Chapter 82: The Night of Execution and The Crimson Fire Sect Falls

The Crimson Fire Sect occupied a modest mountain valley four hundred kilometers Northeast of the Jade City. From the outside, it appeared no different from hundreds of other low tier sects scattered across the continent with neat courtyards, practice grounds where disciples drilled martial forms, administrative buildings with curved roofs and red pillars.

Their reputation was unremarkable but clean. A small sect focused on fire attribute techniques, accepting disciples of decent talent though they would prefer fire attribute spiritual roots, maintaining freindly relations with nearby powers.

They also pays their taxes to the provincial governor, send representatives to the yearly regional cultivation conferences, and avoided conflicts with stronger organizations.

The evening meditation bell had just rung and hundreds of disciples settled into their cultivation chambers, circulating spiritual energy through familiar patterns. Outer disciples in shared dormitories. Inner disciples in private rooms. Core disciples in their individual courtyard residences.

And above them all, in caves carved into the mountainside, the sect’s leadership conducted their true business.

Elder Wen’s personal cave was most spacious, carved from meteorite stone, a Tier two material and reinforced with formation arrays. Expensive spirit lamps provided illumination. Shelves lined the walls, filled with jade slips and cultivation resources.

And in the back chamber, hidden behind layers of concealment formations, was the workshop.

Smell of blood and burning flesh mixed with various mixtures was all over the place. Glass vessels lined neatly on the workbenches, filled with liquids ranging from clear to deep crimson. Preservation arrays at work for maintaining the "materials" at optimal freshness.

Severed hands floated in one container, their spiritual energy slowly being extracted. Another held eyes, harvested from cultivators at the moment of death when their soul energy was strongest. Pills arranged in neat rows, each one containing refined essence stolen from living beings.

Elder Wen stood over a worktable, carefully inscribing formation patterns onto a human spine. The bone had been treated with spiritual ingredients, transforming it into a component for his breakthrough to Core Formation Realm.

Three other elders also occupied the same chamber. Elder Zhao grounded pills from dried organ tissue. Elder Sun refined blood essence into concentrated droplets. Elder Ming checked the preservation arrays maintaining their latest "harvest"—seventeen independent cultivators who’d visited the wrong place at the wrong time.

"The spy should be returning tonight," Elder Zhao said, not looking up from his work. "Three days is plenty for gathering information on that restaurant owner."

"Good." Elder Wen set down his brush. "That Yu Liang has become problematic. He is getting too much attention and many independent cultivators are gathering in that one location. We need to either control him or eliminate him."

"Control would be preferable," Elder Sun mused. "That many potential materials walking through his doors daily... if we could direct them properly..."

"Agreed. But the boy seems very stubborn. He refused several of generous partnership offers from our associated restaurants." Elder Ming’s said irritatedly. "Pride is always a weakness in the young people."

"Then we’ll break him properly. Force him to sell, install our own people then harvest customers gradually." Elder Wen smiled coldly. "Three, four hundred high quality materials per year from that location alone is enough to push several of us toward Core Formation Realm."

The other elders laughed in agreement.

"Once our spy returns with Yu Liang’s full background including family connections, financial sources, cultivation level then we’ll know exactly how to—"

Out of nowhere a cold voice interrupted from the shadows.

"No. You will not."

All four elders immediately turned around, their spiritual energy circulating as they prepared themselves for a fight.

Five figures stood inside the chamber, each wearing an identical dark mask. Their cultivations were concealed, making it impossible to tell how strong they were.

Still, no one in the room took them lightly.

Elder Wen’s face went pale. "Who—"

The middle aged man moved first. His hand blurred forward, and Elder Zhao’s head separated from his shoulders before the he could finish raising his guard. The body collapsed and blood sprayed across the workshop.

The twin brothers split left and right, their movements perfectly synchronized. Elder Sun managed to activate a Tier 4 defensive talisman, capable of withstanding Core Formation Realm cultivators attacks.

It lasted exactly two seconds against concentrated Nascent Soul strikes. The moment his formation shattered Elder Sun tried to run.

