“The Great Head Saint, in light of the present situation… it seems that the barbarian race is plotting something big. If we don’t get prepared soon… then perhaps…” Xie Xing Nanzi spoke hurriedly.

　　The Head Saint nodded thoughtfully.

　　“Mang Shang is the strongest warrior in the barbarian race. He achieved the middle stage of the Earth Grade decades ago. But, Huo Yao was also an extremely formidable warrior. He was at the primary stage of the Earth Grade. Mang Shang dared to penetrate the guarded entrance of the Black Turtle Sect and kill Huo Yao. This indicates that Mang Shang’s cultivation has been upgraded since we last saw him. And, I presume… that this may have something to do with the large-scale invasion of the barbarians. We know that they have conducted this attack on a different level than the previous ones,” a black-robed man sitting on the right side spoke. He wore a tiger mask; he was none other than Tiger Bone.

　　Everyone heard these words, but no one spoke.

　　“The Great Head Saint, I think this matter involves the Earth grade powerhouses. So, we must report to the Great Chang Xiao. We should let His Highness take an appropriate decision,” Feng Kong Zi suggested.

　　“The current situation is indeed grave. So, we have no other choice but to disturb His Highness. Transmit the order to dispatch more disciples to prop-up the security of our Sect. Also, let everyone know that not all disciples are allowed to leave the Sect. Check and tighten all the seals placed at various entry gates of the Sect. This should be done carefully in order to ward- off any barbarian warrior who may be planning to sneak-attack,” the black-robed old man ordered.

　　“Yes.”

　　Everyone stood-up and replied in unison. Then, they departed from the meeting hall.

　　Xie Xing Nanzi and Feng Kong Zi also stepped out of the hall. They glanced at each other with expressionless faces. Then, they parted ways without exchanging any words.

　　Feng Kong Zi slowly stepped down the stairs. His eyebrows were tightly knitted. He seemed to be lost in a deep thought.

　　He stopped walking as he reached a turn. He then turned around and looked towards the first mountain peak.

　　He could see a quiet and secluded courtyard hidden in the shadow of the mountain peak. It was covered with a faint layer of black mist.

　　The Great Elder of the Black Demon Sect resided in this place. It was a restricted area. Only the Head Saint was allowed to visit this place. Even the mountain hosts and the other elders of the Sect were forbidden to go near this place.

　　Feng Kong Zi’s eyes flashed with a strange look. He then turned around, and walked away.

　　His figure soon drifted far away. Then, a charming young girl walked out from behind a nearby huge boulder. She was Jin Xiao Chai.

　　She stared at the receding figure of Feng Kong Zi for a while. Her beautiful eyes flickered a few times as a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

　　*** ***

　　Outside a small courtyard… behind the first mountain peak…

　　The Head Saint of the Black Demon Sect pushed-open the door, and stepped in.

　　The courtyard looked ordinary with grey walls and green tiles. It wasn’t different from the other courtyards in the Sect. The only difference was that there was a small altar in the middle of this yard; it was ten feet high.

　　There was a piece of black flame on top of the altar. It emitted a continuous burning and crackling sound.

　　The air in the courtyard was relatively thicker. It was possibly so because of the black flame. The black-robed old man seemed to be affected by this; he started to gasp for breath.

　　However, he wasn’t visiting this place for the first time. He quickly crossed the altar and arrived in front of the door of the Great Elder’s house; it was behind the altar.

　　“This is Zong Yan. I’ve come here to talk to the Great Elder,” the black-robed elder bowed towards the door and spoke respectfully.

　　“Come in,” a dignified voice was heard from inside the room. Then, the door of the room opened by itself.

　　The Head Saint thanked him and stepped in.

　　The room was spacious. But, it didn’t have any table, chair, bed, stool or other ordinary decorative items and furniture.

　　A few strange patterns were drawn on all the four walls of the room. They were drawn with a dark-red paint. Some of the patterns resembled humans, while the others resembled beasts. There were a total of eight patterns.

　　The room appeared dark and scary from its entrance.

　　A huge black statue was placed in the innermost area of the room.

　　It was the statue of a majestic man who wore a black robe. He had curly red hair – like blazing flames. His facial features were ferocious. He had two horns on his head, and two long canine teeth stuck out of his mouth – like a demon. He held a weapon that had a long hilt; it was similar to a three prong fork. His arms were raised high; as if he was about to chop down the enemy. The statue was emitting a threatening aura.

　　This statue was that of the Black Fire God. The Black Demon Sect worshipped him. But, there was no worshipping table and incense sticks in front of the statue. It looked strange and picturesque at the same time.

　　A tall silhouette sat on the floor in front of the statue. His face wasn’t visible as he sat with his back towards the doorway.

　　“The Great Elder…” the Head Saint’s face revealed a respectful expression as he said in a soft tone.

　　“What’s the matter?” the tall figure asked in a low voice; he didn’t even turn around.

　　“I’ve just received some disturbing news.” The Head Saint recounted the whole event. The matters like – the Great Elder of the Black Turtle Sect being killed, the Great Elder of Tian Yin Sect being attacked, and so on…

　　“Huo Yao was killed in the forbidden area of his Sect… As far as I know… there are five restricted palaces of the Black Turtle Sect. A ‘Great Formula of Dark Hell’ exists outside every palace for its protection. This formula is connected with the underground Qi of the place. So, the source of this formula’s power lies deep inside the earth. It doesn’t have the slightest flaw. Mang Shang would’ve destroyed it by sheer force to sneak inside. He had no other way to break-in apart from this option. It seems that he has made a lot of progress in his practice. Perhaps, he might have even reached the last stage of the Earth Grade. Hehe… He’s indeed blessed with a supernatural talent…” The Great Elder laughed as if mocking himself. He didn’t stand up. He turned his head and spoke.

