<h4>Chapter 460 - Pyrokinesis</h4>


    Xiang breathed out some regr fire and controlled it. He then changed the shape of the fire and made it dance around the cave with a surprising degree of uracy and speed.


    “Is this your new talent? Pyrokinesis?” Long Chen was admiring it.


    “No, you are wrong. It’s not my talent, but the zing Lion’s.”


    “Huh?” Long Chen wasn’t sure what Xiang meant.


    Xiang excitedly answered, “I did unlock a new talent once I reached the Heaven-tier. My talent is that I can plunder the talents of other beasts by consuming their demonic cores as long as they are of the fire attribute. Since I’ve devoured the core of a zing Lion, I managed to copy its talent in Pyrokinesis. My talent, however, is not absolute. I won’t always be able to take the talents of other beasts, roughly only one-third of the time.”


    Even the cat was impressed by Xiang’s talent, so he interjected and exined, “Your talent is indeed incredible. You have only consumed the demonic cores of weaker beasts so far, but when you get stronger, the beasts around you will be powerful enough to threaten the verynds themselves. All of them have incredible talents on their own. If you copy them, you will be the most powerful of all beasts.”


    His new talent was much more important than his breakthrough to the Heaven-tier.


    “Congrattions, Xiang!” Long Chen was happy.


    “And you have reached the Heavenly Passage Realm. Before that, you could kill someone at the Third Passage Stage, but now that you are at the Heavenly Passage Realm, you can now fight against stronger people. I’m still too weak to help you. Back when we first met in Baiyang Town, I was stronger than you, but now the roles have been reversed after just one year.” Xiang sighed.


    “Don’t worry. Who knows where we will stand in another year? Now that everything is over, we should head to the Ancient Demon Domain. We need to go there to find the entrance of the Ancient Graveyard. They should know where it is!”


    Long Chen then took Xiang and returned to the path. Since Xiang’s speed had grown, Long Chen sat on his back and they ran across the ins. Initially, they met no one, but they soon saw more and more people as they approached the Ancient Demon Domain.


    “The skies are darker up ahead, and there are several gray mountains. Wait, there are dozens of pirs of Earthly Qi shooting up into the skies at the mountain ranges. Each one has more Earthly Qis than the one at Yellow Martial City. That must be the Ancient Demon Domain. To think that the Earthly Qi is so dense there. But why is there so little vegetation even though there’s so much Earthly Qi? Cat, do you know why?”


    The fat cat rolled his eyes in the Primordial Realm. “How would I know? I’ve wasted so much energy just to save you that my senses are already dull, but ... I think I know the reason why. There’s no Life Qi in the ground. Nothing can grow with just Earthly Qi.”


    “Life Qi? What is that?” Long Chen never heard of it before.


    “Idiot. There are different kinds of Qis and energies in this world. For example, Earthly Qi is suitable for cultivation. The Qi here is much higher quality than in the Cangyang Kingdom. Of course, there are several other types of Qi that are stronger. Life Qi is one of them. For some strange reason, it’s spread out evenly on the Dragon Continent. Usually, most ces have the same amount of Life Qi since it’s so evenly distributed even though it’s the key to life. This ce here ... has even less Life Qi than the Cangyang Kingdom. Something’s probably consuming it.”


    Long Chen had to admit that the cat was more informed of the world than Ling Xi, or at least he had never heard Ling Xi talk about it.


    “Life Qi is needed to replenish life, but you don’t really need it since you have Rewind. It’s the ultimate technique to save your life.”


    <i>Something is consuming the Life Qi here? What kind of strange being is in the Ancient Demon Domain? </i>Long Chen had a fleeting thought, but he soon pushed it to the back of his mind. It didn’t matter to him because he was here to cultivate.


    He would reach the Ancient Demon Domain soon, so Xiang became small again and Long Chen hid him in his clothes. Long Chen would never keep him in the Primordial Realm if Xiang didn’t want to.


    “Big Brother, we’re approaching a town. There are a lot of people too. It''s probably because we are close to the Ancient Demon Domain.”


    Long Chen saw a lot of young cultivators riding their mounts towards the small town.


    “Are they all entering the Ancient Demon Domain to cultivate? I need more information.” Long Chen didn’t know anything about the ce.


    Since he had just entered the First Passage Stage, no one paid him any attention. Long Chen soon brought Xiang close to the town. Other than the asional gaze of the people looking at Xiang, no one paid them any attention.


    When he reached the entrance, he saw several Martial Alliance guards. He used his fake golden identity token to enter the town.


    A lot of young cultivators were rushing around the streets. Some of them were being escorted by their parents and masters.


    <i>It might be too weird if I just ask someone on the street. Let’s find an inn or a restaurant to get some information.</i>


    After some time, Long Chen found thergest inn in the town, the Ten Thousand Floating Inn. Under the guidance of the waiter, he sat inside and ordered some food with wine. He enjoyed his meal while listening around.


    There were many young cultivators below the age of twenty here, but everyone was already at the First or Second Passage Stage. Some of them were even at the Third Passage Stage. All of them would’ve been the strongest people in the Cangyang Kingdom, but they were nothing here.


    Long Chen soon learned why the town was buzzing. All of them were here to join the qualifiers to enter the Ancient Demon Domain. The Ancient Demon Domain conducted it once a year, and Long Chen had coincidentally arrived just in time for it. The qualifiers had been ongoing for a couple of days, so those arriving today were technicallyte. That was why most people were panicking as they ran across the town to reach the Ancient Demon Domain.


    “I heard that there are even more people this year. I think there are eighty thousand participants, but only seventy will pass, and only seven of them will be the direct disciples of the seven Demon Kings. Thepetition is fierce!”


    “It’s alright. The Ancient Demon Domain is one of thergest superpowers. There’s nothing but benefits if you manage to join them. That’s why I’ve been working on entering for the past few years ever since I reached the Heavenly Passage Realm at sixteen. I’ve failed three times, and this is myst chance!”


    “I hope you seed, but I fear that your chances are slim since you’re only at the Second Passage Stage.”


    “I have no choice but to test my luck.”


    Long Chen learned a lot from them.


    <i>Another qualifier? </i>Long Chen had joined two strong factions in the past before, the Lingwu family and the Heavenly Demon Pce. He became Zhao Qingyun’s direct disciple without any hassle, while it had required luck and skills to enter the Lingwu family. The qualifiers of the Ancient Demon Domain were most likely simr to thetter.


    But as one of the strongest factions, their rules were probably very strict. Eighty thousand people and only seventy could join them. That was a one-in-a-thousand chance. Those below a certain cultivation level and those whocked battle experience would have a hard time qualifying.


    “Don’t worry. Even if you fail, you can still join the Martial Alliance. If your performance is good, you might get called to cultivate in Martial Overlord City. You might even be one of the top managers of the Martial Alliance! That’s even better!”


    “You are right, but we still need to work hard to enter the Ancient Demon Domain. The people you talk of are all super geniuses who were recruited immediately by them. They are nothing like us ...”


    Long Chen continued eating while listening to the news. The more he heard, the more he wanted to join the qualifiers. The inn was packed, so he heard a lot of information. He was preparing to find someone to talk about the Martial Alliance when the door to the inn suddenly mmed open and a small girl ran in.


    Her eyes lit up the moment she saw Xiang sitting beside Long Chen.