"Name?"
"Xu Taiping."
"Sect affiliation?"
At the entrance to the Demon-Slaying Platform in the far north of the Kunlun Ruins, two tall Flame Guards were questioning Xu Taiping.
After a brief hesitation, Xu Taiping answered truthfully:
"The Azure Profound Sect of True Martial Heaven in the Lower Realm."
Hearing this, the two tall Flame Guards exchanged glances, both looking astonished.
Then the Flame Guard on the left, whose knotted muscles resembled furrows of lava and whose hair tips were scarlet as flames, suddenly spoke with an admiring expression:
"No wonder I sensed a familiar trace of qi and blood power from you the moment you approached."
"So you are Xu Taiping, the Lower Realm cultivator who defeated Xiao Huang in the Black Prison some days ago."
The bald Flame Guard beside him also nodded approvingly:
"Your physique must already be half a step into the Heaven-Supporting Realm, yes? To temper your physique to such a level with the Flame Emperor Body Tempering Art is truly rare!"
Because the body tempering art practiced by the Flame Guards had also evolved from the Flame Emperor Body Tempering Art, the aura of Xu Taiping's qi and blood power had felt so familiar to them.
Xu Taiping, who had likewise sensed their qi and blood auras, now understood why they sounded so friendly. He smiled and said:
"You flatter me."
Just then, a cultivator waiting behind him to cross the bridge said impatiently:
"Stop dawdling and cross the bridge!"
Hearing this, the bald Flame Guard immediately snorted and looked toward the impatient cultivator in the distance:
"Since when was it your place to point fingers at how the Flame Court conducts its affairs?"
The Flame Guard with flame-like hair tips also said coldly:
"What are you lot still staring at? Since our friend is