Wenren Qingtang had clearly already used these black flames to take many lives.
He grinned at the people below. "These ghost fires are the last batch of pets I raised. If you can defeat them, perhaps you'll earn the right to fight me."
Wenren Qingtang sat on the tree trunk, making flippant remarks.
Meanwhile, Xia Jue led the Enforcement Hall disciples in carefully avoiding the black flames.
At the same time, his calm voice reached every Enforcement Hall disciple's Sea of Consciousness. "Dodge them for now. Don't attack them with anything external."
The Enforcement Hall had strict rules. With Xia Jue at their head, the others had always obeyed him absolutely, so if he offered no explanation, they would not ask. After all, the Hall Master always had his reasons.
And because Xia Jue almost never made mistakes, the other disciples trusted him deeply.
There were not many ghost fires, but they drifted about with astonishing speed. The slightest lapse in attention could let one catch onto them.
Perhaps Wenren Qingtang's long nurturing had given them a measure of sentience, for they actually knew how to seek advantage and avoid harm.
One wisp of ghost fire seized the instant an Enforcement Hall disciple let his guard down and shot straight toward his Dantian.
Fortunately, Feng Qi, who stood beside that disciple, had kept an extra eye out. Just as the ghost fire was about to touch the disciple's clothes, Feng Qi abruptly turned and pulled him away.
Unable to halt its ferocious charge, the ghost fire slammed straight into a withered tree nearby.
The withered tree caught fire at once, engulfed in roaring black flames. Within a few breaths, it had burned to a heap of ashes.
After all, these ghost fires had been raised by a Spirit Transformation Stage