The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

The so-called Heavenly-level Trade Fair auction venue is actually the aerial pavilion that floats above the Heavenly-level Trade City.

The entire pavilion is made of phoenix wood, and after being soaked in the essence blood of the divine beast phoenix, it is exceptionally tough and can withstand several full-force attacks from a master of the Great Perfection of the Qiankun Realm without being damaged.

Beneath the Wutong Pavilion, nearly a hundred guards with the cultivation level of the Great Perfection of the Transcendent Realm were stationed. They were all elite disciples of the Demon Flame Sect, responsible for maintaining the basic order of this trade fair and receiving distinguished guests.

These reception guards are divided into ten teams, each led by a core disciple in the early stage of the Reincarnation Realm, forming a small team.

Every twenty elite disciples and five core disciples form a brigade, which is led by five disciples personally taught by the Ten Elders.

Each of the direct disciples is at the late stage of the Reincarnation Realm.

At this moment, they were under the Wutong Pavilion, arranging the guard and reception of their elite disciples.

Upon seeing Chu Xiu arrive, they all cast curious and envious glances their way.

The Demon Flame Sect has thousands of members, and Chu Xiu is the first young sect leader appointed by the sect master. His status is already on par with the ten Grand Elders. In fact, even the Grand Elders cannot disobey the young sect leader's wishes in front of the sect master.

Originally, these disciples of the Supreme Elders held a position in the Demon Flame Sect that was second only to the Sect Master and the ten Supreme Elders, and their status was even higher than that of other ordinary elders who held important positions within the sect.

With the arrival of this young sect leader, their status has dropped a level.

The thousands of disciples of the Demon Flame Sect will no longer regard them as their leaders or follow their lead blindly...

Although the disciples harbored resentment, they dared not object to the decision made by their sect leader.

Everyone within the Demon Flame Sect implicitly acknowledged that the Demon Flame Sect belonged to its leader, Ye Wujiang, and that they were merely his vassals.

The internal hierarchy of the Demon Flame Sect is more like an empire than an ordinary sect of cultivators.

"You must be the young sect leader appointed by the sect master?"

"My name is Lan Ying, and I am a disciple of the Supreme Elder, Mo Yun."

Led by a maid from the Jade Pavilion, Chu Xiu had not yet reached the foot of the Wutong Pavilion when he saw a large number of fully armed disciples of the Demon Flame Sect gathered in front of the pavilion's teleportation array entrance.

Before he could approach with curiosity, five disciples, all of whom were skilled in cultivation and dressed in fine clothes, left the group and walked towards him.

The girl in blue, who was at the head of the group, smiled and stepped forward. She crossed her arms and placed her hands upright on her shoulders, bowing slightly to Chu Xiu, performing the etiquette used by the Yaksha tribe when greeting a noble person of higher status.

"Hello, you can call me Chu Xiu."

Chu Xiu smiled and returned the greeting with a fist and palm salute.

Lan Ying is the personal disciple of the Supreme Elder Mo Yun.

Each of the ten Grand Elders had met Chu Xiu once before, and this Demon Fall was ranked first in seniority among the ten Grand Elders.

Therefore, Lan Ying was ranked first among the ten personally instructed disciples.

She did not deliberately hide her strength, so Chu Xiu could see Lan Ying's true cultivation level in just one glance—the Great Perfection of the Reincarnation Realm, only one opportunity for enlightenment away from the Qiankun Realm.

Seeing Chu Xiu's friendly attitude, the other disciples secretly exchanged glances and breathed a sigh of relief.

They had expected to encounter a new leader making a big splash, but to their surprise, the young sect leader was so polite that they didn't need to worry too much.

Soon, the other four disciples stepped forward and introduced themselves one by one. Their cultivation levels were also clearly visible to Chu Xiu using his Qi Observation Technique.

“Rayleigh, a disciple of Elder Demon Peak, greets the Young Sect Master.” A burly, dark-skinned, bald man stepped forward and bowed in a Buddhist gesture.

"Eve, a disciple of Elder Moyou, greets Young Sect Master~" A pink-haired, alluring woman with two horns on her head, dressed in revealing clothes with only a few wisps covering her private parts, bowed gracefully to Chu Xiu and gave him a seductive smile. She was about to step forward to say more to Chu Xiu when Lan Mei pulled her back and gave her a gentle reprimand.

