"Besides Lord Qin Mo and our few Black Demons, only Xi Ying knows this secret. Who else could it be?" Wu Li argued.

"Now that things have come to this, it's pointless to argue about who leaked the information, let's think about our countermeasures." Tie Xuan said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, Wu Li finally fell silent and looked at Sima Changqin.

"Originally, I wanted to use others to draw the attention of the Ten Thousand Demon Country, while we take the opportunity to seize the Heavenly Fire. Now the plan is exposed, so we will go to Fire Peak Mountain as well." Sima Changqin's expression returned to calm, casually playing with the chess pieces on the sand table with two fingers, and said lightly.

"Understood." Tie Xuan nodded in agreement.

"What should be done with Xi Ying?" Wu Li pressed on.

Sima Changqin didn't speak, continuing to gaze at the sand table.

Tie Xuan gave Wu Li a look and pulled him out of the room.

Sima Changqin stood in front of the sand table and silently watched the large and small chess pieces on it.

Suddenly, he closed his eyes, his face turning alternately blue and white, his clothes fluttering without wind, and the entire hall shook continuously.

Moments later, he suddenly opened his eyes, two lightning-like beams shot out, hitting the void with a muffled sound.

Sima Changqin staggered back a few steps before stabilizing, sweat barely visible on his forehead.

"The power of the Heart Demon is indeed frightening, it actually made me lose my composure." He gasped lowly, murmuring to himself.

Sima Changqin raised his hand to wipe away the sweat, his face already back to normal, and raised his hand to draw an inconspicuous small chess piece, "Snap," placing it on the location of Fire Peak Mountain.

Outside in the corridor, Wu Li and Tie Xuan walked side by side.

"Tie Xuan, why didn't you let me ask clearly? Leaving Xi Ying by Lord Qin Mo's side will only be a disaster." Wu Li said in a deep voice.

"You've been with the Black Demons for quite some time, yet you still act so recklessly. How to deal with Xi Ying, Lord Qin Mo knows well, it doesn't require your doubt or mine." Tie Xuan sighed helplessly, speaking in a tone of hating iron for not becoming steel.

"I just feel Lord Qin Mo seems to have lost his composure this time; why would he tell Xi Ying about the Heavenly Fire? Though there are Forbidden techniques on the Red Phoenix Boat, giving such vital information to outsiders will only increase risks, the old Lord Qin Mo would never make such a mistake." Wu Li said, puzzled.

"That's not for us to speculate, just focus on your own tasks." Tie Xuan shook his head.

Wu Li seemed somewhat unwilling but didn't say more.

"By the way, how's the matter I asked you to investigate?" He remembered something and asked.

"Are you talking about Nan Shangfeng? His cultivation is still at the late stage of Returning Void, not much progress compared to back then. You were really ruthless back then." Tie Xuan chuckled.

"That kid dared to offend Lord Qin Mo, if not for the face of Master Tantai, I would have taken his life long ago, how could I let him live till now." Wu Li said coldly.

"You already took away nearly half of his Spirit Root back then, what do you intend to do now?" Tie Xuan asked with a frown.

"Naturally, to take away the other half, it's just a curse he had to appear in front of me again!" Wu Li's eyes showed a vicious glint.

Tie Xuan looked at Wu Li's expression, shaking his head with a sigh.

...

Three days later, Yuan Ming finally arrived at the Fire Peak Mountain Range.

The thick black smoke spewing from the volcanic crater covered the sky, with no sunlight piercing through, yet the flowing lava between scorched black stones illuminated the series of volcanoes brightly.

At the edge of the Fire Peak Mountain Range, Yuan Ming steered Lei Yu to a halt in midair, looking distantly at the Fire Peak Mountain Range in front, feeling the high temperatures emanating from within, he was slightly astonished.

The entire Fire Peak Mountain Range's temperature had reached levels far beyond the norm, the scattered flames heating the air to the point of peeling skin and flesh, and the pervasive Fire Poison ignited the organs, wishing to burn people to ash from the inside out.

According to his understanding, the previous Fire Peak Mountain was dangerous, but it hadn't reached this level.

The current change, perhaps, is indeed due to the emergence of the Heavenly Fire.

"You've worked hard, take a rest first." Yuan Ming thought for a moment, leapt off Lei Yu's back, and simultaneously waved his sleeve, returning it to Shura Palace.

