Chapter 809: Plain Words

"Who are you? Are you a god?"

Once the others had retreated, the projection of the Great Elder's head descended from above, looking at the youth before him from a level perspective as he asked.

In truth, he could have just asked that first sentence; he did not believe for a second that this person was a god, yet he asked it anyway, perhaps holding a one-in-ten-thousand hope that this youth who had appeared like a deity truly was one.

However... the fact that he used the human language when asking was, inevitably, a subtle irony.

The youth smiled slightly, standing right on the Sheng Huo Tan. The faint layer of gold on his body grew increasingly thin, no longer resembling a flame, but merely a faint light and shadow, like a halo, setting off his mystery. He said, "I am not a god. If you insist that I am, I can be."

The Great Elder understood his meaning at once and reacted immediately, shouting angrily, "Pah! What are you thinking? Why would I insist that you are a god? How dare you say such a thing? This is blasphemy! Am I the kind of disrespectful person you are? What do you take me for? What do you take the Fire Spirit Tribe for? You... you... this is outrageous!"

Of course, he understood the subtext of the youth—that both parties should cooperate in putting on a show of divinity to gloss over this matter. Honestly, he had been tempted for a split second; this was a way to resolve the crisis at hand. But he ultimately gave up and lashed out in anger. Firstly, as a believer, he could not cross that psychological hurdle. Secondly, he realized that if he agreed, there would be no turning back; he would never be able to recant and would be forced to stand with this person to control his tribesmen. That would be no different from inviting an outsider "ruler" to the Fire Spirit Tribe, the kind that combines church and state. Whether in terms of legal principle or strength, the whole tribe would be unable to resist. Wouldn't that be selling out his own people?

To maintain temporary stability while dragging the Fire Spirit Tribe into the abyss—this was something he, as the Great Elder, could not bring himself to do.

The youth maintained his smile and said indifferently, "Then forget it. Let us speak frankly. You are a smart man, and you must have long since noticed that the Sheng Huo you worship as a god is different from other gods outside. It is merely a certain... supreme treasure that exists objectively."

It was just that he hadn't heard the previous conversation between the Elder and the Son of Fire. If he had, he would have known that the Fire Spirit Tribe had more than one person who had noticed this fact. The Fire Spirit Tribe were also intelligent beings and were not stupid; generation after generation, countless people had noticed, but they had said nothing due to the bigger picture.

The Great Elder continued to be angry, saying, "What kind of talk is this? What do you mean by 'supreme treasure'? Although our god is a different existence from the gods outside, and we were prepared for the fact that it might have other origins, we still believe in it and trust it. To regard it as a 'treasure,' to weigh its value, and to view it as a possession—this is too rude."

The youth said calmly, "What I call it, or what you view it as, does not affect its objective existence. To it, whether I call it a treasure or you call it a god, it is meaningless. I only describe it from my own standpoint—to me, it is a part of a supreme treasure that was lost, and now I have found it and pieced it back together. It is whole again."

The Great Elder grew angrier the more he heard, and his true fire was ignited: this fellow not only belittled the god and took it away, but actually said it was only a part, and a part of some item of his? Did this mean that he and the Fire Spirit Tribe had been worshipping nothing but a Fragment for all these years?

If it weren't for the fact that he probably couldn't beat him, the Great Elder would have attacked him long ago.

The youth continued, "I know you are resentful, but I think I can prove it. You believe in the Sheng Huo, so naturally, you obtain power from the fire seed. Whatever it can give you, I can give you, only stronger. When I said earlier that if you insist on recognizing a god, I can be one, I did not mean I want to be some god of the Human World and have you kowtow and worship me, but that I can continue to serve the role of your god. After all, you have also cared for it for so many years."

And incidentally, it can be considered a reward for the great effort you spent helping me cross the threshold of the realm to become a true Sword Immortal.

Tang Zhao thought to himself.

Although everyone said he had accumulated much and achieved success, and that becoming a Sword Immortal should have been a natural progression, one could never be sure when the water would arrive or when the channel would be formed. This time, it was truly a convergence of favorable timing, geographical advantages, and human harmony. Internally, he had entered a special state of light-transformation, his Sword Heart had broken through, and his Spirit had reached its peak. The cover from the outside had descended from the sky, creating an extremely closed and quiet environment, along with that surging input of power. Plus, the fusion of the Fragment and the Glasses acted like a central converter, directly purifying those external forces and inputting them into his sword and body.

Thinking carefully about that power, it did not seem to be Sword Essence, but it was vaguely higher than Sword Essence. That power could be converted into Sword Essence without loss, and it could also directly temper and wash his body, allowing his physique—which had already met the standard of a Sword Immortal—to go a step further and reach a new realm. That powerful body was a container for power; his body became strong and could accept more power. From the start, he absorbed the residual power in the Sheng Huo, pulling his accumulation up to the level of a top-tier powerhouse among Sword Immortals. This was the root cause of the Great Elder being intimidated by his power.

