webnovel Chapter 311 - 262: Failed Prevention (2)
Chapter 311 - 262: Failed Prevention (2)
’I still have too little information.’
Fang Yun thought to himself as the Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Demon-slaying Sword, materialized in his hand.
His mission would go much more smoothly if he had more intel on Vortex Cave. But this was all the information the Evil Extermination Hall had managed to gather on this Foundation Establishment Influence affiliated with the Celestial Demon Sect. There was nothing he could do about it.
「A short while earlier.」
「Inside a cavern.」
The Vortex Cave Master was in the middle of his daily cultivation.
As the Vortex Cave Master, a late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon, he occupied the best cultivation cavern in the entire Vortex Cave.
The Demon Qi within the cavern was especially dense.
In the middle of his cultivation, the Vortex Cave Master’s eyes suddenly flew open.
’That feeling just now... It was as if I was being scanned, assuming I’m not mistaken.’
The Vortex Cave Master trusted his instincts and didn’t think he could be wrong.
Thus, he fully opened all his senses, spreading out his Divine Sense.
And then he discovered... nothing.
’Was I wrong?’
The thought had barely formed before the Vortex Cave Master shook his head, dismissing it.
’Impossible. Absolutely impossible!’
At that moment, he recalled the destruction of the Feng Family.
The Feng Family had been wiped out by a Spirit Refiner. According to the Celestial Demon Sect’s speculation, they were annihilated without a sound.
If not for a Celestial Demon Sect Elder who was also killed at the Feng Family estate, causing his Demon Jar within the sect to shatter, the Celestial Demon Sect wouldn’t have known about the Feng Family’s destruction so quickly.
’This situation now...’
Sensing something was terribly wrong, the Vortex Cave Master immediately took out the Core Array Plate for the Sect Array.
The Grand Array of their Vortex Cave was far superior to the Feng Family’s in every aspect.
The Grand Array’s surveillance function didn’t consume much energy. Upon activation, it remained in a low-power state, dedicating its energy to detection.
The Vortex Cave Master stared at the information displayed on the Core Array Plate.
Not a single fluctuation of Spiritual Power was detected.
Suddenly, a white bright spot appeared on the Core Array Plate—a fluctuation of Spiritual Power.
The white spot was located near the very center of the Core Array Plate, indicating that the Spirit Refiner had already infiltrated their Vortex Cave.
At the same time, the Vortex Cave Master also sensed it: the Spiritual Power fluctuation was right outside his cavern.
BOOM! The mountain wall exploded inward.
A light red Long Sword flew toward him.
’Spiritual Power fluctuations of a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner, and this Spiritual Artifact is only Middle Grade.’
The Vortex Cave Master, now fully alert, dared not be the slightest bit careless.
When one attacks, it’s difficult to conceal fluctuations of either Spiritual Power or Demon Power, so this had to be a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner.
But for a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner to sneak into their Vortex Cave undetected... that was enough to prove this Spirit Refiner was no ordinary person.
’This must be the Spirit Refiner the Celestial Demon Sect has been trying to find information on!’
The Demon Power within the Vortex Cave Master erupted.
Though it appeared to be just an ordinary Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, he felt he had to use his full strength to block it.
The trajectory of the light red Long Sword was strange.
The Vortex Cave Master noticed something was wrong and reacted quickly; he realized the Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact was aimed directly at his weak point.
’How is that possible?’
The doubt had just flashed through his mind.
Then, something even more impossible became the last thing the Vortex Cave Master ever saw.
His strongest defensive measure, which even a Spirit Refiner at the Peak of Foundation Establishment would struggle to breach, was shattered by this Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact.
Bleeding uncontrollably, he could only stare blankly until he lost consciousness.
’Who was it?’
This was the Vortex Cave Master’s final question, and the same one the Celestial Demon Sect had been trying to answer for so long...
「In a brightly lit cavern.」
This was the place in Vortex Cave where the Demon Jars were kept.
The Demon guarding this area immediately sensed something was wrong when he saw the Cave Master’s Demon Jar shatter.
"How is this possible!?"
He clearly remembered that the Cave Master hadn’t left; he was supposed to be within the sect’s grounds.
In other words, the Cave Master had died on his own turf.
And yet, at this very moment, there was hardly any commotion outside.
He understood!
