Zhang Xiao's actions earlier had already made Xia Wuji feel that something was off about him.
It could now be confirmed that Zhang Xiao was a member of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult.
The secret art he had just performed was something Xia Wuji had seen on quite a few members of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult that night.
Lying on the ground, his entire body drenched in blood, Zhang Xiao endured the excruciating pain of his injuries and roared, "Xia Wuji... Now that you know I'm from the Bloodfire Demonic Cult, it's still not too late for you to take your sword away!"
"I'll tell you the truth. My adoptive father is a helmsman of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult!"
"He's in this area tonight too. If you dare kill me... my adoptive father absolutely won't let you off!"
Xia Wuji let out a cold laugh and said, "You still haven't answered my question."
As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his finger. A wisp of flame transformed into sword qi and instantly burrowed into Zhang Xiao's body.
The Flame Sword Qi coursed through his body.
"Ahhh..."
Zhang Xiao let out a heart-rending howl.
"I'll talk... I'll talk... I'll tell you everything..." It only took a moment before Zhang Xiao could no longer endure it.
"My adoptive father is a helmsman of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult. His nickname is Blood Butcher."
"He's cultivating a secret art of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult that requires a large amount of essence blood and souls from young martial artists..."
"Moreover, the essence blood and souls have to be extracted from living young martial artists. So earlier, when my adoptive father had people attack, they were only driving everyone away. He wasn't actually trying to kill them all. He wanted to drive everyone into the Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation."
"Once midnight arrived, when the heavens and earth were at their most yin, my adoptive father would activate the power of the Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation, extracting and refining those young martial artists' essence blood and souls bit by bit... using them as energy to cultivate his secret art."
Xia Wuji's thoughts churned. This finally explained everything.
No wonder he had sensed the aura of a Core Formation Realm expert lurking in the shadows, yet that Core Formation Realm expert had allowed the targets to break through without personally taking action.
It turned out that the fellow called Blood Butcher had deliberately been driving people into the area where he had laid out that vicious formation!
"The place you sent Huang Hu to—is that the Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation?" Xia Wuji asked.
Zhang Xiao hurriedly replied, "Yes..."
"How many people are there now?"
"Over two hundred..."
"Blood Butcher is at the second level of the Core Formation Realm?" Xia Wuji asked again.
Zhang Xiao's eyes widened. "How did you know? My adoptive father only broke through recently. Even among the people around him, only a handful know his cultivation level..."
"Stop wasting time!" Xia Wuji shouted coldly. Naturally, he knew because he had clearly sensed Blood Butcher's aura earlier.
"Could Blood Butcher also be a Formation Master?"
Zhang Xiao said, "No... My adoptive father isn't a Formation Master. He paid an enormous price to obtain this Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation from a Formation Master of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult."
"I also heard my adoptive father say... that this formation seemed to be incomplete. But it was more than sufficient for cultivating the Bloodfire Demonic Cult's secret art..."
"Xia Wuji... That's all I know. I've told you everything... As long as you spare my life, I'll do anything for you..."
"But I never planned to spare you." Xia Wuji thrust his sword forward, piercing Zhang Xiao through the forehead.
As the adoptive son of a helmsman of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult—and with the Bloodfire Demonic Cult having already killed many people that night—Zhang Xiao had quite a few valuable things on him.
"If I had a Storage Ring, I could take everything." Xia Wuji sighed. He then selected only the pills suitable for his current cultivation realm, released a ball of flame to erase all traces of the corpse, and quickly left.
But he did not head straight for Qingyun City.
Instead, he turned around and hurried toward the direction of the Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation.
Huang Hu was a decent man. If he could be saved, Xia Wuji would save him.
Now, the situation was reversed: he was in the shadows, while the Bloodfire Demonic Cult's helmsman, Blood Butcher, was in the open.
A second-level Core Formation Realm martial artist who was not a Formation Master, controlling an incomplete first-grade inferior demonic formation—this was Xia Wuji's best opportunity!
In a secluded mountain valley.
Many young talents heading to Qingyun City to participate in the examination had gathered there, but no one made a sound. Everyone remained silent.
The atmosphere in the valley was extremely grave.
All of them had encountered an attack from the Bloodfire Demonic Cult just as they were about to reach Qingyun City. They had then gathered here, afraid to act recklessly, waiting for the experts from Azure Star Academy to receive the news and come to their rescue.