Relying on Lei Yu's speed, he reached here in just three days; other Dharma Phase cultivators, even if they received the news in time, could not arrive in a short period.

Therefore, the time left for Yuan Ming to investigate is relatively sufficient.

According to Xi Ying, more than half of the sixth-level Great Demons from the Ten Thousand Demon Country have come here. Yuan Ming used the Void Transformation Technique, turning his body transparent, and then, with a push of his mana, he flew into the Fire Peak Mountain Range on a tunneling light.

A scorching heat swept over him, but fortunately, Yuan Ming's cultivation was deep, and he could resist it by applying a mana shield around himself.

While flying forward, he released his Divine Sense, staying vigilant around him, searching for any possible traces.

Time flowed quickly, and soon a whole day had passed.

Yuan Ming stood on a crimson peak, frowning as he looked ahead.

He had penetrated deep into the Fire Peak Mountain Range, yet there were no traces left by the sixth-level Great Demons.

"Could it be that the information Xi Ying revealed through Sima Changqin is false?" Yuan Ming wondered privately.

Due to resisting the high temperature for a long time, his mana had also been consumed significantly, so he did not continue searching. Instead, he found a relatively concealed place halfway up the crimson peak to rest and contemplate his next move.

Meanwhile, he again released the Undying Tree Roots, extracting the underground Spirit Vein in a needle-threading manner.

Upon entering the Fire Peak Mountain Range, he discovered the abundant Fire Spirit land beneath the mountain.

The Undying Tree Roots quickly delved into the earth, touching the underground Spirit Vein.

Yuan Ming showed a look of surprise, the spiritual power of the Spirit Vein beneath the Fire Peak Mountains was astonishingly concentrated.

If an ordinary Spirit Vein were likened to a babbling brook, then the spiritual power contained within this vein would be like a great river flowing eastward, merely extracting a wisp or a strand even if hundreds or thousands of Returning to Void cultivators absorbed it simultaneously.

Such a vast Spirit Vein could not possibly be naturally formed. In truth, only by gathering the Spirit Veins of the entire Fire Rock Desert here could such a scale be achieved.

Yuan Ming's eyes flickered; there must have been a major upheaval here, and there's a high likelihood that the Heavenly Fire is located here.

Yet, if that's the case, where have those sixth-level Great Demons of the Ten Thousand Demon Country gone?

As Yuan Ming pondered, he suddenly sensed a change, noticing that the red orb he had condensed earlier had swelled several times over, with fissures faintly appearing on its surface.

Thrilled, Yuan Ming immediately extended more roots to fully absorb the power of the Fire Spirit Vein underground.

With Yuan Ming's unreserved supply, only half an incense stick later, the red orb seemed to be filled with the Fire Spirit Vein's power, expanding to its limit.

Suddenly, with a crisp "pop" sound, the orb cracked open from its base, out of which many tree roots emerged, and the orb further disintegrated, soon completely transforming into a fiery red tree exuding intense heat.

Although its appearance differed somewhat, Yuan Ming quickly recognized that it was also a Gathering Spirit Tree.

However, unlike a standard Gathering Spirit Tree, this tree seemed capable of channeling only fire attribute spiritual power and even repelled the approach of other attributes.

For those cultivating fire attribute techniques, this tree was naturally a treasure, but for other cultivators, it seemed somewhat lacking in utility.

Yuan Ming did not mind, and with slight contemplation, he used his mana to send this tree into the Shura Palace, placing it within the Extreme Fire Realm to enhance the fire attribute spiritual power there.

The transplantation process was very simple, and Yuan Ming did not expend much effort before returning to the Fire Peak Mountain Range, preparing to continue using the Undying Tree to extract the power of the Fire Spirit Vein.

However, shortly after extending the roots, a look of surprise emerged in his eyes as the Undying Tree Roots detected an unusual fluctuation of breath deep within the earth.

He performed a spell with a flick of his fingers, casting the Circular Light Technique.

The Circular Light Technique soon revealed the situation underground.

In the Fire Spirit Vein, a large bald man, naked from the waist up, was searching around for something. His face had three ferocious scars, as if they had been torn by claws, and his neck bore a ring of fiery red fur that resembled a protective collar, swaying slightly with his movements.

"It's him!" Yuan Ming's pupils contracted.

The intelligence he had collected about the Ten Thousand Demon Country was sparse, but he couldn't possibly mistake the strange features of this man—for he was undoubtedly the Flame Wolf King, one of the Five Great Demon Kings.

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