Chapter 109: Disappearance

The furnace cauldron was set upon the sacrificial altar. Then he slit his own finger, and as his blood dripped into the cauldron, it suddenly blazed to life. In the next instant, every totem in the room lit up as well.

No one knew when the weather outside the Forging Valley had changed so abruptly. The five peaks began to surge with spiritual energy, and all that energy gathered together before slowly unfurling like a great umbrella.

The guards at the entrance all looked toward the passageway. Every change had fallen within their sight, yet neither Zhao Xiong nor Li Zihong could see any of it; they still watched nervously the formation outside the cave abode and the Forging Valley disciples beyond it.

"Ah! How do we activate the sect-protecting grand formation?"

A guard beside him glanced coldly at the one opposite.

"What is the sect-protecting grand formation? It is isolation. The five peaks of our Forging Valley are being separated from the Wind-Riding Continent, and even the dozen or so miles of residents outside the mountain will be cut off into this world."

The Forging Valley disciples outside the cave abode looked up at the shield rising into the sky, at the raging spiritual currents above it. By then no one was paying attention to Zhao Xiong and Li Zihong in the cave abode anymore; all of them stared blankly upward.

"What kind of power is this? How can it be so formidable? Has the sect master activated the sect-protecting grand formation?"

Among the crowd, a thin outer sect disciple from Forging Valley stared in astonishment at the changing spiritual currents overhead and could not help exclaiming.

"Ah! I wonder whether that brat Zi Chenyu has gotten away yet. Is this formation being activated to wipe everyone out in one net, so we cannot escape and no news from the outside can get in?"

Whoever said it, once those words were spoken, the crowd instantly fell into chaos. No one cared anymore about the two men the cave abode was meant to seize. They all rose and scattered in every direction, while several elders nearby also stared upward and only then reacted.

"Where do you all think you're running?"

Elder Feng stepped forward. This elder, usually silent and sparing with words, suddenly erupted in fury, roaring at every disciple fleeing all around him.

The disciples who had just been thrown into panic all stopped in midair and looked back at Elder Feng on the field, too afraid to keep running.

"If we don't run now, we'll never get another chance!"

An outer sect disciple shouted this as he flew off into the distance, and then the rest of the disciples also began fleeing again.

A white net flew from Elder Feng's hand and then snapped back, dragging back a youth dressed in outer sect Forging Valley robes. He trembled inside the net. The net itself gleamed with white light, and the disciple trapped within it had already suffered greatly.

With a casual flick, Elder Feng sent the disciple flying out before him, where he landed in front of all the inner and outer sect elders. The cringing fellow had tucked his head all the way down between his legs, but the moment he was released he tried to flee again, spiritual energy surging beneath his feet.

Yet at that very moment, an instrument-grade longsword had already appeared at his throat. He turned back and looked.

"Please, Great Elder, spare my life. I, Dong Fei, will be eternally grateful. Please!"

Tears streamed down his face, and he wore a pitiful look, but the moment he turned, he smiled and launched himself toward the hesitating Great Elder.

Before his palm could even reach the Great Elder's chest, his head had already separated from his body. The Great Elder stepped aside, and a pool of black venom appeared on the fallen palm.

"All of you, come back! Otherwise, kill without mercy! Dong Fei will be your fate!"

The long, drawn-out voice echoed through the valley and carried far into the distance. The disciples who had just flown off not far at all heard it too. All of them turned back. For cultivators, their eyes could still see very far.

There it was: Dong Fei's head impaled upon an instrument-grade spear and displayed before all the elders. Seeing Dong Fei's eyes still wide open in death, everyone grew frightened. They had run only to live; if they kept fleeing, then even their lives would be forfeit. So they slowly flew back.

Watching the returning disciples, Elder Feng smiled and looked at the other elders.

"It seems the disciples are all quite sensible. However, this Dong Fei was an elder's disciple, and yet he chose to stir up trouble at such a time without the slightest sense of measure, all while hiding deadly poison within him."

The outer sect Great Elder stepped forward and looked at Elder Feng with some embarrassment.

"We, the outer sect stewards, have not governed well. I hope Elder Feng will not take offense. I have already cleaned house."

Duan Xin looked at the formation, which had now fully activated, and only then let out a breath of relief before collapsing to the ground. The robe on his body had been shredded into tatters by what had just happened.

"At last it has been activated. I no longer need fear the Purple Immortal Palace and the Zi clan. The only pity is Brother Guo Meng... but I will avenge you and the Supreme Elder. Wind-Riding Continent, wait for Forging Valley's return."

Clenching both fists, he slammed them into the ground.

Zi Chenyu, who had already flown not far from Forging Valley, was now standing on the deck admiring the scenery, his mood beyond words. After all these years as a pampered wastrel, this time he had finally made a true display of himself.

"Steward Liu, go tell those men in black robes to bring Guo Meng out for me. I want to torment him properly. I don't believe I can't force out the whereabouts of Sansheng from him."

Steward Liu nodded and ran straight toward the cabin. Before long, a group of black-robed men and Guo Meng appeared on the deck. Guo Meng had already been tortured unconscious and still had his eyes closed.

"Reporting to Young Master, Guo Meng has been brought."

Steward Liu pointed at the group behind him and then at the bound Guo Meng.

"Wake him up for me. I want to interrogate him myself. I refuse to believe it. Is my method harder, or is his mouth harder?"

The black-robed men increased the force of their grip. Guo Meng cried out in pain, then opened his eyes and immediately cursed Zi Chenyu across from him.

"You bastard! A purple bastard at that! If you've got the guts, beat me to death! Beat me to death..."

Before the old man's shout had even finished, a tremendous roar came from behind them. Following that was the furious cry of countless spirit beasts, and then a vast swarm of flying spirit beasts soared into the sky, while a cloud of dust billowed up from below.

Yellow-brown dust swallowed the entire sky, blocking the view in every direction around the magical ship. The ship rocked in the storm of dirt, and the people on the deck were tossed so hard they nearly rolled over the side to the ground.

Guo Meng looked at everything before him and burst into wild laughter, howling and shouting like a madman as he leaped about in the dust.

The black-robed men were unaffected and stood where they were, while Zi Chenyu alone was knocked hard against the wooden rail at the stern. Steward Liu rushed over and caught him.

Gradually, the dust in the sky dispersed. The ship had been stopped here for more than an hour, and no one dared move. Now the sky cleared, and the surroundings were visible in perfect detail.

Before them stretched a boundless plain. The mountain peaks that had existed moments ago were gone without a trace. The Forging Valley they had just flown out of seemed to have vanished in an instant. If he had not personally come out from within it, he would never have believed that mountains and a great sect had once stood here.

The plain stretched endlessly in every direction. The spirit beasts that had been running in confusion now quieted down and began seeking places to settle on the plain, while the spirit birds that had been fluttering wildly also descended one after another.