Despite already receiving recognition from Xu Anzhang, Tong Mingshan still couldn't believe it. He pointed at the fire crocodile, then at himself, "For me?"

Talking further would lead to a bunch of explanations about why, so Shi Chun couldn't be bothered to say more and, together with Xu Anzhang, turned to look at the fire crocodile.

The fire crocodile still showed signs of breathing, its body tied in the net, shrinking slowly. Disciples from the Four Cauldron Sect continued to jab it with swords, making it shrink even more.

Under the leadership of Xu Anzhang and Shi Chun, the people from the Mingshan Sect also flew over to observe.

The fire crocodile didn't bleed; instead, petal-like red fire fluff continuously floated from the wound. You could stir it by reaching out, but it was like nothing and didn't stain; a few feet away from the body, the color would gradually fade until it disappeared into the void.

Shi Chun pointed at the long, sharp shovel piercing through the fire crocodile's neck, "Such a long shovel—what kind of weapon is this?"

Xu Anzhang looked at him with a smile and said, "As expected, not a man of artifact refining. Ask him." He gestured toward Tong Mingshan.

Shi Chun looked, and Tong Mingshan, still somewhat dazed, hurriedly explained, "It's just a fire shovel, one of the things used to turn over materials in the fire during artifact refining."

After waiting for a while longer, when the fire crocodile shrunk to the size of a desk, it suddenly collapsed into countless red fire fluffs. The net came up empty, and amidst the fluff, a hint of bloodlight seemed to flicker.

Xu Anzhang waved his sleeves to clear away the drifting red fire fluff. Several people made their move at the same time, restraining a cluster of red flames attempting to drift away, pinning it in mid-air.

The flame was only about a foot high, floating in the air, very vivid. The color was a particularly intense red, so red it felt somewhat unreal.

Xu Anzhang slowly reached out to hold it, signaling everyone to let go. With a single palm, he cast a spell that brought the intense cluster to him to feel it for a while before exclaiming in admiration, "There should be no mistake, it is indeed the Divine Fire Red Flame."

A crowd of practitioners of fire attribute skills all showed different colors in their eyes—some even displayed greed and desire, yet no one dared to act rashly with so many others watching.

Under everyone's scrutiny, Xu Anzhang turned his head to look at Tong Mingshan and also approached him holding the intense cluster of flames, handing it over, "Here."

"Ah?" Tong Mingshan was both dumbfounded and shocked, still in disbelief. Really? Seriously?

He looked at Shi Chun, very doubtful. We've killed their leader, and they're giving me the hard-won Divine Fire—this is too unreal.

Shi Chun nodded slightly, "Take it. I'm not joking with you. I said it's for you, so it's yours."

How could this be possible? Tong Mingshan still couldn't believe it and looked around at everyone.

Such a reaction couldn't be faked. Xu Anzhang realized that this fellow truly had no idea such good fortune would befall him. It seemed Shi Chun hadn't leaked a hint of this to him beforehand—tight-lipped indeed.

Wu Jinliang suddenly said, "Sect Master, just say if you want it or not. If not, give it to someone else. That one..."

Spurred by this, Tong Mingshan quickly said, "Want it, want it, I want it!"

He hurriedly reached out, applying a fire attribute skill, and hovered the foot-high intense Divine Fire in the palm of his hand.

He could feel a spirit of intelligence stirring within the Divine Fire, seemingly wanting to break free from control; he had to use a significant amount of mana to restrain it.

Seeing him actually get hold of the Divine Fire, An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin were incredibly envious, an endless envy.

Shi Chun asked, "How to absorb it?"

Xu Anzhang replied, "We need to find a place where he can calmly absorb it, take advantage of the Divine Fire's weakened spiritual power to absorb it now, and leave this area first."

As they said they would go, the group rode away on their Wind Scales without a second thought.

The area wasn't worth their sentiment. Divine Fire was also said to be of the nature where one mountain cannot contain two tigers; it's said that it's impossible for two to exist in one area.

They didn't go far before returning to a spot not too far from the ten elders. At a distance where they could just see that mountaintop, they excavated a cave.

The ten elders heard the digging noise and looked on from a distance.

Tong Mingshan, holding the Divine Fire and entering the cave, suddenly looked back, holding something he could never have dreamed of, something countless people couldn't even beg for, had bizarrely fallen into his hands.

Looking at Shi Chun, who was smiling outside the cave, he truly did not know how to express his gratitude, bowing deeply, with everything left unsaid.

Although he didn't understand why the Four Cauldron Sect would concede the Divine Fire to him, he knew it must be the result of the Master's maneuvering.

Today, he realized that the top ranker of the Sky Rain Meteor Conference did not obtain the title by luck; he was convinced that he had made the right choice.

Shi Chun smiled and nodded, then someone sealed the entrance to the cave, enclosing Tong Mingshan inside to allow him to peacefully absorb the Divine Fire Red Flame.

Looking at the sealed cave entrance, An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin felt a bit sour inside. They understood from the Master's earlier words why Tong Mingshan had this opportunity.

The two felt some regret; they shouldn't have hesitated when Shi Chun previously made the call.

Tong Mingshan's reward for risking his life and bravely facing danger was something they could only envy.

"Brother Chun," Xu Anzhang extended his hand to signal Shi Chun to speak in private.

The two flew to the top of a nearby mountain. After looking around, Xu Anzhang took a draw from his Ice Goat and sighed as if overwhelmed by endless emotions. "To tell you the truth, when you mentioned going back to the entrance area, I was pretty reluctant. Now, thinking about it, the higher-ups were right. We should listen to you more. Otherwise, we'd definitely miss out."

