The Divine Phoenix Island council hall was vast.
Red jade pillars rose in two ranks to either side, their surfaces carved with phoenixes taking flight—some soaring toward the vaulted ceiling, some descending with outstretched talons, others wheeling in eternal arcs. Vermillion light flowed along those carvings, as if fire itself had congealed into stone.
Heat rippled faintly in the air. It wasn't the crude scorching heat of a furnace, but the steady, dignified warmth of a divine flame compressed over three thousand years. Vermillion Bird true essence saturated every stone, every seat, even the air people breathed. Every breath tasted faintly of ash and spirit herbs.
Seats were arranged in a great semi-circle.
At the center, high above the rest, sat the Island Master and the Matriarch—Mu Yuhuang and Mu Fengxian. On either side of them were the Great Elders and protectors, the pillars of Divine Phoenix Island. Behind those, slightly lower, were the elders of each faction, then the core disciples and Chosen, and finally the elite disciples standing at the very back.
Dozens of gazes gathered there.
They were waiting.
When Ren walked in with Qin Xingxuan at his side, the hall's quiet shifted.
At first glance, he appeared almost… ordinary.
A youth in simple clothes with no sect insignia, aura suppressed to that of a common Xiantian master. His posture was relaxed, shoulders loose, as if he were strolling through a market instead of into the core of a fourth-grade sect.
Beside him, the girl in Martial House robes—Qin Xingxuan—held a spear in her hand. Her cultivation was only at Pulse Condensation. In the eyes of Divine Phoenix's elites, that realm was still the stage where one drew basic outlines, not the time to step onto this level of hall.
It should have been easy to dismiss them.
Then the elders looked a little deeper.
"His aura…" Yan Yusheng's eyes narrowed, the flames in his pupils contracting. "Why is it so vague?"
He was a Revolving Core master of Divine Phoenix Island, a veteran who had walked the Vermillion Bird Dao for decades. Under normal circumstances, a mere Xiantian junior's foundation would have been as clear as paper before him.
Now, the more he tried to focus, the more Ren's realm seemed to blur—like trying to fix his gaze on a mirage over hot sand.
"I can't see through his foundation at all," Mu Yanzhuo said slowly, a faint frown forming between his brows. His own flames stirred in faint agitation, as if annoyed at being unable to size up the "guest."
Their gazes moved to Qin Xingxuan.
"She is also from that tiny Martial House…?" Mu Qingyi murmured, eyes lingering on the girl's spear. "How can a Pulse Condensation junior have such condensed Fire Laws…?"
Her perception brushed against Qin Xingxuan's body.
Under that plain robe, meridians flowed with a purity of flame more common in prodigies of large sects. Fire essence ran like fine silk, wind and thunder threaded faintly through her true essence, and behind it all lay the imprint of an intricate circulation method that did not match any Divine Phoenix lineage.
A trace of red-gold intent slept at the back of her Spiritual Sea, like a rune-wheel waiting to turn.
Qin Xingxuan felt their eyes, yet her back remained straight.
Her spear intent hung quietly at her side, like a line drawn through heaven and earth—calm, unwavering, yet sharp enough that anyone who approached too casually would feel their heart pricked.
At the center, Mu Yuhuang sat with her usual poise.
Her vermillion robes hugged a proud, graceful figure; her hair was drawn up with a phoenix-shaped hairpin. The phoenix mark between her brows burned with a steady light. Her expression was dignified and calm, eyes like twin phoenix flames that had watched over this island for a hundred years.
Next to her, Mu Fengxian rested lightly on her cane. White hair fell to her waist, and time had left fine lines upon her face, but none of it dimmed the edge in her gaze. Her presence was like hidden fire beneath old ashes—quiet, but capable of leaping skyward in an instant.
And beside them, dressed in a fitted vermillion robe that accentuated her slender waist, stood Mu Qianyu.
When Ren's gaze found her, his smile brightened as if someone had added a stroke of sunlight to the hall.
"Qianyu," he said, as if greeting an old friend in a teahouse rather than Divine Phoenix Island's prized Chosen. "It's good to see your lovely face. Last time, things ended too quickly. I've missed you."
