Yao Guang snorted. “I have no qualms following your lead if you’re really this amazing. But if you try to pull a fast one... hmph!”

She shook her small fist, ready to beat him up at the drop of a hat.

Jiang Chen grinned. Now certain that she was on his side as well, he turned to Si Tong and lowered his voice. “If you can get the Fire of Firstdawn, I’m around seventy percent certain that we can bait out the fire demon powerhouses. They’ll be sitting ducks by then.”

“Sitting ducks?” Si Tong blinked. “It won’t be as easy as you make it sound. Don’t you know how powerful their forefathers are?”

Jiang Chen smiled indifferently. “I’ve killed their ilk by the bucket on the way here. The fire demon forefathers are admittedly strong, but not necessarily more so than their titan demon counterparts.”

In a fiery environment, and especially Sunrise, fire demons could tap into dreadful potential in combat. They’d easily quash cultivators of the same tier and contend with those one higher.

But without that advantage, they weren’t all that much stronger than humans. At least, the disparity was far from overwhelming.

Si Tong answered lowly, “My martial aunt is the one protecting the Fire of Firstdawn. She loves me dearly. She once told me to take the fire to Eternal, but I tactfully declined in the end.”

Jiang Chen praised, “To insist on perishing together with your sect, your boundless loyalty deserves veneration. ”

Yao Guang rolled her eyes at him. “Loyalty your butt. Her martial aunt meant for her to seek refuge in Eternal, that is to say, with you. Big sister chose not to because she knows you’re a fickle skirt-chaser.”

Her implications visibly jolted Jiang Chen and Si Tong, making both of them feel incredibly awkward.

“Wise sister, don’t talk rubbish. How can a hero like Brother Jiang be that despicable?” Si Tong chided with a glare.

“Fine, fine, let’s just pretend I didn’t say anything. Jiang Chen, tell us then, how are you going to take advantage after obtaining the Fire of Firstdawn?”

“Once the fire demon forefathers are lured away from their lair, I’ll swarm them with all my helpers and kill them before they can react.”

Simply put, it was nothing but an ambush with bait.

“Are the three of us the only ones in the know?” Yao Guang’s expressive eyes fluttered.

“The fewer the better. We don’t want to alert the enemy.” No one knew the identity of the imposters inside Radiance, and the young lord naturally didn’t have the time to play detective. He didn’t want to expose himself in any case.

His only certainty was that these two women hadn’t been assimilated. He could trust them, at the very least.

Si Tong’s eyebrows rose. When push came to shove, she was a match for any man. “Very well, I’ll join you in your madness, Brother Jiang. I’ll get the Fire of Firstdawn by tomorrow morning. But you need a special art to control it. Even I can’t say for certain I can. After all, the amount is no joke, and its power simply too fearsome.”

Jiang Chen smiled calmly. “You need only to obtain it. Leave the rest to me.”

“What should I do then?” Yao Guang couldn’t resist asking.

The Eternal young lord chuckled. “It’s time to put on a show. Use your best acting skills to keep everything under wraps. Once the fire demons are routed, the winged demons will also be in for a nice surprise.”

“Killing two birds with one stone?” Yao Guang’s eyes flashed.

“That’s the plan,” he acknowledged.

“I like that ambition. But I’m still a little dubious. Do you really have what it takes? All of Sunrise couldn’t resist them, and you, all by yourself…”

“Didn’t I tell you? I have helpers.” Jiang Chen smiled. “Alright, Holy Girl Yao Guang, I need a place to rest today. I’m counting on you.”

He didn’t expound any further. Too much talk led to trouble and not to mention, arguing with a wilful girl like Yao Guang was nothing but a headache,  so silence was truly golden in this case.

Hiding a man in her residence was quite an experience for Yao Guang. She spent the entire night torn between multiple emotions. Sometimes, she was afraid Jiang Chen would suddenly make a move on her, but as time went by without her fears materializing, she found it hard not to feel a little disappointed.

Hmph, that guy’s really full of himself. See if I’ll give him the time of day if he tries to talk to me in the future!

The night passed in silence. Si Tong returned at first light the next morning with the Fire of Firstdawn, as she’d promised. It was entirely sealed inside an earthen-yellow gourd. Looking at the small container, the young lord couldn’t resist asking, “How much fire can a gourd this small possibly hold?”

“Don’t look down on it, Brother Jiang. It’s one of Sunrise’s ultimate treasures, called the Vitality Gourd of Yin and Yang. It can store more fire than you can ever imagine.” Si Tong swelled with pride as she spoke of her faction’s heirloom.

“Very well!” The young man nodded.

“Brother Jiang, let me explain how to control it. Although I’m not very familiar with the art myself…”

Jiang Chen waved her off. “I have my own ways. No need to trouble yourself.”

His confidence was well-founded. In the entire world, few were the manipulation arts unknown to him, not to mention he’d been familiar with the Fire of Firstdawn in his former life.

But there was no need for him to act at all. He had an expert at his side, called the Vermilion Bird.

When it came to fire, even fire demons wouldn’t dare claim superiority over a spirit creature of heaven and earth, born from the world’s supreme flames. Fire was the quintessence of the bird’s being.

As such, his mastery over anything fiery was unmatched.

“You jerk, can’t you tell good intentions from bad?” Yao Guang grunted.

Si Tong herself merely smiled. More confident than her friend in the young lord’s ability, she didn’t take offense. “Wise sister, Brother Jiang is a remarkable genius after all. The fire will be no challenge for him.”

“Alright alright. So you tell me, what comes next?”

Jiang Chen cupped his fists. “Next, you simply need to wait. You’ll hear good news in three days at most.”

“What do you mean? Are you leaving?” Yao Guang huffed, a little unhappy. “Maybe you just came to scam us out of the fire.”

Jiang Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This girl’s mind was truly one of a kind. Was he that type of man?

Si Tong tugged on her companion’s sleeve. “Be quiet. A figure like Brother Jiang only has to ask to receive the fire. Why would he need to deceive us for?”

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