Chapter 1998: Fire Departure Sect

**Chapter 1972: Fireflame Sect**

"If Lord Ao Xiao truly desires this person's life and he returns unscathed, I could take action for you, my lord. In that case, no one would suspect you," the masked woman said, her voice suddenly turning cold.

"If he appears, you don't need to act," Lord Ao Xiao said, shaking his head without hesitation.

"Why is that? Does Miss Ling Wei know about this person?" the masked woman asked with some surprise, seeming to know quite a bit about Yin Yue.

"Originally, I kept news of this person from Ling Wei. She has always been by my side and doesn't contact the outside world. But a few days ago, she suddenly received a message from an old acquaintance who seemed to have inadvertently discovered that this young man, Han Li, is an Integration Stage cultivator. So this time, when I set out, she insisted on coming along. Furthermore, if this Han fellow were to meet with an accident so quickly, even without any evidence, Ling Wei would suspect me, and her inner demons would become even harder to resolve. Of course, if he were to die by the hand of the Nightmare Clan, that would be a different matter," Lord Ao Xiao said slowly, his expression flickering for a while.

"In that case, it would be troublesome. However, letting him fall into the hands of the Nightmare Clan is not an impossible task for me," the masked woman chuckled lightly, speaking as if she greatly desired Han Li's demise.

"I said no, and that means no. The great war with the Nightmare Clan is about to begin, and every Integration Stage cultivator is a valuable asset and cannot be easily lost to internal conflict. Otherwise, compared to this person, I would rather have Tian Ben disappear from this world; I wouldn't have kept him alive until now," Lord Ao Xiao said, his expression darkening, commanding in an unchallengeable tone.

"Since you've said so, my lord, I won't get involved. Otherwise, I'm truly interested in this person who is said to be a cultivation prodigy appearing once every thousand years among humans," the masked woman said after a soft laugh, no longer insisting.

"Liao Ying, how many years have you been my shadow guard?" Lord Ao Xiao suddenly asked.

"It's been roughly ten thousand years, hasn't it, my lord? Why do you ask so suddenly?" the masked woman was startled and asked, somewhat surprised.

"When I rescued you from the Space-Time Vortex, you swore loyalty to me for a hundred thousand years, and you immediately signed a hundred-thousand-year soul contract with me. Now, I plan to transfer the remaining tens of thousands of years to Ling Wei. What do you think?" Lord Ao Xiao said solemnly.

"Lord Ao Xiao! Although I signed the soul contract with you out of gratitude for saving my life, the main reason was that you are a Grand Ascension Stage cultivator, and your strength completely convinced me. Otherwise, I would have repaid your life-saving grace in a different way back then." Hearing this, the masked woman frowned, looking somewhat displeased.

"What? Is the only reason you're unwilling that Ling Wei's cultivation isn't high enough?" Lord Ao Xiao asked faintly.

"That's right. I watched Ling Wei grow up from a young age, and I've developed quite a fondness for her. Other conditions aside, her cultivation is indeed a bit weak. She needs to be at least an Integration Stage cultivator for me to even consider it. You should know the rules of our Winged Beast Clan; even I cannot easily break them," the masked woman sighed, appearing somewhat helpless.

"If it's only a matter of strength, you can rest assured. This girl can advance to the Integration Stage within a century, and it's even possible for her to advance to the Grand Ascension Stage later," Lord Ao Xiao smiled.

"Lord Ao Xiao, what do you mean by that?" The masked woman's eyes flashed with a strange light, surprised.

"Don't you know? Ling Wei has already awakened her Harmonious Star-Moon Body. With this talent, do you think my words just now are exaggerated? However, to prevent any accidents, this matter has never been leaked to a third person, apart from Ling Wei and me," Lord Ao Xiao said solemnly.

"Such a thing exists? If that's the case, then it's not impossible for me to sign a soul contract with her. However, I would need to verify your words, my lord, before I could agree." The masked woman pondered for a while, then somewhat reluctantly nodded.

"Very good. With you protecting Ling Wei, I won't have to worry until her cultivation greatly improves. There's no time to lose; in a few days, I will arrange everything for you and prove Ling Wei's Harmonious Star-Moon Body, then I will transfer the soul contract," Lord Ao Xiao said with a calculating expression.

"Since you've said so, my lord, I will naturally cooperate. However, Lord Ao Xiao, you're so anxious, could it be that you lack confidence in the coming war, surprisingly arranging this for Lord Ling Wei?" the masked woman nodded, then asked with a hint of playfulness.

"Heh heh, if I lacked confidence, why would I have come all this way myself? Although I don't know how the Nightmare Clan is planning, this time, with us and the Grand Ascension Stage cultivators of the other clans, we have a good chance of winning. The specifics are not something I can reveal. What I'm doing now is just some crucial preliminary preparations. Besides, even without the Nightmare Tribulation, I wouldn't be able to avoid the next lightning tribulation, so arranging some contingencies is only natural," Lord Ao Xiao smiled proudly.

