The leader of the group of five was a Martial Arts Grandmaster. The remaining four included three pract.i.tioners at the pinnacle of the Golden Elixir realm. The final member of the group, Jun Wulei, was at the intermediate stage of the Golden Elixir realm.
Since the concealed person had gone undetected by the four of them, his cultivation must be high.
Mo Wen laughed bitterly and came out from the magma ocean. He hadn't been using any Invisible Talismans so it wasn't too much of a surprise that he had been discovered.
"Who are you? Why are you hiding in the shadows?" the leading Martial Arts Grandmaster asked coldly. His eyes were filled with surprise when he saw how young Mo Wen actually was. The youth had such high cultivation at such a tender age. His existence was extremely rare, even if the whole wide world was taken into account.
The Gao Clan had produced a genius Jun Wulei. He had reached the intermediate stage of the Golden Elixir realm before the age of 30. Even when Jun Wulei was placed among those from the Inner worlds, he was still considered a top genius. However, compared to this youth, Jun Wulei was most likely be behind.
"I'm Mo Wen. I just happened to be pa.s.sing by. Apologies for disturbing the seniors," Mo Wen said. His tone was neither obsequious nor arrogant and he respectfully saluted them with his fists. Since he could not hide, he had decided to willingly appear before them, his poise and confidence evident.
"Mo Wen, it's you!" Jun Wulei shouted before the leading Martial Arts Grandmaster had the opportunity to respond. Jun Wulei's eyes were wide open. He had never expected to encounter Mo Wen in this place. Mo Wen was an ancient martial art pract.i.tioner in the main s.p.a.ce. Why would he appear here?
"Do you know each other?" The leading Martial Arts Grandmaster stared at Jun Wulei, slightly surprised. His grandson actually knew this youth. Moreover, judging from the situation, they seemed to be well acquainted.
"Brother Jun, I hope you are doing well." Mo Wen smiled and saluted Jun Wulei with his fists. Demoness Gong had previously mentioned that Jun was not only an Executor in the Huatian Palace, but he also had an influential background. It seemed as if that were indeed the case.
"I am very surprised to see you appear here. Also, your cultivation…" Jun Wulei stared at Mo Wen strangely. He could sense that Mo Wen's aura was very powerful and was at least comparable to his. Mo Wen's aura even showed vague signs of surpa.s.sing his.
Jun Wulei remembered that Mo Wen was still a Qi Nucleation realm ancient martial art pract.i.tioner when they first met. He had managed to break through to the Embryonic Breathing realm when he went to the forbidden land. But that had only been a few months ago and now Mo Wen had actually reached the same level as him. Mo Wen might even have surpa.s.sed him.
When they had first met, Jun Wulei was already halfway to reaching the Golden Elixir realm. He had even consecutively broken through to the intermediate stage Golden Elixir realm with the help of his family clan. Despite this, it now seemed as though he had not achieved as much as Mo Wen.
How did Mo Wen practice? Did he ride a rocket? Jun Wulei could not get his head around it. A youngster, seemingly without any background at all, had been able to advance so quickly. Jun Wulei now understood Gong Biluo's words. This strange youth actually might restore the Ming Cult to its former glory. Up until now, Jun Wulei would never have believed that this youth would have such ability.
"I'm just lucky." Mo Wen could tell that Jun Wulei was astonished at his speed of practicing. However, in terms of real cultivation, right now Mo Wen's cultivation was only equivalent to that of the pinnacle of Embryonic Breathing realm. It wasn't as exaggerated as Jun Wulei imagined. Mo Wen had a few odd encounters and his condition was unique. That was why he had such a powerful aura.
Furthermore, Jun Wulei had advanced rather quickly too. It had only been a few months since they had last met and Jun had actually broken through to the intermediate stage of the Golden Elixir realm. Before this, he had been stuck at the bottleneck of breaking through to the Golden Elixir realm. Truly he was a member of an aristocratic family. The commoners paled into insignificance when it came to the resources that they could acquire.
