Wu Fei, meanwhile, was wondering how to suggest that the protagonist use the Soul-Searching Technique without breaking character...
After a moment of silence, a thought stirred in Wu Fei's mind, and he suddenly said, "I've heard that of the four Devil Venerables in the Devil Domain, Devil Venerable Mingyu is the most brutal."
At this, Yin Fan's gaze flickered, and he picked up the thread. "That's true. He and the former Devil Venerable of the Northern Region were birds of a feather, allowing the Devil Cultivators under them to slaughter cultivators and mortals at will."
"Then this man also..." Wu Fei gave Yin Fan an opening.
Yin Fan took it. "This man has committed quite a few heinous crimes under Ming Yu as well."
In fact, that was indeed the truth. There were two kinds of Devil Cultivators: those who focused on cultivation, and those who followed twisted, evil paths, even eating people and digging out their hearts. Most of Devil Venerable Mingyu's subordinates belonged to the latter kind.
The Devil Cultivator before them had countless traces of blood mingled into his demonic qi. Clearly, he belonged to the latter kind too.
"In that case," Wu Fei said after a moment's consideration, "evil must be rooted out completely."
Yin Fan smiled gently. "Just leave this to me. This Devil Cultivator should know a few things. I'll question him first, though I may have to use a few little tricks. Senior Brother Wu Fei, please move farther away for now."
Knowing what the protagonist was about to do, Wu Fei nodded slightly. The moment he turned away, the corners of his lips curved up a little, then immediately returned to their usual calm.
The Blazing Cold Sword was still waiting obediently on the mountaintop. Sensing Wu Fei's presence, it flew over and rubbed against the hem of his robes.
A hint of warm amusement rose in the depths of Wu Fei's eyes. The sword really does take after its master...
Before long, Yin Fan returned, his expression somewhat strange.
That expression... could he have found something through the soul search?
Wu Fei asked, "How did it go?"
Yin Fan said, "The Flame Spirit Realm has been breached."
Wu Fei went still, disbelief in his eyes. "The Flame Spirit Realm..." Has been breached?
The Flame Spirit Realm, which had existed for thousands of years and was guarded by three mighty Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators, had actually been breached?
Wu Fei's brows drew together slightly. In the original novel, after Yin Fan's identity was exposed at the Heavenly Dao Assembly, he had escaped straight back to the Devil Domain under the combined assault of Cang Xiao and the others. He had never entered the Flame Spirit Realm, and it had remained perfectly intact.
So the breach of the Flame Spirit Realm was very likely connected to him and Yin Fan?
"What happened?" Wu Fei asked, looking at Yin Fan.
Yin Fan was also deeply shocked. Had he not personally obtained this information through soul-searching, he would not have believed it himself. After a brief pause, he began explaining what had happened to Wu Fei.
As it turned out, after the Heavenly Dao Assembly that day, word had spread that Jing Fanyu, the True Disciple of the sect master of the Heavenly Sword Sect, the foremost sect in the cultivation world, was actually Devil Venerable Yin Fan of the Devil Domain?!
Moreover, after his identity as a Devil Venerable was exposed, he had abducted the Buddha Spirit Sect's Buddha's Son right under the noses of a group of Mahayana Stage cultivators!
"Abducted?" At this, Wu Fei's brows rose almost imperceptibly.
Yin Fan raised a brow. "Wasn't the Buddha's Son abducted by this venerable one?"
Wu Fei shook his head slightly and said slowly, "You did not abduct me. I went of my own accord."
At his words, Yin Fan's smile deepened, and he continued.
After word of the events at the Heavenly Dao Assembly spread, both the cultivation world and the Devil Domain were greatly shocked. The so-called "prophecy calculated by the Heavenly Secrets Fate Disc" also struck everyone as inconceivable, and the sect master of the Heavenly Sword Sect became a particular subject of discussion.
Cultivators in the cultivation world might still have had their reservations, but the Devil Cultivators had no such scruples. "Always calling themselves righteous, yet they stood by and watched an entire city get slaughtered because of some prophecy. After watching it happen, he even went over and pretended to be the boy's savior to take him as a disciple. Isn't this retribution now..."
And so, from that day onward, wave after wave of righteous cultivators and Devil Cultivators from the Devil Domain arrived at the Flame Spirit Realm to watch the spectacle.
"Watch the spectacle..." Wu Fei's hand stopped turning his prayer beads. Did these cultivators and Devil Cultivators have that much time on their hands?
A hint of mockery entered Yin Fan's smile. "They claimed they were there to watch the spectacle, but in truth, they wanted to seize the chance to get a share..."
After all, the Flame Spirit Realm had long been monopolized by the major sects of the cultivation world. The smaller sects, rogue cultivators, and the Devil Domain had coveted it for a long time.
As for how the Flame Spirit Realm had been breached...
Yin Fan asked, "Senior Brother Wu Fei, do you remember that this Heavenly Dao Assembly was held several days early?"
At his words, Wu Fei recalled the matter as well. "I heard it was brought forward because of an unusual disturbance within the Flame Spirit Realm."
After saying this, a thought stirred in his mind. Back then, he had only known that the assembly had been brought forward because of a disturbance, but not what sort of disturbance had actually occurred within the Flame Spirit Realm...
"That's right." Yin Fan nodded and continued, "The three Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators guarding the Flame Spirit Realm discovered by chance that a spacetime rift had appeared there at some unknown point."
At the words "spacetime rift," something suddenly stirred within Wu Fei. Something flashed through his mind, only to vanish in an instant.
He could not help frowning slightly and could only push this inexplicable premonition to the back of his mind for now.
After the day Yin Fan's identity was exposed, more and more cultivators gathered on Flame Spirit Mountain. Even the Devil Venerables of the Devil Domain brought their Devil Cultivator subordinates over to join the spectacle.
The Devil Cultivators under the protagonist had quietly followed as well. Aside from certain Devil Cultivators harboring ulterior motives, the Northern Region also had quite a few who were loyal to Yin Fan out of respect for his strength.
Yin Fan said, "There's one Devil Cultivator under me whom you should have met, Buddha's Son."
He had met him? Wu Fei considered for a moment, then said, "The Devil Cultivator who followed you to capture the traitor that night in Clear Heart Village?"
Thinking it over, that night was the only time he had met any of Yin Fan's subordinates.
"That's right, him." Yin Fan nodded and continued, "His name is Fu Hong..."
Hearing the name, Wu Fei did recall something. Fu Hong was among the earliest Devil Cultivators to follow Yin Fan. His cultivation was not particularly high, but he excelled at strategy.
Early on, after the protagonist killed the Devil Venerable of the Northern Region to avenge the people of Heavenly Clear City, he had done little to govern the Northern Region. Fu Hong had put considerable effort into maintaining its current outward peace.
Yin Fan had brought up Fu Hong. Could the breach of the Flame Spirit Realm have something to do with him? But Wu Fei remembered that Fu Hong's cultivation was only at the Spirit Transformation Stage...
With that thought, Wu Fei asked. The moment he finished speaking, he saw Yin Fan's expression turn a little strange and immediately understood. The breach of the Flame Spirit Realm really did have something to do with Fu Hong?