Nine Venoms Sect Founder

Though Sangar's blood flame palm had no emotions to show, Harun felt the brief instability in its energy fluctuations. The reaction somewhat perplexed him. From the Vermilion Brides, Harun had long learned of the Immolation Blade Sect Master's identity. But even without them, as Sangar and he were bound by Karma, regardless of what disguise he took, Harun could recognize him. And recalling how Sangar shipped him off to the Highest Heaven, Harun felt the need to collect some overdue debts. Adopting the stance of a lofty expert, Harun summoned a horsetail whisk in his right hand, and stroked his beardless chin with the left.

"In this time and age, for a member of the crow clan to care about exposing his name more than his lineage is puzzling...for others, at least. Did you think you could hide the truth from This Eminence?" Harun asked, and as if forced by the endless stroking, his chin grew an impossibly long beard that nearly trailed on the ground.

The merchants gawked. Jiyan facepalmed. And Sangar, who observed the scene through his disciples' burning souls, was at a loss of words. When did the world produce such a cool-headed buffoon, he wondered? But not daring to take the words lightly, Sangar suppressed his emotions and asked, "What truth would that be?"

Harun naturally had no idea, and hoped that his comedic display plus Sandar's skepticism would make the man blurt out some hints. Unfortunately, Sangar was a seasoned plotter older than Mukri and Gulseni combined. He couldn't fall for such a petty trick.Tilting his head, Harun pondered the question. Heaven counted many Blood Crow clans, and following Nakula's disappearance, most left for the mortal world. Sangar was one of the first to vanish, changed his name, and founded a sect in the Second Range.

"Each of the First Range's top three masters' possesses a Sect Master Token. But none of them can aim for sovereignty, and the Immolation Blades aside, all answer to mightier sects. The Divine Army's headquarters are in Heaven, and their top experts don't exceed the Empyrean Monarch Realm. With that strength, don't mention sheltering Nakula's lineage, as remnants of the old system and subordinates of the public enemy number one, it's a miracle that they haven't been exterminated by the Holy Lands already. Which means...that they at least have an Emperor's active protection. The Holy Lands or an outsider? Both? A force intrinsically linked to Nakula? Truth Scrying...why does that feel so familiar?"

As Harun's thoughts trailed off, he realized that hints about Nakula's current position may hide in Sangar's secret. Further, did Sangar care that his name spread, or to who it spread to? In a short time, Harun couldn't prove either. But little did he know that he hit the mark.

Sangar cultivated a Forbidden Magic granted by Nakula as a reward for his accomplishments in Divination: The Self-Immolating Hex. By setting himself ablaze and chanting the incantation, Sangar could exterminate all those that bore him ill-will and knew his birth name, across 10 million square kilometers. However, there were several conditions. The hex took 100 years of lifespan for every person it killed, couldn't kill someone over two levels above Sangar's, and didn't allow Sangar to pick his victims. Moreover, if used by an immortal, the hex would kill them first, before attacking the intended targets.

Nakula's most outstanding son, the dead Rajan's father, used that hex to suppress a rebellion that occurred right after the Second Emperor's death, and before Agiri's crowning ceremony, then died as a result. At the time, Nakula was crossing a Cosmic Tribulation—a matter for another time. The Self-Immolation Hex was Sangar's ticket to dominion over the First Range. For it, he purposely let a sect elder leak his identity to the troublesome factions' high level. Strangely, however, he didn't include the Soul Refining Hall's master.

Naturally, Harun didn't know about any of this, but how could that stop him from dealing with the old fogey? Stretching his left hand toward the ground, Harun clenched his fist, making ethereal white filaments emerge from the soil, and in the thousands, rise toward the flaming palm Sangar spoke through. In those filaments, all could see images of the Immolation Blade Disciple's assaulting the caravan, their subsequent destruction and identity reveal. Sangra's appearance, moves, and his brief exchange with Harun followed. Back in his hall, the Immolation Blade Sect Master's face twisted into a hideous grimace.

