After some tracking, you and Zhen Pin arrived in front of a cave.
The Sacred Flame Cult doesn't have a proper mountain gate; their headquarters is inside this massive natural cave.
It's not hard to understand why.
They worship fire.
They set fires during the day, set fires at night, and even when sleeping, they keep a pile of fire burning beside them.
Doing this 365 days a year, a single mistake would easily set their house on fire.
They don't care if they burn themselves; they'd consider it the Fire God bestowing favor upon them. The more it hurts, the more the Fire God loves them.
But a house can't withstand fires every other day.
So, they can only live in caves. Stone isn't afraid of burning.
"Patron Chen, we've discovered their lair. Let's just attack directly. With the strength of the two of us, the current Sacred Flame Cult should be no match; we can crush them in an instant."
"Who said I wanted to destroy them?"
"You said just this afternoon you wanted to uphold the way of heaven?"
"Did I? I think I wanted to join them. I really like fire too!"
As you spoke, you activated the *Heartflame Profound Art* and casually threw out a palm strike, sending a tongue of flame shooting out.
Zhen Pin looked at you with a strange expression.
"Patron Chen, I find you increasingly inscrutable."
"Old monk, thank you for helping me find the Sacred Flame Cult. Let's meet again if fate allows. For the sake of the Sword Lord's face, please don't attack the Sacred Flame Cult."
"Amitabha. If the patron insists on jumping into a fiery pit, that is your tribulation. This humble monk will not interfere. Take care of yourself."
Zhen Pin left. His final expression seemed deeply disappointed in you.
You shrugged, not caring.
At this old age, the only hope left for staying alive is to break through your cultivation realm, setting a higher starting point for the next simulation.
You made a grand entrance into the cave and performed a set of *Chixin Fist* for the group of Sacred Flame Cult disciples gathered around a fire, performing some unknown kneeling worship ritual.
Due to the nature of the *Heartflame Profound Art* as an External Technique, your fists were wreathed in fire with every strike, making you look like a street performer doing a fire-juggling act.
The Sacred Flame Cult members were initially terrified, seeing an outsider barge in.
Then came delight.
You could produce flames from your body, and the flames seemed to cause you almost no harm. You were practically born to be a Sacred Flame Cult Saint!
"I want to join the Sacred Flame Cult!"
"You *are* the Saint!"
"Huh? Promotions are that fast?"
You successfully joined the Sacred Flame Cult.
You first tried to blend in with them for a few days, just to go through the motions.
But these people were too bizarre.
They never ate proper food, instead putting food into the fire until it carbonized, then eating it along with the embers.
They didn't drink water; they hunted beasts and drank their blood.
Their cultivation practice involved burning themselves with fire.
Each one gritted their teeth in pain, but shouted things like "The Fire God is above!" and so on.
Unless they left the cave, as long as they were inside, everyone had to maintain a bonfire that never went out, keeping it lit even while asleep.
They would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night to add firewood.
"What a bunch of lunatics..."
You often found yourself unable to fit in because you were just too normal.
Within a few days, you revealed your true intentions.
"Great Leader, my cultivation has been stuck at the peak of Soul Tempering for a long time. I heard our Sacred Flame Cult has a way to break through realms, is that true?"
The leader, whose beard had already turned white, showed a look of pleasant surprise upon hearing this.
"Yes, Saint, yes! You are at the peak of Soul Tempering?"
"What's wrong? Does our Sacred Flame Cult not even have anyone at the Soul Tempering realm now?"
"Ah, you're new, so you don't know enough about our Sacred Flame Cult's history. That calamity over forty years ago... our cult not only lost all our high-ranking members and elites, but we also lost our cultivation techniques. Without the key techniques to enhance faith, it's very difficult for us to improve our cultivation with our current methods."
Of course it's difficult! Who gets stronger by self-harming every day?
You had no interest in the Sacred Flame Cult's history; you only hoped they could help you, assist you in your breakthrough.
The disciples all exclaimed that it was no problem.
Inside the Sacred Flame Cult's cave.
A formation pieced together from charcoal rose up.
Sixty Sacred Flame Cult disciples sat cross-legged around the periphery of the formation.
Behind each of them, a fiercely burning flame blazed.
"Brothers and sisters! Today, we shall burn our bodies and minds to assist the Saint in breaking through his cultivation, hoping for our Sacred Flame Cult to prosper once more!!"
You were somewhat taken aback.
"Wait, this *Ten Thousand Flames Devour the Heart*... isn't it supposed to devour *my* heart?"
"Of course not! It uses the flames to devour *us*, transforming into the power for your breakthrough!!"
It was actually the legendary sacrifice method!
Although you felt a twinge of pity.
But considering this was a cult, leaving them in the world would only cause harm. If they could become the fuel for your breakthrough, it would count as them doing some good for this world.
The secret art began.
The disciples raised their hands high, lay down on their backs, and allowed the great fire behind them to ignite their entire bodies.
"Burn my remnant body! To save the world! Ignite my ambition! To glorify the Fire God!!"
They repeated this doctrinal mantra, enduring with great difficulty within the flames.
Suddenly.
You felt something was wrong.
You couldn't move.
The crude charcoal formation beneath you transformed into a cage, trapping you in place.
It felt like something was draining away from your body.
The lazy, casual voice of the *Ten Thousand Souls Banner* sounded.
"Buddy, you got tricked. They're feasting on your vitality."
You suddenly understood.
Of course! The most skilled hunters always appear as prey!
That middle-aged man encountered in Wutu City was himself bait!
*This* was the Sacred Flame Cult's true ritual for enhancing cultivation!
The ones to be sacrificed weren't them—it was you!
You instantly flew into a rage.
"Daring to scheme against me, you bunch of heretics!!"
Too bad the *Alien's Biological Father* trait couldn't take effect.
But you still had the *Ten Thousand Souls Banner*.
"*Hundred Demons Night Parade*!!"
When an Immortal Artifact makes its move, you know it's serious.
A group of cultists whose highest cultivation was only at the Soul Tempering realm were instantly annihilated by the *Ten Thousand Souls Banner*'s killing move, which released over a thousand *Demon Souls* in a single explosive charge.
These people didn't even have time to grunt before becoming a pile of mush.
Their bodies were still burning, cremated on the spot.
However, you left one alive—the leader himself.
Watching you stand up completely unscathed from the *Ten Thousand Flames Devour the Heart* formation, the *Ten Thousand Souls Banner* in your hand ominously emitting black smoke, with ferocious *Demon Souls* gathered behind you, this leader felt you were even more sinister than he was.
"You... you actually possess such a treasure... Hidden depths, huh? Heh, miscalculated..."
This leader was quite composed.
They often tricked people into joining the Sacred Flame Cult, then coaxed them into sitting on the *Ten Thousand Flames Devour the Heart* formation to be devoured.
Doing this too often, always walking by the river, your shoes are bound to get wet.
"What a pity... Our Sacred Flame Cult was once one of the top great sects in Xiliang, yet now it's been wiped out by a stinking monk like you."
You just remembered you had recently shaved your head.
This person thought he had been wiped out by Buddhism, which obviously made him even more resentful.
"Let me ask you one more time. Do you people actually have a method to help someone break through from the Soul Tempering realm to the Golden Body realm?"
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