Chapter 133 Provocation

"Indeed." Hearing the elder's words, the First Disciple was startled. He looked at the elder with disbelief and asked, "Could it be? Impossible, Elder!"

"Enough, don't be so certain about anything. We will know clearly once we go and take a look."

With that, the elder stepped forward and led the way.

At this moment, the side of the Gu worm house was already blazing fiercely with a menacing momentum. Coupled with the surrounding forests and trees, the massive fire was burning with terrifying intensity.

Some indigenous people with water-element spiritual roots were already trying to put out the fire, but the blaze was still extraordinarily ferocious.

The massive fire vaguely seemed to be shielded by some kind of force, completely defying whatever water they used to extinguish it.

The crowd tried numerous methods, managing only to keep the fire from spreading further, but still unable to put it out.

By the time the elder and his group arrived, the fire was still raging. Judging by its momentum, if it continued to burn like this, the entire area would be completely destroyed.

Especially the Gu worms inside; they had already vanished. The ones that survived had all fled and could no longer be caught.

This was a tremendous loss for the indigenous people.

Seeing the roaring flames scorching his face, the Dark Elder's expression turned cold. He looked at the First Disciple and asked, "How did you handle things?"

Upon hearing this, the First Disciple trembled in his heart, instantly breaking out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly knelt to plead for mercy, saying, "Elder, this is my subordinates' negligence. Please punish me, Elder, but I will go and put out the fire right now."

With that, the First Disciple stepped forward and channeled his water-element spiritual root to douse the fire closest to him.

It must be said that the First Disciple's talent was decent; his water spell actually managed to extinguish the small flames right in front of him.

However, against the raging inferno, this bit of water failed to quench the blaze instantly.

He felt extremely astonished. This fire was completely different from the one Lin Hao and the others had set at the cave entrance back then—its might was far greater.

Realizing this, the First Disciple's face turned ashen. After a tremendous amount of effort, he and the others finally extinguished the fire completely.

Yet, once the fire was put out, the entire surrounding area within a radius of several miles was pitch black, with everything reduced to ashes by the blaze.

Looking at the utter devastation before him, the Dark Elder's face was filled with gloom, radiating an aura of displeasure.

Seeing this, the First Disciple and the others trembled all over, not daring to draw a breath, simply staying quietly to the side and trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.

The rest of the crowd breathed a sigh of relief only after seeing the fire finally put out. Immediately afterward, someone shouted, "Look quickly, what is that?"

Hearing this startled cry, everyone looked over and discovered that the place, which had just been a scene of devastation, was now gradually emitting a golden glow.

Then, a few characters floated into the air: "I am waiting for you to come!"

Just these few characters clearly showed a provocative intent!

The crowd broke into an uproar.

"What is this? What does 'I am waiting for you to come' mean? Who left this?"

"Yeah, what is going on here? Could this fire have been deliberately set by someone? But who has the audacity to set a fire on our territory?"

Those at the bottom who were unaware of the truth kept whispering among themselves.

In contrast, the expressions of those who knew the real situation—the Dark Elder and the First Disciple—were extremely ugly.

Their eyes burned with fury.

That's right, this was left by Lin Hao. When he left, he had bestowed this upon them: not only did it destroy their Gu worms, but he also left behind a provocation, issuing a battle challenge before departing.

Earlier, upon hearing that a fire had broken out, they should have guessed it was related to Lin Hao. The Dark Elder had been certain that Lin Hao was not dead.

Now, seeing this challenge letter, he became even more convinced. The Dark Elder's face instantly darkened, and his mood was exceedingly complex.

At the same time, he was consumed by an incoherent rage, thinking to himself: Never before had anyone dared to provoke him, yet this Lin Hao had directly issued a battle challenge to him!

Shortly after, finding himself annoyed by the discussions of the others, the Dark Elder waved his large sleeve, and a shroud of black Qi enveloped those characters, followed by a loud explosion.

The characters instantly vanished into nothingness.

The black Qi slowly dissipated.

The Dark Elder said sternly, "What are you still whispering about? Hurry up and clean this place up for me. Once cleaned, I want it restored to its original state."

Having said that, the Dark Elder turned around and left in extreme anger.

Meanwhile, Lin Hao was in high spirits on his way back to the Qingfeng Sect. After traveling for a little over two days, on the morning of the third day, just as they arrived at the foot of the mountain where the Qingfeng Sect was located, Lin Hao smiled and said to Cao Yi, "Look, this is our Qingfeng Sect. Although it cannot compare to the Qingcheng Sect, it still has quite an imposing aura."

As he spoke, Lin Hao did not rush; he descended right at the foot of the mountain.

Pointing out the grand gate of the Qingfeng Sect to Cao Yi, Cao Yi merely glanced at it indifferently without making much comment.

Led by Lin Hao, they walked up to the entrance.

Normally, there would be outer disciples guarding the main gate.

However, after Lin Hao and Cao Yi walked up to the entrance, Lin Hao noticed something amiss, and his expression turned slightly strange.

"Huh? What is going on? Why are there no guards?" Lin Hao muttered, testingly pushing the main gate.

With a creak, the gate swung open directly.

From the outside, it still looked bright and pristine, but the moment the two of them stepped inside, they were met with a scene of utter devastation.

