Blazing Flame Sect Master Ma Mingshan

Blazing Flame Sect!

"Honored guests, please have some tea!"

The disciple responsible for receiving guests at the Blazing Flame Sect served fine tea to Qian Xunzong and the others.

As one disciple set a cup beside Qian Xunzong, he imperceptibly slipped a confidential report from his sleeve beneath it. After cupping his hands toward Qian Xunzong, he turned and left.

There was no doubt that he was an Embroidered Uniform Guard hidden within the sect.

Qian Xunzong picked up the teacup, opened the confidential report, and glanced over it. It mainly contained a general assessment of the Blazing Flame Sect's overall strength.

[Blazing Flame Sect: One Titled Douluo, two Soul Douluo, ten Soul Sages, twenty-three Soul Emperors, and several other Soul Masters. Total population: 1,326. Soul Masters: 1,030.]

"As expected of one of the Earth Three Sects. Even in decline, its strength is no weaker than that of the Lower Four Sects."

In truth, a general report on the Blazing Flame Sect had already been delivered to Qian Xunzong some time ago.

Several years earlier, when Ma Mingshan, the Blazing Flame Sect Master, resisted a sudden massive beast tide, he fought three eighty-thousand-year soul beasts. Unfortunately, he was poisoned by the source venom of a Poison-Scaled Mad Serpent and was steadily forced back. Only when the Battle Soul Sect and Undying Sect came to reinforce him was the beast tide driven away. However, his martial soul origin was left with a grave hidden affliction.

Even with the healing of the Undying Sect Master's Nine-Heart Begonia, and despite all his other injuries recovering, the damage to his martial soul origin had taken deep root and could not be removed.

Over time, his energy and strength declined severely. Once a level ninety-five Super Douluo, he could now exert less than the power of level ninety-two. His lifespan had been greatly shortened as well, leaving him at most half a year to live.

Forty percent of the sect's disciples and elders had left, causing its strength to plummet.

"System, sign in at the Blazing Flame Sect!"

[Ding! Detected that the host is at the Blazing Flame Sect, one of the Earth Three Sects. Sign-in successful. This location cannot be used for sign-in again!]

[Reward: External Soul Bone—Sacred Flame Wild Palm]

[The host may absorb it. It will automatically adapt to the host's current carrying limit and fuse perfectly!!]

"An External Soul Bone. Not bad."

External Soul Bones were exceptionally rare, second only to Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones in scarcity. They could continuously increase in age and evolve alongside a Soul Master's cultivation. Once completely fused, even if the Soul Master died, the Soul Bone would not drop.

At that moment, several elderly men approached together.

They were the Blazing Flame Sect's most senior elders. Their expressions were solemn, and unrelieved grief and worry hung between their brows. In the glances they exchanged, there was only uncertainty over the sect's future.

At the center of the group, a figure was carefully supported forward, becoming the focus of everyone in the hall.

On the left, Ma Jinyan's robes bore a faint trace of dust. Both hands steadily supported the old man beside him. His movements were respectful and cautious, and even his fingertips carried an almost imperceptible tremor.

The man he supported was none other than the Blazing Flame Sect's current master, Ma Mingshan.

The Blazing Flame Sect Master who had once shaken the continent and ruled over one region no longer retained even a trace of his former commanding presence.

His snowy-white hair was dry and disheveled, hanging lifelessly over his shoulders. His once resolute, imposing face was pale as paper and utterly bloodless; his cracked lips had turned bluish. His aura was weak and scattered, his Soul Power nearly exhausted. He could not even support himself while standing, relying entirely on his son and the elders to barely remain upright.

Each weak breath he took carried a faint tremble. His chest rose and fell slightly, and low, ragged coughing could be heard beneath it. Extreme frailty clung to his body, as though a gust of wind could completely topple this aged sect master.

No one could have imagined that this old man, who appeared to be at death's door, was the same leader of the Blazing Flame Sect who had once swept through the Soul Master world with a blazing-fire martial soul and made countless factions wary of him.

"This old man greets the Second Young Master!"

Upon hearing that the Spirit Hall Pope's son had arrived, Ma Mingshan had immediately forced himself up and had everyone support him to the hall.

The Blazing Flame Sect was now beset by troubles on every side. If Spirit Hall chose to make a move, then...

Thus, he had not even had time to ask about his son before hurriedly coming to the hall.

"Sect Master Ma, there is no need for such courtesy. I merely came to escort my subordinate back to his sect and take a little time to relax."

Qian Xunzong naturally understood what he was thinking. He waved a hand and spoke indifferently.

Only then did Ma Mingshan breathe a sigh of relief. The others slowly helped him to the sect master's seat at the head of the hall. Even the hard Crimson Flame Jade chair seemed unable to support his frail body. He slumped against the backrest, his eyelids lowered, and only after a long while did he barely stabilize his chaotic breathing.

"Father, go meditate and recover in peace. Your health comes first."

Ma Jinyan stood beside the chair, his voice hoarse and dry, his eyes red with heartache and guilt. If he had not rashly gone out back then, he would not have ended up with his martial soul shattered and cultivation completely ruined, nor would he have made his aging father worry and exhaust himself for him.

Ma Mingshan slowly lifted his heavy eyelids. His cloudy gaze fell upon his only son. Seeing the desolation and despair in his eyes, seeing his miserable state with all cultivation lost, a sharp pain suddenly pierced his heart, as though raging flames were burning within it, leaving him almost unable to breathe.

"No. With the Second Young Master here, how can my Blazing Flame Sect be discourteous?"

He raised a hand as thin as kindling and covered in protruding veins, lightly patting Ma Jinyan's shoulder. The gesture was so weak that it was almost impossible to feel.

