49: Chapter 49 The Gamble

Gu Yuan had left.

In the main hall, Hun Tiandi still reclined on the main seat; he had only taken two sips of the wine in his hand since Gu Yuan had entered. Void Swallowing Flame transformed back into human form and sat beside him, the black flames at his fingertips flickering slightly slower than usual. Hun Qinger did not leave, the ice crystal lotus flower rotating slowly in her palm, her ice-blue eyes falling on Hun Feng, as if re-evaluating this junior she had watched grow up.

"Feng'er," Hun Tiandi put down his wine glass. The laziness and casualness were gone from his voice, replaced by a very flat tone, but Hun Feng could hear that this flatness was deliberately suppressed. "The things you said just now—the Great Thousand World, Source Qi, the notes of the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor—are they truly real or false?"

Hun Feng straightened his cuffs and met Hun Tiandi's eyes, which were as deep as the void: "True."

"Are the notes truly in the Scripture Pavilion?"

"The notes are fake, but whether the content is true or false, the Clan Head and Lord Void should be able to judge for themselves." Hun Feng said this without changing his expression.

Hun Tiandi was not angry; he merely raised his eyebrows slightly. The black flames at Void Swallowing Flame's fingertips suddenly flared up a few inches, and a faint smile flashed in his eyes, which were burning with black flames—this kid had more guts than his father, daring to lie to Hun Tiandi to his face.

"The Great Thousand World does indeed exist. I am Void Swallowing Flame, ranked second on the strange fire ranking list, and have survived since the ancient era. Although many memories have long been blurred, the four words 'Great Thousand World'—I have never told anyone, not even Hun Tiandi. How did you know about it?" Void Swallowing Flame's voice was as low as flames scorching bones.

"I guessed it," Hun Feng said frankly. "Tuoshe Ancient Emperor's disappearance was too clean. With his strength at the Emperor Realm, there is no power on this continent that could make him fall silently. Since it wasn't a fall, it must be a departure. And what could make him leave must be a plane wider than the Fighting Qi Continent. When I was browsing ancient books in the Scripture Pavilion, I found a few vague records, and piecing them together allowed me to deduce the existence of the Great Thousand World. As for Source Qi—since the Emperor Realm powerhouses of the ancient era all needed some common foundation to be born, and this foundation dried up after the ancient era, it must not be Fighting Qi itself, but a type of energy higher than Fighting Qi. I combined these two inferences, and the rest is logical deduction."

This speech was airtight, covering up all the information he knew from the original work with the word "inference."

Hun Tiandi was silent for a long time. Void Swallowing Flame did not pursue the question either. It was Hun Qinger who suddenly spoke, her voice as cold as usual, but with a trace of faint curiosity: "How much power is needed to break the plane barrier?"

"Complete Fighting Emperor power," Hun Feng said. "So I must first become an Emperor before I can usher in Source Qi. And before Source Qi arrives, any speculation about the Great Thousand World is just speculation. This is also why I must gather enough God-Grade Bloodline—without the fragments of the Emperor's origin contained in these bloodlines, I alone cannot break through the shackles of heaven and earth."

Hun Tiandi slowly stood up from the main seat. He walked to the entrance of the main hall with his hands behind his back, looking at the forever gray void outside the hall, and remained silent for a long time. Void Swallowing Flame looked at his back without speaking. Hun Qinger did not speak either. They were all waiting—waiting for Hun Tiandi to make a decision that might change the direction of the Hun Clan for a thousand years.

"Feng'er," Hun Tiandi finally turned around. The eternal half-smile on his face had disappeared at some unknown time, replaced by a seriousness that Hun Feng had never seen before. "If you are really sure you can walk this path—the Hun Clan, the Hall of Souls, including those four in the Elder Hall, all resources are at your disposal. I originally had other plans, but since there is a better path, why not take a gamble."

Hun Feng felt a shock in his heart. Others didn't know what Hun Tiandi meant by "other plans," but he knew too well—in the original work, in order to break through to the Emperor Realm, Hun Tiandi spared no effort to blood sacrifice the entire Hun Clan, using the souls and bloodlines of thousands of clansmen as a guide to forcibly condense the Emperor's status. That was the root of the Hun Clan's destruction, and also the starting point of Hun Tiandi's final path to doom. But now, he personally said he gave up that path.

"Thank you, Clan Head," Hun Feng bowed slightly.

"No need to thank me. I am not doing this for you, but for the Hun Clan." Hun Tiandi waved his hand and leaned back into his chair, the half-smile on his lips reappearing. "Tell me, what do you need next."

"Strange fire," Hun Feng said without hesitation. "I currently have Purification Lotus Demon Flame, Sea Heart Flame, and Void Devouring Flame Sub-flame. But to quickly improve my strength, these three are not enough. The core of the Burning Technique is to feed on strange fire; the more strange fire swallowed, the higher the ranking, the faster the cultivation speed. In the Demon Flame Space, my cultivation jumped directly from the peak of the three-star to the early stage of the six-star, relying on refining the origin of the Purification Lotus Demon Flame. If I can subdue a few more higher-ranked strange fires, I am confident that I can step into the eight-star or even nine-star within a few years."

