The Strange Flame Daoist

Yang Huai's gaze flickered. If it came to the greatest benefits, it was obviously the kitchen, but his constitution was primarily a sword body. His future cultivation would inevitably place greater emphasis on the metal element.

There was also the saying that the five elements generated and restrained one another, but without a proper path, he would not choose blindly.

"Then only slaughtering and chopping firewood remain!"

Though he greatly coveted Cloudmist Daoist's wondrous wood-chopping art, he still chose the latter.

"This disciple wishes to learn slaughtering!"

It was not that Cloudmist Daoist's craft was poor, but Butcher Liu at the Yang Family Hunting Grounds had left too deep an impression on him.

Ever since Butcher Liu had monopolized the village's slaughtering business, the Liu Family's four brothers and Liu Jingjing had all grown tall and strong. And that aroma of meat every few days had truly left a deep impression on the Yang Family's four children.

Upon hearing this, Hou Feng Daoist glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint smile.

"Very good. Once you have refined the talisman seed, come find this poor Daoist!"

After a brief thought, he took out an exceedingly crude beast-hide scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Yang Huai.

"Before entering the Slaughter Hall, you may as well look through this first. At the same time, I permit you to enter the Slaughter Hall for half an hour each day. Remember, you must leave after half an hour!"

Yang Huai was slightly puzzled upon hearing this, but he still clasped his hands and accepted.

"Yes!"

After pondering briefly, Hou Feng Daoist suddenly turned to another Fireworker Daoist beside him.

"How about this, Junior Brother Flame? Take him to the slaughterhouse today and let him broaden his horizons."

"Very well, Senior Brother!"

A figure with a gloomy face and shoulder-length red hair slowly stepped forward from the side. His eyes were strange—his pupils were filled with blood-red color, and faintly shifted into the vertical pupils of a beast, making him appear exceptionally bizarre.

"Follow me!"

His voice was somewhat low, but an eerie gleam flickered in his eyes.

After the two departed, another gaunt Fireworker Daoist suddenly asked,

"Senior Brother Hou Feng, in your opinion, does this boy have potential?"

Hou Feng Daoist's expression remained calm, but he sighed.

"None of the other divisions are willing to send anyone to the Slaughter Hall. This miserable task can only be borne by our own people. If we do not cultivate a few promising seeds, then after Junior Brother Flame and I leave, who will preside over this hall?!"

Upon hearing this, the Fireworker Daoist's expression immediately changed somewhat. Greed and wariness flickered in his eyes before ultimately turning into silence. Then he said,

"But Azure Cloud Elder seems to think highly of him. I heard that even the distinguished figures outside Wanqu City wish to meet him. If he were to be ruined in the Slaughter Hall..."

Hou Feng Daoist said calmly,

"Only a genius who survives is a true genius!"

"Azure Cloud Elder surely agrees with this as well!"

The Fireworker Daoist nodded slightly.

Though the kitchen was awash in wealth, it truly needed fresh blood to replenish it.

Qingli had been assigned to the kitchen early on and had never come into contact with Daoist masters from the other divisions. This was also what the kitchen's four members valued.

Suddenly, as if recalling something, the Fireworker Daoist said,

"Senior Brother Hou Feng, I think you should go take a look. Some time ago, Senior Sister Jade Palace seemed to have sought out Junior Brother Flame..."

"Senior Sister Jade Palace? What did she want with Junior Brother Flame?"

Hou Feng Daoist frowned.

Wu Feng Daoist curled his lip.

"What else? She has her eye on the Daoist children in our kitchen. She probably wants to trick one of them into helping her test that Heavenly Human Demon Dao!"

"What? Why didn't you say so earlier!"

Hou Feng Daoist's expression changed upon hearing this, and his figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

Watching this, Wu Feng Daoist's lips twitched slightly. With his hands clasped behind his back, he leisurely returned to the kitchen, secretly thinking, Senior Sister Jade Palace, don't blame me. Senior Brother Hou Feng is right—after he and Flame leave, who will take over the Slaughter Hall? It can't be me, can it? I refuse!

He should stay in the kitchen!

The Slaughter Hall was actually some distance from the kitchen. It lay beneath the slope where the kitchen stood, within a small valley. Above the valley, clouds surged in endless layers like rolling waves, presenting a myriad of magnificent forms.

The depths of the valley were shrouded in a thick layer of golden cloud patterns. The mountain walls surrounding the valley were likewise covered from end to end in dazzling scriptures.

