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

Since it was already late when they arrived in Suzaku City, Huo Yu and Long Yucheng did not linger in the city, but quickly found an inn nearby to settle down.

Ever since meeting Murong Yu, Long Yucheng had been somewhat unsettled and had become quieter. After saying goodnight to Huo Yu, he silently returned to his room.

Huo Yu returned to his room at the inn, but instead of resting, he quietly extended his divine sense, pausing briefly on Long Yucheng, who was pacing back and forth in the next room, before continuing to probe outside the inn.

Before long, he spotted a person not far from the inn.

That was the Zoroastrian woman that Long Yucheng had been chasing. Huo Yu had noticed her Heavenly Dao value outside Vermilion Bird City; it was the most common type of [low-level cannon fodder, with no hope of ascension].

She was no longer dressed in the yellow dress, but in the crimson attire uniformed by the Zoroastrians, adorned with numerous glittering silver ornaments, making her extremely eye-catching in the crowd.

But the ordinary people around her ignored her, only subconsciously avoiding her when they met face to face.

Since Huo Yu and Long Yucheng entered the city, this woman has been hiding in the shadows, silently following them, and has not left even now.

Her Foundation Establishment stage invisibility technique could fool ordinary people, but it was no match for Huo Yu's late-stage Golden Core divine sense.

Huo Yu didn't know what her purpose was, so he simply focused a wisp of his mind on her, while the rest of his consciousness reached out in all directions like tentacles under his thoughts.

After quickly ascertaining the distribution of Zoroastrian followers within a few miles of the inn, all the scattered divine senses merged into one and extended towards the imperial palace in the center of Vermilion Bird City.

Huo Yu's target is the Zoroastrian sect located beneath the palace.

The Vermilion Bird Sacred Flame is clearly within that Zoroastrian sect. Legend has it that this flame is the Vermilion Bird's natal spirit flame, imbued with the power to bring the dead back to life.

Although the rumors are difficult to verify, this fire does have many strange features, one of which is that it can block divine sense.

Within Huo Yu's Golden Core stage divine sense, the entire imperial palace, and even the Zoroastrian holy land hidden beneath it, were shrouded in a mysterious power that could isolate divine sense.

Huo Yu frowned slightly and used his mid-stage Nascent Soul Divine Sense to barely penetrate the barrier and glimpse a small part of the Zoroastrian Church.

The Zoroastrian cult was indeed hidden in the magnificent underground palace beneath the royal palace, its internal passages resembling a labyrinth, intricate and complex.

The Zoroastrian followers, dressed in bright red, seemed to know every inch of this land like the back of their hand, moving through it as if it were flat ground.

Under Huo Yu's powerful divine sense at the Nascent Soul stage, most of the Fire Worship Sect's territory was exposed, except for a small area that remained shrouded in a strange power that shielded divine sense. Huo Yu speculated that this was where the Vermilion Bird Sacred Flame existed.

But compared to the Vermilion Bird Sacred Flame, Huo Yu was more concerned about something else: in this Fire Worshiping Cult, there was someone of the same level as him, or even someone whose cultivation was above his—a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

In the current cultivation world, the total number of Nascent Soul stage cultivators is no more than fifty, but every major sect in both the righteous and demonic paths that can be named has one or two Nascent Soul stage ancestors sitting behind the scenes.

Although the Zoroastrian sect has never interacted with other sects, the fact that there is a Nascent Soul stage cultivator within the Zoroastrian sect has been secretly noticed by both the righteous and demonic paths, and they keep it to themselves.

What puzzled Huo Yu was that although this person's cultivation was clearly above his, his spiritual power was far inferior to his, and he couldn't even detect Huo Yu's spying.

This unusual phenomenon made Huo Yu even more cautious. He avoided the other party's location to avoid alerting them.

Huo Yu soon discovered more strange things about the Zoroastrianism.

Within the reach of his divine sense, there were over a thousand Qi Refining stage disciples, several hundred Foundation Establishment stage disciples, over a hundred Golden Core stage disciples, and five Nascent Soul stage disciples.

The strange thing is that none of these five Nascent Soul stage cultivators have Heavenly Dao Value above their heads, and there is not a trace of spiritual root in their bodies.

