"Do you really think that I won't know just because you refuse to answer? We are currently in the northern regions of the Duyuan Empire, so how could I not recognise a move from the Zodiac Scripture?" Ke Huofen said. "Tell me,are you a member of the Armed Ape Tower?"
"If you already know, as you said, then why are you still asking me?" Zhao Yunxiao Two answered defiantly.
Ke Huofen narrowed his eyes at him.
He appeared to be calm on the surface, but he was actually extremely shocked right now. Just as Zhao Yunxiao had been astonished that the Dragon Aspect had worked, Ke Huofen had never expected a mere clone at the Essence Gathering realm to be able to affect his control over the power of corruption, even if it was only for the slightest of moments.
Was it because he was only using it for the first time and had yet to fully get used to it?
Or did the Zodiac Scripture serve to counter the power of corruption?
No, neither was the case.
He might be using this move for the first time, but a mere Essence Gathering realm cultivator should still be far from capable of affecting him in such a manner. And in his decades of experience as a cultivator, he had never heard of the Zodiac Scripture having any exceptional ability to counteract the power of corruption.
In that case, the most logical explanation would be that the user of this clone was just disguising its cultivation level at the Essence Gathering realm, when he or she was actually far stronger than that!
The Armed Ape Tower might be a subordinate sect to the Black Tortoise Sect, but it was also the strongest of the subordinate sects. Specifically, Sky Claw Xiong Yan of the Armed Ape Tower was someone at the Heavenly Lord realm – that was someone whom he still could not afford to offend as of now.
Without knowing who exactly this clone belonged to, coupled with how Fei Qing had already sent out a rescue signal, it would be unwise to drag this out any longer. More so than the Armed Ape Tower, he definitely had to avoid any direct confrontation with the Duyuan Empire.
That was a faction greater than not just the Armed Ape Tower, but even the Black Tortoise Sect!
"Thank you for your help, Senior. This junior might be overstepping my boundaries by making this request, but please aid us in restraining this villain!" Fei Qing suddenly clasped his fists towards Zhao Yunxiao Two, having come to the same conclusion as Ke Huofen.
...Senior?
Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch.
But before he could react, Ke Huofen suddenly lifted off from the ground.
"Hmph!" Ke Huofen waved his free hand slightly, and the red emblem on the ground suddenly burst into flames, instantly transforming the ice-cold chamber into a scorching hellhole.
"Shit!" Fei Qing immediately turned around and rushed towards the remaining members of the vanguard party.
These flames were extremely dangerous even for cultivators like him, not to mention these ordinary mortals. If left to their own devices, death would be the only fate that awaited them!
Cong Liexian promptly followed after Fei Qing, rushing over to save the members of the vanguard party.
Taking this opportunity, Ke Huofen and his companions turned into beams of light that shot out of the chamber, disappearing into the distance.
In contrast, Zhao Yunxiao Two simply watched as they made their escape. Even if he had wanted to, he would be helpless to stop them, not to mention the fact that he had no intention to do so in the first place.
Compared to that, he was much more interested in investigating the red emblem. Unfortunately, a single sweep of his spiritual sense over the blazing flames was enough for him to give up any hope of doing so.
These were no ordinary flames, but a magical inferno powered by the array itself. Without breaking the array, extinguishing these flames would be nigh impossible. Unfortunately, the flames were also strong enough that his life would be forfeit by the time he figured out the way to break the array!
There was no helping it. The only thing left to do was to help the vanguard party while making his own escape.
Looking at the state of things, these flames should be part of the self-destruction mechanism of the red emblem, so it was probably already done for. Unfortunately, the strength of the flames also made it too dangerous to stay and collect the belongings of the dead cultivators.
How lamentable!
He could only hope that some of the dead cultivators' belongings would be able to survive the flames, especially those of Ren Xiexing and the red-haired woman. As Dao Rune realm cultivators, surely their spatial items would contain items of unimaginable value!
In the end, Fei Qing and Cong Liexian did not require Zhao Yunxiao Two's help when it came to saving the remaining members of the vanguard party. In fact, Fei Qing alone was sufficient.
Despite the relatively large number of people remaining, Fei Qing easily wrapped his essence energy around, which served to not only protect them from the flames, but also drag them along as he flew out of the chamber.
Since his help was not needed to save the vanguard party, Zhao Yunxiao Two naturally focused on protecting himself while escaping. Even then, he was still much slower than Fei Qing and Cong Liexian.
By the time he left the chamber, went through the long tunnel, and exited the cave to bask in the cold moonlight, Fei Qing and Cong Liexian had already put down the members of the vanguard party, and were standing curiously over two corpses.
Thankfully, the flames did not follow them out of the cave. However, intense heat could still be felt coming from within. From the looks of it, these flames would not be subsiding anytime soon...
Zhao Yunxiao hesitated for a moment, but still decided to have Zhao Yunxiao Two walk over to investigate.
These two corpses were none other than Shao Chen and the frail-looking Scarlet Leaf Sect member who had cut off the trailing group's escape right after their arrival.
The strange thing was that both of them seemed to have died of the same cause – direct decapitation. An aura of corruption could also be sensed lingering on their wounds.
"It seems like Ke Huofen killed both of them on the way out. How ruthless," Cong Liexian shook his head.
