Eternal Life by Daily Divination

Yao Yun replied, "Sir, we don’t know what Fire Cloud Crystals are used for either. The Tier of this Treasure is too high for us. We can’t refine it or draw any power from it. All we know is that the Divine Lord needs Fire Cloud Crystals."

"The Divine Lord?"

"He is the lord of all gods, the strongest in our entire world."

Yao Yun’s tone steadied as she began to explain in detail to Li Chang’an.

After a lengthy conversation, Li Chang’an learned that the people of this world also cultivated with Magical Power, but the names of their realms differed from those of the outside world.

In the Fire Cloud Secret Realm, there were only three cultivation realms in total.

They were Divine Venerable, Divine King, and Divine Emperor.

From Yao Yun’s description, Li Chang’an determined that these three realms corresponded to Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation in the outside world.

The siblings, Yao Yun and Yao Feng, were at the fourth layer of the Divine Venerable realm.

In the eyes of countless mortals, they were all lofty gods.

But above all the gods, there was a Divine Lord who resided in the central Divine Hall at the heart of their world.

That Divine Lord’s power far surpassed the other gods; even a Divine Emperor at the Golden Core Stage was no match for him.

For this reason, he was known among the gods as the Fire Cloud Divine Lord.

’Fire Cloud Divine Lord...’

Li Chang’an’s gaze deepened as he looked toward the central region of this world.

’The one from whom I sensed a sliver of a threat must be the Fire Cloud Divine Lord Yao Yun spoke of. His power far surpasses that of an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator.’

"The Divine Lord needs Fire Cloud Crystals, so he commanded the Divine Emperors to collect them. The Divine Emperors then commanded the Divine Kings..."

Yao Yun continued, explaining why they placed so much importance on Fire Cloud Crystals.

For a Qi Refining Noble Family like the Yao Family, handing over Fire Cloud Crystals would earn them a reward from a Foundation Establishment Powerhouse.

Not long ago, the Yao Family had unexpectedly discovered this very Fire Cloud Crystal in an abandoned mine.

Today, the siblings had left their clan, intending to present the Fire Cloud Crystal to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator the Yao Family was affiliated with—the one they referred to as a powerful Divine King, Bilian Divine King.

However, a Yao Family clansman had accidentally leaked the news, causing them to be targeted by Tribulation Cultivators.

If they hadn’t encountered Li Chang’an, their fate would have likely been sealed.

"Sir, you... are you a Divine King?"

"Mm, I suppose so."

Li Chang’an didn’t reveal his true strength, casually stating that he was in the Early Stage of the Divine King Realm.

He then asked, "Does the Yao Family have any more Fire Cloud Crystals?"

Yao Feng replied, "Sir, the entire Yao Family only has this one Fire Cloud Crystal."

"I want to take a look at that abandoned mine of yours."

As he spoke, Li Chang’an casually tossed the Storage Pouches from the Tribulation Cultivators to the two siblings.

With a single thought from him, the heads of the Tribulation Cultivators burst apart.

"Please, follow me, Sir!"

His face flushed with excitement from the reward, Yao Feng began to lead the way for Li Chang’an.

Yao Yun, on the other hand, was faintly worried.

Even now, she still couldn’t tell if Li Chang’an was good or evil.

She was afraid Li Chang’an was one of those mercurial powerhouses, whose moods were dangerously unpredictable.

Soon, the three arrived at a small city.

Fire Rock City.

The Yao Family were the masters of this small city.

Surrounding Fire Rock City were several mortal kingdoms with a total population of over a million, all of whom worshipped the Yao Family Cultivators as gods.

Li Chang’an saw that statues of the Yao Family Cultivators were enshrined in many places throughout these mortal kingdoms.

He faintly sensed a special kind of power lingering around the Yao siblings, though they were unable to use it.

’The Power of Faith?’

Li Chang’an grew thoughtful.

’In this world, mortals revere the gods, and the gods revere the Divine Lord. It’s an ideal environment for cultivating the path of faith,’ he mused.

「A short while later.」

He arrived at the Yao Clan Territory in the center of Fire Rock City.

The current Patriarch of the Yao Family was named Yao Tai. He was at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer of cultivation, which in this world was known as the Divine Venerable Seventh Layer.

Upon hearing that Li Chang’an was an Initial Tier Divine King, he hastily summoned all the Cultivators of the Yao Family to welcome him.

Yao Tai said respectfully, "Elder Divine King, I have prepared our clan’s best training ground for you—the one with the highest concentration of Spiritual Power."

"That won’t be necessary. I’m just here to see the spiritual ore mine."

Li Chang’an had no intention of cultivating here.

The most concentrated spot of Spiritual Power in the entire Yao Family’s Spirit Vein was merely Tier One Top Grade.

For a Golden Core powerhouse like him, cultivating here would be a complete waste of time.

「Before long.」

Yao Tai respectfully led him to the front of an abandoned mine.

"Sir, that Fire Cloud Crystal was excavated from this very mine."

"Before this mine was abandoned, what kind of spiritual ore did it produce?"

"I do not know, Sir."

Yao Tai knew more about this world than the two siblings did.

He told Li Chang’an that the spiritual ore mine had already been abandoned when the Yao Family first established themselves in Fire Rock City.

Throughout the entire Fire Cloud World, there were countless abandoned mines like this one.

No one knew when these mines had been created.

"Sir, many myriad years ago, our Cultivation Realm seems to have suffered a great calamity, leading to a fracture in our history."

Yao Tai referred to the Fire Cloud World as the "Cultivation Realm," unaware that this land was merely a small Secret Realm.

It wasn’t just him; likely, no one in this entire land knew they were living inside a Secret Realm.

In their eyes, the path of cultivation had only ever consisted of three realms, with no path beyond.

"Sir, I suspect these abandoned mines were all used to excavate Fire Cloud Crystals. But due to the gap in our history, there are no records, so I can’t be certain."

"Alright, I understand. You may go now."

"Yes!"

Not daring to disobey, Yao Tai immediately withdrew.

Li Chang’an entered the abandoned mine and spread his Divine Sense, scanning everything along the way as he went deeper.

He also used his Stone Eye to probe the area.

Before long, he had descended over a thousand zhang.

Yet, he still hadn’t found any more Fire Cloud Crystals.

Li Chang’an remained patient and continued onward, searching meticulously through the vast, subterranean mine.

「About an hour later.」

He felt a sudden impulse and stopped in his tracks.

Within the range of his Divine Sense, a trace of a scorching hot aura appeared.

He immediately used an Escape Technique, following the wisp of aura to its source, and soon laid eyes on a single Fire Cloud Crystal.

’Just one.’

Li Chang’an shook his head slightly.

’At this rate, who knows how long it will take to gather the head-sized piece required by the Vermilion Bird Sect.’

’I’ll search a little longer. If there are no more Fire Cloud Crystals in this mine, I’ll have to look elsewhere.’