The sect had many disciples, and its strength could not be underestimated. With several Dharma Manifestation Realm martial artists overseeing it, it ranked among the foremost great sects of Qingyang Circuit and ordinarily enjoyed considerable prestige there.
Yet just over ten days earlier, an earth-shaking, bizarre incident had occurred at the Flying Eagle Sect.
Everyone in the sect, from its master to its ordinary disciples and even its menial workers-roughly a thousand people in all-had vanished overnight, leaving not the slightest trace.
Within the Flying Eagle Sect's grounds, the buildings remained intact. Weapons, pills, spirit stones, and other valuables had not gone missing. Even the food on the stove retained a little warmth, as though all the disciples had merely stepped away for a moment.
After the people of the Flying Eagle Sect vanished into thin air, the vast inheritance they left behind instantly became a "fat morsel" in the eyes of Qingyang Circuit's various sects-vast stretches of fertile spirit fields, several mines rich in spirit stones, and dozens of residences and shops.
There were also the lightness skill and hidden weapon manuals passed down through the Flying Eagle Sect for thousands of years, along with the great quantities of wealth stockpiled in its storehouses. Every one of these was enough to tempt people.
Thus, several great sects of Qingyang Circuit made the first move, competing to seize the Flying Eagle Sect's inheritance. More than a dozen smaller sects refused to be outdone, either attaching themselves to larger sects or huddling together for warmth, taking the opportunity to claim a share of the spoils.
Relations between Qingyang Circuit's sects, which had previously been fairly harmonious, instantly turned into drawn swords and bent bows. Although no large-scale bloodshed broke out openly, covert struggles never ceased.
Ambushing and killing one another's disciples,