Facing Ling Yan’s questioning, Chen Ping did not answer directly.
He first glanced at the injured Ling Shuang, then turned his gaze back to Ling Yan. His tone was calm, yet carried a hint of coldness. “You are the Heavenly Fire Sword Venerable? Ling Shuang’s master?”
“Indeed, it is this venerable one!”
Ling Yan declared proudly, sharp light flashing in his eyes. “Answer this venerable one’s question!”
Chen Ping countered with a question. “Why should I answer you? On the contrary, as her master, you struck your own disciple so heavily without discerning right from wrong. What reasoning is that?”
“She brought people here to save lives in peril. What fault is there in that?”
“Insolence!”
Ling Yan’s face darkened. “How this venerable one disciplines his disciple is not for a junior like you to comment on!”
“The Li Huo secret realm is this venerable one’s place of secluded cultivation. The rule is that no outsider may ever set foot inside!”
“By bringing people here without permission, she broke the rule and deserves punishment! This venerable one spared her cultivation out of master-disciple affection!”
“Now, answer immediately. Where did your Fire Control Step come from? Otherwise, do not blame this venerable one for capturing you and searching your soul to get to the bottom of it!”
Facing Ling Yan’s threat, Chen Ping’s expression remained unchanged. Instead, a slightly mocking arc appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Your place of cultivation? The rules are set by you? Is this Li Huo secret realm… truly your territory?”
He paused, his gaze seeming to pierce through the burning rock wall to the essence deep within the secret realm. Slowly, he uttered a name. “Why do I feel… that this secret realm more closely resembles something left behind by that old fellow, the Li Huo Demon Lord?”
“What?!”
As soon as Chen Ping spoke these words, Ling Yan was struck as if by lightning. His entire aura fluctuated violently beyond control.
His face revealed even greater shock than when he had seen the Fire Control Step earlier, tinged with alarm and disbelief!
He stared fixedly at Chen Ping, his voice altering slightly from extreme astonishment and doubt. “You… how do you know of the Li Huo Demon Lord?! Who exactly are you?!”
Seeing Ling Yan’s reaction, Chen Ping grew even more certain of his guess.
When he had first heard Ling Yunzi mention the Li Huo secret realm, the name had sounded familiar, as if connected to that fellow, the Li Huo Demon Lord.
Now, combined with Ling Yan’s response, it was undoubtedly the case.
Chen Ping remained composed, meeting Ling Yan’s uncertain and suspicious gaze. He said indifferently, “Who am I? Since you recognised the Fire Control Step and know of the Li Huo Demon Lord, there is no harm in telling you.”
“The Li Huo Demon Lord is an old friend of many years, with whom I share a close personal bond. Since this secret realm was left by him, as his friend, what is wrong with me bringing a few people inside for temporary refuge?”
“Friend?”
Ling Yan was first stunned, then as if hearing the greatest joke, the shock on his face turned to thick suspicion and sarcasm. “Hahaha! Little brat with a yellow mouth, spouting nonsense! The Li Huo Demon Lord has lived for tens of thousands of years!”
“You, a Human Immortal realm junior whose bone age is scarcely a hundred years, dare to claim friendship with him? Utterly absurd!”
His laughter abruptly stopped, his eyes sharp as swords, as if to see through Chen Ping completely. “Fine. Even if by some fluke you obtained part of the Demon Lord’s inheritance and learned his name.”
“Then how do you explain the Fire Control Step? This is the exclusive supreme art of the Fire Spirit Star Lord!”
“The Fire Spirit Star Lord and the Li Huo Demon Lord, one righteous and one demonic, though both fire-attributed, are natural mortal enemies. They have fought for countless years, utterly irreconcilable!”
“You claim to be a friend of the Li Huo Demon Lord, yet know the supreme technique of the Fire Spirit Star Lord?”
“Could it be that you are simultaneously friends with these two incompatible existences? Pure nonsense, complete rubbish!”
The more Ling Yan spoke, the more he felt Chen Ping was fabricating lies. His doubts eased slightly, and anger rose anew. “Brat, this venerable one has no time to listen to your drivel here! Confess honestly at once. Where exactly did you steal the Fire Control Step from?”
“And how do you know the name of the Li Huo Demon Lord? If there is even half a false word, this venerable one will immediately destroy both your form and soul!”
Before his words finished, the terrifying sword intent around Ling Yan erupted!
Crimson flames of sword qi soared into the sky, illuminating half the canyon in red. The scorching heat caused the air to crackle and pop. The ground even began to melt!
The ancient sword on his back rang with a “clang” as it unsheathed itself half an inch. The exposed section of blade was blood-red, as if magma flowed within, emitting a sharpness and heat that made souls tremble!
The pressure of a Heavenly Immortal realm powerhouse was released without reservation, like heavenly might descending!
Lie Tian and the others groaned muffledly, retreating in unison. Their faces turned deathly pale. Disciples with lower cultivation even spat blood and collapsed, utterly unable to withstand this pressure.
Even the gravely injured Ling Shuang struggled to breathe, her eyes filled with worry.
Yet Chen Ping, at the very centre of the pressure, remained calm in expression. Not even the corner of his robe fluttered.
He seemed to stand in another space entirely. That sword intent capable of incinerating mountains and boiling seas, along with the terrifying pressure, could not approach within three chi of him!
“You are right. The Li Huo Demon Lord and the Fire Spirit Star Lord indeed do not get along.”
Chen Ping nodded, as if stating a simple fact. “However, that is a matter between them. My acquaintance with each came from separate opportunities.”
“The Li Huo Demon Lord shared wine with me and discussed the Dao. The Fire Spirit Star Lord took a liking to me and passed on a few steps of the Fire Control Step for amusement. What problem is there with that?”
“For amusement?” Ling Yan laughed in extreme anger. “Good! Very good, ‘for amusement’! It seems without tasting some hardship, you will not speak the truth!”
He completely lost patience and no longer dwelled on the contradictions in Chen Ping’s words.
Since questioning yielded nothing, he would beat submission out of him first!
Regardless of this brat’s background, stealing the Fire Control Step, knowing the Li Huo Demon Lord, and spouting nonsense here already constituted a great taboo!
“Chi Yan, unsheathe!”
Ling Yan shouted coldly. The ancient sword on his back fully emerged!
The blade was entirely crimson. The moment it appeared, the temperature in the canyon soared again. The air around the sword distorted completely from the burning, emitting piercing screeches.
The longsword turned into a crimson rainbow, carrying momentum to incinerate heaven and boil seas. It did not slash directly at Chen Ping but traced a stroke in the air!
“Incinerating Heaven Sword Domain, arise!”
Boom!
With Ling Yan as the centre, the space within a hundred zhang was instantly filled with endless crimson flames!
These were no ordinary flames but “Incinerating Heaven Sword Qi” condensed to the extreme, containing the essence of Ling Yan’s lifelong sword dao!
