Rising Sun City was another city under the jurisdiction of a core disciple from the Divine Puppet Sect. Judging by its size, it was similar to Tian Nan City, but its population was several times smaller.
Xu Hei flew towards the inner city. Compared to the outer city, the inner city was not much better, with a pitifully small number of cultivators.
Moreover, almost none of them had storage bags.
Or rather, their storage bags had been robbed.
"What’s going on?" Xu Hei couldn't detect anything amiss.
The scene before him gave him a bad feeling, making him want to retreat and avoid getting involved.
But then he thought about how the other party had stolen both people and medicine. Wouldn't it be too cowardly to just go back like that?
He reached out and grabbed a cultivator from a distance, asking, "Where's your storage bag?"
"I, I..." The young cultivator stammered, his voice hoarse, as if he had something difficult to say.
"No! I'll talk, I'll talk!"
The young cultivator quickly begged for mercy, saying, "All the resources in the city have been offered to the emissary."
He put it mildly, offered?
But Xu Hei could see at a glance that this was clearly robbery.
"Who is your emissary?" Xu Hei continued to ask.
The cultivator initially didn't dare to say, but under Xu Hei's stern gaze, he finally blurted out, "Zhao Nanqi, Lord Zhao."
Zhao Nanqi, the name suggested he was a core disciple like Xu Hei.
Xu Hei knew there were more than a dozen core disciples in the Divine Puppet Sect, but he didn't know exactly who they were.
Xu Hei released the person and flew towards the City Lord's mansion.
The City Lord's mansion was empty, except for the City Lord, not a single living soul, and it was utterly destitute. Xu Hei looked around but couldn't find a single treasure with spiritual qi.
He questioned the City Lord of Rising Sun City and came to the same conclusion: Zhao Nanqi had plundered all the resources in the city, intending to break through to the Divine Transformation Stage.
Moreover, this situation occurred once every hundred years.
"Lord Zhao has spared no effort to break through to the Divine Transformation Stage, leaving nothing uncollected. He has failed twice so far, and this is his third attempt," the City Lord of Rising Sun City said helplessly.
Although the City Lord didn't say it explicitly, Xu Hei could hear that Zhao Nanqi not only collected resources but also captured people.
All the cultivators in the City Lord's mansion, except for the City Lord, had been taken away. No wonder the city's population was so low.
"Do you just let him do whatever he wants?" Xu Hei frowned.
The City Lord of Rising Sun City didn't speak, just looked at Xu Hei in surprise.
After a long while, he hesitated and said, "Aren't you an emissary too?"
"Don't you know that emissaries can do whatever they want?"
Xu Hei was momentarily speechless.
At this moment, he rose into the air, looking at the desolate Rising Sun City, then at the City Lord.
Xu Hei suddenly realized what a city meant to a core disciple.
It meant that this was a resource you could use at will!
As long as it was a city under your jurisdiction, as an emissary, you could do whatever you wanted, and the Divine Puppet Sect wouldn't care. As long as you could break through to the Divine Transformation Stage, any cost was worth it!
Thinking this way, the other party had a motive for stealing his spirit medicine and kidnapping Jiang Nine Phoenix.
"Truly worse than pigs and dogs."
A nameless fire rose in Xu Hei's heart. He took out his flying boat and rushed in the direction sensed by his divine sense.
"Xu Hei, are you going to save someone? That's not like you!"
Ji Ying started with his sarcastic tone again.
Xu Hei shouted angrily, using the Dragon Shatter Roar, which left Ji Ying dizzy and disoriented.
Ji Ying realized that Xu Hei seemed genuinely angry, so he dared not tease him further.
North of Rising Sun City, Zhao Nanqi's cave dwelling.
Unlike Xu Hei's nine mountains, Zhao Nanqi's territory was a massive sunken basin, like a crater formed by a meteorite impact.
At the center, there was a gigantic bronze furnace, large enough to accommodate over a thousand people without feeling crowded.
The reason for using people as a measure was because it indeed held over a thousand people inside.
"Summon heavenly fire! Temper the Golden Core!"
With a wave of his hand, Zhao Nanqi summoned a blazing flame from the sky, enveloping the furnace. The thousand cultivators inside exploded one after another, their Golden Cores extracted and melted under the heavenly fire, converging at the center.
During this process, spirit stones were continuously thrown in, along with various precious spirit medicines, spiritual treasures, magical treasures, and so on.
Anything with spiritual qi was tossed in without hesitation.
A miraculous scene unfolded. No matter what kind of chaotic treasures were thrown in, once inside the furnace, they were slowly purified, refined into pure spiritual liquid.
This furnace was the Creation Furnace, crafted by the seventh-generation ancestor of the Divine Puppet Sect!
It could refine all things in the world into pure spiritual liquid, which could be directly absorbed, purging any impurities.
It was said that the Creation Furnace was modeled after a certain divine object of the world by the seventh-generation ancestor.
Throughout the years, many Divine Transformation ancestors of the Divine Puppet Sect had used the Creation Furnace to break through their cultivation.
Zhao Nanqi intended to emulate this, which was why he borrowed the furnace. However, given his status, he could only borrow it once every hundred years.
This was already his third time borrowing it.
Screams echoed, and before long, the thousand Golden Core cultivators in the furnace were completely refined, and the various spirit medicines were also refined into pure spiritual liquid, ready for direct absorption.
However, this was just a small step in the process, which would last for more than half a month.
Zhao Nanqi grabbed another handful of spirit medicine, throwing it into the Creation Furnace, continuing the refining process until the spiritual liquid was crystallized.
Not far behind Zhao Nanqi.
Jiang Nine Phoenix was bound with golden ropes, confined in a cage, unable to move.
Along with her, a group of female cultivators shared the same fate, locked in cages, stripped of their ability to act. Some who dared to resist had their hands and feet severed, their senses sealed, reduced to human stumps.
Jiang Nine Phoenix could see at a glance that these female cultivators were captured and unused cauldrons.
"Damn it! Why is this happening?"
Jiang Nine Phoenix bit her red lips, her eyes filled with tears.
Two hours ago, Zhao Nanqi visited Xu Hei. She thought an outsider had come, and she might seize the chance to escape. Who would have thought that this visit would lead her into an abyss!
When Zhao Nanqi saw Jiang Nine Phoenix, his courteous demeanor changed. He broke through the barrier, abducted her onto his ship, and even stole all the medicinal herbs.
"I'll take you to a place where you can lift the seal. You have to trust me; I'm Xu Hei's enemy, so naturally, I'm your friend."
Zhao Nanqi said this, and although Jiang Nine Phoenix was suspicious, she still held a glimmer of hope.
But on the way back, when Jiang Nine Phoenix witnessed Zhao Nanqi abducting five female cultivators and severing the limbs of one who resisted, she realized what kind of monster he was.