"Miss Xu, how are your injuries?" Huang Hu had just arrived in the valley when he saw the Xu Lan he had been thinking about day and night. Concern filled his face as he asked about her condition.
Xu Lan's face was pale. She said, "I suppose I was lucky this time. I managed to survive by the skin of my teeth."
"Those who survive a great disaster are bound to have future blessings. Let's wait here in peace. Qingyun City isn't far from here. Everything should be fine soon," Huang Hu said.
Xu Lan hummed in response, then continued circulating her energy to heal her injuries.
Huang Hu silently stood guard beside her and thought, I wonder how Brother Xia is doing now. It's truly dangerous for him to go to Qingyun City alone. But he already clashed with Zhang Xiao, and under those circumstances, I couldn't force Brother Xia to come here with me.
I hope we can meet again in Qingyun City.
"Reporting to my adoptive father, something happened to Zhang Xiao!"
A woman came before a middle-aged man and knelt on one knee.
A dense aura of baleful intent and bloodlust permeated the middle-aged man's body. He was none other than the Bloodfire Demonic Cult's helmsman, nicknamed Blood Butcher.
Blood Butcher's brows drew together slightly. "Have you found out what happened?"
The woman said, "He went to kill a youngster named Xia Wuji, and then something unexpected happened. His corpse turned to ashes, so there's no way to determine exactly how he died."
"Adoptive father, Zhang Xiao wasn't very tight-lipped. I'm worried that he exposed your plan before he died."
Blood Butcher snorted coldly, completely unconcerned. "The commotion here is so great that even if Zhang Xiao hadn't exposed my plan, the people from Azure Star Academy in Qingyun City would have received word."
"But what of it?"
"By the time they receive the news, depart from Qingyun City, and reach this place, my plan will already be complete!"
The woman said, "Adoptive father has everything under control. This plan is even flawless. Let me congratulate you in advance. Once tonight passes, your secret art will reach perfection, and your position in the Bloodfire Demonic Cult will rise another level!"
Blood Butcher threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Then activate the Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation!"
"Yes!"
In an instant, a shrill sound rang out. It was the signal to activate the Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation.
Immediately afterward, the area around the mountain valley where the young talents taking the Azure Star Academy examination were hiding began to tremble with a rumble. Layer after layer of blood-colored light shot into the sky, and in the blink of an eye, it completely enveloped the valley.
Everyone in the valley panicked!
"This is a formation!"
"Damn it, we've fallen into a trap! If I'm not mistaken, this is the Bloodfire Demonic Cult's Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation. Once this formation is activated, the living beings inside it will have the essence blood drained from their bodies alive, while their souls will be devoured bit by bit..."
"This is a conspiracy... I understand now, I understand everything! The Bloodfire Demonic Cult laid out this vicious formation here and deliberately drove us into it..."
"Listen to me! Calm down. Follow me and charge! We'll fight our way through this formation!"
For a time, the mountain valley descended into chaos.
Some people tried to gather everyone's strength and blast open a gap in the formation. But even though the Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation was only a first-grade inferior formation, it was not so easy to break.
"Hahahaha!"
"You worthless fools, becoming materials for Blood Butcher's cultivation of his secret art is your honor!"
"Refine Blood!"
Blood Butcher soared into the air and arrived at the center of the blood-colored light curtain covering the valley. He sat cross-legged, his hands rapidly forming seals. In an instant, the power of the formation erupted and began rapidly extracting the essence blood of the people inside.
Excitement appeared on Blood Butcher's face. Such abundant essence-blood energy was continuously pouring into his body, filling him with incomparable excitement.
"Devour Souls!"
Blood Butcher formed another set of hand seals.
Another function of the formation activated as well.
Inside the formation, no one could control their own essence blood. Blood mist continuously drifted out from the surface of their skin, while their heads throbbed with unbearable pain, as though an invisible blade were repeatedly slicing through their skulls!
At the edge of the mountain valley.
Xia Wuji arrived without making a sound.
He looked at the light curtain formed by the vicious formation before him. In the next moment, his hands rapidly formed seals. The power of the seals gathered at his fingertips. As he swiped his fingers across his eyes, a faint golden radiance actually began to glow in them.
This was a low-grade profound-tier secret art called the Spirit Eye!
As the Spirit Eye opened, every hidden secret within this Blood Refining Soul Devouring Formation appeared in Xia Wuji's line of sight!
Before you continue