"Have you noticed that his aura seems to have declined somewhat? It seems that while he achieved victory in the recent battle, he likely also sustained damage," Hun Lao quietly transmitted to Ye Yunfei.
"Yes, I have noticed. But regardless, he has already wiped out the Founding Ancestor of the Source Fire Sect, which must be a tremendous loss for them. From now on, if we encounter people from the Source Fire Sect, we won't need to be polite," Ye Yunfei nodded and replied.
The Source Fire Sect actually had a Deity's energy body passed down through its lineage—a terrifying trump card originally. But now that this foundation was gone, Ye Yunfei had even less reason to fear the Source Fire Sect in the future.
"Indeed. With their Founding Ancestor wiped out, I bet the entire sect is mourning right now," Hun Lao said with a laugh.
"Young Master Ye, you should take this time to enjoy yourself a bit within our Fire Realm. You are a benefactor of our Fire Clan, and we will certainly treat you to lavish hospitality," the Grand Elder said warmly as he approached Ye Yunfei after watching his ancestor enter the ancestral land.
"Cui Xia, for this period, you should accompany Young Master Ye. He is a distinguished guest of our Fire Clan; you must play the host well," the Grand Elder said to Cui Xia.
"You want me to accompany Young Master Ye?" Cui Xia was taken aback upon hearing the Grand Elder's words.
"This is Ancestor Cui Hong's intention. The ancestor just told me that Young Master Ye possesses extraordinary talent and is extremely likely to become a major figure in the Chaotic Void Sea in the future. We, the Fire Clan, should make a good connection with him. Also, if there's potential for development between you and Young Master Ye, do encourage it. After all, such outstanding young men are rare. If you end up together, he would effectively become a member of our Fire Clan. For our clan to rise again within the Chaotic Void Sea, we will need a lot of support. It's very necessary to befriend young prodigies like Young Master Ye," the Grand Elder transmitted his message to Cui Xia.
"Grand Elder, what are you saying..." Cui Xia's face immediately flushed red.
The Grand Elder's meaning was clear—he wanted her and Ye Yunfei to pursue a romantic relationship. Although she had spent some time with Ye Yunfei, the idea of developing such a relationship felt too sudden.
"This is Ancestor Cui Hong's wish," the Grand Elder transmitted once more.
After speaking, he turned and led the Fire Clan members to begin rebuilding the Fire Realm.
Ever since being sealed within their ancestral land, the Fire Realm had been occupied by the Source Fire Sect and turned into one of their strongholds. The Source Fire Sect had built numerous structures here. Now that the Source Fire Sect had been expelled, this place once again became the headquarters of the Fire Clan. Since the Fire Clan and the Source Fire Sect were mortal enemies, the Fire Clan members had no intention of using any of the structures built by their foes.
"Destroy everything in this world related to the Source Fire Sect, then we can begin reconstruction!" After consulting with other Fire Clan high-ranking members, the Grand Elder issued the order.
Subsequently, the Fire Clan people began their rebuilding efforts within this world.
"Young Master Ye, the Grand Elder instructed me to accompany you. Why don't I take you around to see the Fire Clan's lands?" Cui Xia said to Ye Yunfei, her face still tinged with red.
Thinking of the Grand Elder's words to her just now, she felt a bit unsure how to face Ye Yunfei, and even avoided looking him directly in the eyes while speaking.
"Miss Cui, I plan to find a secluded place to go into closed-door cultivation," Ye Yunfei said, not noticing Cui Xia's expression. With the Fire Dragon now in his possession, what he most wanted to do was cultivate in isolation and fuse that Fire Dragon into the second layer of the Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture. After all, that was his primary purpose for coming to the Fire Realm in the first place.
"Young Master Ye, you wish to merge that Fire Dragon?" Cui Xia immediately understood his intention.
"Yes," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"Alright then, Young Master Ye, I will help find you a quiet place for closed-door cultivation." Initially intending to show Ye Yunfei around the Fire Realm, Cui Xia felt a faint pang of disappointment within her upon seeing that he planned to cultivate, but she quickly replied nevertheless.
"Young Master Ye, please follow me. I know of a relatively remote and flat valley in that direction. Its location is very secluded, perfect for closed-door cultivation," Cui Xia soared into the air and led Ye Yunfei towards a direction.
After a short while, she brought him to a quiet, isolated valley. The valley was quite flat, surrounded by mountains on all sides.
"Young Master Ye, you can conduct your closed-door cultivation here. Don't worry, I'll ask the Grand Elder to issue an order forbidding anyone from approaching this area," Cui Xia said to Ye Yunfei.
