A Visit

Several days have passed.

The ancient Sacred King of the Sacred Flame Realm lay in a wheelchair.

Eight cloudy compound eyes observed the sanatorium.

This is his new cell.

In the past, he would never have lived in a place like this, not even in death.

However... things are different now.

Although he speaks very tough words to those young people outside, only he knows the truth...

He was just spouting nonsense.

If it were the old him, he would have fought to the death without hesitation.

But now, he's locked up here, putting on a show of defiance, but actually daring not to do anything.

My thoughts drifted back to that battle many years ago.

Actually, it was called a battle... but it only lasted one move.

It was just one move.

An absolute disparity in strength, leaving no room for resistance.

The Sacred King's body trembled involuntarily.

Fear, a deep-seated fear, mercilessly enveloped his mind...

This fear even made him consider taking a step back. Although he had long since left that battlefield, the memory still instilled a tremendous terror in him, and he even felt... his legs go weak...

A steadfast kingly heart, a courageous and persistent Hengxin, and an unwavering confidence crumbled in a single move.

His spine was broken so badly that he could barely clench his fist.

That golden... behemoth that called itself a tiger, with just a glance downwards, easily shattered all his pride, turning him into a trembling maggot.

If a king, a warrior, doesn't even have the courage to stand up, what can he do?

As he was lost in his sorrowful and desperate memories, he failed to notice that two Sacred Flame Tribe were visiting him from below his sanatorium.

It was Li Qi and Shen Shuibi.

Now, the two of them look exactly like Sacred Flame Tribe, perfectly disguised using illusion magic.

The Sacred Flame Tribe is a humanoid race, though not really that much; it's more of a rough classification.

They actually resemble some kind of insect, similar to a large beetle with long, thin limbs.

It always emits a buzzing sound as it flaps its wings. Its long, slender legs support the segmented body of the Sacred Flame Tribe. Its carapace opens and closes, and a pair of pincers protrude from its mouth.

Their hands are not fingers, but two clamps, which are very flexible and have barbs on them, allowing them to easily grasp and pick up objects, and even wield swords and knives.

Yes, this is the weapon of the Sacred Flame Tribe, but it is not a sword in the usual sense.

They are born with a sword, a horn that grows on their foreheads at birth, and is one of the hardest substances in the entire Sacred Flame Realm.

Upon reaching adulthood, this horn falls off and becomes their weapon, thus giving rise to their fighting tradition.

Li Qi is now very familiar with this, because in the past few days he has spent time collecting information on the social structure, physiological characteristics, and history of the Sacred Flame Tribe.

Having learned all this, they began their infiltration operation.

Shen Shuibi used magic to transform the two of them into the appearance of the Sacred Flame Tribe, and then they moved around here.

This was their second day trying to integrate into the Sacred Flame Tribe.

Based on Li Qi's investigations in various places, including consulting books and asking elderly people, he learned a lot of things.

Especially the arrival of the immortals a hundred years ago.

This kind of thing is usually very difficult, but fortunately Li Qi doesn't need to learn the language, so he can easily integrate into the group.

Yes, the common language of the Sacred Flame Tribe is the language of the world, which is similar to ancient Chinese characters.

After a generation or two, the original Sacred Flame Tribe language is no longer spoken here. Therefore, Li Qi speaks fluent and standard Mandarin, which makes the Sacred Flame Tribe think he is very "sophisticated," making communication much smoother.

Speaking of this, we have to mention the origin of their names.

The Sacred Flame Tribe is called the Sacred Flame Tribe because of the existence of the 'Holy Flame'.

Just like the Earth Oil of the Earth Oil Realm, it is considered a specialty of the Sacred Flame Realm. Both the race and this world are named after it.

The Holy Flame is actually the manifestation of the Sacred Flame Tribe's spirit. These beetles have a special talent: they can easily achieve 'resonance'.

This may be due to their evolutionary history. For many years, the Sacred Flame Tribe would gather at specific times and make the same sound with the wings on their backs. This should come from their ancestors' original gregarious nature, possibly gathering for the purpose of reproduction.

Lacking body language, eye contact, and facial expressions, the Sacred Flame Tribe relies almost entirely on sound to express their emotions.

