Chapter 379: Zhu Que Appears, Evil Spirits Burn

Hua Changxi took the refiners in the Zhu Que Army directly into the Lihuo Cliff barrier space.

"This is Lihuo Cliff."

The refiners stood on the cliff, feeling the incomparably rich and sufficient fire spiritual energy in the air. Although they were pleasantly surprised, all their attention was on Hua Changxi.

Since joining the Zhu Que Army, no one has ever seen the true face of the Hall Master, but now, they saw it.

"Meet the Hall Master!"

Seeing that the refiners were about to perform a kneeling ceremony, Hua Changxi stopped them with spiritual power: "Zhu Que Army, kneel to heaven, kneel to earth, kneel to parents. Others are not worthy of you bending your knees."

Hearing this, although the refiners' behavior was a bit at a loss, their expressions were excited.

Hua Changxi looked at them: "In a short time, you cannot contact the outside world. I need you to hand over the communication equipment on your body."

Hearing this, led by seven fourth-grade refiners, everyone handed over their communication equipment one after another.

The oldest fourth-grade refiner Shen Tieheng also stood out and said: "Hall Master, don't worry, we will definitely follow orders."

Hua Changxi nodded with satisfaction and continued: "You should all know about the impersonation of the Zhu Que Army by outsiders. This is a naked provocation to the Zhu Que Army."

"Now, I want to give you a major task—refining the Zhu Que Token."

Everyone was very excited.

"Follow me."

Hua Changxi led everyone into the stone cave, walking and saying to several fourth-grade refiners: "In the future, the Lihuo Cliff side will be managed by you seven."

"I caught some people in, either impersonating the Zhu Que Army or fighting in Nanxiang County. Among these people, there are also refiners. You can arrange them to do things at will."

As she said, Hua Changxi took out the Lihuo Token, and then collected a drop of essence blood from the seven people and dripped it on the token.

"I have opened some permissions for you. If anyone refuses to obey, you can seal their spiritual power and send them to the bottom of the cliff to dig mines."

"Of course, you cannot abuse the power in your hands at will. After a while, I will set up an opinion box here. If anyone complains that you abuse private power, I will not forgive them lightly once I know."

The seven fourth-grade refiners expressed that they did not dare.

At this time, He Zhixuan and the others who heard the movement ran out of the stone cave.

Hua Changxi had already used divine sense to investigate that behind the stone cave, Nanming Stone had piled up several stone rooms, knowing that these people were doing things well.

"They are all Transformation Infant cultivators, and they are quite obedient. In the future, if you feel they are usable, you can let them be managers."

He Zhixuan and the others didn't dare to step forward rashly, leaning against the stone wall, watching Hua Changxi take the refiners of the Zhu Que Army into the No. 1 forging furnace room.

After the seven fourth-grade refiners read the refining process of the Zhu Que Token, they quickly gave Hua Changxi the answer she wanted.

"Hall Master, we can build the shape of the Zhu Que Token, but the spirit of the Zhu Que Token may need you to make a move."

The so-called 'spirit' of the Zhu Que Token is to inject Zhu Que soul into the Zhu Que Token.

After Hua Changxi heard their explanation, she knew that this step was to bind the Zhu Que Token with the Zhu Que Army Roster, and at the same time imprint the Zhu Que pattern.

"Okay, I'll do the last step."

"When can you start refining?"

Shen Tieheng: "The main material for refining the Zhu Que Token is Nanming Stone. We

Hua Changxi: "Very well, begin the forging now. Whether the Zhu Que Army can wear the Zhu Que Tokens anytime soon is entirely in your hands."

The Artifact Refiners: "Rest assured, Hall Master, we will certainly work day and night to accelerate the forging."

Hua Changxi granted several Fourth-Grade Artifact Refiners certain permissions, allowing them to draw upon the flames at the bottom of the cliff to ignite the forging furnaces.

Watching as flames were lit one after another in the furnace rooms, Hua Changxi called He Zhixuan and the others to the side: "If you can fully assist the artifact refiners I have brought, in the future, not only will I grant you your freedom, but I will also distribute cultivation resources based on your daily performance."

She paused.

"I do not like killing indiscriminately, but if anyone dares to cause trouble, I will not mind letting them become fuel for the sea of fire at the bottom of the cliff. You had best behave yourselves."

Gu Xiu hurriedly said: "We will definitely assist with all our might."

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

For the next half month, Hua Changxi spent her time setting up the 'Lingguang Hall—Karma Fire Platform' teleportation array while patrolling Nanxiang County, searching for clues regarding the missing Zhu Que Army.

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

Consequently, there was no way to trace the cause of the Zhu Que Army's disappearances.

Once the 'Lingguang Hall—Karma Fire Platform' teleportation array was set up, Hua Changxi told the Discipline Hall steward the incantation to activate it, instructing him to arrange for Zhu Que Army members in need to go to the Karma Fire Platform to burn away their karmic debt, and then she went to Li Huo Cliff.

After half a month of rush-forging, the artifact refiners had produced two thousand Zhu Que Tokens.

Hua Changxi took this batch of Zhu Que Tokens, leaped directly off the cliff, and walked to the Ancient Li Huo Gu deep within the sea of fire.