His tone was light, almost casual, with a warm teasing note that slid naturally from his lips. No hesitation, no stiffness—just simple honesty.
A faint ripple passed through the hall.
Mu Qianyu, Divine Phoenix Island's proud Chosen, felt her usually calm heart stutter.
Memories rose unbidden.
Standing with him under purple thunder, Vermillion Bird fire tempered by heavenly lightning. His hand over hers, guiding her true essence, his voice low and steady in her ear—"Trust me." The pain of her flame being remade, the exhilaration of feeling it rise to a higher order.
She had returned to this island carrying thunder-tempered fire.
He had simply walked away into the wider world.
Now he was here, in her home, looking at her with that easy smile and saying he had missed her.
Her cheeks, normally as cool as snow, flushed with a hint of warmth.
"You…" she began, then forced her voice back under control. "Ren Ming. This one also… is glad you came safely."
Behind her, some elders' expressions darkened.
"So casual…"
"Calling our Chosen by name in front of everyone…"
Mu Yuhuang's lips twitched, just the slightest movement. Her eyes moved from Qianyu to Ren, quietly assessing.
Ren shifted his attention smoothly, smile never fading.
"Mu Yuhuang," he said, "Mu Fengxian. I'm pleased to finally meet you in person."
He didn't say "Island Master."
He didn't say "Matriarch."
He simply spoke their names, as if they were equals meeting for the first time on some ancient road.
The temperature in the hall spiked.
His tone was polite, even faintly warm, but that lack of formal address made several Great Elders stiffen. Mu Chihuo's eyes flashed; Mu Qingshu's lips pressed together, a faint line of anger cutting across his face.
Even core disciples in the back exchanged glances. For someone from a remote kingdom's Martial House to address Divine Phoenix Island's Island Master and High Ancestor by name, in their own council hall…
Bold to the point of insanity.
But it was Mu Yuhuang's reaction that mattered most.
For the slightest of moments, she was… unsettled.
This youth, whose origins were unclear but whose actions had already shaken the South Horizon Region, looked directly at her without a trace of the fear, awe, or cautious calculation she was used to seeing in juniors' eyes.
He saw her. Not just the Island Master. Not just the Vermillion Bird faction's leader.
He saw a person.
She inhaled once, phoenix fire smoothing her heartbeat.
"This Palace is Mu Yuhuang," she said, voice even, carrying the natural authority honed over centuries. "Divine Phoenix Island's Island Master. That is our Matriarch, Mu Fengxian."
Mu Fengxian's eyes crinkled slightly at the edges.
"Young people these days," she rasped, amusement faint. "Your courage is not small."
Ren smiled lazily.
"If I were timid," he said, tone light, "I wouldn't have dared come here at all."
That simple sentence, spoken without bravado, landed heavily.
He had indeed walked into a sect that could, with a single order, summon experts capable of crushing kingdoms. He had come directly into their council hall, with only a Pulse Condensation girl at his side.
He had not bowed, not begged, not flattered.
And he spoke as if this were all perfectly natural.
Mu Chihuo snorted through his nose, breaking the moment.
"Young Hero Ren is indeed… spirited," he said, words polite, tone anything but. "But this is Divine Phoenix Island, not some backwater Martial House. No matter how talented you are, there are things you should not be too casual about."
A Great Elder sitting near him—a Revolving Core master whose flames burned with the distinct Vermillion Bird pattern—leaned forward slightly.
"Island Master," the man said politely, gaze never leaving Ren, "this junior indeed has some talent. He managed to injure the Seven Profound Valleys' Sovereigns. But those old fellows have grown fat and complacent anyway. To treat that as some earth-shaking miracle…"
He shook his head lightly.
"In this Divine Phoenix Province, heavenly-defying geniuses appear every few centuries. One must not let a little success inflate one's heart."
It was phrased as a gentle reminder.
The undertone was obvious.
Divine Phoenix Island's status, their depth, the fact that this youth had come from a tiny kingdom under their branch sect's shadow. Even having heard of his feats, the elder clearly did not place him on the same level as their sect's true pillars.