Seeing the long-haired man's expression, the masked woman's eyes flickered, but she said nothing more.

At this moment, Lord Ao Xiao's tone solidified, and he suddenly spoke again:

"I have nothing else for you here. You should leave first. The island should be starting to search for Nightmare Clan spies, so don't let anyone discover your flaws, otherwise, if you're misunderstood, it will be quite troublesome. At the very least, your current disguised identity would be unusable."

"Yes, my lord. Liao Ying will take her leave." The masked woman nodded, her lithe body twisted, and just like when she arrived, she transformed into a phantom and vanished as space subtly rippled.

Lord Ao Xiao watched this scene, his eyes slightly narrowed for a moment, and finally, with a soft sigh, he closed his eyes again.

***

On the other side, in a small mountain range more than a hundred thousand li away from Heavenly Abyss City, a group of human cultivators dressed in vermillion robes were quietly hidden on a mountaintop, gazing towards an extremely secluded small canyon in the distance.

This group of cultivators consisted of both men and women, mostly young adults aged twenty to thirty, with a few grey-haired individuals among them whose eyes also showed faint spiritual light, and whose magical cultivation seemed extremely refined.

But strangely, these cultivators, whether male or female, old or young, all looked quite weary, and carried an air of travel-weariness about them, as if they had traveled a long distance to reach this place.

"Junior Martial Brother Li, are you sure you haven't made a mistake? Is there really a teleportation array from Heavenly Abyss City in that canyon that can allow us to enter the city directly?" A white-bearded old man, with two long green swords on his back, withdrew his gaze, turned, and asked the scarred old man next to him with a serious expression.

"Senior Martial Brother Sect Master, don't worry. This teleportation array is a secret one reserved for the elders of Heavenly Abyss City. Very few people know about it. If it weren't for a guard who oversaw this array being an old acquaintance of mine and inadvertently revealing it after getting drunk, I wouldn't have known about this at all," the scarred old man replied without hesitation.

"That's hard to say. The Nightmare Clan has occupied this area for quite some time now, and even the most private places could have been exposed," the old man shook his head, appearing extremely worried.

"But now Heavenly Abyss City has been sealed off by the Nightmare Clan. If we try to force our way in directly, it would be suicidal. Only Junior Martial Brother Li's method offers a possibility we can try," another old woman with a peculiar face couldn't help but speak.

"What Junior Martial Sister said is true. We have no retreat now. If we continue to hide outside, the Fireflame Sect being wiped out by the Nightmare Clan is only a matter of time. Only by entering Heavenly Abyss City can we preserve our sect's lineage. It seems we must take the risk and try," the old man with the swords on his back had a grim expression for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "Senior Martial Brother is wise! Our human race has experienced countless Nightmare Tribulations in the past. The three great imperial cities were not very stable, but only Heavenly Abyss City has an unbroken record of never being breached. If we can enter it, our lives will naturally be safe. I'll arrange for disciples to go and check it out now."

The scarred old man was overjoyed upon hearing this. "There's no need to send ordinary disciples. If the Nightmare Clan has indeed set a trap, ordinary disciples might not be able to discover it. It's safer for us to go personally. Even if we do fall into a trap, ordinary Nightmare people won't be able to stop us," the old man with the swords stroked his beard, speaking with unusual resolve.

"Alright, let's do as Senior Martial Brother says. Junior Martial Brother Li and I will accompany you," the old woman pondered for a moment and readily agreed.

"No, Junior Martial Sister, you are second only to me in cultivation within the sect. It's better for you to stay here with the other junior martial brothers. If something happens, don't wait for us to return; immediately take the disciples and leave this place. Junior Martial Brother Li, Junior Martial Brother Yang, you two accompany me. One of you knows a lot about this teleportation array, and the other is proficient in array formations and restrictions; both of you can be of great use," the old man with the swords no longer hesitated and directly named them.

The scarred old man and another old man with a scholarly appearance immediately agreed and stepped forward.

Thus, after the old man with the swords gave a few more instructions to those remaining, he, along with the other two, transformed into streaks of light and shot straight towards the canyon in the distance.

The remaining human cultivators naturally watched the direction where the streaks of light vanished with nervous expressions.

This group of human cultivators, including the old man with the swords, would never have imagined that merely tens of li away from the mountaintop, in the void, a faint green rainbow was also swiftly heading towards the same target.

Inside the streak of light, a young man, about twenty years old, was casually playing with a dark, miniature mountain, his gaze casually sweeping around, seemingly unconcerned. On his shoulder, a little girl, seemingly only three or four years old, lay sprawled. She was fair-skinned and tender, with a chubby baby face. One hand gripped Han Li's shoulder, while the other held an unknown spirit fruit, which she chewed heartily.