Wei Qingyi added.

"Of course, that’s only if our identities as Demon Cultivators aren’t exposed. Otherwise, we’ll be branded as remnants of the Holy Blood Sect."

Qin Xuan seized on the key point. "Remnants of the Holy Blood Sect?"

Hou Qi hurriedly chimed in, "And what are these Star Envoys? The moment we woke up, even ordinary low-level Qi Cultivators could recognize us!"

Wei Qingyi gave a bitter smile. "It’s a long story. And it might have something to do with that ancestor of our Holy Sect..." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Don’t you two go running off. When we first arrived, we suffered a great deal. Xiao Dinglan was nearly besieged and had his Divine Soul obliterated..."

"It was Shen Fairy from Daqian who taught us a Concealing Breath Technique, which allowed us to escape with our lives and survive until now... As for these Star Envoys, you’ll understand soon enough."

Wei Qingyi’s hands formed a series of seals as he muttered an incantation, chanting an ancient spell.

"Vermilion Bird Carrying the Imperial Decree, heed my command... Appear!"

Vast Demonic Essence erupted from his body as Wei Qingyi made a gentle swiping motion in front of Qin Xuan and Hou Qi.

HUM!

Fiery red ripples spread through the air.

The scene before the two of them changed drastically.

"What’s going on, Senior Brother Qin? Why is your Power of Starlight so brilliant?!"

Hou Qi cried out in shock, stumbling back half a step.

Under the sweep of his Divine Sense, Qin Xuan’s body now shone as brightly as day, like a magnificent sun, so piercingly bright that Hou Qi could barely open his eyes.

Qin Xuan also saw the dense starlight around Hou Qi, but compared to his own, it was like a firefly next to the bright moon.

"This technique is called the [Vermilion Bird Star-Devouring Spell]. From the bottom up, regardless of their Cultivation, every native Cultivator in the Vermilion Bird Star Domain learns it innately. Its purpose is to distinguish the status of Cultivators."

Wei Qingyi frowned. "I didn’t notice before I cast the spell, but now that I see it... Junior Brother Qin, your starlight is indeed excessively dense. I wonder which Star Palace you’ve connected to?"

There was one thing Wei Qingyi left unsaid.

This level of starlight density was comparable to the Golden Core Stage Red Flame Dock Master he had seen a few days ago!

Qin Xuan replied, "The sixth of the White Tiger Seven Stars, the Tail Fire Tiger."

"’The sun is in Ying Shi, the dragon’s tail lies in Chen’... So it’s Master Ji’s Tail Star Palace."

Hearing it was the Tail Fire Tiger, Wei Qingyi didn’t dwell on it any longer.

The same Star Palace often reflects the starlight of other cultivators connected to the same star. If Ji Bochang was factored in, then it wasn’t strange at all.

"We who hail from the Holy Sect are not only unwelcome in Daqian, but here in the Vermilion Bird Star Domain, we’re treated like rats in the street, hunted by everyone."

Wei Qingyi instructed them carefully, "I’ll teach you the Breath Concealment Technique that Shen Fairy passed down. You must remember, do not expose your Demonic Essence in the Marketplace, or you’ll attract a Golden Core True Monarch!"

"If that happens, there will truly be nowhere to run..."

...

「The next day.」

With Wei Qingyi’s help, Qin Xuan and Hou Qi successfully blended into the Red Flame Marketplace.

It was one thing not to have entered, but once they were inside, Qin Xuan and Hou Qi found the place more and more bizarre the longer they looked.

’Since when did the status of the Human Race become so low?’

"There’s something seriously wrong with this Vermilion Bird Star Domain," Hou Qi transmitted to Qin Xuan in a low voice.

Qin Xuan frowned to himself.

Demon Cultivators were coming and going everywhere.

The more crude and demonic their appearance, the higher their status. Half-demons were second.

But as for the Human Race, they had to kneel and bow upon seeing a full-fledged member of the Demon Race, and were not even allowed to step on their shadows!

In the very center of the Marketplace, a high platform stood.

Several pretty Foundation Establishment Female Cultivators stood on the stage like merchandise, wearing Spirit-Banning Circles around their necks, their eyes vacant.

A Half-demon with a pig’s head and a human body was hawking his wares loudly.

"Top-quality Tripod Furnaces! Four-attribute Pseudo Spirit Root, Primordial Yin intact! Harvesting her can help a young master break through his bottleneck... Starting price, twenty Spirit Stones!"

A fat, large-mouthed Toad Demon Cultivator, squatting on the ground, lifted one of the Female Cultivator’s chins with a slimy, fan-like demonic claw.

He was inspecting her as if she were livestock.

"This one’s vital energy is a bit weak. Thirty low-grade spirit stones. If you’ll sell, I’ll take her now."

"To be chosen by you, milord, is her good fortune! Of course, of course," the pig-headed Half-demon said with a fawning expression.

No one in the crowd below found this strange, as if it were just an ordinary transaction.

Some Human Race Cultivators tending stalls nearby even showed looks of envy, as if being taken away by a Demon Cultivator was a stroke of incredible luck, a blessing from their ancestors.

’How many people wanted to sell themselves but couldn’t even find a way to do it!’