Seeing this, Lin Hao's brow furrowed deeply, and his heart skipped a beat. "Oh no!"

He immediately dashed inward.

As for Cao Yi, although he had never been to the Qingfeng Sect, seeing this desolate and ruined state no matter how he looked at it, it was definitely not normal.

Casting a worried glance at Lin Hao, Cao Yi ran in right behind him and asked, "What is going on here?"

Lin Hao's face was full of question marks at this moment, and he scanned his surroundings with a solemn and vigilant look.

Walking further toward the main hall of the outer sect, he saw corpses strewn everywhere. "This, what is going on?"

"Junior Brother?! Junior Brother!" Lin Hao spotted a person lying face down closest to him and hurriedly stepped forward to flip him over.

Yet, no matter how Lin Hao called out, no one answered him, because this person was already dead.

Lin Hao stood there in a daze, somewhat absent-minded.

Seeing this, Cao Yi also furrowed his brows deeply, looking at the corpses scattered all over the ground and the wrecked surroundings.

This was clearly the aftermath of a fierce battle.

And judging by the looks of it, the Qingfeng Sect had suffered a crushing defeat. Given the situation, it was very likely that the Qingfeng Sect had been wiped out.

Cao Yi said to Lin Hao, "Lin Hao, should we go and see if there are any survivors?"

Prompted by Cao Yi's reminder, Lin Hao finally snapped out of his trance. After all, this was the place where Lin Hao grew up, and it held many memories. Seeing people who had been full of life just prior now reduced to corpses was something he found hard to accept.

Now, Cao Yi's reminder on the side instantly brightened Lin Hao's perspective.

Without hesitation, he stood up and ran forward, heading straight for the Sect Master's grand hall.

Filled with anxiety, Lin Hao wondered how Senior Brother Qingyun was doing.

Actually, it was because Lin Hao had been rushing along the road without stopping. If he had stopped anywhere along the way, he would have learned about what happened to the Qingfeng Sect.

Because this news had already spread far and wide.

On the way to the grand hall, Lin Hao saw countless corpses of the Qingfeng Sect disciples he used to know, all of whom had lost their breath.

At times, worriedly stepping forward to check their pulses, he found that they were all dead. Some bodies were still warm, while others had already gone cold, though it was unclear how long they had been dead.

His expression grew increasingly grave.

He ran forward like a madman. Just as he approached the entrance of the grand hall, he heard the clanging sounds of battle from inside, accompanied by screams.

Arriving at the entrance of the hall, just as Lin Hao was about to lift his foot to go in, he heard an arrogant voice: "Old man, I advise you to surrender willingly and hand over the treasures of the Qingfeng Sect obediently, otherwise your fate will be... Hahaha!"

"Hahaha, indeed! Hand them over quickly, and we might still grant you an intact corpse!"

The arrogant attitude of the group inside made Lin Hao's eyes turn red.

He lifted his foot to storm inside, but his hand was grabbed by Cao Yi. Cao Yi shook his head at Lin Hao with a solemn expression.

Because Cao Yi sensed that there were quite a few people inside, among whom were powerful auras—at least two of them were stronger than him.

Fearing that Lin Hao would act rashly, Cao Yi pulled him back.

Feeling the obstruction on his hand, Lin Hao looked at Cao Yi with red, questioning eyes.

"Don't be rash." Cao Yi shook his head at Lin Hao and said solemnly.

At that moment, another voice came from inside: "Impossible! The Qingfeng Sect will never fall into your hands. I would rather destroy it!"

That voice belonged unmistakably to Qingyun. Lin Hao had never heard Qingyun use such a desperate tone before.

Unable to endure any longer, Lin Hao could care less at this moment. He yanked his hand away from Cao Yi's grip and resolutely strode in.

Wielding his swallowing sword, he charged right into the hall.

The moment he stepped inside, he saw Qingyun, the Sect Master, and several elders, but they were all surrounded. Aside from Qingyun, everyone else was slumped on the ground with pale, bruised faces.

The surrounding crowd of people was completely unfamiliar to Lin Hao; the clothes they wore clearly did not belong to the Qingfeng Sect. Moreover, they came from multiple sects.

"Senior Brother Qingyun!" Seeing Qingyun fighting alone against the odds, Lin Hao shouted loudly.

With a loud "Bang!", he delivered a kick straight into the back of a member from another sect who had his back turned to him.

Lin Hao's action startled everyone engaged in the fight.

Hearing someone call his name, Qingyun stopped his attack and hurriedly looked over toward Lin Hao.

When Qingyun saw Lin Hao, disbelief flashed in his eyes, immediately followed by pleasant surprise, and the corners of his mouth lifted.

However, realizing his current predicament, he instantly beheaded a dazed enemy right in front of him with a single sword stroke and shouted to Lin Hao, "Get away from here quickly! As far as you can!"

Qingyun's words jolted everyone back to their senses. In particular, the leader of the opposing faction looked at Lin Hao and asked with a very harsh tone, "Who are you, brat? If you know what's good for you, stay out of other people's business."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, signaling a portion of his men to break off and surround Lin Hao and Cao Yi.

Seeing Lin Hao surrounded, Qingyun grew extremely anxious. He attacked even more fiercely, attempting to draw more firepower so that Lin Hao could manage to escape.