CHAPTER 81: ALL-CONSUMING INFERNO

"It's already been arranged," Yin Shengong said with a faint smile. "The mountain facing ours is going to collapse soon to reveal a cave, and the treasures I've put inside will be enough to drive everyone into a frenzy! After that, we send out all of our people to take part in the slaughter, and that should be enough to drive the death count up into the hundreds of thousands.

“Then, we manufacture some phenomenon to suggest the emergence of an almighty treasure, like a pillar of light erupting into the heavens at night, and that'll trigger an even greater frenzy! I'm an expert when it comes to things like this. If it were left to all of you to carry out the mission, who knows how long it would take to reach the desired death count?"

This was a rather snide remark from Yin Shengong, but the other popes were forced to admit that Yin Shengong was indeed superior to them in this regard.

Yin Shengong turned to the middle-aged man beside him as he said, "The commotion here is going to draw the attention of the Hall of Protectionists sooner or later, and they'll be sure to intervene. When the time comes, you must lead the Enforcement Hall and the Battle Hall to hold them off, understood?"

The man was none other than Deputy Pope Ren Zhongyuan, and he immediately replied, "You can count on me, Pope Yin."

"Take the opportunity to kill as many Protectionists as possible. Right now, this is only a minor incident, so there are most likely only going to be Protectionists from small places like Green Wave City sent to the scene. I'm sure you'll be able to handle them just fine."

"You can rest assured, Pope Yin. Even if all of the Protectionists of the White Cloud Prefecture are deployed in full force, I'll be sure to hold them off just the same!"

"Good!" Yin Shengong said with a pleased smile. "Be sure to look after yourself. Make sure to prioritize your own safety above all else, and retreat right away if something feels off."

"I will. Thank you, Pope Yin," Ren Zhongyuan replied, looking very touched by Yin Shengong's concern.

"Here's to you, Zhongyuan! I wish you a smooth victory and a safe return," Yin Shengong said as he raised a toast while handing Ren Zhongyuan a cup of wine.

Ren Zhongyuan downed the cup of wine without any hesitation, then picked up his broadsword and turned to depart, swooping into the forest down below like a huge bird.

Countless figures set off behind him within the forest in a covert fashion, moving through the shadows like wraiths in the night.

Yin Shengong watched Ren Zhongyuan depart with an enigmatic look in his eyes, while all of the other popes looked on with envious expressions.

In their eyes, Ren Zhongyuan was the perfect right-hand man, possessing power and loyalty in equal measure.

"You're a lucky man, Pope Yin. With Deputy Pope Ren taking so much of the load off your shoulders, you barely have to do anything!"

Yin Shengong put on a faint smile as he replied, "Indeed, Zhongyuan has made my job very easy. Having said that, any of you could also just as easily add a new deputy pope, and you'll be able to establish some ties with the higher-ups in the process. After all, anyone who's airdropped in the position of deputy pope generally has connections in very high-up places."

Hai Wuliang and the others all nodded in agreement.

"It would be ideal if we could get one like Ren Zhongyuan, but if we instead end up with a deputy pope that tries to usurp our positions, then that'd only make our jobs even harder," Kou Yifang chuckled.

"Are all of you really planning to just serve as popes of subsidiary churches for the rest of your lives?" Yin Shengong asked.

Everyone fell silent at this question, and it was unclear what they were thinking.

***

The warriors of the demonic churches were racing through the forest in a covert manner, efficiently killing unwitting warriors before dumping their bodies in the wilderness.

All of the warriors deployed by the demonic churches were at or above the King tier, while the warriors that had ventured into the forest under the promise of the nonexistent cave abode were predominantly far inferior in cultivation base.

The warriors were killed off in swarms, barely able to put up any resistance, and the earth feasted on their blood.

The slaughter went on from dawn to night, then dawn the next day...

Countless warriors were drawn to the area by greed, only to have their lives harvested by the demonic church members lurking in the shadows.

Deep beneath the earth, the body laid completely still.

There was already a vast cloud of blood mist around it, and boundless spirit qi and life essence were gushing into it.

A far cry from the dried and withered corpse it once was, the body now resembled a translucent, jade statue, and even a faint, crimson coloration had begun to appear within it.

Its chest was virtually completely translucent, and a heart could be seen beating feebly inside.

The slaughter above continued to feed more blood to the body, and the tranquil serenity with which the body laid beneath the earth presented a stark contrast with the thunderous commotion ringing out above the surface.

