped forward.
They mobilized together to rendezvous with and assist the other Inner Sect Disciples.
Xiao Chen wasted no ti in refining Yin Biqin’s Storage Bag. It was mostly filled with miscellaneous junk.
Rummaging through it, he found only thirty-one Spirit Stones, a bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills, a thick stack of unused Talismans, and a few peculiar letters.
Xiao Chen kept all the Spirit Stones for himself but left the other items untouched.
He turned them in to Elder Chen, along with that strange, blood-colored dagger.
「By the next day.」
As reports from all quarters were compiled, the situation garnered everyone’s imdiate attention.
In addition to the Su Family siblings, the Liu Family siblings, Liu Shiqing and Liu Benxin, had also been ambushed, and both were wounded.
Fortunately, they were lucky enough to be rescued by a passing Elder Fu and had since been escorted back to Pingyuan County.
anwhile, just yesterday, two Foundation Establishnt Demon Cultivators had appeared at South Lake with dozens of subordinates, attempting to seize the Spirit Fish ticulously raised by the Su Family.
And unexpectedly, the Su Family’s Foundation Establishnt Cultivator, who was supposed to be guarding South Lake, had actually deserted his post and fled.
The two Demon Cultivators encountered no effective resistance.
They broke into the lakeside warehouse with ease.
At the critical mont, the elderly Elder Su arrived just in ti.
Unleashing his formidable power, he slew one of the Foundation Establishnt Demon Cultivators on the spot and forced the rest to retreat.
As the news spread, Su Wanqing and Su Yuanpeng were both urgently summoned ho.
anwhile, Xiao Chen was brought by Steward Chen to a eting with two of the Chen Family’s Elders and its other disciples.
"The Divine Fire Sect is definitely behind this. This is bad news."
Outer Sect Elder Chen Tianyang couldn’t help but sigh. "Many of the sect’s Outer Disciples have also fallen prey to these Demon Cultivators recently."
Chen Tianyuan, the Alchemy Hall Elder, was focused on a different matter. "If I recall correctly, Elder Su is over one hundred and eighty this year, isn’t he?"
Steward Chen replied, "Counting this year, he is one hundred and eighty-seven."
Xiao Chen recalled the Combat Guide ntioning that as Cultivators age, their Qi and Blood weaken.
Their strength declines compared to when they were in their pri.
Typically, this decline begins around the age of one hundred and fifty.
’To think Elder Su could still maintain such a high level of strength.’
Chen Tianyuan was also full of admiration. "Though the middle generation of the Su Family is rather disappointing, Elder Su’s strength is as formidable as ever."
"And their new generation seems quite promising. I hear that girl, Su Wanqing, has already reached the late stage of Qi Refining."
Chen Tianyang nodded. "Yes, the girl is indeed impressive. The steward of the Fourth Division was just praising her to . It seems she’s at Bishui Peak now."
"That’s a good thing. With Demon Cultivators running rampant and the Demon Sect making a coback..."
"...if the Su Family has worthy successors, Ziquan and the others will have more allies in the fight against the Demon Sect."
Afterward, the two Elders offered so guidance to the five core disciples of the Chen Family, as well as to Xiao Chen.
They primarily warned them not to panic when encountering Demon Cultivators and to respond appropriately.
Finally, they gave each of them a Compass and a Thunderclap Pearl.
Chen Tianyuan explained, "These are Tracking Compasses custom-made for the family. By dripping a drop of blood from your fingertip onto one, you can sense the location of other Cultivators within a certain range."
"Each Compass can track up to ten people simultaneously."
"The six of you, I want you to each place a drop of your blood into these eight compasses. That way, you’ll be able to track each other’s locations."
"Don’t put them in your Storage Bags; hide them in your clothes. The detection range is greater that way, which will make it easier to pinpoint your locations."
"If you’re in danger, activate the Thunderclap Pearl to signal for help."
Chen Tianyang added, "The sect will soon begin a much more thorough investigation."
"When the ti cos, don’t be too proud to ask for help, and don’t be reckless trying to earn rit. We gave you these tools so you can stay in contact with each other."
"Signal the mont you encounter a Demon Cultivator. Don’t wait until you’re trapped or wounded. Understood?"
Xiao Chen and the others replied in unison, "Understood!"
Afterward, they each dripped their blood and completed the Refinent of the Tracking Compasses.
Elder Chen’s prediction proved accurate.
The incidents involving Inner Sect Disciples, one after another, clearly galvanized the Li Huo Sect.
Once they began taking the threat seriously, the sect quickly obtained new intelligence from Hezhou confirming that Demon Cultivators from the Divine Fire Sect had indeed infiltrated Li State.
At the sa ti, using the clues provided by Xiao Chen—the blood-colored dagger and the letters—the sect successfully captured a traitor on Sandalwood Peak, a disciple who had been secretly lured away by the Divine Fire Sect. They managed to pry more information from him.
A day later, the disciple was publicly beheaded, and his head was hung from a tree before the sect’s main gate.
This was followed by an even more rigorous purge.
This ti, the sect had its Foundation Establishnt Elders lead the teams directly, starting with self-investigations among the peripheral vassal families.
The sweep gradually expanded to families large and small, and even to every Loose Cultivator entering or leaving the Marketplace.
In just one month, they captured over three hundred New Demon Cultivators who had been practicing Demon Techniques.
Most of them were Loose Cultivators who had gambled on a shortcut to power.
Clearly, their gamble had failed.
A small portion were even cultivators from established families; two distant relatives were even rooted out from the Jiang Family.
They too had found cultivation too difficult and sought a shortcut. Naturally, after being interrogated, they were beheaded, their heads added to a grueso monunt.
The pile of over three hundred heads stood a full ten feet tall, towering over a man.
Furthermore, the network of spies from the Divine Fire Sect was almost completely annihilated.
Four Foundation Establishnt Cultivators were among those captured.
The rest didn’t dare to remain and fled beyond the Li Huo Sect’s territory.
The crackdown also frightened many of the cultivators who had sought refuge from Quanzhou, and a good number of them left Li Huo Sect territory as well.
Many other cultivators who had been considering coming to the region now adopted a wait-and-see approach.
The Black Wind Wanderer was one such person.
After accepting Jiang Changhua’s invitation, he had already arrived near the Li Huo Sect, preparing to kill a minor Qi Refining cultivator nad Xiao Chen.
But upon seeing the current situation, he withdrew.
After all, he was only here to do Jiang Changhua a favor and was in no particular hurry.
He worried that making a move now would get him caught by the Li Huo Sect.
It was better to lie low and wait for the storm to pass before trying again.
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