A group of people dressed in copper-green clothes were searching everywhere deep within the web-cracked fissures of the earth. Suddenly, a bright light appeared, illuminating the fissure, and the searchers at the end turned around to see two people rising into the air with a cluster of orange flames.

"Divine Fire, someone has stolen our Divine Fire!"

A scream arose, disturbing a crowd of people.

After escaping the fissure with the Divine Fire, the two flew away on the Wind Scale, with a group of people chasing them from below. Some were alone, some in groups, pursuing relentlessly and shouting angrily. It felt as if something they had worked so hard for was being snatched away, and they were extremely angry.

The anger and urgency of losing the Divine Fire were probably best understood by Artifact Refiners.

If they had not found a single Divine Fire and then were suddenly robbed like this, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they had gone collectively insane.

They kept chasing, refusing to give up easily. They were many, and their opponents were only two. How could they possibly give up the chase?

After a long chase, suddenly a group of several dozen people rose into the air ahead, blocking the pursuers and protecting the two they were chasing.

These dozens of people were dressed in official green clothes. Only those three sects could bring more than twenty people from one sect. The pursuers, who might not recognize other smaller sects, were definitely familiar with the leading sects in the Artifact Refining World, and naturally knew who was stopping them.

These people were indeed from Shudao Mountain.

Using a distraction at the exit was indeed not feasible anymore, but the power and authority of the Shudao Mountain's people imposed deterrence on most sects.

They had finally managed to secure a job with difficulty.

Yuan Yao shouted, asking, "Why are you chasing my people from Shudao Mountain?"

The leader of the pursuers angrily responded, "Just look back at yourselves, your people stole our Divine Fire!"

Yuan Yao said, "That's ridiculous. The Divine Fire Domain is ownerless, the Divine Fire hasn't even reached your hands, nor did you find it. How can you claim something you didn't even touch as yours? There's no such logic in the world. If you want to rob, we are ready to confront you!"

What else could be done? The group in copper-green clothes could only grind their teeth and swallow their anger, watching helplessly as the people from Shudao Mountain left with the Divine Fire.

Someone in the team said to the leader, "Senior Brother, we've been searching for the Divine Fire for so long and couldn't find it. They quietly slipped past and found it. Just the two of them managed to find it. It seems the rumors are true; they really have a method to rapidly find the Divine Fire!"

The leader clenched his teeth and said, "Follow them!"

In their resentful tones, there was a determination not to rest until revenge was claimed.

Thus, the group followed far behind the people from Shudao Mountain, stopping whenever they stopped.

Along the way, they encountered other sects and the group tracking them communicated and exchanged information with those sects.

Initially, Shudao Mountain's people didn't take these tails seriously, dismissing the sects they didn't recognize, who were following them, as harmless.

It took a while to realize something was amiss; the number of followers seemingly grew larger gradually, eventually gathering about a hundred people. This compelled them to assign a considerable number of their members to take turns keeping guard when resting to prevent any surprises.

At last, when Shi Chun and Gu Lianni, who had been sent to collect Divine Fire using a distraction, returned, Yuan Yao first inquired if they had found the Divine Fire. After confirming its acquisition and that An Wuzhi was in the process of absorbing it, he informed them of the unusual situation.

"What's going on?" Gu Lianni wondered with a frown.

Shi Chun considered for a moment, then motioned for Chu Jingtang to come over and sent him to find Xu Anzhang, asking Xu Anzhang to discover what was happening.

Nowadays, Xu Anzhang, who did not mix with the others nor stayed far from them, had changed his clothes from Four Cauldron Sect and followed discreetly behind with preparations.

The reason he did not allow Xu Anzhang to follow closely was that he did not want the people from the Demon Path to obtain the Divine Fire. If Tong Mingshan absorbed the Divine Fire unsuitable for them and they didn't give it to the people from the Demon Path but to An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin instead, those from the Demon Path would undoubtedly be unwilling.

He had put great effort into building his own force, not to strengthen the forces of the Demon Path.

Moreover, he did not intend to let those from the Demon Path leave alive, at least not the Demon Essence that could enhance his cultivation; he couldn't let these opportunities slip by, could he?

So, the best strategy was to prevent these people from the Demon Path from seeing the Divine Fire, then suggest they had found a similar Divine Fire for Shudao Mountain, to provide Tong Mingshan with different types of Divine Fire, and just muddle through with that.

Xu Anzhang had to greatly admire and commend his thoughtfulness, praising that sending Shi Chun in was really sending the right person.

Following orders, Chu Jingtang left with an assistant and once he found Xu Anzhang, explained the situation to him. Xu Anzhang immediately approached the followers from other sects with his men.

Without even needing to probe deeply themselves, someone approached and inquired about their sect. After communicating with each other, they were surprised to learn that Xu Anzhang's group was unaware that Mingshan Sect and Shudao Mountain had a rapid method of finding Divine Fire, then vividly recounted the tale.