Several elders nodded faintly.
Mu Qingshu's lips curled just a little, the hint of a sneer dying behind his teeth.
Qin Xingxuan's eyes narrowed.
She didn't speak. She simply shifted her grip on her spear, fingers tightening once.
Ren's smile didn't change.
He turned his head, looking directly at the Vermillion Bird Great Elder.
"'Little success', huh," he said pleasantly. "You know what I can tell about you?"
The elder frowned. "Oh? And what might that be?"
"People like you are really hard-headed," Ren replied, voice still mild. "You won't understand until it hits you in the face. You might as well start flexing so I can get this over with."
A few younger disciples sucked in a breath.
"You…!" The elder's brows drew together, Vermillion Bird flames rising unconsciously around him.
The hall's heat jumped in an instant.
Fire surged up from his dantian, coiling around his body like a phoenix plume cloak. Vermillion patterns flared behind him, and the image of a phoenix spreading its wings slowly took shape above his seat. The phantom let out a sharp, shrieking cry, its burning gaze locking onto Ren.
The temperature spiked again.
Weaker disciples in the back rows began to sweat, their true essence stirring restlessly in the oppressive heat. Some felt their Fire Laws shaken, Vermillion Bird cultivation techniques reacting instinctively to the elder's outpouring of power.
Mu Yuhuang's gaze cooled.
"Elder Yan," she said in a warning tone. "This is the council hall."
"Island Master," Elder Yan said stiffly, eyes never leaving Ren, "this old one is merely reminding a junior to restrain his tongue—"
Ren lifted his hand.
He extended a single finger.
He didn't circulate visible true essence.
He didn't erupt his aura.
He simply flicked his fingertip through the air.
The motion was almost lazy, like a man brushing away a bit of dust.
A soundless ripple passed through the hall.
Every Vermillion Bird flame around the Great Elder's body went out.
One heartbeat, the phoenix cloak burned fiercely.
The next, it vanished.
The huge Vermillion Bird phantom above his head shattered like smoke scattered by a gale. Its cry cut off mid-note. Its body broke into countless motes of red light.
Those motes didn't disperse.
They were dragged—gently, inexorably—toward Ren's fingertip.
To the elder, it felt as if some higher-order flame had appeared above the path he had spent his entire life climbing. A fire that wasn't simply stronger, but that stood at a higher rung of the same Dao, casually extending a hand and pushing him down by half a step.
For a brief, terrifying instant, the only fire in his channels was the barest wisp necessary to keep his true essence circulating. The proud Vermillion Bird Laws he had comprehended over decades… were suppressed.
He gasped, face draining of color.
He tried to urge his true essence, to rekindle his Vermillion Bird flame. But the Laws he reached for felt… distant. As if someone had taken the ladder he stood on and lifted it just barely out of reach.
All around the hall, every Fire-attribute cultivator felt a strange sensation.
Their own flames flickered.
Their Vermillion Bird cultivation, their Fire Laws, the faint spark of their bloodline… all of it shivered, as if remembering that there existed a higher sky somewhere above them.
For one heartbeat, it was as if a sun had been revealed overhead. Not a sun of blazing quantity, but a sun whose quality stood at an entirely different level of refinement.
Next to that, their flames felt like candles in a storm.
Mu Chihuo's pupils contracted. His calloused hands tightened on the armrests until the wood creaked.
Mu Qingshu's breath hitched, the phoenix fire in his meridians stuttering.
Mu Qingyi's eyes widened, her own Fire Laws experiencing a strange, painful, yet intoxicating sense of being peeled open and shown a deeper pattern.
Mu Yuhuang's phoenix fire shivered—not in fear, but in instinctive recognition. There was a fragment of Heaven-level comprehension in that casual flick, the kind of suppression that belonged to someone whose understanding of Fire had already stepped beyond their norms.
Mu Qianyu's lips parted, a faint sound escaping.
