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

Led by Lan Ying, Chu Xiu's top disciple, he took a special teleportation array beneath the Wutong Pavilion into the aerial pavilion to visit the auction venue.

Stepping out of the teleportation array, the first thing that comes into view is a long, narrow corridor.

Under the eaves of the outer corridor, a brightly lit lamp, adorned with pearls and jewels, hangs every twenty steps, burning eternally.

Chu Xiu's eyes flashed with golden light as he used his Qi Observation technique.

Sure enough, without exception, these lanterns were all high-quality, mass-produced defensive magic items.

"Young Sect Master, are you interested in those lanterns?"

Lan Ying, always observant, noticed that Chu Xiu's gaze was drawn to the lantern-shaped magical artifacts, so she took the initiative to introduce them to him:

"These lamps are produced by our sect's weapon-refining pavilion. Each lamp's defense can withstand a full-force attack from an early-stage Reincarnation Realm expert,"

"With the combined defense of the 365 lamps in this pavilion, even a full-force attack from a late-stage Qiankun Realm expert can be partially blocked!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiu clicked his tongue in admiration.

As expected of the top sect in the Southern Continent of the Demon Realm, the Demon Flame Sect's extravagance is something that ordinary sects cannot afford.

"But the defense provided by these magical artifacts alone shouldn't be enough, right?"

Chu Xiu asked.

"The allure of the Qiankun Dao Fruit to late-stage Qiankun Realm experts is no less than that to the Great Perfection of the Reincarnation Realm."

"After all, perfectly refining a Qiankun Dao Fruit could very likely help a late-stage Qiankun Realm expert advance to the Great Perfection of the Qiankun Realm."

Lan Ying nodded and said, "The young sect leader is right, so..."

"Outside the pavilion, there is also an ancient-grade formation jointly set up by ten Supreme Elders."

"This formation uses the sect leader's previous life's perfected Qiankun Realm clone as its core. With the enhancement of the formation's power, the sect leader's clone can even step into the Qiankun Realm and become the highest-level cultivator in the entire Southern Continent in a short period of time!"

"It is precisely because of this formation, which is known to everyone in the entire Demon Realm, that since the founding of our sect, no expert at the Qiankun Realm has ever dared to cause trouble within a thousand miles of the sect's territory!"

"An ancient-grade formation... can actually forcibly raise one's cultivation level to above the Qiankun Realm!"

"It's really scary!"

Chu Xiu's eyes widened in shock; the Demon Flame Sect's foundation was terrifyingly powerful.

What surprised him even more than the formation was that...

Ye Wujiang actually possesses a clone at the Great Perfection of the Qiankun Realm!

It should be noted that his current true form is merely an early-stage Reincarnation Realm cultivator who has just undergone the first cycle of reincarnation.

"Perhaps after a few months apart, Ye Wujiang's strength, like mine, has changed dramatically..."

"Perhaps... that clone at the Great Perfection of the Qiankun Realm is Ye Wujiang's true form..."

Chu Xiu felt a chill run down his spine as he thought about it, and shook his head, unwilling to let his mind wander any further.

They come, the security,

Now that he had accepted Ye Wujiang's invitation and joined the Demon Flame Sect, assuming the position of young sect leader, he believed that Ye Wujiang would not have any ulterior motives towards him.

If one day he really decides to attack me, with my current strength, I am capable of burning all my cultivation to create a spatial tunnel from the Demon Realm to the Monster Realm for my escape.

With the Butterfly Queen, who was also at the Great Perfection of the Qiankun Realm, as his backup plan, he was certain that he would be safe and sound.

Under Lan Ying's guidance, Chu Xiu memorized the location and usage of some important facilities at the auction venue, and also familiarized himself with the auction hosting process.

Lan Ying is talkative and outgoing. Having known Chu Xiu for less than half a day, she already treated him like her boss.

Everything she said and did was reasonable and logical, so Chu Xiu couldn't tell at all whether she, as the head of the direct disciples and the most likely candidate to become the young sect leader before his arrival, harbored any dissatisfaction.

Looking at Lan Ying's genuine smile, Chu Xiu couldn't help but sigh inwardly. If all his personal disciples were truly as trusting of him, the suddenly appearing young sect leader, as they had been when they first met him...

The Demon Flame Sect is probably so united that it's almost impeccable.

Lan Ying noticed Chu Xiu's gaze glancing at her from time to time.

Even if she was confident enough in her appearance, she wouldn't assume that the young sect leader was interested in her body.

A month ago, the sect leader summoned the five personal disciples who remained in the sect's territory for the first time in ten years. The matter he gave them was to announce the arrival of the young sect leader.

Lan Ying's mind was still filled with the sect leader's last, deliberate words of advice before they left:

"Chu Xiu is an extremely lucky man. Even if you don't want to befriend him, you must never make enemies with him..."

"Otherwise... perhaps you will never be able to take that step towards the Qiankun Realm in your lifetime..."

If it were something like, "You'll gain nothing but death by making an enemy of them," the direct disciples might scoff at it.

After all, with the combined efforts of the five of them, even a true early-stage Qiankun Realm expert could put up a fight and then retreat unscathed.

Could it be that this newly arrived young sect leader is stronger than the five of them combined?

However, if the sect leader's warning was aimed at their cultivation at the Great Perfection of the Reincarnation Realm, then none of them would dare to ignore that ethereal barrier.

This is also why Lan Ying is willing to face this young sect leader with a smile and sincerity.

Even if this sincerity is something I deliberately fake.

"By the way, Young Sect Master, there is one more thing I need to remind you of."

After thinking for a moment, Lan Ying decided to tell the young sect leader something.

I hope that the future young sect leader will take my reminder today as a gesture of goodwill.

"What is it?" Chu Xiu asked.

"At the sect leader's request, Miss will return to the sect today."

"Miss?" Chu Xiu was taken aback. "Who is that?"

Lan Ying asked in surprise, "Don't you know that the sect leader has a daughter?"

Chu Xiu raised an eyebrow: "I really don't know... Since the sect leader has a descendant, why not let her inherit the position of young sect leader, and instead let me, a member of another race, take on such an important position?"

Lan Ying shook her head: "To be honest, when we learned of this, we were also very puzzled."

"However, despite having countless questions in our hearts, we will not object to the sect leader's decision..."

"But Miss is, after all, the sect leader's biological daughter. She has been obsessed with that white jade and the position of young sect leader ever since she was old enough to understand..."

Chu Xiu frowned upon hearing this: "So... you're reminding me that this young lady might come looking for trouble?"

“That’s right.” Lan Ying nodded. “Before you arrived, Miss’s status in the sect was second only to the leader, above all others… But after you came, she was no longer the most respected young person in the sect.”

"more importantly……"

Lan Ying looked around and, seeing that no one was around, covered her mouth and whispered:

"A hundred years ago, the young lady angered the sect leader with her willfulness and swore an oath by her inner demons."

If someone is able to catch the sect leader's eye and become the young sect leader in the future, that young sect leader will be designated as the young lady's fiancé.

"At that time, whether the young lady is willing or not, or where she escapes to, she will be brought back to the sect and married on a chosen date..."

Chu Xiu was completely bewildered: "Is that so?"

"Did Miss come back just to kill me?"

Lan Ying covered her mouth and smiled: "That's hard to say, Young Sect Master, you'd better be careful."