Three days later.
In the festive and red-themed Lei Realm, Lei Dong and Gu Xun'er's Engagement Ceremony was held as scheduled.
Upon seeing this, Huo Xuan was dumbfounded. Even though he knew he had been cheated on, he still refused to give up.
It seems Lei Dong hasn't completely given up on Gu Xun'er. For her Gu Xun'er, he's actually willingly taken the blame...
Gu Xun'er is a menace; it seems they'll be in for a world of hurt...
The Yan World.
Huo Xuan's residence.
After returning from the Lei Realm that day, Huo Xuan locked himself in his room. Since the Lei Clan hadn't broken ties with the Gu Clan, he needed to rethink his plans.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
A knock on the door interrupted Huo Xuan's thoughts.
"Xuan Er, are you up?" A gentle voice entered the room.
"Mother, you've come."
Huo Xuan opened the door, and standing outside was a middle-aged woman, who was Huo Xuan's mother.
"Mother, what brings you here today?"
"My child, ever since you returned from the Lei Realm with the clan leader, you've locked yourself in your room every day. Is it wrong for a mother to worry about her child?"
"Mother, I know you're just concerned about me, but what could possibly be wrong with your son?" Huo Xuan asked.
"Sigh, Xuan Er, it's because of this that I feel there's something wrong with you..." Huo Xi said helplessly.
She was truly at her wits' end with her son. From a young age, her son's personality was not only precocious but also had many flaws. Of course, this was only from her and Huo Zhen's perspective.
When Huo Xuan was four to six years old, he was very cold to his parents. Although he would occasionally call them "father" and "mother," they could hear the indifference in Huo Xuan tone. At that time, they even felt that Huo Xuan was not their son.
Fortunately, after Huo Xuan turned six, he began to take the initiative to get close to them, and that's when the couple truly felt that Huo Xuan was their son.
But later, as Huo Xuan grew up, it was unclear who he inherited his personality from. Huo Xuan's personality began to become extremely cruel. She knew all the good deeds her son had done: the Xiao Clan was wiped out, all the sects, big and small, in the Black-Corner Region of the Northwest Continent were massacred in one night, and the Strange Fire of the Burning Flame Valley was stolen. All such things were done by her son.
So when she saw Huo Xuan staying indoors all day, locking herself in her room, she became afraid. She feared that Huo Xuan was planning something dangerous again...
"Xuan Er, these words may not make you feel good, but I still have to say it: stop now, don't do those dangerous things anymore..."
"I understand, Mother. I'm sorry to have worried you. Don't worry, I will try my best not to do it in the future."
"Also, the clan chief wants to see you; he has something to discuss with you."
Council Hall.
"Chieftain, you wanted to see me?"
Upon entering the Council Hall, Huo Xuan noticed Yan Jin, who was seated in the main seat, revealing a rare smile.
"Clan leader, has something good happened?" Huo Xuan asked.
"That guy Lei Ying just sent me a message. He said that he will not join forces with the Gu Clan to cause trouble for us in the future. He also said that in the near future, his Lei Clan may be willing to form an alliance with our Flame Clan."
"The Lei Clan is willing to form an alliance with our Flame Clan again?" Upon hearing this news, Huo Xuan was initially incredulous. How could the Lei Clan's attitude change so quickly?
However, Huo Xuan quickly understood the whole story. The change in the Lei Clan's attitude must be because the Lei Clan had learned about the matter between Gu Xun'er and Xiao Yan.
Like the Lei Clan, the Flame Clan members are all short-tempered. Who could tolerate being cuckolded for no reason? No normal person could stand it.
"Huo Xuan, do you think we should accept the Lei Clan's alliance again?" Yan Jin asked.
"Chieftain, in my opinion, we should not accept them easily in the future. After all, they have not clearly stated that they will sever their alliance with the Gu Clan. Everything is still unknown in the future, so we cannot accept them easily."
There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.
The Gu Clan was stronger than the Flame Clan, so it was understandable that the Lei Clan abandoned the Flame Clan and chose the Gu Clan instead. After all, birds choose their trees carefully, and forming an alliance with the Gu Clan was certainly better than with the Flame Clan...
