Chapter 428 - 390: Flame Master

Chapter 428: Chapter 390: Flame Master

’This is a little too heaven-defying!’

"Secret Realm? Ultimate Venerable? You can think of me as an Ultimate Venerable, or you can think of me as being in the Secret Realm!" Nie Yun had no idea what the little girl was thinking. Seeing that she was alright, he relaxed and scratched his head as he spoke.

In truth, he felt rather helpless about his own strength. If he called himself an Ultimate Venerable, he already possessed power and combat abilities that many in the Secret Realm, the Magical Power Realm, and the Primordial Saint Realm lacked. But if he said he was in the Secret Realm, he hadn’t actually broken through that barrier, so he didn’t quite qualify.

The reason he was so powerful was because his soul had reached the Mid-Stage Spirit Level. And his breakthrough... that was because of his brother...

"If you don’t want to say, then forget it..."

Hearing the young man’s words, the girl was speechless. ’What kind of power is that? "Think of me as an Ultimate Venerable, or think of me as being in the Secret Realm"... He definitely just doesn’t want to talk about it!’

’Damn him...’ As the thought crossed her mind, she was about to turn back and ask for more details, but she saw the young man sitting on the Camel Beast’s back, staring blankly at the setting sun. His eyes held a look of sorrow and loneliness, as if he carried an extremely tragic past within his heart.

"He..." Seeing him like this, the words caught in Yi Qing’s throat. For some reason, a trace of sadness welled up in her heart, and she found herself a little entranced.

...

With no one to stop them, the group quickly entered Rongtian City.

It seemed the City Lord hadn’t notified anyone of his departure. When the group entered the city gates, the guards on duty didn’t notice anything unusual. They would never have dreamed that their City Lord was currently folded in half like a dead man and draped over a Camel Beast.

Although Rongtian City wasn’t particularly famous, it was still a city on the Floating Heaven Continent, far more powerful than places like Guangming City on the Qi Sea Continent. Most of the traveling merchants were actually at the Qi Sect level, and some shopkeepers were even Ultimate Venerables!

However, these were all very Ordinary Ultimate Venerables. They hadn’t even made it onto the Earth List, let alone the Secret Realm Potential List or the Celestial List.

The concentration of Creation Qi within the city was gathered by the Grand Array surrounding it, making it much denser than outside. Cultivation speed was faster here.

Soon, the group arrived before a massive estate. Nie Yun looked up and saw two large words written above: Yi Mansion. They had arrived at the Yi Family’s home.

Upon entering the Yi Mansion, Nie Yun was immediately received as a guest of honor.

The Patriarch of the Yi Family, Yi Qing’s father, Yi Cheng, was a Peak Powerhouse of Primordial Saint Realm. An expert of this caliber would have formed a Primordial Saint Body and should have been full of vigor. Yet, he now appeared listless and drained, as if the pressure from the Jiang Family was suffocating him, leaving his Spirit haggard.

"Father, how are things now? I managed to raise some money while I was out, about a hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!" Seeing her father’s state, Yi Qing reported the results of her trip.

She had gone out this time to find a way to raise money and help the family through their crisis. From what he had overheard from the others on the way, Nie Yun had already guessed as much.

"A hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones... That would have been enough a while ago, but I’m afraid it won’t be now!" Yi Cheng said with a world-weary expression. He sighed, then looked at Nie Yun. "By the way, you haven’t introduced me to this gentleman yet!"

"This is Lord Yun. We owe him our lives for saving us on our journey. If not for him, your daughter would be dead!"

Yi Qing slowly recounted the events of their journey in detail. Even though she didn’t embellish the critical moments, Yi Cheng couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat as he listened.

He only had this one daughter. If something had truly happened to her, he would have lost the will to live.

"I cannot thank you enough for this great kindness, Lord Yun!"

Yi Cheng stood up and gave a long, deep bow, his attitude reverent.

"Elder Yi, please, there’s no need to be so formal!" Nie Yun quickly reached out to help him up. The moment his arm touched the other man, he felt a force pressing down. There was no ill intent in it; it seemed that to express his gratitude, the man was determined to complete his bow.

With a faint smile, Nie Yun channeled his own power through his palm to meet it. With a gentle lift, he neutralized Yi Cheng’s force and helped him stand straight.

