"What's all this talk about deceit? We're all family now, so why dwell on those trivial matters. Fine, you stand guard with Fang Zicheng here, while I go myself to inform the Master."

Wu Jinliang patted Lao Changtai's arm and unfolded his Wind Scale before flying off.

Lao Changtai looked around and took out his own Wind Scale to fly back. After the struggle with Shudao Mountain, everyone from the Mingshan Sect seemed to have a Wind Scale.

Some even made use of the Qiankun Bag, which greatly elevated the stature of the Mingshan Sect compared to before their adventures into the Divine Fire Domain...

Hidden by the terrain, after a few stealthy rises and falls, the four from Shudao Mountain managed to get on top of a slope and lay down to observe, watching Wu Jinliang encounter the group that was in pursuit.

One of the Shudao Mountain disciples exclaimed, "Elder brother, why is Wu Jinliang meeting with those chasing them? Could it be that the ones being pursued aren't from the Mingshan Sect?"

Pang Hou spat softly, "Nonsense, if they aren't from the Mingshan Sect, I'll chop off my own hand. Could anyone who's not from our sect have the same tactics as us? Could Wu Jinliang have just appeared here by coincidence? It's simple. They're pretending to not be a part of each other's group to find out some information. Shi Chun and his lot are the best at deceiving others - haven't we been miserably tricked by them?"

With this explanation, the three other fellow sect members all nodded slightly in agreement.

Seeing the meeting disperse and Wu Jinliang leave, Lao Changtai suddenly turned back. The Shudao Mountain group immediately lay still, not daring to move for fear of being detected.

Fortunately, Lao Changtai wasn't very vigilant and didn't notice them.

Looking back, Pang Hou patted a person beside him and said, "Remember, it's better to lose them than to be discovered. We must not startle the snake by hitting the grass."

The latter understood and immediately started to follow Lao Changtai stealthily.

Afterward, Pang Hou tapped another person, "Go find our junior uncle immediately and tell him that I've discovered Wu Jinliang's whereabouts. We'll leave marks along the way."

Having said that, he carved a symbol then flew off, following the direction Wu Jinliang took, with another person following him calmly.

Pang Hou took the lead in tracking, while the person following him was responsible for marking the path, a strategy employed to avoid being easily detected due to too many movements.

As a sect capable of refining Wind Scales, they knew how to use them to track someone without being easily spotted.

Two were sent to follow Wu Jinliang, and one to follow Lao Changtai, indicating who Pang Hou believed was more important.

The messenger sent to report sped off in another direction.

Perhaps to verify Pang Hou's words, the one tracking Lao Changtai didn't dare to get too close, only to later discover that Lao Changtai had suddenly landed near the exit. He quickly made his own landing and cautiously approached to observe. However, when he reached the area of the exit, Lao Changtai was nowhere to be seen.

He made a wide sweep around the base of the mountain but only saw the ten elders and two men in blue on the peak.

Just as he wondered where they could have gone, he saw the two men in blue take off into the sky.

Knowing that they too were from the Mingshan Sect, he thought following them would be the same, and so he abandoned tracking Lao Changtai and followed the be-blue-clothed figures quietly.

Unfortunately, the two were extremely cautious and feared being followed. One of them manned the Wind Scale while the other consistently monitored the rear. Eventually, the tracker was spotted no matter how far he kept his distance.

The two in blue muttered to each other and found a good spot to make a swift descent.

The disciple from Shudao Mountain, having eyed where they landed, descended early and stealthily approached the location using the terrain for cover.

Creeping in amongst a pile of rocks, he quietly peered around a corner of the rock wall, when suddenly he sensed something amiss. As he looked up, he saw a pale purple flame surging towards him.

Startled, he quickly cast his Fire Manipulation Skill, but despite the momentary contact with the flame, he let out a shrill, agonized scream.

He swiftly dodged to the side, unscathed by fire, but still shook with excruciating pain all over his body.

At the same time, a long sword pierced into his back, followed by a forceful kick that sent him flying.

The swordsman followed through the air, looking down at the pained face of the disciple from Shudao Mountain.

The man in blue who had extinguished the pale purple flame now approached and looked down at the man on the ground, "This one from the Arrogant Flame Sect, why is he dressed like one from Shudao Mountain?"

The swordsman replied, "Just changed clothes to follow them. Let's hurry; if they've left marks, the Arrogant Flame Sect will soon give chase."

With that, his sword slashed across the disciple's throat, sending blood spraying.

Bending over, the swordsman took the objects from the man's body and then quickly flew off with his companion...

On Li Huo Island, another Lifebound Lantern descended amongst the hovering lotus flowers.

"Huh, another one from Shudao Mountain's disciples."

Inside the inn and beneath the trees, a bustle of noisy discussions arose in various leisure spots.

The one who collected the fallen lantern took the extinguished lantern to the top of Qi Yun Valley and delivered it to the hands of an elder from Shudao Mountain, who personaily examined it.

Due to the significant number of Lifebound Lanterns falling on a trip back to Shudao Mountain, an elder came in person to watch over the place, taking charge with a group of people.

The reason for the lantern being handed over to the elder for examination was because the Artifact Refining Elder was an expert who wanted to check whether there was an issue with the lantern.

In a short while, a group of figures flew over huffing and puffing. Gu Yanduo, the Sect Leader of Shudao Mountain, rushed over personally from Li Huo Sect after hearing the news.

Seeing the Lifebound Lantern in the elder's hands, Gu Yanduo asked in a heavy voice, "Is there an issue with the lantern?"

The elder shook his head slightly, "There is no problem with the lantern. It was Song Yao who perished."

