I Think He Could Be

"I said so before, but you didn't believe me."

Di Yi did not know why the old man with crane-white hair and a youthful face suddenly believed what he had said earlier, but that no longer mattered. Understanding was enough.

"Then everything you said before was true?" Thoughts surged through the old man's mind. He had a feeling that the Heaven Mending Pavilion might be about to stumble into a tremendous stroke of luck.

"Of course. I came here to enter the Heaven Mending Pavilion and cultivate." Di Yi nodded.

"But your strength..." The old man found it difficult to understand. If everything the young man before him had said was true, and he really was only in the Blood Moving Realm, how could he display such power?

It defied all reason.

He had seen all manner of people. Over the long years, crop after crop of so-called supreme geniuses had emerged, yet when it came down to it, none could compare to even a hair on this young man's head.

"Perhaps... it's because we're different." Di Yi had seen a similar expression before, when he first arrived at Stone Village and met Shi Yunshan.

"We're... different?" The old man was shaken. He thought of countless legends and the many races that inhabited the lands of the Desolate Region.

Some races were born with divine strength, some possessed exalted inheritances from birth, and some were favored by the heavens, entering the world with powerful bodies.

"Yes. All those different people aren't the same as me." Di Yi spoke the truth. This was common knowledge he had learned back in Stone Village. Although they shared the same form, they were not truly the same kind of being.

The old man fell silent and said no more.

His silence, however, did not mean that the people from the mighty clans and great sects were equally quiet within. Great waves had already risen in their hearts, leaving them unable to settle.

The people from the Fire Kingdom were the most obvious among them.

They had reason to believe that when Di Yi said, "Someone else knows this Precious Technique too," the Precious Technique he meant was the Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique.

If a user's origins could be determined from the Precious Technique alone, it meant that the technique was exceedingly distinctive and exclusive.

Moreover, the old man's subsequent words supported this conclusion: he had been referring to a descendant of their Fire Kingdom.

This was no small matter.

The Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique was the inheritance of their Fire Kingdom. Only members of the imperial family were qualified to learn it. For an outsider to obtain it was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Putting everything else aside, even reaching the Sacred Emperor Palace required the approval of the Fire Kingdom's Sacrificial Spirit. This was no simple matter, since even the Fire Emperor himself might not be granted an audience.

Could this person truly be some living ancestor of the Fire Kingdom?

They could hardly be blamed for thinking that. The Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique was far too exclusive.

Besides, the Fire Kingdom's imperial family had spread its branches far and wide. Even the current Fire Emperor could not say how many collateral branches existed, much less them.

Of course, after thinking it over carefully, they felt this was unlikely.

Judging by his display of power, he was so strong that he could see through the obscuring runes. In his own era, he must have been a dazzling talent whose renown spread throughout the world.

Yet they had never heard of anyone like him in the Fire Kingdom's imperial family. He did not match anyone they knew of, even going back tens of thousands of years.

"I once heard that the Sacrificial Spirit left the Fire Kingdom in ancient times and traveled to the Stone Kingdom. Could this be an inheritance it left behind?" One of the Fire Kingdom's people thought of this possibility, believing that the man might simply have obtained the Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique by chance.

"Perhaps, but... why couldn't he be one of us? I think he could be." Among them stood a woman of outstanding grace. Her lashes fluttered, and the crystalline gleam of thought shone in her eyes.

"Imperial Sister, what do you mean?"

"The Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique is our kingdom's supreme inheritance, a symbol of imperial blood. Under no circumstances can we allow it to circulate outside, unless..." The graceful woman said no more.

But everyone from the Fire Kingdom understood her meaning. The Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique symbolized the Fire Kingdom, and its inheritance was the foundation of the kingdom's might. If outsiders learned it, the Fire Kingdom's very foundations would be shaken.

If someone harbored wicked intentions, it would surely plunge the kingdom into turmoil, sending the Fire Kingdom back into an age of war and flying flames.

That could never be allowed.

The simplest solution was to strip that person of his Precious Technique and destroy the Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique runes he had integrated into himself.

But was that possible?

They knew the old man's origins. He was a senior elder of the Heaven Mending Pavilion, jokingly called an old monster by outsiders. His strength was immense; even together, they would be no match for him.

That being the case, they were even less of a match for that man. Stopping the Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique from spreading outside was nothing but a fool's dream.

"Royal Sister, you mean we should make him one of our Fire Kingdom's people?"

"Yes. He's worth winning over. No, our Fire Kingdom is worth his choosing." The graceful woman smiled faintly, the light in her eyes dreamlike and illusory.

"Royal Sister, I seriously suspect your motives aren't entirely pure. You look utterly lovestruck right now."

"You're asking for a beating!" The graceful woman feigned anger, but she had no time to fool around with her younger brother now. She could not simply let a powerful expert slip away, especially one who knew the Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique.

When the people from the other mighty clans and great sects saw the graceful woman move toward the man of unknown name and origins, they all grew unsettled.

In truth, they entertained ideas similar to those of the Fire Kingdom's people. Unfortunately, they lacked a suitable pretext to strike up a conversation and did not dare approach him rashly.

After all, they knew nothing of his temperament. They feared that their good intentions might bring unwelcome consequences.

"Hello." The graceful woman smiled at Di Yi, casually smoothing her glossy black hair. Her bearing was otherworldly and captivating.

"Hello." Seeing someone greet him, Di Yi responded quite naturally.

"Ah, the Fire Kingdom's people have come." At this sight, the old man understood her purpose perfectly. The Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique was involved, after all. There was no way the Fire Kingdom's people could ignore it.

"My respects, Elder Gu." Only then did the graceful woman greet the old man.

"All right, all right. Those youngsters should have fought out who gets a place by now. I'll head to the exit of the third battlefield. You two talk." The old man waved a hand and prepared to leave.

This concerned the Primordial Vermilion Bird Precious Technique and the Fire Kingdom. He felt it best not to remain, lest he get himself covered in trouble for no reason.

Before leaving, however, he remembered something and looked at Di Yi. "If you truly wish to join, I'll come find you afterward so we can discuss the details."

"Then I'll wait for you." Di Yi nodded.

"Hello. Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Huo Yun'e." The graceful woman, Huo Yun'e, introduced herself.

"Hello. My name is Di Yi." Di Yi likewise gave his name, and with that, they were acquainted.

"Di... Yi?" Huo Yun'e froze at his words. That name really was rather "grand."

With "Emperor" as his surname and "Easy" as his given name, did he think becoming an emperor was easy?

But she quickly composed herself. Their brief exchange had given her no sense that Di Yi was a cold, aloof expert. On the contrary, he was very easygoing.

Thus, after considering what tone she should use to continue their conversation, she asked, "I heard Elder Gu ask earlier whether you came from the Fire Kingdom. Was there some misunderstanding between you?"