Elders had no good words to say; after all, no rules were being violated— simply exploiting a loophole here.

What loophole? Before entering, the Divine Fire Covenant issued by Qi Yun Valley clearly laid out the rules on the sect's grand event of Artifact Refining—once inside the Divine Fire Domain, everyone was to compete fairly based on their own abilities without resorting to wicked or arrogant behavior.

It wasn't the first time these rules were written down; it was a routine for every session. They couldn't outright say that upon entering the Divine Fire Domain, it turns into a battle-royale for survival and conquest.

Although that was the reality, it couldn't be openly expressed. On the surface, they still had to maintain a semblance of solemnity with nice-sounding words.

The ones who wrote these knew it was fake, and so did the readers. Both, behind closed doors, would scoff at it, but it had to be written nonetheless.

As for the outcome, it was never questioned because those who dared to kill and rob were mostly the strong overpowering the weak—primarily the powerful sects—and the ones eligible to enforce the law were these same sects.

Like the elders stationed here; they were all from prominent sects.

So everyone clearly understood that the real rules were what was practiced behind the scenes, not what was written.

However, no one dared to tear down this facade of embarassment in front of the ten sitting elders. To actually violate the rules in front of these elders was to slap their faces.

After two successive waves of assassins, both ending their pursuit here, the ten elders were keen on interrogating these assassins; since they had the strength to press others, why could the targets always escape to this place?

Key was this big man who exploited the loophole and even had the audacity to demand that they administer justice—either play by the rules or get out; who invited you in the first place?

And them managing to secure some Divine Fire only increased the elders' distaste.

But dissatisfaction was futile. This group was not just any easily bullied small sect; clearly, someone powerful was backing them.

An elder said gravely, "We haven't seen any cause or consequence; this is merely your side of the story."

"Alas!" Wu Jinliang sighed to the sky, as if cursing the blindness of fate.

You Mu, who had been silent from the start, had wanted to tug at Wu Jinliang's sleeve when he was asking the elders for a ruling—wanting to advise him not to stir trouble when exploiting people was already stepping over the line.

He felt uneasy, seeing this guy now putting on an appearance of being unfairly treated; he genuinely feared it might lead to trouble.

Luckily, Wu Jinliang still bowed to the ten elders before turning to Tong Mingshan and saying, "Let's go, find a place to assimilate the Divine Fire."

They didn't go anywhere else, under the watchful eyes of the ten elders, they ran back to where Lao Changtai was, to a pre-dug cave.

Seeing Tong Mingshan return with the Divine Fire, Lao Changtai curiously asked, "Brother Wu, what's going on?"

"Don't ask. I'm annoyed," Wu Jinliang shook his head, keeping the details to himself.

You Mu did the same and didn't share with his team members.

Once inside the cave, Tong Mingshan immediately stored the Divine Fire he was carrying and asked, "When do we leave?"

He was quite anxious, fixated on the Divine Fire at the Iron Forest. With Red Cloud Castle having lured people away from Iron Forest, knowing that the Divine Fire there had been harvested, he knew they wouldn't return to waste precious time.

Of course, he was aware the next Divine Fire might not be his, but everyone has a bit of greed, eager for more if possible, giving him another chance by staying.

Wu Jinliang gestured him to calm down, then turned to You Mu, "We need to prevent Red Cloud Castle from ambushing us nearby. Signal our people with the covert code. If there's no response, only then is it safe for us to leave."

You Mu was somewhat surprised; this man might seem reckless, but his meticulous planning showed he wasn't as impulsive as previously thought.

Seeing the sense in his words, he nodded and proceeded to act accordingly.

Wu Jinliang also instructed Lao Changtai and two disciples from the Four Cauldron Sect to keep watch, before popping a pill into his mouth and sitting down in meditation to recover.

Pushing Wind Scale to its limit had drained much of his mana, and a prolonged chase would have worn him out, leading to an inevitable capture. It was crucial to restore his mana quickly...

In the Iron Forest, a disciple from the Four Cauldron Sect landed from the sky and reported to Xu Anzhang, "Senior Brother, I was airborne scouting and discovered something strange—Mingshan Sect's people, including Shi Chun, are missing."

Missing? How could they vanish? Xu Anzhang disbelieved and, taking the junior along, soared again on Wind Scale to search the skies. However, upon spotting uncommonly large holes on the ground, he had an inkling of what might have happened.

Within ten miles, under the speed of Wind Scale, they did several loops but saw no trace of the Mingshan Sect's members.

Afterward, he didn't take it too seriously and advised upon landing, "Alright, they wouldn't leave without the Divine Fire. If they're not on the surface, they must have gone underground to search. Continue your search, and ensure to explore deep inside any caves you find."

His fellow Sect member asked, "Could they have found the Divine Fire and not told us?"

Xu Anzhang shook his head, "You're overthinking it. If they found the Divine Fire, it's for their sect. I understand Shi Chun's heart; why would he bother hiding it?"

Reassured, the junior gave an embarrassed smile, realizing he had indeed overthought it, and quickly resumed the search.

Inside the cave, gathered by summoning, all the dispersed searchers, including Shi Chun, had convened on the route Hao Ji had found.

Perhaps it was the good fortune of his well-chosen name; Hao Ji, acting as the scout, was the first to return with news of the Divine Fire's whereabouts. In the underground maze of Iron Forest, it was him who spotted the target.

The group cautiously huddled by a hole, extinguishing all lights. Yet, a white glow emanated from within the hole.

Six people kneeled on one knee in front of the hole and circled around, taking turns to peek into the fist-sized hole below.

They saw a white flame, an indescribable shade of white, with an elegant form that exuded a sense of nobility, like a candle flame fluttering on top of a metal pillar. The area around the pillar was empty, the tunnel walls that enclosed this void were naturally adorned with various patterns and holes, while beneath the pillar it was pitch black, abyss-like, seemingly bottomless.