"Thank you then, Miss Cui," Ye Yunfei nodded, then entered the valley and sat cross-legged.
"No wonder his strength is so formidable. For him, cultivation is clearly the most important thing," Cui Xia thought to herself, stealing a glance at Ye Yunfei as he prepared for cultivation.
"For the ancestor to encourage its development between us... that is far too direct. Besides, who knows what he thinks? I've known him for a while, but from start to finish, he has never shown any indication of that kind of interest towards me. He rarely even stares at me. Is it because I'm not pretty enough?" Cui Xia's beautiful eyes surreptitiously glanced at Ye Yunfei once more as she thought.
"What in the world am I thinking nonsense about..."
She soon snapped back to her senses, her face crimson, then hurriedly turned and fled from the valley as if escaping.
"That girl is acting strange. Her face was all red, and she kept stealing glances at you. I think she might have taken a fancy to you," Ye Yunfei had by now taken out a handful of Formation Flags, preparing to set up some isolation formations and hadn't noticed Cui Xia's change in expression. But the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm had observed it quite clearly and immediately said to Ye Yunfei with a laugh.
"That's highly possible. My master is so outstanding—it's completely normal for girls to like him," Hu Miao chimed in with a chuckle.
"What nonsense are you both babbling? Settle down, I'm about to start cultivating."
Ye Yunfei threw out all the Formation Flags in his hand, setting up over a dozen isolation formations to create a small Formations space. Then, he began his closed-door cultivation.
Rumble...
As Ye Yunfei activated the Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture, the eight Chaotic Divine Meridians within his body simultaneously materialized. Boundless immortal energy surged and raced through the eight Divine Meridians.
"So it really is a Chaotic Divine Meridian. No wonder he possesses such talent and cultivation. With a divine vein like this, as long as he doesn't perish prematurely, his chances of achieving Deity-hood in the future are exceedingly high."
Within the Fire Clan's ancestral land, Cui Hong, who was resting and recuperating in seclusion, suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze pierced through space as he looked towards Ye Yunfei's location, giving a slight nod.
Ye Yunfei took out a large quantity of cultivation resources and placed them around his body before starting to cultivate the Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture.
He did not enter the Illusionary Shadow Pagoda. The reason was that Ye Yunfei wanted to utilize the Fire Realm's unique environmental attributes to see if they would benefit his cultivation of the Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture. The Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture itself was a supremely Yang and rigid cultivation art. The abundant fire energy and fire laws present everywhere within the Fire Realm represented precisely the kind of Yang-attribute energy and laws that this ancient scripture required.
At the same time, within the Source Fire Realm of the Zhongheng World Cluster...
Ever since the emergence of the Source Fire Sect's Founding Ancestor, the atmosphere at the sect's headquarters had been one of intense excitement. Every member was thrilled to the core. The founding ancestor of the sect had actually left an energy body guarding the headquarters—this was an energy body left behind by an ancient Deity! Though not a complete Deity, it was still energy at the Deity level. In this era where true Deities rarely appeared, an energy body of a Deity was powerful enough to suppress the entire Chaotic Void Sea! Possessing such a trump card meant that, from now on, the Source Fire Sect would rank among the strongest major powers within the Chaotic Void Sea. Presumably, no other major force would dare provoke them any longer.
"The Founding Ancestor personally headed to the Fire Realm, undoubtedly for that seal. Breaking that seal and escaping will be extremely difficult for the Fire Clan. Taking a step back, even if those Fire Clan members did break the seal, what of it? As long as our Founding Ancestor reaches the Fire Realm, he will surely exterminate all remaining heterodox Fire Clan remnants!"
Within a grand hall carved with fire totems at the Source Fire Sect's headquarters, an imposing old man, dressed in red robes and wearing a tall red crown, declared in a resonant voice.
"The Sect Master speaks reason! With our Founding Ancestor's energy body personally acting, those remaining Fire Clan scum certainly won't be able to stir up any trouble!"
Many of the sect's high-ranking members present within the hall voiced their agreement.
This tall-crowned elder was none other than the Sect Master of the Source Fire Sect. Previously, he had been away leading several high-ranking members on sect business when he received news of the Founding Ancestor's appearance and rushed back immediately.
"Why haven't the four Old Ancestors returned yet?" A shorter, thin elder with a sharp face and spiky hair spoke up.
Earlier, three of the Source Fire Sect's Old Ancestors had rushed to the Fire Realm. After the Founding Ancestor departed for the Fire Realm, the last Old Ancestor had followed as well. So far, all four Old Ancestors had yet to return.
