The answer from Rong Shan and the Raging Volcano tribe finally reached the Ancient Obsidian tribe. Although the exact message and the decision itself were both hidden from the tribe, everyone could guess what had happened. After all, the guards around Jinyao's residence increased. Immediately, people knew that Cao Yun was in a precarious position. On one hand, they knew that Rong Shan was not insane or bloodthirsty. Unfortunately, they also knew that he was unrelenting and decisive. Whatever he wanted, he made sure to get it, by any means necessary. Whether it was diplomacy or untold violence, he would do anything to get what he wanted. Thankfully, he was not unreasonable in his desires. At least, that had been the tribe's vision of him until he decided to annex them to his own tribe.
The tribesmen didn't really care about Cao Yun. They were grateful to him for saving fellow tribesmen, but they also thought that he had gone too far with Jin'ao and had brought them more problems than he was worth. Still, most people didn't have a bad opinion of him. After all, Rong Shan's hostilities would not have ceased without Cao Yun, they would simply have been slower. Some tribesmen still hoped that the Fire Thearch could solve their problems if they could stall the Raging Volcano tribe long enough to get an audience.
Centuries ago, the Ancient Obsidian tribe would have gotten an audience immediately. Now, they had to beg for their request to simply be taken into consideration. The Fire Thearch was extremely busy. Most likely, Rong Shan was also using his influence to slow things down for them. After all, the Fire Thearch could not publicly side with a tribe trying to take over another tribe, no matter how weak the other tribe was. But he could wait long enough for the events to have already unfolded. After the fact, there would be no point in dividing the tribes again, a mere sanction against Rong Shan would be sufficient to show the Fire Thearch's authority. Deep down, some tribesmen even wondered whether the Fire Thearch himself was involved. Unfortunately, their tribe was so weak that it was probably not the case. One of his underlings had sided with Rong Shan and was delaying the Ancient Obsidian tribe.
Anyway, the tribesmen weren't hostile toward Cao Yun, but they weren't sympathetic toward him either. However, the tribesmen were almost worshiping Jinyao. This didn't even cause any crazy jealousy. Of course, some hunters were envious, but Jinyao had always been a simple and honest man. Even now that he kept bringing back meat from his hunts, he shared it equally among everyone. Jinyao didn't ask anything in return, he was just helping the tribe. And the tribe repaid him in kind, his popularity was at the pinnacle. As a consequence, more and more tribesmen wanted Cao Yun to be spared.
The trial was a given, but the verdict of the trial could be changed. The Ancient Obsidian tribe had to make sure that Cao Yun would not be killed. After all, he had saved fellow tribesmen, and Jin'ao was absolutely in the wrong. Honestly, it amused Cao Yun to see how food easily swayed others. But he didn't take it lightly. Famine could obviously destroy the most civilized society.
While the tribe was agitated, Cao Yun was extremely calm. He meditated most of the time. After a very long time secluded within Jinyao's residence, Cao Yun asked to be let outside. Even though he could quite literally feel the entire tribe, he still wanted to move around. At first, the leaders wanted to object, but Jinyao's influence twisted their arms. In fact, Shaman Heiyan also intervened in secret. The shaman wanted to see Cao Yun's actions. At that point, he was certain that Cao Yun was the new Ash Bringer, but he wouldn't tell a living spark.
Cao Yun just walked around the Ancient Obsidian tribe. Six guards were always watching over him. In fact, two guards were always nearby, but Cao Yun could sense the four other guards concealing their presence as best as they could. However, they didn't have to do a thing. Cao Yun was always accompanied by Jinyang and Jinyue. The two sisters were following him around with even more tenacity than the guards. Although Jinyue tried to act detached, as if she didn't care about Cao Yun at all, she used her sister's enthusiasm as an excuse to stay near Cao Yun. He truly felt like a family member, maybe an uncle or a grandfather. Despite his apparent youth, Cao Yun felt very old.
