Shenhuang City is located three thousand miles south of Dengxian City.
It is backed by a mountain called Shenhuang Mountain, which is how it got its name.
The city lord of Shenhuang City, Liu Qingfeng, is at the late stage of the Returning Void realm and is one of the more formidable figures among the thirty-six city lords in southern Tian.
Moreover, within Shenhuang Mountain, there is a spiritual herb called Tianhuang Grass, which is an essential ingredient for refining primordial infant stage elixirs.
Thus, Shenhuang City has profited greatly from this specialty.
Although many people have attempted to target Shenhuang City, all have dropped their plans due to Liu Qingfeng's formidable strength.
The ancient beings in the Tianling Realm are all busy in closed-door training, attempting to take that next step.
Thus, in their absence from the tribulation, those in the Returning Void realm are the top tier of combat strength in the Tianling Realm.
Liu Qingfeng has not yet made it onto the Qianyuan List, but he is not far from it.
While Dugu Qing and Qin Xiaofeng are at similar cultivation levels, in terms of actual combat power, even when working together, they are no match for him.
This is thanks to the unique martial arts of the Liu family, the Phoenix Nine Transformations.
With each additional layer of cultivation in the Phoenix Nine Transformations, it is as if one gains an extra life.
Moreover, there is an innate affinity for fire-based spells that is far superior to normal.
Fire-based magic is commonly recognized as one of the top five types of magic.
Furthermore, Shenhuang Mountain, which backs Shenhuang City, is said to be a place where a phoenix once built its nest, making fire elements exceptionally active.
One could say that as long as Liu Qingfeng sits in command of Shenhuang City, he poses no threat, even to those on the Qianyuan List who have attained the peak of the Returning Void realm, just one step away from entering the tribulation.
However, the Phoenix Nine Transformations has a crucial flaw that remains unknown to outsiders.
Liu Qingfeng has recently been quite irritable, such that even the servants in the city lord's mansion dare not wear hard-soled shoes while walking.
Liu Qingfeng sits cross-legged in the secretive cultivation chamber of the city lord's mansion, repeatedly forming hand seals.
Intense heat continues to impact the walls of the chamber.
If it were not for the fact that this chamber was constructed from the countless millennium-cold stones brought from the Xuanbei Domain at great expense, it might have long since melted away.
The walls are etched with countless tiny runes; each time Liu Qingfeng's heatwaves strike, these runes emit a shimmering white light to absorb and repel the impact, ultimately dissipating it and redirecting the energy back to Liu Qingfeng.
"It's still not working. Could it be that the half-set of techniques obtained by our ancestors can only be completed in the Immortal Realm?"
What the outside world does not know is that the legend of a phoenix nesting on Shenhuang Mountain is indeed true.
Over several hundred thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Liu family witnessed it themselves.
However, the phoenix only remained for three days before leaving.
Nonetheless, the place where the phoenix once roosted left behind a partially incomplete set of runic techniques.
By chance, the head of the Liu family acquired these runes and, after organizing them, obtained half of the techniques.
It is this half of the techniques that has directly sustained a family lineage for ten thousand years.
The Liu family also established Shenhuang City on Shenhuang Mountain.
However, success comes from both practice and flaws.
Due to the incompleteness of the techniques, though the Liu family has many experts, none have been able to transcend to immortality and ascend to the Immortal Realm.
Furthermore, due to the incomplete techniques, every ten years, cultivators who practice the Phoenix Nine Transformations up to the Returning Void realm must suppress the restless fire elements within them in the phoenix's nest located in Shenhuang Mountain.
During this time, they must not engage in combat; failure to do so could result in a decline in cultivation or even catastrophic explosions.
Thus, every ten years, Liu Qingfeng makes a pilgrimage to the ancestral mausoleum of the Liu family deep in Shenhuang Mountain in commemoration of his ancestors, where he must suppress his turbulent spiritual power for a total of forty-nine days.
For hundreds of thousands of years, the Liu family has prospered through generations, and at its peak, they even controlled nearly half of the forces in southern Tian for close to ten thousand years.
