Chapter 5: Zhenan Tian

The Purple Volcano Range stretched for tens of thousands of miles, located in the central region of the Zhenyan Continent. Within these mountains, some peaks naturally contained Purple Flaming Sky Fire Caves, which continuously emitted celestial fire—perfect for refining artifacts. The Purple Flaming Sky Fire was a true fire that only those at the Human Immortal level could possess.

The founder of Tongzhou Hall once traveled to the Zhenyan Continent, discovered the Purple Volcano Range, and found all the Purple Flaming Sky Fire Caves. Sensing their potential, he claimed the range for himself and established Tongzhou Hall.

At this moment, Huozun, Xiao Qiang, and twenty-three others arrived above the Purple Volcano Range aboard a Starship.

“Everyone, we’ve arrived at the Purple Volcano Range. Let’s head to the Newcomer Peak first to wait for our assignments,” Xiao Qiang said smiling as he stood up inside the Starship.

These newcomers, recruited by Tongzhou Hall, would now have to choose among various artifact-refining peaks. All twenty newcomers stood up and looked down at the Purple Volcano Range from the Starship. The rugged, winding mountains resembled clusters of flames, covered in numerous purple trees, giving the entire range the appearance of a purple fire serpent.

The newcomers exclaimed in awe, their faces filled with excitement, while Huozun simply watched calmly, continuing to converse with the Artifact God.

“Artifact God, you know everything about the situation here in the Purple Volcano Range, right?” Huozun asked urgently.

With the Artifact God’s awareness at the level of a Earth Immortal, it was sufficient to cover the entire range spanning tens of thousands of miles. Moreover, in this range, as a Human Immortal, Huozun dared not spread his own awareness—doing so would be tantamount to challenging Tongzhou Hall’s authority, and he would surely be targeted and killed by its powerful members.

The Artifact God’s awareness was unique; when it was dispersed, even the Earth Immortals in the Immortal Realm could not detect it.

“Tongzhou Hall isn’t bad. It has eighteen artifact-refining peaks, each led by an Soul Immortal. There’s also one Earth Soul Immortal, who is the head of Tongzhou Hall. Huozun, you can practice freely here,” the Artifact God replied indifferently.

Hearing this, Huozun was surprised. As one of the three major forces on Zhu Yan Star, Tongzhou Hall only had eighteen Soul Immortals and just one Earth Immortal—it was hard to believe.

“Artifact God, are you sure? How is it possible that Tongzhou Hall has only eighteen Soul Immortals?” Huozun asked urgently again.

It seemed as if he had known all along that Fire Lord would ask further questions. Upon hearing this, the God of Tools chuckled and then replied, “Fire Lord, although the Immortal Realm is divided into only three cultivation levels—Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Heaven Immortal—these three levels can actually be further subdivided. For Human Immortals, those who comprehend the primal forces are known as Human Soul Immortals. Each type of primal energy has six such primal forces, so based on the number of primal forces they comprehend, they are classified as One-Star, Two-Star, Three-Star, Four-Star, Five-Star, and Six-Star Human Soul Immortals. Those who comprehend the mysteries of the primal energies are called Human Spirit Immortals. Each type of primal energy has three such mysteries, so Human Spirit Immortals can be further divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper ranks.” All of this information was overheard by the God of Tools in Sea Blue City, and now he revealed it entirely to Fire Lord. After listening, Fire Lord was stunned for a while before gaining a comprehensive understanding of the strength and cultivation levels of Human Immortals. He no longer thought, as before, that Human Immortals were merely divided into Human Soul Immortals and Human Spirit Immortals; there were actually such detailed distinctions. “God of Tools, what kind of Human Spirit Immortal is Xiao Qiang?” Fire Lord asked with interest. Fire Lord had a favorable impression of this Xiao Qiang, so he paid some attention to him. “A Lower-ranked Human Spirit Immortal who has comprehended the Ascension Mystery. His strength is decent. Heh, I might as well tell you that Zhu Bao is also a Lower-ranked Human Spirit Immortal, practicing water-based cultivation techniques. Moreover, the eighteen leaders of the Tongzhou Hall’s Weapon Forging Peaks are all Upper-ranked Human Spirit Immortals, all practicing fire-based cultivation techniques,” the God of Tools said with enthusiasm. After hearing this, Fire Lord finally understood the strength of the Tongzhou Hall and felt reassured. While the two were secretly exchanging information, Starship Zhou had already brought twenty-three people to a mountain peak named Zhongxiu Mountain. The peak was filled with towering ancient trees and a pleasant fragrance, along with hundreds of large pavilions. Starship Zhou landed in the middle of the peak and entered the Initial Enlightenment Pavilion. “You twenty people, wait inside the Initial Enlightenment Pavilion. I’ll go report to the Internal Affairs Peak,” Xiao Qiang said, signaling Fire Lord and the others to leave Starship Zhou, then smiling. Fire Lord and the others obediently left Starship Zhou and entered the Initial Enlightenment Pavilion, standing in two rows solemnly. Xiao Qiang then controlled Starship Zhou to head to the Internal Affairs Peak. … “I’m here, ha…” Just as Fire Lord and the twenty newcomers had been in the Initial Enlightenment Pavilion for a short time, a thunderous voice echoed from above the Newcomers Peak. Soon after, a chubby man with a red face floated in, his wide robes fluttering. Fire Lord and the others naturally stared in surprise at this fat man, but sensing that he was already at the level of a Human Spirit Immortal, none of them dared to question him. They all stood respectfully, feeling uneasy.