Behind her, the Vermillion Bird phantom she had comprehended bowed its head for a breath, feathers trembling—subconsciously acknowledging a higher sky. Thunder-tempered flames within her dantian rippled, as if wishing to draw closer to the invisible presence at Ren's fingertip.
To the females whose perception of Fire Laws was deep, the sensation was almost… beautiful.
For one heartbeat, their own Fire Laws felt as if someone had lifted a veil from them, showing them a more refined, more brilliant version of the path they'd walked all their lives. Tiny flaws they had never noticed, inefficient turns in their circulation… all of it flashed through their minds.
Their hearts thumped.
Eyes were involuntarily drawn to the youth standing lazily in the center of the hall.
Ren watched the Great Elder evenly for that same heartbeat.
Then he flicked his finger a second time.
The Vermillion Bird Laws flowed back.
Fire once again roared along the elder's meridians, phoenix flames rekindling. The phantom above his head reformed—albeit dimmer than before, eyes wide in shock, wings trembling with lingering fear.
The whole exchange had taken place in the span of a blink.
The Great Elder sat frozen.
Sweat beaded on his forehead and slid down his temples in clear rivulets. He stared at his own hands, at the faint Vermillion light flickering around them, as if afraid that any sudden movement would make that higher flame reach out and snuff him again.
"You—" His voice shook. "What did you do…?"
Ren lowered his hand, as if brushing dust from the air.
"Nothing much," he said lightly. "Your Vermillion Bird fire is yours. I just… asked it to sit for a moment."
He smiled.
"Fire recognizes fire," he added, tone casual. "But there are levels to Fire you can't possibly understand now."
Both the implication and the fact were like knives.
Several Great Elders sucked in a sharp breath.
"You…" Mu Chihuo began, then stopped, his own phoenix fire fluctuating uneasily.
He had always been proud of his flames.
As Divine Phoenix Island's Grand Elder, as a pillar of the Vermillion Bird faction, his Fire Laws had dominated countless battles. To feel, even for an instant, that someone else's fire stood higher on the same road, and that this someone treated him like an impatient child—
His jaw clenched.
Ren's gaze flicked past him, disinterested.
His eyes returned to Mu Yuhuang.
"Mu Yuhuang," he said, tone calm, "I didn't come here to bully your elders. But if someone wants to weigh their status on top of my head, I prefer to let them taste the difference in foundations first. That way, the conversation goes smoother."
His eyes crinkled faintly at the corners.
"And personally," he added, voice softening, "I'd rather spend my time here enjoying the company of such lovely people instead of arguing about face."
The words were shameless.
The way he said them wasn't.
There was no lechery, no oily flattery—just open appreciation, carried on that relaxed confidence of his. He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world to call them "lovely people" in the middle of their own council hall.
More than a few women in the hall felt their cheeks heat for different reasons.
Mu Qianyu's heart gave another irregular beat.
This man had helped her refine her phoenix fire. He had stood beside her in thunder, calm presence like a mountain. Now he stood in her home, suppressing a Great Elder's flames with one finger and speaking as if this island were somewhere he could come and go as he pleased.
Mu Qingyi's lips pressed together, the faintest hint of color rising along her ears.
Younger female core disciples, who had grown up seeing men tremble before the Island Master's gaze, suddenly tasted a different kind of courage. Not the arrogance of some young master flaunting his background, but a confidence that came purely from his own strength.
On the men's side, it was… less pleasant.
Mu Chihuo's jaw worked once, the thick muscles in his neck jumping.
Mu Qingshu's expression darkened, his fists unconsciously clenching at his sides. He had watched Mu Qianyu grow up, had pursued her silently for years, had never once seen such a vivid ripple in her eyes because of another man's words.
Now her ears were pink.
Her gaze kept drifting back to that outsider.
To Ren Ming.
"Tch," he cursed inwardly, Vermillion Bird flame seething.
In the center, Mu Yuhuang exhaled slowly.
The initial flare of displeasure at his casual address had already been washed away by what she had just witnessed.
As Island Master, she could not ignore reality.
This youth—this Ren Ming—wasn't someone Divine Phoenix Island could treat like a normal junior. He stepped on the same Fire Dao they did, but his stride reached further.