"Xiangchen, aren't you going to introduce your friend to us?" The leading Martial Arts Grandmaster felt odd about the whole thing. When had his grandson come to know such a genius? Why had he never mentioned this person to him before?
"Grandfather, his name is Mo Wen. He is also an Executor in Huatian Palace. He is a good friend of mine," Jun Wulei said with a smile after a momentary flicker in his gaze.
"Oh. I'm Gao Hanshan, Xiangchen's grandfather. Nice to meet you." The leading Martial Arts Grandmaster nodded at Mo Wen. He cast a thoughtful glance at his own grandson. Jun Wulei's introduction was too brief and really consisted of nothing more than a name. Gao Hanshan could tell that his grandson was hiding something. This made him rather curious.
"Nice to meet you, Elder Gao." When faced with such a strong pract.i.tioner, Mo Wen didn't dare to be impolite. He saluted Gao Hanshan with his fists again.
Mo Wen remembered Demoness Gong had once said that Jun Wulei was not his friend's real name. He had given himself that name; his real surname was Gao and he was a member of Gao Clan, a hidden martial arts strain. His actual name seemed to be Gao Xiangchen. Mo Wen didn't understand why the young master of Gao Clan would suddenly change his name.
Jun Wulei briefly introduced the few other elders. They were all elders of Gao Clan. They had a position of high seniority within the clan and their cultivation was also high.
Mo Wen was very surprised. Gao Clan did not seem to be a sect faction, but rather a clan faction. The influence of this clan was not weak at all; it was actually quite astonis.h.i.+ng A Martial Arts Grandmaster and another three pinnacle of Golden Elixir realm pract.i.tioners would most likely be enough to support a first-rate large sect in a large Inner world.
Their goal for coming here was very simple: they were here for the spiritual fire.
Mo Wen's prior guess was not wrong. This place was indeed the underground of the Tan Zi Beast Lair, and it was also the eighth level. It was known as the Fire Domain and was the most terrifying of the known Tan Zi Beast Lair's levels. Once, a Green Ancient Mystery Dimension Martial Arts Grandmaster had entered this place. In the end, he had returned injured and had pa.s.sed away not long after.
For the ancient martial art pract.i.tioners of the Green Ancient Mystery Dimension, the Tan Zi Beast Lair's eighth level Fire Domain was the most dangerous place in the world.
But this time, it was clearly different because the people who had come here were not limited to ancient martial art pract.i.tioners from the Green Ancient Mystery Dimension. Instead, they were top strong pract.i.tioners from different Inner worlds. Even when the Fire Domain was guarded by the Seven Major Beast Kings, it could not chase away such a powerful team of pract.i.tioners.
Initially, when Mo Wen had used the Thousand Mile Talisman, he had stopped hoping to gain the spiritual fire. He was well aware that once he had teleported out of the Beast Lair it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for him to return. However, to his surprise, he had actually been teleported to the eighth level of the Beast Lair, the place where the spiritual fire hibernated.
Based on what Jun Wulei had said, their team had been chasing the spiritual fire which was moving downwards from the first level. After escaping to the eighth level, the spiritual fire had concealed itself.
Jun Wulei looked curiously at Mo Wen. "Mo Wen, you have also come for the spiritual fire?" It must be the case; if it wasn't for the spiritual fire, there would be no reason for him to have encountered Mo Wen in this place.
"Yes. I am also here for the spiritual fire. It is very important to me." Mo Wen nodded, not hiding his intention. His original goal was to get the spiritual fire anyway. He also couldn't think of another explanation for his presence here. He couldn't really tell them about the Thousand Mile Talisman.
"You are a youth with big ambitions. Did you come here alone?" Gao Hanshan stared at Mo Wen, rather interested. Mo Wen was alone and he didn't seem to have any company. However, it seemed a little unrealistic for him to come alone to take the spiritual fire.
