Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

"Otherwise what?" Chen Fan frowned.

"Otherwise, in the eyes of those major tribes, we are nothing but rebels who break the rules." Iron Bone clenched his fist, his joints making a dull thud. "The next ones to come won't be the Blood Rock Tribe's kind of trash, but the Skyfire Tribe's 'Skyfire Iron Cavalry.' At that time, the Black Rock Tribe will be reduced to ruins in an instant."

Chen Fan nodded silently.

Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp.

This law of survival was played out in the ancient demon star in a more naked and cruel way than in the human cultivation world.

"Then what are you taking me to do?" Chen Fan looked at Tie Gu. "I'm just a pharmacist. This kind of diplomatic surrender doesn't seem to require my involvement, does it?"

Tie Gu patted Chen Fan on the shoulder and grinned, "Don't pretend, kid. Although you haven't been very active in the past ten years, I know you're the strongest in the tribe right now. Even I'm not confident against you. Besides, you're smart and know a lot. This trip to Tianhuo Holy City is a long way, and the people of the Tianhuo tribe are always arrogant. If anything happens, I'll feel at ease with you by my side."

At this point, Tie Gu looked at Chen Fan, a rare pleading glint in his eyes: "I'm begging you, please come with me this time."

Seeing this expression on the usually carefree and warlike clan leader's face, Chen Fan's heart stirred slightly.

He could sense Ironbone's sense of responsibility and concern for this tribe.

This kind of emotion is common among human cultivators, but seeing it in an ancient demon who is considered to know only killing has a strange impact.

It was because of this shock that Chen Fan felt the "sense of identity" that had been dormant within him for ten years loosen up slightly again.

"That's enough."

Chen Fan sighed inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged: "Since the clan leader has invited me, I will go with you. It's perfect timing; I also want to see what the largest tribe on this ancient demon star is like."

Upon seeing Chen Fan agree, Tie Gu was overjoyed and patted him hard on the back: "Good! I knew you were a true brother! Let's go, let's set off right now!"

Three days later, the group left the Black Rock tribe's campsite in a grand procession and headed towards the distant horizon.

Besides Tiegu and Chen Fan, there were also fifty elite soldiers accompanying them.

They sat on the back of an "eight-legged iron-horned beast" supported by eight giant legs, its body as large as a small mountain, surrounded by piles of spirit stones and precious minerals for tribute.

Although these eight-legged beasts are not fast, they have an excellent load-bearing capacity and thick hides, allowing them to travel day and night through the raging desert sands.

The wilderness is vast and boundless, with a monotonous landscape.

Along the way, apart from occasionally encountering some low-level wilderness monsters that the soldiers would casually eliminate, the journey was relatively peaceful.

Tie Gu and Chen Fan sat side by side on the wooden railing at the front of the beast's back.

"Pharmacist, once we get to the Holy City of Heavenly Fire, you'd better tone down your temper." Tie Gu handed over a pot of turbid wine, somewhat worriedly instructing him, "The people of the Heavenly Fire Tribe are different from us country bumpkins in the wasteland. They consider themselves heirs of 'noble bloodlines' and have never been kind to us from remote tribes. If they say a few unpleasant things, we should just bear with it and not get into a conflict with them."

Chen Fan took the wine pot, took a small sip, and replied calmly, "Don't worry, clan leader. I'm a man who always follows the rules and won't cause trouble."

Tie Gu grinned: "That's true, you're usually more composed than those old men. But..."

He lowered his voice, a hint of envy in his tone: "I've heard that even the guards on the streets of Heavenly Fire Holy City are experts with middle-third-grade bloodlines, and some members of powerful families are even born with upper-third-grade bloodlines. Tsk tsk, the cultivation resources there are beyond our imagination."

Chen Fan returned the wine jug to Tie Gu, gazing thoughtfully at the gradually scorching earth ahead.

"Bloodline inheritance, huh...?"

He pondered to himself.

The power of the ancient demon race does indeed heavily rely on bloodlines. However, this reliance is also their limitation.

Once their bloodline dries up, the glory of the ancient demon race will crumble in an instant. In contrast, while human cultivators' cultivation requires certain innate talent, they rely more on their own comprehension and great perseverance to break through innate limitations.

It's really hard to say which one is better or worse.

half a month later.

On the horizon ahead, a majestic, dark red silhouette finally appeared.

As the behemoth drew closer, the outline of the city gradually became clearer. Even Chen Fan, who was used to seeing all kinds of storms, couldn't help but slightly shrink his pupils the moment he saw the city clearly.

Heavenly Fire Holy City.

This can no longer be described as a simple tribal campsite.

This is a magnificent city built on a huge active volcano.

The towering city walls were built entirely of solid blocks of dark obsidian, reaching a height of over a hundred feet, like a black dragon sleeping on the wasteland.

On the city wall, countless complex crimson array patterns slowly flowed, faintly emitting terrifying and violent energy fluctuations.

In the heart of the city, the massive volcano was slowly spewing dark red smoke into the sky.

Lines of scorching golden lava, like moats, crisscrossed the city along the ditches carved into the mountainside, casting a crimson glow over the entire city.

The air was filled with an intense, almost tangible, aura of fire-based laws.

"My goodness..."

Standing on the beast's back, Tiegu craned his neck, drool practically dripping from his mouth: "This...this is Heavenly Fire Holy City? Compared to this, our Black Rock Tribe's stone houses are practically pigsties!"

The Black Rock soldiers accompanying them also stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with shock and fear.

Faced with this colossal structure, they instinctively felt their own insignificance.

Chen Fan stood to the side, his expression calm, but inwardly he was filled with admiration.

A city of this size would be considered a first-rate fortress even in the Zhao Kingdom. Moreover, the array formations faintly visible on the city walls were so complex that they already hinted at the nature of a seventh-grade array.

"Let's go, let's enter the city."

Chen Fan offered a casual reminder.

"Yes, yes, enter the city!" Tie Gu snapped out of his daze, wiped his mouth, and nervously gave the order to advance.

The eight-legged iron-horned beast slowly walked to the tall city gate.

On either side of the city gate stood two rows of fully armed ancient demon guards.

These guards were all over twelve feet tall, their armor a fiery red, engraved with the unique flame runes of the Heavenly Fire Tribe. The heavy halberds in their hands faintly radiated a magical artifact-level luster, and each of them possessed a cultivation level of at least the mid-Foundation Establishment stage!

What made the Black Rock warriors even more depressed was that the scales of these guards were extremely neat and clean, gleaming with a bright red luster, and the curved horns on their foreheads were long and symmetrical.

They are all elites with middle-class bloodlines!

"stop!"

A leading guard commander stepped forward, slamming his heavy halberd into the ground with a dull thud.

His gaze swept coldly over Tiegu and the others, and when he saw their dark gray scales and slightly rough armor, a hint of undisguised disdain flashed deep in his eyes.

"A remote, desolate tribe? What are they doing here?"

The commander's voice was cold, even carrying a hint of judgment.