CHAPTER 652: THE ROOT OF DOWNFALL.

They didn’t stop clapping until Sword Flash sighed and said, "Fine. Fine. You guys are probably right. What I did was impressive. Maybe I deserved the clapping."

Arthur saw this and thought to himself, "We learn new things every day."

Everyone returned to their seat and let Sword Flash continue with what he was saying. He was clearly satisfied with their performance, and it showed on his glowing face.

He said with pride, "It was truly difficult. It was so dangerous that I could have died. But I persevered and was victorious."

"The reward I was given helped me fill in the blanks of what I needed to advance and even helped me advance to the sixth mortal coil. This was why I took so long getting back."

"The test itself took a few days. But advancing took nearly 20 years."

He grinned and said, "After I advanced, I returned and hid myself. I didn’t reveal myself because I wanted to take the Red and Blue Fire sect off guard. My plan seemed to have worked."

But then he became solemn and said, "About the Red and Blue Fire sect. As I said to their leader, their end had already been bought. Someone had paid for them to be eradicated. So if we hadn’t done it, someone else would have."

At this point, Sword Flash became silent for a while. Then he sighed and said, "The matter is complicated. It all started when the Red and Blue Fire sect lost their divine artifact."

He sighed and said, "The matter is complicated. It all started when the Red and Blue Fire sect lost their divine artifact."

"It is currently unknown how their strongest patriarch at that time died. It was even more unknown where their precious divine artifact was. But apparently, someone else had gotten a hold of the divine artifact in secret."

"The person who got the divine artifact wanted to use it, but couldn’t because the divine artifact was bound to the lineage of the Red and Blue Fire sect. Only the people of the Red and Blue Fire sect could use it. So, unless the Red and Blue Fire sect stopped existing, the divine artifact would not accept another master."

"This restriction ensured that no one else could use the divine artifact. But the person who got the divine artifact wasn’t willing to give up. They decided to eliminate the Red and Blue Fire sect completely. That way, they would be able to bind the divine artifact and use it."

"This person is very powerful and could have gone to kill everyone in the Red and Blue Fire sect. Unfortunately, they couldn’t use their great strength to eliminate the Red and Blue Fire sect because the Red and Blue Fire sect was part of the league of world eaters."

"The person is also part of the league of world eaters, and there is a rule that the stronger people in the league can’t attack their comrades. This rule was put in place to protect the weaker members of the league, so it only protects rank 6 cultivators."

"The rule is a benefit for the weaker members of the league. So if we join the league of world eaters, the strong people in the world of Ethera won’t attack us easily because most of the strongest people in Ethera are in the league."

"It is not yet confirmed, but it is acceptable to assume that the person coveting their divine artifact personally killed or orchestrated the death of the rank 7 cultivators in their sect. This is because their rank 7 cultivators began to die in mysterious ways after they lost their divine artifact."

"The rule didn’t prevent the Red and Blue Fire sect from losing their strongest protectors, but it saved them from immediate and swift extermination. However, the person who took their divine artifact still wasn’t willing to give up."

"Since they couldn’t attack the Red and Blue Fire sect themselves, they decided to hire others who were weaker to destroy the Red and Blue Fire sect for them. This is one of the many reasons why the Red and Blue Fire sect was attacked by many people over the years."

"The other reason for the frequent attacks was the large amount of wealth that they had in their possession. Many people wanted to grab the large amount of resources the Red and Blue Fire sect had, so they didn’t need to be paid to attack the Red and Blue Fire sect."

"The frequent attacks and the inability to produce rank 6 and rank 7 pills due to the loss of their divine artifact made the strength of the Red and Blue Fire sect fall steadily over a short amount of time. However, they still managed to survive. They even managed to leave their home safely and come to the Five Veins Region."

"I have been told that they chose this place because the Five Veins region is most likely to be upgraded during the next mana tide. If this is true, then in the next mana tide when the world of Ethera expands, the mana in our region will push the secret realms to advance by one rank. So our rank 4 secret realms will become rank ones."

When everyone heard this, they began to clap and cheer. Their reaction was unbidden. They did it because they were simply happy to hear this news.

Sword Flash smiled when he saw everyone’s reaction. Then he raised his hand to put an end to the cheering.

He said, "I’m glad that you’re happy to hear that. If our secret realm advances to rank 5, it will change a lot about our sect. In fact, it will change a lot about our region."

"When we upgrade, it is either that a new rank 4 secret realm appears and we become the Six Vein Region, or the mana for the new realm is spent on upgrading the existing five secret realms to rank 5. Either way, there will be war."