Cao Yun returned to Jinyao's home with the twins. Yanzhen stayed behind, defeated by Jinyang's slander. The poor man had sincerely helped Cao Yun, yet he had been chastised for bullying him, and the woman he cared about seemed to hate him. On the other hand, Huolian was triumphant and grabbed onto Yanzhen's arm.
"Let those losers go. Without their father's recent small successes, they would be nothing. I'm sure they only want to leech off of your talent. You're so much better than them."
Yanzhen barely heard a word she said as he was thinking about only one person. Amusingly, that person wasn't even Jinyue. No, the young Flameborn only thought about Cao Yun. That man was clearly very powerful, he could sense it through his physique. To be honest, Yanzhen had not believed the rumors. But now, he was certain that Cao Yun could kill him in a fight. Flameborns saw strength through flames, so it wasn't surprising that many thought that Cao Yun was weak. However, Yanzhen had more experience than others with demons. He had felt a bit of demonic cultivation, but Cao Yun was no demon. Most likely, he had simply cultivated his blood to a high level. There was little to no doubt that Cao Yun was human.
Huolian kept on talking. As Yanzhen didn't react and let her guide him away, she thought her words were working. After all, he was a genius, so degrading less talented people should appeal to him as it would only elevate him. At least, this was Huolian's idea. In her eyes, Yanzhen's malleable attitude proved that she was right. As a consequence, her words became even harsher and meaner. Fortunately for her, Yanzhen didn't hear them at all, or he might not have been able to contain himself. That pest was absolutely irritating despite her best efforts to appear pleasing. She literally could have said the opposite. Huolian only cared about getting Yanzhen's attention. Sadly, she lacked talent in fire, so she decided to focus on her behavior.
Cao Yun got home. Before he could do anything, Jinyang patted his back.
"We know you're very strong. Don't be dejected just because you're stupid. Not everyone can be good at everything. Just focus on your strong points."
There was genuine sadness in Jinyang's eyes. Honestly, Cao Yun didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. The girl was trying her best to be nice, but this wasn't working at all...
Jinyue had more sense than her sister and stopped her.
"Being talentless doesn't mean that he's dumb. He's not a Flameborn, so his connection to Fire is limited. Our benefactor isn't stupid. However, I have to agree on a point, Senior. I sincerely think that you're wasting your time learning the Fire. You can't hope to explain to a blind man what the color red is. In the same way, no Flameborn can truly explain to you what it feels like to commune with the Fire, we have it in us. Even talentless Flameborns can feel it, but you can't, not really."
Jinyue was wrong, but Cao Yun didn't say a thing. The girls didn't know much about either the human or the asura cultivation systems. As both a Sage and an Exalted Demon, Cao Yun could perceive the Dao through his soul and through his flesh. However, he was still lacking something indeed. After sensing the flames of Yanzhen, the human had several ideas. That being said, he needed to test his ideas, and he couldn't do it here.
Using his fake dejection as cover, Cao Yun secluded himself in a room. The trial would still take some time to be set up. For Cao Yun, and anyone who actually followed the situation, it was obvious that both tribes were getting ready for much more than a trial. As such, the higher-ups of both tribes were extremely busy. This served Cao Yun's purposes very well.
Once he was secluded in his room, Cao Yun didn't start cultivating or meditating. Instead, he set up an array formation. As a matter of fact, he set up an illusory array formation. If anyone entered this room, or even tried to perceive what was within the room, they would see Cao Yun. Of course, the illusion wasn't good enough to leave the room, but Cao Yun had given orders to Jinyue and Jinyang not to be disturbed. Moreover, he knew that the three leaders didn't care about him so long as he didn't leave the Ancient Obsidian tribe.
After everything was set up, Cao Yun left the Ancient Obsidian tribe while using his stealth arts. No one in the entire tribe was able to see through his stealth, nor could they see through his illusory array formation. Very soon, Cao Yun found Hongyu. Unlike Cao Yun, Hongyu had spent most of her time outside the tribe. She was roaming free and exploring the Broken Fire World. Clearly, she loved this place. And her cultivation was growing stronger and stronger. In fact, Cao Yun was convinced that she could actually become an immortal beast if she stayed here long enough. That being said, she was happy and excited to see Cao Yun each time he visited her.
They flew through the land. Several fire beasts saw them and shied away. Most likely, Hongyu had her own reputation. The beasts were obviously afraid of her. Or rather, they were in awe of her and didn't dare to disturb her as if she were royalty flying above them.
After a few hours, they reached a spot that seemed nice. It was a large lake of pure flames. The lake wasn't magma or lava, it was made of literal flames, and the fire never stopped. Just being near this lake, Cao Yun could feel its scorching heat. However, this didn't stop him. Like Hongyu, he dived into the lake of flames and tried to swim deeper and deeper.
Even with his senses, Cao Yun couldn't tell how deep the lake was. In fact, he couldn't even identify the origin of this lake. But he was certain that it could help him study the Dao of Fire. He had to experience it without controlling it. Cao Yun stopped swimming deeper and found a depth that felt comfortable enough while still being challenging for him without using any Wei Qi. His raw physical body was taking the brunt of the flames, that was his goal and his purpose in coming here in particular.
Of course, Hongyu could go deeper and seemed to just be enjoying herself in this lake. There were strange eels in the lake as well as a few bizarre creatures that didn't have any familiar shapes. Hongyu's mere presence deterred them from disturbing Cao Yun. In fact, she even ate a few eels who got too close, but she didn't hunt them down. Indeed, she didn't want to cause unwarranted problems for Cao Yun because she could tell he wanted some calm.
