Chapter 379: Vermilion Burns Evil

Hua Changxi led the Artifact Refiners of the Vermilion Army directly into the barrier space of Lihuo Cliff.

"This is Lihuo Cliff."

The Artifact Refiners stood on the cliff, sensing the exceptionally dense and abundant fire spiritual energy in the air. Though surprised and delighted, all their attention was focused on Hua Changxi.

Since joining the Vermilion Army, no one had ever seen the Hall Master's true face, but now they had.

"We pay our respects to the Hall Master!"

Seeing that the Artifact Refiners were about to perform the kneeling bow, Hua Changxi used spiritual power to stop them. "In the Vermilion Army, you kneel only to heaven, earth, and your parents. No one else is worth bending your knees for."

Hearing this, the Artifact Refiners' movements were a bit at a loss, but their expressions were invigorated.

Hua Changxi looked at them. "For a short time, you cannot contact the outside world. I need you to hand over your communication devices."

Upon hearing this, led by the seven fourth-grade Artifact Refiners, everyone handed over their communication devices.

The eldest fourth-grade Artifact Refiner, Shen Tieheng, stepped forward and said, "Hall Master, rest assured. We will surely follow orders."

Hua Changxi nodded in satisfaction and continued, "You should all know about the impostors posing as members of the Vermilion Army. This is a blatant provocation against the Vermilion Army."

"Now, I am entrusting you with a major task—forging the Vermilion Tokens."

Hearing this, everyone looked very excited.

"Follow me."

Hua Changxi led everyone into a stone cave and said to the seven fourth-grade Artifact Refiners as they walked, "From now on, you seven will be in charge of managing this Lihuo Cliff area."

"I have captured some people. They either impersonated members of the Vermilion Army or were involved in the chaotic fights in Nanxiang County. Among them are also Artifact Refiners. You may assign them tasks as you see fit."

Saying so, Hua Changxi produced the Lihuo Token, then collected a drop of essence blood from each of the seven and dripped it onto the token.

"I have granted you some authority. If anyone refuses to obey discipline, you can seal their spiritual power and send them to the bottom of the cliff to mine ores."

"Of course, you must not abuse your power. In a while, I will set up a suggestion box here. If anyone reports your abuse of authority, once I find out, I will not be lenient."

The seven fourth-grade Artifact Refiners quickly expressed that they would not dare.

At this moment, He Zhixuan and the others, hearing the commotion, came running out of the stone cave.

Hua Changxi had already sensed via divine sense that behind the stone cave, several stone chambers were filled with Nanming Stones, knowing that these people had been working properly.

"These few are all Nascent Soul cultivators and are fairly well-behaved. If you find them useful later, you can make them overseers."

He Zhixuan and the others did not dare to approach rashly, leaning against the stone wall, watching Hua Changxi lead the Vermilion Army's Artifact Refiners into the No. 1 Forging Room.

After reviewing the forging process of the Vermilion Token, the seven fourth-grade Artifact Refiners quickly gave Hua Changxi the reply she wanted.

"Hall Master, we can forge the form of the Vermilion Token, but its spirit may require your personal intervention."

The so-called 'spirit' of the Vermilion Token refers to infusing the token with a Vermilion Spirit.

After hearing their explanation, Hua Changxi understood that this step required binding the Vermilion Token to the Vermilion Army roster and simultaneously imprinting the Vermilion Pattern.

"Alright, I will handle the final step."

"When can you begin forging?"

Shen Tieheng: "The main material for forging the Vermilion Token is Nanming Stone. We can start right now."

Hua Changxi: "Very well, begin forging now. When the Vermilion Army can wear the Vermilion Token depends entirely on you."

All Artifact Refiners: "Hall Master, rest assured. We will forge day and night without delay."

Hua Changxi granted some authority to the seven fourth-grade Artifact Refiners, allowing them to draw the flames from the bottom of the cliff to light their forging furnaces.

Watching the furnaces in each room ignite one after another, Hua Changxi called He Zhixuan and the others aside. "If you fully assist the Artifact Refiners I brought, in the future, I will not only grant you freedom but also provide you with cultivation resources based on your daily performance."

She paused.

"I do not like to kill recklessly, but if anyone dares to cause trouble, I would not mind using them as fuel for the sea of fire at the bottom of the cliff. You have been warned."

Gu Xiu quickly said, "We will surely assist with all our strength."

Afterward, Hua Changxi left Lihuo Cliff and returned to Lingguang Hall.

For the next half month, Hua Changxi worked on setting up the 'Lingguang Hall—Karma Fire Platform' teleportation array while patrolling Nanxiang County, searching for clues about the missing members of the Vermilion Army.

During this period, the cultivators of Nanxiang County were very well-behaved, with few random battles.

As a result, there was no way to trace the cause of the Vermilion Army's disappearances.

After the teleportation array "Lingguang Hall—Karma Fire Platform" was set up, Hua Changxi told the manager of the Discipline Hall the incantation to activate it, letting him arrange for any Vermilion Army soldiers in need to go to the Karma Fire Platform to burn off their karma. Then she left for Lihuo Cliff.

After half a month of rushed production, the artifact refiners forged two thousand Vermilion Tokens.

Hua Changxi took the batch of Vermilion Tokens and directly leaped off the cliff, walking deep into the sea of fire to the Ancient Lihuo Flame.

