"What are you trying to do?" Steward Fu spat blood and struggled to speak.
"Fang Jiu, this is the Tianlun Sect. You should know the consequences of betraying the Young Sect Master."
"You should rest in peace," Xu Zimo said with a smile, raising both hands and annihilating Steward Fu between his palms.
"Lead the way," he said, turning to Fang Jiu and the others.
Fang Jiu and the others all looked pale as they awkwardly led Xu Zimo into the pavilion.
He slowly turned the floorboards beneath his feet. Amid a series of rumbling booms—
A dark passage, so deep its bottom could not be seen, appeared below.
From within the passage came faint, hair-raising screams.
"This was privately built by the Young Sect Master," Fang Jiu explained.
"Whenever he cultivated and wanted to absorb the essence from other people, he did it here."
"Lead the way," Xu Zimo said.
As they entered the dark passage, a wave of heat rushed toward them.
Wave after wave of scorching air blew across their faces, while faint sparks flickered in the darkness.
After they had walked halfway through, the path gradually brightened.
Firelight from ahead illuminated the road behind them. Within the raging flames, several figures could be seen running wildly.
They wailed as though the inferno were about to burn them to ashes, before finally collapsing into the sea of fire.
"Have you been here before?" Xu Zimo asked.
"No. The Young Sect Master never allowed anyone inside," Fang Jiu replied.
"I only happened to see him enter several times."
When they reached the end of the passage, Xu Zimo could see the sea of fire before him and feel its searing heat.
The sea of fire was blocked by iron bars, which had been heated red-hot.
There was a