Van's body flickered. He appeared only a metre away from the flying crystal.

The burning object collided with Van's palm and immediately sank into his flesh. The young man felt his blood turn molten. Time slowed. His hair slowly started to turn red at the tips. Moment's later, his black locks had turned a crimson shade reminiscent of a b.l.o.o.d.y sunset.

The power from the crystal melted into Van's bloodstream. Van felt the quality of his spiritual power increase by several folds!

Van admired the effect of the crystal.

[With the addition of the Blood Flame, my strength is on par with a 7th level Qi Distillation Cultivator! However, this won't be enough. The strange man in front of me is in the 8th level of Qi Distillation…]

A dark red flame appeared in his mindscape. It was the Tri-Divine Blood Flame. It emitted a b.l.o.o.d.y aura that stung the nose. Jet floated closer to it.

[Not bad. The Tri-Divine Blood Flame seems to be able to increase life essence. Those who are on the verge of dying may be renewed, and those who are being infected by demonic energy may survive if they are sustained by the blood flame… it is much sought after, as it can resurrect a person within three seconds of them dying.]

"What?!"

Van was astonished in the ability of the Tri-Divine Blood Flame.

Due to the removal of the Tri-Divine Blood Flame crystal from the dais, the b.l.o.o.d.y aura in the air of the chamber diminished by half. Van saw the large red veins criss-crossing the ground start to blacken and shrivel away.

The emaciated man saw the veins blacken and felt hatred sink into his bones. He turned his ice blue eyes to Van, they were filled with a bright, manic hatred.

"How dare you interfere with my work!" The emaciated man shouted. Without the power of the blood ritual, the demonic eggs within the nurseries would die. His demon army would not come to fruition!

His army would not hatch, but he still had soldiers!

The man bellowed, "My children. My little experiments, free yourselves from your human shackles. Come to your Master!"

Rattle.

Horrified screams filled the air.

"What is happening?"

"Cyrus, Cyrus! Snap out of it – ah!"

"Why are they attacking us!?"

"They're being controlled. It's not them anymore. Kill them with no mercy!"

Two b.l.o.o.d.y figures emerged from the cages around the dais.

Van immediately paled. He recognised two of them.

"Synthia?"

The figure on the left was a slender woman with elegant features. However, now, her eyes were a blood red and her movements eerie and unnatural.

Beside her stood Cyrus. His appearance was thinner than before, but the rest shared similarities with Synthia's state.

Van turned to the emaciated man, "What have you done to them!?"

The emaciated man chuckled, "Don't you like the effect? All I did was plant a little demon inside their brains and look how they've turned out! When I'm not controlling the demon, they appear and behave as if everything were fine. Apart from the occasional dizziness and hallucinations…When I activate the demon inside them they would kill all their friends and loved ones if I ordered them to!"

The emaciated man laughed, "Sadly my little experiment only worked on the stronger cultivators, so I had to use the rest as a blood supply for my demon army."

Alarm bells rang inside Van's head. He thought about the strange things he had experienced and discovered over the past month. The jigsaw pieces began to come together.

[… they experience dizziness and hallucinations…he can control them using a demon they planted in their brains… the original mission was cancelled…]

Van felt his stomach turn cold.

[This is bad. Very bad.]

[The disciples that undertook the original mission started to report memory loss and hallucinations. They must have had a demon planted in their minds. Disciples from many different countries and sects partic.i.p.ated in the original mission. Infected disciples are present within too many sects!]

Van stared at the man coldly, "Why are you doing this?"

The emaciated man smiled smugly, "What is my purpose? To eliminate humans from the Divine River realm!

My demon eggs… you have destroyed them by taking away the Tri-Divine Blood Flame, the source of the ritual's power. If I do not kill you tonight, my name is not Altemuller!"

"Altemuller?" In the distance, Delphine had a puzzled expression on her face, "Why does this name sound so familiar?"

The emaciated man spread his pale fingers, "My children. Kill him and retrieve the Tri-Divine Blood Flame for me!"

With a snarl, the two demon-puppets leapt forwards.

Synthia arrived first. Black nails sprouted from her hands. Her expression was vicious and ugly.

Van immediately led her away, leaving Cyrus to his troops.

Van coldly instructed them, "You guys must hold Cyrus here. It doesn't matter if he dies. In fact, if you can kill him, that's even better. I will deal with Synthia and Blackie will hold off Altemuller!"

Delphine nodded sharply, "Yes, team leader!"

Blackie howled and with a few swipes downed some stray

Ryan tapped his silver mask, "It would be my pleasure to kill this b.a.s.t.a.r.d." Ryan still remembered his humiliation the other day when he was kicked off the back of the great snowy transport beast.

A hissing Cyrus descended upon them.

Van turned to the silent Synthia. She pursued him doggedly despite his constant use of 'Scattering Smoke Steps."

Unlike Cyrus, Synthia was someone Van didn't hold a grudge against. She had been instrumental to them being able to enter the Ice Caves in the first place.

As he watched her, her expressions flickered rapidly. Sometimes she looked confused and lost, at other moments vicious and bloodthirsty.

Van was suddenly reminded of Elder Lang.

[The symptoms are the same. This means that the Cedar Sect has also been corrupted…!]

Synthia lifted her flute to her lips. A devilish melody emerged. Van felt his mind blur.

[This is bad! Her melody can affect the mind!]

Synthia change the melody. This time, barbs of spiritual power stabbed down at Van.

Van used Scattering Smoke Steps but was still hit by a barb. Her martial arts was both skilful and powerful – her cultivation was in the 7th level of Qi Distillation after all.

Van stumbled.

Immediately, Synthia arrived in front of him. Viciously, she snarled. Then her expression turned bewildered and frustrated. She looked at her clawed hands as if they were not her own.

Van saw a chance and shouted, "Synthia. Wake up! Don't let the demon control you!"

Synthia looked at him with her blood-red eyes. Her facial muscles spasmed. She was clearly warring with herself.

"You must fight against it's control. The man who planted it within your mind killed your fellow disciples and fed them to grow his demon army. Do not let yourself become a puppet!"

Synthia emitted a tortured growl. At the same time, her hands flashed outwards and grabbed Van by the throat. A killing intent leaked out from her. However, her hands did not apply pressure.

Van kept talking.

[The demon is still controlling her body, but she is regaining consciousness!]

Van bit his lip and grabbed her wrist.

[Hopefully the pain will bring her to her senses!]

He channelled his fleshly power and broke her wrist. Synthia screamed. As her screaming died down, Van saw new clarity in her eyes.

"V-Van?" Synthia said weakly, "What is happening? What am I doing here?"

Van shook his head, "There is no time to explain. You were being controlled by Altemuller to kill your fellow disciples. If we don't kill him now, more disciples will die. The goal is to kill him – your power would be much appreciated!"

Synthia's eyes flashed.

'Very well," she said, "but how will we kill him? His cultivation is higher than ours and his skills have not been fully displayed yet."

Van turned back to the fight. He saw that Cyrus was slowly being weakened and whittled down by troop. Blackie was injured, but still viciously attacking Altemuller, who was unable to shake the wolf off himself.

Van had an idea. He turned to Synthia, "We only have one chance for this plan to work. If we fail, we will be first to die."