Inside the Eight Scenery Palace, the Three Pure Saints sat together, looking at one another.
Yuanshi stared at Laozi's profile and softly asked.
"Eldest Brother is so easygoing. Why is Li Yuan, this junior martial nephew, so wildly unconventional?"
Tongtian pushed his luck even further.
"Exactly, exactly. With that sort of personality, he ought to join our Interception Sect. Eldest Brother, I say we might as well let Li Yuan... stay in the Humanity Sect. That would be fine."
He had originally been speaking with great excitement.
He had even been thinking of bringing Li Yuan into the Interception Sect as a personal disciple.
With such foresight, why would the Interception Sect ever worry about prospering?
That was until Tongtian saw Laozi's sharp gaze.
His voice gradually weakened.
Their years of brotherhood made Tongtian fully aware.
That look meant his eldest brother was about to hit someone.
Laozi lowered his eyes slightly and said softly.
"It was precisely because I valued Li Yuan's unconventional personality that I took him as a disciple."
"Otherwise, with Xuandu's temperament, the Humanity Sect would be far too quiet."
Yuanshi nodded faintly, but Tongtian continued in a low voice.
"The Interception Sect is quite lively. Really."
When Laozi shot him a fierce glare, he wilted as well.
The Three Pure Saints continued focusing their gazes on Li Yuan.
Before long, Ao Guang finished preparing and returned with a beaming smile.
"The preparations are complete. Fellow Daoists, you must protect me."
He had led an army to besiege the Southern Blazing Undying Volcano for a long time.
If the Phoenix Race held no resentment, that would be utterly impossible.
They probably even wanted to kill Ao Guang.
Li Yuan patted his chest and replied with a smile.
"As disciples of Saints, we guarantee it. We guarantee you'll make it out alive, fellow Daoist."
After their repeated assurances, Ao Guang led Li Yuan and the others deep into the Southern Blazing Undying Volcano.
Boom—!!!
They had not walked far when an earth-shaking sound came from behind them.
Ao Guang said with a chuckle.
"I had my three younger brothers lead the army in attacking, to divert attention."
Li Yuan raised a brow. Three younger brothers?
Those had to be Ao Run, Ao Qin, and Ao Shun.
The Dragon Race's four great unlucky fellows lived utterly miserable lives.
As the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, they actually lived less comfortably than great demons.
Ao Guang, Ao Shun, Ao Run, and Ao Qin—the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas. Calling them Dragon Kings was worse than calling them Demon Kings who occupied mountain strongholds. They had always served as pawns in the great calamities. How tragic.
Inside the Jade Void Palace, Yuanshi frowned deeply at the contents of the Diary.
"Hiss... such a fine force as the Dragon Race, how did it develop into this state?"
"Didn't Yellow Dragon join the Exposition Sect? With Yellow Dragon's support, they should have..."
Before he finished speaking, Yuanshi suddenly paused, recalling the earlier contents of the Diary.
Yellow Dragon True Person, Four-Nothing True Man.
It seemed this disciple's treatment within the Exposition Sect was quite ordinary.
Never mind supporting the Dragon Race—even surviving himself seemed rather difficult.
At that thought, Yuanshi felt somewhat guilty again. He shook his head and sighed.
"When the opportunity arises in the future, I should lend the Dragon Race some support as well."
Perhaps even he had not noticed that, without realizing it, his prejudice against those covered in fur and scales, born wet or hatched from eggs, had weakened considerably.
Ao Guang led Li Yuan and the others through the Southern Blazing Undying Volcano.
Before long, everyone felt intense heat.
Li Yuan looked around. Volcanoes stretched endlessly, the ground was covered in web-like cracks flowing with lava, charred pillar forests towered overhead, and ash-covered plains filled the limits of sight.
"Where the hell did you bring me? Is this still the Primordial World?"
The disciples of the Saints all surveyed the surroundings with curious looks.
Ao Guang, who was leading the way, explained with a smile.
"Otherwise, why would First Phoenix need to perish to suppress this place? It is naturally a forbidden land of the Primordial World. And the Sea Eye guarded by First Dragon back then was much the same, completely devoid of life."