The human opened his entire body to the flames. He literally let them enter his flesh and his meridians. He breathed deeply, and the flames went into his mouth but also into many of his acupoints. Tiny amounts of flames entered him and spread throughout his meridians and blood vessels. Thankfully, the heat wasn't painful enough to prevent Cao Yun from relaxing. The human cultivator didn't try to prevent or hinder the flames in the slightest. Instead, he let them naturally move within himself. He observed as if he weren't involved at all.
At this moment, Cao Yun was trying to get a feel for the Dao of Fire. After all, he had spent his life with his senses so they seemed obvious to him, but sensing the Dao was a different sense. Worse still, many Daos would feel completely different from one another. Each major Dao Cao Yun tried to cultivate would require him to learn how to feel, how to sense, how to perceive, all over again.
Instead of trying to move blindly through his cultivation, Cao Yun had to develop his sight. As such, Cao Yun simply focused on observing, trying to find small details where he could solely see chaos. Only through such a process could Cao Yun develop the intuition that Flameborns had. Although it wouldn't be as good as a genius like Yanzhen, it might be good enough for Cao Yun to actually train with him and learn more and more about the Dao of Fire.
For many days, Cao Yun didn't move at all, he simply took in the flames. Slowly, he could tell that this was working. He was discovering small fluctuations within the flames. He was able to follow tiny currents and to identify several natures of flame. Each tongue of fire was different. In a way, they were like living, breathing beings. Cao Yun made an analogy with the cells of his body. Although each one was alive on its own, their cooperation made up his body. The lake of flames was similar. One could see chaos everywhere, and yet this internal chaos was creating order on a larger scale.
At some point, Cao Yun realized that his Solar-Orchid Flame, his Black Heart Flame, and even his bodily fires were acting up. This was extremely faint at first. In fact, if Cao Yun had not been completely open and focused on the present, he might not have felt it. He wondered if he had become more sensitive already. A tinge of excitement almost broke his concentration, but he caught himself just in time. The excitement quickly disappeared, and Cao Yun didn't focus on his internal flames as he didn't want to silence them or influence them in any way. He didn't try to control them, to stop them, or to circulate them. Instead, he let them do as they pleased and observed.
Each internal flame reacted differently. His Black Heart Flame was clearly very hostile. It reacted as if it was facing an intruder, or even worse, an invader. The flames that moved too close to Cao Yun's heart were literally attacked. The Black Heart Flame lashed out just like a snake. It moved fast and came back immediately. Soon, the flames were avoiding Cao Yun's heart. It looked like a school of fish that swam around a dangerous predator. They still swam, but they didn't dare to go too close to the predator.
The Solar-Orchid Flame was completely different as it welcomed these flames. However, the fate of the flames wasn't necessarily better. Arguably, it was worse. The Solar-Orchid Flame quite literally devoured them all. It was like the maw of a giant monster. Seductive lights and fragrances were luring small prey in. When enough prey was present, the maw closed on them and devoured them whole.
Finally, his bodily fire was extremely neutral, it simply mingled with the flames and even left Cao Yun's body. His bodily fire didn't go far from his skin, but it did follow the current of the flames and was almost swallowed by them. Maybe it was simply following Cao Yun's state of mind. His body was relaxed and let the flames move around freely, so his own bodily fire seemed to do the exact same thing. Arguably, this would be the best experience for Cao Yun. Indeed, his bodily fire wasn't altering the flames he wanted to study, so it was easier for Cao Yun to get a good feel for them.
More days passed. Cao Yun could tell that his perception had definitely improved. He was nowhere near the level of a genius Flameborn. But now, he knew that he could absolutely improve his perception. As such, he had more hope for the future. The Dao of Fire was clearly accessible to him, and not just the Dao of Fire. In fact, Cao Yun could study what the Flameborns were doing and push his understanding of the Dao of Fire further than Red Calm's notes.
This was a true revelation to Cao Yun. Of course, he wasn't expecting insane results in a few days. But now he had proved to himself that he could. By exploring the Broken Fire World, he would definitely learn more about the Dao of Fire. In fact, he knew exactly where he needed to go. Unfortunately, he knew that it would take him a few months. As he thought about that, he remembered the time dilation. In the Hongchen Kingdom, years or even decades could have passed. At this point, the Hongchen Kingdom and the Broken Fire World weren't connected anymore. After all, there was only one gateway left after Emperor Nuwa had destroyed them all. But the Broken Fire World had other gateways that opened onto other worlds of the Withering Fusang Domains.
For the moment, Cao Yun had no reason to leave the Broken Fire World, but he had to think about his next destination already. He was fairly certain where he wanted to go, and he had enough time to think about it.
After more than a week, Cao Yun finally decided to leave the lake of flames. He could have gone deeper, but he had other matters to attend to first. With Hongyu, they both went to the area that had been chosen for the trial. It was a simple area, almost deserted. Already, Cao Yun could see Flameborns who were preparing the area for the trial. They were hunting down several fire beasts and building up temporary accommodations for everyone, nothing fancy.
Since none of the Flameborns were very powerful, they had absolutely no chance of detecting Cao Yun. As such, he moved around and studied the layout of the land. Here and there, there was glass on the ground or in rocks. The heat had turned sand and rock into glass, more specifically, into obsidian. This place used to belong to the Ancient Obsidian tribe but had been abandoned when the tribe grew weaker and weaker. However, Cao Yun knew about this land thanks to Emperor Nuwa. Any land of the Ancient Obsidian tribe would actually make Cao Yun invincible among Flameborns. As such, he had absolutely no doubts about this trial.
Here and there, Cao Yun sent small pulses of Qi into the ground. It almost seemed like Cao Yun was setting up an array formation, but he wasn't. He was absolutely setting up something, but not an array formation. Or maybe, he was looking for something. Dian Mo within was curious but didn't want to ask, he was intrigued and tried to figure things out by himself.
At last, Cao Yun came back home. No one had noticed his absence.