Chapter 624 - 37: Purging the Sect

The protective grand array on the outermost perimeter of the Dao Field was merely a disguise, but it was nearly at the third tier. Moreover, it was intended to be used with a soul treasure restriction, thus it required considerable effort.

Red Sun True Man never expected the array to be broken in one blow by the young junior cultivator outside the array.

Just moments ago, he wore a calm expression, but as the grand array shattered, his face turned somber.

Without hesitation, he flashed to the ground.

Decades before the Corpse Puppet Sect attacked the Ten Thousand Laws Palace, Red Sun True Man had been hiding here to avoid Master Chunyuan’s pursuit. He secretly took over the identity of the original head of the Foundation Establishment Clan here, observing the situation.

When the Demon Realm broke through, he transformed himself into Wanderer Huangfeng, slaughtering the original clan members and behaving as a demonic cultivator who seized the Dao Field.

He continued to occupy this place thereafter.

By using a soul treasure once obtained by the Fiery Sun Sect in ancient ruins, which could confuse the sensing of a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s primordial spirit, he survived under the watchful eyes of demonic powers like the Golden Puppet Holy Monarch and Blood Spirit Saintess.

Later, to replicate the Fiery Sun Sect’s past glory, he gathered escaped cultivators here to establish the Bright Hall.

Since he had not participated in the battle to resist the demonic invasion, there were no recordings of him by sects like the Corpse Puppet Sect, and he was not targeted for retribution. Therefore, he dealt with outsiders himself.

After reappearing on the ground, he had become a fierce-looking figure with disheveled yellow robes and wild hair, but his magical cultivation was suppressed to the late Foundation Establishment stage, and his spiritual soul cultivation was powerful and chaotic, beyond comprehension.

"Bold! Who dares to destroy my grand array?"

In an instant, Red Sun True Man charged violently.

Feeling the deliberately suppressed aura of his opponent’s cultivation, Li Ji’an felt a surge of impulse.

Immediately, he made a decision.

"Boom~"

As Red Sun True Man attacked with his late Foundation Establishment magical power, Li Ji’an swiftly approached, erupting with the power of Blood Fiend, fully unleashing his mid-tier three physique.

"Crack!" Red Sun True Man’s eyes froze in terror, and then his entire body shattered into fragments.

Simultaneously, his presence vanished completely from the spot.

Li Ji’an sighed inwardly, helpless against this new method.

Although Ning Sujin’s primordial spirit detected nothing amiss, it must have been his true form just now, yet he escaped in an instant.

"Hmph! Bold fool, daring to openly oppose our Saint Sect Immortal Gate, you deserve death!" Unable to take his opponent by surprise, Li Ji’an quickly adapted, blaming it on the Corpse Puppet Sect.

He also stirred up trouble to make the enemy fearful, causing them to be on the run or in hiding for the foreseeable future.

Otherwise, the relationship between Ning Yutan and him, as well as his recent efforts to find Ning Yutan, might be discovered by the enemy, potentially bringing disaster to the Biyun Sect.

As he shouted, the Blood Fiend erupted from him, the dense Blood Evil Qi indistinguishable from the Blood Spirit Sect’s.

Furthermore, Ning Sujin’s primordial spirit’s power also faintly leaked out.

Predictably, chaos ensued within the Dao Field.

Aside from a group of naive young heroes who charged forward with a determination to fight to the death, most instantly used all means to flee.

Besides the now-vanished Red Sun True Man, Master Tian and five other True Pill Masters had already fled afar at the moment Li Ji’an unleashed his tier-three physique.

Especially when Ning Sujin’s primordial spirit aura leaked, the three immediately activated their teleportation talismans, fleeing thousands of miles away instantly.

Of the remaining two, one used the Blood Burning Escape Technique, and the other ingested a secret medicine to forcibly enhance their strength.

In this chaotic scene, Li Ji’an released two tier-three human-shaped puppets to continually impose pressure, casually slaying some fleeing fake pill cultivators.

The underground plaza had already descended into chaos, but before Gugu could act, someone had already seized the opportunity to rescue the three people on the stone pillar, mingling them into the crowd to escape.

Seeing this, Li Ji’an instructed Gugu to head directly to the underground treasury.

He packed nearly 200,000 lower-grade spirit stones from five underground stores.

Meanwhile, he had arrived at Red Sun True Man’s private cave mansion, his divine sense landing on a wooden carving with no magical aura whatsoever.

The wooden sculpture seemed unremarkable, its craftsmanship not particularly outstanding, even somewhat crude. It depicted an elder gazing into the distance, his expression a mix of worry and hope.

Though Li Ji’an examined it multiple times without finding anything special, both his and Ning Sujin’s divine senses clearly confirmed that it was this item that disturbed the soul aura here, effectively isolating it from foreign divine souls.

This was the protective charm that allowed Red Sun True Man to secretly develop here for years.

Only when holding it in his hands did Li Ji’an finally discover the anomaly and sensed a trace of Red Sun True Man’s divine soul mark within.

With little effort, he erased it, then handed the item to Ning Sujin, knowing that her imprinting with primordial spirit power would undoubtedly surpass Red Sun True Man’s by far.

At this time, Ning Yutan had already been rescued and left this place. To ensure she wasn’t endangered along the way, Li Ji’an and Ning Sujin decisively followed in secret.

The rescuers of Ning Yutan and the other two were two early Foundation Establishment cultivators, who fretted every step of the way, wary of Bright Hall’s attention and fearful of interception by demonic sects.

By eavesdropping while tailing them, Li Ji’an and Ning Sujin also learned the background and reasons for Ning Yutan’s current actions.

About a decade ago, Ning Yutan had had a fortuitous encounter with a pair of Dao companions. They became friends due to their similar temperaments, although she declined their invitation to join the Bright Hall back then.

She even advised them using the tips for navigating the cultivating world that Li Ji’an had taught her in his previous life.