In the foresight, for the next dozen minutes, the demons would not return, so there was no need for him to use foresight again.
What he needed to do now was to refine the Fire Lotus Soul first.
A scorching aura greeted him, and Su Nan felt like he was in the middle of a blazing furnace.
One minute later, he saw the lotus-shaped flame.
The Flame Lotus was not very large, about half the size of a normal lotus, but compared to the Fire Lotus Soul, it was still several times larger.
"What kind of flame is this?" Su Nan was curious. If it weren't for the urgency of time, he would have wanted to check for information in the Heavenly Palace Pavilion.
The surrounding walls were scorching, hotter than boiling water.
Fortunately, Su Nan had a strong physique now, and he had both the power of water and fire within him. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to stay in such a place.
He held the Fire Lotus Soul in his hand.
Just like in the foresight, the Fire Lotus Soul's desire became incredibly intense as it approached the Lotus Flame.
Without hesitation, Su Nan broke the crystal that imprisoned the flame.
Instantly, a small flame the size of a thumb shot up towards the Lotus Flame, and the temperature in the space rose even further.
The next steps were straightforward. Following the method from the foresight, after the Fire Lotus Soul sought his help, Su Nan attempted to communicate with it.
With the Fire Lotus Soul's agreement, he began to refine it.
A few minutes later, feeling the changes within his body, Su Nan was overjoyed. "It worked!"
Even though he knew that this time it would definitely work, actually feeling the Fire Lotus Soul merge into his body made Su Nan unable to contain his excitement.
A ball of fire condensed in his hand, and the scorching aura radiated outwards, threatening to melt the space.
"This amplification is too significant!" Su Nan was amazed. Compared to before, his fire power was like night and day. He had a feeling that his current fire power was no less than that of a peak Spirit-level subordinate of a great demon.
If he were to use Destruction Snake Dance now, he couldn't even imagine how powerful it would be. It could probably contend with a mid-level Profound-ranked demon with just Destruction Snake Dance alone.
"The timing of the Fire Lotus Soul's fusion couldn't be better!" Su Nan smiled.
There were only twelve hours left until the mission to guard the Martial King's Temple began. He was participating in the mission under the identity of Zhang Yang, which meant that he couldn't use his powers related to his physique unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, he might be discovered to have the secret of using different power systems, and he might even be linked to the Wolf Demon lineage.
The only powers he could use were the Legalist and Secret Powers systems. However, this would mean that he could only utilize half of his full strength, as his physique system was his strongest skill.
Now, after refining the Fire Lotus Soul, this was no longer a problem.
He was confident that with his current fire power, he wouldn't even fear a Profound-ranked demon if one were to show up.
"This isn't over yet. Let me have the Fire Lotus Soul completely devour the Lotus Flame, and my fire power will surely reach a new level!"
Su Nan looked at the Lotus Flame with anticipation.
"Let's begin," the Fire Lotus Soul appeared and jumped in his hand.
Without any need for his control, the Fire Lotus Soul shot towards the Lotus Flame.
Su Nan reacted quickly and took out five bottles of diluted Source of Life.
Over ten minutes later, all five bottles of diluted Source of Life had been consumed. Initially, there were twelve bottles of the liquid, but now only five remained. The final result also satisfied him.
As the last trace of flame was devoured, the temperature in the space did not decrease but increased.
The Fire Lotus Soul underwent a transformation. Compared to its initial size, it had nearly doubled in size. The flame was no longer the previous bright red but a faint purple.
The Fire Lotus Soul danced in his hand, as if it were a child, celebrating and rejoicing.
"You little guy, are you satisfied now?" Su Nan smiled as he looked at the Fire Lotus Soul.
Clearly, this was a response to him, as the Fire Lotus Soul continued to spin around happily.
The emotion of joy was clearly transmitted to Su Nan's heart. Sensing the changes in his internal fire power, Su Nan felt like he was dreaming.
"If my fire power when I initially refined the Fire Lotus Soul was equivalent to a peak Spirit-level, then my current fire power is already equivalent to an early Profound-level!"
The amplification was enormous!
Now, with the Fire Lotus Soul's influence, his fire power had become his strongest skill!
Surpassing the powers of many bloodlines related to physique.
What's more, what made him even more pleasantly surprised was that after devouring the Lotus Flame, the Fire Lotus Soul had acquired some of its characteristics.
It could actually use bloodline power as fuel.
He couldn't imagine how astonishing the effect would be if he used the Fire Lotus Soul to attack an enemy right now.
"At the Profound level, the difference between each minor realm is huge. Right now, I should have no problem dealing with a mid-level Profound-ranked demon."
Putting away the Fire Lotus Soul, Su Nan
quickly left the Lotus Street.
