Lucas Warren watched from not far away, only feeling that she seemed even more like someone who had traveled a thousand years into the future, losing everything and left all alone.

But the girl did not wallow for long. She quickly straightened up, slapped her cheeks twice with crisp sounds, and pulled herself together.

She took a deep breath and walked toward a corner of the Ascension Platform.

Following her gaze, Lucas Warren saw that in a remote corner of the Ascension Platform stood a dilapidated wooden shrine. Hanging above the door was a black plaque with three large gold-embossed characters: 灵山祠. The wooden doors were half open, and inside, several memorial tablets were neatly arranged.

Little Red Riding Hood walked up to the shrine in a few steps, but did not enter. Instead, she clasped her hands in salute toward the tablets behind the door and said softly, “Outer Mountain Sect disciple Emily Stone, pays respects to the Immortal Ancestors of 灵山.”

Lucas Warren couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

Although her salute was casual, the way she clasped her hands with thumbs touching and pointing straight upward was the standard Outer Mountain Sect’s mountain-saluting gesture.

She’s an Outer Mountain Sect disciple?!

Lucas Warren immediately took out the Ascension Register, silently issuing the sect leader’s command in his mind.

Outer Mountain Sect

As the pages turned, several thin sheets appeared out of thin air at the end of the 灵山 people’s register, densely packed with names—this was the Outer Mountain Sect’s historical roster, numbering in the millions... But as Lucas Warren focused his thoughts, all irrelevant information sank away, leaving only a single line of text.

Outer Mountain Sect disciple: Emily Stone

With both the mountain-saluting gesture and the Ascension Register as proof, Lucas Warren immediately confirmed her identity.

She was indeed from the Outer Mountain Sect, and with the surname 石, she was a descendant of the sect’s guardian family—the elite among the Outer Mountain Sect.

Judging from her gait and breathing, her cultivation foundation was quite solid, likely at the level of a successful Foundation Establishment. Considering she looked at most eighteen or nineteen, this progress would be considered genius in any prestigious sect.

Who would have thought that a thousand years after 灵山’s fall, the descendants of the Outer Mountain Sect would have grown even stronger... But it made sense; civilization must progress. Even after a calamity that wiped out ten thousand immortals, people of the modern age a thousand years later should surpass the ancients.

Thinking this, Lucas Warren considered revealing himself to greet her, but then stopped as something caught his eye.

He hadn’t looked closely before, but now he noticed that the names on the memorial tablets inside the shrine were all extremely familiar.

James Sutton, William Sutton, Robert Carter, Henry Benson... and the next generation: Lily Foster, Frank Collins, Stephen White. These names confirmed what Emily Stone had said about the great calamity a thousand years ago and the fall of ten thousand immortals.

But at the very end, on a wooden tablet placed in the corner of the table, two characters stood out.

Lucas Warren!

Chapter 4: In Fact, I’m Even More Qualified to Say These Three Words

Ever since awakening in the Spirit-Stabilizing Hall, Lucas Warren felt as if he was experiencing a major worldview shift with every new chapter, each bringing a fresh shock.

He had thought that after the story of a thousand-year dream and the extinction of ten thousand immortals, nothing in this world could shake him anymore.

Yet a tiny wooden tablet in a tiny shrine made his pupils tremble once again.

Lucas Warren... Lucas Warren!

His name was written right there on a memorial tablet in the shrine!

Being worshipped as a dead man was certainly unlucky, but what Lucas Warren cared about wasn’t the bad luck—it was a simple fact: if a living person like him was being worshipped as dead, could it be possible that others being worshipped as dead might also still be alive?

Looking closely, among the tablets on the table, there was one extra—Lucas Warren—that shouldn’t have been there, but one was missing that should have been.

He didn’t see the name Olivia Warren.

The name Olivia Warren, once it became a variable, meant that anything was possible. In fact, Lucas Warren really couldn’t imagine that brilliant senior sister meeting her end.

So...

So, let’s leave it at that for now.

Lucas Warren didn’t let his thoughts wander too far, because indulging in wishful thinking too much could easily lead to obsession, madness, and ultimately, corruption.

Rationally analyzing the situation, with so few valid clues, there was little point in overanalyzing—any analysis would just be subjective speculation.

It would be more useful to go find Emily Stone and ask her directly.

So Lucas Warren stepped forward.

But as soon as he took that step—without making a sound—he saw Emily Stone in the distance react like a startled cat, her whole body tensing up. Her back arched slightly, toes tightened, and her true essence surged within her, as if boiling. In an instant, a faint red wave of energy spread from her dantian, as if a fire had been ignited.

The firelight shone through the gaps in the green leaves into Lucas Warren’s eyes, reminding him of the 【石中火】 described in the books, which once lit up the whole mountain in red.

Fire rising from the dantian, ignited at will, as steady as rock, never extinguished nor depleted.

The supreme art of the Outer Mountain Sect, and also one of the top-ranked techniques recorded in the 万法 of 灵山: 【石中火】.

This technique was created by the 27th generation sect leader of 灵山, Susan Stone. He was from a collateral branch of the Outer Mountain Sect, endured many hardships from a young age, yet was as steadfast as stone and as driven as fire; not only did he earn a formal position in 灵山, he even inherited the sect leader’s title, and ultimately, with 【石中火】, burned through thirteen layers of heavenly tribulation, forcefully opened the Immortal Gate, ascended to the Celestial Court, and left behind a dazzling legend.