The middle and upper echelons of Vortex Cave all knew about the destruction of the Feng Family; their Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining Demons had all died in their own ancestral home.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the Demon on guard duty sounded the highest-level alarm.
A long, piercing cry echoed through the valley.
Hearing this, the Foundation Establishment Demons rushed out of their caverns.
The highest-level alarm was only sounded in extreme emergencies, and only the sect’s middle or upper echelons had the authority to use it.
"What’s happening?"
"Strange, where’s the Cave Master?"
The quickest to react, a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Demon, had already noticed something was amiss.
The highest-level alarm was sounding, yet their Cave Master was nowhere to be seen.
Just as he was about to move, he noticed another anomaly.
There were fluctuations of Spiritual Power.
For Spiritual Power fluctuations to appear within their sect’s grounds was an extremely abnormal phenomenon.
The Cave Master’s disappearance, the highest-level alarm, and the fluctuations of Spiritual Power—if he couldn’t put these three clues together, he would have wasted his hundred years of life.
’It’s that mysterious Spirit Refiner!’
As the thought occurred to him, he saw a Long Sword in the distance cut down one of their Vortex Cave’s Foundation Establishment Demons.
’But where is the Spirit Refiner himself?’
The Spiritual Power fluctuations were coming from the Long Sword, but the source of those fluctuations was hard to pinpoint.
The only thing he could be certain of at this point was that the Spirit Refiner was only at the middle-stage of Foundation Establishment.
Without further hesitation, he quickly transmitted the information he currently had to the Celestial Demon Sect, then fled Vortex Cave without looking back.
The more information he passed on to the Celestial Demon Sect, the greater his reward would be.
The Cave Master, being out of contact, was surely dead. Otherwise, he would have activated the Grand Array at a time like this.
This middle-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner had silently killed the Vortex Cave Master. There was a significant power gap between him and the Cave Master, which meant this mysterious Spirit Refiner could kill him with ease.
Under these circumstances, gathering more information was too risky. The right move was to escape now, while the middle-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner hadn’t yet targeted him.
’By the time I return to Vortex Cave...’
’The position of Vortex Cave Master will basically be mine.’
’Or maybe I won’t even need to become the new Vortex Cave Master. I could become a Celestial Demon Sect Elder instead.’
His thoughts were grand.
But reality sent a jolt of alarm through him.
A dark yellow Long Sword was rapidly approaching him.
’Damn it!’
’That dark yellow Long Sword comes from the mysterious Spirit Refiner; it’s definitely not an ordinary Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact.’
’A single strike from it could be fatal.’
With this thought, the middle-stage Foundation Establishment Demon erupted with even greater speed.
He wanted to see if he could escape the pursuit of the dark yellow Long Sword.
"You..."
Under the full force of the attack, the middle-stage Foundation Establishment Demon slowly managed to utter a single word.
His head had already been severed from his body.
He had considered his physical strength to be quite formidable among middle-stage Foundation Establishment Demons, but this sword strike had cut him down as if he were softer than tofu.
His head and body fell.
In his final moments, the middle-stage Foundation Establishment Demon from Vortex Cave finally saw the Spirit Refiner’s figure in the distance.
He was clad in a black robe and wore a black mask. Nothing else was visible.
’That’s the fourth. One more to go.’
Fang Yun wasn’t in a hurry to collect the loot or the heads of the Foundation Establishment Demons.
He would deal with the last Foundation Establishment Demon first.
When this Foundation Establishment Demon had fled, he had quickly given chase.
Back in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, he could precisely control a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact from a maximum distance of 200 zhang, thanks to the boost from his six-star Combat Talent. After breaking through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, that maximum distance had increased to over 450 zhang.
The middle-stage Foundation Establishment Demon had moved beyond his maximum precise control range, so he’d had no choice but to follow.
Fortunately, his Half-Hidden Spirit Boots were fast enough.
’There he is!’
In less than three breaths, Fang Yun found the last one—an early-stage Foundation Establishment Demon.
This Demon hadn’t tried to run; he had hidden instead.
An early-stage Foundation Establishment Demon was, of course, incredibly easy for him to deal with.
Next, he had to quickly clean up the Qi Refining Demons of Vortex Cave and then get out of here.
The fourth Demon he had killed had already transmitted a message.
Most likely, it was sent to the Celestial Demon Sect.