Did he hate the Lei Clan? No, he didn't hate them at all, because that's just how the world is; only the strong are respected, and that's the law of this world...
That being said, Huo Xuan also had his own views on the Lei Clan. He had always longed to unify the continent, and in his eyes, the other Ancient Eight Clans were naturally stumbling blocks on the road to unification.
Logically, he should eliminate them one by one in the future, but he is not a butcher. In his heart, his enemies have always been the Hun Clan and the Gu Clan. The Hun Clan and the Gu Clan are the families he most wants to eliminate. As for the Lei Clan, as long as they don't get in his way, he won't take action against them.
Back when the Flame Clan and the Gu Clan fought their first great war, Huo Xuan had the idea of creating a Nine Star Dou Sheng to deal with Gu Yuan, and his experimental target was Lei Ying, the patriarch of the Lei Clan.
Huo Xuan was 100% confident in helping Lei Ying reach the level of Nine Star Dou Sheng. Like Yan Jin, Lei Ying's strength had stagnated at the late stage of the Eight Star Dou Sheng for a long time. If Lei Ying relied solely on himself, a breakthrough might be a distant dream, but with external help, things would be different...
In the original novel, there is a powerful Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning in the Void Lightning Pool of Ancient Dragon Island. If Lei Ying had successfully refined this Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning, he would have definitely broken through to the Nine Star Dou Sheng. However, later, when the Gu Clan and the Flame Clan went to war, the Lei Clan's actions greatly disappointed him, so he chose to give up the idea of helping Lei Ying reach the Nine Star Dou Sheng.
Huo Xuan no longer has any designs on the Lei Clan. As long as they don't interfere with him, he won't cause Lei Clan any trouble. But if they do interfere with him, he doesn't mind having another target to destroy in the future.
"Alright, regarding the Lei Clan alliance, we'll go with your opinion."
"By the way, clan leader, I wonder if our Flame Clan is still lacking in inheriting Strange Fire?" Huo Xuan suddenly asked.
"Strange Fire? Of course, we don't lack it now!"
The Flame Clan of today is no longer the same as it once was. The Flame Clan once only possessed five Strange Fire, but thanks to Huo Xuan's search, the Flame Clan gained ten Strange Fire. Although most of them are with Huo Xuan, it is undeniable that they are not lacking in Strange Fire.
"Huo Xuan, did you obtain another Strange Fire?" Yan Jin seemed to remember something and asked.
Huo Xuan smiled slightly, flipped his hand, and took out a golden flame, saying, "Clan leader, look what this is?"
"This is... the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame!" At this moment, Yan Jin looked at Huo Xuan with surprise.
He naturally recognized the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame, which ranked Strange Fire on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. However, the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame was a legacy Strange Fire of the Gu Clan. How could Huo Xuan possess it?
Yan Jin's gaze was fixed on the golden flame in Huo Xuan's hand. After a moment, he frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "This Strange Fire is not the real Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame..."
The Flame Clan is skilled in using all kinds of flames, and Yan Jin can be considered an expert in playing with fire.
This so-called Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame does not have a complete origin; it only possesses a trace of origin and can at most be considered a Child Flame!
The Child Flame looks no different from a real Strange Fire, except that it is slightly less powerful. However, if it is properly nurtured, it can soon have the same power as a real Strange Fire.
Child Flame is merely a flame that splits off from the Source Flame. It has a fatal flaw: Child Flame is controlled by the primordial Strange Fire!
"Huo Xuan, did you send this 'Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame' here so I could devour and refine it?" Yan Jin said somewhat displeased.
"Clan leader, I'm not an idiot. Do you really think I'd let you refine this 'Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame'?" Huo Xuan retorted.
How could Huo Xuan not know what the consequences would be after refining this "Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame"?
In the original story, the Hun Clan and the Void Swallowing Flame are excellent examples.
