Chapter 18: Departure

Juehuo Peak, Peak Master’s Pavilion.
Zhen Nantian and Huozun sat in a room, having a serious conversation.
“Huozun, what exactly is that Mo Yun Crystal ore? You seemed quite surprised, and you even want to attend the auction,” Zhen Nantian asked concernfully.
Having known Huozun for a long time, Zhen Nantian understood some of his personality traits. There were few things that could surprise him. Since Huozun was interested in the Mo Yun Crystal, it must be very important.
Huozun didn’t intend to hide anything from Zhen Nantian and smiled, saying, “Fat guy, for the Array Pre-setting Method, only Yuan Copper ore is currently available, and it can only improve the efficiency of crafting immortal artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level. This Mo Yun Crystal can replace Yuan Copper ore and boost the efficiency of crafting such artifacts.”
Upon hearing this, Zhen Nantian’s mouth dropped open, unable to speak for a long time.
At present, Juehuo Peak could only ensure the production of immortal artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level. Besides the lack of the necessary array components, another major reason was the absence of a substitute for Yuan Copper ore to use in the Array Pre-setting Method.
Zhen Nantian immediately understood what Huozun meant. Obtaining this Mo Yun Crystal ore would give Juehuo Peak another chance to advance.
“Haha, Huozun, you’re truly amazing! You even know the properties of the Mo Yun Crystal. Could it be that you were born a master craftsman?” Zhen Nantian exclaimed excitedly.
Huozun waved his hand to calm Zhen Nantian’s excitement and said with a smile, “The auction is not until three years from now. There’s no need to get so excited. Besides, Fat Guy, have you never thought about it? The Zhu family and our Tongzhou Hall are both among the three major forces on Zhu Yanxing. Why are they suddenly planning to create so many immortal artifacts? Could it be that the Zhu family is about to undertake something important?”
After hearing this, Zhen Nantian indeed calmed down and sat down to think.
“Huozun, Zhu Li, the ancestor of the Zhu family; Yun Zhouzi, the head of our Tongzhou Hall; and Dan Qiu, the head of the Chendan Pavilion—these are the only three Earth Immortals on Zhu Yanxing. Among them, Zhu Li is the strongest. With the Zhu family’s influence spreading to several other planets, the Zhu family now dominates Zhu Yanxing. However, Zhu Li can’t yet take control of both the head of Tongzhou Hall and the head of Chendan Pavilion, which is why the three factions have maintained their current balance,” Zhen Nantian suddenly said, explaining a bit about the current situation on Zhu Yanxing.

Fire Lord now understood the current strength of the Zhu Family and also grasped why Zhen Nantian spoke as he did. The Zhu Family wanted to craft so many immortal artifacts, surely intending to expand their influence to more planets.
“Fire Lord, I now realize that when the sect leader transmitted his message to us eighteen peak leaders, ordering Juehuo Peak to take on all the tasks of refining immortal artifacts using human souls, it was because he saw your potential. The sect leader placed the future of our Tongzhou Hall in your hands,” Zhen Nantian said with a faint smile.
Fire Lord couldn’t help but sigh bitterly.
Yun Zhouzi, the leader of Tongzhou Hall, must have also sensed this. If things continued as before, Tongzhou Hall would suffer even more at the hands of the Zhu Family, widening the gap between the two factions and ultimately leading to its demise. Therefore, after hearing Zhen Nantian’s bold words, Yun Zhouzi decided to let Juehuo Peak give it a try. If they could truly improve the efficiency of artifact refinement, Tongzhou Hall could accumulate more wealth, enabling its disciples to strengthen rapidly, thus giving them the means to continue competing with the Zhu Family.
“Enough, Fat Guy. Stop burdening me with extra responsibilities. I don’t want to be held back by you. Over the next year, I’ll help you study some formations to elevate Juehuo Peak’s defensive formations to a higher level. After that, I need to make a trip to the Blue Mountain Range,” Fire Lord said with a smile.
The Blue Mountain Range was where the Mo Yun Crystal deposits were located.
Upon hearing this, Zhen Nantian showed a surprised expression and asked in confusion, “Fire Lord, what are you going to the Blue Mountain Range for?”
Fire Lord’s eyes sharpened as he looked at Zhen Nantian skeptically and said loudly, “Fat Guy, you don’t even know this? I’m going to the Firecloud Merchant Alliance’s auction. Of course, I need to check the actual reserves of Mo Yun Crystals in person. I don’t want to be deceived by the Firecloud Merchant Alliance. If I end up buying poor-quality crystals at a high price, I don’t want to be cursed to death by the disciples of Tongzhou Hall.”
Zhen Nantian responded with an awkward “Oh,” looking embarrassed.
“Then go ahead. I won’t stop you,” Zhen Nantian quickly said.
Fire Lord nodded with a smile.
…
After leaving Juehuo Peak, Zhu Bao, Zhu Ding, and Zhu Ping headed straight for the Zhu Family’s headquarters.
After traveling tens of thousands of miles away from the Purple Volcano Range, the three arrived at a snow-capped mountain.
“Zhu Bao, the Mo Yun Crystal deposits in the Blue Mountain Range have been secretly mined by our Zhu Family for years and are now exhausted. What’s your purpose in deliberately telling Fire Lord about this?” Zhu Ding asked calmly.
It turned out that the mention of Mo Yun Crystal deposits by Zhu Bao at Juehuo Peak was intentional, and those deposits had already been mined out by the Zhu Family long ago.