"Among the top ten on the strange fire ranking list, except for those already refined, most of the others are missing," Void Swallowing Flame suddenly spoke. "I am ranked second, and Purification Lotus Demon Flame is ranked third. The number one, Emperor Flame, has long since disappeared with Tuoshe Ancient Emperor. The fourth-ranked Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame is in Gu Xun'er's body—you have already detained her. The fifth-ranked Living Spirit Flame is in the hands of the Medicine Clan, the sixth-ranked Eight Desolation Destruction Flame is in the depths of the Ancient Ruins, the seventh-ranked Nine Nether Golden Ancestor Flame is related to the Nine Serenities Deep Ground Python Clan, the eighth-ranked Red Lotus Karma Fire is in the Yan Clan, the ninth-ranked Mysterious Yellow Flame is missing, and the tenth-ranked Netherworld Poison Flame is said to have some resonance with the Calamity Poison Body."

"We can talk to the Medicine Clan first. Although the Living Spirit Flame is in the hands of the Medicine Clan, no one in the Medicine Clan can truly refine it; they only seal it in the clan's forbidden area as an auxiliary fire source for alchemy. Give Yao Wangui a condition he cannot refuse, and he may not be unwilling to exchange it. The Yan Clan's Red Lotus Karma Fire can also be discussed—Yan Jin owes us a favor. If the Hun Clan hadn't held back in the battle of the Northern Region Corridor, the Yan Clan's elite would have suffered at least half losses. These two strange fires are the most likely to be obtained in the short term." Hun Tiandi pondered for a moment. "Let Soul Yuan Tian lead a team to explore the Eight Desolation Destruction Flame in the Ancient Ruins, and let Yao Ming investigate the Nine Nether Golden Ancestor Flame. As for the Mysterious Yellow Flame and the Netherworld Poison Flame—let the secret lines of the Hall of Souls continue to search; do not let any clues slip by."

"No need to look for the Netherworld Poison Flame," Hun Qinger suddenly spoke, her ice-blue eyes looking faintly at Hun Feng. "It appeared once when the Calamity Poison Body awakened. It has had no trace since, but the Calamity Poison Body can sense its location. The white-haired girl by your side might be the key to finding it."

Hun Feng nodded and kept this information in his heart. Xiao Yi Xian—it was her again. Her Calamity Poison Body was not only the carrier of the poison origin but might also be the key to finding the Netherworld Poison Flame. The secrets on this woman were more than he had expected.

Meanwhile, in the Soul Realm East Courtyard.

Gu Xun'er sat alone on the stone steps of the side courtyard. Gu Yuan did not take her away when he left—not that he didn't want to take her, but he couldn't. Hun Feng's conditions were already very clear: the marriage contract could be postponed, but the person had to stay. Her father looked back at her before leaving. There was heartache and helplessness in that look, but more of the silent trust she had been familiar with since childhood. Her father believed she could handle her own affairs, just as she believed she could hold onto her own bottom line.

But what exactly was her bottom line? She had always thought that she would only marry Brother Xiao Yan in this life, from Wutan City to the Ancient World, from childhood sweethearts to fighting side by side, this feeling had never wavered. But now someone told her that her bloodline was the key to the Emperor Realm, her marriage was a grand plan that would benefit the entire Ancient Clan, and her choice would directly affect the fate of the Ancient Clan for thousands of years to come. She had never feared any strong enemy, but in the face of such high-sounding grand plans, she found that she couldn't find a reason to excuse herself purely.

Xiao Yi Xian walked out of the room, her white hair gently brushed by the evening breeze. She sat down beside Xun'er without speaking, just placing a newly sprouted poisonous grass seedling on the stone steps, and bowed her head to gently fiddle with the tender green leaves with her fingertips.

"Are the conditions you mentioned in the hall today serious?" Xun'er asked suddenly.

"Which one?" Xiao Yi Xian did not look up.

"You want him not to touch you until the Emperor Realm is condensed. Do you really believe he can become an Emperor, or are you just stalling for time?"

Xiao Yi Xian was silent for a moment, then carefully picked up the poisonous grass seedling and placed it on her lap, gently pressing the soil at the roots with her fingertips, her movements calm and focused. After doing all this, she raised her head, her cold eyes exceptionally calm in the night: "Whether I believe it or not is not important. What is important is—not a single word he said so far is false. Xiao Yan also once told me he could help me control the Calamity Poison Body. He did it. Hun Feng said my constitution is not a curse but a legacy. Xiao Yan never said this, and no one else ever said it either. Just for this sentence, I am willing to stay and see."

"To see if he can really become an Emperor?" Xun'er asked.

"To see if he really is as he said—he won't treat anyone around him badly." Xiao Yi Xian paused, then whispered, "Xiao Yan is very kind to me, but he has always only treated me as a friend. Hun Feng is different; he really needs me—not because he needs me to help him fight, but because he needs me as a person. This feeling is very strange, but for me, it is very important."

Xun'er did not speak again. She looked at the gray void outside the courtyard, suddenly thinking of Brother Xiao Yan—what is he doing now? Is he still practicing hard on the back mountain? Is he still working day and night for the Sky Mansion Alliance? She is not by his side, who will make fresh tea for him? Who will leave a lamp on his desk? She wanted to go back, but reality told her—she couldn't go back. Not because Hun Feng wouldn't let her go, but because she promised to stay in the hall today. Not for Hun Feng, but for the Ancient Clan, for her father, and for the Emperor path he spoke of. If what he said is all true, if the Fighting Qi Continent really needs someone to break the plane barrier, if the Ancient Clan can really go up another level in this great change of heaven and earth—then her life might no longer be just Gu Xun'er beside Brother Xiao Yan, but the first God-Grade Bloodline in the history of the Ancient Clan to witness the birth of a Fighting Emperor with her own eyes.

The weight of this thought made her both fearful and faintly expectant. She dared not think deeply, but she knew that her determination was no longer as pure as when she came.