"Elder Yan," she said quietly, voice like cooled steel, "you overstepped."
The Great Elder stiffened, then bowed his head, face still pale.
"Yes…" he forced out. "This old one… was rash."
Ren's gaze slid away from him without interest.
Once he'd made his point, the elder might as well have been an empty chair.
Mu Fengxian tapped her cane lightly on the floor.
The sound was soft, yet it cut through the residual tension like a blade.
"You, boy…" she said, old voice dry. "You stride into my Divine Phoenix Island, suppress a Great Elder, flirt with our Chosen in front of everyone, and still expect us to behave politely."
Her lips curved into a faint smile.
"You truly intend to overturn this era's sky."
Ren shook his head lightly, smile never leaving his face.
"I don't care about eras," he said. "I care about my road. About the girls on it. And about cleaning up trash that gets in the way."
His eyes moved once over the hall—past Mu Chihuo, past a few elders who had shown naked hostility, and then away, as if their existence had already been weighed and filed away somewhere deep inside his Dao Heart.
"Divine Phoenix Island isn't trash," he went on. "You're a fine nest sitting at the center of this region. I'd rather see it burning brighter, not choking on its own politics."
Mu Yuhuang's expression shifted subtly.
"Your words are arrogant," she said slowly. "Yet… there is weight beneath them."
Her phoenix flames had felt that higher Fire Dao.
She could tell that he wasn't simply spouting nonsense. His tone was casual, but his viewpoint… wasn't trivial.
Mu Chihuo crossed his arms, still bristling, but he didn't speak again.
Around them, the female elders and disciples—Mu Qingyi, Mu Qianyu, the gate disciples who had escorted him—all found themselves unconsciously leaning, if only slightly, in Ren's direction.
The way he had subdued Vermillion Bird flames without insulting the Dao of Fire itself, the way he had acknowledged Divine Phoenix Island's worth while refusing to bow to its status… all of it tugged at their Martial Hearts.
Momentum.
Ren's momentum.
It rolled through the hall like an unseen tide, drawing people in one by one.
Mu Fengxian's gaze sharpened.
"Enough posturing," she said at last, amusement still lingering in her tone. "We will talk."
Ren's lips quirked.
"That's fine by me," he said, answering Mu Fengxian's dry words as if she'd just invited him to tea instead of into the heart of a sect's power. "Since we're being honest, I might as well say this clearly."
Dozens of gazes tightened.
Ren let his eyes slide lazily over the hall—over the crimson jade pillars, the Vermillion Bird totems, the gathered elders and protectors—and then back to the three women at the center: Mu Fengxian, Mu Yuhuang, Mu Qianyu.
"I want to see your phoenix fly higher than the little sky you've gotten used to," he said, voice mild, words sharp. "That news you all heard about… that was nothing. Your flames can go past that. Your bloodlines can stand under a wider heaven."
Mu Yuhuang's eyes narrowed slightly.
The power he used when he injured a Revolving Core ancestor—that was "nothing" in his eyes?
His smile deepened, a hint of wickedness at the corner.
"So I want a position here," he continued. "Nothing too complicated. Call it an instructor, an elder, whatever you like. Someone your disciples can come to when they're tired of pecking at the ground. I'll make real phoenixes out of every one of them that dares to step into my field."
Bold.
The word passed silently through many hearts.
He said it casually, as if the Fire Laws he had just displayed—snuffing and returning a Great Elder's Vermillion Bird flame with a single finger—gave him the right to say anything.
The most unsettling part was that, when they remembered that finger… when they remembered that instant where all their own flames had trembled…
It was hard to say he was wrong.
Mu Yuhuang's fingers tightened slightly on her armrest.
"Young Hero Ren," she said slowly, "Divine Phoenix Island has existed for three thousand years. Positions are not given lightly. To invite an outsider to instruct our disciples is… no small matter."
Her eyes searched his, phoenix flame steady.
"If we agree," she asked, "what do you want in return?"
The hall grew very still.