Yet, no one has been able to fully deduce the Phoenix Nine Transformations.
It seems that these techniques should not exist within the Tianling Realm and can only be completed in the Immortal Realm.
Liu Qingfeng can feel the explosive fire spiritual power within him, which should deal a fatal blow to his enemies, now continually pressing against his spiritual sea.
Above his spiritual sea, sits a small figure radiating golden light, exerting an overwhelming pressure to suppress the tumultuous spiritual energy within.
He has been trying for a thousand years without any leads, and in three days, he must set out for the phoenix's nest.
During this time, he must make sure everything in Shenhuang City is properly arranged.
Although no one has known the secret of the Liu family's techniques for hundreds of thousands of years, prudence has been the foundation of the Liu family's standing in the Tianling Realm.
At this moment, outside Shenhuang City, two figures silently wait in the void.
Who else could it be but Dugu Qing and Qin Xiaofeng?
"Is it possible that Jiang Xiaojie miscalculated? Why hasn't Liu Qingfeng shown any movement?" Qin Xiaofeng questioned, staring at Shenhuang City in the distance.
"It shouldn't be a mistake. I've investigated; every ten years, Liu Qingfeng goes to Shenhuang Mountain to pay respects to his ancestors without fail, which aligns perfectly with Jiang Xiaojie's divination," Dugu Qing replied.
"Are we taking too big of a risk based solely on that kid's divination?" Qin Xiaofeng could not help but voice his concern.
"Are you scared, Qin Lao?" Dugu Qing turned to look at Qin Xiaofeng.
"Not at all! I have roamed the Tianling Realm for thousands of years—when have I ever been afraid!"
"It's just that considering the recent events gives me an unreal feeling; I can't believe I am considering dominating southern Tian based on a divination!"
"Qin Lao, do you believe in fate?"
Qin Xiaofeng: "??"
"That day, when I saw Jiang Bai repeatedly counting down with his hand, and I saw that black hole above Dengxian City, along with that terrifying figure within the black hole, seeing the immortal fall before my eyes—I felt deep down that my opportunity had come."
"Could that be too hasty?"
"How many times can one seize the opportunity in life?"
Qin Xiaofeng fell silent.
He had meticulously plotted for his entire life, finally raising the Qin family to one of the top powers in Dengxian City, even standing equally with the Dugu family.
If there hadn't been an unremarkable successor among the second and third generations of the Qin family, he would never have bet against Dugu Qing.
Having risen from nothing, he understood better than anyone that undertaking great endeavors requires courage, but the consequences of failure must also be considered.
The Qin family is not like the Dugu family, which thrives on the advantage of being the City Lord, full of branches and leaves with a long lineage.
They cannot compare to the Liu family, with its tens of thousands of years of inheritance in Shenhuang City.
However, for the sake of his descendants, this old man must take a gamble.
Otherwise, with no hope of becoming an immortal and not even able to glimpse the tribulation realm, once he passes away, the Qin family is destined to decline.
The difference between him, Dugu Qing, and Liu Qingfeng is not in family background, strength, or intelligence.
It's time!
He is already old!
"You are right; there are few opportunities in life!"
At that moment, Qin Xiaofeng's aged face appeared remarkably resolute.
The weariness that once clung to his body brightened, and he began to radiate a dazzling vigor.
His white hair was turning black, his posture straightened, and the cane in his hand was tossed aside.
In its place was a long saber, still sheathed.
As soon as he gripped the saber, Qin Xiaofeng's entire being exuded an increasingly fierce aura!
Dugu Qing looked at the black-haired youth before him with astonishment, his eyes sparkling.
He had never realized that Qin Xiaofeng had such a domineering side.
In his childhood, Qin Xiaofeng always appeared frail and old.
Even as he grew older and caught up, Qin Xiaofeng still looked the same.
"Dugu kid, I know you've always looked down on me, thinking I'm just a cunning old fool. Today, I'll show you how I, Qin Xiaofeng, built my foundation step by step from nothing and stood against your Dugu family!"