The Sacred Flame Sect was situated in the southern part of the Heavenly Fortune Nation. The Sect was built on a hundred kilometers of an extensive mountain range, abundant with the fire element. The Sect had around ten thousand disciples, the majority of them were male and all of them possessed Profound Vein with a high affinity to fire element.
Similar to the Misty Cloud Sect, the Sacred Flame Sect's echelons comprising Sect Master, Supreme Elder, Eight Grand Elders, and Twenty Elders — most of them had profound strength at the Heaven Profound Realm. As for disciples, they were classified into a Core disciple, Inner disciple, and Outer disciple. Every three years, the Sect would recruit new disciples and today was supposed to be the assessment day. However, for an unknown reason, the Sect had announced the cancellation of the assessment, causing many young profound practitioners around the nation to be disappointed.
At the highest peak among several mountain peaks, a thirty-year-old looking man calmly walking into a majestic hall. His sharp eyes were calm, without a trace of urgency. The words 'Sacred Flame' was shown on his long crimson robe. They were fluttering vividly as if the words had come to life. He was the current Sect Master of the Sacred Flame Sect, Huo Han.
"Ancestor!" Huo Han saluted respectfully to a silhouette behind a fire curtain within the hall.
The fire curtain slowly faded away, revealing a skinny old man, who sat on a large piece of Fire Jade. His skins were red with strange patterns engraved all over his body, including his bald head. He was Huo Yan, the previous generation's Sect Master of the Sacred Flame Sect. His sunken eyes opened as he looked at Huo Han.
"How's the preparation?" Asked Huo Yan. His aged voice was deep and hoarse — evidently, he had lived for a very long time.
"We are ready to start anytime." Huo Han replied. A trace of excitement could be seen in his eyes.
Huo Yan silent for a moment as he pondered on something. He asked, "What's the situation over there?"
"There is no major change within the Misty Cloud Sect. It seems they didn't aware of it." Huo Han answered in relaxed manner. During these past years, he had secretly deployed several Fire Spirit Snakes around the Misty Cloud Peak's vicinity to monitor their movement. Except for the accident a while ago when one of his snakes was discovered by the Misty Cloud Sect's disciples, there was no major activity happened in that Sect afterward.
A thoughtful expression appeared on Huo Yan's face. He gazed at Huo Han as he asked, "Among them, who left the most impression on you?"
Huo Han was confused. He didn't understand why Huo Yan suddenly asked him this question. He replied after a brief consideration: "It's Yun Meilan. Her concealment art is terrifying. I have suffered a loss from her once in the past."
Huo Yan shook his head with a trace of disappointment on his face: "No matter how high her concealment art is, she will eventually appear when she launched an attack. You only need to be on guard against her." He paused for a moment to observe Huo Han's expression before he continued, "The scariest person among them is the First Hall Master, Yun Ruanyu. She was the mastermind behind our Third Ancestor's demise. Her ability to calculate is exceedingly terrifying. However, since that old hag is already dead, they don't have any backer anymore. No matter what plan Yun Ruanyu comes up with, it will be nothing in front of overwhelming strength."
Huo Han's brows raised in surprise. For him, Yun Ruanyu was indeed the most mysterious person, as she rarely showed up in public. This was the first time he came to know she was the cause of the Third Ancestor's death.
Huo Yan said further, "She is one of the reasons I am willing to wait until that old hag died. With a combination of her and that old hag, there is no way we could do anything to them, even with Qi Qianxing's help… This time, we paid a huge price to lure Qi Qianxing into the plan. We must not fail."
Huo Han nodded his head in an understanding manner. In his heart, he didn't think the Misty Cloud Sect could put up any resistance when facing the Sacred Flame Sect, Profound Sword Sect, and Qi Qianxing at the same time. If it wasn't because Huo Yan strictly restrained him, he would have long attack the Misty Cloud Sect since a decade ago.
Huo Han hesitated shortly before he asked cautiously, "Ancestor, can you tell me what exactly is that relic?" He wanted to ask this question a long time ago. He didn't understand why Huo Yan was so obsessed with the so-called relic within the Misty Cloud Sect.
A blazing flame suddenly appeared around Huo Yan's body as he replied with a trace of anger in his voice, "This is not something you need to know. You helped me do the job and you can get a reward that you wanted the most. Isn't this enough reason for you?"
Huo Han quickly knelt down on the floor while sweating profusely, "Please, calm down, Ancestor!"
Huo Yan stared at Huo Han for a while and he waved his hand dismissively: "Go. After the Blazing Sun Mythical realm opened, we will start our plan."
Huo Han let out a sigh of relief. He gave a deep bow to Huo Yan and quickly left the hall. When he stepped out of the hall, a wretched smile emerged on his lips, "Yun Qianxue… Hehe, you will be mine soon."
...
In the northern part of the Heavenly Fortune Capital City laid a majestic palace made of expensive white jades — The Heavenly Fortune Imperial Palace. This place was the primary residence of the Qi Royal clan. it occupied several acres and there were over a thousand lives resided in.
At this moment, there were four persons sitting around a luxury twenty meters long ancient woods table in a spacious reception hall.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, for breaking through in profound strength." An early thirties-looking man in a white robe said. He had a handsome face, sword-like eyebrows, and a pair of sharp eyes that constantly emitting a lethal aura. He was the current Sect Master of the Profound Sword Sect, Ji Muchen.