For weeks now, he had told them legends, read them poetry, and even talked about the Dao of Fire with them. Obviously, they had realized that Cao Yun wasn't a simple man. He wasn't just a strong man, either. He was some kind of ancient monster, a very wise cultivator from a faraway land. Just like Shaman Heiyan, they were suspecting something. Unlike Shaman Heiyan, they couldn't tell for sure, and they didn't even dare.
Jinyue and Jinyang introduced Cao Yun to their friends. Despite their abilities, the two girls weren't the best at manipulating fire at all. As such, they led Cao Yun to a friend, a slightly older man who was considered by many as a young genius, Yanzhen. Although he was older, he could only be two years older, maybe even only one year. At the moment, he was teaching a class to many young Flameborns. In the audience was a girl as young as Jinyue and Jinyang. She was clearly fawning over the man, absolutely unapologetically. That being said, the man seemed completely oblivious to it.
Cao Yun was very interested in the contents of Yanzhen's class.
"Fire is our life, but Fire is alive on its own as well. Your life fire has a life of its own, and it wants to express it through you. Mastering Fire isn't about controlling or dominating the flame, it's about understanding it, nourishing it and letting it free. When your parents raise you, they don't try to control everything about you, they teach you, and they hope that their lessons will bear fruit in you. Similarly, you must nourish your own fire. One day, it will bloom. For years, you might not see any result. And suddenly, you'll understand a decade's worth of wisdom."
As Yanzhen was talking, he realized that, apart from Huolian, the younger audience didn't seem to care. Sadly, Yanzhen didn't even realize that Huolian didn't care about his words either. She would have listened to him saying anything or nothing at all.
"Fine, let's talk about forging your weapons from fire."
Suddenly, everyone's interest was piqued. To be fair, even Cao Yun's interest improved. Although Yanzhen's words weren't devoid of depth, Cao Yun knew their wisdom. That being said, he did ponder over them. Even when something seemed basic and obvious, Cao Yun didn't disregard it, especially when it came from the Flameborns. They had a much deeper understanding of Fire and a more intimate relationship with it as well. Unfortunately, they could seldom explain anything about the Dao of Fire.
Cao Yun decided to walk into the class. It was outside of a small building, in a desolate courtyard. Cao Yun's guards stayed around but didn't actually enter the courtyard. Many Flameborns were too busy working on their flames to even realize Cao Yun's entrance. The human decided to just join them in their efforts. He listened to Yanzhen's words and tried to create his own weapon with fire.
He had tried several times to do so. Unfortunately, the twin sisters weren't very good at explaining anything. He was able to actually shape his fire like a weapon, but it lacked substance. As soon as it hit anything, it exploded. In a way, it lacked density. Even though Cao Yun could control the shape and even the intensity of his flames to some degree, he couldn't change their nature. They were just fire. Right now, he was hoping to achieve better results.
If the people of the Hongchen Kingdom had seen Cao Yun, they would have been shocked, and maybe even embarrassed. The most powerful cultivator of the Piaolu planet was currently in a class with kids who were not even sixteen, and they were beating him at forming weapons. A few kids had already created several knives while Cao Yun could barely form one. To be clear, Cao Yun could create fire in the shape of a knife, but when he sent it against anything solid, it exploded.
A few kids laughed when they saw an adult failing over and over again. Even Huolian looked at him and laughed a little. To be fair, it wasn't mean-spirited. But seeing an adult fail where kids succeeded without trying was absolutely humiliating, and yet the man kept on trying as though the mockeries didn't concern him.
As Huolian was fascinated by Yanzhen, she didn't look at Cao Yun twice. Yanzhen was giving advice to everyone while walking around. Finally, he also saw Cao Yun. At first, he shook his head discreetly. But he still walked toward Cao Yun. Once he was close enough, his eyes changed. At that moment, he realized that Cao Yun's mastery of the flame wasn't terrible at all. It wasn't as good as Yanzhen's, but it clearly could surpass a few kids present there. Despite this better mastery, Cao Yun simply couldn't form a physical weapon. Honestly, Yanzhen was also disturbed. What others mistook for embarrassment was genuine incomprehension. Yanzhen was flustered because he had nothing to tell Cao Yun.