These five individuals were scattered throughout the underground palace, each secluded in their own quiet stone chambers, living in isolation from the world.

Huo Yu carefully examined each of them with his divine sense, but failed to find any further clues, so he turned his attention to other areas.

At a dimly lit, winding corner, the conversation between two Zoroastrian disciples caught Huo Yu's attention.

Both of them were at the Foundation Establishment stage. One of them looked to be in his early twenties, with a slightly youthful face. He looked at the other with a hint of surprise, clearly not expecting to meet him here.

"Senior Brother Zhang, when did you return to the main altar?"

Standing opposite him was a middle-aged cultivator with a fair complexion and no beard. His expression was composed, and he was slightly taken aback when he heard the young man's question.

"The sect leader recently issued the Vermilion Bird Decree, recalling followers nationwide. Junior Brother Chen, haven't you received the news?"

The young cultivator was even more surprised upon hearing this:

“I know about this. But Senior Brother, you’ve been stationed on the southwestern border all this time. I’ve heard that the situation there has been tense recently. The Zheng Kingdom has allied with the cultivation sects in the country and has been making moves. If you leave, can those mortals handle it alone?”

The cultivator surnamed Zhang gently shook his head, his tone calm:

"This is not my business. In fact, I was among the last batch of disciples to be recalled, and I have just returned from reporting back to Uncle Ouyang."

Upon hearing this, a knowing glint flashed in the eyes of the cultivator surnamed Chen:

"I see. So Uncle Ouyang has also arranged a new job for you."

The cultivator surnamed Zhang nodded:

“I don’t have any shifts these days. On the night of the grand ceremony, I will be guarding the outermost perimeter of Vermilion Bird City with Uncle Qi’s team.”

The cultivator surnamed Chen seemed completely unsurprised by this:

"I was assigned to stand outside the Vermilion Bird Gate. However, my senior uncle, who was in charge of the team, specifically instructed that on the night of the grand ceremony, all disciples must not appear in front of mortals. They can only set up defenses in the dark, stand by at any time, and obey the commands of the communication talisman."

At this point, he couldn't help but purse his lips and mutter a complaint under his breath.

"I really don't understand why the entire sect is making such a fuss. It's just a mortal emperor ascending the throne..."

"Junior Brother Chen, watch your words!"

The older cultivator surnamed Zhang hurriedly interrupted, but it was too late. A Golden Core cultivator had already silently appeared at the entrance of the passage behind them, his eyes cold.

Upon seeing this, the two men's expressions changed drastically, especially the cultivator surnamed Chen, who broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly bowed in respect.

"Uncle-Master Ouyang!"

The Golden Core cultivator's gaze swept over the Zhang surname cultivator before finally settling on the young cultivator, his tone cold and authoritative:

"Disrespecting the Emperor, disrespecting the leader's decree, and disrespecting the Vermilion Bird Seal—these three crimes will be punished together. Go to the punishment hall to receive your punishment."

"Yes."

The two dared not raise any objections. After bowing respectfully once more, they slunk off toward the Hall of Punishments, secretly regretting their actions.

Huo Yu's divine sense closely followed the Golden Core stage disciple.

He walked briskly to an ancient stone chamber, stopped, and respectfully reported in a low voice:

"Elder Jin, the last batch of disciples has been recalled from the border, and the defense arrangements for the night of the ceremony have all been made."

Inside that mysterious stone chamber sat a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, one of the five people whose Heavenly Dao Value and Spiritual Root were not detected by Huo Yu's divine sense probe.

This person remained as still as an old monk in meditation, his expression unchanged, yet his voice pierced through the stone wall and clearly reached the ears of the Golden Core cultivator:

"This is the first time in six hundred years that the Vermilion Bird Seal has appeared in the world. There must be no mistakes during this grand ceremony. You must strictly order all disciples that no one may leave their post without a clear order from the communication talisman. Anyone who violates this order will be severely punished."

"As ordered."

Upon hearing this, the Golden Core cultivator became even more respectful, bowed once more, and slowly took his leave.

……

At this moment, Huo Yu's spiritual sense had reached its limit, and his soul was issuing an alarm that it could not bear the burden.

He glanced one last time at the location of the late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator in the Zoroastrian sect before withdrawing his divine sense.