The Xuantian Dao Sect’s grand formation was activated, surrounding the entire sect. Countless disciples looked around in panic, not knowing what was happening.

“Everyone, don’t panic! Something happened in the Alchemy Pavilion! Don’t make any random movements.” The shouts of Hall Masters rang out over the crowd.

The Alchemy Pavilion was situated on a huge mountain hundreds of miles wide. The many grand buildings that had dotted the landscape were gone, replaced by a large hole.

The other disciples were ordered not to move, but Long Chen was not one of them. He rushed over to get a better look. Seeing the destroyed Alchemy Pavilion, his eyes were cold.

The Xuan Master, Tower Department Head, and Liu Cang also arrived. All the higher-ups were present. The Xuan Master’s normally indifferent and leisurely expression was now frighteningly dark.

“Zhao Changting, tell me, what happened?” The Xuan Master stared coldly at the Alchemy Pavilion Master. Even killing intent had started to leak out of him.

The Alchemy Pavilion was the Xuantian Dao Sect’s foundation. There were hundreds of alchemists inside and over a thousand disciples. This terrifying explosion had killed at least half the alchemists, and the majority of the rest were heavily injured. The Healing Hall was currently rescuing them.

“It was disciple’s negligence. There were two disciples who took out Earth Flame seeds, and as a result, I don’t know what happened, but those two Earth Flame seeds suddenly began to rebel. They exploded, and that caused the other Earth Flame seeds to explode with them…” said the Alchemy Pavilion Master with alarm.

Long Chen had run over to the core region, and the aura of Earth Flames was still present. He cursed inside. Instead of giving them to him, they had been wasted like this.

The power of an Earth Flame seed’s explosion was extremely terrifying, especially when it exploded underground. Furthermore, there had been multiple Earth Flame seeds exploding. There was no need to doubt how much destructive power such an explosion possessed,

Long Chen picked up a piece of a broken bottle. This was clearly an item used to store an Earth Flame seed. The aura of the Earth Flame it had once contained was still present.

Earth Flame seeds couldn’t be stored with metal instruments. That would cause it to feel an innate hostility, and it would instinctively attack the metal. Not only would that destroy the instrument, but the Earth Flame would also escape. And even if that didn’t happen, it would exhaust the Earth Flame seed’s energy until it dissipated.

That was why Earth Flame seeds were stored in special bottles with formations present. That was the only way to keep them obedient. It would be like they were sleeping inside.

Although it was just a bottle, it wasn’t like a normal bottle. It was just the opposite. The cultivation world’s bottles were made of material stronger than steel, making them extremely sturdy.

Picking up a fist-sized piece, he sniffed it. The Alchemy Pavilion Master was infuriated to see Long Chen’s actions, but he was also a bit panicked.

“You really are vicious. You actually applied Everlasting Frostheart Powder to the bottle. It corroded the bottle and spread a layer of ice energy imperceptible to the naked eye. When an alchemist touches it, the ice energy will provoke their Pill Flame, causing the bottle to instantly shatter. Thereafter, the ice energy on the bottle will attack the Earth Flame seed inside. An unintelligent Earth Flame seed will then naturally explode, and that will cause the others to explode as well. Tell me Pavilion Master, were the disciples you sent to take out the Earth Flame seeds your most outstanding disciples?” Long Chen sighed.

The Alchemy Pavilion Master raged, “Long Chen, don’t slander others or make up random guesses! This was just an accident.”

Long Chen looked at him sympathetically. The Xuan Master’s words were absolutely true. The cultivation world’s people cared too much about power and didn’t know how to use their heads.

Long Chen raised the fragment. “The Everlasting Frostheart Powder is a medicinal ingredient, but it is also used in forging items. I’m sure the majority of the forging disciples would recognize it. Should we have a Forging Master look?”

“There’s no need. There truly is Everlasting Frostheart Powder on it. It’s clear with just a look. It expels Ice Qi used in forging for cooling. But when it encounters flames, especially powerful flames, the Ice Qi will be locked within the weapon. It’s one of the most elementary methods for creating ice attribute weapons. I would be willing to bet my own head that Everlasting Frostheart Powder has been applied to this bottle fragment,” said a muscular but short elder.

Hearing that, everyone’s expressions changed. The one who had just spoken was the Forging Pavilion Master. He definitely wouldn’t randomly spout nonsense.

“Zhao Changting, don’t you think you should give me an explanation?” demanded the Xuan Master coldly.

“Xuan Master, I have no idea about this. Someone’s definitely framing me, I-” cried the Alchemy Pavilion Master.

“That’s fine. Such a minor thing is very simple.”

The Xuan Master waved his hand, and space twisted. A huge mirror appeared in the air. When the Alchemy Pavilion Master saw this mirror, he immediately turned as pale as paper.

The mirror lit up and shined its light on the ruins. Figures flashed back and forth until finally, a burst of flames erupted from the center of the ruins.

Long Chen was startled. The scene he was seeing was what had happened just after the Alchemy Pavilion had exploded. The Reincarnation Mirror was actually reversing time to replay what had happened.