He couldn't wait to try out the power that the Fire Lotus Soul had brought him.
"Daily Task 1: Hunt and kill a common-grade demon."
Task Difficulty: One star.
"Daily Task 2: Hunt and kill the mastermind behind the disappearance of Chen Er Gou."
Task Difficulty: Two stars.
"Daily Task 3: Seek revenge for the former head of the Demon Execution Division."
Task Difficulty: Three stars.
Task Difficulty: Three stars
Zhang Yang's daily tasks appeared before him.
The first two tasks were nothing special, and Su Nan's gaze fell on the third task.
"This revenge task has come up again. Well, today, I'll deal with you."
Su Nan's lips curved into a smile.
The demon he needed to kill to avenge the former head of the Demon Execution Division was a mid-level Profound-ranked Legalist. In his previous foresight, he had already found a way to hunt it down.
Now that his strength had greatly increased, completing this task would be even simpler.
However, the only thing that worried him was the two Demon Kings.
If he were to take action, he would have to find a way to lure the demon out of the city before doing so.
He switched roles and looked at Wang Nan's daily tasks.
Daily Task 1: Hunt and kill a common-grade demon.
Task Difficulty: One star
Daily Task 2: Hunt and kill a Spirit-level demon.
Task Difficulty: Two stars
Daily Task 3: Hunt and kill a paper puppet demon inside the City God Temple.
Task Difficulty: Three stars
Just like Zhang Yang's tasks, there was one task each for one to three stars. Because he had returned to Tianyun City, tasks related to the City God Temple had appeared again.
Fortunately, this time the task did not require him to explore the City God Temple but only to hunt down a demon.
"That paper puppet demon possesses powerful spiritual energy, and ordinary attacks are ineffective against it. Only spiritual power and fire power pose a threat to it. Now, my spiritual power may not be much, but my fire power has greatly improved. I wonder if I can burn those paper puppet demons to death?"
A gleam of excitement flashed in Su Nan's eyes.
If it were before, he would have almost no chance of completing this task, but now he saw hope.
He then looked at Lang Shisan's tasks.
Lang Shisan's tasks remained the same as usual, consisting of two tasks to hunt down players and the task of replacing Xiong Yan.
"Now that all the Profound-ranked Great Demons have gone to White Water Lake, I'll go to the City God Temple first."
Su Nan quickly made his decision.
More than ten minutes later, he arrived at the street in front of the City God Temple.
The City God Temple during the day was completely different from the City God Temple at night.
At night, the City God Temple gave Su Nan a feeling of terror, strangeness, and profound mystery.
During the day, however, it was bustling with worshippers, and although it couldn't be described as a sea of people, it was certainly crowded.
Inside the City God Temple, the doors of the three main halls were open, and even from the street, one could see the statues enshrined in the main hall.
"Huh? The daytime statue is different from the one at night."
Su Nan was surprised to see that in the main hall, there was an image of an elderly City God, smiling kindly.
There was no sign of the monstrous demon statue that had appeared in his previous foresight.
"Entering the City God Temple again, the daytime City God Temple is not what you expected. Many worshippers come here to pray for safety, and it doesn't seem to be dangerous."
"Don't be careless; you know, this is just the surface. Beneath this calmness, there is great terror."
"Carefully enter the courtyard of the City God Temple, and you see that in the incense burner directly facing the main hall door, there is a burning sandalwood. Wisps of smoke permeate the entire courtyard."
"You look around and find nothing unusual, then you go to the main hall."
"In the main hall, there is an elderly man with white hair and a smiling face, and five worshippers are offering prayers."
"You search the main hall carefully, but after a minute, you find nothing. You turn to the east hall."
"In the east hall, there is an elderly man in a black robe, and three women are offering prayers."
"Two minutes later, you still haven't found anything. You have no choice but to go to the west hall."
"In the west hall, there is a stout elderly man, and only one middle-aged person is offering prayers."
"You search carefully as before, and three minutes later, you have searched the entire City God Temple, but unfortunately, you haven't found anything."
"You realize that all the demons here are hiding, and if you want to find them, you can only come back after nightfall."
"The first foresight ends. Do you want to continue?"
"Do these demons only appear after nightfall?" Su Nan furrowed his brows.
Helplessly, he had to turn and leave, planning to return in the evening.
However, not long after he left the City God Temple, a loud laughter erupted from the southwest of Tianyun City.
"Hahaha, I've finally become an Emperor!"
The laughter was thunderous and could be heard clearly even from a distance.
"It's Hu Xiaotian! He has ascended to the Emperor rank!"
Hearing the voice, Su Nan instantly understood what was happening.
Immediately, his heart surged with joy.
