Xianglao stared at the twins. The young man was basically naked, with a fluttering robe hiding some of his body here and there. Everyone could tell that he had been busy with the two women in his arms. Obviously, the twins were flustered by this sight. Even Jinyue was silent, not knowing what to do or where to watch. Yanzhen stood beside them and slowly stepped between them and Xianglao.
The young man's eyes turned darker for an instant. He studied Yanzhen and scoffed.
"Young ladies, you deserve better than this simpleton. Come with me, and I will show you sights you never even imagined. I can guarantee that you'll soon forget this trash."
Although his words were harsh, his voice was melodious. Jinyue and Jinyang felt a fire beginning to burn within them. Neither of them could tell what it was, but Cao Yun was observing them all and realized that Xianglao was quite literally influencing their very souls, their Corporeal Souls. In simple terms, he was a walking aphrodisiac. On the other hand, Yanzhen's rage was rising to the point where he was ready to attack Xianglao despite the difference in strength between them. If Yanzhen attacked, Xianglao could break him and even cripple him. As long as he didn't kill him, everything was fair game to defend himself against an attack.
All of that was transparent to Cao Yun's eyes. However, he couldn't determine how Xianglao had this effect on the Flameborns. Most likely, it was due to his understanding of the Dao of Fire. Honestly, this gave Cao Yun new ideas about the Dao of Fire. For now, though, he had no time to play around with Xianglao. Thus, he spread his spiritual senses around the three Flameborns. Instinctively, Hongyu also spread her warmth around them. In an instant, the three Flameborns regained their composure. They were completely terrified, however. Without Cao Yun's presence, Xianglao would have devoured them.
For a split second, Xianglao's composure broke. He was genuinely surprised. However, he was more amused than upset. His eyes turned back toward Cao Yun.
"We do not need to be enemies. My Heavenly Smoke Mastodon tribe is a very welcoming place. We will always have places for men of great quality so long as they're no demons. Senior, I heard rumors about your origins. If my eyes are not mistaken, you seem to be a human, is that right?"
As he spoke, Xianglao let go of the two women and they began to walk seductively toward Cao Yun. While walking, they looked like they were dancing. Cao Yun's Corporeal Soul acted out, but he immediately shut it down. However, he was intrigued by what had happened. He would need to focus on this sensation later on.
The human just raised his hand to stop the two beautiful women, who weren't more clothed than their lover and master.
"You are indeed correct, Young Master. I am Cao Yun of the Hongchen Kingdom, successor of Emperor Nuwa, the Ash Bringer. Although I welcome any earnest friendship, I decline any scorpion ready to sting those whom it claims to help. I fear that your hospitality would be difficult to refuse once so charitably given. However, we agree on one point, we do not need to be enemies. The Ancient Obsidian tribe is of no importance to the Heavenly Smoke Mastodon tribe. There is no reason for our paths to cross each other. No matter the reason for your presence here, I can assure you that it has nothing to do with me. What say you, Young Master? There is no need for us to oppose each other."
Xianglao studied Cao Yun for some time. Everyone, both the Flameborns and the demons, was listening. Since Cao Yun didn't try to conceal his words, they all heard or were told by others what had been said between the two men. Had it been anyone else, Xianglao would have probably crushed them. The mere fact that Xianglao was thinking about it proved that he was worried about Cao Yun. Of course, everyone remembered that he had the Sun-Severing Spear. Although they were convinced that it was useless so far from his Ancient Obsidian tribe, no one actually wanted to test this conviction. Maybe Xianglao would.
Suddenly, Xianglao smiled and laughed a little while grabbing his two concubines by their waists.
"Senior, I hope you can live up to those words. It is yet to be determined who the scorpion truly is. The gifts given to a small tribe can easily turn against those who profited from them. Is your help the sting of the scorpion to which you refer? Might I remind you that my elephant can crush a scorpion without being pierced by its sting? But this conversation is useless. You are indeed correct. We do not need to oppose each other. If we meet again in the Weeping Summits, we'll have to resume this conversation, I imagine. Hopefully, this conversation will remain interrupted, lest it conclude badly for one of us."
As he squeezed the two women against his body, they let out a small yelp. Even in public, they started to caress Xianglao once more as the young man rose in the air and returned to his palace.
Cao Yun wasn't sure whether or not he could actually win a fight against Xianglao. Despite his very young age, his body was extremely impressive. This wasn't just physical, there was something unique about his constitution that Cao Yun couldn't identify. Moreover, his mastery of the Dao of Fire seemed exceptional. Even if Cao Yun was probably much stronger overall, there was something ominous about this young man. With his Dao of Fire, he might be able to severely injure or even kill Cao Yun. After all, his fire had been able to stir his Po even if it lasted a mere instant.
Anyway, Cao Yun had a much more interesting question. It was obvious that Xianglao had been surprised by Cao Yun's presence since he had tried to intimidate him. In other words, Xianglao had come to the Weeping Summits for another reason. Obviously, Cao Yun was quite intrigued by this reason. However, it might indeed be a good idea to steer clear of Xianglao. After all, Cao Yun didn't want to have the major tribes against him yet. If it was necessary, he would gladly take them on, but this would make his trip in this Broken Fire World more complicated than it needed to be. Hopefully, they didn't cross paths again. Unfortunately, Cao Yun didn't feel that fate would allow his hopes to come true in this matter.
Jinyue, Jinyang, and Yanzhen almost collapsed from the stress, but Cao Yun's spiritual senses were holding them up so that they wouldn't appear weak in front of everyone else. Slowly, they walked back inside their small camp.