"Jin Yan, tell your father and the elders everything in detail. There is no need to hide anything."

Ma Mingshan's voice was weak and hoarse, his breaths broken and uneven. Every word seemed to drain the last of his strength.

Suppressing the surging bitterness and grief in his heart, Ma Jinyan took a deep breath and slowly recounted everything, word by word: his journey to Slaughter City, his martial soul's eruption, the harm he had inflicted upon living beings, how the Pope had ultimately shattered his martial soul and destroyed his cultivation in an instant, reducing him to a slave, and how Qian Xunzong had finally saved him.

Throughout it all, he neither embellished anything nor deliberately complained of his suffering. He simply recounted the life-and-death ordeal he had endured in that desperate situation. Yet the calmer his narration was, the more shaken the elders became, and the oppressive atmosphere in the hall grew heavier.

After hearing the whole story, Ma Mingshan remained silent for a long time.

Emotions churned in his cloudy eyes: heartache, fury, unwillingness, and endless helplessness. His heart ached for the heir in whom he had placed such high hopes and painstakingly nurtured, who had become crippled overnight.

He was helpless before the Blazing Flame Sect's gradual decline. It was no longer at its former peak and could not even protect his only son.

After a long while, he slowly closed his eyes. A heavy sigh spread through the deathly silent hall, filled with the weariness and sorrow of a lifetime.

For several decades, he had led the Blazing Flame Sect with diligence and exhaustive devotion. His entire life had been spent striving for the sect's prosperity and the survival of its disciples. He had guarded the volcanic mountain range and protected the stability of the sect, never relaxing for even a moment.

He had once intended to hand the flourishing Blazing Flame Sect securely to his son Ma Jinyan after retiring in old age, allowing him to inherit the position of sect master, carry on the Blazing Flame Sect's thousand-year foundation, and remain among the Earth Three Sects of the continent.

But heaven was unpredictable, and the world ever-changing. No one had expected Ma Jinyan, so gifted and promising, to suffer such a catastrophic disaster. His martial soul had shattered, his cultivation had been completely ruined, and his path as a Soul Master had been utterly severed.

A moment later, Ma Mingshan opened his eyes again. The grief in them gradually settled, replaced by profound gratitude. He raised his eyes toward Qian Xunzong, who stood quietly at one side of the hall, his gaze earnest and solemn.

Qian Xunzong stood tall, his robes fluttering lightly, his aura calm and distant. Though still young, he naturally carried the composed, restrained bearing of a king looking down upon all living things.

Ma Mingshan knew that, when Ma Jinyan's martial soul had shattered, his vitality was fading, and he had been reduced to a complete cripple, this kindness was no less than the grace of being given a new life.

"Second Young Master." Ma Mingshan supported his weak body and barely straightened himself a little, his tone filled with sincerity and earnestness.

"If you had not saved my son, he would surely have fallen into misery and died. The kindness you have shown my Ma Family and my Blazing Flame Sect is as great as the heavens. This old man will remember it in his heart and never dare forget it for all eternity."

As his words fell, Ma Mingshan laboriously raised a hand and reached into an ancient crimson Soul Tool at his waist. This Soul Tool had accompanied him for decades and stored the treasured possessions he had collected throughout his life. It was one of the inherited tokens of the Blazing Flame Sect Master.

His fingertips trembled slightly as he searched within it for a moment. At last, he took out a strange bone that was crimson throughout and wreathed in flowing light.

This Soul Bone was crystal-clear, like solidified flames. Layers of fine crimson radiance flowed over its surface, while strands of pure fire-attributed Soul Power continuously spilled out and circled around it. Merely resting quietly in his palm, it made the fire-attributed Soul Power throughout the hall grow increasingly dense and scorching.

"This is the Fire Spirit Torso Soul Bone, aged sixty thousand years. This old man obtained it while exploring the Soul Beast Secret Realm in his early years." Ma Mingshan held the Soul Bone up, his tone incomparably solemn.

"It is of exceptional quality and contains an incomparably pure source power of light and fire. It can temper the body, amplify Soul Power, nourish a Soul Master's origin, and heal injuries throughout the body. Today, this old man offers it to you as a small token of gratitude. I hope you will not refuse."

A sixty-thousand-year Soul Bone was an exceptionally rare treasure even across the entire Douluo Continent. Even the core inherited Soul Bones of top sects were mostly only forty or fifty thousand years old. Every one of them was enough to provoke fierce struggles among major factions and was beyond measure in value.

The several Blazing Flame Sect elders present all showed a trace of reluctance and heartache in their eyes, yet none spoke to stop him.

They understood clearly that compared with Ma Jinyan's life and the hope of the sect's continued existence, a sixty-thousand-year Soul Bone was not worth mentioning. Qian Xunzong's life-saving grace was far beyond what this Soul Bone could ever fully repay.

Qian Xunzong's gaze fell upon the Fire Spirit Soul Bone shining with flowing light. A faint trace of approval flashed through his eyes, but he did not immediately reach out to accept it.

A sixty-thousand-year Soul Bone was indeed precious, an opportunity that any Soul Master could only dream of. But to him now, ordinary Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones were no longer scarce.

What truly concerned him had never been the treasure before him, but the deeply rooted power of the Blazing Flame Sect, its loyal sect disciples, and the Ma father and son standing before him with nowhere left to turn and hearts full of sincerity.

Seeing that he did not move, Ma Mingshan became even more respectful. Then, his tone shifted, and his voice carried several traces of desolation and helplessness. Every word seemed steeped in blood and tears, every sentence utterly sincere.

"Second Young Master, this old man has one request. I beg that you grant it."