Sect Master’s Immortal Journey

Chapter 266: Roaring Flame

While Meng Zhang was meditating, Yang Xueyi was busy refining the magic tool she had just acquired.

In this region known as the Endless Sea of Sand, which was ruled by the Flying Swan Sect, even if they obtained a magic tool from a disciple of the Fire Cloud Sect, there was no need to worry about being sought after by the rightful owner. As a matter of fact, both the Yellow Lotus Sect's East River Branch and the Fire Cloud Sect had been sending disciples into the Endless Sea of Sand for hundreds of years to gather information, but they mostly dispatched disciples at the Foundation Building stage who had to conceal their identities and act covertly.

The Gold Core Daoist Masters of the two sects had never been heard of venturing into the Endless Sea of Sand. A few years ago, when the incident of Yellow Lotus Sect disciples infiltrating the Endless Sea of Sand and ambushing the Qiaoshou Sect was exposed, even though Qiaoshou Sect was a vassal of the Forest Spring Watch, as rulers of the Endless Sea of Sand, the Flying Swan Sect demonstrated the magnanimity of a major cultivation sect by sending experts to search for the whereabouts of the Yellow Lotus Sect disciples.

Moreover, the higher-ups of the Flying Swan Sect, feeling their authority offended, did not hesitate to divert manpower from the battlefield to strengthen the patrols in the Endless Sea of Sand, preventing outsiders from causing trouble here. Usually, as long as those outsiders didn't provoke any incidents, the Flying Swan Sect disciples would often turn a blind eye to them. However, after this incident, disciples from sects like the Fire Cloud Sect and Yellow Lotus Sect would be expelled or even pursued and killed if they encountered Flying Swan Sect patrols.

Therefore, once the identities of disciples from either sect were exposed, they had to find a way to quickly escape from the Endless Sea of Sand. The Fire Cloud Sect disciple that Meng Zhang and the others encountered had the misfortune of running into a patrol of the Flying Swan Sect, which led to a series of events.

After dealing with the matter concerning the Heavenly Secret Technique, Meng Zhang began to contemplate. The evidence they obtained from the Fire Cloud Sect disciple could fully prove the collusion between the Earthfire Sect and the Fire Cloud Sect.

Of course, Meng Zhang would not act recklessly and harm others without benefiting himself. His current consideration was how to profit from this situation. The cultivators of Earthfire Sect were known for their fiery temper, explosiveness, and fearless behavior.

The reason behind this reputation was said to be related to the cultivation techniques they practiced. Most of the direct disciples of Earthfire Sect cultivated a secret fire attribute technique. During the Refining Qi stage, they absorbed the raging fire spiritual energy, especially the fire spiritual energy from the underground, and converted it into their true qi.

The turbulent spiritual energy easily caused cultivators to go berserk and lose control. Their special cultivation technique also affected their temperament and character. When they reached the completion of the Refining Qi stage, Earthfire Sect disciples would risk their lives and venture deep underground to find suitable earthfires.

Unlike other sects' Foundation Building disciples who needed assistance from Foundation Building Pills and the like, Earthfire Sect disciples only needed to merge the earthfire using their secret technique to successfully advance to the Foundation Building stage. However, this process was extremely dangerous, as the slightest mistake would turn their entire bodies to ashes.

As one of the major cultivation sects on par with the former Twin Success Valley, Earthfire Sect had a large number of disciples. However, almost every year, Refining Qi completion disciples would die during the Foundation Building process. Even so, there was a continuous stream of disciples attempting Foundation Building after completing the Refining Qi stage.

Cultivators at the Foundation Building stage, cultivated through this method, not only possessed formidable combat power but also exhibited a ferocity that disregarded life and death. While the number of Foundation Building cultivators in Earthfire Sect might not match that of Twin Success Valley, their battle strength was no weaker and even more ferocious when it came to fighting.Initially, Twin Success Valley acted in an overbearing manner as the regional overlord and dared not easily provoke Earthfire Sect. Given the character and style of the Earthfire Sect cultivators, Meng Zhang truly didn't dare to rashly threaten them. If he were to anger those lunatics, they would act recklessly, leading to disastrous consequences. In the end, it would be Meng Zhang who suffered the losses.

After much contemplation, Meng Zhang realized it was best to deal with rational individuals. Shangguan Wen, the external affairs executive of Earthfire Sect, might only be at the Refining Qi cultivation level, but his status within the sect was not low. Moreover, he didn't behave like a typical Earthfire Sect disciple. Shangguan Wen was astute and tactful, making him a suitable person for normal communication.

Although Meng Zhang had some unpleasant encounters with Shangguan Wen recently, he decided to visit him to test the waters. After making the decision, he left Yang Xueyi at the inn and went to pay Shangguan Wen a visit.

However, upon arrival, the Earthfire Sect disciple in charge of receiving guests claimed that Shangguan Wen was not there. He had left a few days ago for some business. Initially, Meng Zhang thought that Shangguan Wen was being standoffish and didn't want to see him. But after using Mind Reading to read the thoughts of the disciple, he realized the disciple was not lying. Shangguan Wen had indeed left Firewell Market a few days ago, and there was no information about when he would return.

Meng Zhang then discovered that although Shangguan Wen had a habit of saying one thing but meaning another and looking down on others, he was still a powerful figure among Earthfire Sect cultivators. Now that Shangguan Wen was not in Firewell Market, Meng Zhang couldn't find another suitable high-ranking Earthfire Sect member to communicate with in the short term.

Threatening Earthfire Sect with the evidence he possessed and attempting to extort benefits had to be done cautiously and patiently. Since Shangguan Wen was absent, there were no other suitable candidates. Meng Zhang didn't want to wait around, so he took Yang Xueyi and returned to Taiyi Sect.

The trip was not in vain. Besides achieving his goal, he also gained some extra benefits. However, using the Grand Evolving Fortune required time for replenishment. Meng Zhang gained a substantial amount of contributions to the sect by appropriating most of the items from the Fire Cloud Sect disciple he encountered.

As for Yang Xueyi, she had to refine the newly acquired magic tools and gradually adjust to them. Once she reached the Foundation Building stage, she could further improve her talisman-making skills and strive to become a Second Rank Talisman Master. Only then would the Second Rank talisman brush be of use.

Within a month of returning to Taiyi Sect, Meng Zhang received two significant pieces of news. The first was that after years of bitter fighting and heavy losses, Flying Swan Sect had finally slain a Third Rank sand monster, eradicated the sand monster army, destroyed their nest, and completely quelled the sand monster upheaval. This large-scale and devastating sand monster uprising was a rare event in the history of the Endless Sea of Sand. Its impact on Flying Swan Sect and the entire region was profound.

The second major news had an even greater and surprising influence on Meng Zhang and the surrounding situation. It was about the Earthfire Sect's Elder, who successfully formed their core over ten days ago. Henceforth, he was to be addressed as Daoist Master Roaring Blaze.

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