First Stop, Blazing Fire City

With just under half a year left before the Intermediate Soul Master Academy began, Wang Qi set out on his journey after completing all the graduation procedures.

His first stop was naturally Blazing Fire City, the holy land of fire-attribute soul masters.

Among the cities of Douluo Continent, Blazing Fire City stood alongside Godwind City, Skywater City, and Thunderclap City. Its most distinctive feature was Blazing Fire Canyon.

If the Star Dou Great Forest was Douluo Continent's largest soul beast forest, with the most comprehensive variety of soul beasts, the greatest numbers, and the strongest overall strength—

Then Blazing Fire Canyon was a paradise for Fire Attribute Soul Beasts. Its unique environment was exceptionally suited to the growth of Fire Attribute Soul Beasts and fire-attribute natural treasures.

With its wide variety and dense population of Fire Attribute Soul Beasts, almost every soul master with even a little talent would visit Blazing Fire City at least once.

As he traveled, Wang Qi cultivated while making his way forward. At the same time, he disposed of all the items in his Soul Tool that should not have been kept there. After a month, he finally arrived at Blazing Fire City.

Looking at the scale of Blazing Fire City, Wang Qi found that it seemed rather different from what he had imagined.

The books recorded that Blazing Fire City was one of the Four Elements Cities, a place extremely suitable for fire-attribute soul masters to cultivate. With a Soul Douluo expert stationed here as well, its scale might not have matched great cities such as Heaven Dou City, Star Luo City, or Spirit City, but it should not have been smaller than a mid-sized city like Suotuo City.

Yet the Blazing Fire City before him was not large. Even its city walls were shorter than those of Nuoding City. Judging from the city's size alone, it could accommodate no more than thirty thousand people at once.

Could such a small city really be Blazing Fire City, one of the Four Elements Cities?

As Wang Qi strolled through Blazing Fire City's streets, he was curious about everything here—except its size.

"First time in Blazing Fire City, little brother? Do you think it isn't as wonderful as you imagined?"

At a roadside teahouse, an attendant took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Wang Qi in hopes of drawing him in for tea.

"That's right, it's my first time here. I'd heard that Blazing Fire City was a place fire-attribute soul masters had to visit, but I didn't expect it to actually be..."

Wang Qi smiled awkwardly. After ordering a pot of tea and some pastries, he began chatting with the attendant.

"Hahaha, outsiders like you always imagine Blazing Fire City as some particularly sacred and magnificent place. Some even think it's a great city on the level of Heaven Dou City or Star Luo City."

"You're a fire-attribute soul master, aren't you, sir? You're probably more adaptable to high temperatures, so you're not as sensitive to them."

"Blazing Fire City is extremely hot, with long days and short nights. During the hottest time of year, temperatures can even approach fifty degrees. Do you think a place like this is suitable for ordinary people to live in?"

The teahouse attendant spoke eloquently. Wang Qi also sensed soul power fluctuations from him. Though he could not determine the man's Soul Power Level, he could feel those fluctuations very clearly.

The air in Blazing Fire City was relatively dry, and the city produced abundant fruit. Because of its climate, Blazing Fire City's fruit was very popular elsewhere.

There was fruit, but grain was somewhat scarce. Unable to do otherwise, the Huo Family had established the Blazing Fire Merchant Team to conduct trade across the continent and proactively keep control of their lifeline.

The attendant's stories were interesting, and Wang Qi listened with great interest. Just as the attendant was introducing Blazing Fire Academy to him, a rough voice rang out from the entrance.

"You little brat, you nearly failed to graduate from Blazing Fire Academy's junior division, yet all you know how to do is spout nonsense. Don't mind him, little brother. My useless son just loves talking rubbish."

The Big Man looked exactly as his voice sounded. He was tall and powerfully built, his bare upper body exposing bronzed muscles. Carrying a soul beast thigh roughly two meters long and as thick as a man's waist over his shoulder, he walked inside.

Without another word, he sat directly beside Wang Qi, found a plate, sliced off a piece of marinated soul beast meat, and pushed it toward him.

"Here, have a taste. The hind leg of a five-hundred-year Blazing Leopard—it tastes excellent. Don't worry, it's our own stuff. I won't charge you extra."

"Where are you from, little brother? Did you come to Blazing Fire City to cultivate or to study?"

"Don't worry, I mean no harm. It's just that outsiders rarely come to my home. I've seen the people around here for so long that either we grew up together, or I watched them grow up. The moment they open their mouths, I know how many hairs they have on their asses. Come on, tell me about the outside world."

The Big Man was named Fire Dragon, and his family had lived in Blazing Fire City for generations. The furthest he had ever traveled in his life was from Blazing Fire City to the Blazing Fire Canyon defensive line. He had basically never gone anywhere farther than that.

Though he was curious about the outside world, he disliked its climate, finding it too humid.

Fire Dragon was forthright by nature. No, it should be said that most soul masters in all of Blazing Fire City were similarly forthright. They were warm and hospitable, spoke bluntly and directly, and gave Wang Qi much the same impression as Ice City, which had gone viral on short-video platforms in his previous life.

The difference was that Blazing Fire City was scorching hot, while Ice City was freezing cold.

Although Wang Qi was not good at dealing with people, under Brother Fire Dragon's guidance, he still spoke of many of the things he had seen and heard along the road.

"Brother Fire Dragon, are you saying that Blazing Fire City has a thousand-man soul master force stationed at Blazing Fire Canyon, ready at any time to deal with soul beasts that might launch a beast tide?"

"Yeah. Every spring, the soul beasts riot once. It's damn annoying." Fire Dragon took a huge swig of wine. Fine beads of sweat covered his flushed face, and every now and then he let out a satisfied hiss from the heat.

Wang Qi had chosen Blazing Fire City as the first stop of his journey for three reasons. First, he wanted to purchase medicinal herbs. Most of Blazing Fire City's residents were fire-attribute soul masters, so there were definitely medicinal herbs in the city that could aid soul master cultivation.

Second, he wanted to visit Blazing Fire Canyon and prepare in advance for his Second Soul Ring, searching as much as possible for a soul beast that could improve his aptitude to serve as his second ring.

As for the third reason, Blazing Fire Academy had an intermediate division. Wang Qi wanted to learn about its cultivation environment and use it as a basis for comparison with other Intermediate Soul Master Academies.

Now that he had heard that Blazing Fire Canyon experienced a beast tide every year around this time, Wang Qi felt like going over to take a look.

"Brother Fire Dragon, I'll go with you when the time comes. I may only be a one-ring soul master, but one more helper means a better chance of success. When are we leaving? Tomorrow, or—"

"Hahaha, Brother Wang Qi, you're too impatient. There's no need to hurry. You can rest in Blazing Fire City for a few days first and experience its local customs."

"Seven days from now is Blazing Fire City's grand market. It only happens once a month, and there are plenty of good things there. You can go take a look then."

"Brother Wang Qi, do you know why Blazing Fire City is called the holy land of fire-attribute soul masters? That's because—"

"No rush. Since you've come to Blazing Fire City, stay at your big brother's home. If your hands are really itching, after the market is over, I'll take you to Blazing Fire Canyon to have some fun."

"Little brother, ah, little brother."

As Wang Qi and Fire Dragon called each other big brother and little brother, the attendant beside them was left with a face full of dark lines. Watching his own father swear brotherhood at the dining table with Wang Qi, who was obviously younger than him, made his head ache.