Without hesitation, he activated the Wheel of Fate, and at the same time, his appearance transformed into Lang Shisan's. He headed towards the direction from which the sound had come.
The laughter spread throughout Tianyun City.
In an area of several tens of miles around, everyone could clearly hear the deafening laughter.
County Governor's Residence.
In the backyard, the county governor, whom Su Nan had met before, was in discussion with another elderly man dressed in white.
Upon hearing Hu Xiaotian's laughter, both of them stood up simultaneously, their expressions changing slightly.
"This is... the Tiger Demon from Tiger Roar Town!"
The county governor was the first to recognize the voice of the Tiger Demon. His already wrinkled brow furrowed into a deeper crease.
Upon hearing this, the elderly man in white also had a grim expression. "It's that demon! Wasn't he constantly struggling with demonic possession?"
"If we calculate the time, that demonic possession should have succeeded by now. How could he have ascended to the Emperor rank at this time? Could it be that the possession was already successful?"
The county governor remained silent for a moment and shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it. If he had been possessed by a demon, breaking through to the Emperor rank now would inevitably release demonic energy."
"That demon had Emperor-level power more than twenty years ago. Now that he has ascended to the Emperor rank, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be his match!"
"If only I had known, I should have killed him back then."
"This is troublesome. Repairing the Divine Ban in Tianyun County might not be so easy now!"
---
White Water Lake.
Inside the central hall.
Two Demon Kings, one male and one female, sat on high seats, while seventeen Great Demons were arranged in two rows below them.
When they heard Hu Xiaotian's laughter, the two Demon Kings couldn't sit still.
"It's Hu Xiaotian, that guy!"
"I never thought he would enter the Emperor rank ahead of us."
The two Demon Kings didn't feel happy about Hu Xiaotian's breakthrough. Instead, they wore serious expressions.
For them, Hu Xiaotian's breakthrough meant that their dominion over Tianyun City was being challenged.
"Let's go, our new Emperor of Tianyun County has been born, and we should go congratulate him."
---
About ten miles southwest of Tianyun City.
Next to a river, a middle-aged man who had transformed into Hu Xiaotian wore a joyful expression on his face.
The Emperor rank was a height that countless demons could only dream of reaching.
And today, he had achieved it.
Without leaving immediately, Hu Xiaotian felt the surging blood in his body and sat down again, using his demon technique to calm his blood.
White Water Demon King and Green Wolf Demon King arrived and saw Hu Xiaotian sitting still. They didn't dare to disturb him and could only wait patiently.
Time passed.
After more than ten minutes.
By this time, a large number of demons had gathered around.
Not only did the Profound-ranked Great Demons under the two Demon Kings come, but even some Spirit-ranked demons had also arrived.
All the demons remained silent and dared not disturb Hu Xiaotian.
Finally, Hu Xiaotian opened his eyes.
With a terrifying aura emanating, the surrounding demons turned pale and couldn't help but kneel down.
Fortunately, this aura came and went quickly. When Hu Xiaotian stood up, the young man transformed from White Water Demon King congratulated him with a bow.
Seeing this, the surrounding demons all joined in congratulating him.
"Hahaha..." Hu Xiaotian laughed heartily, feeling proud.
After a moment, Hu Xiaotian turned to the White Water Demon King and said, "White Water, it's been more than twenty years. I thought you would have ascended to the Emperor rank ahead of me. I didn't expect that after so many years, you haven't made much progress."
Hu Xiaotian glanced at the White Water Demon King with a hint of mockery.
Clearly, he didn't have a good opinion of the White Water Demon King.
Upon hearing this, the young man transformed from the White Water Demon King's face turned red and green, but he could only smile awkwardly.
Hu Xiaotian didn't pay any more attention to the White Water Demon King and turned to the Green Wolf Demon King, saying, "You, little girl, have made quite some progress. I remember that you were only at the initial stage of the King rank when you first arrived twenty years ago."
"Now, twenty years have passed, and you're already at the peak of the King rank. Compared to the White Water, who's a waste, you have extraordinary talent and are catching up with me."
The woman transformed from the Green Wolf Demon King smiled slightly and said, "Emperor, you're too kind. This humble woman is far from being compared to the Emperor."
Among the group of demons, Su Nan, transformed into a wolf demon, was also present.
He squeezed his way out of the crowd and walked towards Hu Xiaotian.
Seeing him, Old Sheep and High Eagle, the five demons, were all stunned.
They knew that Su Nan didn't want other demons to know about his existence.
Now, seeing Su Nan not only coming here but also appearing directly in front of many demons and walking toward the newly crowned Demon Emperor, several demons were puzzled.
They didn't know what Su Nan intended to do.
(End of this chapter)