Chapter 49: Do You Still Remember Me?

The Golden Cauldron Sect is the strongest among all sects on Tianfeng Star. There is a powerful cultivator at the early Divination stage named Zhijin Zhenren, three at the late Outward Emergence stage, and dozens more at the Outward Emergence stage—their strength is truly formidable. Not only is the Golden Cauldron Sect strong in itself, but its backing is the Taiyuan Gate, the most powerful force in the entire cultivation world; the Golden Cauldron Sect is a branch of Taiyuan Gate. Thus, on Tianfeng Star, few dare to provoke the Golden Cauldron Sect.

However, now, on a mountain peak with a stone summit at the edge of the Golden Cauldron Mountain Range, four thousand demon cultivators descended swiftly, their murderous intent unmistakable. Qu Yi and the others had already arrived on this peak. When the demon cultivators arrived, the fighting spirit of nearly eighty experts at the Outward Emergence stage, combined with the murderous intent of almost four thousand cultivators at the late Yuan Ying stage, converged on the Golden Cauldron Mountain Range, signaling to the sect that a catastrophe was approaching.

At this moment, Qu Yi no longer wanted to launch a surprise attack; instead, he intended to fight head-on to inspire more cultivators to reach the early Divination stage. Naturally, the Golden Cauldron Sect’s disciples who were training in the mountains sensed this fierce murderous intent and immediately went to report it. The sect also realized that a great disaster was inevitable.

At that time, all the elders and sect leaders of the Golden Cauldron Sect gathered on Golden Cauldron Peak. The Taiyuan Hall, where major matters of the sect were discussed, had brought together all the elders and leaders. The person who called the meeting was Shenjin Shangren, an elder in charge of internal affairs and at the late Outward Emergence stage. Shenjin Shangren’s expression remained calm, as if he took the impending disaster lightly. He sat in the seat at the center of the Taiyuan Hall.

“Elders and sect leaders, we have learned that more than four thousand cultivators at the late Yuan Ying stage have arrived, along with nearly eighty experts at the Outward Emergence stage. Judging from their momentum, it’s clear they intend to engage in a decisive battle with our Golden Cauldron Sect. Now that everyone is here, do you have any suggestions?” Shenjin Shangren asked calmly.

“Elder, those demon cultivators clearly know that our Golden Cauldron Sect has experts at the Divination stage, yet they still dare to challenge us. I believe they must also have experts at the Divination stage behind them,” said a man in a red robe with a fierce expression immediately.

“Elder, in terms of the number of experts at the late Yuan Ying stage and the Outward Emergence stage, our Golden Cauldron Sect is inferior to those demon cultivators. But we possess powerful formations that can be used to lure them into traps and eliminate them all at once,” said Linghuo Shangren, someone whom Qu Yi knew very well.

On Emerald Jupiter, Elder Linghuo waited for a year. After all the ocean monsters searched every corner of the planet, they failed to find Qu Yi’s trace. Thus, Elder Linghuo could only curse in anger before returning to Tianfeng Star.
“Elder, we could summon Zijin Zhenren to eliminate all the top experts among the Cultivators of Evil,” said a man with a fierce appearance in a gloomy tone.
Suddenly!
Inside the Taiyuan Hall, an old man with white hair and a bright red robe appeared. His demeanor was graceful, exuding an air of immortality.
This old man was Zijin Zhenren, the strongest warrior of the Jinding Sect.
As soon as he appeared, he glared fiercely at the man who had spoken earlier and shouted, “Lingyin, you actually ask me to assassinate someone at the Outward Emergence stage? You really are a poor leader of the Yinquan Hall. From now on, you are no longer the leader of the Yinquan Hall.”
How could a strong warrior at the Divided Attention stage attempt to assassinate someone at the Outward Emergence stage? It was a disgrace!
The man with the fierce face immediately knelt down in despair, shouting, “Zhenren, that’s not what I meant. My loyalty is entirely devoted to the Jinding Sect.”
It seemed that Elder Lingyin was very unwilling to accept this.
Zijin Zhenren didn’t bother to pay attention to him. Instead, he smiled at Elder Linghuo and said, “Linghuo, your suggestion is good. I think our Jinding Sect can use the ‘Nine-Curved Sharp Gold Formation’ to kill all the Cultivators of Evil at once.”
With the strongest expert of the Jinding Sect stepping in, the other elders and hall leaders dared not offer any further suggestions. They all quickly agreed.
Once activated, the Nine-Curved Sharp Gold Formation could cover an area of thousands of miles. Inside the formation, golden light, golden swords, golden knives, golden nets, golden ropes, golden staffs, golden stones, golden arrows, and golden fire each formed their own arrays. If controlled by the master of the formation, these nine smaller arrays could combine to create a more powerful hybrid formation.
The power of the smaller arrays was equivalent to that of those at the late Outward Emergence stage, while the hybrid formation was equivalent to that of those at the early Divided Attention stage.
It could be said that once the Cultivators of Evil fell into this formation, no one could escape—they would surely be killed instantly.
After reaching an agreement, the people of the Jinding Sect had their hall leaders return to their respective cultivation peaks. They made unified arrangements to send all disciples above the Yuan Ying stage on their peaks to Jinding Peak. As for those disciples below the Yuan Ying stage, their fate was left to chance. If lucky, the Cultivators of Evil might not come to their peaks; if unlucky, they would be slaughtered by them.
Elder Linghuo, having received praise from Zijin Zhenren, was in high spirits. As he flew back to his own peak, he was full of vigor.
……

