The two of them left the capital and quietly flew towards the southwest.
It was late at night when they left the Fang family, and it was noon when they reached the tall volcano.
Here, Wan Lei did not see many people.
He had not gone when the Wood Immortal Secret Realm opened, but he had seen tens of thousands of people when it closed.
When the Gold Immortal Secret Realm opened, more than a hundred thousand people participated. The Water Immortal Secret Realm was more direct in its perception. Excluding most of the cultivators still in various tribes, tens of thousands of cultivators participated in the war on both sides.
Looking at it now, there were only scattered figures as far as the eye could see. Roughly counting, there were no more than a thousand people, not at all like the grand occasions of the previous three secret realms.
"It seems everyone was scared by the casualties in the Water Immortal Secret Realm, and no one dares to come over," Fang Xiaoyu whispered.
"How could they not be? Even the Nine Great Powers haven't organized anyone to come, let alone others. The general direction of the Nine Great Powers is enough to make them retreat. After all, they only have one life, and no one is willing to lose their life here for some magical treasures or divine abilities."
The people in front of them were gathered around the crater, in small groups, looking at each other with great vigilance. It was evident that only rogue cultivators who had fought for their lives for a long time would have such high vigilance.
"These people are truly fearless of death, to dare to come to the secret realm."
Fang Xiaoyu stretched lazily, her charming face displaying a languid expression.
"I originally thought it would just be the two of us coming this time, and we could enjoy some sweet two-person time."
"There will always be people who value money over their lives. Look at these rogue cultivators. Although they appear peaceful on the surface, there is still a lot of ferocity in their eyes. But it's better to have fewer people. Once we enter the secret realm, if these people oppose us..."
Wan Lei took out a wine gourd and took a sip.
"We'll just kill them all, and then we can focus on our tasks."
The volcano was a thousand feet tall and occupied a vast area. From the mountainside upwards, it was covered with thick snow. Under the blue sky and white clouds, it was a breathtaking sight.
It was hard to imagine that a volcano, a live volcano, would have such snowy scenery at its summit.
Legend had it that fifty thousand years ago, this volcano erupted frequently, causing great harm to the surrounding populace, leading to widespread suffering.
Those who were able to migrate moved elsewhere, leaving many houses empty.
After the Fire Immortal arrived, she sealed the magma within the volcano and converted it into the entrance to the Fire Immortal Secret Realm. Since then, the volcano had not erupted again.
In the past, when the volcano erupted, the lava that flowed out cooled to form volcanic mud, creating rich minerals. Those tribes that had migrated away returned one after another. They lived comfortable lives by mining and selling minerals.
The locals, grateful for the Fire Immortal's great kindness, built a Fire Immortal Temple at the foot of the mountain.
For fifty thousand years, the incense at the Fire Immortal Temple became increasingly prosperous, and the temple evolved from a small shrine into a complex of temples.
With dozens of renovations, the statue of the Fire Immortal within was no longer a likeness of her original appearance.
Many people came to the Fire Immortal's temple every day to kowtow and pray. Some prayed for success in official examinations, some for finding a suitable spouse, and some for early childbirth.
Even more so, cultivators who believed that power was everything would occasionally come here to pray, of course, usually hoping to break through their cultivation realms or to be appreciated by a noble and powerful figure and taken as a disciple.
Watching a young couple below kowtowing and praying for a child, Han Xiaoyu, standing outside the temple hall, pouted her lips high, her face filled with a strange expression.
"I didn't expect I'd have the function of helping people conceive?"
"Alas, these people don't understand..." Han Xiaofeng sighed.
"If you had this function, we wouldn't have to research for fifty thousand years before having a child."
"In this world, believing in gods is not as good as believing in oneself. In the Immortal Realm, it's understandable that people worship our statues. That's faith, reverence, because we have great kindness, and we are the rulers of the universe. But what about here? Praying for children, for marriage, for success in official careers, what's the use of that?"
"What's the use? For example, those who pray for success in official careers, they kowtow devoutly before the examination. After the examination, they will be grateful for their own hard work and diligent studies that led to their success, not for the blessings of the gods. Those who pray for children will also be grateful for their diligent efforts afterward. Farmers who pray for timely rain and abundant harvests will only thank their hard work for such a yield, and they won't thank the gods for favorable weather."
"Then why do they still kowtow and pray? Is this the inherent weakness of people?"
"No, it's not an inherent weakness. Burning incense and praying is merely seeking peace of mind."
"Well, the common people don't understand anything. Burning incense and praying is one thing, but what are these two people here for?"
Han Xiaoyu pointed towards the entrance of the temple. Han Xiaofeng followed her fair jade finger and saw Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu bouncing in.
"Probably... praying for a child. After all, they've been sleeping together for so many years and still have no offspring. It's understandable that they're anxious."
"Heh, they're still young, not like us old monsters who have lived for fifty thousand years. They haven't enjoyed their freedom yet, so who would want to have children so early? Besides, they both have human bodies, so getting pregnant and having children is easy, isn't it? Unlike us, the Immortal Venerables. Our life forms are too high. No, to be precise, we're not even considered life anymore; we're pure energy bodies. Creating a life is easy for us, achievable with a single thought, but it's not a crystallization of our own life essence, nor does it carry our genes. To have a child with our bloodline is very difficult. It took us several Immortal Venerables many years of research to condense a trace of our own life essence within the energy body, and only then did we have children."
"Isn't it the process of creating a child that they're after?"
"Han Xiaofeng, can you be a bit more serious?"
"Then what do you think they came here for?"
"I think, the most likely reason is that they came to pray for strength or something similar, to break through to the Immortal Realm and ascend to the Immortal Realm soon, as these two children are quite ambitious."
"I still think they came to pray for a child."
...
Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu entered the temple hall, bought a bundle of incense, and after waiting in line for a while, it was their turn.
The two knelt down devoutly and kowtowed, praying, appearing to be loyal followers of the Fire Immortal.
Han Xiaoyu looked at the thirty-foot statue in the main hall, feeling utterly speechless. Yes, it was difficult for anyone to associate the statue of the Fire Immortal, depicted as plump, benevolent, and middle-aged, with Han Xiaoyu, who was graceful, stunning, and the foremost beauty in the mortal realm.