Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

A few days later, another person joined the garrison.

Su Qianxue.

When Lin Zhao saw her, he was stunned for a moment. Speaking of which, ever since he finished trading the refining materials and forged the Crimson Flame Demon Blade, this senior sister hadn't come around much.

Later, Chongguang Pavilion rose to prominence, and he went to the Immortal City. It had been more than a year since we last met.

She stood at the entrance of the garrison, dressed in a plain Taoist robe, very low-key, like a rogue cultivator.

"Long time no see, what brings you here, Senior Sister?" Lin Zhao welcomed her in and had tea served.

Su Qianxue sat down, took a sip of tea, and said calmly, "The sect has ordered that we are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the Zixuan Dynasty, for fear of causing misunderstandings."

Lin Zhao smiled and asked, "So, Senior Sister, aren't you afraid of misunderstandings now?"

"Who can say anything about our relationship as senior and junior brothers?" Su Qianxue glanced at him, her tone natural. "Besides, if my junior brother doesn't look down on me as his senior sister, why would I look down on you?"

Lin Zhao couldn't help but roll his eyes. He knew her too well. This senior sister would never come to him unless it was related to spirit stones.

"What exactly is it, Senior Sister?" Lin Zhao asked seriously. "She didn't come all this way just to see me, did she?"

Su Qianxue put down her teacup, looked around, and lowered her voice: "I've been feeling something's not right lately, like something big is about to happen."

Lin Zhao frowned slightly.

"I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong," Su Qianxue shook her head. "Everything seems normal at the sects of the Nanli Dynasty, and the Zixuan Dynasty hasn't made any moves either, but... something just doesn't feel right. I can't quite put my finger on it."

She paused, then looked at Lin Zhao: "I think this is probably the safest place for you. After all, this is the Holy Sect's headquarters. If something happens, it's unlikely to affect you."

Lin Zhao remained silent for a while.

He hasn't received any unusual news since he returned.

But he believed in Su Qianxue.

She had stayed in the Tongming Domain the longest and knew it much better than he did.

Moreover, given her personality, the fact that she would leave the sect and run away wouldn't be without reason.

"Senior sister, please stay here for now," Lin Zhao said. "I'll have someone check."

Su Qianxue nodded and, without any hesitation, headed straight for the backyard of the garrison.

Lin Zhao summoned Elder He and asked him to secretly investigate the recent situation of the three major dynasties, especially the Tianhuo Dynasty and the Nanli Dynasty.

Old He accepted the order and went to report back two days later—everything was normal, and nothing had been found.

Lin Zhao frowned and instructed the market to be on high alert in secret, while maintaining the status quo in public.

Su Qianxue settled down at the garrison headquarters.

Not long after she moved in, Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao noticed something was wrong.

My uncle has always lived the life of an ascetic over the years, never having a female cultivator or even a spirit beast by his side.

Now that a senior sister has suddenly appeared and is living in the garrison, the two of them started to have doubts.

They didn't dare ask Lin Zhao directly, so they secretly inquired about it.

The people in the garrison didn't know much, but the two were so sweet-talking that they managed to piece together some information—this Senior Su was Lin Zhao's good friend, and the two had known each other for many years and had even done business together before.

"A longtime friend?" Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao pondered these things, feeling that something was amiss.

They didn't dare ask Lin Zhao directly, so they went to ask Yan Chiheng.

Yan Chiheng is a man who can be truly serious when he's serious, and truly unserious when he's unserious.

He solemnly analyzed to the two girls: "Lin Zhao and Fellow Daoist Su have known each other for many years. They met in Qingfeng Market. At that time, they were both in the Qi Refining stage. They even became disciples together and experienced the dangers of the beast tide together. As for their relationship..." He paused, leaving the rest of his sentence unfinished.

The two girls exchanged a glance, becoming even more certain.

When Lin Zhao heard these things, he was reading the latest intelligence on the three major dynasties handed to him by Elder He.

He slammed the jade slip on the table and took a deep breath.

"Yan Chiheng." He squeezed out the three words through gritted teeth.

Yan Chiheng had long since disappeared.

Su Qianxue didn't care about these things.

She even took the initiative to approach Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao, offering them guidance on cultivation as an elder.

She also came from the Yunxia Mountains. She went to Tongming Domain to make a living and later entered Xuanchen Valley.

Sharing these experiences is more effective than any grand philosophy.

The two maids listened to her recount her experiences in the Cloud and Mist Mountains, how she led the market's demon-hunting team against the beast tide while cultivating her Qi.

Then she recounted how she successfully entered the sect and established her foundation, traveling alone to the three great dynasties to earn spirit stones and acquire foundation-building resources—their eyes lit up.

Within a few days, two more female admirers appeared behind Su Qianxue.

Lin You and Ye Xiaoxiao idolized her immensely, calling her "Senior Su" repeatedly.

Su Qianxue was also generous, guiding them in various cultivation methods and winning over the two girls completely.

Lin Zhao saw it all, but didn't bother to pay any attention.

Some things only get worse the more you try to explain them.

Let them be.

However, he believed Su Qianxue's methods and information to a greater extent.

----

The change came faster than expected.

That evening, Lin Zhao was organizing recent intelligence in the garrison headquarters when he suddenly felt the ground shake.

He didn't pay much attention; it was normal for the earth's veins to be affected when powerful cultivators in the cultivation world fought each other.

Then there was another one, even heavier than the last.

Immediately afterwards, the teacup on the table began to tremble slightly, and fine ripples spread across the surface of the water.

The sky outside the window looked strange—it was clearly evening, but the western sky was unusually bright, as if someone had set off a giant forest of flames over there.

Lin Zhao opened the window and looked westward.

The sky was a dark red, a thick, congealed blood-like color. The red was slowly surging upwards, as if something was struggling to crawl out from the depths of the earth. The fire-attribute spiritual energy in the air began to stir, becoming violent and aggressively scorching.

An hour later, the definite news arrived.

The Heavenly Fire Dynasty is gone.

It is neither a metaphor nor an exaggeration.

It's literally gone—gone.

Hundreds of volcanoes that had been dormant for over five thousand years within the territory of the Heavenly Fire Dynasty erupted simultaneously.

The entire core area of ​​the dynasty, spanning thousands of miles, was instantly transformed into a sea of ​​fire.

The capital of the Heavenly Fire Dynasty was swallowed up by the eruption of a nearby volcano. The guardian of the dynasty, the female Core Formation cultivator, was still trying to suppress the volcano next to the capital at the last moment, hoping to leave a way for the mortals and cultivators in the capital to survive.

But she underestimated the scale of the disaster.

It wasn't just one volcano, it was all volcanoes erupting at once, and she, a mere ordinary Core Formation cultivator, simply couldn't suppress it.

Of the millions of people in the capital, fewer than ten thousand managed to escape.

The entire Tianhuo Dynasty, with over 70 million people, is being swallowed up by a sea of ​​fire and a storm of spiritual energy.

This is not an ordinary volcanic eruption.

In the world of cultivation, volcanoes erupt not only with lava, but also with powerful spiritual energy accumulated over hundreds or thousands of years.