Several stone houses had been erected along the way, each occupied by a Daoist. When they saw the red-robed Daoist leading a rather unfamiliar Daoist child down the shaded forest path, two Daoists looked out from a doorway. Their eyes held a strange light—recollection, envy, and fear. In particular, when they looked toward the end of the path, their faces turned faintly pale.

From their expressions, an ominous thought suddenly arose in Yang Huai's heart.

Could it be that the butchers of Qingping Daoist Temple are different from ordinary butchers? Did I fail to get any benefits and instead pick a ticking time bomb?

His expression immediately darkened.

At that moment, he suddenly recalled the Hundred Beasts Cave incident Bai Jian had mentioned.

Back then, a pure-blooded dragon turtle had arrived at Hundred Beasts Cave. A group of Daoist children had run over to watch, but the dragon turtle had merely let out a roar and crippled more than a dozen of them. Some had even died on the spot.

And the Slaughter Hall seemed to be a place that directly slaughtered exotic beasts.

Though they would not be slaughtering terrifying existences like pure-blooded dragon turtles, there were no shortage of formidable exotic beasts. Could his current tiny body handle that?

Yang Huai secretly swallowed.

He had truly forgotten something important. Meat might be delicious, but exotic beasts were not domesticated livestock like pigs.

When a pig struggled before death, even an ordinary person could not necessarily hold it down, much less an exotic beast!

Still, the bold are stuffed to bursting, while the timid starve to death!

He secretly thought.

The two followed the path and soon arrived before a fork. The two branches led in different directions: at the end of one stood a majestic, heavy stone gate, while the other led to a sealed bronze door. Looking at the two gates, the red-robed Daoist suddenly knocked himself on the head.

"Mm, this is bad. My headache has flared up, and I've forgotten the way. Which way were we supposed to go next?"

"This way!"

He pointed at the bronze door and suddenly said.

"Or this way?"

He pointed at the stone gate again, his eyes filled with confusion.

Countless questions rose over Yang Huai's head as well.

Could this Martial Uncle Flame be insane?

After saying that, Flame Daoist suddenly fixed his gaze directly on Yang Huai.

"Why don't you choose a path yourself?"

Yang Huai's expression changed, then quickly turned bashful.

"Since Martial Uncle has forgotten, let's come again another day!"

Choose my ass! Knowing there's something fishy going on, how could I choose?

He immediately turned and strode back. This grandpa won't keep you company!

But after taking one step, his expression suddenly changed. The shaded forest path behind him had abruptly changed into a cliff, leaving only the two paths before him to choose from.

Flame Daoist stared directly at Yang Huai. His pupils had become vertical slits, brimming with an incomparably dangerous aura, as he said brutally,

"No. Senior Brother Hou Feng told you to enter, so you must enter. Choose quickly, or this poor Daoist will tear you apart first!"

Yang Huai froze. Feeling that almost tangible danger, he frowned slightly. He knew that it appeared he had no choice but to choose, yet anger surged in his heart.

Under that terrifying gaze, he hesitated briefly before turning his eyes toward the stone gate.

Both the bronze door and the stone gate were concealed behind stone walls; there was no way to judge anything. He could only choose one at random and adapt to whatever came.

He immediately walked toward the stone gate on the left. As he stepped closer, however, a palm suddenly pressed against his back and shoved him inside.

The moment he entered through the stone gate, Yang Huai's expression changed. Ahead stood an enormous towering stone hall. Two colossal pillars stood before it, coiled with dragons and crouching tigers, while numerous stone chambers separated by iron railings surrounded the hall.

The red-robed Daoist entered as well. He looked at Yang Huai with an eerie gaze and chuckled.

"You're quite lucky. You actually chose the main hall right away!"

"But your luck is not so good either. A demon tiger that has already been slaughtered is being held in the main hall!"

"Come, let this poor Daoist see what makes Azure Cloud Elder—and even Senior Sister Jade Palace—favor you at the same time!"

As his words fell, a vicious aura abruptly rose from the depths of the great hall ahead. That malicious wind swept toward Yang Huai head-on in an instant.

Yang Huai felt countless terrifying, nauseating, filthy auras rush at him through his sight, smell, hearing, and touch, as though they wished to bore straight into the depths of his mind. A terrifying black tiger appeared in the depths of his eyes. Its eyes glimmered with emerald light, locking onto Yang Huai's figure in an instant before charging straight at him.