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All of this was common knowledge, yet Xu Zimo seemed utterly clueless.

The maid even began to suspect that her young lady had brought home a fool for a husband.

“Have you ever heard of the Ancient Gods?” Xu Zimo asked, unwilling to give up.

His goal was to find the inheritance of the Ancient Gods.

If he could get a lead, it would save him from wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly.

“What are Ancient Gods?” Little Jade asked, puzzled.

“Well, that won’t be easy then,” Xu Zimo sighed.

Still, he decided to stay at the Black Crow Dao Court for a while before heading to the main city of the Chaos Fire God Realm to look for clues.

If that yielded nothing, he would have to inquire at the Radiant Court itself.

The pressure from the Heavenly Court was mounting, and he needed to summon back the Ancient Demon Race soon.

By now, night had fallen.

Xu Zimo stopped thinking about it, went back to his prepared room, and slept soundly through the night.

The next morning, when he stepped outside, Little Jade had already set out breakfast for him.

“Let’s go take a look around Fire Bane City today,” Xu Zimo said with a smile.

“Second Young Miss instructed that you should avoid going out these days,” Little Jade said hesitantly.

“Oh? You’re teaching me what to do now?” Xu Zimo gave her a sidelong glance. “Careful, once I become your lady’s husband, you’ll be my chamber maid.”

“I-I’d never share a chamber with you!” Little Jade’s face flushed crimson.

But she couldn’t bring herself to stop him either, so she reluctantly accompanied Xu Zimo out of the Black Crow Dao Court to explore Fire Bane City.

Fire Bane City was bustling and prosperous.

The streets teemed with people coming and going.

But Xu Zimo knew that these so-called “people” were not actually human in the strict sense,

they were elementals of the Fire God Race.

Their appearance was nearly indistinguishable from humans, so it wasn’t obvious at a glance.

There were a few humans living in the Inferno Crucible Heaven, but they were a small minority.

This was, after all, a world ruled by fire.

The air shimmered with heat and flames, and, most strikingly, this world had seven suns.

That’s right, seven suns blazed across the sky at once.

It was easy to see why this world was so unbearably hot.

Seven burning suns hung high overhead, and even Xu Zimo occasionally had to wipe away sweat.

“Is there anywhere interesting in Fire Bane City?” Xu Zimo asked.

“What does Young Master mean by ‘interesting’?” Little Jade thought for a moment, and then her face turned pink.

She stammered, “Young Master, you’re about to marry my lady. Could you not… restrain yourself a little?”

“What are you talking about?” Xu Zimo asked, baffled.

Little Jade seemed a bit flustered, perhaps even annoyed.

She walked ahead to lead the way but ignored him after that.

Eventually, the two of them arrived at a more secluded part of the city.

Little Jade pointed ahead and said quietly, “I won’t accompany you any further. Be sure to come back early tonight.”

Xu Zimo froze.

He looked in the direction she was pointing, only to see a grand brothel standing there.

Plump, well-dressed men came and went at the entrance, while heavily made-up ladies leaned from the second-floor balcony, waving and calling down flirtatiously.

“I asked you to take me somewhere interesting, and you brought me to a brothel...?” Xu Zimo said, stunned. He quickly realized she had misunderstood his meaning.

“What? Isn’t this what men mean when they say ‘somewhere interesting’?” Little Jade huffed.

“Jeez... You’ve really got me wrong,” Xu Zimo said with mock disappointment. “I’m known as the ‘White Dragon of the Waves,’ a true gentleman who stays pure even in temptation. If you don’t believe me, you could strip down and try to seduce me, I promise I won’t budge. You think I’m that kind of person?” he added with exaggerated hurt.

Little Jade blinked, startled by his sincerity, and began to wonder if maybe she really had misjudged him.

But before she could apologize, a sudden commotion erupted in the distance.

The shouting was so loud and chaotic that she couldn’t make out the words.

Dozens of people came running toward them in panic.

A moment later, the ground began to shake violently, the earth trembling beneath their feet as if the entire city of Fire Bane were about to collapse.

“What’s happening?” Xu Zimo asked.

Little Jade seemed to guess the cause.

“Water Beasts,” she said.

As soon as she spoke, she broke into a run toward the city wall.

Xu Zimo, curious about these so-called Water Beasts, followed after her.

The tremors grew stronger as they reached the wall.

Thousands of people had already gathered there.

“The Water Beasts are attacking again!”

“Yes, it’s been happening more and more often these past few months. I’m sick of it already.”

“What can we do? At this rate, Fire Bane City won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. As long as the Black Crow Emperor stands, those Water Beasts are nothing to fear.”

“I’m not afraid of the small ones, but what if stronger ones show up? How do we stop them then? The Chaos Fire God Realm still hasn’t sent reinforcements.”

The crowd buzzed with tense discussion.

From what he overheard, Xu Zimo quickly understood the situation.

He and Little Jade squeezed through the crowd until they reached the top of the wall.

Looking out over the vast plains, he saw dust rising on the horizon, like the earth itself was cracking open.

A massive horde of beasts was charging straight toward the city.

Each creature’s body gleamed with an eerie blue sheen, and together they surged forward like a boundless ocean.

It was as if a tidal wave were crashing through the heavens, threatening to swallow the very sky.

Individually, these Water Beasts weren’t particularly strong, but their numbers were staggering, and water and fire were natural enemies.

The Fire God Race despised water more than anything.

Xu Zimo even thought to himself that perhaps the Fire God Race never took baths at all.

“This looks bad,” Little Jade murmured.

“What exactly are these Water Beasts?” Xu Zimo asked.

He was new to the Inferno Crucible Heaven and didn’t yet understand its conflicts.

“They’re our greatest enemies,” Little Jade explained. “For countless ages, we’ve destroyed them over and over again, but never completely. They always return.”

“In recent years, they’ve grown stronger. It’s said that one of the Seven Fire Regions, the Departure Fire Region, has already fallen to them. Now they’re trying to invade the Chaos Fire God Realm, and Fire Bane City is the first line of defense.”

“How do Water Beasts even exist here?” Xu Zimo asked, narrowing his eyes.

In a place like the Inferno Crucible Heaven, with seven suns blazing in the sky, it should have been impossible for water-based life to survive.

“I don’t know,” Little Jade said, shaking her head. “Some say it’s heaven’s punishment. All I know is that they’ve been around since before I was born.”

Xu Zimo said nothing, but his mind was racing.

He was thinking of things, dark, troubling possibilities.

While they spoke, the Water Beasts drew closer, now less than two kilometers from the city.

Within Fire Bane City, the Fire God Race had already assembled.

Thousands of warriors clad in red armor stood ready at the city gate.

At their head was a handsome young man wearing a white dragon-scaled cuirass, a demon-slaying sword at his waist, and a fierce aura rolling off him like a blazing tide.

Before him, the massive city gates began to open slowly.