James listened and thought that the Sect leader was a bit too optimistic. After the carnage he'd just done, there was no way the demonic cultivators would leave them alive for long. Also, he didn't know what kind of emergency signal the Sect leader had sent off but James highly doubted they'd be able to find them in the hundreds of rolling mountains nearby.
——
Back in the Drifting Clouds sect, in the Vice-Sect leader's pavillion. The Vice-Sect leader was guiding some of his disciples in their cultivation practice, Galron being among them. Suddenly the Vice-Sect leader took out a white and gold talisman which then burst into flames. His face soon showed extreme shock and without another word, the Vice-Sect leader flew at full speed towards the Elder's hall.
At the back of the hall was a giant copper bell. The Vice-Sect leader walked up to it and then channeled his mana into it. The bell began to ring and soon every Elder within the sect rushed over at full speed including all of the Supreme Elders. The copper bell was only rung in emergencies and had yet to ever be rung to this day.
Once everyone arrived, the Vice-Sect leader wasted no time in getting to the information at hand.
"Everyone, I just received the Sect leader's emergency talisman signal. He'd attached a strand of soul power to it, letting me know that they were ambushed by a group of demonic cultivators along the way to the tournament location. From what I know, they had 6 Late stage Nascent Soul cultivators, a dozen Core Formation cultivators and several dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators.
We know their last known location, the battle will most likely be finished by the time we get there but using the soul energy from the Sect leader, we should be able to track them…assuming they take prisoners."
Hearing all of this, everyone present became silent. The atmosphere became very heavy as this was an extremely serious situation. It is commonly known that demonic cultivators will usually only have 2 motives for attacking wandering cultivators. They will either want to take them captive to use for sacrifices later or they just can't control their bloodlust and wish to kill someone. The group of Elders present could only hope it was the first reason.
The Vice-Sect leader then assigned 2 Supreme Elders and 3 Elders to go and reinforce the Sect leader and disciples. The rest of them were going to need to stay behind to keep managing the sect and ensure it remained defended from anyone looking to take advantage of the situation. The group of 5 set out right away towards the last known location via another wooden boat magic artifact.
Several hours later, they arrived and felt the mana in the surroundings was exceptionally chaotic, indicative of a large scale aerial battle. They took out a talisman that the Vice-Sect leader had given them and followed it towards a nearby mountain range.
——
James had just finished talking with the Sect leader when the leader of the demonic cultivators entered with a group of disciples.
"The time has come, take them to the main hall. Oh and place this kid next to the demonic artifact so he'll have a nice view hahahaha!"
The demonic cultivators at the scene then began to lead the chained cultivators outside and into a nearby building. In the center of the large hall was a floating orb of red and black flames. A supremely unholy aura permeated the hall, as soon as one stepped foot inside they would feel as if their bodies were being skinned and their souls igniting. Clearly the floating orb of red and black flames was an object that should not be approached by mortals.
James was brought to a chair that was placed right next to the orb. Close enough to feel the extreme pain but far enough not to die from it. The demonic cultivators then began leading the Drifting Clouds disciples towards the orb, forming a long line with the Sect leader standing at the very back with his mouth gagged. Clearly they wanted him to watch as the disciples his sect had nurtured over the years were tortured and killed.
A demonic cultivator then brought the disciple at the very front of the line forward and then threw him inside it.
"AHHHHHH!!"
An agonizing scream was then heard, evidence of the suffering the disciple was experiencing inside the orb.
All the other disciples lined up moved around uncomfortably. Some had eyes with tears, some had eyes filled with hatred and some just had blank expressions, clearly resigned to their fate.
James however had a shocked expression as soon as the disciple entered the orb. Not because he was shocked by the demonic cultivators' brutal behaviour but because he'd heard a very familiar sound.
*Ding*
Detected artifact containing Law fragments.
Activating new system function: Collection
Would you like to store the detected artifact?
James was incredibly shocked.
'That orb is an artifact? I can store it in the system? What will happen once it's stored? Can I use it for attacking or something?'
Just as these thoughts sprang up in his mind, the demonic cultivator was about to throw another disciple into the orb.
'No! I have to store it before we lose anyone else!'
'Store!'
*Ding*
Artifact no longer detected, unable to store.
'What?!'
Just then, the disciple was thrown in and the expected screams of suffering followed.
*Ding*
Detected artifact containing Law fragments.
Would you like to store the detected artifact?
James didn't hesitate again, he immediately selected to store the artifact. When the screaming died out and the next disciple was anle to be pushed in, something unbelievable happened. The orb of red and black flames began to shrink until it disappeared in a puff of smoke. The eyes of all the nearby demonic cultivators opened wide, they could not believe what they were seeing.
'Maybe the system could only detect it when someone was passing through the orb of flames? Does that mean the flames are pretecting something and its not the object itself?'
James had no time to look into his new system function or the object he'd stored as they all suddenly heard an explosion outside the hall.
*BOOM*
The hall shook and everyone heard screams coming from outside. The demonic cultivators in the hall rushed out but were met with a flash of sword light as they approached the door. Stepping over their dead bodies was one of the Supreme Elders of the sect, he was a slim white haired old man, holding a green sword in his right hand.
"Sect leader, we've come to your rescue. No need to worry anymore, we've already dealt with the Nascent Soul demonic cultivators and the others should be cleaning up the dreggs at the moment."