Chapter 513: Stratagem Destroying Flags
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhu Lanhuo’s expression was very ugly. No matter what, he had never expected that they would lose another three Sect Elders in today’s battle. They had died so silently and suddenly, without any sign or omen at all.
This was an impressive Sect Elder they were talking about. They were Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioners and not some small fry. How could they have possibly died so inexplicably? Even if they could not win the battle, couldn’t they have escaped?
He really wanted to find out just what had happened. However, with the Snow Storm Stratagem as an obstacle and shield, he would not be able to deduce the reason, even with his Cultivation.
“What do we do about this?” As Deputy Sect Leader, Li Zhuoying had also sensed that something was not right. The day before, he had still been very optimistic as he thought that there had possibly been some incident causing the five Sect Elders to not be able to return. However, today, another three Sect Elders had vanished. Within two short days, eight Sacred Flame Sect Elders had now disappeared. He felt extremely stunned. Just what kind of situation were they facing?
“We can’t drag things out any longer. Something must have changed within the Intentionless Sect. Did you notice that when we met Chen Zikuang earlier, his injuries have already fully healed? Under normal circumstances, that would be impossible. He must have eaten taken some kind of healing panacea. However, I find it very weird. I doubt Intentionless Sect would be so generous to give him a healing panacea for such minor injuries. Even between the two of us, we would not be so extravagant.” Zhu Lanhuo’s expression was dark. At such a time, when the Sacred Flame Sect was in a battle with Intentionless Sect, those healing panaceas were the most precious things. One would not use it so easily. Chen Zikuang had only gotten a little injured. Under normal circumstances, he should not have received such generosity.
In the hall, the atmosphere was tense. There were at least 20 Elders who had appeared in this place in the past couple of days. However, today, there were only about ten of them present. The others were either confirmed to be dead or were still missing.
Ever since Duan Mu and Diao Peng, the two Sect Elders, had met with some kind of mishap a few days ago, weird things had started to happen one after the other. Within a short few days, ten Sect Elders from Sacred Flame Sect had already died. There definitely had to be some kind of secret hidden within this; it was just that they were unaware of it. When faced with Intentionless Sect who had now become mysterious, even the Sacred Flame Sect Elders felt the pressure weighing on their heart. Their feelings began to turn more and more solemn.
Moreover, the advantage of Sacred Flame Sect lay in their strong power among the top positions. The people at the top were all stronger than the Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioners in Intentionless Sect. However, ten of their Sect Elders had died one after the other. The Sacred Flame Sect was already beginning to lose their advantage over Intentionless Sect. Their only remaining advantage was that they still had two Sect Elders with the intermediate stage of the Golden Elixir realm.
“Are you prepared?” Li Zhuoying’s expression grew solemn.
“Let’s use the Stratagem Destroying Flags. We have no other choice at this point in time.” Zhu Lanhuo sighed. Now things had come to this stage, he no longer had any alternatives. He had never expected that there would actually be such an amazing stratagem like the Snow Storm Stratagem in Intentionless Sect. Underestimating their ability was the biggest mistake he had made when launching his attack on Intentionless Sect.
However, he could no longer back down at this point. They could not possibly let up on their final chance to make a difference. The Sacred Flame Sect had sacrificed so much. If they did not gain anything from it, his reputation as Sect Leader would be harmed greatly.
He was not willing to give up either. They were just a small step away from eliminating Intentionless Sect and were about to complete something that the Sacred Flame Sect had not been able to achieve in hundreds of years. He was not willing to fail just like that.
“Stratagem Destroying Flags! Is that price a little too great… What if…” Li Zhuoying’s eyes expanded and his expression became serious. The Stratagem Destroying Flag was just too valuable and was the treasure of Sacred Flame Sect. The entire Sacred Flame Sect only had one single Stratagem Destroying Flag. Moreover, the Stratagem Destroying Flag was not an average stratagem flag. It had limited usage and could only be used once. If they used it on Intentionless Sect, their Stratagem Destroying Flag would then become useless.
Especially considering the fact that the condition in Intentionless Sect was very unstable, it was possible that even after using the Stratagem Destroying Flag, they would still be unable to attack Intentionless Sect. Then, it would be a consequence that was difficult to bear for Sacred Flame Sect.
Nobody knew just what had happened in Intentionless Sect and why those ten Sect Elders had all disappeared just like that. As the Deputy Sect Leader of Sacred Flame Sect, Li Zhuoying’s confidence was slowly diminishing. He was not someone who liked to take risks. Doing so was akin to cutting off all means of retreat and putting all their eggs in one basket.
“Then what? Do you think we should retreat from Intentionless City and return to Sacred Flame Sect instead? If so, our half a month of hard work would simply be a joke.” Zhu Lanhuo’s face was dark. It was now impossible for him to stop. He could only fight until the end. Moreover, just what had happened was still unknown. So what if those ten Sect Elders had died? He was an ancient martial art practitioner with the intermediate stage of the Golden Elixir realm himself. One of him was comparable to ten others. And they still had Li Zhuoying as well.
Intentionless Sect had lost that old B*stard Chen Wuhui. What other powers were there to go up against him?
It was a joke that Chen Zikuang relied on a few treasures, thinking that he could be a match for him. If Intentionless Sect had treasures, wouldn’t Sacred Flame Sect have treasures as well?
“Since you have decided, let’s do things as you wish.” Li Zhuoying sighed. He knew that there was no use crying over spilled milk. No matter what, they had to give it their all. At least currently, all hope was still not lost. Even if there had been any changes in Intentionless Sect, it was impossible for them to turn the tables around completely.
