Regardless of how much An Wuzhi had screwed others over for the Divine Fire before, spending time with someone naturally leaves an impression; their absence is felt.

Yet, despite this, Shi Chun had no intention of retreating; precisely because An Wuzhi had perished in the attempt, he could not give up so easily.

He wasn't like Xu Anzhang and the others, who shrank back at the first sign of danger or in fear of exposure.

Shi Chun wouldn't leave easily; not until the battle between Shudao Mountain and the Ice Jiao was decided. If Shudao Mountain could slay the Ice Jiao, it would prove whether the creature held any of the five Divine Fire blooms within. And if indeed it did, three of those blooms would be his.

He wasn't afraid; he was determined to leap forward and claim them.

If it turned out that the Ice Jiao did hold the five Divine Fire blooms, then his cooperation with Shudao Mountain could continue. As for the recent conflict, it was simply a misunderstanding on Shudao Mountain's part, and not his fault.

In short, as long as he could help Shudao Mountain find more Divine Fire, not only would Gu Lianni forgive him, but the surviving disciples of Shudao Mountain would too; the opinion of the dead didn't matter.

So his stance was firm, and the more critical the moment and the more unstable people's hearts, the more he, as the leader, had to stand resolute.

Shi Chun diverted the topic, "The five of you go and check to see if Xu Anzhang and the others are still alive."

Seeing his determination, Chu Jingtang and the others were left without arguments. Led by Wu Jinliang, they proceeded to search along the path taken by the fleeing Four Cauldron Sect.

What is meant by a relentless pursuit is exactly what the Ice Jiao embodied at that moment. Tumbling down after each earth-shattering slash, it rose to attack once more, stubbornly charging at the Green Rainbow Sword Shadows.

Struck down, it got back up, over and over again.

Bursts of shock waves crashed through the air in all directions.

Gu Lianni, orchestrating the Green Rainbow Sword Shadows to slay the beast again and again, gradually became flustered, realizing that with every piercing strike, the Ice Jiao's wounds healed rapidly, as if the beast was indestructible.

Though continuously being struck down seemed to weaken the Ice Jiao's offensive, she could feel the dwindling might held within her "Green Soul Refining Rainbow Sword." If this continued, she feared her Magic Artifact might cease functioning.

The name of the Magic Artifact alone suggested its connection to her; it was a treasure personally crafted for her by her father.

Her fellow sect disciples also sensed that something was amiss. Yuan Yao called out, "Junior Uncle, this won't do! We should withdraw."

Gu Lianni refused, "No, we must find a way to recollect the Element Locking Array's Magic Artifact; without it, capturing the Divine Fire will be extremely difficult later."

At her insistence, Yuan Yao too felt the headache. Indeed, without the aid of the Element Locking Array, blindly searching like those small sects would be very troublesome.

The problem was, the sect probably hadn't anticipated such ancient creatures lurking within the Divine Fire Domain, having evaded countless searches by past Divine Fire Covenant participants.

Suddenly, Pang Hou shouted out, "Let me lend you a hand!"

As he spoke, he produced a three-foot tall pagoda, called the Ten Thousand Reincarnation Tower. With a single palm, he cast a spell to activate it, and immediately, orange light burst forth from the tower, its tiers spinning rapidly.

Gu Lianni, who had just cleaved the Ice Jiao, turned and cried out, "Don't!"

But it was too late. Pang Hou had already smashed the pagoda down. His expression fierce as if vowing to subdue the beast.

The glow of the orange cast by the Tower's shadow slammed towards the Ice Jiao on the ground.

With a clang, it struck the Ice Jiao's scales, creating a small dent, and then began to twirl upwards. Innumerable blades shot out from the tower, reminiscent of Wind Scale blades, though vastly outnumbering them, enveloping the Ice Jiao's head like a tornado.

Clash after clash rang in a dense cacophony. Had a monk faced such an onslaught, they would have been reduced to dust, but it was harmless against the Ice Jiao.

"Quick, take it back!" Gu Lianni yelled urgently.

