Lu indeed felt something strange had slipped into his body.

  This made him frown.

  Because that intruder brought a faint sense of crisis—though not particularly strong.

  But Lu still took it seriously.

  “Is it because of this fire origin flame?”

  Lu narrowed his eyes. After thinking it over, he felt the problem lay in the fire origin flame he had just absorbed. After all, it came from Qiang Huo—a prized disciple of the Elemental God.

  And Lu remembered that the flame will Tonggu had crushed belonged to the Elemental God himself.

  “Could there be a remnant of the Elemental God’s will?”

  Lu’s expression grew solemn. This was no small matter—he had to be extremely cautious and thorough.

  After all, he was no longer the reckless youth who feared nothing.

  He now carried the entire nascent immortal-martial Five Phoenix on his shoulders, still in need of nurturing. So Lu had to ensure his own safety.

  After silently cursing Tonggu’s unreliability for leaving behind a trace of the Elemental God’s will,

  Lu’s mind moved. His powerful divine soul surged into his body.

  Following the flowing fire origin power within his Indestructible Fire Body, he began analyzing and probing.

  Lu was patient—methodical, inch by inch, strand by strand, extremely serious.

  But after a full sweep, he found nothing unusual.

  The fire origin power coursing through him was strengthening his Indestructible Fire Body considerably, faintly approaching perfection. Everything seemed perfectly harmonious.

  Yet Lu was certain—that strange feeling earlier was no illusion.

  So he became even more serious and cautious.

  He even activated the preaching platform for a full-body scan.

  Hum…

  After repeated scans,

  Lu finally detected an extremely faint will fluctuation hidden within a single drop of blood racing through his veins.

  It was nearly imperceptible. If not for his meticulous attention, he might have missed it entirely.

  A scorching heat emanated from that will.

  Lu’s expression turned cold and grim.

  Sure enough—something filthy was coveting his body!

  Lu slowly exhaled, feeling a trace of lingering fear. Fortunately, he had been cautious enough. Otherwise, this wisp of will would have taken root, absorbing nutrients, growing stronger, and eventually completing possession!

  “The Elemental God… truly insidious. As expected of a heaven-god rank god-demon… old schemer.”

  Cold light flickered in Lu’s eyes.

  This grudge—he, Lu Ping’an, would remember it.

  One day, it would be repaid!

  Boom!

  Lu’s powerful divine soul erupted outward, vast and surging like tidal waves crashing from the sea, slamming toward the wisp of will to obliterate it.

  But to Lu’s surprise, the will was incredibly resilient—like an unyielding rock, unmoved.

  …

  In the Fire Elemental Realm.

  That terrifying existence’s eyes gleamed with faint light.

  “Hm? It was discovered? Impossible… with Tonggu’s reckless nature, he shouldn’t have noticed.”

  Tonggu was a quasi-saint-level powerhouse—supremely confident in his divine soul and quasi-saint body.

  In truth, the Fire Elemental God hadn’t intended to destroy Tonggu with this wisp of will. Killing a quasi-saint comparable to himself with such a small trick was nearly impossible.

  But he could let the will continuously absorb the quasi-saint body’s nutrients, growing into a monster inside, lying dormant—ready to erupt at the critical moment and catch Tonggu off guard.

  Yet he hadn’t expected his plan to be discovered so soon.

  “This divine soul power… isn’t Tonggu’s?”

  “Tonggu must have given this fire origin flame to a human prodigy?”

  “Fine. Killing one human prodigy is still a profit.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The existence sneered.

  His original target had been Tonggu. But since Tonggu hadn’t fallen for it, any human prodigy would do.

  “With this level of divine soul power, you think you can erase my will seed? Obediently become nourishment for my will seed—become my hidden pawn within humanity!”

  The Fire Elemental God sneered coldly. He thought of many things. This human prodigy who earned Tonggu’s favor must hold significant status in humanity. For Tonggu to entrust him with the precious fire origin flame showed how important this junior was.

  Thus, the value of this hidden pawn was self-evident.

  Boom!

  The Fire Elemental God’s eyes flashed. He secretly urged the will seed.

  …

  Lu reacted instantly.

  Seeing the will seed suddenly erupt violently—like a blazing sun igniting within his body, its will surging as though to grind away Lu’s own.

  Lu was both angry and amused.

  “Pushing your luck—do you think I, Lu Ping’an, am easy to bully?!”

  Lu’s fury ignited.

  He had diligently nurtured the Five Phoenix for so many years. This was the first time he’d been bullied like this.

  Without hesitation, he fully unleashed his divine soul power. Even innate purple qi surged forth, merging with his will to suppress the intruder.

  The preaching platform manifested—descending from above, suppressing the void within Lu’s body!

  Boom!

  Lu felt his flesh about to erupt like a volcano, terrifying auras exploding outward.

  And that hidden will seed was now fully exposed.

  Vaguely, it transformed into a roaring fire figure.

  “I am the will of the Fire Elemental God…”

  A faint will fluctuation emanated, then surged toward Lu’s divine soul.

  Lu’s expression was ice-cold.

  His divine soul will collided without hesitation. The two clashed.

  Lu’s divine soul was like a roaring heavenly river.

  The will seed was as thin as a thread.

  Yet their collision was evenly matched.

  This surprised Lu and made him sigh at the might of quasi-saint powerhouses.

  He, Lu Ping’an… was still too weak.

  After all, he was just an ordinary cultivator.

  But Lu wasn’t without means. He directly summoned the preaching platform and smashed it down.

  The preaching platform was divine. Its Eight Trigrams array words flowed, carrying supreme pressure.

  Instantly, the will seed was crushed!

  A vast, majestic power emanated from the preaching platform, suppressing and sealing the Elemental God’s will.

