Chapter 1: Zhu Yanxing

Zhu Yanxing is a cultivation planet in the Immortal Realm. From space, the entire planet is wrapped in red flames, hence its name.
There is only one continent on the planet, called the True Flame Continent.
The True Flame Continent resembles a toad, as if spewing flames to burn through the heavens.
To the east of the True Flame Continent lies a coastal city, Hai Lan City. It is also a gathering place for cultivators from the eastern part of the continent to exchange ideas, trade, and gather information. Under normal circumstances, Hai Lan City has a population of no less than ten million, making it extremely prosperous.
At this moment, a heroic young man arrived at the eastern city gate of Hai Lan City.
It was Qu Yi.
After ascending from Liupan Star, Qu Yi mysteriously found himself on a mountain near Hai Lan City. Upon opening his eyes, he saw the eastern city wall of Hai Lan City, so he rushed over immediately.
What Qu Yi needed to know first was where exactly he was in the Immortal Realm. Only then could he use the star map of the Immortal Realm obtained from the Haotian Immortal Mansion to determine his location.
Hai Lan City is vast, stretching thousands of miles. Magnificent palaces and buildings stand tall, with spiritual energy fluctuations resembling surging waves. The entire area is filled with dense spiritual energy.
At the city gate, Qu Yi paid with a Fire Origin Stone before entering the city.
Qu Yi had just reached the Human Immortal cultivation level and did not dare fly above the city, as that would attract unnecessary trouble. Therefore, as soon as he entered the city, his eyes fell on a row of dragon horse carriages at the gate.
Each dragon horse pulled a beautifully decorated carriage, and the drivers all possessed the cultivation level of the Tribulation Stage.
This was the Immortal Realm—here, even the most powerful cultivators at the Tribulation Stage could only serve as drivers. Yet, these individuals felt no shame about their status.
Qu Yi happily walked over.
A tall, neatly dressed, handsome young man immediately came forward and greeted him with a smile, saying, “Human Immortal, please ride in my carriage.”
The cultivation levels in the Immortal Realm are divided into three tiers: Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Heaven Immortal. Thus, in the Immortal Realm, those who have not yet reached the Human Immortal level are directly referred to as Human Immortals, Earth Immortals, or Heaven Immortals. Of course, those who have reached the Heaven Immortal level and possess certain status or influence also have their own special titles.
Qu Yi smiled slightly and said, “I indeed need a carriage. I want to undergo a test to confirm my Human Immortal cultivation level. Please take me there.”

In the cultivation world, Qu Yi absorbed the souls of ten beings from higher realms through the life core of the Soul-Grabbing Flower, and thus learned somewhat about the Immortal Realm. In the Immortal Realm, the most basic requirement is that every cultivator at or above the Human Immortal level must possess an identity card, which is essential for traveling there.

Since Qu Yi had only just reached the Human Immortal level, it was not appropriate for him to arrest people and interrogate them in Hai Lan City. Therefore, he did not know where to have his strength assessed or obtain an identity card, nor did he know its name, so he had no choice but to ask the coachman to take him there.

Upon hearing this, the coachman’s eyes lit up as he smiled and said, “Human Immortal, the Fire Glow Merchant Alliance is in the West District, quite far from here—it will take a day to get there, and the cost will be higher. Ten Origin Stones in total. Human Immortal, are you willing?”

In the Immortal Realm, transactions are based on Origin Stones, something Qu Yi also learned from the souls of those ten beings from higher realms.

Ten Origin Stones were extremely difficult to gather in the cultivation world. However, in the Immortal Realm, where spiritual energy was extremely dense—almost as if it were composed of Origin Energy—mines here contained not only ordinary spiritual stones but also a large amount of Origin Stones.

Fortunately, Qu Yi had obtained a great deal of Origin Stones while in the Vast Heaven Immortal Mansion, and he also found many in the space rings of those ten beings from higher realms. So, upon hearing the coachman’s price, he simply smiled.

“Agreed. Let’s go,” Qu Yi said softly before stepping onto the carriage.

Hearing that Qu Yi was so easy to deal with, the coachman immediately climbed onto the Dragon Horse, patted its neck, and urged it to run fast.

The Dragon Horse, with a trace of dragon blood in its body, was robust, tall, powerful, and had excellent endurance.

Qu Yi leaned against the backrest and pretended to fall asleep, while his Immortal Awareness continued to communicate with the Artifact God.

His soul had already reached the Human Immortal realm, so his soul’s sensing ability was now called Immortal Awareness.

“Artifact God, what information have you uncovered?” Qu Yi asked.

Now that Qu Yi’s soul had reached the Human Immortal level, the soul sensing ability of his Artifact God, that is, the strength of his Immortal Awareness, had reached the Earth Immortal level. This was different from the cultivation world, where the strength of the Artifact God’s Immortal Awareness could only increase by one level as Qu Yi’s soul realm advanced.

Nevertheless, even with the Earth Immortal level of Immortal Awareness, the Artifact God could cover the entire Hai Lan City.

