Ling Feng felt that something about the Prison of Fire Refinement was wrong. Because of that uneasy feeling, he didn't want to waste any time. He directly opened a portal to the Five Elements Heavenly Palace and pushed Ye Guichen and the others inside.

Afterward, Ling Feng began opening the prison cells one by one. He continuously sent elders from Tianwei Academy, members of the Alchemist Guild, people from the Ascendant Eagle General's residence, members of the Grand Commandant's family, and even several court ministers who had no personal connection with him into the Five Elements Heavenly Palace.

Once they entered the Five Elements Heavenly Palace, someone inside would explain the situation to them.

However, after searching through the entire Prison of Fire Refinement, Ling Feng did not find any trace of the director of Tianwei Academy Mu Yunsang, Ascendant Eagle General Deng Xian, or the president of the Alchemist Guild Hong Haotian.

These three were the most crucial figures.

It seemed Yan Jinghong had imprisoned them within the imperial city.

"Yan Jinghong, you truly are cunning!"

Ling Feng sighed softly. After confirming that no other prisoners remained nearby, he prepared to leave the Prison of Fire Refinement.

...

At the same time, on a hill about ten li away from the prison, a mysterious man stood silently.

His entire body was wrapped within a thick black robe. Black mist swirled around him, and a faint yet intense scent of blood drifted through the air. The aura he exuded alone was enough to make people tremble.

At that moment, the mysterious man stared unblinkingly toward the direction of the Prison of Fire Refinement. A strange smile slowly curved across his lips.

Behind him stood a group of elite imperial city guards, roughly thirty men in total.

"Imperial Advisor, your instructions have been completed. The Fire Refinement Array has been fully arranged!"

A squad captain wearing the armor of the imperial city guards hurried forward and reported loudly to the black-robed man.

"Very good!"

The black-robed man stood with his hands behind his back. If one looked carefully beneath his wide sleeves, a faint dark radiance could be seen.

That faint glow came from the edge of a blade. The dense demonic qi in the air was also emanating from that sword.

This so-called Imperial Advisor was none other than Li Qingling, the Blood Sword Heavenly Lord of the Blood God Cult and the temporary ally of Lin Canglang.

During the battle at the Wind-Burial Plains, Li Qingling had sensed that the situation was unfavorable and fled early, abandoning Lin Canglang.

Lin Canglang had nearly been annihilated by Ling Feng. Only a wisp of his remnant soul managed to escape.

Later, Lin Canglang found the exceptionally talented Yan Jinghong and attempted to possess his body. Instead, Yan Jinghong devoured Lin Canglang's soul and inherited the sacred-tier demonic art he cultivated, the Devil's Love Forgetting Art.

However, Lin Canglang's lingering obsession and fragments of his will still influenced Yan Jinghong to some extent.

After successfully cultivating the demonic art, Yan Jinghong sought out Li Qingling. The two worked together to open a hidden treasure vault. Through the opportunities within that vault, Yan Jinghong's cultivation advanced at astonishing speed. Within half a year he successfully cultivated all seven Devil's Wheels of the Seven Emotions from the Devil's Love Forgetting Art.

That treasure vault had been hidden within the Flower Transposing Jade Burying Sword Scripture.

Lin Canglang had spent his entire life trying to obtain this scripture. Even back when he served as sect leader of the Wenxian Sect, he had been searching for it.

Later he finally captured Duanmu Qingshan and used him as leverage to obtain the Sword Scripture. In the end the treasure within the scripture only served as a wedding garment for Yan Jinghong. The entire affair was rather ironic.

Within the Flower Transposing Jade Burying Sword Scripture lay the hidden treasury of an ancient sect known as Yi Hua Palace. The opportunities inside that treasury allowed Yan Jinghong to gain the immense power he now possessed.

Naturally, Li Qingling also gained enormous benefits.

With the ancient demonic sword and the opportunities within the treasury, his cultivation had already reached beyond the fifth level of the Human Emperor Realm. Combined with his sinister and unorthodox techniques, even ordinary Extreme Human Emperors would struggle to defeat him.

The Prison of Fire Refinement itself was the second trap prepared for Ling Feng by Yan Jinghong and Li Qingling.

"Ling Feng, Ling Feng. I did not expect you to arrive so quickly. The faster you come, the faster you die. Enjoy the taste of the Prison of Fire Refinement!"

Li Qingling's eyes flashed with cold light as he burst into laughter.

His body rose into the sky. The entire array revolved around him as its core. By manipulating the firepower of the earth vein beneath the prison, he intended to present Ling Feng with a deadly welcome!

Boom!

The ground trembled violently. The earth vein beneath the Prison of Fire Refinement became increasingly unstable.

At that moment, Ling Feng had just sent the final imprisoned elder into the Five Elements Heavenly Palace.

Only then did he finally understand why he had felt something strange all along.

The entire Prison of Fire Refinement was itself a natural array!

Ling Feng's understanding in arrays were modest at best. One could even say they were rather poor. However, he had studied arrays during his time at Tianwei Academy. The essence of arrays lay in borrowing the power of the environment.

Beneath this prison ran a powerful earth vein that contained enormous energy. If the power of that earth vein were mobilized through array techniques, it would create a deadly array from which no one could escape.

In an instant, Ling Feng felt that all the fire elemental spiritual power in the surrounding area had been drained away.

Then a terrifying suction force began pulling at the fire spiritual energy within his own body!

"This array!"

Ling Feng's eyelids twitched slightly.

Yan Jinghong had once suffered from Ling Feng's Devouring Flame. It seemed he had deliberately arranged this array to suppress that very flame within Ling Feng's body.

"Hahaha, Ling Feng. We meet again!"

A sinister laugh echoed from the sky.

Although Ling Feng was trapped within the array, he could see a gigantic and grotesque face forming high above in the heavens, staring coldly down at him.

"Blood Sword Heavenly Lord?"

Ling Feng could not see Li Qingling's actual body, but the revolting demonic qi surrounding the array made it clear who was controlling it.

"Hahaha! Boy, did you expect this? You have finally fallen into my hands. Yan Jinghong clearly overestimated you. In my opinion, this day next year will mark the anniversary of your death!"

Li Qingling laughed wildly.

The Fire Refinement Array devoured all fire spiritual power within its range. Because Ling Feng possessed the Devouring Flame, the array constantly drained his elemental force. Before long the source fire within his body would be extracted and refined, greatly weakening him.

At that point the array alone would likely be enough to destroy him completely.

"So this is your scheme to lure the enemy into the trap. You knew I would come here to rescue the prisoners."

Ling Feng took a deep breath.

The Fire Refinement Array was the natural nemesis of all fire attribute cultivators. Drawing power from the earth vein below, even ordinary Great Emperor level experts would struggle to escape once trapped within it.

If a fire attribute Great Emperor fell into this array, their elemental power would be suppressed. In the end they might still meet their downfall here.

After all, the energy of the earth vein was the natural power of heaven and earth itself. Forcing a breakthrough and detonating the earth vein would unleash a catastrophic eruption. Everything within a hundred li would be reduced to ruins. Even someone as powerful as Saint Lady Hui Yue would be torn apart.

Of course, Great Emperor level experts would never casually walk into such an array.

Ling Feng had fallen into this trap only because he had been too eager to save the prisoners.