The vocalizations produced by vibrating the vocal organs on their shells and wings are both their language and their expression.

They rely on this for almost all of their emotional expressions.

And sound... can resonate.

Through resonance, they can harmonize their emotions to a level where everyone resonates with each other. This highly resonant spirit leads them to form a unique collective.

This product is generated by the spiritual resonance of the Sacred Flame Tribe. It resembles a dark golden flame, but it actually has no temperature; it is only similar in shape.

Producing a Holy Flame will cause the entire Sacred Flame Tribe to fall into a state of weakness, much like the side effects of euphoria.

The Holy Flame can greatly enhance the mental activity of a Sacred Flame Tribe, allowing them to enter a mysterious state in a short period of time, as if they were merged into the minds of others.

In this state, their reaction speed, learning ability, and 'comprehension' will all be improved.

In Li Qi's words, this thing is an aggregate of 'divine energy'.

It refers to the 'spirit' in the context of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

The Sacred Flame Tribe is born with the ability to gather the divine energy of many people.

This thing is of little use to other Dao Path, but it is a great tonic for the divine path.

Giving it to the Sacred Flame Tribe would be a pure waste; they could only use it as a stimulant. But for the cultivators of the Divine Path, it is a treasure for consolidating their foundation and an excellent building material for constructing their Divine Kingdom.

Therefore, Li Qi judged that the Sacred Flame Realm had high economic value, and this economic value was reflected in the Sacred Flame Tribe itself, rather than in this world.

During this inquiry, Li Qi learned of the existence of the ancient 'Sacred King' of the Sacred Flame Tribe.

So that's why they're in this sanatorium.

He showed the security guard an ID card.

The material is made from the dried roots and stems of local specialty plants, which are then woven together. The Sacred Flame Tribe often uses this as a carrier of information, similar to the function of paper.

"Yes, that's right. We're here to visit the Sacred King. This is our identification. We are historians and want to interview those who experienced the events firsthand." Li Qi skillfully flapped his wings and made a sound.

"History... aren't all historians studying the history of immortals these days? Why would you come here to study this? Can't you get funding?" The security guard looked at Li Qi's ID with suspicion.

The documents are definitely genuine.

Of course, I'm referring to 'truth' in the physical sense.

The Sacred Flame Tribe did not possess anti-piracy technology at the causal level; they still relied on seals and anti-counterfeiting marks.

In the face of Li Qi, True Knowledge Dao Charm, such theft prevention is utterly ineffective.

Moreover, Li Qi discovered that in these worlds beyond the realm, the power of the True Knowledge Dao Charm was terrifyingly strong!

Without the suppression of the Heavenly Dao, Li Qi could easily penetrate many defensive mechanisms, not only in terms of range but also in terms of penetrating power.

However... the functionality hasn't changed much, it's just more detailed and has a wider scope.

Li Qi easily made two identical ID cards based on the other party's anti-theft measures. Apart from being fake, they were indistinguishable from the real ones.

"We need to study them all and cross-reference them. I came here this time to study the twists and turns of the Sacred Flame Tribe's history and to make a broad comparison with the history of the immortals," Li Qi said with a smile.

This direction is more in line with the current situation of the Sacred Flame Tribe.

Upon hearing this, the security guard, a Sacred Flame Tribe, suddenly understood, nodded, and handed over his identification. "So that's how it is. We should make a proper comparison and let those young people who worship the past wake up. Please come in."

Li Qi flapped his wings and made joyful sounds.

This is a 'smiling' expression, only expressed through sound.

Shen Shuibi remained silent, simply following quietly.

Even after becoming a member of the Sacred Flame Tribe, she remained socially awkward and had no social skills, so she simply followed behind.

After retrieving his identification and exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Qi entered the sanatorium.

He looked around; the architectural style didn't seem to belong to the Tang Kingdom.

However, it also has a very obvious architectural style, with various guardian beast carvings and flowers and trees all reflecting the layout of Tianxia architecture.

The erosion is quite severe.

In just one generation, these Sacred Flame Tribe have completely transformed into the world's orthodox Dao Lineage. Their customs, etiquette, values, and even cultivation Cultivation Method and aesthetics have all shifted in the direction of the world.