But this scene was just too lifelike, making it extremely shocking. Very quickly, they arrived in a scene where the flames retreated to the bottles and two disciples left an underground treasure house.

Because everything was going backward, things looked odd. Following this, a black-robed man appeared in the treasure house. The figure was smearing some transparent liquid onto the bottles of the Earth Flame seeds.

The scene continued going backward until they saw the Alchemy Pavilion Master speaking with an elder. The scene came to a sudden stop. All they saw of that elder was his back. He was very thin and a complete stranger.

The Xuan Master recalled the Reincarnation Mirror and turned to the Alchemy Pavilion Master. “Zhao Changting, I don’t know if you’ve lost your mind with age, but how stupid do you have to be to actually forget the ability of the Xuantian Dao Sect’s divine items? Speak, why did you destroy my Alchemy Pavilion?”

Within the crowd, Luo Fan was also looking at the Alchemy Pavilion Master with shock. His relations with him were good, but he hadn’t expected him to be this crazy.

“Hmph, there’s nothing to say. I have no idea about any of this. Someone is clearly framing me. Furthermore, although I am a Pavilion Master of the Xuantian Dao Sect, I am also an honorable guest of Pill Valley. You have no authority over me. I will report this matter back to Pill Valley, and they will naturally testify to my innocence.” The Alchemy Pavilion Master suddenly became unyielding, and he smiled coldly at the Xuan Master.

Pill Valley? Long Chen suddenly recalled a figure he had seen for just a flash before it disappeared. He narrowed his eyes. It seemed the reason behind this incident was quite complicated.

“Did you think Pill Valley would be your protective talisman? You’re wrong. Even if you are a member of Pill Valley, anyone who would destroy an important place of the Xuantian Dao Sect like the Alchemy Pavilion and kill my disciples will find it difficult to escape their death.”

The Xuan Master sent out a palm. Heaven and earth shook fiercely. It was like this palm filled the entire world. Long Chen didn’t even see it land before the Alchemy Pavilion Master exploded into bits. Not even his soul managed to escape.

After killing the Alchemy Pavilion Master with a single palm, the Xuan Master looked at the ruins for a moment and then left without a word, his expression frighteningly dark. He was clearly furious.

Liu Cang stayed behind, arranging for people to clean up. After all, there was a storehouse of medicinal pills below. He was trying to see if he could save any.

But he was disappointed to find that the pills that should have been in the storehouse were all gone. The Alchemy Pavilion Master’s spatial ring was also gone. Their savings of hundreds of years had vanished just like this.

That made everyone’s expressions change. The Alchemy Pavilion Master had truly been vicious to secretly destroy all the medicinal pills. They now realized why the Xuan Master was so furious.

Medicinal pills were the foundation of any sect in the cultivation world. Now that the Alchemy Pavilion was destroyed and their stock was gone, the few medicinal pills stored in the Ten Thousand Pill Hall for sale would only be able to last an enormous existence like the Dao Sect for one or two months.

Luo Fan left with a gloomy expression. The Alchemy Pavilion Master had been executed on the spot by the Xuan Master, causing him to feel sympathetic. When he had first gone against the Elder Hall, he had formed an alliance with the Alchemy Pavilion. Now Liu Cang was vice Xuan Master, and he was alone. His enemy was an existence he could only look up to, while his ally had to have gone crazy and had destroyed the foundation of the Xuantian Dao Sect for seemingly no reason.

Now that the Alchemy Pavilion was destroyed, the Xuantian Dao Sect was in a state of extreme crisis. The supply of medicinal pills was about to become a fatal issue that would very likely lead to the sect’s complete collapse.

Looking at Luo Fan’s parting figure, Long Chen was lost in thought. This had come so suddenly that he almost couldn’t react. He still felt this matter was queer.

Right now, Liu Cang was having people tidy up and search the remnants of the Alchemy Pavilion to see if they could find anything valuable. However, other than a few pieces of equipment for refining pills, there was nothing else of value that remained.

“Not good! Vice sect master, our medicinal fields! They’ve been destroyed as well! Thousands of miles of medicinal fields are barren!”

“What?!”

Everyone furiously flew to the medicinal fields. When they arrived, they saw that the originally flourishing fields had been picked clean. The land had been scorched, and all the precious medicines had been turned to ash.

“That bastard Zhao Changting! The Xuan Master really let him off too easily by killing him!” Everyone was filled with fury.

Liu Cang had a worried expression. The Alchemy Pavilion had been destroyed, and so had their medicinal pills. From now on, the Xuantian Dao Sect would have to buy large quantities of pills from outside.

But the Xuantian Dao Sect wasn’t rich, and things had been hard-pressed in recent years. This blow from the Alchemy Pavilion Master would very likely be a fatal one for the Xuantian Dao Sect.

Three days after the Alchemy Pavilion Master was killed, a group of people wearing Pill Valley’s robes arrived at the Xuantian Dao Sect.