Daqian Martial Saint

Among the gathered Grandmasters, Yan Shibao of the Cloud-Pushing Mountain Palm was nowhere to be seen. He must have been assigned other tasks. For this operation to conclude in Perfection, not only did they need to conquer the sub-altar, but they also had to ensure that none of the Ten Thousand Demons’ Remnants could escape. Naturally, other Grandmasters would be standing guard on the perimeter.

Presumably, there were other Grandmasters present besides Yan Shibao of the Cloud-Pushing Mountain Palm.

‘With so many Grandmasters present, I shouldn’t have to exert much effort during this siege.’

Chen Ping’an watched for a moment before looking away. He closed his eyes, clearing his mind.

Zhong Zeyu stood beside Chen Ping’an, his expression utterly strange.

He glanced at Cloud Concealing Sword Feng Wuhen in the distance, who was blatantly fawning over Fairy Gu, then back at Chen Ping’an, who stood beside him, perfectly calm and composed with his eyes closed.

Zhong Zeyu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came out. His heart was a chaotic mix of envy, admiration, and jealousy. These feelings grew even more intense when he saw Fairy Gu’s coolly indifferent reaction to Feng Wuhen’s advances.

‘One gets her without even trying, while the other can only dream of it. Lord Chen is truly…’

‘A role model for us all!’

After Gu Qingchan’s arrival, the group didn’t linger in the underground cavern for long. The Grandmasters seemed to reach a tacit understanding and began to take action.

The cavern branched out in all directions, but they had no intention of splitting their forces.

Right now, they were exposed while the Ten Thousand Demons Sect was hidden. Splitting up rashly would risk them being picked off one by one. Sticking together to launch a unified assault was the most prudent approach. Nevertheless, a portion of their elite forces remained behind in the cavern.

Leaving some elites behind not only allowed them to stand guard and defend the area as a base of operations, but also created a mobile reserve force that could provide effective support.

Their forces for this operation were formidable, so they weren’t worried about the Ten Thousand Demons Sect finding any weaknesses to exploit. Even though this was a Ten Thousand Demons Sub-Altar, it would contain only a handful of Grandmasters at most. With their own elites fully mobilized, they were confident they could crush the Demon Sect, leaving them no room to breathe.

This belief was shared by the vast majority of the elites present. And as they advanced deeper into the enemy’s territory, it seemed to hold true. Aside from triggering a few mechanisms, they met almost no real resistance. With the Grandmasters leading the way, even the traps they encountered failed to unleash their intended destructive power.

The unexpected ease of the assault caused many to grow arrogant.

“These Ten Thousand Demon Thieves must be hiding!”

“Exactly. Faced with our mighty host, the Ten Thousand Demon Thieves have surely fled in terror.”

“Find where they’re hiding and finish them all.”

“…”

However, some among them remained level-headed.

“We should still be careful. This could be a trap.”

“Right. Everyone stay alert. Don’t let your guard down.”

“…”

Following the Grandmasters, the elite forces pushed deeper, bit by bit. They passed more stone chambers and Stone Halls along the way, but the group never split up, opting instead for a steady and cautious advance into the depths.

SWISH!

Chen Ping’an stepped into a stone chamber. With a flash of his blade, a Ten Thousand Demon Thief hiding in the shadows fell to the ground, his eyes wide in death.

‘Is there no one else?’

Chen Ping’an wondered.

‘We’ve been searching for so long without any real resistance. Where have all these Ten Thousand Demon Thieves gone? Is there a secret chamber we’ve missed?’

Just as Chen Ping’an was lost in thought, a commotion erupted outside.

“We found it! We found it!”

“The Blood Flame Cave! This must be the place.”

Chen Ping’an’s expression shifted, and he walked out of the chamber. In the distance, part of a wall on the side of a Stone Hall had been shattered, revealing a secret door. Its surface was mottled, radiating an aura of ancient history and mystery.

The secret door wasn’t large, just wide enough for two people to enter side-by-side. At the top, three large, blood-red words were carved into the stone.

Blood Flame Cave!

The stone wall hiding the secret door seemed to have some property that blocked spiritual senses. If they hadn’t been searching section by section, even a Grandmaster would not have been able to detect it.

An Absolute Master had just tried to break it, but a full-power strike hadn’t even scratched this Shi Men. The material it was made from seemed extraordinary.

‘Interesting,’ Chen Ping’an’s gaze fell upon the dark blue material of the shattered wall. He felt an urge to collect a piece for research, but the fragments had already been snatched up as spoils by those around him.

“The Blood Flame Cave?” The secret door drew the attention of the other Grandmasters. Breaking Army Saber Situ Ba drew the great saber from his back, preparing to cleave the Shi Men in two.

“Master Situ, allow me,” Cloud Concealing Sword Feng Wuhen said with a smile as he stepped forward.

“Fine.” Situ Ba didn’t waste any words, immediately sheathing his saber.

Feng Wuhen’s intentions toward Gu Qingchan were all too obvious; even Situ Ba could see his eagerness. Since Feng Wuhen had asked, Situ Ba was happy enough to grant him the favor.

Feng Wuhen came to a stop before the Shi Men, and his eyes instantly transformed. They became deep and resolute, as if they could pierce through a thousand years of dust to gaze into an unknown world. As his True Essence circulated, the hem of his robes and strands of his hair began to drift as if in a breeze, adding to his ethereal air.

WHOOSH!

Feng Wuhen suddenly moved. His longsword left its sheath in a flash of cold light, as brilliant as the brightest star in the night sky, illuminating the entire cavern.

SWOOSH— With the hum of a blade, Feng Wuhen’s form blurred into motion. Like a dragon soaring through the heavens, his sword tip sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, aimed directly at the center of the Shi Men. The Sword Intent behind this strike was immense, as if it could shatter any obstacle in the world.

BOOM!

A deafening crash echoed through the cavern. The surface of the Shi Men began to fracture, cracks spreading rapidly like a spiderweb across its entire face. In the next moment, massive chunks of stone burst outward, sending a storm of dust and rubble flying in all directions.