Before long, it was afternoon again.

Ren Zhongyuan and his subordinates had already taken countless lives, and he was beginning to feel a little weary.

"Has the Hall of Protectionists sent anyone?"

"Not that we could see."

"Keep your eyes peeled. As soon as they get here, immediately lead them into our pocket trap and prioritize killing them above everyone else!"

"Understood."

Night fell once again, yet still, no Protectionists arrived on the scene.

All of a sudden, the sound of melodious flute music rang out from afar, and it was drawing closer and closer.

The music seemed to be imbued with a calming energy, instilling a sense of clarity into the frenzied minds of all of the warriors locked in battle in the area.

They abruptly disengaged themselves from their battles and began panting heavily as they finally had a chance to take in the hellish scenes around them.

On the distant mountain summit, the five popes rose to their feet in unison.

That's the Yama Flute on the Cloud Weapon Archive!

Yin Shengong immediately hid himself behind a large tree, and the other popes also ducked behind cover as they conversed with one another through voice transmission.

"Is it him?"

"It certainly sounds like it."

"We need to make sure."

At this point, Yin Shengong had already concealed himself beneath a cliff.

The flute music drew closer and closer, and before long, it was ringing out directly above the forest.

A white-robed figure was drifting through the heavens under the bright moonlight like a celestial deity.

"Stop!" he yelled, and his voice shook the earth like rumbling thunder.

Countless rocks came tumbling down from the mountains in the area, as if they had been shaken loose by the fury of the heavens.

On the ground below, Yin Shengong had already fled to over a hundred kilometers away, and he was still fleeing the scene as quickly as he could.

It really is him! I have to get out of here!

The other popes had also already fled in different directions.

Immediately thereafter, flaming arrows erupted into the heavens before exploding violently.

It was the signal for retreat.

High up in the sky, the white-robed figure swept his flute through the air to release several dozen streaks of light, and dozens of fleeing figures down below were instantly struck before falling to the ground.

There were too many people fleeing in the night, and the white-robed figure couldn't discern which ones were demonic church members, so he resorted to striking down everyone that he saw.

All of the warriors down below were like ants powerless ants under his peerless might,and even though they were being struck down, he made sure not to injure any of them.

Moments later, there was already no one left standing.

"Clean them up!" the white-robed figure instructed.

Outside the forest, countless Protectionists were already in place, and they immediately rushed onto the scene at his beck and call.

A series of large carriages were also racing onto the scene, and the Protectionists scoured through the forest, picking up everyone that had been struck down by the white-robed figure before tossing them onto the carriages to be taken away.

There was no way to tell which ones were demonic church members, so all of them were given the same treatment for now.

Even with several thousand Protectionists working at once, it still took an entire night to scour through the entire massive area.

The white-robed figure remained hovering in the sky the entire night like a beacon of absolute authority, ensuring that there were no further mishaps.

"That's all of them, Master Yang!" someone yelled from down below.

The white-robed figure nodded, then instructed, "All of you, get back!"

He drifted down from the sky, then roamed through the forest while inspecting his surroundings with his spirit sense.

In the end, he was able to determine that the area in which the plant life was displaying an abnormal level of malnourishment spanned roughly 1,500 kilometers in diameter.

Immediately thereafter, he made his way to the exact geometric center of the area, then rose up like a white cloud to an altitude of around a thousand feet.

From there, he let loose a loud roar, and his jade flute began to give off a terrifying sound that reverberated throughout heaven and earth.

Countless streaks of white light were released, followed by countless more.

Waves upon wave of white light shot out of the jade flute incessantly before raining down upon the forest below as if a carpet bombing were being carried out, and the entire area was instantly razed to the ground.

The incessant bombing continued for a whole hour before finally drawing to halt, following which all of the Protectionists returned to work, cutting down trees in the surrounding vicinity in accordance with the white-robed figure's instructions before tossing them into the area.

These were all powerful warriors who were able to cut down trees and fly around with them with ease, and the white-robed figure remained on lookout duty up above as he urged, "Faster! Hurry!"

After an entire morning, all of the trees in a radius of several thousand kilometers had been felled, piling up to form a massive mountain in the center.

After that, barrels upon barrels of oil were dropped down, and after several hundred thousand barrels of oil had been poured, a fire was lit, quickly spreading into an all-consuming inferno.