Of course, Jin did not forget to plunder the corpses of everything they held before departing.

There had been no more hurdles on the way down and he managed to reach the fire wall safely. As he observed it, he marveled at the design. While Jin did not know much about arrays and was incapable of making them, he could at the very least distinguish the levels of the simplest ones.

Considering that the towering flames surrounded the entirety of the mountain, one might expect it to be a high-level array. But it was not. It could not be, in fact, due to the spiritual density of this continent.

Cultivators were not the only ones affected by this.

This set-up was completed solely by placing many grade-1 arrays next to each other with activation arrays in-between. It created an elaborate chain array made solely of grade-1 arrays.

"When one is limited by the environment, they have to use it ingenuously..."

It was one of the lessons he was taught by his Master very long ago in his previous life and something he always kept to heart. The fact that the people here found ways to overcome the limits of the environment proved that they were not as weak as one might expect. At the very least, Jin believed he would need to reassess his previous theories.

While this single chain array did not mean that much by itself, it was only an appetizer of what might have been developed in this continent. The danger-level of the array was low but considering where it was placed, it became different.

Masterful use of resources, environment and abilities...

He smirked unconsciously. This place might prove to be more challenging than he previously thought. And that was something to be grateful about. After all, only overcoming challenges could toughen a man.

Then again, this array was nothing to him. It could not stop him. If it had been a chain array of the second grade though... Fortunately it was not.

While Jin could push through these flames at any time, he still needed to be careful. Such a chain array required energy to continuously be active. Whether it was powered up by cultivators or spiritual stones, there would be people managing it. If he rushed through the pillars only to end up face to face with more enemies...

Well, they weren't 'enemies' per se but they might consider him one to themselves. He would be considered an enemy and, as such, would be killed... Even if he was strong, if he ended up surrounded by dozens upon dozens of people of his level or higher, he would die. It was possible that he was overthinking it but he did not plan to take any chances.

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Sometimes you needed to rely on luck but if he could choose, he would rather not. And right now, he was not in such a situation.

He changed.

He put on one of the church's robes he plundered previously. The one that was the cleanest out of them all. Only a part of the right elbow was torn. It was good enough.

Then, he began to ready himself. He planned to push right through the flames.

That's when a big explosion resounded a few meters to his right.

He rushed within the flames without checking what happened... Using his spiritual energy and will to protect himself, he ran within the array without looking back. Whatever created that explosion could not be friendly as he had no 'allies' in there. If he had waited or maybe even just checked what it was, he might have lost precious time. Precious seconds that could determine his life or death.

After getting through the fire, he did not look back either and rushed away at full speed. The direction was forward. The only thing he had to do now was to put distance between himself and that mountain.

...

Going back to the moment when the ambush began, many things happened. The troops rushed at the poor cultivators that came here filled with hopes. Those who did not flee were slaughtered and those who fled were slaughtered too.

The inquisitor ignored everyone but a figure that escaped to the side after killing off a few priests and creating a gap in the net. The figure was covered by a dark mantle but it did not affect his judgement. He grinned as he activated his 23rd stage spiritual energy and pounced after the figure at top speed.

While the one he rushed after was fast as well, he was slightly faster and his movement technique was better. He caught up. Activating a palm technique, red fire was shot at the figure. The hidden being somersaulted to dodge the attack before stopping to face the inquisitor.

The inquisitor slowly moved a few steps, sporting a grin. Then, he stopped and said: "Hand it over"

The figure sighed and took off the black garments. It revealed a head filled with long orange hair and a beautiful chiseled face sporting deep clear blue eyes. She wore a black battle robe with a white belt to which a dark sword sheath rested. The baggy robe could hide her lower curves but not her upper ones that seemed to threaten the rules of gravity themselves.

She was gorgeous. Devilishly so.

She snickered at the inquisitor as she placed a hand on her sword handle. She stated: "Have you no shame, Rihillon?"

The inquisitor laughed before he said: "That sword belongs to church. Give it back and I'll at least have them rid you of your demonic status, Kaen Ame"

She spat to the ground and answered: "This sword belonged to Master and her Masters before that. It was forged by the eldest master and never belonged to your shitty church"

The inquisitor, Rihillon, frowned before he continued: "The sword of purification is one of the church's treasures. That is the only truth and will forever be after you die"

She glared at the man as she unsheathed the sword. A black handle and a black blade with red lines covering it. It looked majestic.

She pointed it towards the inquisitor as she took a stance.