Then, Hua Changxi sat cross-legged, and soon the two thousand Vermilion Tokens floated in the air around her.

Next, she tossed out the *Roster of the Vermilion Army*.

The *Roster of the Vermilion Army* hung high in the sky, shedding a dazzling radiance that enveloped all the Vermilion Tokens.

Immediately afterward, Hua Changxi summoned the token of the Lingguang Hall Master—the Vermilion Jade Pendant.

As soon as the Vermilion Jade Pendant appeared, the Ancient Lihuo Flame swayed violently.

Then, with a *swish*, the Vermilion Jade Pendant flew into the Ancient Lihuo Flame.

In an instant, the original pendant transformed into a lifelike, fist-sized Vermilion Bird.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi followed the refining procedure on the stone wall of the Alchemy Furnace Room, released her spiritual power, and manipulated the floating Vermilion Tokens to pass through the "Vermilion Bird" one by one.

Every Vermilion Token that successfully passed through had a vivid, three-dimensional Vermilion Bird pattern branded onto it.

By the time Hua Changxi left Lihuo Cliff, it was already three days later.

As soon as she left Lihuo Cliff, she received a message from Xie Hanzhang of the Task Hall: "Hall Master, another Vermilion Army squad has gone missing."

Looking at this message, Hua Changxi's expression turned grim, and her mood grew heavy.

Now, one squad of the Vermilion Army had a full fifty people. For so many to disappear together, there had to be a major force orchestrating it behind the scenes.

Who? Who was targeting the Vermilion Army?

Hua Changxi first sent the two thousand Vermilion Tokens to Lingguang Hall, ordering the Logistics Department to equip the Vermilion Army squads that were about to go on patrol. After that, she went to patrol Nanxiang County to search for the missing Vermilion Army soldiers.

After three consecutive days of investigation, she still found nothing.

"Who exactly is making a move?"

In the following month, Lingguang Hall arranged for only one Vermilion Army squad to go on patrol, and Hua Changxi secretly followed behind them.

Unfortunately, no one made a move the entire time.

Hua Changxi's expression grew increasingly dark. The person hiding in the shadows and attacking the Vermilion Army was clearly planning a long-term war of attrition.

But how could she afford to spend so much time playing hide-and-seek with them?

On the fifth day of the ninth month, Tong Yao sent Hua Changxi a message, saying that the suggestion boxes had been refined and asking her to come pick them up.

Hua Changxi thought she would go and come back quickly, so she stopped following the Vermilion Army.

When she arrived at the market outside the Artifact Saint Palace, Tong Yao directly gave Hua Changxi ten sets of suggestion boxes, display panels, and suggestion tokens.

Hua Changxi asked curiously, "Why was it refined so quickly this time?"

Tong Yao laughed and said, "With over a dozen elders working together to refine it, how could it be slow?"

Hua Changxi was just about to say something when she heard a bird cry that resounded through the skies above Nanxiang County.

*Screech!*

Hua Changxi's expression changed. She summoned her somersault cloud and vanished from Tong Yao's sight.

"Changxi, wait for me!"

Tong Yao summoned his flying sword and quickly chased after her.

At the same time, at an abandoned mass grave in the southeastern area of Nanxiang County, surging black fog seeped out from the ground, condensed into a giant hand in the air, and rapidly grabbed at the patrolling Vermilion Army squad.

Just as the Vermilion Army squad was about to be caught by the black hand, the Vermilion Token at the waist of the foremost soldier suddenly burst into dazzling light.

Then, flames ignited on the Vermilion Token.

Next, a flame-bathed Vermilion Bird burst out of the token and charged at the black hand.

The black hand formed from condensed black mist collided with the Vermilion Bird like an egg striking a stone, instantly shattering and breaking apart, before being burned completely clean by the flames.

The bird cries that Hua Changxi and the others heard were the sounds the Vermilion Bird made while fighting the black hand.

The Vermilion Bird Token intercepted the black mist's attack, and the Vermilion Bird Corps snapped back to their senses, quickly fleeing the chaotic burial ground.

However, lurking in the shadows and waiting to attack the Vermilion Bird Corps was not only the black mist, but also a Spirit Terrace realm tiger demon whose bloodline had reverted to that of the Taotie.

The tiger demon was hiding just ahead of where the Vermilion Bird Corps was fleeing. When they were only a few dozen meters away, the tiger demon leaped into the air, hovered midair, and suddenly swelled in size until it was as massive as a mountain.

Then the tiger demon opened its bloody maw and sucked fiercely toward the Vermilion Bird Corps.

A whirlwind-like suction force struck, and the Vermilion Bird Corps, utterly powerless to fight back, were caught up in the suction and rapidly swept toward the tiger demon's enormous mouth.

Just as the bloody maw loomed closer, at the critical moment, several of the Vermilion Bird Tokens at the waists of the Vermilion Bird Corps members simultaneously erupted with blinding flames, and then the cry of a bird rang out in the air once more.

Several Vermilion Birds, their bodies wreathed in fire, shot forth and plunged into the tiger demon's mouth. In the span of a few breaths, the tiger demon let out a bloodcurdling, agonizing scream.

By the time the cultivators, who had heard the commotion and rushed over to watch, arrived, the tiger demon was already engulfed in flames.

Watching the tiger demon roll frantically on the ground, unable to extinguish the flames no matter what it did—even by harming itself—the onlookers all swallowed their saliva in terror.