"Hmph, as expected, this guy is just a freeloader."
"Yeah, I'm really envious, I also want to be a freeloader for Miss Hongying."
Seeing that she couldn't convince her cousin they were just friends, Zhang Hongying simply admitted to her relationship with Lin Chen. Hearing this, the Zhang family members immediately started discussing.
"Hey, Zhang Hongying, you can mess with food, but you can't talk nonsense. There's nothing between us, don't talk nonsense."
Upon hearing Zhang Hongying's words, Lin Chen hurriedly said.
Joking aside, if Yu Weilian heard these rumors, she'd surely have a hard time.
Seeing Lin Chen's eagerness to disassociate himself, Zhang Hongying felt humiliated.
Although she liked Yang Minghui and not Lin Chen, she considered herself one of the city's Top Ten Heroes with outstanding looks, pursued by many men, yet this guy blatantly distanced himself.
Does he consider it embarrassing to like someone like me?
"Hmph, what a cowardly waste. Hongying, your taste in people is really off. This guy doesn't even have the courage to admit he likes you. He's probably afraid of being targeted or causing trouble. How could you take a liking to someone ?"
Upon hearing Lin Chen, Zhang Caiyun immediately made up her mind and spoke disdainfully, becoming increasingly displeased with Lin Chen.
She didn't believe Lin Chen at all. Given Zhang Hongying's reputation and beauty, she far surpassed her. With such extraordinary charm and being one of the Top Ten Heroes, it's hard to believe Lin Chen didn't like her.
Thus, in Zhang Caiyun's view, Lin Chen was a hypocritical coward, too scared of trouble to admit the truth.
Hearing Zhang Caiyun's words, Zhang Hongying felt somewhat awkward. She knew Lin Chen genuinely didn't like her.
In Lin Chen's eyes, her kindness couldn't compare to a few spirit crystals.
If given two choices, one being spirit crystals and the other being her, Zhang Hongying believed Lin Chen would choose the crystals without hesitation.
"Alright, let's not talk about this matter anymore."
"By the way, cousin, why are you and other martial artists gathered here? Is there something here or has something happened?"
Zhang Hongying quickly changed the subject, looking at Zhang Caiyun.
"So many martial artists are gathered here because someone recently discovered a strand of flame at the center of this island—the Yang Flame Divine Fire, a Heaven and Earth Divine Fire of immense power. Many have tried to refine it, but most failed. After all, a Heaven and Earth Divine Fire isn't something ordinary means can subdue."
Zhang Caiyun explained calmly.
"There's actually a Heaven and Earth Divine Fire here!"
Upon hearing Zhang Caiyun's words, Zhang Hongying was immensely surprised.
It's known that such miraculous items as the Heaven and Earth Divine Fire are most sought after by artifact refiners and alchemists. Refining it could significantly enhance the quality of artifact refining and alchemy.
Of course, Divine Fire not only benefits artifact refiners and alchemists, but also martial artists cultivating fire attribute techniques.
The strength of a martial artist is not only determined by cultivation realm but also by the foundation of the martial path.
A martial artist cultivating fire attribute techniques who can refine Divine Fire as their lifebound fire strengthens their martial path foundation, making them more powerful at the same cultivation realm level than other martial artists.
Moreover, Divine Fire can also temper the physique, and even if a martial artist isn't a body cultivator, a strong physique is a type of martial path foundation.
The most typical example is Lin Chen, whose physical strength can contend with a half-step to Creation Realm expert even with just a Seventh Level of Nirvana Realm cultivation.
Of course, Lin Chen's strong martial path foundation is due not only to his robust body but also because he practices the Primordial Transformation Art and possesses the Primordial Myriad Transformation Cauldron.
Upon hearing about the Yang Flame Divine Fire, Lin Chen felt a stirring in his heart.
He already possessed a type of Divine Fire, and he understood its benefits more than anyone.
Whether in alchemy or artifact refining, the Blue Lotus Divine Flame brought him immense advantages.
But if he could acquire another Divine Fire, maybe he could combine them, enhancing the rank and quality of his Divine Fire.
Moreover, in the ranking of Heaven and Earth Divine Fires, the Blue Lotus Divine Flame is ranked much lower than the Yang Flame Divine Fire, and now that it has been upgraded to a Fourth-Grade Divine Fire, further enhancement is difficult due to Lin Chen's insufficient cultivation and the need for a lot of material consumption.
"Sister Caiyun, take us to see it. Even if we can't refine it, we could at least broaden our horizons."
Zhang Hongying said to Zhang Caiyun, genuinely interested in seeing the Divine Fire for the first time.
Zhang Caiyun said little more and led Lin Chen and Zhang Hongying toward the location of the Divine Fire.
Besides Lin Chen, Zhang Hongying, and Zhang Caiyun, there were more than ten martial artists from the Zhang family, who showed great respect for Zhang Caiyun and Zhang Hongying, and whose cultivation wasn't weak.
Evidently, these individuals were arranged as guards by the Zhang family for their members entering the ruins this time.
This time, there were core disciples from various forces and many of their retainers. These retainers could chase their own fortunes but were also tasked with protecting their respective force's core disciples.
Looking at these guards, Lin Chen couldn't help but sigh and realize that the Eight Great Noble Families would arrange guards specifically for protection.
Noticing Lin Chen following, Zhang Caiyun said nothing but smirked derisively.
In her view, Lin Chen, with merely a Seventh Level of Nirvana Realm cultivation, dared to follow them, which was self-destructive, given that such a miraculous item as the Divine Fire wasn't something just anyone could see.
As the group moved towards the island's center, the surrounding temperature noticeably increased ten miles in.
Continuing forward, everyone began sweating, even someone with Zhang Caiyun's cultivation level. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noⅴelfire.net
Lin Chen finally understood why people on the island gathered around the outskirts and didn't venture further; evidently, they couldn't withstand the heat for long.
However, for Lin Chen, this level of heat was nothing. He didn't even break a sweat, while others were already drenched.