"I suppose that doesn't really matter, does it? However, I wonder what will happen once I make those threads tour each of the World Association's branches? Actually...how about the whole fucking globe? I guess that's a bit overkill since you'll be dead by then," Harun said while stroking his long auburn beard, which formed a heavy contrast with his teenaged looks.

Instantly, the flame palm turned into a three meters tall blood-red crow whose face seemed full of grief. Never in his wildest dream could Sangar expect Harun capable of Divination Magic. And of course he wasn't. But all cultivators of the Six Incarnation Bridge could extract the Karma formed in an area and reveal the events through Karmic Threads. Strikingly similar to Divination Magic, those Karmic Threads misled Sangar...not that it mattered.

"What do you want? Anything is discussable. What's the point of doing something that brings neither of us benefits?" Sangra rhetorically asked. But even as the words left his beak, he realized he'd lost the initiative.

"Why do you want the Sin-Glazed Lilies?" Harun inquired. Better than anyone, he knew those flowers' effects. Plainly put, Sin-Glazed Lilies were a confidence drug. Smoking or grinding them in beverages enabled the consumer to experience a leap in confidence. Within five minutes, the belief that they could accomplish all they set out to fueled them.

As most emotion related drugs, Sin-Glazed Lilies were extremely addictive. But unlike other drugs where consumers would gradually need to take more just to experience the same level of high, Sin-Glazed Lilies became more extreme with each new intake.

Within a week of regular consumption, megalomania would replace the initial confidence boost. The consumers would believe themselves above Gods and Heaven, able to overturn dimensions with a casual flick of their hands. The need to crush all would soon settle in. Initially, Harun created that flower as one of the active ingredients of his Dancing Plague Wine, and rarely used it on its own. There was no commercial value to such a berserk drug, so Harun couldn't see why a senior member of the World Association, even a branch, would try his hands at that thing.

Once they realized the Sin-Glazed Lilies' destructive potential, in concert with the Holy Lands, the World Association banned the flower's cultivation or use. And not even three years later, it was back on the market?

"Sin-Glazed Lilies are excellent tools for triggering wars. At the highest grade, they don't even spare Empyrean Monarchs, and have brought destruction on more than one sect. The Holy Lands may have banned them on the surface, but that doesn't stop them from cultivating stalks in the shadows. In these times of false peace, if we don't equip ourselves with our foes' weapons, how can we resist them?" Sangar straightforwardly replied. Yet, Harun felt that the feathered bastard left something out. Perhaps under certain conditions, those flowers had a use even he wasn't aware of?

Never mind that, "Did you or a member of your sect cast the Scorching Sun Mantra?"

"Our sect name is Immolation Blade. I am not that silly."

"Fair enough…" Harun nodded in approval, then turned toward the east, "I suppose I could blackmail you for some hush money. However…" Here Harun paused, and his lips curved into a fiendish grin.

"Your misery is my first reward," Harun said, sent a few mental messages, then aimed his horsetail whisk at the Vermilion Brides' direction. Instantly, the Karmic Threads showcasing the recent events flew toward the Vermilion Brides Sect, alarming Sangar, who stared open-beaked at the budding disaster.

"You only have ten seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7 6 5 4 3 2…" Harun raced the count, and the Karmic Threads' speed skyrocketed—fading into the horizon.

Snapping out of his stupor, Sangar left the scene. Gathered his strongest elders, and rushed toward the Vermilion Brides Sect. Seeing this, Harun let out a contented sigh, like a loving father watching his children single-handedly ride their first bicycles.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Jiyan asked, referring to the exposure of the Birusk clan.

"Nah, my Totem and Mukri are hidden near the forest's entrance already. The Vermilion Brides are on their way to support them, and together they will slaughter them to the last. I've already given instruction to let Sangar in, then use his shock at the Treasure Land to deal him a fatal blow. Then they can play volleyball with the rest."

Harun said with a bright smiling face, making the nearby merchants wonder if they didn't just form a pact with the devil.