Shi Feiyang asked for the precise location where the child went missing and told the crowd, "I'll help you find the child. Time is of the essence, we must find them alive or confirm their death, so let's not waste time with idle chatter."
He rose into the sky and first used his True Water Inner Core to cast a spell that created a vast amount of water vapor, spreading and forming a cloud layer around him. Then he performed an Escape Skill, moving through the clouds in search of the target, able to completely conceal his presence without leaving a trace.
The terrain of the Immortal Mountain region was constantly undulating, with peaks on one side and river ravines on the other, abundant rainfall, and dense forests. Finding someone in this vast wilderness was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Fortunately, Shi Feiyang could fly in the sky. His bright dragon eyes had astonishing vision; hidden within the clouds, he could see everything on the ground as clearly as ants hunting insects. He thought that if this were the work of practitioners of the Evil Path, having snatched so many children in a short time, the location of their deeds would not be far apart. He decided to initially limit the search area within a hundred miles and, after searching once, would expand it to three hundred.
Finally, as the sky began to darken, he discovered the target on a small hill.
A large stone was arranged in the style of a Dharma Platform, covered with an Eight Diagrams Yellow Cloth, and surrounded by candles as thick as an arm. There were sticks of incense, three large bowls containing clear water, rice, and black beans, and eighteen triangular command flags around the platform. Three small bright yellow flags stood at the corners of the platform, along with a Magic Sword, Magic Ruler, and Magic Mirror among other items.
There were many locust trees in front of the Dharma Platform. The nearby trees all had children tied to them, boys to the east and girls to the west. Their clothes were gone, replaced by red belly bands dyed in blood, embroidered with strange and terrifying runes in gold thread.
The ropes that bound them were black ink lines threaded with paper money and talisman paper. Though only wrapped around three or four times, the children were too paralyze to struggle. Some hung their heads, already dead, with fresh blood streaming from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, while others were still alive, terrified, tears streaming down as they opened their mouths wide to scream but could not make a sound.
Behind the Dharma Platform stood three Daoist practitioners.
The one in the middle wore a White Crane Cloak, a Jade Crown on his head, and had a youthful face with a trio of long beards hanging from his chin. He had the air of an immortal, as if he were Lu Dongbin from the paintings, chatting with the other two.
Shi Feiyang listened from the clouds to the information revealed in their conversation and soon frowned.
These three individuals had significant backgrounds!
The Altar Master in the center, surnamed Yue, named Yue Qinyin, usually cultivated at Heng Mountain in Hunan, and was a prized disciple of the Taiyin Hunyuan Ancestor from the Wutai Sect.
The two protectors beside him, one named Fire Wing Vajra Hu Shi and the other named Furong Walker Sun Fu, were Yue Qinyin's junior sect brothers. Their cultivation site was the topmost Chaoyang Cliff of the Immortal Banyan View in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian, not very far from here.
In the Shushan World, the two largest Sword Immortal Sects were the Emei Sect and the Wutai Sect. Each sect had numerous Disciples with significant Dao Levels spread all over the world, each establishing separate lodgings and operating independently.
Both Sects were renowned for their sword refining arts, and Yue Qinyin had come specifically to refine one of the Divine Infant Swords of the Wutai Sect.
To craft this sword, many life souls of boys and girls with matching Eight Characters were needed. These children, when they died, had their souls hooked by evil skills. After death, they would be tormented repeatedly by the soul refinement process, their malice filling them until they became evil infants and fierce ghosts, before finally being forged into the sword. Once made, the sword needed to be used to kill many more children, their fresh blood quenching the sword tip for it to achieve great success.
The conditions for making this sword were also very harsh; only one month every twelve years was suitable for the process. The birth date and time of the eighteen children were of great importance, especially the two used as the main souls: one had to be born in a yang year, yang month, yang day, and yang hour, while the other had to be born in a yin year, yin month, yin day, and yin hour, not off by even a single two-hour period.
Because forging the sword was closely linked with the heavens, the process often did not go smoothly—frequently interrupted by various unexpected events, bringing failure when success seemed imminent.