On the mountain where the demon cultivators were located, Qu Yi sat together with the Southern Envoy and the Northern Envoy, discussing matters.
“Southern Envoy, Northern Envoy, I leave these demon cultivators in your hands to command. I believe their leader, the demon cultivator chief, will be arriving soon. He will give you orders, so just follow his instructions completely,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
At present, the spiritual awareness of the Artifact God had reached the late stage of divination, making it the farthest-reaching in terms of sensing ability across entire Tianfeng Star. Naturally, the presence of the demon cultivator chief could not escape its detection. Thus, Qu Yi knew that the chief had not arrived yet, so he didn’t rush to leave the demon cultivators.
At this time, the demon cultivator chief still didn’t realize that all the demons he had sent were in Qu Yi’s grasp. And since Qu Yi wanted to remain hidden behind the scenes and avoid exposure for now, he planned to let the demon cultivator chief fight against the Golden Cauldron Sect first, before stepping in to reap the rewards.
“Master, are you planning to leave?” Both the Southern Envoy and the Northern Envoy understood Qu Yi’s intention.
Qu Yi nodded and then teleported away immediately.
He would not reveal his past background, nor would he handle his grudges with Elder Linghuo on his own. But now, he believed the time had come.
……
In the Golden Cauldron Mountains, there was a peak called Huoyue Peak, which was Elder Linghuo’s place of cultivation.
After returning from Golden Cauldron Peak, Elder Linghuo immediately rang the assembly bell on the peak to gather all his disciples.
On a vast open platform, thousands of disciples from Huoyue Peak stood neatly and quietly.
Facing his disciples, Elder Linghuo said with vigor, “All disciples, listen carefully! A group of demon cultivators has arrived outside the Golden Cauldron Mountains and is about to attack our Golden Cauldron Sect. I order that all disciples at the Yuan Ying stage or above come with me to Golden Cauldron Peak to defend the mountain gates and fight against the demon cultivators. Those below the Yuan Ying stage should find shelter within the Golden Cauldron Mountains and return after the great calamity passes.”
Whoa! Whoa!
Upon hearing this, the disciples at the Yuan Ying stage remained calm, but the vast majority, who were below that level, became panicked and fearful.
“Quiet! The order has been given. Everyone, go prepare quickly,” Elder Linghuo said loudly, his expression calm.
The disciples at the Yuan Ying stage or above immediately flew to their residences, packed their belongings, and returned to the platform.

As for those disciples whose cultivation was below the Yuan Ying stage, they were filled with despair and anxiously flew back to their residences, then left Fire Moon Peak to search various places in the Golden Cauldron Mountains for secret spots to hide in. After issuing his orders, Elder Ling Huo returned to his own dwelling, the Fire Moon Pavilion. Just as he flew into the pavilion, a speck of dust was blown in by the strong wind. “Hmph, a bunch of demon cultivators daring to invade the Golden Cauldron Sect—how reckless. This time, I can kill a few more demon cultivators at the Outward Emergence stage. Their life force should help me break through and reach the middle stage of Outward Emergence,” Elder Ling Huo said happily as he packed his belongings. Suddenly, a spiritual confinement barrier was set up in the Fire Moon Pavilion, and Qu Yi appeared before Elder Ling Huo, holding a jade sword. Elder Ling Huo was shocked and stared at Qu Yi in panic, then glanced at the jade sword in his hand, growing suspicious. “Who are you?” he asked calmly. At this moment, Qu Yi’s aura and appearance had changed slightly, so Elder Ling Huo still couldn’t recognize him. But he recognized the jade sword—he had seen it before during his battle with Huai Qing. “Do you still remember me?” Qu Yi then reverted to his original appearance. “You’re Qu Yi!” Instead of panic, Elder Ling Huo felt surprise. “Elder Ling Huo, I didn’t expect you to be so happy even on your deathbed. It’s beyond my expectations,” Qu Yi said with a smile. “Bastard! With your cultivation at just the early Yuan Ying stage, do you still think you can assassinate me? Back then, your master was also at the early Yuan Ying stage and couldn’t kill me even with the Eight Directions Sword. How can you be better than your master?” Elder Ling Huo shouted angrily. To activate the Vast Heaven Immortal Mansion, eight Eight Directions Swords were needed, as all eight were made of transparent jade. The cultivation world also referred to them as jade swords. Qu Yi smiled faintly at Elder Ling Huo. He had deliberately suppressed his cultivation to the early Yuan Ying stage using the “Silent Art” from the start, just to lower Elder Ling Huo’s guard before killing him. “Elder Ling Huo, in this world, karma reaps what it sows. You destroyed our Immortal Cloud Sect back then; today, I’ll destroy you,” Qu Yi said solemnly, his expression changing. Immediately, Elder Ling Huo took out a Fire Control Disk and tried to use his vital energy to unleash flames to burn Qu Yi to death. With the hidden help of his weapon spirit, Qu Yi kept an eye on everything Elder Ling Huo did. “Destroy him!”

Suddenly, Qu Yi used the Golden Element attack secret technique ‘Annihilation’. His body became illusory as he swung his jade sword, unleashing a half-human-width crescent of light that pierced into Ling Huo Shangren’s body.
“No!”
Ling Huo Shangren let out a pained cry, and his entire body was destroyed by the light, turning into a pile of black ash.
Qu Yi, who was already at the later stage of the Yuan Ying phase, wielding his jade sword, was far beyond Ling Huo Shangren’s capabilities in the early stages of leaving his body.