Immediately, Hua Changxi sat cross-legged, and soon, the two thousand Zhu Que Tokens were floating in the air around her.

Next, she tossed out the "Zhu Que Army Roster."

The "Zhu Que Army Roster" hung high in the air, casting down brilliant, colorful light, enveloping all the Zhu Que Tokens within its radiance.

Immediately following, Hua Changxi summoned the Lingguang Hall Master's token—the Zhu Que Jade Pendant.

As soon as the Zhu Que Jade Pendant appeared, it caused the Ancient Li Huo Gu to sway violently.

Then, with a 'whoosh,' the Zhu Que Jade Pendant flew into the Ancient Li Huo Gu.

In the blink of an eye, the original jade pendant transformed into a lifelike, fist-sized Zhu Que.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi followed the forging process on the stone wall of the furnace room, releasing her spiritual power to control the Zhu Que Tokens floating in mid-air, making them pass through the 'Zhu Que' one by one.

For every Zhu Que Token, as long as it successfully passed through, a lifelike, three-dimensional Zhu Que pattern would be branded onto it.

By the time Hua Changxi left Li Huo Cliff, three days had already passed.

As soon as she left Li Huo Cliff, she received a message from Xie Hanzhang of the Task Hall: Hall Master, another squad of the Zhu Que Army has gone missing.

Looking at this message, Hua Changxi's expression was very ugly, and her mood was very heavy.

A single squad of the Zhu Que Army now consisted of fifty people; with so many people disappearing together, there must definitely be a major power behind it pulling the strings.

Who is it? Who is dealing with the Zhu Que Army?

Hua Changxi first sent the two thousand Zhu Que Tokens to Lingguang Hall, letting the Logistics Department distribute them to the Zhu Que Army members about to go out on patrol, and then she went to patrol Nanxiang County to search for the missing Zhu Que Army.

She investigated for three consecutive days, but still found nothing.

"Who exactly is the one making the moves?"

For the following month, Lingguang Hall only arranged for one squad of the Zhu Que Army to go out on patrol, and Hua Changxi quietly followed behind them.

Unfortunately, no one made a move.

Hua Changxi's expression grew increasingly ugly; the person hiding in the shadows attacking the Zhu Que Army was clearly intending to engage in a long-term war of attrition.

However, where would she find the time to play hide-and-seek with them?

On the fifth day of the ninth month, Tong Yao sent a message to Hua Changxi, saying that the suggestion boxes were finished and asking her to come and collect them.

Thinking she would go and return quickly, Hua Changxi stopped following the Zhu Que Army.

Upon arriving at the market on the outskirts of the Artifact Saint Palace, Tong Yao directly gave the ten sets of suggestion boxes, display boards, and suggestion slips to Hua Changxi.

Hua Changxi asked curiously: "How did you manage to forge them so quickly this time?"

Tong Yao laughed: "With over a dozen elders working together, how could it not be fast?"

Hua Changxi was just about to say something when she heard a bird cry that shook the heavens erupting over Nanxiang County.

'Screech!'

Hua Changxi's expression changed, and she mounted her Somersault Cloud and disappeared from Tong Yao's sight.

"Changxi, wait for me!"

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

At the same time, in an abandoned mass grave area in the southeastern region of Nanxiang County, churning black mist seeped out from the ground, condensing in the air into a giant hand that flew rapidly toward the patrolling Zhu Que Army to grab them.

Just as the Zhu Que Army was about to be grabbed by the black hand, the Zhu Que Token at the waist of one of the Zhu Que Army members in the lead suddenly erupted with dazzling light.

Next, flames began to burn on the Zhu Que Token.

Then, a Zhu Que bathed in flames broke out of the token and charged toward the black hand.

The black hand condensed from black mist collided with the Zhu Que, like an egg hitting a stone, instantly disintegrating and shattering, only to be burned completely clean by the flames.

The bird cry that Hua Changxi and the others heard was the one emitted by the Zhu Que when it battled the black hand.

The Zhu Que Token blocked the black mist's attack, and the Zhu Que Army regained their senses and hurriedly fled the mass grave.

However, hiding in the shadows waiting to attack the Zhu Que Army were not only the black mist, but also a Spirit Platform Realm tiger demon that had atavistically awakened the Taotie bloodline.

The tiger demon was hiding in front of the fleeing Zhu Que Army; when the Zhu Que Army was only a few dozen meters away from the tiger demon, it leaped up, and after suspending itself in mid-air, its body suddenly expanded, becoming as large as a mountain.

Immediately following, the tiger demon opened its blood-red maw and began to suck fiercely at the Zhu Que Army.

A whirlwind-like suction force struck, and the Zhu Que Army had no power to counterattack, being swept up by the suction and flying rapidly toward the tiger demon's maw.

Seeing the bloody maw getting closer and closer, at the critical moment, the Zhu Que Tokens at the waists of several Zhu Que Army members simultaneously erupted with dazzling firelight, and immediately after, the bird cry rang out in the air once again.

Several Zhu Que bathed in flames flew out and plunged into the tiger demon's mouth; in just a moment, the tiger demon erupted with a miserable, heart-wrenching scream.

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

Watching the tiger demon rolling frantically on the ground, unable to extinguish the flames on its body no matter what methods it used, even self-mutilation, the onlookers all swallowed their saliva in fear.