The Burning Flames of Gossip

"Apart from that Yang Xiaofeng, who else is with him?" Chen Luoyang asked.

Azure Dragon 5 replied respectfully, "Most of them are native martial artists from Shu Prefecture's Cloud Martial County. But there is a disciple from the Great Unity Taoism Sect."

"Great Unity Taoism Sect?" Chen Luoyang turned and asked Azure Dragon 5.

Azure Dragon 5 nodded solemnly and said, "Reporting to Cult Master, that young taoist priest is a direct-line disciple."

Chen Luoyang nodded slightly.

According to <Record of Divine Province> and the information gathered from within the Demon Cult, the Great Unity Taoism Sect was a leading figure of the Central Divine Province. Using the classification of the Azure Dragon Hall, the Great Unity Taoism Sect was an A-class faction.

The so-called A-class faction would at least have a martial king, who was also a grandmaster, as a leader. Those experts from the 10th stage to the 12th stage were addressed as martial kings. The number of experts in each faction would be different; that's why even among the A-class factions, there was a difference of strength.

As the leading faction of the Central Divine Province, the Great Unity Taoism Sect was definitely a top-notch A-class faction that perched high in the Er Prefecture.

The Great Xia Empire might be ruling the province, but the place had nations within the nation.

The taoism sect and the empire had their own differences and conflicts; however, when facing the Demon Cult, they wouldn't hesitate to work together.

The previous Great Unity Taoism Sect Master had died under the hands of the previous Demon Cult Master. The Great Unity Taoism Sect had always been at the front line of the Central Divine Province to repel the Demon Cult.

"Is the Great Unity Taoism Sect going to poach disciples from the Sword Pavilion?" Chen Luoyang asked casually.

"Reporting to Cult Master, with the current information that we possess, it should be a friendship between two youths and is unrelated to the Great Unity Taoism Sect." Azure Dragon 5 said while handing over a book. "Cult Master, please look over this."

Chen Luoyang took the book and flipped through it.

Azure Dragon 5's efficiency was rather good. There was a large group of people involved in the incident at the Amrita Manor. It started from the Shu Prefecture Governor, Chu Xincheng, all the way to Yang Xiaofeng's group that first visited. Azure Dragon 5 had already prepared an entire set of information within such a short amount of time.

Chen Luoyang flipped through the scroll while asking, "Where are they now?"

Azure Dragon 5 replied, "They have been seized. But they are rather stubborn and aren't willing to serve our cult. Because Yang Xiaofeng is related to the Sword Pavilion, this subordinate doesn't dare to make a decision and comes to seek Cult Master's brilliant judgment."

Of course they aren't willing… Chen Luoyang said in his heart.

Their families had all been exterminated by the Demon Cult members, and they had been pursued all this way. After painstakingly escaping to the renowned Amrita Manor, they assumed the honorable and righteous senior would save them and help them serve justice. In the end, they were actually lambs that entered the tiger's den and walked right into a trap.

They have been deceived so badly and thoroughly. Who would be able to swallow down this grievance? Furthermore, they are young and full of vigor. Chen Luoyang sighed in his heart.

Young and handsome; elegant clothes and vigorous horses; genuine and true friends; wielding their weapons while traveling the world.

In normal situations, youths from the C-class and D-class factions would mostly be at the 1st stage to the 3rd stage of cultivation, which made them the posterior martial artists. Occasionally, there would be outstanding prodigies that would break through to the Connate Stage at a young age.

Young prodigies like Yang Xiaofeng. He was born in the C-class faction, Flying Phoenix Sect, and was already at the 4th Connate Stage at his young age.

It didn't matter if it was due to his astounding innate talent, fateful encounters, or personal achievements; it was very hard to come by. Such a rare talent would inadvertently become famous and would be recruited by larger factions.

For the younger generations of the B- and A-class factions, the outstanding talents would have the cultivation of a connate martial expert and were at the 4th stage to the 6th stage. An example would be the Great Unity Taoism Sect's young taoist priest who was at the 5th Soul Conduit Stage.

With the same cases of having fated encounters, the A-class factions might produce a young martial master who was at the 6th stage. The main group of people that were so-called traveling through the martial world were these people.

Chen Luoyang rolled his eyes inwardly. He felt that all of the so-called martial world's young heroes, wielding their swords in adventures or anything similar, seemed to be unrelated to him anymore.

From now on, I shall continue down the path as a demon king then…

Chen Luoyang put his feelings into order and had an indifferent face as he said to Azure Dragon 5, "Pry open their mouths and extract all useful information. Let them keep their lives and don't kill them for now."

Azure Dragon 5 responded, "Yes, Cult Master."

Immediately after, he sought advice from Chen Luoyang again. "Reporting to Cult Master, there is another problem with the Huayan1 Temple that needs your brilliant advice."