"The four Old Ancestors are probably still in the Fire Realm, assisting our Founding Ancestor in dealing with the Fire Clan remnants. We should be patient. With our Founding Ancestor and all four Old Ancestors deployed, not to mention dealing with some leftover Fire Clan trash, they are sufficient to handle any major power within the Chaotic Void Sea. So we needn't worry; let's await the good news," the Source Fire Sect's Sect Master stated confidently.
"The Sect Master speaks reason. We can relax and just wait for the good news." Listening to the Sect Master's words, the other high-ranking members all nodded in agreement, completely relaxing as smiles appeared on their faces.
Just at that moment, a middle-aged man hurriedly entered.
"Sect Master, I have urgent news to report!" This middle-aged man rushed before the Sect Master and spoke respectfully.
"Steward Zeng, what is it that has you in such a hurry?" The Sect Master frowned slightly and inquired.
"Reporting to Sect Master and all Elders, Old Ancestor Qi sent me back with instructions. He commands the Sect Master and Elders to immediately seal off our Source Fire Realm. Starting now, all exits to our world are to be closed. No one may enter or leave without permission. Furthermore, immediately activate the sect's great protective formations guarding the world's entrances and exits to prevent enemy invasion!" Steward Zeng spoke in an anxious tone.
"What? Old Ancestor Qi wants us to seal the Source Fire Realm immediately and activate the sect's defensive formations? What is this about? What enemy would dare to invade our Source Fire Sect? Steward Zeng, are you sure you haven't made a mistake?" Hearing this, the Sect Master and all the other high-ranking members were dumbfounded.
"Sect Master, respected Elders, these are indeed the exact words Old Ancestor Qi bade me deliver. Old Ancestor Qi also said the situation is critical and that we must act immediately!" Steward Zeng nodded emphatically.
"Steward Zeng, explain clearly! What has happened?" The Sect Master, regaining his composure, questioned Steward Zeng.
"Yes, Steward Zeng, speak clearly. What critical situation?" The other high-ranking members also urged.
"Sect Master... Old Ancestor Qi said... our Founding Ancestor may have already fallen. And... the other three Old Ancestors may have perished as well." Steward Zeng hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"WHAT?!"
All the Source Fire Sect high-ranking members froze on the spot.
For them, Steward Zeng's words were undoubtedly a bolt from the blue. Moreover, in that instant, they simply couldn't believe what they were hearing. Just moments ago, these members had been envisioning the Source Fire Sect rising to become one of the premier great powers within the Chaotic Void Sea. Now, they were hearing news like this.
"Impossible! Steward Zeng, you must have gotten it wrong! How could our Founding Ancestor and three Old Ancestors all perish? It must be a mistake!"
Quickly regaining their senses, the high-ranking members cried out one after another, refusing to believe it.
"But... these really are the words Old Ancestor Qi bade me bring back..." Watching the fierce, disbelieving expressions on the faces of these high-ranking members, Steward Zeng grew a bit fearful and replied hesitantly.
"Everyone, what Steward Zeng says is true. Our Founding Ancestor and the three other Old Ancestors have indeed fallen. Issue the order: From now on, all access points to the Source Fire Realm are to be sealed shut. No one is to enter or leave without authorization. Furthermore, activate the sect's great protective formations immediately and post guards! Our Source Fire Sect has reached a critical juncture of life or death. Everyone must prepare to defend the sect!"
A solemn and resonant voice echoed. Then an old man appeared before the assembly, his tone heavy.
"What?! Old Ancestor Qi, our Founding Ancestor and the other three Old Ancestors truly fell? How is this possible? Their power is so formidable; within the entire Chaotic Void Sea, who could possibly slay them?"
Hearing Old Ancestor Qi's words, it felt to the Sect Master and other high-ranking members as if a basin of icy water had been poured over their heads, chilling them from head to toe. They simply could not accept this.
"Within the Fire Realm resides an energy body left behind by a Fire Clan ancestor. Its strength surpasses that of our Source Fire Sect's Founding Ancestor and our three Old Ancestors," Ancestor Qi let out a soft sigh, then explained.
"Also, thoroughly investigate this young man's identity! The awakening of that Fire Clan ancestor's energy body owes most to his efforts. From this moment on, this youth is the number one great enemy of our Source Fire Sect! Once you ascertain his origins and background, we must seek revenge and settle this blood debt!"
Ancestor Qi waved his hand, conjuring a figure that solidified from illusion into reality—it was a young man. Had Ye Yunfei been present, he would have recognized that young man's appearance as his own.
"Act according to my instructions," Ancestor Qi added these final words, then his figure flickered and vanished.