"It's the Scarlet Sun Sect!"
Qian Dahai's voice was filled with teeth-gnashing hatred, his eyes openly expressing his animosity.
The others exchanged glances, unable to recall any information about this sect.
Before their departure, Elder Hong Tian had retrieved classified files from within the sect, which detailed the various factions and powers within Chongyuan Prefecture.
However, no matter how hard they racked their brains, they could not find even a single mention of the Scarlet Sun Sect.
"It's a new sect, only established a few decades ago," Zhao Yuansong explained immediately.
Although they were being hunted during that period, they had also gathered intelligence on their enemies.
The Scarlet Sun Sect was founded over fifty years ago by five rogue cultivators at the Mingdao realm. It did not hold significant renown in Liufeng Prefecture, and its members were only active in remote areas.
"If that's the case, why haven't the sect's cultivators at the Third Realm made any moves along the way?" Ji Yuan asked, frowning.
Although they were inner disciples of the Nine Xuan Sect, and despite being teleported from Lingyang Prefecture's Feiyun County to Liufeng Prefecture's Liufeng County and trapped in a cave dwelling for several years, they had benefited from misfortune. Their cultivation realms had seen significant progress.
Facing a cultivator who had just entered the Third Realm, they might be able to escape unharmed. However, with the combined efforts of two such individuals, they would at least suffer nearly half casualties.
Not to mention, this so-called Scarlet Sun Sect had a total of five cultivators in the Third Realm.
Since the sect could pursue them all the way to Fengming Prefecture and secretly collude with the cultivators of the Rebirth Pavilion to continue their pursuit of Zhao Yuansong and his companions, their level of concern was evident. In Liufeng Prefecture, they could have easily dispatched one or two cultivators of the Third Realm.
Yet, they had not done so. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Zhao Yuansong and the others to escape their pursuit solely on their own.
"Because they no longer have the spare capacity to hunt down a group of cultivators at the Second Realm."
As everyone fell silent, pondering the crux of the matter, a voice reached their ears.
A look of pleasant surprise washed over the group. Following the sound, they looked to the side and indeed saw a familiar figure.
Having shaken off several cultivators of the same realm and successfully lured away the Rebirth Pavilion, Elder Hong Tian, upon receiving the summons, had finally arrived.
He swept his gaze over everyone, then nodded slightly and immediately said, "I've managed to glean some information from the cultivators of the Rebirth Pavilion."
At these words, Ji Yuan's heart stirred, and he blurted out instinctively, "The Ten Thousand Souls Yin Spirit Banner?"
He had an intuitive feeling that the matter the elder was about to discuss was directly related to this artifact.
Indeed, Elder Hong Tian was momentarily taken aback, then nodded, "That's correct."
Ji Yuan frowned, unable to understand the connection between this matter and the Scarlet Sun Sect of Liufeng Prefecture.
Could it be...
His eyes flashed, and he immediately guessed the link.
"In Liufeng Prefecture and Qishan Prefecture, there are many sects secretly established by the five major demonic sects. The Scarlet Sun Sect is one of them," Elder Hong Tian said slowly.
While diverting the forces of the Rebirth Pavilion, he had encountered several cultivators of the Third Realm. After a fierce battle, he had managed to kill one of them and used soul-searching techniques to extract significant intelligence.
Through this method, he had also confirmed the identities of these cultivators. They were, in fact, hidden agents of the Rebirth Pavilion, with their roots in Scarlet Flame Mountain, one of the five major demonic sects.
Their current overt identity was that of an elder of the Scarlet Sun Sect in Liufeng Prefecture, and their companions were likewise.
The purpose of these individuals entering Fengming Prefecture was twofold: to deliver treasures and, incidentally, to continue the pursuit of Zhao Yuansong and his companions.
As for the treasures being delivered, they were tens of thousands of souls and spirits harvested through their painstaking efforts!
"It seems the quality of the Ten Thousand Souls Yin Spirit Banner that the Rebirth Pavilion wishes to refine is definitely no lower than that of a top-grade artifact!" Ji Yuan said in a deep voice.
A top-grade artifact, in addition to being crafted from heavenly and earthly treasures, must possess at least eighteen innate restrictions.
As for acquired restrictions, they must exceed twenty-two!
Such artifacts could become sect-preserving treasures, capable of suppressing a sect's destiny and wielding terrifying might.
A Great Cultivator at the Golden Core realm, if possessing such an artifact, could completely contend with those in the late stages of the same realm and maintain a stable advantage, being almost invincible.
For instance, the Lei Ze Peak had previously possessed only a mid-grade artifact. Despite its precious materials, it only had fifteen innate restrictions.
With this treasure, Xu Chengfeng, the Peak Master of Lei Ze Peak, had already gained fame throughout Lingyang Prefecture. With his mid-stage cultivation realm, he could easily suppress several ordinary cultivators of the same realm, or even one or two in the late stages.
"Leave Fengming Prefecture immediately!"
Ji Yuan surveyed the group, his expression grave, and said.
Everyone present also realized the seriousness of the situation. Only one young boy still wore an expression of innocent ignorance.
He immediately took out a flying artifact and, no longer concerned about concealing their tracks, took turns with Elder Hong Tian to propel it, leaving Fengming Prefecture at the fastest possible speed.
It could be inferred that the Rebirth Pavilion undoubtedly placed immense importance on the refinement of this treasure, otherwise, they would not have easily deployed other hidden assets in different prefectures.
After all, Fengming Prefecture alone could provide a massive amount of souls and spirits. Under normal circumstances, there would be no need for forces hidden in other prefectures to take such risks to achieve this.
However, the Rebirth Pavilion had still deployed these forces, indicating that their time, or rather their opportunity, was running out.
And to prevent the leakage of information, they would naturally not let Elder Hong Tian off the hook, as he had captured the soul of a Third Realm cultivator. There was no need to even guess what he intended to do.
"Ling Yu, when we get back, you can help them transcend the residual souls, and then return the artifact to me."
After hearing that Ji Yuan had also encountered demonic creatures collecting souls in a county town, and that he had helped hundreds of residual souls transcend, Elder Hong Tian took out a mountain and river pouch and said with a solemn expression.
Upon hearing this, the group on the flying artifact fell into silence almost simultaneously.
They were surprised that the elder had actually seized the opponent's artifact.
Ji Yuan's mouth twitched, and he suddenly began to doubt whether they could successfully leave Fengming Prefecture.
Tens of thousands of souls must be extremely important to the Rebirth Pavilion.
He silently accepted the mountain and river pouch and swept his divine sense into it, his gaze falling upon a small black flag.
This object was undoubtedly more exquisite than any he had seen before. It was a magical artifact with nine acquired restrictions, and its materials were all top-tier.
It currently contained over thirty thousand souls and spirits, though most of them were already incomplete and constantly emanating endless resentment.
Even without being refined into a treasure, the power of this artifact was definitely no less than that of ordinary magical items. If activated with corresponding cultivation techniques or secret arts, it could unleash extremely formidable power.