Besides him, was a teenager with ninety percent resembled him. Without a doubt, he was Ji Muchen's eldest son, Ji Cheng. He was a young prodigy, proficient in sword arts, and his strength had already reached the tenth level of Essence Profound Realm.
"Thank you, Sect Master Ji." Said a dignified man in a golden embroidered robe who sat opposite Ji Muchen. His face was cold. His thick, black eyebrows were like two inclined sharp swords, and his gaze was as calm as a pool of still water, without any waves of motion. He was the current Ruler of Heaven Fortune Nation, Qi Qianxing. Sitting on his side was a fifteen-year-old-looking young maiden, the Second Princess, Qi Tian'er.
Qi Qianxing glanced at his daughter and said, "I heard that Sect Master Ji came here to propose marriage to my daughter for your son. Am I correct?"
Ji Muchen replied calmly, "Yes, Your Majesty. My son is sixteen this year and I think it is the right time for him to get married. I don't know what does Your Majesty thinks of my untalented son?" He didn't talk about the Second Princess directly, instead, he asked Qi Qianxing about his son. It could be seen he was quite a prideful person.
Qi Qianxing laughed and looked at Ji Cheng: "Your son is not bad. To be able to reach this level at sixteen, he can be considered as a top talent in his generation." He turned to Qi Tian'er and asked with a warm smile, "What do you think, Tian'er?"
Qi Tian'er's beautiful eyes stared at Ji Cheng since the first time they met without looking elsewhere. When she heard her father's question, her face immediately turned red in shame as she quickly lowered her head and answered shyly, "He is good, Royal Father."
Qi Qianxing and Ji Muchen looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time. Meanwhile, Ji Cheng looking at Qi Tian'er's delicate face and nodded inwardly in satisfaction. In terms of appearance and status, Qi Tian'er was good enough to be his wife.
"Since my Tian'er has no objection. I naturally approve of this marriage. We shall settle the wedding ceremony later after the Blazing Sun Mythical realm's exploration." Qi Qianxing said with a faint smile. To him, giving his daughter away for benefits was common. He didn't feel reluctant at all and even quickly approved of this marriage directly without further consideration.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Ji Muchen stood up and bowed his head slightly. He was overjoyed inwardly, as he didn't expect Qi Qianxing would easily accept the marriage proposal like this.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I swear, I will take care of Second Princess for the rest of my life and I will never let her down." Ji Cheng saluted and vowed solemnly.
Qi Tian'er took a deep look at her soon-to-be husband's handsome face, her heart beating rapidly. As a royal princess, she was well-aware one day she had to marry out for the sake of benefits. To be able to choose a companion by herself was already a substantial fortune. She was extremely satisfied with Ji Cheng. Whether it was his talent or appearance, all of them were top-notch.
"Alright, Tian'er, you should bring your Brother Ji to get to know our imperial palace." Qi Qianxing told Qi Tian'er. The latter gave a reply and quickly left the hall with Ji Cheng.
The atmosphere turned serious after the two youngsters had left. Ji Muchen enjoyed a cup of spirit tea for a while before he asked, "I presumed Your Majesty has accepted Sect Master Huo's terms already. May I know about your opinion on this matter?"
Qi Qianxing replied nonchalantly, "I have nothing much to say on this matter… However, a long-standing sect like the Misty Cloud Sect is not easy to mess with. I don't think Sect Master Huo simply wants to get a woman as it appeared on the surface… Honestly speaking, if it wasn't because I urgently needed a large portion of Fire Spirit stones for my son, I certainly won't take part in this."
Huo Han's obsession with Yun Qianxue was known throughout the entire nation. Every time they met, he would try his best to court her. Unfortunately, Yun Qianxue never paid attention to him even once, and she even beat him several times in the past. No matter how much Huo Han infatuated with her, Qi Qianxing didn't believe he would take a risk by confronting the Misty Cloud Sect for the sake of getting Yun Qianxue.
Ji Muchen nodded his head in agreement. He responded, "You are right, Your Majesty. I think Sect Master Huo is hiding something from us. I'm afraid, he is trying to use us as a cannon-fodder."
Although Ji Muchen understood Huo Han sent out a lot of Fire Spirit stones to Qi Qianxing in order to obtain his support, he wasn't sure to what extent Qi Qianxing was going to help them.
Qi Qianxing sneered, "Using me? Heh, he won't dare. Even his ancestor has to bow his head when he saw me. A junior like Huo Han is even more afraid of me." He paused briefly and said further, "As for what exactly he is hiding from us. I can't figure out for the time being."
Ji Muchen frowned deeply. Besides proposing marriage, he came here to find out the secret behind Huo Han's seemingly reckless action from Qi Qianxing. He didn't expect that even Qi Qianxing had no clue about it.
"It doesn't matter. He can't do anything behind my back, anyway." Qi Qianxing spoke. His voice was filled with arrogance and boundless confidence.
Ji Muchen's brows relaxed a lot as he said, "Your Majesty is right."
The two glanced at each other meaningfully and burst into loud laughter, reverberating throughout the spacious hall.