“Qu Yi, this city is called Hailan City, and the planet is named Zhuyan Star. On Zhuyan Star, there are three cultivation factions: the weapon-making sect Tongzhou Hall, the pill-making sect Chendan Pavilion, and the largest faction, the cultivation family Zhu Family,” replied the God of Weapons indifferently.
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi immediately ordered his five avatars inside the Dimensional Sphere to open the Celestial Realm Star Map.
Indeed, Qu Yi’s five avatars had been cultivating inside the Dimensional Sphere, while Qu Yi himself handled external activities.
Soon, the five avatars used the Celestial Realm Star Map to locate Zhuyan Star.
Zhuyan Star belonged to the Ruixia Galaxy, which in turn was part of the Huoxia Star Region. The entire Celestial Realm consisted of five star regions: the Jinxuan Star Region, the Mufeng Star Region, the Shuihu Star Region, the Huoxia Star Region, and the Tugui Star Region.
After finding Zhuyan Star’s location, a glint appeared in Qu Yi’s eyes, as he remembered that Emperor Hao had once belonged to the forces in the Huoxia Star Region during his time in the Celestial Realm. Moreover, Huang Xu, the person whom Emperor Hao wanted Qu Yi to avenge, was the ruler of Huoxia Star.
“Heh, so the place where I ascended to the Celestial Realm is actually where Emperor Hao once ruled. Good, then I’ll settle down on Zhuyan Star and look for an opportunity to go to Huoxia Star later,” Qu Yi thought to himself.
Each of the five star regions in the Celestial Realm had a core planet, which served as the center of power for the five major factions there.
In the Huoxia Star Region, the core planet was Huoxia Star, the highest place for cultivating fire-based cultivation techniques. And Huang Xu, the ruler of Huoxia Star, was the leader of one of the five major factions in the Celestial Realm—the Fire Alliance.
Of course, Qu Yi knew these basic details about the Celestial Realm because the life core of the Soul-Seeking Flower had absorbed ten beings from the upper realm and retrieved this information from the souls of four beings from the Celestial Realm: Zong Xi, Feng Qu, Yan Xuan, and Qiu Rui.
At this point, Qu Yi decided on his next steps.
……
A day passed.
Finally, the coachman drove the carriage to a massive building over a hundred meters tall. The building emitted strong array fluctuations; it was estimated that even powerful Earthly Immortals would not be able to break through its defensive arrays.
Huoxia Merchant Alliance.
Among the five major factions in the Celestial Realm— the Gold Alliance, the Wood Alliance, the Water Alliance, the Fire Alliance, and the Earth Alliance—each had its own merchant alliance, handling various transactions, auctions, task assignments, and more. The Huoxia Merchant Alliance, under the Fire Alliance, had outposts on every planet in the Huoxia Star Region.
Now, Qu Yi had arrived at the location of the Huoxia Merchant Alliance in Hailan City, Zhuyan Star.

The Huoxia Merchant Alliance in Hailan City, in addition to material trading, pill selling, auctions, and task distribution, handles one additional function: assessing the cultivation level of cultivators and issuing identity cards. Besides recording a cultivator’s identity information, the identity card also serves as a wealth card, allowing a cultivator to store their wealth on it and use it directly for transactions. Thus, cultivators in the Immortal Realm cannot go anywhere without an identity card. Qu Yi came to have his cultivation level assessed precisely to obtain his own identity card. “Human Immortal, the Huoxia Merchant Alliance has arrived,” the stable boy said respectfully as he dismounted from his horse. Qu Yi nodded, handed over ten Burning Fire Stones to send the stable boy away, and then observed the Huoxia Merchant Alliance for a while. After a while, instead of entering the Huoxia Merchant Alliance, Qu Yi walked along the street and found an inn to stay at for the night. Only after entering the inn room did Qu Yi feel at ease. Inside the room, there was a special secret barrier array that could prevent external cultivators from using their immortal senses to detect activities inside the room—a standard practice in inns of the Immortal Realm to ensure guests could stay safely. “Fire Lord, come out,” Qu Yi’s true self said with a smile as he entered the room. Soon, one of Qu Yi’s avatars, Fire Lord, emerged from the Dimensional Sphere. “True self!” Fire Lord stood upright and replied in a calm tone. Qu Yi’s true self smiled and then said, “Fire Lord, tomorrow you will enter the Huoxia Merchant Alliance to have your cultivation level assessed and obtain an identity card.” It turned out that Qu Yi did not enter the Huoxia Merchant Alliance immediately because even if his true self entered, it would be impossible for them to assess his cultivation level, as Chaos Energy was unknown to those in the Immortal Realm, and the Huoxia Merchant Alliance could not detect it. Therefore, to avoid drawing attention, Qu Yi had to first go to an inn and let Fire Lord represent him in entering the Huoxia Merchant Alliance to have his cultivation level assessed. “Understood!” Fire Lord replied promptly.