Status? Resources? A share in their Phoenix Mystic Realm? Access to the inherited Ancient Phoenix bloodline dao field?
Elders ran through possibilities in their hearts.
Ren chuckled.
He didn't hurry to answer. Instead, he let his gaze drift—slowly, openly—across the upper seats.
Mu Yuhuang in her vermillion robes, phoenix mark like a bright flame between her brows.
Mu Qianyu a step to the side, thunder-tempered Vermillion Bird fire coiled behind her like a purple-lit phoenix.
Mu Fengxian herself, white hair and aged features unable to hide the sharpness in her eyes; Blue Luan and Vermillion Bird bloodlines braided deep in her bones.
Ren's smile turned softer, shameless in its ease.
"Seeing so many beautiful phoenixes gathered in one place is already a generous reward," he said. "That includes you, Mu Yuhuang. You as well, Qianyu. And Mu Fengxian—your bearing is still enough to make half the South Sea kneel if you wanted."
The words were direct.
Not the flowery verses of a scholar, not the coarse boasting of some young master. Just a man looking at three women and saying what he saw, with a warmth that carried neither fear nor calculation.
Mu Qianyu's ears reddened.
She, who had stood in thunder with him and let him temper her flames, felt the memory of his hand closing over hers rise again. The calm in his eyes when he'd guided her through pain… now those same eyes were praising her openly in front of her Island Master and Matriarch.
Mu Yuhuang, Island Master of Divine Phoenix, felt a ripple disturb the calm lake of her Dao Heart.
For decades, juniors had addressed her as "Island Master," "Senior," "Her Highness." She'd grown used to reverent tones, cautious smiles, fearful respect. This was the first time in many years someone had looked at her, named her directly, and folded her into a simple sentence about "beautiful phoenixes" without any trace of ulterior motive.
Her lips pressed together; an almost invisible flush touched her cheeks.
Even Mu Fengxian's wrinkled face twitched.
"Hmph," she thought, half irritated, half amused. "This boy's tongue is not weak."
On the women's side, expressions became complicated.
Mu Qingyi coughed lightly, eyes turning aside.
Several core female disciples, Chosen and elites alike, felt their hearts beating strange little rhythms. Being praised by such a man—after seeing him toy with Vermillion Bird fire as if it were a candle in his palm—carried a weight that ordinary compliments never could.
On the men's side—
If killing intent could burn, the hall would have been filled with smoke.
Mu Chihuo's jaw clenched so tight it creaked.
Mu Qingshu's Vermillion Bird flames seethed, only barely kept under control by years of discipline. He watched Qianyu's ears redden and nearly ground his teeth to powder.
"…Damn him," he cursed in his heart. "Just relying on some strange cultivation—"
Ren let the ripples spread for a breath.
Then his gaze steadied, the playfulness easing back.
"But seriously," he said. "I don't need much in return."
His voice lowered slightly, the lazy drawl smoothing into something deeper.
"My Dao isn't to hoard things and sit on a nest," he went on. "I enjoy spreading what I understand. Letting seeds grow. Watching geniuses climb past the limits people set for them."
He tilted his chin toward Qin Xingxuan at his side.
"She can testify to that," he said. "Xingxuan?"
Qin Xingxuan straightened slightly.
Under the eyes of a fourth-grade sect—of Revolving Core elders, Life Destruction experts, Vermillion Bird bloodline elites—many juniors would have shrunk back.
But her spear intent had already been tempered beneath his Heaven.
Her Dao Heart had been hammered on the killing fields of Acacia Peak, honed by watching him tear Sovereigns apart with a single hand.
She took a slow breath.
"…Before I met him," she said, voice clear, "I was just a girl in a small kingdom's Martial House."
Her fingers tightened around her spear shaft, knuckles whitening for a moment before relaxing.
"My cultivation followed the 'proper' path," she continued. "One step at a time. I believed that if I worked hard, if I listened to the elders and followed their methods, then one day I might… perhaps… reach Xiantian."
She lifted her gaze, meeting Mu Yuhuang's eyes, then Mu Fengxian's.
