Blazing Fire Grotto

Blazing Fire Manor stood among scarlet mountains in southeastern Cangwu Prefecture. Years of searing heat had stained the range's rocks dark red, and from afar, the ridges looked like the back of a giant beast crouched upon the earth.

Blazing Fire Manor was no longer what it had once been.

It had once ranked fourth among the sects of Cangwu Prefecture, with thousands of disciples. Manor Master Kong Yang, at Late Essence Gathering, held the fort, assisted by Deputy Manor Master Chi Wensu at early Essence Gathering. With more than a hundred Meridian Opening and Qi Condensation disciples besides, it had been a formidable force in the prefecture.

But now...

The stone archway inscribed "Blazing Fire Manor" still stood before the mountain gate, yet the disciples within were visibly few. The occasional figures coming and going all carried an indefinable air of despair.

Kong Yang had defected to the Heaven Overturning Cult, Chi Wensu had died, and countless disciples had been sacrificed in the Blood Sacrifice. Overnight, Blazing Fire Manor had fallen from a power led by a Gathered Origin Martial Artist to one with only a Late Qi Condensation cultivator to keep up appearances.

The man now holding the fort at Blazing Fire Manor was Elder Lu of the Demon Suppressing Guard, whom Ye An had met in Crosswater Town.

He was at early Essence Gathering. Once a Rogue Cultivator, he had later joined the Demon Suppressing Guard and served there ever since.

After disaster struck Blazing Fire Manor, he had been assigned to guard it temporarily, both to prevent the remaining villains of the Heaven Overturning Cult from making a comeback and to stop outsiders from taking advantage of its plight.

The Demon Suppressing Guard kept one Essence Gathering cultivator stationed there, while the other three sects took