The Secret of the Cave Heaven Fire Region

“That’s right!” At this moment, Venerable He also reacted, exclaiming excitedly, “With Brother Xiao’s strength, he can definitely sweep through all Divine Sea Realm martial artists! Once he enters the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven, he will be an invincible existence!”

“By then, our Lingxiao City will not only acquire a great deal of cultivation resources but also ensure Miss’s safety. It’s killing two birds with one stone!”

Li Jianshi, standing nearby, also had stars in her eyes, as no one knew Xiao Ming’s power better than she did.

It could be said that if Xiao Ming could also enter the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven, her safety would be absolutely guaranteed!

“Wait, everyone, hold on,” Xiao Ming interrupted them, saying, “You want me to enter the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven; you should at least ask for my opinion, right?”

“Also, what’s the situation with that Fire Domain Grotto-heaven?”

Although, deep down, Xiao Ming also wanted to enter the so-called Fire Domain, after all, it contained the powerful Heavenly Burning Golden Ancestral Fire, which held a great opportunity!

However, this didn’t mean he would be led by the nose by Li Yunxiao and the others.

At the very least, he needed to understand what the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven was all about first.

Upon hearing this, Li Yunxiao quickly explained, “The Fire Domain Grotto-heaven is a very mysterious underground space. Its location is a hundred li outside Lingxiao City. It was originally a very active volcanic cluster, filled with magma and quite dangerous.”

“Later, after an unknown number of years of development, the volcanic cluster gradually became dormant, but a special Fire Domain space was born beneath the surface.”

“Even later, we were surprised to discover that the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven grew a great many very precious fire-attribute spirit herbs, as well as many rare refining materials, and so on.”

“Furthermore, that Fire Domain even attracted many powerful fire-attribute demonic beasts.”

Pausing, Li Yunxiao continued, “After discovering the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven, this natural treasure trove, our Lingxiao City, Ziguang City, and Sunset City, these three great cities, began a fierce competition around the Fire Domain.”

“I won’t go into the details of the competition. In the end, our three families reached an agreement.”

“This agreement was that our three families would jointly cast a seal to seal off the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven. Every twenty years, we would dispatch our respective elite disciples to enter it and compete for the various cultivation resources within.”

“At the same time, to prevent disputes over cultivation resources, our three families also set a rule: only martial artists below the Yuqi Realm could enter.”

“In addition, each faction can only send three disciples. As for what they can obtain inside, that depends on their individual capabilities.”

Xiao Ming then understood.

Simply put, the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven was a natural secret realm that none of the three great cities, including Lingxiao City, could fully monopolize. So, they compromised with each other, each sending disciples to enter it.

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Ming said, “To be honest, I am also quite interested in the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven. However, what benefits can I gain?”

After speaking, Xiao Ming looked intently at Li Yunxiao.

Li Yunxiao and the others had their schemes perfectly planned, intending to use his power to sweep through the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven and thus gain maximum benefits.

But Xiao Ming was not the kind of honest person who would be used as a pawn.

You want to use me? Fine!

But what can your Lingxiao City offer?

Since it’s a transaction, a mutual utilization, then I, Xiao Ming, cannot work for you for free.

For Xiao Ming, the Heavenly Burning Golden Ancestral Fire was important, but the amount of benefits Li Yunxiao could offer was equally important!

Upon hearing Xiao Ming’s question, Li Yunxiao smiled.

He smiled very happily!

He wasn't annoyed by Xiao Ming asking for benefits; on the contrary, he was worried that Xiao Ming wouldn't be willing to go!

Now it was good. As long as the benefits were negotiated, this matter could be finalized.

“Brother Xiao, I guarantee you, as the City Lord of Lingxiao City, that after you come out of the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven, I can give you one-third of the cultivation resources you obtain!”

Li Yunxiao said, “Moreover, I can also let you prioritize choosing any treasures obtained. How about that?”

“Not good,” Xiao Ming shook his head and said, “You know my strength. With me present, the other two cities won't be able to make any waves.”

“That is to say, this time entering the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven, the cultivation resources that Lingxiao City can obtain will be unprecedentedly abundant.”