　　He had long black hair; they hung down from his shoulders. His skin looked smooth – without any trace of wrinkles. He didn’t look more than forty-years old. He seemed much younger than the Head Saint.

　　However, he was over three-hundred years old.

　　“The Great Elder, we need you to take a decision about how we should deal with this situation,” the Head Saint said softly.

　　“We aren’t left with any choice at this juncture. The true strength of the barbarians is something you can’t even imagine. Our Black Demon Sect wouldn’t survive much longer if the three big Sects of the Da Qi kingdom are annihilated… Gather the disciples of our Sect as soon as possible… and dispatch them to support the Da Qi Kingdom,” the Great Elder ordered without any hesitation.

　　“Yes.”

　　“Mang Shang has become incredibly strong. So, the other barbarian warriors of Earth Grade would also show their entire strength. I must discuss this matter with the Earth Grade warriors of the other Sects. As for the barbarian armies and ordinary Totem warriors… I leave this matter upto you,” the Great Elder stood-up and said respectfully.

　　The Head Saint’s countenance changed. However, he complied with the order respectfully.

　　*** ***

　　The news that the Great Elder of the Black Turtle Sect had been killed, and the Great Elder of the Tian Yin Sect had been badly wounded soon spread across the world. The three kingdoms and the seven big Sects were shaken-up. Everyone had started to feel insecure.

　　The seven Sects had thoroughly comprehended the intensity of the situation by this time. Therefore, they started to negotiate with each other to form a union. They intended to work together to repel the invasion of the barbarians.

　　The high-level leaders of the Black Demon Sect decided against announcing the matter of the barbarians’ invasion in public.

　　However, some senior and junior disciples still obtained the information from various sources. They knew about the criticality of the current situation and their formidable enemy.

　　However, most of the primary disciples were still unaware of the grave situation. They were full of enthusiasm, and were busy preparing for the annual competition.

　　Shi Mu had been busy with the closed-door practice. So, he didn’t know anything about the chaotic situation and the incident that had happened thousands of kilometers away.

　　He had been practicing the Art of Breeding Heavenly Elephants and the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power. In addition, he would occasionally accept some orders for refining magic charms. He was rather busy these days. But, his hard work had paid off. He had accumulated a huge amount of money along with other resources.

　　He had gathered up the materials he needed for the Summoning formula after a few days of accumulating various resources.

　　Finally, it was time. Shi Mu closed his front door and windows, so that no one could see inside his room.

　　This continued for several days. This strange behavior attracted the attention of several people. But, no one dared to bother Shi Mu as he commanded a good reputation among the new disciples.

　　In the stone house…

　　Shi Mu stood-up. The pale golden light in his eyes slowly faded away.

　　He then grasped a black magic brush. There was an exhausted look on his face. But, his eyes looked dignified as usual.

　　A strange octagonal magic formula was drawn in front of him on the floor. It was around ten feet in diameter. This circular pattern was drawn with several charm characters. These characters were different from what Shi Mu had learned before. These charm characters looked strange – like some kind of an ancient hieroglyph.

　　Some of these strange characters looked like domestic animals, while some others looked like birds. Some of the characters were difficult to identify; they looked like strange scribbles. But, they were connected to each other.

　　There were a few intersecting points in the magic circle. They were embedded with four or five grey and black crystal stones. These stone were twinkling, and emitting a cold and gloomy aura.

　　These crystal stones were Space attribute and Yin attribute spirit stones. They were rarer and more precious than any other spirit stones of the five elements. Therefore, most of Shi Mu’s money was spent to obtain these stones.

　　Shi Mu exhaled a long breath and put away the magic brush. His complexion looked dignified. Then, he began to read some incantations. Suddenly, the entire magic circle started to exude a faint-black light.

　　Shi Mu’s complexion became pale as he saw this.

　　He had arranged a magic formula on the ground for the first time. The difficulty and complexity of making this circle couldn’t be compared with drawing formulas on magic paper. However, he had completed it within three days.

　　Shi Mu sat down cross-legged on the floor. He then took out a Spirit-Enhancing Pill and gulped it down with a heavy heart.

　　He opened his eyes after he had taken several deep breaths. Then, he placed one of his hands on the magic formula to instill his magic power into it. He used his other hand to point at a few places in the formula while he read an incantation.

　　A beam of black light flashed, and fell on various places in the circle — as pointed by him. The crystals embedded on it started to emit a dazzling ray of light at the same time.

　　Suddenly, the whole summoning formula started to emit a black light. This light was brighter than before. Then, the charm characters lit-up brightly. The rays of light they emitted looked interwoven.

　　It gradually became even brighter. Then, a buzzing sound was heard.

　　Shi Mu started to read the incantation louder than before. The light of the formula continued to get brighter.

　　The light of the octagonal circle had become almost dazzling after a quarter-of-an-hour. A faint-black mist began to emerge in the stone house.

　　This astonishing view might have caught the attention of many people if the door and windows of Shi Mu’s room hadn’t been shut tightly.

　　Blue veins stuck out from Shi Mu’s forehead. Bean-sized drops of sweat started to roll down his face.

　　The formula had been activated. It had started to absorb his remaining magic power rapidly.

　　His breath started to get heavier with every passing second. But, he was still chanting the incantation in a distinct manner.

　　Suddenly, the space in the middle of the formula twisted. Then, a black mist started to spread in all directions; a frightening aura started to permeate the room.