"You just went to the exit and came back?" Shi Chun and An Wuzhi were astonished, it couldn't be possible after all, considering the distance that lay ahead.

"Quick, the people from Shudao Mountain are coming!" Chu Jingtang shouted urgently.

Shi Chun and An Wuzhi looked towards his back, and indeed, in the far-off space tinged with a faint redness, vague figures rushed towards them.

A wise man knows better than to take a disadvantage, so the three of them disappeared in a flash, with Chu Jingtang whisking both away on a gust of Wind Scale.

But the Divine Fire in An Wuzhi's hand was too conspicuous in this dim environment; the pursuers behind suddenly sent out a soaring streak of light.

Bang! An explosion resounded high in the sky.

The trio looked back and saw the blast had set the thick clouds above ablaze like the sun rising, gloriously painting the clouds for a good while before shards of light fell, and the majestic brightness finally extinguished.

This spectacle made them feel uneasy.

Sure enough, they soon saw a group of people swiftly flying towards them in the murky light, their target clearly being them.

Shi Chun suddenly realized something and said with a heavy tone, "Quick, get rid of the Divine Fire!"

"Ah?" An Wuzhi was shocked; how could he easily part with the Divine Fire he had obtained?

Seeing his reluctance, Shi Chun urged again, "Our light is too visible, we won't escape."

Chu Jingtang also shouted desperately, "Throw away the Divine Fire!"

An Wuzhi found it hard to let go.

By the time he made up his mind, it was too late.

During such high-speed interceptions, opportunities often disappear in an instant; what appeared to be just a few exchanges of words had already caused too much delay, and as they approached, it was no longer possible to escape using the cover of the dark light.

It would have been fine if they were just being pursued, as they could have thrown the Divine Fire to distract the enemy and escape.

The problem was that there were too many of them, each equipped with Wind Scale, quickly forming a blockade.

Shi Chun pinched off the incense in his hand and reached out to stop An Wuzhi, "Forget it, don't throw it. Keep it as a bargaining chip. Didn't you say there were five more pieces over there? If we use this one to lure them away, won't it be sweet to come back for the other five? Will you lose out?"

With these words, An Wuzhi slapped himself across the face in frustration, full of regret, confirming he really had been bewitched.

Shi Chun could understand his feelings; they had been like this for food in the past, when people desperately crave something, they can indeed disregard their life and death.

"Alas, Old An, you bastard, you've really doomed us," lamented Chu Jingtang, who was forced to try reversing the course, frustrated like one hates that iron cannot turn into steel.

It was inevitable to blame each other, this being the second time this had happened. The previous time in the Iron Forest, they had almost burned to death, and he had said back then, if this happened again, they couldn't continue to partner up; who would have thought it was a case of old habits dying hard.

While controlling the Wind Scale looking for a chance to flee, he asked, "Master, what should we do?"

He was genuinely panic-stricken; the signal sent out by the opponents had attracted a lot of people, converging from all directions, directly encircling them.

"Run! Keep running!" Gu Lianni's mocking laughter echoed in the night sky.

Shi Chun said calmly, "If I wanted to run, I would've done it long ago; you wouldn't even see a shadow of mine."

Yuan Yao snorted disdainfully, "Boasting shamelessly."

Shi Chun replied, "If I wanted to run, I wouldn't be here waiting for you; I'd already be at the exit with the ten elders there. How could you possibly get to me?"

He said this to check on Wu Jinliang's situation; the fact that these people returned so quickly was a bit abnormal, and he worried that something might have happened to Wu Jinliang.

Upon hearing this, Gu Lianni's expression darkened, "Stop gabbing, hand over the Divine Fire!"

A group of Shudao Mountain disciples' eyes had already fixed on the Divine Fire, finding it hard to look away.

Seeing that the other party didn't show interest in Wu Jinliang, Shi Chun felt relieved, knowing that Wu Jinliang should be safe and sound, and immediately said with a smile, "If I can handle the Divine Fire and wait here for you, naturally I will hand it over to you, Miss Gu, why be in such a hurry?"

Gu Lianni laughed upon hearing this and, with her hands on her hips, said, "Wait for me? You really know how to flatter yourself. Clearly chased into a corner with nowhere to run, and yet you claim you were waiting for me. Is this the skill you used to win first place at the Sky Rain Meteor Conference? It seems like the Shengshen Continent really has no one else!"

"Ha ha..."

A group of Shudao Mountain disciples joined in mocking laughter.

An Wuzhi secretly felt ashamed and blamed himself.

Shi Chun said with a faint smile, "If I were really trying to gild my face, I wouldn't have intentionally left marks along the way for you all to discern my direction. If I hadn't left marks, could you have found me so quickly?"

Gu Lianni paused slightly, her gaze flickered, and she thought to herself, could it really be that he intentionally left those marks along the way?

Yuan Yao, seeing her actually reflecting, immediately advised, "Elder uncle, this rascal speaks with a silver tongue and is a sly thief. At the Sky Rain Meteor Conference, he became infamous for his scams. You must not believe him; his words are not worth half a word of trust. The marks he left were clearly from when he was chasing after the Divine Fire to attack, and they have nothing to do with signposting."

Chu Jingtang tended to agree with this viewpoint; the Master had indeed swindled people miserably at the Sky Rain Meteor Conference. As an elite disciple of the Bilan Sect, he ended up being expelled from the sect, all thanks to the Master.

But now, he truly wished that the Master's ability to deceive could indeed come into play; otherwise, it would be tragic, and they might very well lose their lives here.

