But he was perfectly clear in his heart—this was nothing more than a brief calm before the storm.

"Huh!"

Suddenly, a bewitching crimson lotus flower drifted over like a ball of fire.

There was no warning whatsoever.

As he stared intently at the red lotus, he was suddenly struck by dizziness and blurred consciousness. He cursed inwardly, "Damn."

The red lotus abruptly swelled, then, like a scarlet maw, swallowed him whole.

A few seconds later, the red lotus shrank again, gathering in all its light and mysteriously vanishing without a trace.

……

Chapter Ten: Crimson Refinement Demon Art!

Ethan Brooks slowly woke up.

The first thing he saw was Autumn Cooper, bare-chested, in the cold stone chamber.

Seeing the chains of icy silver cold iron binding Autumn Cooper, he frowned and instinctively said, "You were imprisoned by the Cold Yin Sect too? How long have I been thrown in here?"

Autumn Cooper, who had only just calmed down, looked at him with a strange expression upon hearing this.

"Whoosh!"

A pillar of crimson light suddenly erupted from the crown of his head like a fountain.

Within the pillar, numerous flame talismans circled a fierce, violent little figure of fire.

Autumn Cooper kept panting and growling, suppressing the fire poison, struggling to maintain his sanity.

"Hmm, so you're a cultivator of the Crimson Demon Sect." Ethan Brooks was surprised. "But you’re really quite pathetic, aren’t you? Practicing the Crimson Demon Sect’s spiritual art, yet you’ve already gone astray and been afflicted by fire poison at the Insight Realm?"

He shook his head, looking at the man before him with pity. "As a member of the Crimson Demon Sect, to go astray in cultivation and have your upper dantian corroded by fire poison is bad enough, but to be captured and imprisoned by the Cold Yin Sect on top of that—how disgraceful."

The Crimson Demon Sect was a major demonic sect in the north of the Extinction Continent, even stronger than the Cold Yin Sect.

Sects like the Cold Yin Sect, one of the seven lower sects of the Tianyuan Continent, would never dare provoke the Crimson Demon Sect if they were on the Extinction Continent.

Even on the Qianxuan Continent, when Cold Yin Sect disciples encountered members of the Crimson Demon Sect, they had to tread carefully.

In his previous life, Ethan Brooks’s Medicine God Sect was also on the Extinction Continent.

Back when he was researching poison pills, he often traveled north and had deep connections with many people from the Demon Palace and Monster Hall.

He also had old friends in the Crimson Demon Sect, so when he saw the flame talismans in the pillar of light around Autumn Cooper, he immediately recognized the spiritual art as the Crimson Demon Sect’s "Crimson Refinement Demon Art."

"You, you?"

Autumn Cooper almost spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling utterly stifled inside.

This guy, who his daughter said was the fool of the The Brooks Family, was now looking at him as if he were a complete loser?

"How does he know about the Crimson Demon Sect? How does he know I went astray practicing the 'Crimson Refinement Demon Art' and was afflicted by fire poison?" Tormented by fire poison and with his mind a bit unclear, Autumn Cooper forced himself to calm down, then demanded, "Who exactly are you?"

"My name is Ethan Brooks."

"Ethan Brooks?" Autumn Cooper took a deep breath, his eyes darting, then suddenly said, "I heard you recently came back from the dead?"

"Yes." Ethan Brooks nodded, then asked again, "Who from the Cold Yin Sect brought me here?"

He had thought that after poisoning Yin Jue, the one from the Cold Yin Sect who came to Dark Moon City had personally captured him and secretly brought him here.

He had racked his brains trying to figure out how to make the Cold Yin Sect "calm down" and not rush to kill him.

"I’m not imprisoned by the Cold Yin Sect. I bound myself with icy silver cold iron chains because I was tormented by fire poison and feared losing control and going mad." Autumn Cooper hesitated for a moment, then revealed the truth and tentatively asked, "I heard you refined a Meridian Expansion Pill, and… another kind of poison pill?"

"Not the Cold Yin Sect?" Ethan Brooks was instantly relieved. A thought struck him, and he suddenly understood, "Last time, the one who probed me with spiritual sense was you?"

"It was me." Autumn Cooper didn’t deny it. He stared blankly for a moment, then looked at him with hope and said, "Since you know about the Crimson Demon Sect, know the demon art I practice, and know I’m afflicted by fire poison—do you… have a way?"

"Of course!" Before he could finish, Ethan Brooks nodded. "I have a way right now to help you temporarily suppress the fire poison and let you leave this stone chamber for a short time."

"Really?!" Autumn Cooper was overjoyed.

"Really." Ethan Brooks gave him a definite answer, then said, "Ahem, since you’re at the Insight Realm, you should know there’s a master from the Cold Yin Sect in the city—or just outside, right?"

"I know." Autumn Cooper replied.

"I’ll teach you a method to temporarily suppress the fire poison and let you leave the stone chamber for a short while." Ethan Brooks pondered, then slowly said, "However, you’ll still be in that state for quite a while afterward. Fire poison can’t be completely eradicated in a short time—it takes a lot of preparation."

However, Autumn Cooper was already thoroughly excited, his eyes burning with flames deep within. "You can cure my fire poison?"

"I just said, I can cure your fire poison." Ethan Brooks now felt confident and smiled. "But before that, I hope you can help me with something."