The exchange was so fast and subtle that it didn’t cause any energy fluctuations. To an outsider, it simply looked like a pleasant and polite exchange between host and guest.

’Incredible!’ Yi Cheng’s heart tightened as he felt the power that had surged toward him. It was like a torrential river, continuous and unending.

This young man before him seemed to be around the same age as his own daughter, yet his True Qi was as deep as an abyss, as vast as the sea. In that brief moment of contact, although he hadn’t used his full strength, experts only needed a single touch to gauge another. He knew instantly that this young man was not much weaker than him in terms of raw power. And when it came to the sheer density of his True Qi, even ten of himself wouldn’t be a match!

"Truly, heroes emerge from the young. I never imagined that someone so young could possess such incredible strength and such profound True Qi. Even I feel inadequate in comparison!"

Sitting back down, Yi Cheng shook his head, sighing with emotion. A look of admiration appeared in his eyes as he looked at Nie Yun.

"Heh, Elder Yi, you’re too kind," Nie Yun replied modestly, then suddenly asked, "I overheard some of your conversation earlier. It sounds like the Yi Family and the Jiang Family are in different lines of business. There shouldn’t be any conflict of interest, so why is there such a major dispute?"

From the few sentences he’d heard, it seemed the Yi Family’s business was completely different from the Jiang Family’s. Logically, there shouldn’t have been any conflict, so how could such an irreconcilable feud have arisen?

"This..." Hearing Nie Yun’s question, Yi Cheng hesitated.

"Father, Lord Yun is willing to help us. He’s already injured Jiang Xuan and the City Lord. If we keep holding onto that secret and don’t find allies, we’ll be forced to our deaths by them sooner or later!" Seeing her father’s hesitation, Yi Qing gritted her teeth and spoke up.

"Mm, you’re right. The Jiang Family refuses to let this go. If we don’t take action, our family will be destroyed sooner or later. It’s just... I feel terrible about getting Nie Yun involved in this matter!"

Hearing his daughter’s resolve, Yi Cheng shook his head and sighed, thinking of the family’s recent predicament.

"I hope you won’t laugh when I tell you this, young friend, but the dispute between our two families is mainly over a treasure."

"A treasure?" Nie Yun was taken aback.

"That’s right. Young friend, I wonder if you know about special talents?" Yi Cheng suddenly asked.

"I do," Nie Yun nodded.

’I currently possess ten great special talents myself. If I didn’t know about them, probably no one in the world would.’

"Have you ever heard of Flame Masters?" Yi Cheng nodded and continued to ask.

"A Flame Master? I’ve heard a little about them before. It’s a type of special talent. They possess a Flame Fire Dantian, allowing them to generate scorching flames within their bodies. They can pass through magma completely unharmed. The flame they produce is more domineering than an Alchemy Master’s Pill Fire. It’s a flame specialized for combat, and one of the Five Elements Talents!"

Nie Yun explained after a moment of thought.

Although he wasn’t clear on many special talents, he had heard of Flame Masters in his previous life. They could generate flames around their bodies. Unlike an Alchemy Master’s Pill Fire or an Artifact Refiner’s refining fire, this type of flame was specialized for combat and offense. It was incredibly hot, capable of boiling rivers and evaporating seas, and was one of the most famous Five Elements Talents.

The Five Elements Talents—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—were ranked among the top thirty special talents. In terms of pure combat power, the Flame Master ranked at least second among those five!

"Young friend, not only are you powerful, but your knowledge is also vast and profound. Impressive, truly impressive! Yi Qing, why don’t you show Brother Nie Yun your special talent?"

Hearing the young man speak so casually and in such detail about Flame Masters, Yi Cheng offered his praise and turned to his daughter.

"Yes!"

Yi Qing nodded and pointed a finger forward. A torrent of scorching fire shot out, a blazing flame formed entirely from Mana that seemed capable of incinerating the entire room.

"You’re a Flame Master?" Seeing the flame, Nie Yun instantly understood. A wry smile appeared on his face. "It seems I’ve made a fool of myself. With your status as a Flame Master, fighting above your level to kill that Suguo shouldn’t have been difficult!"

"Lord Yun, you’re joking. I can indeed fight above my level, but at most, I can only take on someone at the Peak of Magical Power Realm. I’m no match for a Primordial Saint Realm expert at all!" Retracting the flame, Yi Qing’s face flushed slightly red.