Upon hearing this, Gu Lianni's spirits lifted, that's right, I almost fell for it.

However, before she could speak, Shi Chun gestured with his hand, "Alright, arguing about this is meaningless. Whatever I say, you all won't believe, so let's just talk about the real issue. The trouble with Shudao Mountain wasn't to steal their Divine Fire; I merely wanted Miss Gu to witness my abilities, Shi Chun."

He turned back and pointed towards the Divine Fire in An Wuzhi's hands, "I have found the Divine Fire Ice Flame!"

With a backward gesture, he pointed toward the exit direction, "And the Divine Fire Red Flame, you all saw it too."

Then, with his hands clasped behind his back, he continued calmly, "That is my capability. I lured Miss Gu here to prove my sincerity in negotiating a partnership with Shudao Mountain."

Yuan Yao still contended, "Elder uncle, you cannot believe his words. He was clearly running away just now and used his verbal advantage only because there was no escape."

Shi Chun loudly refuted, "That wasn't running away. I had the Divine Fire in hand long ago. The reason I didn't leave is that I was waiting here for you to come, then to test you all, to see if you could stop me. If you couldn't stop me, then I would really leave because you are not worthy of collaborating with me. If you managed to stop me, then you would be qualified to come here and negotiate with me."

Yuan Yao extended his hand, "We can talk, but hand over the Divine Fire first. Once you hand over the Divine Fire, we will believe your sincerity, and then we can discuss any terms you want."

He was genuinely afraid that Shi Chun would just give up and release the Divine Fire; once the Divine Fire Ice Flame entered the vast expanse of the Ice Field below, they wouldn't have Shi Chun's right eye superpower.

And this was also the reason why Shi Chun later stopped An Wuzhi from releasing the Divine Fire, saying to keep it as a bargaining chip.

Having a bargaining chip in hand is what gives you the chance to speak.

Also realizing this, Gu Lianni said, "That's correct, hand over the Divine Fire first, show your sincerity, and then we can talk however you want."

An Wuzhi and Chu Jingtang both wanted to remind Shi Chun not to be tricked, yet neither spoke up. The last time they were surrounded by so many people was probably during the "palace coup" at the Sky Rain Meteor Conference. There were even more people surrounding them back then, and having experienced it firsthand, they knew that the Master should be more clear-headed than they were, and would not fall for such a clumsy trick.

Shi Chun laughed heartily and said, "How can I prove my sincerity with just one blossom? If I could only produce a mere single blossom, how could I convince Miss Gu of my sincerity? Wouldn't it be suicide to stay here? If I didn't have some convincing abilities, how could I dare to discuss terms with you gentlemen?"

He lifted his hand and gestured a "six" with his fingers, "One is too few, how about six?"

"Six blossoms..."

The group from Shudao Mountain looked at each other bewilderedly. Some thought they had misheard, while others whispered to each other, suspecting the man had lost his mind.

Chu Jingtang and An Wuzhi exchanged glances, struggling to maintain their composure.

Gu Lianni couldn't help but ask, "Six blossoms of Divine Fire? Are you talking in your sleep?"

Even on the day of departure, she didn't dare to guarantee that Shudao Mountain could definitely find six blossoms of Divine Fire.

Shi Chun countered, "Do you think it's appropriate for me to spout random nonsense at this time?"

Gu Lianni retorted, "Stop trying to confuse and deceive us here. I only believe what I see with my own eyes, and I've only seen one!"

Shi Chun insisted, "Once we have an agreement, I will naturally let you see six blossoms. But we need to make things clear beforehand: these six blossoms are just the beginning of our cooperation. I can only give you three, and I need to keep three for myself. From then on, for every Divine Fire that I find, Shudao Mountain gets one first, then my Mingshan Sect takes one, and we'll keep distributing them in turn.

Any Divine Fire that Shudao Mountain finds on its own doesn't need to be shared with us. You can keep it for yourselves.

Furthermore, in the upcoming Artifact Refining competition, Shudao Mountain must not beat my Mingshan Sect. Helping Shudao Mountain find Divine Fire isn't so that you can compete with us for first place.

For Shudao Mountain, having more disciples obtain more Divine Fire should be far more valuable than competing for rewards, whereas my Mingshan Sect really needs the first-place reward because we are poor and we need the reputation.

That is why I waited here for Miss Gu, and it is also the cooperation that Mingshan Sect wants to discuss with Shudao Mountain."

He wasn't joking. Given the circumstances, he truly wanted to leverage the situation to partner with Shudao Mountain. If they could secure such a significant ally, there would be no need to sneak around, hide, and fear anything in the future search for Divine Fire—and he would also have plenty of manpower at his disposal.

What others saw as danger, he saw as an opportunity.

The disciples of Shudao Mountain began to whisper among themselves.

Even Gu Lianni couldn't help but exchange glances with Yuan Yao. He had laid out the benefits of future collaborations, especially demanding blatantly that Shudao Mountain concede first place; it didn't sound like a bluff from someone without confidence.

For a moment, Yuan Yao too became undecided, no longer repeatedly stating that one must not trust.

Gu Lianni said, "How can I believe that you can produce six blossoms of Divine Fire?"

After all, empty talk is useless, and she wanted to see something tangible.

Shi Chun spread his hands, "Once we agree, I will naturally let you see six blossoms of Divine Fire. If we don't come to terms, then it's a matter of life and death, and I assure you, you won't get even one. However, since I dared to wait here for you, I believe you will certainly agree. Everyone came here for Divine Fire, didn't they? More Divine Fire, I don't think anyone would refuse such a benefit!"

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