Almost none of the people who dared to venture into the eighth level for the spiritual fire were people who could be easily dealt with. There were others here who had an even higher cultivation than Gao Hanshan. A team had almost no chance of acquiring the spiritual fire if they didn't have a Martial Arts Grandmaster around to hold the fort.
Mo Wen nodded. He understood what Gao Hanshan meant. But he said nothing. He didn't have much confidence to get the spiritual fire either. It all depended on his luck.
"Is the spiritual fire very important to you?" Jun Wulei asked with a frown.
"Yes."
Not only was the spiritual fire related to whether he could become immortal, most importantly, he only stood a chance to successfully cultivate the Spiritless Clean Fire if it had absorbed the power of the spiritual fire. Otherwise, under normal circ.u.mstances, he might not get far in cultivating the Spiritless Clean Fire even a decade or more.
Upon hearing this, Jun Wulei's expression kept changing for a while. This time, Gao Clan had high hopes for the spiritual fire. His own grandfather was a Martial Arts Grandmaster, reaching the limits of an ancient martial art pract.i.tioner. Once his grandfather had acquired the spiritual fire, he might even be able to embark on the Way of Immortals.
Gao Hanshan and the other elders exchanged a glance. Naturally, they had noticed Jun Wulei's changing expression. It was just that they didn't expect Jun Wulei to think so highly of Mo Wen. He seemed to be in a dilemma after finding out that Mo Wen was fighting for the spiritual fire.
"Little Xiang, just speak what's in your mind. I cannot bear the sight of you being like this." An old man in black clothes with a huge, white beard glared at Jun Wulei.
"Second Granduncle, there is something which I am not sure whether I should tell all of you." Jun Wulei sighed. His gaze s.h.i.+fted towards Mo Wen.
A light flashed in Mo Wen's eyes. His facial expression turned serious; his fists were clenched tight. He was aware of what Jun Wulei wanted to say. In this world, there were not many people who understood his ident.i.ty completely. Jun Wulei was one of those people. Demoness Gong had told Jun Wulei while they were at Dafang Sect. She had rea.s.sured Mo Wen that he could be at ease with him. Of this, however, Mo Wen was uncertain.
Demoness Gong also seemed to have mentioned that the Gao Clan which stood behind Jun Wulei was one of the factions under the Ming Cult's Left Wisdom King in the past. The clan had over a thousand years of heritage and they had always hoped to rebuild the Ming Cult. Gao Clan was the number one influence in the Ming Preservation Faction.
However, even though Gao Clan was in the Ming Preservation Faction, it was hard to say whether they would recognize Mo Wen. Also, Mo Wen had so many secrets. It was hard to say whether the Gao Clan would betray him or not.
"Mo Wen, you can be at ease with Gao Clan completely," Jun Wulei said. "Our Gao Clan has always been n.o.ble and unsullied. We will never do anything dirty, no matter what. Initially, I thought you would never be able to do that, so I have not mentioned you to my clan members. I am afraid that it might affect you negatively or give you pressure. But now, I feel that you are indeed somewhat different. Perhaps you can complete the task that our Gao Clan has been unable to achieve for a few hundred years. If our Gao Clan can help you now, perhaps it will be more beneficial for you."
Demoness Gong had reminded Jun Wulei not to tell anyone about Mo Wen's ident.i.ty, not even the Gao Clan members. He had kept his promise. He was the only one in the whole Gao Clan who knew about Mo Wen's ident.i.ty. But now, he felt like there was a need to reveal certain things.
"Brat, what riddles are you playing with me? Say what you have to say quickly. Otherwise, don't blame grandfather for not being polite with you." Gao Hanshan frowned. Xiangchen had actually mentioned Gao Clan's long-cherished hope which they had held for the past few hundred years. Since the matter had been raised to such high stakes, it was impossible for him to not pay attention to it. Of course, he knew what the Gao Clan's long-cherished hope for the past few hundred years was.