"That bastard... I would like to see just how long he can hide!" Fei Qing cursed before noticing Zhao Yunxiao Two walking over. "Senior, thank you once again for your aid. I am Fei Qing of the Duyuan Empire, and this is Brother Cong Liexian. If you are willing to indulge this junior, would it be possible to leave your name so that I can pay the Armed Ape Tower a visit to show my gratitude in the future?"
"...I appreciate the thought, but there is no need for that," Zhao Yunxiao Two replied. "I have left without informing the sect this time, so revealing my identity would only create more trouble for me."
"Is that so? Haha, how coincidental. To be honest, I am in the same situation," Fei Qing let out a bitter laugh. "In the case, let's forget about paying the Armed Ape Tower an official visit. If you are willing to leave your name, I would definitely make sure to repay this favour in the future. As for our involvement in this matter, we can both keep this under wraps."
"Brother Fei here is a personal guard of the current Princess Yufei. Having him owe you a favour would definitely do more good than bad," Cong Liexian reminded. Since Ke Huofen had already mentioned this earlier, there was no longer a need to hide their identities.
"...You can refer to me as Ah Long," Zhao Yunxiao Two answered.
Since the other party seemed to have already concluded that he was from the Armed Ape Tower, he would not bother correcting them. In that light, he had actually deliberated pretending to be Xiong Yekong, but the latter was far too famous to be used in such a manner. Eliminating Xiong Yekong, another name quickly surfaced in his mind.
Zodiac General Long Shiqian.
Of course, it would be ridiculous for him to use Long Shiqian's actual name, so Zhao Yunxiao decided on Ah Long instead. In any case, this would likely be a one-off encounter, so it really did not matter what name he chose.
"So, it is Senior Long. This junior is pleased to make your acquaintance," Fei Qing clasped his fists towards Zhao Yunxiao Two. "Rest assured that Brother Cong and I will not forget your act of saving our lives today, and will do anything we can to repay this favour in the future!"
"Our deepest gratitude," Cong Liexian did the same.
"That would not be necessary," Zhao Yunxiao Two waved them off casually before turning his attention to the corpses of Shao Chen and the frail-looking man. "Rather than that, would you mind if I take them?"
"Their corpses? Is Senior Long thinking of investigating the lingering aura of corruption as well?" Fei Qing asked.
"That's right," Zhao Yunxiao Two nodded. "This Ke Huofen and the Scarlet Leaf Sect remain a threat to all, so it is important to find out more about what we are dealing with here."
Well, that was not entirely a lie.
While their spatial items were part of his considerations, looking into the aura of corruption would be helpful as well.
"All right," Fei Qing agreed without hesitation. "Brother Cong and I were thinking of doing the same, but it would be best if Senior Long could do so instead. Surely you would be able to gather more insights than us inexperienced juniors. In that case, why don't you bring the survivors back to Thousand Autumn City, Brother Cong?"
"Hmm? What about you?" Cong Liexian asked.
"I will wait out the flames and investigate the cave after," Fei Qing explained. "We can't just leave it be."
"Mm, all right. But be careful," Cong Liexian agreed. "In that case, I will bid my farewell first. I will return to join you once they are safely escorted back to the city."
They had no idea how long the flames would continue burning for, so there was no way they could just leave the survivors out here indefinitely. In addition, many of these survivors were already heavily injured, and were in urgent need of medical attention.
"I will be leaving as well," Zhao Yunxiao Two said, smoothly picking up the two corpses and their spatial items in his sleeves. "May we meet again under better circumstances."
"...May we meet again under better circumstances indeed," Fei Qing agreed. "Farewell."
At the same time, Fei Qing had to suppress his urge to raise an eyebrow at how Zhao Yunxiao Two was not using a spatial item instead. It might just be a clone, but surely a respected senior like him would still be able to arm a clone with a spatial item if he had wanted to.
There were truly all sorts of strange people in this world...
With that, the three surviving cultivators split three ways.
Fei Qing remained outside the cave to stand guard, Cong Liexian led the exhausted vanguard party back to Thousand Autumn City, while Zhao Yunxiao Two deliberately left in the opposite direction, making a large detour to enter the city through another gate.
If possible, Zhao Yunxiao would have liked to investigate the cave after the flames died down as well. However, he would risk exposing his identity if Fei Qing continued to ask him questions, either about himself or the two corpses.
On top of that, there might not even be anything left to investigate.
Rather than that, he decided that leaving with the direct rewards – the corpses – was still the better option. As for the investigation of the cave, he could only hope that Fei Qing would share the results with the public after he was done.
In the end, this was not the resolution that he had expected, nor was it the best outcome.
However, Zhao Yunxiao was still rather pleased with the result.
Firstly, while Ke Huofen had managed to get away, the Scarlet Leaf Sect's activities at Blueflag Mountain should still have officially come to an end. Theoretically, this should resolve the strange behaviour of the Untethered Sage's statue at the Hei Residence, putting an end to his sect mission.
Secondly, watching battles at the Origin Core and Dao Rune realm had given him some insights into the use of energy and combat techniques. He was certain that by studying and digesting these insights, he would be able to elevate his combat prowess to a higher level.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, he had managed to obtain the corpses of two Origin Core realm cultivators! Who knew what secrets they had on their bodies and in their spatial items?
He could hardly wait to begin investigating these corpses. Of course, it was mainly for the sake of dealing with Ke Huofen in the future!