This time, Yue Qinyin first went to Feilei Cave on Wuyi Mountain to look for a capable person in his sect, a warrior known as the Seven-Handed Yaksha Long Fei, but he returned empty-handed; Long Fei was not home, having gone to Jiuhua Mountain to visit friends. Hence, Yue Qinyin settled for second best and went to Chaoyang Cliff to seek the help of Hu Shi and Sun Fu to assist him in refining the sword.
Yue Qinyin said to them, "I have attempted to refine the Divine Infant Sword once before. Not only did I fail, but I also nearly lost an arm. This sword is so intricately connected to the heavens, that since its initial creation, not a second person has managed to forge it. Not to belittle my junior brothers, but I came to Wuyi Mountain this time seeking the help of Elder Brother Long Fei. His absence gives me an ominous premonition that the chances of successfully refining the sword this time are still slim. If it weren't for the impending swordfight with the Emei Sect, I would not have taken such a risk to insist on forging it."
Hu Shi responded, "Why must elder brother undermine his own confidence? Have we not captured these children smoothly in the past few days? The sword is already half-refined, and everything has been calm. Where are the setbacks?"
Sun Fu expressed his agreement: "Indeed! Elder brother will surely succeed in refining the sword this time. When the time comes, we will sweep through the Emei Sect with the sword, like mowing down pigs and dogs, and take all of their treasured bovine gallstones and dog treasures to vent the frustration we've suffered over the years."
Shi Feiyang initially thought he was dealing with some common loose cultivators from the evil path who captured children to practice evil skills, and he could easily settle the matter. Little did he expect that it was the Wutai Sect involved, an organized group. Killing one might bring a whole group down upon him, and the Wutai Sect had deep roots. The Taiyin Hunyuan Ancestor had twice dueled with the Emei Sect Leader, Qi Shuming; the first time, he had lost an arm, and the second time, just when he was about to win, he was beaten to death by three immortal elders.
Although Shi Feiyang had some reservations about killing people from the Wutai Sect, now that he was aware of the situation, he could not stand by and watch so many children being murdered and their souls extracted for the demon sword's sacrificial refinement.
He turned to look back at Dinghu Peak, considering that the place was too small to accommodate a True Dragon, and he had long harbored the idea of heading out to sea. Today, he would dispose of these three demons, and then head for the East Sea. The dragon should return to the vast sea; that was where a dragon truly belonged.
The Wutai Sect was currently embroiled in a swordfight with the Emei Sect, and the battle was escalating. Once the bouts were over and the Taiyin Hunyuan Ancestor passed away, the vast Wutai Sect would disintegrate. By then, it was unlikely that any of the Disciples would have the leisure to seek vengeance. Even if they did track him down, who was to say who would be afraid of whom?
Having made up his mind, he rode his escape light to hide within the clouds, his immense body slowly moving as he adjusted his position for an optimum angle. Inside, he stirred his two inner cores, one water, and one fire, making them circle each other faster and faster until they formed a Water and Fire Tai Chi Diagram. With a mighty breath, he spat the two inner cores out in a blast from the sky towards the ground!
Last time he ambushed Wei Fengniang and Brooyinca, he focused all his attacks on the stronger Mana-wielding Brooyinca. This time, with the dual-core attack, he directed all his firepower at Furong Walker Sun Fu on the far right, intending to take one out first.
Those three were below, excitedly visualizing their future domination in the swordfight, thrashing the group of immortals from the Emei Sect until they were down on their knees. As they were getting carried away, a streak of fire suddenly plummeted from the clouds, crashing down like a comet. They shouted in alarm and hastily brought out their Flying Swords and Protective Dharma Treasures to defend.
Above the Dharma Platform stood the Guardian Altar Gods, cultivated protectors collected by Yue Qinyin through casting. They had already become quite powerful. As the attack neared, they were the first to sense it, emitting a streak of black smoke from their gourd. Four altar gods appeared within the smoke, one wearing iron armor and wielding a huge sword, another dressed as a scholar, holding a Judge's pen, one with double swords, and another with a long sword, all enveloped in black and red blood aura, towering three to four zhang high above the Dharma Platform. They shouted in unison, "What kind of demon causes trouble here!"