On the surface, Void Swallowing Flame cooperates with the Hun Clan, but it is well aware of the Hun Clan's treacherous nature. Therefore, it has prepared a backup plan. Void Swallowing Flame splits into a large number of Child Flame and gives these Child Flame to many powerful members of the Hun Clan, ostensibly to help them improve their strength. In reality, it secretly places its bloodline mark in the bodies of these powerful members of the Hun Clan. Being marked with the bloodline mark is equivalent to having a time bomb planted in their bodies.
Using this method, Void Swallowing Flame successfully controlled seven or eight tenths of the Hun Clan. After Hun Tiandi became an emperor, he wanted to refine its Source Flame, so it wanted to use these Hun Clan members as hostages to threaten Hun Tiandi.
But Void Swallowing Flame didn't expect was that Hun Tiandi was willing to pay any price to achieve his goal, even if that price was the entire Hun Clan!
Before it could even make a move, the Hun Tiandi directly took action for it, killing all the hostages it was controlling. In the end Void Swallowing Flame could only obediently be refined by the Hun Tiandi.
If Yan Jin or himself were to refine this "Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame," it would be tantamount to planting a time bomb within himself. In future battles against the Gu Clan, the Gu Clan would have one more means to deal with them. Therefore, Huo Xuan would not refine this "Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame," nor would he allow anyone else to refine it.
"In that case, Huo Xuan, you'd better throw away this harmful Strange Fire right away, and don't let me see it again."
"Clan leader, you absolutely mustn't do that! I went to great lengths to snatch this Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame from Gu Xun'er; it's extremely useful."
Upon hearing this, Yan Jin was slightly taken aback, then asked, "What's its use?"
"I want to try to cultivate it into a true Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame."
This Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame is only a small part that split off from the origin. Just like an infant, it is controlled by the origin mother. But as long as it can grow up, as long as it can have enough strength, as long as it can be nurtured into a true Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame, then it can break away from the origin and become a true independent entity.
Huo Xuan did this for another reason: he needed Strange Fire. He needed a complete Emperor Flame in the future. One day he would leave the Dou Qi Continent and go to the Great Thousand World. Without the Emperor Flame, his combat power would be greatly weakened, and he would be in even greater danger in the Great Thousand World.
However, the Dou Qi Continent cannot be without Strange Fire, so Huo Xuan is now trying to leave some powerful Strange Fire for the future Flame Clan.
"Clan leader, although this is just a Source Flame, if we cultivate it carefully, it will last for at most a thousand years. After a thousand years, perhaps our Flame Clan will also be able to possess its own Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame."
Upon hearing this, Yan Jin's heart stirred, and he immediately waved his hand, Huo Xuan of the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame's Source Flame in Huo Xuan's hand to float into his palm.
After hearing Huo Xuan's words, Yan Jin thought about it carefully and wholeheartedly agreed. They could definitely cultivate this Source Flame; all they needed to do was have the elders with life -Fire Attribute Dou Qi channel their Dou Qi into it daily to accelerate its growth. Perhaps, thousands of years later, their Flame Clan would truly possess a Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame ranked fourth. Although it would take a long time, it would benefit the entire Flame Clan, so why not?
"Huo Xuan, Huo Zhi and all the underlings you've taken in are currently in seclusion. Don't you plan to go into seclusion and cultivate like them?" After putting away the Source Flame, Yan Jin suddenly asked.
"Me? Forget it. Clan leader, you know perfectly well that my current cultivation level is built up by absorbing various Strange Fire and pills; the power I've gained through my own cultivation is very little..."
"Power can only be truly reliable if it is cultivated by oneself. Although it is quick to improve one's cultivation by consuming external things such as pills, this method is ultimately a crooked path. Relying on crooked paths will never allow one to reach the true peak."
"Clan leader, I have noticed that the Dou Qi in my body is starting to feel weak. If I continue to frantically increase my strength now, my foundation will definitely become unstable. Therefore, I do not plan to cultivate for the next few years. The most important thing now is to stabilize my cultivation."
"To solidify one's own cultivation?"
After pondering for a while, Yan Jin said, "I do have a method that can help you stabilize your cultivation in a short period of time."