Three days later, at dawn, the teleportation array in the hills behind the Jia Ma Empire's Spirit Gatherer Association shimmered with a pale violet halo. With the Black Iron Heavy Sword on his back and a brand-new Fourth-Rank Spirit Gatherer badge pinned at his waist, Xiao Yan stood in the array alongside five Spirit Gatherers in association uniforms. President Fa Ma had come to see them off personally. He handed Xiao Yan a jade slip engraved with positioning runes. "The Otherworldly Demon Lair lies in the Fog Forest at the edge of the Black-Corner Region. This jade slip will guide you. If you encounter danger, crush it immediately to call for help."
"Thank you, President." Xiao Yan accepted the jade slip, its chill seeping into his fingertips. A stern-faced middle-aged man in the array suddenly spoke. "Rest assured, President. With me, Lin Xiu, here, everyone will be kept safe." The fifth-rank badge on his chest stood out in the morning light. He was the leader dispatched by the association.
The instant the teleportation light flared, Xiao Yan caught sight of a figure in plain white standing in a corner of the viewing platform. A thin veil hung from the brim of Yun Yun's blue-green bamboo hat, revealing only a stretch of fair neck. The sect master's jade pendant at her waist swayed gently in the morning breeze. So she had come after all.
When the weightless sensation faded, they were standing among towering ancient trees. Mist wound through the forest like gauze, and the damp scent of rotting leaves filled the air. Low growls from unknown magical beasts sounded in the distance. Lin Xiu activated the jade slip, and pale green motes gathered into an arrow ahead of them. "The lair's entrance is thirty li to the southeast. Advance in a defensive formation."
Xiao Yan walked along the flank, Mysterious Yellow Flame silently swirling in his palm. The Demonic Qi in this forest was far denser than in Black Wind Village. Dark purple markings covered the trees' branches and trunks, while an eerie silver sheen edged their leaves. He suddenly stopped and pointed toward the bushes on the right. "There's something there."
Lin Xiu immediately raised a hand, signaling everyone to stay alert. Two Spirit Gatherers formed defensive hand seals and moved forward to investigate. The instant they parted the branches, more than a dozen palm-sized black beetles sprang out. Gray mist wreathed the swarm, and the sound of them gnawing leaves set everyone's teeth on edge. "Bone-Eroding Demon Insects!" Lin Xiu's expression shifted slightly. "Don't let their bodily fluids touch you!"
Xiao Yan had already stirred his Mysterious Yellow Flame into action. Golden fire blossomed like a lotus in his palm. "Spirit-Cleansing Flame." A pale golden wave of fire swept outward. The demon insects turned to ash the instant they touched it, filling the air with a charred, rank stench. Surprise flashed in Lin Xiu's eyes. "Such pure purification power. No wonder you could leap ranks when you advanced."
As they pressed onward, low-rank Otherworldly Demons such as demon insects and Corrupt Vines appeared in endless succession. Xiao Yan's Mysterious Yellow Flame became their sharpest weapon. Wherever the golden flames passed, every foul creature melted away. The young Spirit Gatherers' initial disdain gradually turned to awe.
As dusk fell, they finally reached the heart of the Fog Forest. An enormous fissure stretched across their path. Demonic Qi as thick and black as ink poured ceaselessly from its bottomless depths, and the rocks along its edges had been corroded into honeycombs. Lin Xiu set the jade slip into the cliff wall. Pale green light spread along the rock, outlining an intricate defensive array. "We'll rest here tonight and enter the lair first thing tomorrow."
When the campfire was lit, Xiao Yan sat alone at the cliff's edge, wiping down his heavy sword. Mysterious Yellow Flame flowed over the blade, burning away every trace of Demonic Qi clinging to it. Light footsteps sounded behind him, followed by Yun Yun's slightly husky voice. "Your flame is stronger than it was last time on the riverbank."
Xiao Yan turned to look. She had removed her bamboo hat, and her dark hair cascaded like a waterfall. The purple seal marks on her neck had long since vanished. "Why have you come, Sect Master Yun?" He remembered Fa Ma saying that this operation was restricted to association members. Yun Yun lightly stroked the jade pendant at her waist. "The Amethyst Winged Lion King has been behaving strangely quite often lately. The Otherworldly Demon Lair in the Black-Corner Region may well be connected to him."
She suddenly stepped half a pace closer, her eyes especially bright in the firelight. "I recognized you at the Spirit Gathering Assembly. The aura of Mysterious Yellow Flame is one of a kind." Xiao Yan's grip on his sword hilt tightened slightly, but she gave a soft laugh. "Don't be nervous. I'm not here to take you to task over the Amethyst Winged Lion King. I only wanted to ask whether you could use your ability to purify Demonic Qi to examine something for me."
Yun Yun took a dark purple scale from her storage ring. Weblike golden markings covered its surface-it was the Amethyst Winged Lion King's Reverse Scale. "Lately, he keeps flying into a rage for no reason, and these strange markings have appeared on his Reverse Scale." As her fingertip traced the markings, the scale suddenly trembled, and a faint black mist rose from the golden lines.
Xiao Yan's pupils contracted slightly, and Mysterious Yellow Flame surged from his fingertips of its own accord. "These are corruption demon marks! The lightning power within him is being tainted by Demonic Qi." The instant the golden flames touched the scale, the black mist let out a shrill scream. The markings on the Reverse Scale faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Shock flashed in Yun Yun's eyes. "So that's it! No wonder he won't even eat demon companion grass anymore." Xiao Yan handed back the purified scale. "The Amethyst Seal is a power of utmost yang. It's going out of control because demonic energy has corroded it. Unless the root cause is treated soon, he'll become an Otherworldly Demon puppet sooner or later."
As the night deepened, Lin Xiu suddenly called out a warning. "Powerful Demonic Qi fluctuations to the northwest!" Everyone immediately rose and readied themselves. A giant wolf covered entirely in bone armor slowly emerged from the mist, eerie green flames burning in his eyes. He was a Fifth-Rank Demon Wolf completely corrupted by Demonic Qi.
"Form the array!" Lin Xiu summoned a staff inlaid with soul crystal, and pale blue soul power surged forth. Xiao Yan, however, had already charged forward with his heavy sword, Mysterious Yellow Flame blazing along its blade. "Just the chance to try my new Dou Technique."
"Burning Heaven Art Second Form—Flame Dragon Break!"
A golden fire dragon roared forth, colliding with the Demon Wolf's bone armor in a violent explosion. When the smoke cleared, half the Demon Wolf's body had been burned to charcoal, yet he was still lunging madly at them. Yun Yun suddenly brought forth the Azure Longsword. Sword energy streaked across his neck like a shooting star. "Finish this quickly. Don't draw more Otherworldly Demons here."
Watching the fallen Demon Wolf turn to ash in the Mysterious Yellow Flame, Lin Xiu's expression grew graver. "Magical beasts corrupted to this degree are actually this common on the outskirts of the lair." He turned toward Xiao Yan, a little more approval in his gaze. "When we venture deeper tomorrow, we'll need to rely on your purification power."
Xiao Yan gazed at the black mist churning deep within the lair and tightened his grip on the jade slip. He could feel the Mysterious Yellow Flame dancing excitedly inside him, as though it yearned to devour even mightier foul beings. And deep within this mist-shrouded forest, a secret bearing on the safety of the Jia Ma Empire was waiting to be uncovered.
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