Upon hearing this, Gu Lianni, who had been twirling her hair behind her head with both hands, was taken aback, not to mention her, Yuan Yao and the other disciples from Shudao Mountain had similar reactions.

On the Mingshan Sect side, however, there was a different reaction. Zhu Xiangxin and An Wuzhi were on the verge of speaking but stopped short, seemingly in agony.

For them, all they could do was worry helplessly. At this moment, there was no possibility of challenging Shi Chun's decision. The words that Shi Chun had announced in public were not theirs to retract.

Regaining her composure, Gu Lianni immediately bit back, "These are your own words, I didn't force you, and you're not allowed to back out."

Shi Chun, "There's nothing to regret. I didn't give it to someone else. Giving it to you should prove my sincerity for cooperation. Besides, I'm not at a loss, I'm simply delaying the division that is due to us. Of course, giving you the Divine Fire is also to discuss a matter with you."

Having tied her hair up, Gu Lianni let go of her hands. Unsure of what matter was worth delaying the Divine Fire for, she asked with curiosity, "What's the matter?"

Shi Chun gestured with his chin towards the sectmates beside her, and then, addressing those from the Mingshan Sect, said, "Please step aside for a moment."

Naturally understanding his meaning, Gu Lianni waved her hand to signal the disciples other than Yuan Yao to step back.

With the outsiders gone, Shi Chun pointed to the Divine Fire in Yuan Yao's hand, pondering, "If possible, I'd like to gift this bunch of Divine Fire as well. Miss, do you remember the other sect I mentioned during the Qianyan Sect incident? The situation is similar to Qianyan Sect's, but so far, they haven't taken any actions to lure away the tiger from the mountain. I'm wondering if they are missing the Divine Fire as bait."

Yuan Yao reacted with surprise, "Are you planning to give them a piece of bait?"

Shi Chun nodded, "That's the idea."

Upon hearing this, both Gu and Yuan reacted with shock.

Gu Lianni, "Have you gone mad, giving away Divine Fire? Do you really not understand its value, or what? What if they take your Divine Fire and then don't carry out the lure away the tiger from the mountain strategy?"

Shi Chun, "First, I'm not giving it away for free; it can be 'loaned' to them. We can negotiate for them to return the Divine Fire later. Second, with our efficiency in finding Divine Fire, taking some risk to gain additional leads on Divine Fire is completely worthwhile."

Yuan Yao said, "That Chi Yan is from your Mingshan Sect, if you want to give it away, it's none of our business."

Shi Chun raised an eyebrow, "That's no fun to say. If that's the case, why would I discuss it with you? I'm paying the cost here, and you'll also share the benefits later, do you think that's fair? I know you Artifact Refiners greatly value the Divine Fire, but considering our current situation, we need to look ahead and invest to gain. We mustn't hesitate to act. Besides, I currently only suspect they lack the bait, whether it's true we still need to confirm it on the spot."

For Yuan Yao, standing on Shudao Mountain's interests, he should fight for the benefits.

Of course, he had already made his point, and turning to Gu Lianni, the decision was now in the hands of this junior sect uncle.

In fact, the decision wasn't difficult, the reluctance stemmed merely from the Artifact Refiner's desire for Divine Fire. Logically, it wasn't hard to discern right from wrong.

In the end, Gu Lianni agreed to do so.

Naturally, the agreement was also due to the demonstrated results. If it had been difficult to even find one, such a decision of sacrifice would have been impossible.

Zhu Xiangxin and An Wuzhi watched, eyes wide, as Gu Lianni took away the Chi Yan Divine Fire and brought a few people to find a place to seclude themselves and absorb it.

Then they watched helplessly as Shi Chun walked over. An Wuzhi stepped forward and asked, "Master, did you give them both Divine Fires?"

Shi Chun reassured, "Don't worry, looking at the current situation, what we have an abundance of in the Divine Fire is Chi Yan. Don't be anxious, there'll be more opportunities later."

Those who could accept his words listened, but he was too lazy to elaborate for those who couldn't.

Just as he said, it was a realization that Chi Yan seemed more abundant. Recognizing that there wouldn't be a shortage later, he chose to sacrifice Chi Yan first to push back other Divine Fires and to secure some sort of precedence in variety…

Two figures carrying Divine Fire swiftly descended in front of the exit's peak, namely Pang Hou and another fellow sect member, both of whom had changed out of Shudao Mountain's attire.

The same concern remained, not wanting the renown of Shudao Mountain to deter ordinary sects from pursuing too closely.

A group of people from the sects chasing in the sky noticed something was amiss and abruptly came to a halt above, realizing it was not a place for fighting.

The ten elders sitting on top of the mountain stared at the two people who had descended below, gazing intently, feeling as if they looked somewhat familiar.

For Elder Jin Guiqi, it wasn't about looking familiar—he recognized everyone. They were all disciples that had attended Shudao Mountain's event; how could he not recognize them?

Seeing his own sect's disciples wearing different clothes, and Pang Hou holding Divine Fire, his lips curled into a gratified smile, certain that this was not the masked man carrying Divine Fire from earlier, as their body shapes were vastly different.

This meant that Shudao Mountain had obtained another bunch of Divine Fire.

The efficiency of those running over one after another seemed too high. If it weren't for onlookers, he'd be splitting his sides laughing.

The other elders, noticing the floating group from various sects and itching to follow through with the earlier agreement, froze when Elder Jin Guiqi softly apologized to those around him, "My shame, it's again our sect's disciples. I'll make sure to discipline them properly."

The others were taken aback, finally understanding why those two looked familiar and the implications behind Elder Jin's words, deciding to let it slide this time.

Then, the expression on the lead elder's face changed quite dramatically, danger beginning to seep into his gaze—it couldn't be helped, Shudao Mountain's rate of gain had indeed startled them.

Just at this moment, Elder Jin Guiqi, who had been sitting cross-legged, suddenly stood up, took a step, and floated down to stand before Pang Hou and his companion. Circling the two, and upon reaching behind them, he suddenly stomped heavily on the ground.

Boom! The earth shook dramatically, the entire mountain seeming to tremble as if to collapse from the shockwave that spread out, with the sound of rockslides echoing from the mountains backside.

The nine elders sitting on the summit turned in unison to look, witnessing a blast of earth and rock erupting from the mountainside.

A mountain had seemingly been split asunder by Elder Jin's foot.

The crowd in the sky revealed shock, and as Elder Jin Guiqi sharply turned his gaze toward them, freezing them in terror, they dared not linger any longer, fleeing in panic.

Below, in the strong breeze, Pang Hou struggled to protect the Divine Fire with his spells.

Wu Jinliang and others spying from within a cavern on another peak quickly averted their faces and turned away to avoid the impact of the flying debris.

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