Gu Yanduo turned to face the row upon row of floating lotus lanterns, his eyes filled with worry as he said, "They only just entered not long ago, and now there's a situation where a large number of disciples have perished. What exactly is happening?"

It was hard not to worry; his own daughter had also gone in. The danger faced by the Shudao Mountain disciples meant his daughter was facing risks as well.

An elder speculated, "With their strength, could they have been attacked by other major sects?"

Gu Yanduo slightly shook his head, "If the other major sects truly launched such a grand attack, and so many of our sect's disciples perished during the same period, it would be difficult for them to ensure not a single one of their own perished. At first, I was worried that it was some old monster of the Divine Fire Domain that caused so many to perish at once. Now, after some time, another has perished. I fear it's not so simple. Could it be due to previously sustained injuries that were not treated?"

Seeing nothing, nobody knew what was happening. The faces of everyone from Shudao Mountain were full of worry...

In the Iron Forest, Wu Jinliang stifled the impulse to swing his massive blade down from the sky, but there was no helping it; Xu Anzhang had already expressed his protest to him before.

Fortunately, this time it wasn't hard to find them. The Mingshan Sect's people were easy to locate; they appeared idle, doing nothing. Though invisible from the air at first glance, someone emerged as soon as Wu Jinliang arrived, waving to him from the ground—it was Hao Ji.

Wu Jinliang retracted his Wind Scale and descended, asking, "Where's the Master?"

Perhaps influenced by Wu, Hao Ji smirked, pointing to a cave, "Looking for Divine Fire."

Clearly, he was performing lookout duty as part of a rotation.

"Bad news," Wu Jinliang muttered, then followed him into the cave.

On a mountaintop outside the Iron Forest, Pang Hou crept up and lay down to observe. Seeing the peculiar terrain and occasionally spotting someone moving, he grunted with a look of realization.

Before long, his fellow sect members also stealthily made their way to his side, peered around curiously, and asked, "Such a peculiar landscape. Where are the people?"

Pang Hou replied, "There are quite a few caves; they must have gone in to search for Divine Fire. No need to guess, the ploy at the exit must be aimed here; this must be the newly occupied territory they gained from the 'lure the tiger from the mountain' trick. There should be Divine Fire to be found here too."

His fellow sect member said, "Good, let's hope the junior sect uncle and the others arrive quickly."

Pang Hou pondered for a moment, "Wu Jinliang's flight speed wasn't very fast, and the junior sect uncle's location isn't too far from the exit, so they should be able to get here quickly. You go back the way we came, wait for the junior sect uncle along the way, and if you see him, stop him so he doesn't barge over here unaware and scare people away, causing us to miss our chance to close the net. This is very important; we can't let them escape again. Once they do, it'll be difficult to catch them using the same method."

"Okay," said the recently arrived fellow sect member as he crouched down and retreated.

Inside the metallic cave, Shi Chun chose a deep hiding spot for the sake of peace and didn't go elsewhere. He hid in the old nest of the golden flame and sat cross-legged atop a column base.

His constant to-and-fro journey also required a place to properly rest and recuperate.

There were other Mingshan Sect people resting on the periphery, effectively keeping watch for him.

As the sound of footsteps arose along with some light, Wu Jinliang's figure soon appeared on the cave wall.

The sound of his voice followed, "Wow, there is actually such a space underground. Where is the Master?"

Hao Ji's voice chimed in, "There is a dark corner with a column over there; the Master is meditating on that column."

"Chun Tian, Chun Tian, we've got news from Qianyan Sect!" Wu Jinliang called out, neither too loudly nor too softly.

Following that, a bunch of Sandal Gold Flame Energy lit up from the so-called column, which Shi Chun had taken out.

Now able to see Shi Chun, Wu Jinliang flew toward the platform, curiously circling it before sitting down opposite Shi Chun and relayed in detail the instructions given by the leader of the Arrogant Flame Sect, Qi Yuanong.

Without hesitation, Shi Chun immediately stood up and flew to the cave wall, followed by the Mingshan Sect members who joined him on his way out.

By the time they exited the cave, they had gathered a group of seven.

Seeing the daylight outside the cave, Shi Chun looked around and said, "Where is Xu Anzhang? Go find him and say hello."

Wu Jinliang suggested, "Let's all call out together."

Shi Chun countered, "You're always knocking so loudly it resonates, and people have already objected. They blame us for the absence of Divine Fire. He has already greeted us, and we should be more respectful. Everyone should spread out and look, I don't believe Qianyan Sect could find the Divine Fire so quickly."

And so, they dispersed in search for it.

Some things are just so coincidental; perhaps it was fate. If the Mingshan Sect group hadn't searched like they did, they might have just left, although they might not have escaped being followed.

By delaying with a search, trouble arrived early.

Searching high and low, Xu Anzhang and the others did not appear in time, but Gu Lianni, leading the Shudao Mountain group, rushed over frantically.

Upon nearing the area, they dared not soar over it directly on Wind Scales. Guided by a leading disciple, they flew close, descended rapidly, then hurried up the mountain and crouched down next to Pang Hou.

"Elder uncle!" Pang Hou was about to salute.

Gu Lianni, kneeling halfway on the ground, pressed down on his shoulder, signaling that formalities were unnecessary. She stared at the Iron Forest and asked, "Are they here?"

Pang Hou confirmed, "They should still be inside; I saw some movement just now."

"This place, at first glance, is a treasure land for hiding Divine Fire, it's like handing it over to us on a platter!" Gu Lianni's eyes flashed with a vengeful glint as she chuckled coldly. She waved to the crowd, "A few of you come with me, the rest spread out and surround the area. Anyone trying to escape shall be executed without mercy!"

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