  “Cough tui~”

  Lu opened his mouth.

  A drop of pitch-black blood sprayed out.

  Lu’s eyes narrowed.

  He raised his hand. The surrounding void was sliced into chaos like shredded silk.

  He restrained the drop of blood.

  “The Elemental God’s will…”

  Lu narrowed his eyes.

  “This is an enormous fortune.”

  “A tool god-demon above immortal-rank has been secured.”

  “Thank you, Elemental God old pal, for the divine soul will.”

  Lu chuckled lightly.

  Then he clenched his five fingers.

  Space sliced apart, severing the faint connection between the blood drop and the Elemental God.

  Lu’s mind moved. His figure flickered like teleportation and appeared at the top of the Fortune Tower.

  The giant beast Kui Si lay lazily. He had been living comfortably—until suddenly he felt a terrifying aura that made even sleep uneasy.

  Opening his eyes, he saw the white-robed Lu Ping’an looking calmly at him.

  Wasn’t this the human who had beaten him senseless?!

  “Human, what do you want?!”

  Kui Si’s eyes filled with fear. The aura on this human was growing more terrifying.

  It now carried the pressure of a great-path rank god-demon!

  Last time he didn’t feel this way. How long had he slept? And the human had become this strong?

  Human talent was too terrifying.

  No wonder the god-demons’ upper echelons wanted to suppress humanity.

  Seeing Lu draw closer.

  Kui Si panicked.

  “Don’t come over!”

  “No… don’t!”

  Kui Si roared in terror.

  He was already a prisoner—what more did this human want from him?

  But Lu ignored Kui Si’s roars. With a flick of his finger, the separated Elemental God’s will shot into Kui Si’s mouth.

  Kui Si was dumbfounded.

  The next moment, he felt his body turn into a furnace. Every drop of blood split apart. Terrifying power surged within him.

  Kui Si grew more terrified—what was this human doing?

  Drugging him?!

  Why was his body so hot?!

  It felt like a fire needed release!

  As his power grew, Kui Si’s eyes lit up. His bloodline level soared. His strength rose continuously…

  In one surge, he broke through the barrier and stepped into great-path rank!

  Though he felt his great-path rank was unstable… he had grown stronger!

  “I… I’ve become stronger?!”

  Kui Si was overjoyed.

  The next moment, he glared at Lu with murderous intent!

  But Lu looked at him with disappointment.

  “As expected—trash. Fusing a drop of blood containing the Elemental God’s will only produced this flashy but useless counterfeit. Still, it’s acceptable—at least it’s great-path rank, even if much weaker than Qiang Huo.”

  Lu shook his head.

  “Hm, the Fortune Tower now has a great-path rank god-demon resource reserve. When Zhu Long and Lu Jiulian want to break through to Heavenly Emperor, they’ll have a way…”

  Thinking of this, Lu’s gaze toward Kui Si softened.

  After all, Kui Si was now the Five Phoenix’s only artificially created great-path rank god-demon reserve. Though drug-induced, he was still unique and precious.

  Kui Si originally thought his cultivation had increased—reaching the great-path rank he had never dared dream of.

  In the ancient starry void, wandering god-demons like him who reached great-path rank could enter the Elemental Realm!

  So he had a bold idea—to break free from this human’s control.

  He wanted freedom!

  He wanted the starry void!

  He wanted to fly!

  So he attacked—slashing a claw toward Lu!

  This claw erupted with great-path rank power, faintly threatening to shatter star rivers.

  Lu glanced over.

  He raised an eyebrow.

  Getting bold now, huh? Daring to scheme?

  His mind moved. The Spirit Pressure Chessboard appeared before him.

  Since he was free, why not use Kui Si to practice his newly acquired divine ability from quasi-saint Tonggu—Spatial Severing Technique?

  Combining Spatial Severing Technique with the chessboard domain and Spirit Pressure!

  Lu sat calmly in the Thousand-Blade Chair, white robes fluttering.

  He rolled up his sleeve and placed a piece.

  The chessboard domain expanded. Spirit Pressure beams twisted space and smashed down!

  Puff!

  In an instant, blood sprayed. Kui Si’s claw was severed by spatial slicing…

  Kui Si was defeated.

  That day, the entire Fortune Tower shook. A god-demon’s blood-curdling screams echoed through every corner.

  Those who heard it felt heartache. Those who listened shed tears.

  Ning Zhao and Yi Yue, managing the Fortune Tower, pretended not to notice.

  Ni Yu held the golden scale token, Little Yinglong perched on her head, projecting the scene and watching with relish.

  Little Yinglong saw Kui Si’s miserable state and recalled being inexplicably beaten by Father. He felt a strange sympathy—and his mood greatly improved.

  …

  In the Fire Elemental Realm.

  A stifled roar echoed.

  Terrifying divine soul fluctuations surged with boundless fury, sweeping every corner. Flames erupted into ten-thousand-zhang waves.

  “Damn it! How could a mere human brat sever my connection with the will seed?! And what did that brat do with my will?!”

  The Fire Elemental God was furious.

  Yet helpless. The connection was cut—the wisp of will was no longer his.

  “When did such a figure appear among human prodigies…”

  “Humanity is growing stronger and stronger. With such juniors, humanity’s future is unimaginable. Perhaps the ancient starry void will truly become humanity’s domain…”

  “Teacher was right—humanity must be suppressed! We cannot give them any chance to breathe!”

  Silence fell over the sea of flames.

  After a long while, cold muttering echoed.

  “The Fire Origin Beast Ancestor statue’s mystery comprehension ground will open soon. Perhaps this time we can allocate more slots to humanity—even lure that Tonggu here…”

  The words fell, and heaven-shaking killing intent surged through the sea of flames.

  “Then…”

  “Kill!”