“Relay the order that from tomorrow, we will launch a full-on attack. Get all the Sect Elders in Intentionless City to station themselves at their positions. There is no need to care about anything else. We will talk again once Intentionless Sect has been taken down.” Zhu Lanhuo gave his orders coldly. He had already completely run out of patience.
On the second day, the situation was tense in Intentionless City. Those ancient martial art practitioners of the Sacred Flame Sect who were blocking off the border in the outer city of Intentionless City were all withdrawn during the night. The huge Intentionless City was finally no longer under siege.
It wasn’t just the ancient martial art practitioners who had been guarding the borders, but the Sacred Flame Sect ancient martial art practitioners who had been maintaining order in the inner city had seemingly vanished as well. On the second day, they no longer appeared in the city.
Many people suspected that Sacred Flame Sect had already conquered the Intentionless Sect, which was why the city was no longer blocked off. However, these suspicions were simply suspicions. Although the outer city had been released, the inner city was still blocked off and in a state of turmoil. There were frightening waves of inner Qi radiating from within.
Inside one of the inns, Chen Zi was standing by the window and looking out onto the street. The worry in her eyes did not fade. Zou Guangbo walked in from the hustle and bustle of the streets and said in a low voice, “Young Mistress, the power of Sacred Flame Sect has indeed been withdrawn from the outer city. They have probably relocated to the inner city. However, we are unable to confirm at the moment whether Intentionless Sect has already fallen into their hands.”
Chen Zi pursed her lips tightly. She looked out onto the streets for a long time without saying a word. Other than staying silent, she could not do anything else as she helplessly waited for updates.
“Young Mistress, you don’t have to be too worried. Life and death are up to fate; success or defeat is up to the heavens. If Intentionless Sect has good fortune, nothing will happen to it.” Zou Guangbo sighed. All he could offer was words of assurance. He did not know what else to say either. When it came to a battle between two such major sects, the capabilities of both Chen Zi and Zou Guangbo were insignificant.
“I have perhaps made a mistake. I should not have involved him in this matter.” Chen Zi sighed. She harbored a little regret. She had known that something had happened to Intentionless Sect. Yet, she had still gone ahead with bringing Mo Wen along into the Green Ancient Mystery Dimension.
“Young Mistress, what’s meant to be will be. Moreover… Mo Wen, this person… How should I say… He’s a little odd. I have always thought that he has the power to go against others, but others would not be able to handle him. Moreover, I can sense that he came to Intentionless Sect with his own motives as well. Even if you had wanted to stop him, I’m afraid he would not have taken heed anyway,” Zou Guangbo muttered, before continuing, “I suspect that the current change in Sacred Flame Sect has got to do with him. I would not be surprised if he was able to cause such a thing to happen. Perhaps, it may even be a good thing for Intentionless Sect.”
“A good thing?” Chen Zi’s gaze shifted to Zou Guangbo.
“That’s right, from what I can tell now, Intentionless Sect has yet to fall into their hands, as the stratagem surrounding the inner city still exists. Moreover, within the inner city, the waves of inner Qi have become more and more intense. Hence, the battle must still be in progress. I’m afraid there are only two explanations for the Sacred Flame Sect reassigning their powers from the outer city to the inner city… it’s either that they are preparing for their final attack, or they had lost quite badly in the battle against Intentionless Sect, forcing them to strengthen their forces in the inner city.”
In reality, many people had already guessed what must have happened. If it was to attack Intentionless Sect, there was no need for Sacred Flame Sect to withdraw their forces completely from the outer city. After all, the order in Intentionless Sect was still maintained by Sacred Flame Sect.
Moreover, in the outer city, there were many people from Intentionless Sect hidden. To Sacred Flame Sect, that was also a hidden danger. Under normal circumstances, they would not completely leave the area.
With there still not being any final battle in Intentionless City, many people had been led to think that Sacred Flame Sect must have been weakened. Hence, there was some hope in Zou Guangbo’s heart. If Intentionless Sect was able to force Sacred Flame Sect into executing such a step, perhaps, they might even be able to ride out this difficult situation.
“You are making sense. Under normal circumstances, the Sacred Flame Sect should not be letting go of their control of the outer city. I’m afraid that they are truly giving it their last shot.”
Chen Zi furrowed her brows before gritting her teeth, “This won’t do, I can’t just wait here without doing anything. Since Sacred Flame Sect has already given up control of the outer city, let’s immediately gather all the people of Intentionless Sect hidden here, in order to take back control. Also, those Sect Elders and stronger disciples of Intentionless Sect should have quite a number amongst them rushing over to Intentionless City. Under the circumstance that they are unable to enter the city, they may even already be gathered just outside Intentionless City. You should leave the city immediately and see if you are able to contact any of those Sect Elders attempting to rush back.”
Chen Zi was decisive. Sacred Flame Sect giving up their control over the outer city provided her with a great chance of gathering the powers of Intentionless Sect and assembling them altogether. By then, they would actually make up a rather strong force together.
Meanwhile, the inner city was in a state of turmoil.
Zhu Lanhuo and Li Zhuoying, the two Sacred Flame Sect Leaders, appeared inside the Snow Storm Stratagem. Each of them grabbed a few sticks of the black and green colored huge flags. The snowstorm was raging all around them.
“Has everything been prepared appropriately?” Zhu Lanhuo asked.
A group of Sacred Flame Sect disciples was busy within the Snow Storm Stratagem. Nobody knew what they were tinkering with. The whole group of people was constantly digging holes in the piles of snow. They were actually burying spiritual stones in the ground.