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

Tiegu rubbed his hands nervously, then quickly put on a smile, bowed and clasped his hands, saying, "My lord, I am Tiegu, the chieftain of the Black Rock Tribe. A few years ago, I unified several mines in the southeast of the wasteland. Today, I have brought my people to pay homage to the main tribe and offer tribute."

Having said that, Tiegu waved his hand repeatedly.

Several soldiers hurriedly carried down several heavy boxes, opened the lids, and revealed spirit stones of various sizes and high-grade ores radiating spiritual light inside.

The commander merely glanced at the boxes, his expression not changing much. He simply snorted and said, "Alright, register them and move the things to the side hall."

He pointed to a dilapidated side hall inside the city gate.

"Yes, yes, thank you, sir."

Tiegu readily agreed and, guided by the guards, led the goods toward the side hall.

Chen Fan followed behind Tie Gu, and as they passed the guard commander, his gaze briefly swept over a jade pendant at the commander's waist.

The jade plaque was engraved with the character "fire," and faintly emitted fluctuations of both divine and demonic energy.

"Interesting. The restriction technique on this jade tablet bears some resemblance to the fusion of the immortals and demons of Tiannan Star..."

Chen Fan pondered to himself, but showed no sign of it on his face. He lowered his head and quickly followed Tie Gu.

In a side hall, an old demon who looked like a steward received them.

After the Black Rock Tribe's materials were stamped with the Heavenly Fire Tribe's seal, the jurisdiction over this remote wasteland was officially registered with the Heavenly Fire Tribe.

As long as the Black Rock Tribe sends tribute on time every year, the Heavenly Fire Tribe will not wage war against them. In fact, when the Black Rock Tribe faces the crisis of extinction, they can even ask the Heavenly Fire Tribe for protection.

Of course, the Black Rock Clan might not be able to afford the price of such protection.

"Alright, the matter concerning the Black Rock Tribe has been settled."

The old steward put away the register and waved his hand impatiently. "You can leave now. Remember, if the tribute is even one-tenth less by this time next year, your little swamp will be devoured by heavenly fire."

"Understood, understood. Rest assured, sir, the Black Rock Tribe will never dare to fail."

With a forced smile, Tie Gu bowed and left the side hall.

As soon as he stepped out of the hall, the smile on Tie Gu's face vanished instantly. He spat a mouthful of saliva onto the ground and cursed under his breath, "These snobbish bastards who look down on people! If I could beat them, I would have chopped them all in half with an axe!"

Chen Fan patted him on the shoulder and said calmly, "Alright, clan leader. The distinction between the strong and the weak is the rule of the ancient demons. Now that the matter is settled, let's set off back."

"Yes, let's go back." Iron Bone shook his head irritably. "This place is grand, but it's suffocating me. Let's go!"

However, before they even reached the city gate, a long and resounding horn blast suddenly echoed from the square ahead.

"Waaaaah...waaaah...waaaah..."

The horn's sound was unlike the dull roars of wild beasts from the Black Rock tribe; instead, it was clear and high-pitched, like the cry of a phoenix, echoing throughout the entire volcanic city.

As the horns sounded, the once bustling city fell completely silent in an instant.

Immediately afterwards, countless fiery red figures rushed out from every corner of the city, like rivers flowing into the sea, and ran wildly toward the huge volcano square in the center of the city.

Chen Fan stopped and looked back.

At the foot of the towering volcano, dazzling crimson halos emanated, transforming into countless ancient demonic runes in mid-air, endlessly arising and ceasing.

"Wait! This...this is a pilgrimage ceremony to a sacred icon?"

Tie Gu suddenly grabbed Chen Fan, his eyes wide and his breathing rapid: "Chen Fan, look! It's a holy statue worship! The ancient demon ancestor's holy statue of the Tianhuo tribe is going to manifest today!"