Of course, even in such a situation, it shouldn't have been this fast. Although Tang Zhao said he was just one step away, in reality, he was still a bit off from the standard of a Sword Immortal in every aspect. When every "bit" was added together, the difference was actually quite significant. If he had to make up for it bit by bit, it would have been very fast even if it took ten days or half a month.

But at this moment, an accident occurred. That "Prophet" came here, threw herself into the Sheng Huo, and triggered a phenomenon.

Thinking about that phenomenon now, Tang Zhao still felt it was incredible, as if he had experienced a dream, but in the end, he had become a Sword Immortal in one fell swoop. This was a fact, yet he still found it incredible.

Regardless, he had objectively received help from the Fire Spirit Tribe, and he was willing to repay it.

The Great Elder breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately followed up, "So, our Sheng Huo is really gone? It will never come back?"

Tang Zhao nodded and said, "It has returned. It returned to the whole from the part that was wandering outside."

Hearing the word "returned," the Great Elder's heart twitched: they usually used the word "return" when bringing the god-fire from outside back to the Sheng Huo Tan, and now their own Sheng Huo had "returned" to someone else entirely.

"What kind of return..." the Great Elder gritted his teeth, "If the Sheng Huo is not complete and is only a part, and you have a part in your hand, then why is yours the whole and ours just a part? You took our Sheng Huo, how can you call it a 'return'? Isn't it just robbery? We have served the Sheng Huo for so many years, and you can just take it away as a matter of course with a single word of 'return'?"

Tang Zhao did not get angry or let his face darken—his usual gentleness was not an act; it was truly his nature. The Great Elder had observed this, which was why his tone was so aggressive, but Tang Zhao's occasional outbursts at critical moments were not within the scope of his observations, so the Great Elder naturally could not see them. Tang Zhao just said, "Yes, it can only be called a return. After all, what you say doesn't count, and what I say doesn't count. Only it itself can decide." He gently pushed the Glasses on his face, which the Great Elder could not see; at least in his field of vision, both lenses were now complete. "You know who I am talking about, your Sheng Huo. It chose me."

"We served it with devotion..."

"Speaking of serving, I have to ask. How did you treat the Prophet?"

"..."

The Great Elder wanted to say, "Of course we treated her well; she held a lofty status and wanted for nothing." But there was no point in speaking in riddles before a clear-sighted person; saying that would be meaningless.

Tang Zhao's tone turned cold: "I do not believe you did not notice that the Prophet and the Sheng Huo were one, you just insisted on taking unrelated names. But you isolated the Prophet, letting her grow weaker day by day, like imprisonment, just to unscrupulously obtain the power of the Sheng Huo. You could not tolerate the Sheng Huo having its own consciousness and being able to speak for itself; you only wanted a treasure without knowledge or awareness. You just said that me calling the god a supreme treasure was blasphemy, but in fact, your extraction of the god was truly draining the pond to catch the fish. There is a saying: listen to their words and observe their actions; in the end, one must observe their actions. The extraction done through kowtowing and worship seems more decent than vicious extraction, but isn't it the same thing in essence? You have been sucking blood from the Sheng Huo for years, and the Sheng Huo has never acknowledged you. That she would choose to return on her own—isn't that a matter of course?"

He sighed and said, "In the end, I am also a selfish person. If I were to avenge the Fairy Sister, I should destroy you, people and place alike, to be fair. But because you actually helped me, I feel that I am more important, so I choose to get along with you in good faith and do the work of a part of the Sheng Huo. This is my selfishness. Do not force me."

The Great Elder was silent. His series of angry words just now were not just because he couldn't control his emotions, but also to exert pressure to gain the initiative. But now that Tang Zhao had countered, he had no way to contend. By this time, he had observed carefully for a long time and confirmed that this young human's strength was indeed powerful and not just a bluff bolstered by flames. He said, "Are you... acting in good faith? How much can you do? Can you replace the Sheng Huo? If we pay nothing, will you give us power just like the Sheng Huo did? Or do you want the position of a god, or something else?"

Tang Zhao said, "My original intention was to replace the Sheng Huo and give you power—although I do not know how the Sheng Huo did it before, I can do everything the Sheng Huo could do. The title of a god is meaningless to me; it depends on whether you need it to be legitimate. However, I cannot stay here all the time. I can come once a month. You don't need the Sheng Huo every day, do you?"

"To trouble you like this..."

"It is no trouble; there are only three months left anyway."

The Great Elder was suddenly speechless.

Tang Zhao said calmly, "I have done all I can to be benevolent and righteous. To be blunt, this should exceed your expectations, right? But if you still want more, for example, the survival of the tribe, or things after three months, it is not impossible, but it depends on your sincerity. Now there is only you and me, with absolutely no outsiders. If we don't speak of things that cannot be told to outsiders now, when will we speak of them?"