Before her words even finished, the Ice Jiao's tail sweep sent many of the blades flying and hammered into the orange-glowing tower.

Boom! The tower shot away like a meteor, the orange light forcibly ejected from it, transforming into a winged centipede shadow that shattered on impact.

Then the countless blades lost balance and fell like rain.

Pang Hou screamed, "My tower!"

He hurried after the fleeing shadow of the tower.

The disciples of Shudao Mountain winced in sympathy. Such a valuable Magic Artifact, rendered obsolete by a single strike from the Ice Jiao, as if even the Artifact Spirit had been dispersed.

Yuan Yao was somewhat speechless. Our Magic Artifacts are utterly ineffective, and yet you tempted fate.

Gu Lianni didn't dwell on these thoughts; the Ice Jiao charged again, and she was forced to summon the Green Rainbow Flying Sword, striking the beast down once more.

After several repetitions, Yuan Yao approached her, suggesting, "Junior Uncle, if Shi Chun can deceive us, we can use the same tactic to lure others here. If we could use another's hand to slay the Ice Jiao, we could retrieve our Element Locking Array Magic Artifact."

Overjoyed by the proposal, Gu Lianni commanded after another strike downs the Ice Jiao, "Have everyone withdraw first!"

Worried for her safety, Yuan Yao wanted to protest, but realizing there was no alternative, as no one else's Magic Artifact could suppress the Ice Jiao, reluctantly accepted that his Junior Uncle had to stay to cover their retreat.

"Retreat! Quickly, everyone, to the next target location!"

Under Yuan Yao's fervent coordination, a group of Shudao Mountain disciples quickly flew away, with Yuan Yao himself not leaving, staying nearby.

The Green Rainbow Sword Shadow thundered once more in killing fury until making sure that the fellow sect disciples had gone far enough. Then, with another sword strike that brought down the Ice Jiao, Gu Lianni shouted, "Let's go!"

The Green Rainbow, like a stream of light returning to its sheath, and Yuan Yao rode the Wind Scale to urgently follow after them.

The Ice Jiao, surging up from the ground, let out a wail and roared, its wounds healing once again. With a flick of its body, it leapt into the air and began to fly after them.

Indeed, it could really fly.

Once power reached a certain level, one could understand how some aspects are common; the thick clouds in the sky were torn open along the way, cutting through to reveal the stars, as the Ice Jiao's massive form relentlessly pursued.

Witnessing this from a distance, Shi Chun was somewhat speechless. Was Shudao Mountain conceding defeat, having failed to win and now fleeing?

Seeing Gu Lianni easily bring down the Ice Jiao with each sword strike, one would have thought they had a great chance of victory, but alas, it seemed they were at the end of their strength.

This was quite a disappointment, not to mention the loss of his manpower and one of his Divine Fires.

Perhaps noticing the commotion, it wasn't long before a group from Mingshan Sect also flew over, with Wu Jinliang asking, "Chun Tian, they're running just like that?"

Cursing his luck inwardly, Shi Chun asked, "Did you find them?"

Wu Jinliang: "No, we couldn't find them, and it's not easy with such a large area, and so much ice built up. Who knows under which block the people are trapped. We called out quietly as we went, but there was no response. Either they are dead or they have run away."

After some thought, Shi Chun said, "If they really did run, they would surely go to Iron Forest. We can check there later to find out. If they're not back, they might have indeed fallen here, which means we might have to come back to search again."

Wu Jinliang: "Why look for them if they're dead?"

Shi Chun: "They should have Magical Treasures on them, and I suspect they have treasures not weaker than those of Shudao Mountain."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of everyone present lit up.

Snap! Wu Jinliang suddenly clapped his hands in approval and turned to Hao Ji, saying, "You rush back to Iron Forest right away to see if they have returned. If they haven't, come back immediately to report; if they have, there's no need to run back and forth—you can wait there for us."

Chu Jingtang and Shen Moming, wanting to leave this trouble-spot and take on the task, didn't get the chance to speak, as Hao Ji immediately replied with a "sure" and ran off.

