After being reborn, the villain comes with a spoiler tag.

This person was the same red-clad figure Huo Yu had seen during the Vermilion Bird Trial, but now his features were no longer blurry and indistinguishable, and his beautiful features were clearly visible.

After the man in red appeared, his gaze lingered on Murong Yu for a moment before he raised his head and looked at the sky, which was dyed as red as a burning cloud by the immense fortune.

As he gazed, the crimson sky seemed to be awakened and surged continuously. Finally, a huge Vermilion Bird mark condensed and took shape, floating in the sky.

As the mark gradually solidified, the Sea of ​​Fortune in the sky turned from crimson to pure gold, and the entire Vermilion Bird City was instantly illuminated as if it were daytime, shining brightly.

After the crimson Vermilion Bird mark solidified completely, it seemed to be drawn towards the red-clad man, who then retrieved it into his body.

And that rich, liquid gold-like fortune, once freed from the restraint of the Vermilion Bird mark, quickly dissipated.

In a matter of breaths, all the gold completely vanished into the sky, revealing the black sky behind it, as if the previous scene had been nothing but an illusion.

To Long Yucheng's surprise, as the fortune gradually dissipated, a portion of it flowed automatically to him!

At the same time, a system notification sounded indicating that the task was completed:

[Important Task: Absorption of Qi Luck Completed; Reward: "Mysterious Pearl Mindset Technique" has been added to your temporary item inventory.]

This task is a follow-up to the task of [preventing Jun Yu from killing Murong Yu and completing the Qi Luck Array].

The previous task was automatically completed when Jun Yu was glared at to death by Chu Tong. As a result, Long Yucheng did nothing for this task either; he was just hugged by Huo Yu and ate a bellyful of dog food before it was completed.

Shocked by the fully automated quest chain, Long Yucheng looked at the three thousand points he had previously earned, and then at the "Mysterious Pearl Mind Technique" in his temporary inventory. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Perhaps the spectacular sight of the sky filled with golden light was too breathtaking, because no one else present seemed to notice that a trace of the dissipated fortune had been absorbed by Long Yucheng.

Only Huo Yu and the man in red noticed this commotion.

The man in red seemed to have just noticed that there were still four spectators on the Temple of Heaven. He nodded slightly when his gaze swept over Huo Yu, and when he saw Long Yucheng, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes.

Why are there dogs here?

The one who spoke was not the man in red, but Murong Yu beside him.

After Murong Yu dissipated her luck, she seemed to remain unchanged; the Vermilion Bird Seal still shone brightly on her neck.

However, Huo Yu could clearly see in his divine sense that at the moment Murong Yu dissipated her fortune, the Heavenly Dao Prism above her head and the annotations beside it disappeared silently.

The man standing before him was a complete mortal, yet he was surrounded by an aura similar to that of the man in red.

Murong Yu should have returned to heaven when his fortune ran out, but he was still standing alive in front of everyone, clearly having been forcibly kept in this world by the man in red in some way.

Upon hearing Murong Yu's words, Long Yucheng, nestled in Huo Yu's arms, couldn't help but let out a rapid and fierce bark, seemingly in protest.

Murong Yu, like Huo Yu, was clearly clueless about Long Yucheng's dog language and looked confused.

The man in red beside her understood and responded with a smile:

"Little dog, don't slander good people. I didn't do this to you."

The red-clad man's true appearance was worlds apart from Chu Tong's. His smile even made Su Yixuan, who was usually quite proud of her looks, feel a pang of inferiority and couldn't help but complain to the system:

[My target likes men, which is bad enough, but how come there are men who are even more beautiful than me? Maybe I should just become a man!]

The man in red was completely unaware of Su Yixuan's inner thoughts. He carefully examined Long Yucheng for a moment, then smiled again:

"This is the first time I have ever witnessed the clear and true nature that can see through all illusions. I just never expected that the so-called seeing through illusions would be in such a unique way."

Before he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and the massive array that covered the entire Vermilion Bird City collapsed instantly.

As the formation abruptly ceased, the illusion that had permeated the entire city finally shattered. The mortals in the square awoke as if from a dream, and upon gazing at the Temple of Heaven, which had been turned upside down in an instant, they were all filled with fear and an uproar.

The man in red seemed quite impatient with the noise, and waved his hand again. Instantly, all the mortals fell into a deep sleep, and silence returned to the surroundings.

As the illusion dissipated, Long Yucheng returned to his human form.

It was at this moment that he realized for the first time what position he and Huo Yu were in in the eyes of those who could not see his dog form.

When Long Yucheng was in dog form, Huo Yu simply used a very common way of holding a large dog, passing one hand under his chest and pulling him in front of him.

However, once he reverted to human form, his height was now similar to Huo Yu's, making the position immediately awkward—

Huo Yu wrapped one arm around Long Yucheng's waist and held him tightly in his arms. Long Yucheng, who had just returned to human form, leaned against Huo Yu's chest in an almost ambiguous posture, his whole body pressed against Huo Yu's body.

He could even feel Huo Yu's warm breath brushing against the back of his neck, and for a moment he was stunned.

Huo Yu released his hand after Long Yucheng regained his human form. His calm expression and natural movements showed that he did not feel anything was amiss.

Standing beside them, Su Yixuan looked around, glancing at the sky and the ground, but refusing to look at the two people right in front of her.

Only Guan Fengyue nodded slightly when her eyes met Long Yucheng's, indicating that she understood.

"..."

Long Yucheng didn't really want to know what she had figured out, so he moved half a step to the side to maintain a normal social distance from his senior brother.

The man in red still wore that smiling expression, his gaze shifting from Long Yucheng to the unfazed Huo Yu, before suddenly his eyes narrowed:

"I see. No wonder you're the only one who's different from them."

However, the man in red only made a casual remark without offering any further explanation, and his gaze immediately turned to the Vermilion Bird Sacred Fire on the altar.

The ball of pure white flame seemed to sense his gaze and flew to Huo Yu on its own.

The man in red spoke calmly, as if he were simply dealing with old furniture he didn't want to take with him during a move.

"Ayu and I are about to leave, so I'm giving this to you as payment for that little favor we did earlier."

Su Yixuan stared wide-eyed in disbelief as she looked at the Vermilion Bird Sacred Flame, the cornerstone of the Zoroastrian Church, which was being given away so casually.

The man in red seemed to sense her surprise, his gaze sweeping over Su Yixuan and Guan Fengyue behind Huo Yu, lingering briefly on Su Yixuan, but his tone remained calm:

"The Zoroastrianism has no reason to exist anymore. You two should leave this place with them."

This could not be clearer than the order to leave.

Huo Yu nodded slightly, waved his sleeve to take away the Vermilion Bird Sacred Flame that made countless people in the cultivation world envious, then picked up Long Yucheng and left the territory of Vermilion Bird City.