Scarlet Flame Canyon is located in the southwestern part of the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range. It is named after the peculiar crimson flames that burn eternally in its depths.
The mountain walls on both sides of the canyon are steep, displaying a dark red hue as if scorched by high temperatures. The air is filled with a scorching and dry atmosphere.
Ordinary plants struggle to grow here. Only some fire-resistant peculiar ferns and lichens dot the landscape.
When Ling Shuang led Lie Tian and the battered remnants of the Myriad Beasts Sect, arriving at the deepest part of the canyon after great hardship, everyone was at the end of their strength.
Days of fleeing, constant tension, and untreated injuries had pushed the morale and stamina of this group to rock bottom.
Before them stood a crimson rock wall, a hundred zhang high and smooth as a mirror.
The wall was not ordinary stone but a rare mineral known as Scarlet Flame Crystal. Upon it burned what appeared to be faint yet seemingly eternal pale golden flames. The intense heat they emitted caused the air to distort slightly.
This was the entrance to the Li Huo secret realm that Ling Shuang had described.
“This is the place.”
Ling Shuang stopped, her pale face flushed unnaturally from the heat, but a glimmer of hope shone in her eyes.
She turned to Lie Tian and the others. “Everyone, please wait a moment while I open the entrance to the secret realm.”
Lie Tian and the rest gazed at the burning rock wall, sensing the vast and pure fire-attribute energy within. Their hearts eased slightly.
Such a unique and concealed entrance might indeed allow them to evade pursuit by the demonic sect and the fused-beast clan for a time.
Ling Shuang took a deep breath, suppressing her physical exhaustion and the pain from her injuries. She stepped forward to about three zhang from the rock wall.
She took out her own fiery red feather-shaped jade pendant, identical to the one she had given Chen Ping. It was the Li Huo Pendant. Her hands formed seals, converting her pure Profound Heaven sword qi into scorching fire-attribute spiritual power, which she channelled into the pendant.
The Li Huo Pendant immediately radiated bright light, emitting a clear phoenix cry. A beam of crimson light shot out, striking the centre of the burning rock wall.
At the same time, Ling Shuang gathered her divine sense and began inscribing the complex and profound activation spell seal.
However, just as the seal was about to complete, the flames on the rock wall started fluctuating rhythmically, and the faint outline of a portal began to emerge. At this critical moment,
“Hmph!”
A cold and authoritative snort, like a thunderclap, exploded in everyone’s ears!
The snort contained a powerful divine soul impact and scorching sword intent. Ling Shuang bore the brunt of it. Her sea of consciousness throbbed with intense pain, and the spell seal she was inscribing instantly collapsed!
She let out a muffled groan, a trickle of blood escaping her mouth. She staggered back several steps, and the light from the Li Huo Pendant in her hand dimmed.
The portal outline that had been forming on the rock wall dissipated, returning to its original burning state.
“Who is it?!”
Lie Tian mustered his strength, stepping in front of Ling Shuang. His silver pupils scanned the surroundings warily.
The remaining Myriad Beasts Sect disciples also roused themselves, assuming defensive postures.
“Shuang’er, you have some nerve!”
Accompanied by the authoritative voice, the space in front of the burning rock wall rippled like water. A figure gradually emerged.
The newcomer was a middle-aged man appearing around forty or fifty years old. He wore a crimson robe embroidered with golden flame patterns. His features were austere, and his eyes flashed with sharp light as they opened and closed, like two leaping flames.
On his back was an ancient-styled crimson longsword. Though sheathed, it naturally exuded a scorching and sharp terror of sword intent, as if capable of incinerating all things.
His aura was far stronger than Lie Tian at his peak. He was clearly a supreme sword cultivator at the eighth grade of Heavenly Immortal realm, possibly even the ninth!
“Master!”
Upon seeing the newcomer, Ling Shuang’s face turned ashen. Ignoring her injuries, she quickly bowed in greeting, her voice trembling.
This person was none other than Ling Shuang’s master, a genius sword cultivator from the previous generation of the Profound Heaven Sword Sect. He had later left the sect to wander alone and was now revered as the peerless powerhouse known as Heavenly Fire Sword Venerable, Ling Yan!
Ling Yan’s gaze was like lightning. It first swept over Ling Shuang, noting the blood at her mouth and her weakened aura. A trace of barely perceptible heartache flashed in his eyes, quickly overtaken by even greater anger.
His gaze then moved to Lie Tian and the others, clearly not sword cultivators, all injured and with mixed beast clan auras. His expression immediately darkened as if it could drip water.
“Shuang’er, have you forgotten your master’s rules?”
Ling Yan’s voice was ice-cold, devoid of emotion. “The Li Huo secret realm is my place of secluded cultivation. No outsider is ever permitted to set foot inside!”
“You left the secret realm without permission and meddled in the sect’s conflict with the demonic sect. I have yet to hold you accountable for that. Now you dare bring so many… assorted strangers here and attempt to open the secret realm?”
“Where do you place my rules? Where do you place the precepts of the Profound Heaven Sword Sect?”
“Master, please calm your anger!”
Ling Shuang dropped to her knees with a thud, speaking urgently. “This disciple knows her wrong! But there are reasons for this! The Myriad Beasts Sect was ambushed by the Myriad Souls Demonic Sect in collusion with traitors. The sect has been destroyed.”
“Sect Leader Lie Tian and the others fought desperately to break out. Now pursuers are behind them, and there is no path ahead. This disciple… could not bear to see them hunted down and exterminated by the demonic sect. That is why I presumptuously brought them here to seek temporary refuge in the secret realm.”
“I beg Master to show mercy and allow them entry for a short time. Once the danger passes, they will leave of their own accord! Father… Father also agreed to let this disciple assist them!”
“Ling Yunzi agreed?”
Ling Yan frowned, but his anger did not abate. “His agreement is his affair! This is the Li Huo secret realm. It is my domain! The rules are set by me!”
“Even if he, Ling Yunzi, or the successive ancestors of the Profound Heaven Sword Sect were revived, they could not change it!”
He looked at Lie Tian and the others, his eyes indifferent, as if regarding ants. “A pack of stray dogs also worthy of defiling this venerable one’s place of pure cultivation?”
“Get out of Scarlet Flame Canyon immediately! Otherwise, do not blame this venerable one for showing no mercy with my sword!”
“Senior!”
Lie Tian endured the humiliation, stepping forward and bowing deeply. “This junior is Lie Tian, sect leader of the Myriad Beasts Sect. Our sect has suffered this catastrophe out of necessity. We have absolutely no intent to offend Senior’s cultivation.”
“We only beg Senior to lend aid and permit us temporary refuge. This junior is willing to offer all remaining resources and treasures of the Myriad Beasts Sect as remuneration. In future, should Senior have any command, the Myriad Beasts Sect, top to bottom, will go through fire and water without hesitation!”
“Myriad Beasts Sect? Hmph, a bunch of trash that could not even guard their own gates. What qualification do you have to negotiate with this venerable one?”
Ling Yan sneered mercilessly. “Your resources and treasures? This venerable one has no interest! Get lost immediately! Do not force this venerable one to personally send you on your way!”
