He slowly turned around, his gaze flashing like lightning as it swept across Xuan Tianba's pale face.
"Tianba, put away your weakness."
"This is no time for grief."
"The sect has suffered such a calamity. There must be a root cause."
"Those elders who self-detonated were nothing more than pawns controlled by someone."
"The Demonic Qi within them was pure and strange, far beyond what any ordinary Demonic Beast could possess."
Xuan Tianba abruptly raised his head, a trace of astonishment flashing through his eyes. "Old Ancestor, you mean..."
"This matter is by no means a simple invasion by the demonic path." Old Ancestor Xuan Mang's tone grew increasingly grave.
"I suspect the source of that Demonic Qi cannot be separated from Xuanling Cave Heaven."
The core region of Xuanling Cave Heaven was the sect's forbidden ground.
It was also a place that the founding patriarchs of every generation had strictly decreed could not be entered lightly by anyone other than the sect master and an old ancestor.
Rumor had it that some terrifying existence was being suppressed there.
"Old Ancestor, are you saying... the seal within the cave heaven..."
Xuan Tianba's voice carried a faint, almost imperceptible tremor.
"Indeed." Old Ancestor Xuan Mang nodded, a deep worry flashing through his eyes.
"For nearly ten thousand years, I have occasionally sensed disturbances within Xuanling Cave Heaven."
"But that seal was personally laid down millions of years ago by a Divine Lord Mighty Being. It was incomparably sturdy, so I did not pay it too much attention."
"Now that I think about it, I fear the thing being suppressed has already found a way to seep through the seal."
"These elders and disciples who were corrupted by demonic power were very likely its handiwork."
Xuan Tianba drew in a sharp breath,