Flames Brandished Openly, Blazing into the Heavens

Jiang Xiuyong's plan proceeded very smoothly.

A sundries manager stationed at one of the Holy Cult's mining sites might have been beneath notice in the eyes of Liu Dongqing and Jiang Xiuyong, but to the mountain folk tribes wandering the wild hills, he was already an influential figure whose every move carried weight.

With a letter from such a "great figure," coupled with the mountain folk's innate simplicity and honesty,

Liu Dongqing and Jiang Xiuyong smoothly earned their initial trust upon entering Autumn Water Plateau.

By the time the sun set in the west and the deep night completely descended upon the world, Liu Dongqing and Jiang Xiuyong had long since been surrounded by a crowd of mountain folk and brought to the enormous bonfire at the very heart of Autumn Water Plateau.

At the same time,

the two Shamans said to be paying respects to the Crimson Crow Ancestor God in the "ancestral land" also strolled over to the bonfire.

Thus began a primitive, savage feast.

More stored firewood was thrown into the bonfire, and the suddenly swelling flames poured scorching heat waves in every direction.

Next, the Shamans signaled for the mountain folk to bring out their home-brewed strong liquor.

After entering Autumn Water Plateau, the two had tacitly divided their roles as they traveled.

Jiang Xiuyong was, after all, a young master from an aristocratic family. He possessed an innate nobility others lacked, and posing as that manager's trusted confidant was utterly flawless.

Liu Dongqing, meanwhile, deliberately reined in his presence and followed behind Jiang Xiuyong. Without needing to say a word, he looked every inch the attendant.

For that very reason, the entire Red Crow Tribe focused more of their attention on Jiang Xiuyong.

The mountain folk presented them with two large earthenware bowls of strong liquor. Liu Dongqing merely lifted his bowl and made as if to touch it to his lips, but set it down without drinking a single drop. For a time, no one paid him any mind.

Jiang Xiuyong, on the other hand, still hoped to outwit them. Under the gaze of the crowd, he could only take a large gulp of the wine.

Coupled with the scorching heat radiating from the bonfire,

Jiang Xiuyong's face immediately reddened, as though he were already feeling somewhat lightheaded and feverish.

Behind him, Liu Dongqing frowned slightly.

He inconspicuously took half a step back. Taking advantage of the flickering, leaping firelight, he concealed most of his body within the deep shadows to one side.

And when he looked back toward the bonfire from there,

something strange happened.

It was as though all the clamor of Autumn Water Plateau had suddenly been stripped from Liu Dongqing's senses in that instant.

The mountain folk danced around the bonfire, performing the wild dance supposedly passed down by the Shamans. Their every gesture seemed to overlap with the bonfire itself in a chaotic blur of afterimages.

Those dazzling movements even left Liu Dongqing mentally dazed.

Was this merely his own illusion? Or was some unknown bewitching secret art at work?

But when faced with something he could not be certain of,

the caution he had cultivated over the years made Liu Dongqing choose to treat it as a bewitching secret art first!

Especially when he looked once more at Jiang Xiuyong.

Jiang Xiuyong's face was flushed, and his gaze was likewise fixed upon the bonfire and the primitive, savage Shaman dance of the mountain folk around it. His eyes had gradually turned unfocused.

Then, under the young Shaman's repeated coaxing, he seemed about to raise the earthenware bowl and drink another cup.

Thus, Liu Dongqing's gaze passed over Jiang Xiuyong's figure and landed upon the two Shamans, one old and one young.

The elderly Shaman had his eyes wearily closed, as though dozing beside the bonfire.

The young Shaman wore a smiling expression as he watched Jiang Xiuyong without blinking.

Yet at the very instant Liu Dongqing looked over,

a trace of chilliness surfaced in the Shaman's gaze as he watched Jiang Xiuyong raise his wine bowl.

