"Young friend, you don’t seem to be from around here. Are you from sowhere else...?"
Zhu Minghe’s murky gaze swept over Qin Xuan.
"Wait, a Three Palace Cultivator... Fellow Daoist, you are The One of Destiny that the Lord Daoist Venerable spoke of!"
A look of horror flashed in the depths of Zhu Minghe’s eyes. Two points of condensed fla flickered and vanished, pausing for a mont over Qin Xuan’s Purple Mansion Dantian before he suddenly, for so unknown reason, began to laugh.
"...And a Fla Demon too? HAHA, excellent, truly excellent! This is fate, absolute fate!"
Zhu Minghe seed overjoyed, slapping his withered palm against his thigh.
"I obtained this Fla Demon Position many years ago at a site where an ancient Fire Demon had fallen. I was fortunate enough to rge with its Original Demon Fire. It is ferocious, domineering, and incredibly difficult to ta. An ordinary Fire Cultivator who acquires it would not only fail to control it but would be consud by its flas instead. To think that you and I would be bound by such a destiny!"
"As you are now a Registered Disciple, I can answer one question for you and lecture on the Dao for a brief ti. Young friend, is there anything you are confused about?"
Zhu Minghe seed to have found a rare successor, and he beca more talkative, explaining things to Qin Xuan in detail.
He explained everything in simple yet profound terms, revealing his many Fire Manipulation Techniques and even a Secret Technique for Refining Body and Soul.
Many of the key points he made were like a revelation to Qin Xuan, making everything suddenly click into place.
Obscure parts of the Great Sun Heaven-Burning Sword Scripture that had previously confused him suddenly beca clear, and the dormant power of the Fla Demon within him stirred with excitent.
Qin Xuan seized the opportunity to ask the question that had been weighing on his mind.
"If I may ask, Venerable Lord, why must we Cultivators rely on Positional Divine Techniques to achieve Celestial Dao Divinity Transformation?"
Zhu Minghe’s tone grew serious, and he shook his head slightly.
"This matter involves the secrets of Returning Void Dao Venerables. You have no need to know. My advice, young friend, is that unless your life is on the line, you must never, ever break through to the Divinity Transformation realm..."
Qin Xuan’s eyes widened.
’What does he an, *never* break through to Divinity Transformation?’ He opened his mouth, but found he couldn’t get the words out.
"I understand what you’re thinking, young friend. But the more you know, the more danger you’ll be in. The auras of the five Positions on your body are enough to support five Divinity Transformation Venerables... I do not know how you ca upon such a heaven-defying opportunity, but you will co to understand the perils involved in the future."
Qin Xuan was utterly shocked, and a chill ran down his spine.
He felt as if he had been stripped bare, seen through completely by the Venerable Divinity Transformation.
Zhu Minghe’s figure flickered like a duckweed in the wind, his form wavering and illusory.
"My ti is short. If you have another question, young friend, you may ask it now."
This ti, Qin Xuan was more prudent. "If I may ask, Senior, what is a Fla Demon?"
Zhu Minghe smiled, satisfied.
"The Fla Demon is no ordinary fla. It is the fire within a demon, the demon within a fire. Its nature is violent, yet it possesses a spirit. You must not simply command it like a common fla. You must communicate with it using your Divine Thought, nurture it with your Battle Intent, and treat it as a partner in battle, not a tool..."
Inside the quiet room, an old man and a young man.
One taught with earnest patience; the other listened with rapt attention.
As ti passed, Qin Xuan was delighted to find that his understanding of the Fla Demon had reached an extrely profound level.
The teachings of this day would have an imasurably huge impact on Qin Xuan’s future path of cultivation.
Vaguely, it was as if all the Wu Fire Spiritual Objects under heaven were laid bare before his eyes, his to command if he so wished!
"Go back now. You are The One of Destiny and do not belong here. In the future, if you encounter disciples of my Liaoyuan Division, I hope you will rember our eting today and show them so leniency."
Zhu Minghe’s gaze was distant, as if peering across millennia. He unexpectedly bowed to Qin Xuan with cupped hands, a gesture of respect between equals.
"Today, I will make an exception and act one more ti. I hope you can go far, young friend... The future of our Vermilion Bird Star Domain rests in your hands."
Before Qin Xuan could react, the scene before him abruptly changed.
When he ca to his senses, he was already standing in Vermilion Bird Square, in the heart of Star City!
An invisible barrier had also appeared around him, brimming with a fiery intent that was profoundly mysterious.
It seed capable of blocking the prying senses of a Divinity Transformation expert!
’Was all that just a dream?’
Qin Xuan looked bewildered.
’No, it wasn’t a dream!’
Feeling the surging power of the Fla Demon inside him, Qin Xuan looked up abruptly, a sense of unreality washing over him.
But in the next mont, a familiar short, ugly, dwarf-like figure suddenly shattered his train of thought.
"Senior Brother Liu, you’re here too!" Hou Qi’s face lit up with delight.
At this mont, the square was teeming with people.
A mixture of Demon Qi and Spiritual Qi surged toward the heavens.
The three thousand five hundred prodigies of the Purple Mansion Realm—hailing from three hundred and fifty teams, Thirty-Five Divisions, and the Seven Stars, all subordinate to the Vermilion Bird Star Domain—were gathered here.
"Are you saying you’re with the Jingmu Sub-Branch of Well Mansion Jing now?"
"That’s right. It’s not just ; Master Ji Boying is here too," said Hou Qi.
"I see."
Qin Xuan and his group of ten stood in the area designated for "Wing Star Yi," "Liaoyuan Division," and "Star Jia Jiu," looking quite unremarkable.
An old man in worn-out red robes stood before them. He was Zhu Zhao, the Golden Core True Monarch of the Liaoyuan Division who was permanently stationed in Star City.
He was in the middle of explaining the rules for the second round of the Grand Competition.
"The Vermilion Bird Grand Competition is nad after the Celestial Vault Seven Stars and is divided into seven major competition zones: Well Mansion Jing, Ghost, Liu, Star, Zhang, Wing Star Yi, and Zhen."
Zhu Zhao explained in great detail:
"We belong to the ’Wing Star Yi’ zone. Under Wing Star Yi, there are five divisions, and our Liaoyuan Division is one of them. Each division sends ten groups of ten people each. You are Group Star Jia Jiu of the Liaoyuan Division."
"Each group will be randomly sent into a small, independent Secret Realm nad after a major star or symbol within that Star Constellation."
Zhu Zhao’s expression turned grim. "Rember, the environnt of each Secret Realm is completely different and fraught with danger. Your goal is to obtain as many of these as possible!"
Zhu Zhao flipped his palm, and the illusion of a dark red, diamond-shaped crystal the size of a fingernail materialized above it.
"This object is called a ’Starfire Essence.’ It is a crystallization of the Secret Realm’s core energy. You can obtain them by killing specific Demon Beasts or harvesting Fire Attribute Spiritual Plants within the realm. The amount you get varies, typically between one and five. But the fastest way... is to defeat other contestants!"
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