“Furthermore, I also bear the task of protecting Li Jianshi. I've put in so much effort, yet I only get one-third of the resources. That's a bit unreasonable, isn't it?”

Li Yunxiao was slightly stunned.

He seemed not to have expected Xiao Ming to be such a skilled negotiator.

“Then how much do you want?” Li Yunxiao asked.

“I want one-half! And, I must also have priority in choosing the cultivation resources obtained!”

“One-half, that’s half…”

Li Yunxiao and Venerable He exchanged glances, seemingly rapidly considering Xiao Ming’s offer.

A moment later, Li Yunxiao said in a deep voice, “Alright! I can agree to your condition! However, you must protect my daughter’s safety. The Fire Domain Grotto-heaven is isolated from the outside world, and people from the other two cities, especially Sunset City, are not so honest.”

“No problem, leave everything to me,” Xiao Ming smiled and asked, “When does the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven open?”

“There’s still half a month,” Li Yunxiao said, “During this half-month, you can stay in the City Lord’s mansion. When the time comes, we’ll depart.”

After conversing for a while longer, Venerable He led Xiao Ming to bid farewell to Li Yunxiao.

Led by Venerable He, Xiao Ming arrived at an exquisite small courtyard. This was his temporary residence in the City Lord’s mansion.

“Brother Xiao, please feel free to stay here. If you have any questions, you can find me at any time,” Venerable He pointed to the courtyard and said with a smile.

“Then I’ll trouble Venerable He.”

“No trouble at all, no trouble. To have Brother Xiao’s assistance is a blessing for my Lingxiao City,” Venerable He said, “I truly look forward to the opening of the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven! This trip to the Fire Domain, our Lingxiao City will definitely overpower the other cities!”

Xiao Ming smiled and nodded.

“Oh, that’s right,” Venerable He suddenly remembered something and asked, “Brother Xiao, how do you plan to deal with the formation airship you took from Worship Leader Ma of Sunset City?”

Before Xiao Ming could answer, Venerable He proactively added, “That formation airship is too conspicuous, and it cannot be shrunk, making it very inconvenient to carry.”

“Brother Xiao, are you interested in selling it to our Lingxiao City? Don’t worry, we definitely won’t let you suffer a loss!”

Xiao Ming thought for a moment and said, “It’s fine to sell it to you. How much are you planning to offer?”

Although that formation airship was quite marvelous, it was indeed of no use to Xiao Ming.

After all, the biggest use of such a large airship was to transport people, and Xiao Ming was always alone.

Even for travel, his sword-flight technique was sufficient.

“Normally, the value of that formation airship is around one million mid-grade Origin Stones,” Venerable He said, “However, because it’s Brother Xiao’s item, we can offer a price of one million two hundred thousand mid-grade Origin Stones.”

“What do you think, Brother Xiao?”

“Deal!” Xiao Ming said decisively.

Clearly, Lingxiao City had proactively increased the price to improve his goodwill.

And not taking advantage of a good deal would make him a scoundrel!

After negotiating the price, Venerable He nodded and then left in a hurry.

It didn't take long for him to return, producing a large pile of Origin Stone banknotes and handing them to Xiao Ming.

Xiao Ming's divine sense swept over them, confirming the total amount of the banknotes was exactly one million two hundred thousand mid-grade Origin Stones, no more, no less.

Adding the five million mid-grade Origin Stone banknotes he had previously obtained in Qingfeng City, Xiao Ming's wealth now reached over six million!

A proper rich person!

“Brother Xiao, please rest. I still have matters to attend to, so I won’t accompany you.”

“Venerable He, take care!”

After seeing off Venerable He, Xiao Ming entered the room and closed the door.

He then pondered his next plans.

There was still half a month until the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven opened, and he could still do many things.

For example, he could sell the large pile of unused items he had obtained at the city's trade association.

At the same time, he could purchase some low-to-mid-level medicinal herbs and alchemy furnaces from the trade association to improve his alchemy skills.

When entering the city, Xiao Ming had keenly noticed that there was also a branch of the Golden Jade Tower within the city!

Thinking this, Xiao Ming left the City Lord’s mansion and strode towards the Golden Jade Tower trade association in the city.