It wasn't that Shudao Mountain wanted to stop, but the people from Refining Heaven Sect were no longer willing to go on, following them round and round indefinitely, was this walking a dog?

The group from Refining Heaven Sect, all dressed in jujube-red attire, was led by Zuo Zisheng, who had two short mustaches on his lips and exuded a fierce air. He often rolled up his sleeves, revealing his forearms.

It was he who couldn't bear it any longer and yelled to stop, reprimanding, "Gu Lianni, how much longer do you intend to lead us around?"

Shudao Mountain had said they had found an Ice Jiao with five Divine Fires and couldn't take it down themselves, hence asking for their joint effort and were willing to give them three.

The prospect of obtaining three Divine Fires right away was too tempting to resist, so they had raced over.

Now, they realized they may have been deluded. How could such good things like clusters of Divine Fire be true?

Gu Lianni explained, "I don't know what happened, this place should have been a plain before, I don't know why it has turned into a continuous mountain range of ice, it's truly astonishing. Brother Zuo, look, this ice mountain is clearly different from ordinary ice mountains, these ice blocks are extremely transparent…"

Zuo Zisheng raised a hand to stop her, "We are not here to enjoy the view, and I don't believe you can't even find the place. Where is the Ice Jiao you spoke of?"

Gu Lianni gave a wry smile, "Brother Zuo, have a bit more patience, we need to search further."

Zuo Zisheng responded austerely, "Gu Lianni, where are the rest of your people? Why haven't we seen them? You wouldn't be deliberately delaying us to let others carry out their tasks, would you?"

Gu Lianni sighed, "Brother Zuo, you're overthinking it. How long do you think we can delay?"

Zuo Zisheng glanced at her sharply, then rode the Wind Scale into the sky, and loudly declared, "We're leaving!"

A group of Refining Heaven Sect disciples immediately followed him into the sky.

Gu Lianni urgently called out, "Brother Zuo, I speak the truth, there indeed is an Ice Jiao here…"

"We'll talk once you find it, we're leaving!" Having said that, Zuo Zisheng no longer lingered, leading his group away quickly, as forty-nine days were precious.

The remaining people from Shudao Mountain looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Pang Hou ran to Gu Lianni's side, "Shi Uncle, it can't be wrong, I found the place where the array was initially set up, retraced the trail all over again, it is here. This plain has inexplicably turned into a continuous mountain range after we left, surely something changed here. I don't know if it has something to do with that Ice Jiao."

Gu Lianni gritted her teeth, "I don't care what anomaly occurred, we must find the Element Locking Array Magic Artifacts, otherwise what will we do next? Those Divine Fires are not flowers, they won't wait for us to pick them. If we have to end up playing hide and seek with Divine Fires, even many people won't suffice. To do good work, one must first sharpen the tools; we absolutely have to find them!"

Pang Hou and Yuan Yao both looked toward the ice mountains, indeed wanting to search, but how? This was a vast mountain range soaring into the clouds.

Gu Lianni knew it was hard to search but still forcefully demanded, "Everyone first estimate the approximate location, then use magic to melt, and burrow underneath the ice mountains to search."

Yuan Yao: "Shi Uncle, once we get underneath, the melted ice water will quickly refreeze. We won't be able to melt out a passage and our movements down there will be extremely slow. If we keep doing this, our cultivation will be unable to bear it."

Pang Hou also said, "Indeed, if we still can't find it after a delay, should we spend the entire opening period of Divine Fire Domain here?"

Gu Lianni: "Then what do you suggest we do? Are we to linger here indefinitely?"

Yuan Yao: "There definitely was some anomaly here, I wonder if Shi Chun and the others saw it."

Gu Lianni was so frustrated it made her teeth itch, "So what if they saw it, can he go down and help us find the Element Locking Array Magic Artifact? Don't mention him to me again, that bastard better not fall into my hands, otherwise he will wish for death!"

Thinking of Shi Chun, she remembered how Yuan Yao couldn't convince her, how she had truly taken a poison oath in front of her father, how she had been deceived which led to her entire team being dead or injured, and she felt so angry she wanted to vomit blood.

She truly did not understand why she had been so foolish. Everyone in the Cultivation World knew that man was a swindler, knowing full well that this man was untrustworthy, she was almost driven to tear by her own stupidity.

Yuan Yao suddenly said, "Shi Uncle, no matter how angry, we have to admit, Shi Chun's method of using misdirection to steal our Divine Fire was good. Although he ultimately failed, his key failure was due to Elder Jin alerting us. If not for us returning in time, he would have succeeded."

Gu Lianni was slightly taken aback, then hesitated, "You mean, we imitate their method?"

Yuan Yao: "It might not be easy to imitate. We know locations of potential Divine Fire nests beyond the Ice Field. Shi Chun didn't have Element Locking Array Magic Artifacts, how he captured the Divine Fire in the Ice Field is the key. My point is, with such a good method, would he only use it once?"

Gu Lianni's eyes slightly brightened, "You mean, go and stake out the exit?"

Yuan Yao: "Exactly, if we see the same trick being played, we could trace back to Shi Chun, and if we can break his method of finding Divine Fire, we could compensate for our lack of Element Locking Array Magic Artifacts. Of course, we can't put all our hopes on them, in case they don't act again, wouldn't that be a waste of time? Thus, we could send a few people to stealthily stake out, and the rest must hurry to the next recorded Divine Fire nest to figure out a plan."