With Hao Ji gone, Wu Jinliang burst out laughing, "What are you waiting for? Go search! The disciples of Shudao Mountain have nearly lost half their numbers here, haven't you forgotten that they all have Wind Scales? A Wind Scale can be exchanged for a mansion in the capital city, and some people even have Qiankun Bags on them. Ladies and gentlemen, when Heaven offers a chance to get rich, how can we miss it?"

This statement indeed brightened everyone's spirits, but Chu Jingtang was a little worried, saying, "But won't the Ice Jiao come back?"

Little did he know, Wu Jinliang's reason for sending Hao Ji back to Iron Forest was precisely this concern—fearing that they would waste time on Xu Anzhang and the others for naught, and to maximize the gathering of treasures before the possible return of the Ice Jiao. Of course, it would be best if the Ice Jiao didn't come back at all.

Shi Chun, also sensing the enticing opportunity for profit, said confidently, "Don't worry, I'll keep watch."

Wu Jinliang knew about Shi Chun's superpower in the right eye and chuckled, "Having the Master keeping watch is no problem. Even if the Ice Jiao returns, we can evacuate in time. Come on, let's search quickly; there's no time to lose."

Having a prospect of gain, everyone rushed energetically to the epicenter of the incident to begin their search.

Shi Chun first flew into the air to use his right eye's superpower to observe; seeing no signs of life and the faint shadows of corpses that were too vague to discern, he decided it was a waste of time to look for them.

However, his right eye could still distinguise other objects in this environment better, and things like Sandalwood Gold, scattered or clustered together, weapons, and Wind Scale-like metal substances could be seen on the Ice Field with careful comparision.

Thus, he found each item accurately, but he couldn't show off this skill or dig them up himself; he had to mainly observe the surroundings to prevent the return of the Ice Jiao.

As such, he only hinted at Wu Jinliang, letting him figure out how to guide everyone, while he mostly stood at high points on lookout.

During the search process, there were occasional small cheers and smug chuckles.

There were also sighs of regret; some Wind Scales were damaged by the Ice Jiao's ice block attacks and could no longer be used effectively, but they were collected anyway, with a chance to have them repaired later.

After a while, everyone at least got a Wind Scale in their pockets, and two Qiankun Bags were found, with Chu Jingtang and An Wuzhi each sporting one at their waist. Smiles blossomed on every face.

It was quite dangerous, but it had to be admitted, with such a speed of making money, how many years of hard work would it take in the outside world? Perhaps it was more than one could earn in a lifetime.

As the search continued, the Magic Artifacts from Shudao Mountain's Element Locking Array were found one after another. Though unusable, they were treasures worth collecting.

Meanwhile, Shi Chun, who occasionally surveyed the surroundings, suddenly noticed something was amiss, wondering if he was seeing things. Through the superpower vision of his right eye, weren't there five figures working together to overturn a large block of ice?

With Hao Ji gone, shouldn't there have only been four?

He immediately flew over and settled on a high lump of ice to get a better view and recognized each one: there was Wu Jinliang, Chu Jingtang, An Wuzhi, Tong Mingshan, and Shen Moming. Hey, he counted again, and sure enough, there were five, each one from his own group.

But something still didn't feel right. His eyes widened as he finally realized where the mistake lay, and his gaze fixed on the cheerfully busy An Wuzhi.

Certain of his observation, he dropped down and landed in front of An Wuzhi, surprised, he exclaimed, "You're not dead?"

At those words, the other four also gradually came to a stop, dumbfounded, each looking at An Wuzhi somewhat stunned. They had all forgotten when this fellow had appeared among them; it seemed as if he had been busy with them for quite some time, and surprisingly, no one had realized it.

"Crap," Wu Jinliang suddenly shouted, "An Wuzhi, how did you come back?"

An Wuzhi seemed a bit puzzled by their reaction, "The battle was too intense initially, and after being blasted away into the ice, I didn't dare to move. Later, when things quieted down, I melted the ice and drilled out. Hearing the rummaging, I came over and, seeing that it was you, I couldn't just stand by. How else could I have come back?"

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