He then raised a finger to Shi Chun and smiled. "Consider this the first day we've been here, don't we? On the first day, we've already obtained a Divine Fire. I bet the higher-ups wouldn't even dream we could move this fast."

Shi Chun also smiled. "Just luck."

"Eh." Xu Anzhang waved his hand, "It's not just luck. If you hadn't insisted on checking it out, we wouldn't have this game. What should we do next? I'd like to hear your thoughts again."

Shi Chun asked, "How long will it take for Tong Mingshan to absorb the Divine Fire?"

Xu Anzhang replied, "It shouldn't take long. It mainly depends on the individual's Fire Attribute Skill and the degree of rejection between that and the different Divine Fires, as well as their comprehension. They say the longest might take one or two days, the shortest, perhaps only half a day to complete the absorption."

Shi Chun said, "Then we'll leave a few people to protect him, and the rest of us will continue to search for other Divine Fires."

Xu Anzhang froze. "Not wait for him to finish absorbing before we move on?"

Shi Chun said, "We only have forty-nine days. If we wait one or two days each time we find a cluster of Divine Fire, plus the time it takes to search along the way, when will we finish?

Let me be frank with you, since the higher-ups sent me here, I have to give them a satisfactory answer. Getting one or two Divine Fires to fulfill the quota is not my style.

If I didn't come, that would be that, but now that I'm here, I'm aiming for first place. Since there are thirty-six types of Divine Fire, I only want to know if I can find them all in forty-nine days."

That old saying remains true: if you're going to boast, aim as high as you can. If not after this fortunate acquisition of a Divine Fire establishing the right to speak, then when?

Real or not, the current victory was clear. Xu Anzhang was exhilarated by Shi Chun's disdain for the ordinary and laughed. "No wonder the higher-ups sent Brother Chun. Alright, thirty-six types it is; let's do our best to compete for them."

Shi Chun asked, "Don't you still have five men? Where are they?"

Xu Anzhang said, "They're embedded within five other sects. The higher-ups went to great lengths to ensure they could attend this event while within those sects. What, do you think we're short-handed, Brother Chun? I was actually considering calling them back to serve."

Shi Chun countered, "So you mean you can contact them at any time?"

Xu Anzhang replied, "Of course. The higher-ups sent them to support us. It's been arranged. Since splitting up, they've been leaving marks along the way, so we can find them if needed."

Shi Chun pondered for a moment before asking, "Before you entered, did the higher-ups give you any action plan?"

Xu Anzhang said, "What plan could there be? The higher-ups have limited knowledge of the situation here. Not just them—even the experienced big sects can't possibly know the entire situation of the Divine Fire Domain.

Each time the Divine Fire Spirit Gate is opened to send people in, the drop-off locations are different, and even the experienced sects can't grasp the situation.

However, it's said that these experienced sects, upon entering, will try to find the locations where the older generation gathered Divine Fires since due to environmental factors, there's a good chance that new Divine Fires will emerge at the original sites after two or three hundred years.

That's the absolute secret of these big sects. Once they enter, they immediately fly away to search for those places; outsiders stand little chance of following them.

Given this situation, how could the higher-ups make any plan? Other than slightly increasing our manpower, there's not much they can do, mainly leaving it to us to adapt on the fly."

Shi Chun slowly said, "In that case, there's no need to call them back for support. Instead, we should send another ten people to reinforce them."

Xu Anzhang exclaimed, "Suddenly being short of nine people, we're already stretched thin, and we need to send another ten people to them...?"

He wanted to ask, what exactly Shi Chun thought he was doing.

Shi Chun patted him on the arm. "Brother Xu, listen to me. It's precisely because we're short-handed that we need to utilize those five covert agents. Once their power is harnessed, the manpower of those five sects would serve as our scouts."

Xu Anzhang said, "I understand you, but I must remind you, those five sects are not weak, stronger than the Four Cauldron Sect on our side. If we want to snatch the meat from their mouths, I'm afraid our teeth won't be sharp enough."

Shi Chun gestured, "Whether we can snatch it, we have to see the situation first. Because they are strong, should we not even try to understand and just be afraid, give up in advance? Indeed, we could never snatch anything that way. Since we have the opportunity to understand them, why should we give up on our own initiative?

Looking back at the goal of being first, if we don't try to snatch, relying on our people who lack any advantage and just roughly search on, do you think we can achieve first place?

For now, our advantage lies in those five covert agents. Since it's an advantage, we need to think of ways to maximize it—not to discard it voluntarily."

Xu Anzhang fell silent, swayed by his words. After pondering for a while, he said, "You first tell me what you plan to do."

The decision still rested with him; the higher-ups had also instructed before his arrival to listen to the other's opinions. However, one shouldn't heed everything blindly but only that which is advantageous.

Shi Chun explained, "You and I will each dispatch five people, ten in total, forming five teams to find those five covert agents. Once they establish contact, they won't do anything else but keep following those five sects.

No matter which sect discovers traces of Divine Fire, or indirectly learns that other sects have discovered it, our following agents must immediately relay the news back to us.

I don't believe that among the five sects, none will find the slightest clue of Divine Fire. With the intelligence of five sects collected for our single use, our forty-nine days should be quite fulfilling.

As for the strength of the opponents, let them be strong while we do our own plundering—everyone relying on their abilities, win or lose, no complaints.

In short, if we can snatch it, we snatch. If we can't, we find a way to do so. Never give up as long as there's a chance, until no chances remain."

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