Huayan Temple?

Chen Luoyang nodded to himself.

They were also an A-class faction and were one of the three Buddhist factions in the Central Divine Province. They were located in the Shu Prefecture's Golden Summit and were also known as the Shu Prefecture's tyrant tiger. However, this tiger was a little sullen and wasn't doing better than the Great Xia Empire's Shu Prefecture Governor. To the south, they had to face the pressure from the Demon Cult. To the north, there was the Central Divine Province's top sacred faction, the Sword Pavilion. As such, the Huayan Temple had never been able to grow stronger. However, they were still an A-class faction.

They were now standing in front of the Demon Cult's march up north into the Shu Prefecture and serving as a qualified stumbling block. While being mutually interdependent, the various central factions wouldn't wish to see the Demon Domain expanding further. Therefore, when the Demon Cult attacked the Huayan Temple, most of the other factions would come over and provide assistance.

In the Shu Prefecture, the Huayan Temple had become the fort at the end of the bridge and also the defensive fulcrum to contest with the Demon Cult.

"What is the situation with the other places in the Shu Prefecture?" Chen Luoyang asked in a calm manner.

Azure Dragon 5 replied, "Reporting to Cult Master, the Shu Prefecture now has a total of seven B-class factions, thirty-two C-class factions, and over four hundred unrated D-class factions. If the cult is to act, we can quickly sweep the entire Shu Prefecture. The only concern, according to Chu Xincheng, is that there is more than one martial king that has recently entered the Shu Prefecture. Apart from the Sword Pavilion that is in the northern Ba Prefecture, there is also the Golden Summit's Huayan Temple that isn't too far from us."

"Then we shall eliminate the Huayan Temple first." Chen Luoyang used a nonchalantly and apathetic tone when stating it.

To him, both the internal and external circumstances were in a mess. On the inside, the elder faction was getting restless. On the outside, the orthodox people had the intention to subdue the Demon Cult.

He required more time, and at this kind of moment, he should not cower. The best would be for him to kill a chicken to scare the monkey2, deterring both the enemies on the inside and the outside. It wouldn't allow them to guess Chen Luoyang's true limits; as a result, they wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

The target to display his prowess had to be picked carefully. The target must not be too strong or too weak. If they were too strong and Chen Luoyang couldn't defeat them, he would be exposing himself, and everything would be done for. If they were too weak, it wouldn't effectively serve as a display of prowess.

The Huayan Temple wasn't a bad target. It was an A-class faction but was one of the weaker factions among the A-class factions. When Chen Luoyang researched for the entire night previously, he had targeted them.

The subduing of the Great Xia Empire's Shu Prefecture Governor was an unexpected bonus. It made it a great time for them to announce their plans to annex the Shu Prefecture.

"To seize the bandits, first seize the leader." Huayan Temple, the prefecture's tyrant would serve as the main target. With the power of the Demon Cult, if they really wanted to make a move, the Huayan Temple wouldn't be able to resist. The only concern was having outside reinforcements.

"Cult Master, what about the allocation of men?" Azure Dragon 5 asked cautiously.

Chen Luoyang laughed bitterly in his heart. He only had a portion of information and resources; he was still incapable of the allocation of forces. If he wasn't thorough in his considerations and made a mistake, wouldn't he be making a fool out of himself?

However, he put on an expression as though he had already made a decision and planned it a long time ago. He just said a few words in an indifferent tone, "All those nearby."

Azure Dragon 5 immediately bowed in response and said, "I shall comply with Cult Master's orders."

Azure Dragon 5 then exited the room.

When the room was only left with Chen Luoyang again, he let out a breath of relief.

He had a rather strange expression when he was looking at his eyes that were sparkling with black radiance.

This devious and villainous demon king scenario isn't going to become upright. Chen Luoyang was prompted by a sudden impulse.

Fated with the orthodox factions; family was destroyed because of the Demon Cult; captured by the evil hypocrite; and experienced all sorts of hardships. If he is able to overcome this situation and successfully join the Sword Pavilion and learn a divine technique, in the future, he will be exterminating the Demon Cult to take revenge and uphold justice. This Yang Xiaofeng's scenario is rather orthodox…

Chen Luoyang felt that he might be overthinking, but he was already rather interested. As such, he communicated with the black pot in his mind and requested Yang Xiaofeng's information.

The target's cultivation was low; therefore, the required blood-red serum was minute and insignificant.

Chen Luoyang then casually checked the information, and he was immediately stunned by the first sentence.

[Yang (Song) Xiaofeng, 16 years old…]

Can it be more stunning at the start? Chen Luoyang blinked his eyes while the flames of gossip were instantly burning in his heart.