In a land where there were mountains as far as one could see, there was once a tall volcano reaching thousands of li in height, holding up the sky.

That mountain is a tale of old, But its vestiges still live to this day in the form giant valley that was cleaved by a heavenly axe.

And at the very center of this valley was a giant city made of countless grottoes spanning for hundreds of mu. This was the Yan Shan Blessed Land, one of the only surviving blessed lands of the current era, the central territory of the Yan Family.

Below the sky and above this blessed land appeared a radiant ship spreading its golden wings like a kunpeng, and from it emerged a middle-aged gentry— it was Hou Shu.

The moment Hou Shu appeared, a majestic and awe-inspiring voice that was filled with laughter echoed through the blessed land, "So Daoist Hou has already come to our territory, please enter and let this old man entertain fellow Daoist!"

This voice was naturally Yan Que Zi's.

"Indeed, Daoist Que Zi! Last time I entertained you, and now it's your turn!" Hou Shu laughed, his voice also spreading through the blessed land.

While they didn't do anything on the surface, they were in fact, competing for face. They were not immortals freed from concepts such as face after all.

Thus, without delaying any further, Hou Shu soon was guided into a special hall inside of a grotto.

There were nineteen thrones there, each occupied by someone. But the highest three thrones were on the other end of that hall on an elevated platform, facing the entrance. These thrones were made of what seemed to be frozen flames, unlike the others, which were made of Tai Yang Yun Gold.

On the central throne, Yan Que Zi in his usual scarlet and white mianfu sat while to his left sat the chubby Yan Shen Jun while his right was occupied by a thin but tall person who was like a spear.

Behind them, there was a giant scarlet banner hung with the words, "焰將統治世界¹" written on it.

"Hou Shu greets the Patriarch and Elders of the Yan family!" Hou Shu bowed and greeted.

"I didn't expect that I would get to meet fellow Daoist Hou so soon, this is a great pleasure!" Laughed Yan Shen Jun. But as he laughed, his figure flickered as if it was a flame, clearly, this was not his real body but a unique method of the Yan family.

While Yan Que Zi didn't say anything, he just hummed in response as he gently stroked his well-trimmed mustache.

Getting Yan Que Zi's intention of letting him continue, Hou Shu spoke up, "Since I, Hou Shu, the Red Book Detective, am here, I have obviously investigated this case thoroughly." He then swept his gaze towards the elders and cuffed his fist, "But before I speak of the results, whether I failed or succeeded, I would like to know about my payment..."

"Who do you think you are!? Trying to ask something like that, do you think our Yan family are greedy dogs!?" The person who spoke this was the thin spear-like person sitting next to Yan Que Zi, called Yan Li Yun, the Lord of the Golden Elixir Hall.

The Golden Elixir Hall was one of the main pillars of the Yan family, as the lords of Golden Elixir Hall inherited the Qiankun flames, the top alchemical flame of current times.

The Qiankun flames of the Lord of the Golden Elixir Hall, the White Flower Suppression flames of the Lord of the Yanhua Tower and the Celestial flames of the Yan family Patriarch were collectively known as the 'Three Yan² of the current times.'

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But Hou Shu was not someone to be intimidated by this.

Hou Shu's eyes narrowed as his lips pressed into a cold smile, his Nascent Soul Great Completion aura erupted from his body like a great tidal wave of the northern seas, "Yan Li Yun, your Yan family may be great, but I, Hou Shu am also not some insignificant figure. Do you think, you, who have not even entered Great Completion of Nascent Soul, can threaten me?"

At this moment, a fiery aura that seemed to burn everything spread through the hall, countering Hou Shu's, "Fellow Daoists, we all are old monsters here, we shouldn't quarrel like children right?"

It was Yan Que Zi who spoke, a light smile on his face

He then moved his gaze to Hou Shu and spoke, "Daoist Hou, Yan Li Yun didn't mean to imply such meaning, he was just worried that Daoist Hou would collude with the other six hegemons and feed false information to derail us while taking the reward that used up a hefty amount of funds," Yan Que Zi let out a hearty Laugh, but it seemed to have sinister edge to it, "But Daoist Hou, a man of great reputation, won't do that right?"

"Of course not, if I, the first in the way of investigation do that, then the way of investigation is dead." Chuckled Hou Shu, but that's only on the surface, he knew that this farce was a threat to not hide anything no matter what, with Yan Que Zi's cultivation level, why can't stop a Nascent Soul cultivator who hasn't achieved Great Completion?

"Then, let us hear Daoist Hou's findings." Yan Que Zi raised his hand, gesturing Hou Shu to continue.

"Then let me begin after I left Yanhua Tower, as I presume fellow Daoists already know about the incident there." He paused for a brief moment, he felt the Azure and Crimson Flames start to surface on his Sea of Consciousness.

Nevertheless, he continued, his eyes vigilant for any signs of danger.

"I visited the various sects of barren plains, whose detailed records are in this spiritual jade slip," he gently made a white jade slip float toward Yan Que Zi, who quickly took it, "But the main point is that the mastermind was skillful enough to control a vast land such as Barren Plains and had them descend into a war."

This made Yan Que Zi's pupils narrow into a thin line like a dragon's as his hair started to float without any wind, "This means the mastermind had inherited the Fire Celestial Treasure for at least fifty years... Scheming for so long, there is something grand at play."

"That is what I thought. Thus, I had no choice but to enter the seventy-five thousand mu radius."

"Hong Di Immortal town was submerged in quiescence as everyone was in seclusion, cultivating in the increased spiritual qi that seemed to match the time before the great calamity."

The moment he uttered those words, the flames in his mind raged like never before, making Hou Shu quiver for a split second.

But despite that, he couldn't just leave this place without any obvious signs of danger, leaving him no choice but to continue.

"This left me with no choice but to go to the Chijia village, where I reached a dilapidated shack."

"There, I encountered a person that chanted a calling spell which submerged me in an ocean of gu, leading me to escape and come here."

Hou Shu's Sea of Consciousness started to shake from the turbulent flames, but he gnashed his teeth and continued, having figured out that the moment he spoke of this sentence, the source of the agitation of the flames would be revealed.

"All of this leads me to conclude that the inheritance was never of fire element, but of wood! Ancient wood element!"

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The sounds of mirror shattering echoed in Hou Shu's ears as a gentle and sublime flame of azure and red slowly floated outwards from him and formed a figure in front of which only he could see.

What seemed to be a gentle smile appeared on the flaming figure's face as a melodious voice left its mouth, "Jing'er, haven't you forgotten something?"

The instance those words were spoken, grey fire quietly burning in Hou Shu's Sea of Consciousness extinguished. From its appearance to its extinguishment, its operation was shrouded in quiescence.

But Hou Shu couldn't hold a straight face any longer as his face morphed into one of shock, disbelief and horror.

Forgotten? Yes! He had forgotten Bai Ling!