He pulled Chen Fan towards the surging crowd: "Come on, let's go see what's going on! This is a rare grand ceremony. It's said that every time the sacred statue is worshipped, ancestral spirits bestow blessings, and it can even transform the bloodline of onlookers! No one in our Black Rock Tribe has ever seen anything like this in hundreds of years!"

Chen Fan initially wanted to refuse.

In his code of conduct, he always avoids situations where there are many people around and a powerful will descends.

But seeing the excited and eager look on Tie Gu's face, and feeling the countless fanatical ancient demonic auras around him, he hesitated for a moment and ultimately did not break free from Tie Gu's hand.

"Then let's take a look."

Chen Fan replied in a low voice.

The two followed the frenzied crowd to the huge plaza at the foot of the volcano, a plaza large enough to hold hundreds of thousands of people.

The plaza was entirely paved with dark red volcanic rock, and it was now packed with a dense crowd of ancient demons.

In the very center of the square, on the wall of the volcano, stands a colossal stone statue over a thousand feet tall.

The statue's half-body was embedded in the mountain, as if it had grown out of the volcano. The statue was carved to depict an ancient demon ancestor with nine eyes, a majestic and ancient face, holding a huge trident in his hand, and standing on scorching lava.

"Is this... the statue of the Crimson Emperor, the ancient demon ancestor of the Heavenly Fire Tribe?"

Tie Gu looked at the thousand-foot-tall stone statue with some trepidation and muttered to himself.

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes and stared intently into the eyes of the stone statue.

Within the nine closed eyes of the stone statue, there was a faint, yet extremely powerful, fluctuation of the law.

"There is a remnant soul inside this stone statue."

Chen Fan was startled.

That was definitely a remnant soul of an ancient demon whose strength far exceeded that of the Nascent Soul stage, and might even have reached the Integration or even Mahayana stage!

"quiet!"

A loud, thunderous shout came from above the volcano.

An ancient demon, clad in a fiery red priest's robe and with a full head of red hair that moved without wind, slowly descended from the void.

With each step he took, a crimson lotus flower would appear beneath his feet, and celestial music would faintly echo in the air.

A high priest in the late Nascent Soul stage!

Behind this ancient demon were dozens of Golden Core level deputy priests, each with a solemn expression and holding various precious sacrificial artifacts in their hands.

The high priest arrived at a bone altar beneath the stone statue, raised his hands high, and began to chant an ancient and desolate song.

"Great ancestral spirit...awakens from the stars...bestowing upon your people...endless flames and power..."

The singing voice was deep and resonant, each syllable seemingly resonating with the lava beneath the earth.

As the chanting continued, the lava in the volcano began to churn and roar wildly, and the crimson runes on the surface of the thousand-foot stone statue suddenly lit up, emitting a dazzling red light.

"Kneel down!"

The high priest roared.

"boom!"

In that instant, hundreds of thousands of ancient demons in the square knelt down in unison, like wheat being harvested, placing their hands on their foreheads and performing the highest-level worship ceremony of the ancient demon race.

Tiegu knelt down without hesitation, and tugged at Chen Fan's sleeve.

Chen Fan didn't act coy. Somewhat awkwardly, he followed the example of others, kneeling down and lowering his head.

However, the moment his forehead touched the scorching hot volcanic rock, something unexpected happened!

"Buzz..."

Suddenly, a very faint buzzing sound, which only Chen Fan could hear, came from the void.

Then, the thousand-foot-tall stone statue standing on the volcanic wall, with its nine closed eyes, the one in the very center…

It slowly opened its eyes a crack.

A wisp of crimson divine light, so subtle yet so noble and majestic, shot out from the crevice.

The divine light swept past the high priest, past dozens of deputy priests, and past the hundreds of thousands of ancient demons kneeling in the square...

Ultimately, to Chen Fan's complete surprise, it landed with perfect accuracy on his head.

"boom!"

Chen Fan felt a loud bang in his sea of ​​consciousness, and an indescribable, mighty power followed the divine light and completely locked onto him!