Wu Jinliang had slid down from the passage above after hearing the summons. Upon seeing the two men, he chuckled, "Hey, what brings you here? Is there something you need?"

He guessed that it must have been Chun Tian who had sent them on some errand and found it curious. Why hadn't Chun Tian told him earlier instead of having these two make a special trip?

Without further ado, Chu Jingtang produced a stone and presented it to him, "A message from the Master for you."

Upon receiving the stone, Wu Jinliang immediately examined its surface for marks, prompting Chu and Chen to exchange a meaningful glance—sure enough, the Master had not tricked them and had indeed left a secret signal.

After confirming that the stone hadn't been tampered with, Wu Jinliang cast a spell to inspect its interior and discovered a piece of paper inside. He then crushed the stone with a snap and fiddled out the paper to read it. Hmm, it was definitely in Chun Tian's handwriting; everyone's writing had its own unique style.

Once he had read the message, he roughly understood why Shi Chun had not told him earlier. It was because Xiao Sheng and Wu Hong had not yet returned with news of the Divine Fire; they did not know when they could execute this phase of the plan and might need to take care of other matters first.

After pondering for a moment, he said to the two, "The Master says they are no longer at the original spot; he wants you to stay here for now. When Gu Lianni and the others arrive, leave with them."

He then showed them the message, and Luo Changtai also stretched his neck to look at it, while Fang Zicheng remained above, observing, without coming down.

The content of the message made them all look puzzled and uncertain.

Just then, Fang Zicheng's voice suddenly echoed from the passage above, "Someone's coming, it seems the people from Qianyan Sect are back."

Wu Jinliang swiftly crumpled the letter into ash in his hand and quickly moved to the entrance of the cave to discreetly observe the surroundings.

At the highest peak of the mountain range, the ten elders seated in meditation watched the two figures in blue robes who were carrying the Divine Fire as it descended before them, their expressions turning rather grim. Not these two again, they had seen them before and here they were once again.

What was this? Were they going to show up even more frequently than the people from Mingshan Sect?

The ten elders exchanged looks with one another, showing a mixture of anger and helplessness. They did not say a word, nor did they intervene, but they were all subtly aware that something seemed a bit off about the Divine Fire Covenant this year.

The elders from previous sessions who had sat vigil here were basically from their own sects; they had not heard of such an occurrence before.

Having no choice, the group of people in the sky eventually had to leave with swishing sleeves, disappearing from everyone's sight.

But they did not disappear from Wu Jinliang's sight; he chased after them.

Once he was far enough to avoid the notice of the main peak, he cast a spell and shouted again, "My dear friends, please wait, stay your steps…"

The frustrated group halted, and Wu Jinliang, who approached, introduced himself and greeted them, following the same routine as last time, only this time with a change of companions, bringing Fang Zicheng along to put into practice what he had learned.

In East Nine Plain, this was how newcomers were trained.

Some experiences truly needed to be passed on. Having gone through them and felt them personally, one would handle them more confidently and naturally.

The result was positive once again; they successfully obtained new clues about the whereabouts of the Divine Fire.

After parting ways with the disgruntled group, Wu Jinliang did not rush to find Shi Chun this time but returned to wait in the previous cave.

He knew haste was useless; Shi Chun's letter had already stated that they had left the original spot. The insistence on mentioning this detail meant they left no trail; he could not find them even if he wanted to, so all he could do was wait passively…

In a land of cliffs and crags filled with flowing lava, two figures rose from the magma. One, a man with his face covered, held a blazing red flame, while a woman with unkempt hair, also present, stood out particularly against the red backdrop with the glow of red light.

Amongst the searchers in the vicinity, someone immediately spotted them.

"Divine Fire, it's the Divine Fire!" someone shouted.

"Somebody has stolen our Divine Fire!" another bellowed.

Boom, boom, someone beat a warning on the mountainside and those emerging pursued in flight.

Driving the Wind Scale in desperate flight, the unkempt woman frequently looked back. She was none other than Gu Lianni, in disguise.

Her companion with the masked face was Tong Mingshan, who naturally disguised himself to avoid recognition, not wanting to be identified by the pursuers or the elders at the exit.

Initially, Shi Chun hadn't planned to deploy their own people, intending for Gu Lianni to carry the Divine Fire by herself as a lure. But upon considering the environment of molten lava, he thought Tong Mingshan's Chi Yan might be a more reliable decoy.

When there were no conditions, one must adapt, but with better conditions, a more secure approach is preferable.

Gu Lianni didn't mind. She figured that if she could be deluded on the Ice Field into chasing Chi Yan, wouldn't it be normal to pursue Ice Flames in this land of lava? Who could confidently assert anything for certain within the Divine Fire Domain?

However, having said that, once the roles were reversed and she found herself being chased, she discovered that there was quite a thrill to being the thief, her demeanor spirited and exuberant.

And in that area of craggy cliffs, newly devoid of people, another group touched down—folks from Shudao Mountain and Mingshan Sect had appeared.

The Mingshan Sect people were used to such a scenario.

For the people from Shudao Mountain, the feeling was quite different, experiencing a role reversal, especially since the one who had lured them before was now at their side, this time as their accomplice. Indeed, the sensation of wicked deeds was distinct, exciting.

After the leaders on both sides gave the signal, they dispersed to search the area.

With the onlookers gone, Yuan Yao and Pang Hou exchanged glances and turned to Shi Chun, with Yuan Yao saying, "Now it's all on you."

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