One of the twins struck his chest with a palm strike, crushing the bone beneath it. At the same time, the other’s sword cut through his waist.

His body fell to the ground in two huge pieces as the remaining spiritual energy slowly faded away.

Hei Lang moved toward Elder Ming with terrifying pressure. The bear-kin’s massive frame filled the chamber, his single eye gleaming with ferociousness.

Elder Ming was at Core Formation Peak—the sect’s strongest elder just below the sect master. He unleashed his full power, massive flames erupted as he used his killing technique.

Hei Lang walked through the fire without slowing down. His hand closed around the elder’s throat, claws digging deep. He lifted the struggling elder off the ground, then slammed him into the stone wall with enough force to crack both stone and bones.

"You harvest people," Hei Lang said. "Then you should also know what it feels like to be harvested."

He tore Elder Ming’s arms off one after the other. His screams echoed through the stone chamber.

Then came his legs.

Finally, he crushed the elder’s dantian with a casual squeeze, destroying decades of cultivation in an instant.

Elder Ming’s broken body fell to the cave floor. He was barely alive, and at that point, death seemed like the easier option.

Yan Ruo faced Elder Wen alone. The sect’s second strongest elder who had some survival instinct as he immediately tried activating an emergency escape talisman.

Her spiritual energy locked down the space around him. The talisman burned uselessly in his hand.

"You had intended to harvest several hundred," she said quietly. "Use their flesh to make pills, their souls to fuel your cultivation, and their lives as mere resources."

"Please—I can explain—we can negotiate—"

"Negotiate?" Her voice remained soft, almost gentle. "Did you give those people a chance to negotiate? What about the cultivators you dragged away from their families? You kidnapped them and did whatever you wanted with them."

A sword appeared in her hand, a simple blade, nothing fancy. She then flashed.

The first strike severed Elder Wen’s right arm from the shoulder.

The second took his left arm.

The third removed his both legs from the knees.

He collapsed to the ground, his limbs lying nearby and he was still conscious.

"AAAAAARRRGH!"

A scream tore from his throat as he struggled helplessly on the floor.

Yan Ruo crouched beside him, her masked face inches from his. "You wanted to muddy the waters right? Then consider them muddied."

Her blade took his head.

They moved through the mountainside caves quickly, leaving no one behind. More and more elders died in their cultivation chambers, some managing to raise brief defenses, others were killed before realising they were under attack.

Each execution was done ruthlessly, showing them what harvesting feels like.

Then lastly came the sect master’s residence which occupied the highest cave, protected by formation arrays worth millions. The arrays detected the intruders and immediately sounded the alarm, activating the defensive measures.

The five of them broke through the formations like they were made of paper.

Sect Master Crimson, a pretentious title he’d adopted decades ago, was a Peak Core Formation Realm cultivator, enhanced by forbidden techniques and refined soul energy. He actually managed to fight back, unleashing decades of accumulated power in desperate combination attacks.

He lasted couple of seconds.

The twin brothers pinned him with formation techniques. Hei Lang shattered his limbs. The middle aged man slowly destroyed his meridians, ensuring he felt every moment of agonizing pain as his cultivation was taken away from him piece by piece.

Then Yan Ruo delivered the final strike, as her blade tore through his heart.

They left his body in the throne room, surrounded by evidence of his crimes. Dozens of ledgers detailed the people he had kidnapped, while storage rings contained human remains. There were also formation diagrams showing the rituals they had used for sacrifices.

And most importantly, They also scattered the captured spy’s personal belongings throughout the room, his jade identification token, communication talismans, and sect badges.

It was more than enough to make it look like the Crimson Fire Sect had been working with the Passion Sect.

.

.

.

The five of them gathered in the sect’s main training ground. The disciples were locked in their quarters by formations twin placed before hand.

"Leave the formations active until dawn," Yan Ruo commanded. "By the time they break free, we’ll be long gone."

Then they vanished into the night, leaving behind a sect whose leader and elders had been executed.

When the disciples finally emerged at sunrise, they found their elders bodies and the evidences of their crime.

Horror and disbelief filled their faces as they slowly began to understand what had happened.

The Crimson Fire Sect had been purged.