"It's not from the Tang Kingdom, but it has some Human Path aura. Where does it come from?" Li Qi frowned and asked Shen Shuibi.

This conversation was conducted via telepathy, so there was no need to worry about outsiders overhearing it.

"The arrangement of these guardian beasts is a method of the divine way, but it's not entirely so. There's a strange atmosphere where the Human Path and the Shaman Path are mixed together. This combination is a bit odd." Shen Shuibi observed her surroundings and analyzed the source of this aesthetic.

As the saying goes, "a glimpse of the leopard through a tube reveals a part of its hue," and we can get a glimpse into the Dao Path of this suddenly appearing "immortal" from these aspects.

"The intertwining of divine, Human Path, and Shaman Path... uh... this combination is somewhat reminiscent of the Baiyue," Li Qi mused.

The land of Baiyue was a place of conflict between shamans and Human Path, but at the same time, it was also home to a vast number of mountain and water deities.

"Baiyue? Indeed, is it a ruler of Baiyue trying to establish a resource-rich world here? After all, the Holy Flame seems to have great economic value," Shen Shuibi said thoughtfully.

"Not necessarily, let's wait and see. But the Holy Flame is indeed a valuable item, and this world should try to acquire it," Li Qi said.

The book says that not everything outside the realm is useful. Most of the world is quite mediocre, and even the special products are just something to look at for novelty. Only a few are truly useful to the world.

To stumble upon a specialty like the Holy Flame on the first try was incredibly lucky, Li Qi thought, and he was certain it was due to his good fortune.

Moreover, after arriving in the Sacred Flame Realm, the golden, glittering good fortune on his body dissipated.

It is clear that this was the guidance Zhong Minglou gave him.

Therefore, Li Qi felt that this world was very valuable and that he had to strive for it.

Therefore, he specifically studied much of the world's history and finally found the existence of the 'Sacred King'.

He felt this was a place where he could start.

Even if this world has been occupied by another organization from all over the world, the process of expanding territory is something that depends on each person's ability.

This is no longer a place where everyone can discuss things peacefully and within the bounds of the rules.

This is outside the realm, and it's a wild world.

Nobody cares.

As they talked, they soon arrived at the innermost bedroom of the sanatorium.

Bang, bang, bang.

Li Qi gently knocked on the door three times.

Then, soon the sound of footsteps could be heard from inside.

Then, the door opened, revealing a female member of the Sacred Flame Tribe.

It's easy to tell the difference. Although there's little difference in size between male and female Sacred Flame Tribe, and these beetles don't have any gender characteristics in their faces or mouthparts, the females don't have wings.

"Excuse me? And who are you two?" she asked in a... well, fluent Mandarin.

Zhang Lira was somewhat puzzled. Why would anyone come to visit the Sacred King?

"Hello, we are historians." Li Qi used the same trick again, producing his identification.

However, this time he changed his story. "We want to learn about ancient knowledge and we want to organize the ancient history of the Sacred Flame Tribe for research and publicity, so we want to interview the Sacred King."

He changed his wording because Li Qi knew very well that only such an explanation would be acceptable to this ancient Sacred King.

If you continue to claim that you're here to promote the great culture of immortals, you'll probably get kicked out.

Li Qi was very familiar with the principle of speaking human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts.

"An interview?" Zhang Lira took the credentials and looked at them.

It does indeed have official anti-counterfeiting marks and seals.

However, she remained somewhat wary and said, "I'm sorry... the Sacred King is currently resting and does not accept private meetings. Please submit your application to the official agency, and we will notify you to meet with him once we receive the invitation."

However, before she could finish speaking, a voice suddenly came from inside.

The Sacred King spoke up:

"Lila, let them in. I want to see what young people interested in the history of the Sacred Flame Tribe are like."

Zhang Lira emitted a buzzing sound, which was the Sacred Flame Tribe's 'frowning'.

However, since the Sacred King had spoken, she couldn't say anything.

"Then please come in with me. The Sacred King is not in good health, so please be careful." After she finished speaking, she stepped aside to let Li Qi and Shen Shuibi enter.

Li Qi and the others went inside and saw the elderly Sacred Flame Tribe sitting in a wheelchair.

This is that ancient Sacred King.

Sixth-Rank World ruler.