Celestial Venerable Flame made up his mind. Even without Gu Feng's help, it would not be difficult for him to break the Confinement Formation with his Heaven's Equal Realm strength.
Gu Feng's absence was more beneficial to him. As long as he defeated the Celestial Dawnlight Sect, even the Third Leader would not be able to get a share of the loot.
Just as Celestial Venerable Flame's heart was burning with passion, a discordant voice rang out.
"Excuse me, please."
"Stinky Taoist, you're courting death. This is not a place for you to barge in. Get lost quickly."
On the mountain ridge, an old Taoist in a plain Taoist robe was slowly climbing up the mountain. He was stopped by a few Fire Worship Sect's disciples.
After being scolded, the old Taoist still had a pleasant expression on his face. He was neither sad nor angry.
Celestial Venerable Flame frowned slightly. The surroundings had been sealed by the Fire Worship Sect's disciples. Moreover, under the control of his Spiritual Consciousness, the appearance of an old Taoist was unexpected.
After taking a closer look, Celestial Venerable Flame was surprised to find that he could not see the old Taoist's strength.
"Let him come over."
Celestial Venerable Flame said. He wanted to see the old Taoist's background.
"Eh, where did Gu Feng go?"
When Celestial Venerable Flame turned his head, he discovered that Gu Feng had disappeared.
He did not know that the moment the old Taoist spoke, Gu Feng's expression changed drastically and he left quietly.
At this moment, the old Taoist was slowly walking toward Celestial Venerable Flame.
When Xu Liang saw that the old Taoist had no intention of stopping, he immediately took out his flying sword to block the old Taoist. However, Xu Liang's flying sword broke without any warning and shattered into powder.
This scene caused Xu Liang to turn pale with fright. This was a fifth-grade flying sword, how could it suddenly shatter?
The old Taoist continued to walk forward. Although Xu Liang was shocked, he did not dare to continue blocking the old Taoist's path.
Celestial Venerable Flame was expressionless. He said calmly, "Taoist, why are you looking for me?"
The old Taoist bowed with one hand and said, "I'm here under orders to take your life."
"How dare you!"
Celestial Lord Bai Huo was infuriated. He raised his arm and struck out with his palm. The palm wind was like thunder and it burned with golden flames as it blasted toward the old Daoist.
Even a casual strike from a Heaven's Equal expert would contain terrifying power. Under the illumination of the flames, the entire mountain range melted in an instant. Blazing flames engulfed the sky and covered the earth, enveloping the old Taoist.
"Excellent."
But at this moment, a sweet rain fell from the sky. An endless spring rain sprinkled on the earth.
The fire was extinguished.
A cool breeze swept up the old Daoist's sleeves. He turned the rain into mist, and as the mist and clouds surged, Celestial Venerable Flame realized that he couldn't move at all. He was already bound.
"Rainy Three Autumns, you … you are Ma Yuanhao!"
Celestial Venerable Flame was completely flustered. Who was Ma Yuanhao?
Although they were both in the Heaven's Equal Realm, the other party had half a foot into the Divine King Realm. His strength could not be mentioned in the same breath as an elite of this level. He did not have the slightest chance of victory.
But what Celestial Venerable Flame could not figure out was why Ma Yuanhao would appear here and attack him.
"You are a highly respected senior. Don't you want to give me a reasonable explanation for attacking so rashly?"
"I have already said that I am following orders." Ma Yuanhao's expression was calm, as if he was not there to kill, but to sightsee.
Celestial Venerable Flame frowned slightly. He constantly mobilized his spiritual power in an attempt to break free from the restraints. At the same time, he said, "Senior is the Sect Master of Zhen Yuan Sect. In this world, there are not many people who can make you follow orders."
Celestial Venerable Flame did not suspect Su Chen, because it was impossible. Ma Yuanhao's status in Spirited Mountain and Jingzhou was too high. Among the 72 prefectures, there were not many people who could suppress Ma Yuanhao in terms of strength and status. Although Su Chen was a Divine Talisman Master, he was not well-known. How could he have the ability to make an elite like Ma Yuanhao work for him?
Moreover, Ma Yuanhao also said that he was following orders. Therefore, the person who gave the order must be far more powerful than Ma Yuanhao.
This made Celestial Venerable Flame even more confused. When had he offended such an elite?
"Don't make wild guesses. The person who asked me to kill you is someone you will never be able to reach in this lifetime."
Someone he would never be able to reach in this lifetime?
This sentence made Celestial Venerable Flame feel a little frightened. His strength was definitely not weak in Spirited Mountain and Jingzhou. As long as he was given time, it was not impossible for him to break through to the Divine King Realm in this lifetime. Could the person who asked Ma Yuanhao to kill him be a Saint King elite?
How many Saint Kings were there in Spirited Mountain and Jingzhou?
Lady Providence?
Impossible. If Lady Providence wanted to kill him, she did not need to go through so much trouble. She only needed to issue a decree, and he would have to obediently go to Spirited Mountain and beg for forgiveness without any complaints.
An antique of the Three Sacred Sects?
But that was impossible. This was no longer the era where Yu Tianheng controlled the world. In order to protect themselves, the Three Great Holy Sects had been in seclusion for many years. Whether or not they had a Saint King Realm master was still unknown.
Could it be … the Ancestral Dragon?
Su Chen was from the Dragon Clan, so the most likely person to help him was definitely the Ancestral Dragon.
But the Dragon Cave had never interfered with the affairs of the cultivation world. Even if the Ancestral Dragon wanted to act, he would not ask Ma Yuanhao to do it. Moreover, the Dragon Clan and Taoism were not on the same side. Ma Yuanhao had no reason to listen to the Dragon Clan's orders.
After thinking about it, Celestial Venerable Flame still did not know who had such great power to ask an elite like Ma Yuanhao to kill him.
Since he couldn't figure it out, he might as well give up thinking.
Celestial Venerable Flame only knew that this battle was inevitable.
"Come, let me experience your strength, Daoist Master Ma!"
Celestial Venerable Flame suddenly roared. His body bloomed with brilliant light, soaring into the sky with terrifying heat. In an instant, the drizzle around him evaporated completely. He broke free from Ma Yuanhao's restraint and rushed toward Ma Yuanhao with surging flames.
"A cornered beast will still fight. You have some pride. It was not easy for you to come this far. Unfortunately, you chose the wrong opponent."
…
Rumble!
A shocking spiritual pressure suddenly came from the distant sky.
"What happened?"
Everyone raised their heads and looked at the sky in the northwest direction. The sky seemed to be covered in flames, and at the same time, there was a storm. Two completely different forces were entangled and violently collided. Even though they were thousands of miles away, the astonishing spiritual pressure still pressed down on them, making it difficult for them to breathe.
"What a terrifying power. This is definitely a fight between Heaven's Equal Realm elites."
"The flames must be the work of Celestial Venerable Flame. But who is fighting Celestial Venerable Flame?"
"Who cares who he is? It's a good thing for us. If Celestial Venerable Flame is defeated, we'll be sure to win."
No one knew what had happened, but Su Chen knew very well that Ma Yuanhao must have acted.