The Venerables inside the palace had been watching Shi Hao's every move.
Today, he was the undisputed Lord of this capital.
And now, his battle against an opponent at the peak of Array Formation had made them sit up and take notice.
“How shameless. One of a Divine Mountain's Lords attacking a ten-year-old child.”
As the Fire Emperor watched, his tone turned increasingly barbed.
Everyone knew exactly what he meant.
The Great Spider at the peak of Array Formation was more than qualified to be a Lord of Demon Spirit Lake.
"Fire Emperor, loose lips bring disaster. Some things are better left unsaid."
A Venerable from Demon Spirit Lake looked toward the Fire Emperor.
"Two more Venerables mean little to us of the Primordial Divine Mountains."
The Fire Emperor smiled and stepped toward the Demon Spirit Lake Venerable.
With every step, he seemed to grow taller in everyone's eyes, while a faint, illusory flame swirled around him.
"Are you telling me what to do?"
The Venerables watched him, their expressions grave. Overwhelming pressure poured from the Fire Emperor.
They felt that the Fire Emperor before them had already become fundamentally different from them in the very nature of his life.
They were Venerables, at the pinnacle of the Eight Domains, the limit of what Cultivators could achieve.
An existence that stood faintly above them...
A word surfaced in their minds.
Deity.
The Demon Spirit Lake Venerable fell silent, though no panic showed on his face.
The Fire Emperor had certainly not become a Deity yet, but he had undoubtedly touched that realm.
As long as nothing went wrong at the threshold of Divine Flame Ignition, causing his breakthrough to fail and costing him his life, a new Deity was inevitable.
Yet even before that breakthrough, a clear gulf had opened