Elsewhere, a sallow-faced, middle-aged Human Race Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Fifth Level had just managed to secretly trade for a Spirit Grass at a stall and was walking away.

A ten-foot-tall Yellow-spotted Dog Demon immediately shot out and viciously tackled him to the ground.

It pinned him with one paw, snatched the Spirit Grass with another, and tossed it into its mouth, devouring it before swaggering away.

The sallow-faced middle-aged cultivator was too scared to even breathe, wanting to cry but having no tears.

Even more outrageous, a Snake Demon had set up a checkpoint at the Marketplace exit to collect a [Spiritual Energy Tax]!

"This Red Flame Marketplace is nourished by the Spirit Vein of my Viper Division, and its Spiritual Qi is dense. Those leaving the Marketplace have all consumed my division’s Spiritual Qi by breathing. It’s one low-grade spirit stone per hour. Pay up!"

The Snake Demon clearly only had a Qi Cultivation, yet he spoke with extreme arrogance.

A Human Race Foundation Establishment Cultivator, who had been tending his stall for most of the day without earning a single speck of Spirit Fire Sand, looked troubled.

"Milord, I truly haven’t made any sales today. Could you be lenient? I will surely make it up to you another day..."

But before he could finish speaking, a Snake Demon guard sent him flying with a palm strike, causing him to vomit blood nonstop.

"Get lost! You haven’t sold any Spiritual Sand, yet you dare try to leave? You old piece of trash, even a single breath you take pollutes my division’s spiritual aura!"

The Snake Demon guard flicked its forked tongue, its expression vicious and menacing.

Qin Xuan and Hou Qi were dumbfounded.

’For fuck’s sake, they even tax Spiritual Qi? Not even the Holy Sect is this monstrous!’

Just then, a sharp hiss suddenly echoed from the sky, piercing enough to make one’s eardrums ache.

Nine Red-Scaled Snake-like demons with human faces and jackal bodies sat high atop a prison cart. Fleshy wings grew from their backs, and their serpentine tails coiled as they hovered in the air, surrounded by pale flames.

A Giant Python Snake Demon with an arrogant face stood at the very front.

It cracked the Bone Whip in its hand, which let out a sharp sound.

"CRACK... SNAP!"

"Behave yourselves! I don’t want to get rough!"

Inside the prison cart, dozens of Purple Mansion Cultivators cowered and begged for their lives. "Milord, milord, spare us!"

These were dignified Purple Mansion Cultivators, yet every one of them was gaunt and sallow, with Red Copper Lock Rings clasped around their necks and their skin covered in fiery whip marks.

Hou Qi’s pupils shrank when he saw the fiery red, winged Snake Demons.

His hand was already on the hilt of his Lifebound Longsword, his muscles tense.

"Don’t act rashly. Those are the Patrol Envoys from the Winged Fire Snake Palace..."

Wei Qingyi’s figure appeared beside Qin Xuan and Hou Qi at some point, and he gently pressed down on Hou Qi’s hand.

Qin Xuan’s gaze fell to the end of the procession, where a Snake Demon had a golden, elixir-pill-sized Dragon-Button Seal hanging from its waist.

The moment he saw the Dragon-Button Seal, Qin Xuan’s eyelids twitched.

"They are the noblest creatures of Wing Star Yi, the Winged Fire Divine Race."

Wei Qingyi’s voice was extremely low as he explained.

"They hold the [Burning Fire Wing Transformation Technique] as their ultimate principle and require a large number of people with Fire Spirit Roots to serve as living Tripod Furnaces for cultivating the [Snake Shedding and Heart Burning Technique]. They’ve been rounding people up everywhere lately, causing widespread panic..."

"Unfortunately, today just happens to be the Red Flame Marketplace’s turn."

"You two, keep a low profile. In this Vermilion Bird Star Domain, the Demon Race reigns supreme over all living things, calling themselves the Divine Race. If they notice you, you’re in for a world of pain."

Qin Xuan and Hou Qi stood by a stall selling Fire-Washing Cloth, listening to Wei Qingyi’s hushed explanation.

"Don’t worry, Senior Brother Qin and I aren’t the types to be soft-hearted. What does their life or death have to do with me?"

Qin Xuan felt the same way.

But unexpectedly, at that very moment, the Star Palace within Qin Xuan’s Dantian suddenly trembled.

BOOM!

The Ziwei Emperor Star erupted in brilliance, beginning to revolve on its own, completely at odds with the violent Fire Spiritual Qi that permeated the world!

Wei Qingyi’s face went pale with fright.

"Hm?"

The Red-Scaled Demon Cultivator immediately sensed the fluctuation of power, and a look of suspicion flashed in its eyes.

"A remnant of the Holy Blood Sect actually slipped through the net... Seize them for me!"

The Red-Scaled Demon Cultivator let out a strange, shrieking cry that sounded like a wailing infant.

Qin Xuan’s pupils contracted. The Ziwei Emperor Star was vibrating wildly.

The starlight of the Emperor’s Decree flowed uncontrollably as a strange, violet-gold light flickered in his eyes. The very air around him began to distort from the power.

"The Ziwei Emperor Star?"

Wei Qingyi’s expression changed dramatically, a mixture of shock and joy.

"You’re not Qin Xuan... You’re... Senior Brother Liu?!"