The trio didn't say anything, but they had been utterly shocked. Without Cao Yun, the girls didn't dare to imagine what would have happened to them. But, even now, they felt as though a terrifying predator had chosen them as prey. They had to become stronger and stronger because Cao Yun would leave one day. They couldn't accept that someone else could dictate their fate. More or less the same thoughts were worrying Yanzhen. He could lose everything he had in an instant. Until now, he had never felt this weak.
In the Ancient Obsidian tribe, Yanzhen was a genius. But now he had realized that he was a frog in a well. When it came to Cao Yun, Yanzhen could rationalize it because Cao Yun was literally a man of legends who wielded a legendary weapon from the Ash Bringer herself. But Xianglao was just another Flameborn who wasn't that much older than he was, maybe four or five years older. Yanzhen didn't think he could become this strong in a matter of decades, let alone five years. He needed strength!
The other Flameborns were excited but also too afraid to approach Xianglao's Heavenly Smoke Mastodon. However, they all sent messages to their tribes. Obviously, his presence here suggested that something had happened. Many people were making wild suggestions. Unfortunately, other major tribes were simply too far away. By the time they would receive the messages, the Weeping Summits would probably already be covered in smog once more. After all, the hunting grounds were only open for a few weeks at most, never for more than three months and only during incredible years.
Honestly, the atmosphere was very strange. The Flameborns, the demons, Cao Yun's group, and Xianglao's palace were all at the edge of the Weeping Summits, but they didn't interact with each other. The demons seemed to be a bit relieved by the tensions between Cao Yun and Xianglao. Hopefully, this would draw the young man's attention away from them. Moreover, if he was here with a specific goal, they could simply try to avoid him.
Jinyue, Jinyang, and Yanzhen worked harder than ever on Cao Yun's cultivation method. At the moment, they couldn't do anything more. As they trained, Cao Yun revised his method and helped them as much as he could while cultivating himself. In particular, he was pondering over the sensations from Xianglao. What he had touched upon was almost fully revealed to him. In fact, he felt stupid not to have realized it much sooner than that.
Fire wasn't limited to physical flames. After all, it was also the case in alchemy. Fire could also be in one's mind, even in one's soul. Fire and Water were two concepts that were used in order to excite or calm. The Dao of Fire wasn't limited to the laws governing fire, flames, and heat, but also applied to much more general circumstances.
It only took a few more days for something to happen. All of a sudden, the ground shook, and everyone looked at the black smog. The entire valley was covered in this opaque darkness, but it suddenly started to move. It began to dissipate as if the Sun was chasing away the shadows. Although no Sun was visible, Cao Yun really felt as if a star was indeed getting rid of shadows with light. The scene was surreal.
Under the smog, the actual Weeping Summits appeared. The valley was full of cracks and holes. There were large basalt towers everywhere, almost like columns in the ruins of a monumental temple. As the wind went through the cracks in the ground, the sound of weeping and whimpering could be heard. The scenery was eerie, as if thousands of people were crying all over the Weeping Summits. In fact, Cao Yun felt as though people were actually lamenting the destruction of their temple, now reduced to ruins. This image was very vivid, but he didn't know where it had come from.
The cracks in the ground led to deep caves and caverns. The entire Weeping Summits were, in fact, a large array of caves underground. The winds passing through the caves created those strange sounds. No one actually knew how deep those caves were. As a matter of fact, no one had ever been able to map them. Indeed, they changed each time the Weeping Summits were opened. What everyone knew was that those caves were filled with treasures, precious ores, rare fire beasts, and invaluable ingredients.
It wasn't rare for Flameborns to find strange fires and flames they could use for cultivation. In fact, legends talked about a Flameborn who literally improved his life fire and was able to live longer than any other Flameborn. That being said, this was considered a legend and not taken too seriously. However, the ability to improve one's mastery over the Dao of Fire was no legend at all. It also interested the demons, for obvious reasons.
Although no one had ever come back from the black smog, there were indeed fire beasts. Everyone found it strange, but no one had ever found the reason why fire beasts didn't seem to die in the black smog. Maybe they simply left when the black smog appeared. Some imagined that the black smog could be due to certain fire beasts who devoured anyone entering the Weeping Summits. The black smog would be those fire beasts retreating for some reason. This didn't make much sense, but it wasn't worse than other hypotheses.
The first ones who traditionally entered the Weeping Summits were the Flameborns. However, they were still waiting. Usually, the demons went after them in order to avoid being chased and killed. They wanted to avoid the other Flameborns as much as possible, especially in large groups. As such, the demons were also waiting. Everyone was obviously waiting for Xianglao to make a move. It would have been a slap in the face to go in first.
While everyone was waiting, Cao Yun left his camp with the three Flameborns. He took everything back in his spatial ring and simply walked toward the Weeping Summits. Without any hesitation whatsoever, he jumped down there without even looking back at Xianglao's palace. The three Flameborns followed him, and Hongyu came along as well.
From his palace, Xianglao was quite upset by the arrogance of this man. However, he had more important things to deal with at the moment. Usually, he would be sleeping with the two beauties as much as he could while he was away from his parents. But he had spent the previous days meditating and waiting for the opening of the Weeping Summits. This mission was simply too important. Just like Cao Yun, Xianglao wasn't sure whether he could kill his enemy or not. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to find out. Even if Cao Yun had not come for Xianglao's target, he might try to take it if he ever found it. The best thing would be for Xianglao to find it and leave immediately. This probably wouldn't be good for his reputation, but he didn't want to fail his parents or his tribe.
Although the two women were his concubines, they were also powerful Flameborns and Xianglao's bodyguards. When he left the palace to fly into the Weeping Summits, they immediately followed him.
Once Cao Yun and Xianglao disappeared into the vast valley, the Flameborns finally went in, followed by the demons later.