Despite his knowledge, Yanzhen had no idea why Cao Yun was failing. The man had mastery. Maybe it was his view of fire itself. Something was preventing him, blocking him, from achieving good results.
"Friend, I cannot guide you like the others. Perhaps this will help."
From Yanzhen's hands, flames appeared and swirled around until they formed an axe above Yanzhen. Then, the axe flew toward Cao Yun's knife. When they collided, Cao Yun's knife exploded. The flames engulfed Yanzhen's axe, but they didn't dissipate. Yanzhen wrestled control of Cao Yun's flames and added them to his own axe. Then, the axe flew right beside Cao Yun's face before flying around and crashing toward the ground right in front of the silent man.
Unbeknownst to all, Yanzhen had not cut off Cao Yun's will from his own flames. In other words, Cao Yun could still feel his flames while they were sucked into Yanzhen's axe. When the axe flew around Cao Yun, he also felt that the axe wasn't dangerous at all. It had barely any heat outside, and yet it stayed physical. Clearly, it wasn't an issue with Cao Yun's heat. Deep inside the axe, Cao Yun could feel a maelstrom of flames, but there wasn't just chaos.
"Thank you, teacher."
Yanzhen returned Cao Yun's salute. Suddenly, a young girl rushed toward Yanzhen. She stomped on his foot. This was obviously Jinyang.
"You bully! You leave Cao Yun alone. It's not his fault his head is not made for fire. Stop bullying the weaklings!"
Cao Yun didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Even Yanzhen was stumped. Like everyone, he knew that Cao Yun had killed Jin'ao to save them. And, after seeing Cao Yun himself, he could understand why, because Cao Yun had a very peculiar aura. However, Jinyang insulted him in an attempt to defend him...
Unlike Cao Yun, Yanzhen was of the mind to laugh. At least, he was until he saw Jinyue, who was watching him with piercing eyes. If a glare could kill, Yanzhen would be dead. Immediately, Yanzhen approached her.
"Jinyue, this isn't what it looks like. I was genuinely trying to help your friend. I swear, just ask him, and I'm sure he'll vouch for me."
"So you want to pressure this poor man into lying for you?! Despicable!"
Jinyue was opening up a little when her sister's words completely closed her off. That Yanzhen truly was despicable indeed. Yanzhen wasn't crying, but Cao Yun could see the distress in his eyes. Honestly, Cao Yun was amused, but he didn't leave Yanzhen hanging.
"Please, please, be lenient with my teacher. I've discerned some interesting points thanks to him. He wasn't bullying me at all. He actually helped me."
"Senior is too good-natured. Just look at this miscreant, and you'll see he's a beast in man's clothing. But if Senior tells me to let it go, I will."
Jinyang stared at Yanzhen as if to intimidate him. Honestly, it was more charming than anything else. On the other hand, Cao Yun's words did seem to affect Jinyue. She knew that her sister was often too impulsive and didn't quite understand everything around her. Thus, Jinyue's eyes shifted and became gentler. From the other side of the courtyard, another pair of eyes turned cold and murderous.
Huolian almost charged toward Yanzhen and Jinyue.
"Master Yanzhen, these people are disturbing your class. This is unacceptable. First of all, this Cao Yun is talentless garbage and has no place polluting your presence. Just throw him out alongside his little guards. You shouldn't have to suffer such annoying brats and pathetic trash."
This time, Yanzhen's eyes also turned bad. Only Cao Yun was unaffected by all those words, even though they were mostly talking about him, trying to degrade him. To be fair, the fact that they were kids made it insignificant. But even then, Cao Yun knew his worth and didn't care much about insults. However, he was quite amused by the fact that no one seemed to understand the true feelings of anyone present. Clearly, Huolian had tried to appeal to Yanzhen and had simply succeeded in making him see her as trash instead. The same thing was almost happening with Yanzhen and Jinyue in another way, and mostly because of Jinyang's poor judgment of character.