"Eileen, a disciple of Elder Demon Refining, greets Young Sect Master." A petite girl with a ponytail, dressed in a night-fighting outfit, nodded slightly to Chu Xiu. A delicate longbow was strapped to her back, drawing attention.

"Yun Ji, a disciple of Elder Mo Chu, greets the Young Sect Master." A tall woman dressed in a magnificent, form-fitting long dress, exuding the air of a noble queen from a mortal realm, bowed gracefully to Chu Xiu.

Her deep blue eyes seemed to possess a captivating magic, and even Chu Xiu couldn't help but glance at them a couple more times.

After the other four junior disciples had finished introducing themselves, Lan Ying stepped forward to explain:

"The other five junior brothers and sisters are away on important business and have not yet returned to the sect. The task of guarding and receiving guests at this trade fair will be the responsibility of the five of us."

Chu Xiu nodded and looked at the five highly respected disciples again.

Rayleigh appears to be a body cultivator who focuses on physical cultivation and practices both Buddhist and demonic arts. Judging from his physical cultivation alone, he has already reached the Great Perfection of the Reincarnation Realm. If Chu Xiu were to fight him using only his physical strength, it would be difficult to predict who would win.

Eve, without a doubt, cultivates enchantment. The eerie fragrance emanating from her body would cause Chu Xiu to lose his senses for several seconds after smelling it. Such enchantment skills are perhaps only comparable to those of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan, who also cultivate enchantment. Their cultivation level is also at the Great Perfection of the Reincarnation Realm.

Eileen, who was about the same height as Anu, was equipped with a longbow almost as tall as herself. Among the direct disciples present, she was the only one who noticed that Chu Xiu was observing them while maintaining his cultivation technique, but she only cast questioning glances at him without making a sound.

Chu Xiu concluded that this woman's spiritual cultivation was no weaker than his own, and she also possessed profound spiritual detection abilities.

Yun Ji's captivating blue eyes made Chu Xiu afraid to look into them for long. Once they met eyes for more than five breaths, Chu Xiu could feel his soul being drawn out of his body by a strange force. However, Yun Ji, the instigator, did not seem to be doing it intentionally.

"Chu Xiu greets all senior brothers and sisters."

Chu Xiu returned the greeting with clasped hands, showing that he would not underestimate these outstanding young talents of the Demon Flame Sect.

Although he accepted the position of Young Sect Master of the Demon Flame Sect with ulterior motives—wanting to use this position, second only to the sect leader, to investigate the dealings between Ye Wujiang and the entire Yaksha Clan and those strange beings in the Misty Sea—he did not genuinely join the Demon Flame Sect.

However, he will also play the role of a young sect leader and do his job well, so as to avoid being exposed in front of Ye Wujiang before the facts are thoroughly investigated.

"Young Sect Master, I heard that the Sect Master has entrusted you with presiding over this trade fair?"

Yun Ji smiled and asked Chu Xiu.

Chu Xiu nodded: "That's right. The reason for coming here is to familiarize ourselves with the trading venue and procedures before the trade fair begins, so as not to lose face for the sect in front of so many distinguished guests tomorrow."

“In previous trade fairs, the Supreme Elders took turns presiding over them. It seems that the Sect Master intends to use this trade fair to announce the Young Sect Master’s identity and stance.” Eve covered her mouth and smiled.

"Young Sect Master...have you studied...astrology?"

"Star arts? The young sect master actually knows such a lost secret technique?" The other disciples looked surprised.

They were all chatting with Chu about the trade fair when Rayleigh suddenly asked a question.

Since this person had seen through him, Chu Xiu did not intend to deny it and immediately nodded.

Rayleigh clasped his hands together and bowed to Chu Xiu again: "So it turns out that the young sect leader and I are kindred spirits. If the young sect leader has time in the future, I will definitely come to learn from the young sect leader about star arts."

Chu Xiu raised an eyebrow. He hadn't noticed that Rayleigh had also practiced astrology, but Rayleigh was able to sense that he was the same as him.

Does this suggest that Rayleigh's star magic could provide him with some assistance in acquiring other star magic?

The astrological arts he has studied so far consist only of two: the art of reversed stars and the art of manipulating the stars in one's natal chart.

The fact that astrology has been lost indicates that its surviving forms are extremely rare.

Perhaps I could exchange my skills for Rayleigh's star magic to study.

This will also improve one's ability to collect star magic and fight enemies.

Chu Xiu smiled slightly: "You are welcome anytime after the trade fair ends."