From all directions, dreamlike, sparse, starlike substances streamed toward the white flame, some seemingly absorbed by it.

Within the white flame, there appeared to be a mouth that opened and closed. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't a mouth but an eye, a vertical eye that was slightly opening and closing.

Shi Chun cautiously whispered, "How come it has grown an eye now?"

After speaking, he peered down again, careful not to disturb it. Seeing no reaction, he then felt relieved.

Chu Jingtang softly replied, "That must be the sensory core. Everything has a spirit; you must first open the sensory core, grow eyes to observe, and then based on its own perception it will transform. This Divine Fire is between the stages of opening its sensory core and transforming."

Shi Chun, "Can we handle it without the help of the Four Cauldron Sect?"

Chu Jingtang softly said, "Master, the burning power of the Divine Fire is terrifying, otherwise it wouldn't be qualified to be called Divine Fire. Anyone who has absorbed the Divine Fire would wield power in the outside world as if handling a Divine Artifact, extremely lethal to common monks. Both monks from the Four Cauldron Sect who had practiced the Fire Attribute Skill were burned like that. Those who haven't practiced the Fire Attribute Skill can't even touch it, especially us who have low cultivation."

From inside the hole, Hao Ji and Chen Wuji also nodded repeatedly.

An Wuzhi said, "No worries, Zhu Xiangxin and I will go."

Acknowledging this indicated agreement with Chu Jingtang's explanation.

Shi Chun slightly worried, "Can you two handle it?"

Zhu Xiangxin said, "It hasn't transformed yet, its power should be limited, we should be able to handle it together."

An Wuzhi nodded in agreement.

Seeing that they were both confident, Shi Chun didn't say anything more. After all, those who practiced the Fire Attribute Skill definitely knew better than him, an outsider, and nobody would court death.

Little did they know, the two didn't have absolute confidence either, as they had never encountered something of the Divine Fire's level before.

But they didn't want Xu Anzhang from interfering because they didn't know the secret dealings between Xu Anzhang and Shi Chun. In their view, once the people from the Four Cauldron Sect found this Divine Fire, would it even be their turn to absorb it?

In fact, they were right about the outcome; even if Xu Anzhang decided to cede it to them, he wouldn't give it to them but to Tong Mingshan.

Very few in the world who practiced the Fire Attribute Skill could resist the temptation of the Divine Fire, an existence that could enable one to step across classes. Once held in hand, it would be equivalent to having a Divine Artifact.

If it weren't for the inability to resist the coercive forces of the Demon Path, the people from the Four Cauldron Sect really wouldn't have given in.

Shi Chun said, "Okay, we can't help you. You'll have to rely on yourselves."

An Wuzhi: "The current problem is, we don't know how to enter the space below."

That was easy to say. Shi Chun wouldn't just sit back, and softly said, "There are several holes on the lower tunnel walls, there must be a way. Everyone, let's split up and help find it."

Everyone immediately tiptoed and began to crawl through, splitting up to explore whenever they encountered a branch in the path, continually scattering a small half-bag of white ash.

As Shi Chun had mentioned, They quickly found an entrance to the giant space, not just one but three.

Due to the immense burning power of the divine fire, Shi Chun and the others dared not approach but made way for An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin, while they retreated to the several hole openings, each peeking inside.

An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin each chose an entrance and agreed to attack simultaneously from the left and right directions.

Entering the huge space, both leaned against the tunnel walls to avoid revealing their figures, occasionally peeping into the space. When their gazes met, they took the opportunity when the eye in the pillar's white light closed to nod at each other and leaped across the abyss, charging forward.

The eye within the white fire on the pillar abruptly opened, its gaze turning as cold and sharp as a knife. The almost visible surge of power suddenly erupted, making the space itself seem to fluctuate, staunchly blocking the two who had already stepped onto the platform.

The swords extended in both their hands, aimed to blind that eye, halted midair and quivered, trying to force their way closer to the eye.

The observing Shi Chun and his companions immediately thought the situation was bad, as the two men's cultivation wasn't sufficient!

At that moment, the foot-tall white fire exploded, sending surging white flames bursting out like an explosion towards An and Zhu. The swords in their hands shattered upon impact, melting drip by drip like burned candles.

The two engulfed by the flames were startled, swiftly running their Fire Attribute Skill to the extreme to resist, their bodies trembling as they instantly fell into a dire situation.

Shi Chun and his companions were also startled by the horrifying high temperature that reached them first, followed by the rolling flames, rapidly filling all the tunnels.

Everywhere the white flames touched, metal juice dripped relentlessly, truly terrifying.

Shi Chun and his companions had no other thoughts but to turn and flee immediately.

Their speed in dodging was indeed faster than the rolling speed of the flames, but unfortunately, their path ahead was suddenly blocked by flames that had seeped in unknown and was backflowing; the group immediately became disoriented in panic and hurriedly turned to flee.

The varying sizes and widths of the holes and paths here, filled with branches and often dead ends, had no discernable pattern, and the group truly scrambled into any hole they saw, getting blocked by dead ends twice, and in their blind running, they soon scattered.

Scrambling through, Shi Chun continually propelled Sandalwood Gold Illumination ahead, only to see Sandalwood Gold recoil, the light from behind revealing the dead end ahead even more clearly.

Reaching a dead end, Shi Chun reached into a hole and scratched around, unable to tear a path through with his spell. Hearing the buzzing noise approaching from behind, he quickly turned and deployed his Protective Gang Qi in a desperate attempt to block the oncoming light. However, his Protective Gang Qi was instantly destroyed upon contact with the white flame, scaring him utterly out of his wits!

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