Of course, Social Security didn’t expect it either. The mention of Mo Yun Jing ore by intention actually made Fire Lord think unexpectedly that Mo Yun Jing could replace Yuan Tong and improve the efficiency of refining Human Soul Immortals.
Zhu Bao sneered and said slowly, “That Fire Lord—back in Hai Lan City, I noticed he had great talent, so I tried to recruit him secretly. I never expected him to be so foolish as to join Tong Zhou Tang. Moreover, that Fire Lord was disrespectful to me, so I’ve long had the intention to get rid of him. First, to eliminate a potential rival for my family, and second, to vent my personal anger.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ding and Zhu Ping both laughed.
“Zhu Bao, I understand your plan. You deliberately told Fire Lord about the auction of Mo Yun Jing. He’s likely to go to the Blue Gold Mountain Range to investigate, and then you can ambush him there,” Zhu Ping said with a smile.
Zhu Bao didn’t deny it either, nodding lightly with a smile.
The three of them burst into laughter simultaneously before flying away.
……
Over the course of a year, Fire Lord had been staying at Ting Feng Ju, helping Zhen Nan Tian develop various arrays. Of course, these were all based on the clients’ requirements for refining. With the help of the Artifact God, Fire Lord developed arrays at the level of Human Soul Immortals and inscribed his immortal consciousness into jade slips.
The number of arrays Fire Lord developed in one year exceeded all those created by Jue Huo Peak in the past. This caused a sensation throughout Tong Zhou Tang, leaving all the peak leaders and disciples in awe. They couldn’t understand how a Human Soul Immortal like Fire Lord could possess such strong array creation skills and even create some rare arrays on his own.
Naturally, Zhen Nan Tian was in a state of constant happiness. He had refining tasks every day, Fire Lord took care of the array issues, and he often heard others’ envy—life was truly comfortable.
After helping Zhen Nan Tian for a year, Fire Lord’s task points on his identity card had exceeded 50,000 points. At a rate of 10 points per day of cultivation, Fire Lord could now enter the cultivation space and train for 5,000 days, surely allowing him to reach the peak of a Six-Star Human Soul Immortal.
However, Qu Yi didn’t let Fire Lord enter the cultivation space. Instead, following the original plan, he set off for the Blue Gold Mountain Range.
※※※
At the peak leader’s pavilion of Jue Huo Peak, Fire Lord arrived.
“What? Fire Lord, you really plan to go to the Blue Gold Mountain Range? I disagree!” Zhen Nan Tian’s roar almost shook the entire Jue Huo Peak.
As soon as Fire Lord entered the room, he proposed leaving Jue Huo Peak and heading to the Blue Gold Mountain Range.

Joking aside, this is the happiest time in Zhen Nantian’s life—every day is filled with a sense of achievement, admiration from others, and no worries at all. All of this is thanks to Huo Zun, so how could Zhen Nantian bear to let him leave?

Huo Zun smiled faintly at the nearly frantic Zhen Nantian and said directly, “Fat guy, you’re really too lazy. You just want to dump all the work on me. It’s okay, I’ll be back soon, so you don’t need to worry that I’ll leave you. Also, don’t be too greedy. In the future, get in touch more with other peak leaders, help them craft immortal weapons, and work together to strengthen Tongzhou Hall.”

Now, Juehuo Peak has clearly become the top weapon-forging peak in Tongzhou Hall, which inevitably arouses jealousy from other peaks. Huo Zun helps Tongzhou Hall for his own reasons, so while strengthening its power, he doesn’t want internal conflicts to arise within it.

Zhen Nantian stared at Huo Zun, his eyes shifting between resentment, melancholy, and blame—showing all kinds of emotions.

“Huo Zun, I won’t stop you. In two years, I’ll go to the Huoxia Merchant Alliance in Hailan City personally to help you auction the Moyun Crystal deposits,” Zhen Nantian suddenly called out.

Huo Zun could only nod and then said, “Fat guy, after I leave, you can tell the Hall Master about the Pre-set Formation Method. Let him decide whether to make it public to the entire Tongzhou Hall.”

If Yun Zhouzi is determined to strengthen Tongzhou Hall, he will naturally share the ‘Pre-set Formation Method’ with everyone, then take on more weapon-forging tasks on Zhu Yan Star, and even use the opportunity to visit nearby planets to expand Tongzhou Hall’s influence.

Huo Zun wanted to use this chance to see if Yun Zhouzi truly wants to develop Tongzhou Hall, so he could decide whether to fully support it in the future.

Only when Tongzhou Hall grows stronger can Huo Zun have the chance to enter Huoxia Star as soon as possible, go to Huang Xu’s side, and avenge Emperor Hao.

Upon hearing Huo Zun’s words, Zhen Nantian’s expression turned tense. He relied on the Pre-set Formation Method to enjoy his current happy life, and now Huo Zun wanted him to tell other peak leaders—this would send him back to his old days.

“Huo Zun, could it be delayed a bit? I’d like to use this time to recruit more new disciples to our Juehuo Peak. By then, even if the Pre-set Formation Method is made public, our Juehuo Peak will still be able to rank first among the eighteen weapon-forging peaks,” Zhen Nantian asked earnestly.

Huo Zun shook his head. He wouldn’t delay his plans just to accommodate Zhen Nantian’s wishes.

“Fat guy, listen to me; I’ll repay you in the future,” Huo Zun said soothingly.
Zhen Nan Tian Shu sighed and had no choice but to nod.
Then, Huo Zun took out the Flying Fire Sword and rode off on it.