Somewhere in the Celestial Profound Villa.

"Qiu Ming, look, this is a Rain Dew Leaf. With this, we can temporarily suppress the fire poison in your body," Zhou Yue said, her eyes filled with pity as she looked at Qiu Ming curled up on the bed.

Qiu Ming’s eyes were clouded. He subconsciously reached out a withered hand and tremblingly took the Rain Dew Leaf.

"I... I’m... in so much pain."

Zhou Yue hurried over and hugged Qiu Ming. Her heart tightened as she whispered, "You’ll be fine once you take this Rain Dew Leaf. Don’t be afraid. I’m here."

"Mmm," Qiu Ming nodded and slowly consumed the Rain Dew Leaf.

Seeing Qiu Ming take the Rain Dew Leaf, grow weary, and fall into a deep sleep on the bed, Zhou Yue finally let out a small sigh of relief.

’What kind of flame is this? It can even burn Primordial Qi and Essence Blood?’ Zhou Yue thought of the cave, unable to help but shake her head and sigh.

...

On a mountain peak at the edge of the Celestial Profound Mountain Domain.

A Registered Disciple in white was surrounded by several others, also dressed in white. The token at his waist was engraved with the number one hundred ninety-six.

This person was none other than Qu He, an expert ranked 196th among the Registered Disciples, with a cultivation at the Fourth Heaven of the Yin-Yang Realm.

"HAHAHA, you guys probably don’t know this, but let me tell you, there are several other Sects around our Celestial Profound Sect. The Asura Sect and the Heaven-Burying Sect, for example, are quite powerful. But they’re all demonic Daoist Sects, so they can only hide underground. I followed Brother Yu to the Great Zhou Dynasty this time and saw a disciple from that Asura Sect. I almost died on the spot," Qu He laughed, sitting on an oddly shaped rock.

"The Great Zhou Dynasty? Isn’t that another Ancient Country? One even stronger than the Dayan Dynasty?"

"Yeah, I think I’ve heard of it too. But the Great Zhou Dynasty doesn’t belong to any Sect."

Qu He nodded. "Exactly. If our Celestial Profound Sect wants to grow stronger, we have to win over the Great Zhou Dynasty. It’s one of the few powerful Ancient Countries in the Eastern Profound Domain that isn’t controlled by a Sect. Unlike our Celestial Profound Sect, which is in the northwestern part of the Eastern Profound Domain, the Great Zhou Dynasty is situated in the center, bordering many other Sects. It’s not just our Celestial Profound Sect—the Thousand Nether Valley, the Daoist School of Non-action, the Taiyi Pavilion... all of them are coveting the Great Zhou Dynasty..."

Qu He was about to continue when a token suddenly appeared on the rock in front of him. It was engraved with the number two hundred one. Qu He and the others couldn’t help but turn to look at the person who had thrown it.

A Registered Disciple in white was standing at the edge of the crowd, looking calmly at Qu He. It was Wen Qingye.

Qu He frowned at the faintly smiling young man before him. "Challenging me?"

"That’s right," Wen Qingye nodded.

The crowd was both shocked and delighted.

"This is going to be good! A duel between experts in the top two hundred!"

"Two hundred one... let me think. I think he’s from some small, remote country. His name is Wen Qingye, right?"

"Is that the Wen Qingye who killed someone from the Luocheng Ancient Country on Hidden Peak? I heard the people from Luocheng put him on their blacklist."

"This is so exciting! I’ve never seen a match between two experts from the top two hundred before."

The surrounding crowd grew incredibly excited, their eyes filled with anticipation.

Seeing the eager, expectant gazes of the crowd, Qu He laughed. "Alright, junior brothers, I’ll continue my stories in a moment. Let me take care of this match first."

As he spoke, Qu He took out his own token and tossed it onto the rock.

Hearing Qu He’s words, the crowd immediately backed away, leaving a large enough area for the two to fight, but their eyes remained glued to the pair.

"Junior Brother, be careful!"

Qu He shouted, then bent his knees and sprang forward. With a series of quick steps, he flung his palms out, sending dozens of purple flames raining down from the sky, hurtling toward Wen Qingye.

The purple blaze rushed forward like a ferocious purple beast, roaring madly.

This was precisely the Celestial Profound Sect’s Low-Level King-Grade Martial Art, the Purple Flame Palm!

Qu He had practiced this King-Grade Martial Art day and night since obtaining it. His current execution was incredibly skilled and powerful. While not yet perfected to a sublime degree, it was at least vivid and lifelike.

Seeing the purple flames surging toward him, Wen Qingye showed no weakness. Without taking a single step back, he casually slapped his palm forward.

POP! POP! POP! A series of sounds echoed through the air. Wherever the palm seal passed, the purple flames instantly vanished, crushed into nothing but mist.

But just then, a faint smile touched Qu He’s lips.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The purple mist that the flames had turned into suddenly exploded! A violent torrent of air instantly engulfed Wen Qingye in the ethereal purple smoke.

’So strong!’

The crowd was suddenly stunned, all thinking the same thing as they watched the two.

Just one move!

The other Registered Disciples present were all completely shaken.

An unknown amount of time passed before the purple smoke dissipated. Wen Qingye stood before the crowd with a faint smile, his entire body clean, as if he hadn’t been harmed in the slightest.

"You...?" Qu He’s eyes were filled with astonishment. He had clearly seen that Wen Qingye didn’t have time to use his Primordial Qi to block the subsequent explosion, so why was he completely unharmed?

Unfortunately, Qu He didn’t know that Wen Qingye had already cultivated the Five Elements Body Refining Technique to the Second Layer. The explosion from his purple smoke was simply not enough to harm Wen Qingye in the least.

"Now you take a move from me!"

Wen Qingye let out a sharp cry. His body shot up from the ground, and his palm descended toward Qu He as if to blot out the sky.

BOOM!

The air compressed under Wen Qingye’s palm, letting out a massive roar. The sound was deafening, and several disciples at the Peak of Refining Essence turned pale and hastily retreated further back.

Qu He’s Heart Spirit trembled, and his expression became incredibly grave. Facing Wen Qingye’s palm head-on, he bore the brunt of the pressure. It felt as if Wen Qingye had locked onto him; with his opponent’s bizarre speed, there was nowhere to run. He could only take it head-on.

"Purple Flame Devouring Heaven!"

Qu He thrust his palm forward, and purple flames erupted, forming a giant purple hand that shot out to meet Wen Qingye’s palm.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The powerful impact scattered the purple flames, sending them crashing into the massive rocks nearby. Purple energy and shattered stone mingled as the very earth shook and trembled again and again.

Qu He’s face was ashen as he gasped for breath. In that last moment, he had felt a sense of despair—a spiritual crushing that had nothing to do with mere strength.

He knew that if Wen Qingye hadn’t pulled back his hand at the last second, he would be a corpse right now.

Wen Qingye leaped down, landing on the ground. Without even glancing at Qu He, he walked over to the rock, picked up Qu He’s token, and slowly walked away into the distance.

"Th-that fast? I didn’t even have time to process it. The fight’s already over?"

"Wen Qingye is even stronger than he was on Hidden Peak. And not just by a little bit."

"He’s too strong. To think Wen Qingye is this powerful..."

"Wen Qingye is a true genius from a small, backwater country. I feel like this isn’t even his full strength."

"You’re right. He... hasn’t even drawn his sword."

The crowd exchanged glances, a shared look of shock in their eyes.