The most severely injured disciples were prioritised and arranged beside the spiritual spring. Those with some knowledge of medicine assisted in cleaning wounds, administering pills, and guiding the absorption of the mild life essence qi from the spring water.
Those with lighter injuries took responsibility for guarding the edges of the safe zone.
Although the area delineated by Chen Ping seemed absolutely secure, years of caution made them unwilling to be careless.
Some also began carefully harvesting the newly grown flame spiritual herbs. As Chen Ping had instructed, they distributed them to suitable disciples to aid healing.
Shi Yan and Ying Wu recovered the fastest and voluntarily took on the tasks of coordination and caring for the seriously wounded.
Ling Shuang was also carefully supported by Ying Wu to sit on a flat, warm crystal stone beside the spiritual spring.
She swallowed the pill Chen Ping had given her earlier and drank a mouthful of the cool, refreshing spiritual spring water.
She immediately felt a cooling, moisturising sensation flow through her limbs and bones. Her scorched meridians transmitted a tingling healing feeling, so comfortable that she almost moaned aloud.
She began focusing on circulating the Incinerating Heaven Sword Art. Strands of the pure and mild fire spiritual qi in the secret realm merged into her meridians, repairing her injuries at a rate far higher than in the outside world.
Seeing that everyone had initially settled and order was gradually restoring, Chen Ping raised his head to look at a nearby flame crystal mountain, the tallest one, with a golden palace phantom burning at its summit.
At the peak, a familiar figure in red robes stood alone, back turned to the safe zone below, facing the endless sea of fire deeper in the secret realm.
Hot waves billowed his robe sleeves, and his silhouette conveyed a trace of loneliness and desolation.
It was none other than Heavenly Fire Sword Venerable, Ling Yan.
With a slight shift in thought, Chen Ping’s figure faintly dissipated on the spot.
In the next moment, he appeared silently beside Ling Yan, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
Ling Yan’s body trembled almost imperceptibly, yet he did not turn his head, as if he had long anticipated Chen Ping’s arrival.
For a time, neither spoke. Only the low roars of the flame world below and the whistling of hot winds filled the air.
Silence flowed between them, yet it was not awkward. Instead, there was a subtle tacit understanding between experts that needed no words.
After a long while, Ling Yan broke the quiet first.
His voice no longer carried the initial arrogance or cold interrogation. Instead, it held complex emotions: curiosity,感慨, and a trace of barely concealed weariness.
“Who exactly… are you?”
He paused, as if choosing his words carefully, then continued.
“Seventh-grade Human Immortal… No, when you employed those methods earlier, your aura briefly achieved a sense of perfect sublimation. Clearly a breakthrough is imminent, far beyond an ordinary seventh-grade.”
“The means you used to disperse, soothe, and even command the violent fire spiritual power here are unlike any known technique or inheritance in the Ten Heavens.”
“And that sword you displayed outside the valley… what exactly was that sword intent?”
“I have cultivated the sword for thousands of years, considering myself to have unique insights into ‘fire’ and ‘sword’, yet I have never seen, nor can I comprehend, that realm which seems to transcend the five elements and stand above the rules.”
Chen Ping did not directly answer Ling Yan’s string of questions.
His gaze was distant, looking down at the figures busily healing in the area he had tamed.
Then he looked towards the even more intense and unpredictable depths of the secret realm far away. Instead of answering, he asked in return.
“Heavenly Fire Sword Venerable, what exactly is your connection to Fire Spirit Star Lord and Li Fire Demon Lord? How much do you truly know about this Li Fire Secret Realm?”
Ling Yan’s body visibly stiffened for a moment, as if Chen Ping’s question had touched a deeply buried secret in his heart.
He slowly turned his head, for the first time carefully examining Chen Ping’s profile with an equal, scrutinising gaze.
This young face was calm and waveless, eyes profound like an ancient well, yet seemingly reflecting the myriad flames and endless starry sky.
Another long silence followed. Struggle, reminiscence, bitterness, and various emotions flashed across Ling Yan’s face, finally turning into a long, heavy sigh, as if unloading a thousand-jun burden.
“Very well… Since you bear the Imperial Fire Step, can name Li Fire Demon Lord outright, and possess… such inconceivable sword intent and methods, some things may as well be told to you. Perhaps… this is also fated in the dark.”
Ling Yan’s gaze turned towards the deepest part of the secret realm, where the flame colours were most vibrant and the energy fluctuations most cryptic and terrifying. His voice became ethereal, as if traversing endless time.
“Fire Spirit Star Lord and Li Fire Demon Lord…”
He spoke slowly, each word carrying the weight of years.
“They are my senior brothers.”
“Senior brothers?” Chen Ping’s brows raised slightly.
This answer surprised him greatly. Fire Spirit Star Lord and Li Fire Demon Lord fought to the death upon meeting. No matter how one looked at it, they did not seem like fellow disciples.
“Indeed.”
Ling Yan nodded, a complex expression of reminiscence and self-mockery appearing on his face.
“That was… a very, very long time ago. So long ago that the current structure of the Ten Heavens had not yet fully taken shape.”
“At that time, I was merely a wandering, precarious ignorant youth, possessing only a trace of weak Blazing Yang body bloodline. In a desperate situation where I nearly died, I was saved by a mysterious and unfathomable elder who happened to pass by.”
Warmth and reverence emerged in his eyes.
“That elder, we all addressed as Master Yan. He appeared ordinary, dressed simply, yet had eyes that seemed capable of seeing through past and future, piercing the origins of the universe.”
“Seeing that although my aptitude was mediocre, my character was resilient and I had an innate affinity and persistence towards flame, he made an exception and took me as his disciple.”
“At that time, Master already had two exceptionally brilliant, radiant disciples under him: eldest senior brother Li Jin, and second senior brother Huo Ling.”
“Li Jin? Huo Ling?”
Chen Ping softly repeated. These were clearly the original names of Li Fire Demon Lord and Fire Spirit Star Lord before they became famous.