The fat man glanced at everyone, his eyes suddenly stopping on Huo Zun. A smile appeared on his tense face again. “Very good, you… yes, you. You don’t need to wait—come with me straight to Fire Peak,” the fat man shouted loudly, his voice nearly piercing the eardrums of the twenty Immortal Humans. Huo Zun, seeing the fat man pointing at him, was surprised for a moment before calmly looking at him. “I’m sorry, Senior Xiao Qiang hasn’t returned yet. I dare not leave without permission,” Huo Zun said with a faint smile. Huh! The fat man stared at Huo Zun, unexpecting him to refuse. He clenched his fists as if ready to strike Huo Zun. “That kid Xiao Qiang must have gone to inform Fire Seizing Peak. What a slick guy—he dares to snatch outstanding newcomers for his own Refining Peak first. Luckily, I was prepared and sent someone to the Newcomer Peak. As soon as you came, I knew. I’ll come in person to snatch you and bring you to my Absolute Fire Peak!” the fat man yelled again. It turned out that this fat man was the master of Absolute Fire Peak—Zhen Nantian, a high-ranking Soul Immortal. In the past, the newcomers he acquired had little potential and were always mocked by other peak masters. So this time, he was more cunning and sent a disciple from Absolute Fire Peak to stay at the Newcomer Peak long-term, to inform him immediately whenever newcomers arrived. This time, Zhen Nantian arrived first. Moreover, he instantly recognized Huo Zun’s immense potential—the best among these twenty newcomers—and wanted to claim him for himself. After shouting loudly, Zhen Nantian relaxed his fist and curled his palm, causing Huo Zun’s body to involuntarily move toward him. “Haha, from now on, you belong to my Absolute Fire Peak!” Zhen Nantian exclaimed joyfully. Huo Zun’s expression tightened. Being forcibly pulled over by Zhen Nantian ignited anger in his heart. Whoosh! Suddenly, the Rising Fire Sword appeared in Huo Zun’s hand. With a slash, he aimed at Zhen Nantian’s right hand, trying to cut off the hand that had just activated its domain. “Haha, kid, you’ve got a stubborn personality,” Zhen Nantian said, surprised but smiling. The Rising Fire Sword was a lower-grade Immortal Weapon. Driven by the energy of fire essence, it unleashed its internal ascension magic. A fire serpent suddenly leaped out, and soon the entire space was enveloped by the energy of fire essence. The power of fire surged toward Zhen Nantian. Magic was a step beyond domains, allowing the two types of essence energies within a domain to be instantly switched, offering much greater flexibility.

The Ascending Faoluo is the realm where the force of ascending and the force of soaring converge, transforming into each other and multiplying in power. When the Fire-Sword of Soaring Fire came at him, Zhen Nantian easily tilted his plump body to the side, then flipped his right hand—immediately causing the flying fire serpent to screech and collapse. It turned out that Zhen Nantian had already used his own Ascending Faoluo of fire to shatter the Ascending Faoluo of the Fire-Sword of Soaring Fire. With just one move, Zhen Nantian defeated the Fire Lord’s attack and even seized the Fire-Sword of Soaring Fire with his right hand. “Haha, kid, though you’ve offended me, I’m usually magnanimous and won’t hold it against you. That sword of yours is only at the level of a lower-tier Soul Immortal—useless against me, a higher-tier Soul Immortal,” Zhen Nantian said, laughing as he fiddled with the Fire-Sword of Soaring Fire. Hearing this, the Fire Lord’s face remained angry, but he stopped attacking. The gap in strength was simply too vast. Just as Zhen Nantian was gloating, five more people arrived at the Initial Enlightenment Pavilion. Each of them had a cold expression, staring indifferently at the Fire Lord and the twenty other newcomers. “Hmph, Zhen Nantian, don’t think that by arriving first you can snatch away the most promising newcomer. My Fire-Seizing Peak will claim this newcomer, the Fire Lord,” said the middle-aged man with a stern face among the five. This man was Leng Gu, the strongest leader of the Fire-Seizing Peak among the eighteen Crafting Peaks of the Tongzhou Hall. Normally, as a peak leader, Leng Gu shouldn’t have come to the Initial Enlightenment Pavilion to select newcomers, but after hearing Xiao Qiang’s report and sensing that Zhen Nantian, another peak leader, had personally come to claim the Fire Lord, he felt compelled to show up himself. After all, sending an ordinary disciple to compete for the Fire Lord would surely result in failure against Zhen Nantian. Hearing Leng Gu’s words, Zhen Nantian’s face turned awkward as he shouted, “Leng Gu, since I’ve already taken a liking to this Fire Lord, and my Absolute Fire Peak was the first to arrive here, I naturally have the right to choose first.” At this point, Zhen Nantian, whose strength was inferior to Leng Gu’s, came up with a reason he hardly believed himself and started acting stubbornly. The four others who came with Leng Gu, also peak leaders, burst into laughter upon hearing Zhen Nantian’s words and stared at him with strange looks. Zhen Nantian’s face turned red. “How about this, Zhen Nantian? Let’s skip the arguing. We’ll leave the decision to the Fire Lord himself,” Leng Gu said with a calm smile. These people were all peak leaders; arguing was fine, but fighting would be absolutely unacceptable—it would destroy their brotherhood and make the newcomers look down on them.

Upon hearing this, Zhen Nantian cursed Leng Gu in his heart. He had just taken the Sword of the Fire Lord and even pulled him over to his side—Leng Gu must have noticed all of this, which is why he came up with this plan. By giving the choice to the Fire Lord, Zhen Nantian assumed that the Fire Lord would definitely not choose him. At that moment, the six peak masters all stared at Qu Yi. The Fire Lord smiled faintly, then pointed at Zhen Nantian and said, “Fatty, I’m joining the Absolute Fire Peak.”