Liu Dongqing had seen that gleam only in Manager Hou's eyes before. Whenever such a look appeared, it generally meant Manager Hou was about to squeeze Liu Dongqing dry with words so airtight they left no room for rebuttal.

Winning the mountain folk's trust was useless.

After all, their target had always been these two Demon Refining Mystic Sect cultivators disguised as Shamans.

But at this moment, Liu Dongqing was certain.

There was no longer any possibility of winning their trust.

Or rather, from the moment they set foot upon Autumn Water Plateau, these two Shamans had already harbored deep suspicions toward them.

Had Jiang Xiuyong discovered this fact?

Perhaps he had. Yet perhaps he still hoped to outwit them, caught in a hesitant state of mind where he could neither advance nor retreat because of his earlier scheme.

Though both were lowly outer sect workhorse cultivators of Departure Peak's lineage, Jiang Xiuyong was fundamentally different from Liu Dongqing.

Liu Dongqing had been squeezed into his present circumstances step by step. Jiang Xiuyong, however, had fallen in a single instant. Though he was here now, he had entirely missed the tempering process of arriving here.

He possessed far less caution than Liu Dongqing, and far less decisiveness as well.

The next instant,

a faint fragrance of strong liquor drifted back into Liu Dongqing's nostrils.

This time, perhaps because of the distance, the truly potent scent of the liquor no longer masked everything else. And because he had tended Jade Cloud Fruit for so long, Liu Dongqing sharply discerned the fragrances of several spirit fruits beneath the now-thinner wine scent.

Moreover, it was obvious that the spirit fruits had not been brewed and fermented into the wine. They had been freshly pressed and directly blended into the liquor.

My junior brother and I have underestimated the people of this world.

The instant that thought arose,

Liu Dongqing stopped observing and stopped hesitating.

In the flash between lightning and flint, the hand he had kept hidden in the darkest place suddenly formed a Daoist hand seal and rose.

Bright Candle Sun-Scene Lesser Azure Light Incantation activated in an instant!

Unlike before, when the Purple Cloud Azure Rain of Mirror-Illuminating Cloud-Birthing Purple Rain Art had responded so sluggishly,

the Little Azure Light Incantation was Liu Dongqing's foundational cultivation art, tempered day and night and refined together with his very life. Almost at the same instant he raised his hand, intense azure light abruptly gathered between his brows as his eyebrows shot upward.

And at this moment,

Jiang Xiuyong's slowly raised earthenware bowl had only just touched his lips again.

"Move!"

Since Jiang Xiuyong was still hesitating, uncertain how to decide, then at such a critical juncture, Liu Dongqing would make the decision for him!

That fierce shout rang across Autumn Water Plateau like a clap of thunder.

At the same instant his words fell, Liu Dongqing's raised Daoist hand seal snapped forward.

At the same time,

the intense azure light between Liu Dongqing's brows condensed into three interlocking rings, then transformed into a pale azure beam. With a turn of Liu Dongqing's head, it shone directly upon the enormous blaze of the bonfire itself.

Heavenly light shone everywhere.

Almost the instant that beam of azure light descended, the formerly crimson bonfire seemed to be dyed from top to bottom. In a single flickering leap, it abruptly transformed into a pure, deep azure.

The heat wave that had merely been scorching also surged violently, as though it had dragged people back into a mountain wildfire in the height of summer.

But by the time anyone sensed that searing ferocity, it was already far too late.

The enormous deep-azure bonfire abruptly expanded under the Little Azure Light Incantation's summons, then exploded with a thunderous roar!

Boom—

This time, it was not merely a heat wave sweeping outward.

The flames themselves transformed into raging billows, sweeping in every direction. In an instant, they engulfed the dancing mountain folk, the two Shamans, old and young, and even Jiang Xiuyong with his unfocused gaze!

Behind Liu Dongqing,

tongues of flame splashed toward more distant places, falling upon the ground, the haystacks, the wooden huts...

Before long, even fiercer firelight blanketed the entirety of Autumn Water Plateau.