Boom—!!!
A scorching blaze suddenly erupted, blocking Li Yuan and the others' path.
Ao Guang's dragon scales radiated dazzling blue light. He waved a hand to condense a curtain of water against it, his throat bobbing.
"This fire... is Southern Blazing Fire!"
Before he finished speaking, the cracks in the ground suddenly widened. A clear, resonant cry rose from the depths of the earth veins, like gold and jade striking together.
Five-colored divine light spread like a peacock's tail, and five rainbows—azure, yellow, crimson, black, and white—bridged all directions.
A young man stood upon flames, his black feathered robes adorned with golden patterns like scattered starlight. Southern Blazing Fire danced at his fingertips.
His brows were tightly furrowed, his eyes filled with undisguised disgust as he stared directly at Ao Guang in the lead.
"The Dragon Race dares to venture so deeply into the Southern Blazing Undying Volcano? You deserve death!"
Ao Guang sighed helplessly, seemingly quite familiar with the young man before him.
"I'm telling you, Kong Xuan, you're only a Mystic Immortal. How do you dare make a move against a Golden Immortal like me?"
"Hurry back and find your father. Or just have Yuanhuang come out."
At those words, Li Yuan's eyes widened, his gaze landing on the handsome young man.
"You're Kong Xuan?"
Kong Xuan crossed his arms, five-colored divine feathers floating behind him. He snorted coldly.
"My name remains unchanged standing or sitting. I am Kong Xuan, direct descendant of the Phoenix Race."
"Who are you people, associating with an old dragon like Ao Guang?"
Before Li Yuan could respond, Ao Guang thrust out his chest and stood proudly.
"Let me tell you, these people are no ordinary figures. They are personal disciples of the Three Pure Saints. Can you afford to provoke them?"
The moment the word Saint was spoken, Kong Xuan clenched his fists tightly.
His father, Yuanhuang, had taught him day after day that he could provoke anyone but Saints.
Anyone connected to Saints was not to be touched either.
"Dignified disciples of Saints, yet you are aiding Ao Guang in attacking us?"
Ao Guang pursed his lips and said impatiently.
"I came to drink with your father. Go home. Hurry home, kid, and tell your father."
Kong Xuan waved a hand, a trace of stubbornness appearing in his eyes.
"Impossible. Do not try to deceive me. I may be young, but I am not foolish."
"The outside is constantly rumbling, and your Dragon Race's assault has only grown fiercer. You came to drink with my father? What a ridiculous excuse!"
Yet in Li Yuan's eyes, that reaction was sufficiently straightforward.
At the same time, Yuanshi in the Jade Void Palace was quite satisfied.
"Worthy of becoming the number one beneath the Saints in the future. Even in his youth, he already displays such admirable youthful spirit!"
Li Yuan then spoke with a cheerful smile.
"Rest assured, fellow Daoist. We truly came to drink with Senior Yuanhuang."
"This Daoist can guarantee it with his status as a disciple of a Saint. There is absolutely good news."
"Moreover, only Ao Guang has come to the Southern Blazing Undying Volcano. Why would the Phoenix Race fear one dragon?"
Kong Xuan considered it briefly and felt that it made sense, though he still snorted coldly.
"The Phoenix Race naturally does not fear this old dragon Ao Guang, nor does it fear the entire Dragon Race."
"If you truly came merely to drink, remain here for now. I will return shortly."
With that, Kong Xuan vanished. Ao Guang gave a cold laugh.
"This damn kid. If the Phoenix Race doesn't fear the Dragon Race, why haven't they taken the initiative to attack? So stubborn. He's been stubborn since childhood."
Before long, Kong Xuan returned with a middle-aged man. His brows carried hidden sorrow, and he possessed a hint of scholarly refinement as he said with a smile.
"Since you are disciples of Saints, we should naturally receive you with courtesy. Please come inside."
"You invite the disciples of Saints but not this old dragon?"
"Get lost!"
"..."
Before you continue