Gu Lianni's face gradually lost its anxious look, admiringly sizing him up and down, and thought to herself, no wonder father said he was the most suitable leader.

Pang Hou also expressed his appreciation, "Shi Uncle, it's indeed worth a try."

Gu Lianni: "Good, you take a few people and personally keep an eye on it, be extremely cautious and careful not to disturb the grass and startle the snake."

Pang Hou bowed and accepted the order.

Thus, it was decided. Pang Hou took three people and left. The rest followed Gu Lianni as they rushed toward the next sect's recorded Divine Fire nest…

The sun had risen, and the various sizes of suns had once again peeked from the horizon.

Not too far from the Iron Forest, the blockage was removed, and a refreshed Tong Mingshan emerged.

Sitting in the neighboring cave, An Wuzhi, with two Ice Flames in his hands, immediately stood up and slipped to the entrance. He possessed Divine Fire, which made it improper for him to go out. Excitedly, he asked, "Sect Master Brother, how has your cultivation improved?"

Chen Wuji, who was releasing the wind on the mountain, also leapt down, equally curious and eager to know.

Tong Mingshan was a bit excited as well, "The increase in cultivation isn't too significant, still in High Martial Great Success, but the Fire Element realm should already be equivalent to a Human Immortal Minor Success."

An Wuzhi said enviously, "Once the Fire Element realm is sufficient, the breakthrough in cultivation will be no problem."

Saying this, he offered up the two Divine Fires in his hands, "This needs to be guarded by you now, I'm going to find the Master."

Tong and Zhu both absorbed two Divine Fires each, but An Wuzhi had only absorbed one and was already eager to find the Master.

Once Tong Mingshan took over, An Wuzhi immediately ran off, and Chen Wuji slightly frowned, feeling An Wuzhi might have forgotten Shi Chun's instructions.

About three hours later, Zhu Xiangxin also came out of seclusion.

The exhilarated Zhu Xiangxin wanted to seek out the Master as soon as he came out.

However, Chen Wuji stopped him, "Xiangxin, the Master previously had instructions, asking you to guard these two Divine Fires after you come out and let Tong Mingshan go with the squad. The Master asked to make it clear, stating there's nothing worth concealing, said it's the grand gathering of the Artifact Refining Industry, we first need to take care of the Sect Master, ensuring his participation in the contest. We owe that to the ones who got us here. The Master said that whoever disagrees can leave, and it's not compulsory!"

Zhu Xiangxin was stunned and although hesitating at first, he eventually took the two Divine Fires from Tong Mingshan's hands.

There was no choice, leaving was of no use on her own, turning to other sects—who have barely enough Divine Fire for their own people—was impossible.

Following orders obediently still left room for opportunity.

Besides, she knew An Wuzhi had only consumed one Divine Fire; even if there were more, it would still not be her turn yet.

Tong Mingshan apologised with a wry smile, bowed and retreated a few steps before turning to fly away.

Chen Wuji, watching him go, turned back to look at her and similarly said with a wry smile, "I'll stay with you and continue the lookout."

Across the vast loess wasteland, there were pox-like giant pits with all manner of bizarrely shaped pillars inside: some bamboo shoot-shaped, some mushroom-shaped, others snake-shaped, and some even shaped like earth forts, the myriad twisted formations intertwined.

Occasional smoke drifted above the wasteland, the dust rising when the ground occasionally collapsed.

A group of people moved amongst them, searching.

Some twisted earth pillars tumbled when touched during the flight; others fell at a mere touch, causing plumes of smoke to rise.

A group dressed in blue were crouching behind a slope, spying on the people in a large pit. They were none other than the Qianyan Sect.

A gale kicked up a covering dust storm, and Gong Shixi, leading them, quickly averted his head and said in a deep voice to the people next to him, "Now, be careful, go!"

Two men immediately used the cover of the dust to sneak into the pit.

Gong Shixi raised his hand to signal, "Withdraw!"

He quickly led the group to hide in a nearby pit.

Soon after, outbursts of yelling arose, "Divine Fire! Stop them, don't let them escape!"

Quickly, a group of people soared into the air, chasing two men riding Wind Scales, one of whom was holding a pale purple flame in his hands.

After those people had left in the distance, everyone from the Qianyan Sect jumped out. Gong Shixi, watching the distant figures in the sky, gestured, "What are we being polite for? Let's get searching!"

The group immediately flew into the pits to search…

Near the exit, on a mountain flank, there was a cave which Wu Jinliang, for the sake of observation, had already remodeled by digging all the way to the mountain top, then opening small holes around it, which were hard to detect and convenient for observing the surroundings.

After enough rest, in their idle boredom, Lao Changtai and Fang Zicheng both pestered Wu Jinliang for a story. After the one about the Divine Fire, they asked for tales about the Land of Exile.

While Wu Jinliang was eloquently telling the story of the "Ice Goat," Lao Changtai suddenly waved his hand to interrupt while looking out the window, "Someone's coming."

The other two heads immediately squeezed over to observe.

Seeing two men landing in front of the ten elders on the mountain top, with one of them holding a pale purple flame, Lao Changtai couldn't help but chuckle; he knew this scene all too well, it wasn't the first time he'd seen it, just with different people.

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