Before the feigned negotiators could even speak, Shi Chun, who had approached both sides, turned his back to Gong Shixi's group and whispered to Gu Lianni, "Follow me, let's go tamper with something. The others should keep pretending to negotiate."

Xu Anzhang asked, "What exactly do you want to do?"

Shi Chun replied, "Don't worry, I won't get you involved."

Gu Lianni, who had been pretending to be impatient, was also curious as to what Shi Chun was up to, so she instructed Yuan Yao to continue negotiating with Xu Anzhang.

Yuan Yao obeyed, but when Gu Lianni was taken away, he couldn't help but remind her, "Be careful, Senior Uncle Shi."

He gave Shi Chun a meaningful look as he spoke.

Gu Lianni understood his warning. Although their collaboration had resumed, it was still wise to be cautious around Shi Chun.

After giving a slight nod to indicate she understood, she followed Shi Chun, curious to find out what he was really up to.

Seeing that everyone's attention was on the departing pair, Wu Jinliang quickly corrected the situation, urging those present, "Never mind them, let's continue."

After they had wandered away and were out of earshot of the group, Gu Lianni could no longer contain her curiosity, "What's this about? You're not planning to betray me, are you?"

"Why do you always have such a deep prejudice against me?" Shi Chun expressed his dissatisfaction before looking around.

Seeing that they were unobserved, he then reached into his sleeve and pulled out a Compass for her.

Gu Lianni was startled upon receiving it and examined it, recognizing it immediately. Wasn't this the control Compass for her own Element Locking Array?

Then she saw several items materialize before her and was stunned once more. Twelve black iron towers about half a zhang tall were arranged before her eyes, an overwhelmingly familiar sight. Glancing at the Compass in her hand, it dawned on her that she now had the complete set of Magic Artifacts for the Element Locking Array.

She ran her hand over one of the iron towers to check and then turned to Shi Chun, astonished, "How did you find these?"

Shi Chun replied, "How else? Of course, I found them at the site of the incident." He quickly added, "The Ice Jiao found them before returning."

A look of unmistakable joy appeared on Gu Lianni's face, but it quickly turned to suspicion as she once again focused on the Compass in her hand. Raising her gaze to Shi Chun with the Compass lifted, she arched an eyebrow, "You're using this as collateral, trying to swindle me out of my complete set of Element Locking Array Magical Treasures?"

She now realized that if he hadn't taken the initiative to give it back, she might have forgotten to reclaim her Compass, which had become a useless piece of junk. It seemed inconsequential to her whether she got it back or not.

Shi Chun responded, "I've already given it back to you. Do you really think I'm trying to cheat you? Of course, if you had continued to mistrust me, insisting that we were deceiving you on the Ice Field, determined that it had to be a life-or-death fight, then I definitely would have just taken it with me. But since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I wouldn't take any Magical Treasure from you, even a good one. A gentleman seeks wealth in the proper way!"

With that said, and since he indeed had returned it to her, Gu Lianni's displeasure vanished instantly, replaced by the joyful realization that Shi Chun had indeed done her a huge favor.

She proceeded to inspect each of the twelve iron towers one by one.

After a short wait, Shi Chun inquired, "Can you set up the Element Locking Array by yourself?"

Gu Lianni casually replied, "Of course I can. It's just a matter of how fast or slow, depending on the size of the area to be covered."

Shi Chun had previously seen the Array being set up and guessed as much. He felt reassured and waited patiently.

Only after Gu Lianni had finished inspecting and putting away all twelve iron towers did Shi Chun ask, "How are they? They're not damaged, and you can still use them, right?"

Gu Lianni responded, "These aren't scrap metal; they don't break that easily."

That was exactly what Shi Chun had been waiting to hear. He immediately pulled out a Wind Scale and motioned for her to follow, "Come, let's go."

Gu Lianni, puzzled, asked, "Where to?"

Shi Chun lowered his voice, "The Divine Fire that Qianyan Sect has been looking for here; I've discovered its location. Let's hurry and take it."

Gu Lianni's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Shi Chun couldn't help feeling discouraged, "Do I have to question it, or can you let go of your prejudice against me?"

Gu Lianni quickly waved her hand, "Wait, let me call for help."

She turned to leave swiftly.

"Don't," Shi Chun instinctively grabbed her wrist, holding on as he explained, "If I wanted to call people, would I need to skulk around like this? Would I need to let people keep an eye on the Qianyan Sect group? I can find the location of the Divine Fire, and you can use the Element Locking Array. Just the two of us cooperating, one male, one female, should suffice. There's no need to alert others."

"What do you mean 'one male, one female'? That sounds awful," Gu Lianni rolled her eyes and spat out in disgust, then forcefully shook off the grip on her wrist.

Shi Chun added, "If we can take the Divine Fire quietly, let's do so to avoid unnecessary trouble. If it ultimately can't be done with a small commotion, we can just forcefully take it. For now, let's have the Qianyan Sect group stay there obediently. If you call for reinforcements, isn't that just spooking the snake?"

He wanted to take it quietly; if it could be taken without any fuss, he had to teach Gong Shixi a lesson in humility. How dare Gong turn the tables and blackmail him—he wanted to see just how bold Gong Shixi was.

After pondering for a moment, Gu Lianni agreed that obtaining the Divine Fire without confrontation was indeed the best strategy. She quickly asked, "Is it far?"

Shi Chun pointed in a direction, "Not far, just about a dozen miles away."

Gu Lianni instantly felt relieved. If there were any traps, any significant commotion over such a short distance would be heard by her own people. She promptly turned her head and gestured, "Let's go!"

Shi Chun immediately mounted the Wind Scale, taking her with him as they flew away.

Such a short distance didn't actually necessitate the use of the Wind Scale; Shi Chun simply wanted to confirm the location from the air.

Once they found the location and saw the object suspected to be the Divine Fire was still there, Shi Chun landed. Then he took out incense and lit it in front of Gu Lianni.

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