"But he," she went on, "looked at that road and called it too small."
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips.
"He did not drag me," she said. "He did not stand over me every day and shout. He just… opened paths."
She thought of the day he had taken the Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians she had started to practice and quietly altered their circulation, turning a rigid road into a living river that remembered every force, carving tiny Dao Fruits into her bones with each perfect movement.
"He taught my meridians how to listen to Fire and Wind and Thunder," she said. "He showed me how to pierce the heavens with a spear—not by telling me where to stab, but by letting me feel what it meant."
She remembered the red-gold wheel that had slowly manifested behind her back, the Fire Martial Intent he had helped her condense. A rune-wheel that compressed any flame within its field—true essence fire, blood vitality heat, even the tiny burning of a martial artist's will—and forced it to burn at a higher order.
"He set an art in my hands," Qin Xingxuan continued, "that takes Fire, Wind, and Thunder step by step toward a higher realm. An art that lets even someone from a small kingdom fight those above their realm… if their Dao Heart is steady enough."
Her voice softened.
"Then he stepped back," she said. "And he trusted me to walk."
He had given her the modified Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians, tuned to remember force and carve Dao Fruits into her bones. He had shared his Heaven-Piercing Elemental Canon, letting her Fire, Wind, and Thunder Laws grow stage by stage. He had helped her forge Fire Martial Intent… and then let go.
"He never once doubted," Qin Xingxuan finished quietly. "Even when I did. That… is the kind of 'instructor' he is."
The hall was silent.
The words weren't elaborate. They were simply spoken, with the calm of a spear aimed at the truth.
Mu Qianyu's fingers, hidden in her sleeve, curled slightly.
So this was the road he'd walked with those at his side.
Mu Yuhuang's eyes grew more complicated.
She, too, had taught many disciples. She knew how difficult it was to truly "not doubt" a junior while pushing them beyond what the world said they could endure.
Mu Fengxian exhaled very softly, so soft that only those closest to her could hear. A hint of rare appreciation glinted in her gaze. "Not bad."
Mu Chihuo's teeth clicked together.
"Island Master," he said suddenly, tone still polite but with steel underneath. "Matriarch. This old one has a thought."
Mu Yuhuang glanced at him. "Chihuo?"
Mu Chihuo rose slightly from his seat, bowing in their direction before turning his gaze toward Ren and Qin Xingxuan.
"Young Hero Ren's words are lofty," he said. "And his actions today are indeed eye-opening. But Divine Phoenix Island is a Holy Land that relies on results, not just on talk."
His eyes moved over Qin Xingxuan, measuring.
"This disciple of yours," he went on, "you say she has been transformed under your guidance. That her road was broadened. As elders, we naturally wish to see if this is truly so."
He smiled thinly.
"If Young Hero Ren truly wishes to instruct disciples here, then letting us witness a little of his teaching outcome would only strengthen your case. What do you think?"
The challenge was wrapped in courtesy.
But no one in the hall missed its meaning.
He wanted to test the girl.
Pulse Condensation from a tiny kingdom's Martial House, even if she had some strange fire comprehension, pitted against Divine Phoenix Island's carefully trained core disciples—if she lost badly, Ren's request for a position here would lose weight.
If she fell in miserable defeat, Ren's arrogant words would become a joke.
Ren chuckled.
"If you wanted to see her in action," he replied, "you could have just said so from the beginning. No need to dress it up that much."
His hand moved.
He rested it lightly on Qin Xingxuan's waist.
The touch was simple, natural—no possessiveness, no showiness. Just a steadying warmth that spread through her like the first sunrise over a cold plain.
The tension that had climbed into her shoulders melted.
"Battle's the fastest way for martial artists to understand each other," he went on. "Talk can lie. Fists can't."
His gaze swept the ranks of core disciples and Chosen.
The prideful young phoenixes of Divine Phoenix Island shifted, some straightening unconsciously under that look, others narrowing their eyes. Vermillion Bird flames flickered in countless dantians.
"Choose a core disciple of similar realm," Ren said calmly. "Let my Xingxuan… greet them."