Found over a hundred Divine Fires? Even though Xu Anzhang knew that Shi Chun and his team must have mastered a good method to find Divine Fire, the claim of over a hundred still seemed rather exaggerated, didn't it?

Despite the fact the argument seemed reasonable and well-supported, Xu Anzhang found himself both skeptical and convinced.

After departing the group, Xu Anzhang moved over to Shi Chun's crowd and relayed the situation to him, then quietly observed Shi Chun's facial reactions to gauge whether it was the truth.

Shi Chun fell into a state of furrowed-brow contemplation.

Suddenly, Gu Lianni cursed loudly, "Who is spreading such nonsense and farting around?"

She had quite the rough and tough manner about her.

"Rumors have been circulating for quite a while..." Wu Jinliang glanced around and said in a low voice, "Master, the Divine Fire Domain is vast and scarcely populated, it's hard enough for people to encounter each other. This couldn't have happened without someone deliberately stirring trouble. Damn it, someone is setting us up!"

Shi Chun slowly said, "You also know it's a short time, if time passes, the number of people gathering might even increase."

All the core members fell into silence, becoming aware that they were targets.

Gu Lianni then subconsciously asked, "What do we do now?"

Shi Chun, showing an unusual tight expression, replied, "It's not easy to handle. No matter how we explain, no one will believe us. It's not like we could actually let them inspect. You think twenty Divine Fire blooms are a few for you, Artifact Refiners? The moment we show weakness, they will come aggressively demanding a satisfying explanation, so we can't prove our innocence at all!"

Hearing this, everyone's expressions became grave.

Yuan Yao said, "Does this mean we have to retreat back to the entrance for safety?"

Shi Chun didn't pick up on that topic. After the crowds had dispersed and no one else was around him, he stared at Xu Anzhang and seriously asked, "Tell me the truth, what is the use of 'Desolate Blade'? It made Gong Shixi prefer others to get it rather than us, to the extent that he's willing to manipulate others to push us toward a dead end?"

At this remark, Wu Jinliang, Xu Anzhang, and You Mu were all taken aback.

Xu Anzhang suspiciously asked, "Do you mean this is Gong Shixi's trick?

Shi Chun showed a self-mocking smile, "Who else could it be? I've been negligent, I should have expected this. Since our higher ups are watching the Refining Heaven Sect, for the same reason, the other branches would target whoever is most likely to lead, likely having planted spies in the Refining Heaven Sect as well.

Yan Ketao risking exposure to send messages there indicates a significant discovery on my end. We are able to find Divine Fire quickly, which the Refining Heaven Sect abandoned their search for Divine Fire to find us. It proves that.

This means that only our side and the Refining Heaven Sect know we can swiftly find Divine Fire, hence the news could only have leaked from us or them."

You Mu also skeptically stated, "So, there's also a chance someone from our side leaked the information."

"It won't be from our side," Shi Chun waved dismissively, pointing in the direction where followers were trailing, "If we had a mole in here, those people wouldn't have waited until now to find us. So, it's likely the news came from the Refining Heaven Sect."

Xu Anzhang expressed his doubt, "Then how can you be sure it was Gong Shixi's doing?"

Shi Chun scoffed coldly, "Anyone else, upon knowing there's a quick way to find Divine Fire, would want to find us and share the benefits like Refining Heaven Sect—that's logical. To exaggerate the bait and downplay our threats, suggesting Shudao Mountain was severely weakened—those spreading such rumors are not after Divine Fire at all, they just want to corner us to death!"

Xu Anzhang pondered, "Is Wu Shanshan not suspicious?"

Shi Chun scorned, "She was never informed we're of the Demon Path. After learning the news, she'd react like any other sect wanting a share, not pushing us to a fatal end, unless she learned of our backgrounds by other means. As for Gong Shixi, he's the only outsider who knows my background. If not him, whom should I suspect?"

Xu Anzhang, after hearing all this, took out an ice sheep and deeply inhaled from it in front of his nose and mouth, his expression turning solemn as he slowly nodded, "It must be him."

So Shi Chun looked at him intently and slowly continued, "So you admit it—the 'Desolate Blade' indeed carries secrets compelling him to try to kill us?"

Xu Anzhang pursed his lips, remaining silent.

Annoyance began to show on Shi Chun's face, "Now that it's come to this, you're still planning on keeping this from me? Does everyone have to die and go to hell before you decide to tell me the truth?"

Xu Anzhang sighed softly, hesitantly saying, "This is complicated, I'm not entirely sure about the details myself. The higher-ups wouldn't let someone at my level know. But before entering here, they specifically told me that 'Desolate Blade' is of great importance. Whichever branch gets it could potentially command the entire Demon Path. Though they didn't specify, they hinted to me that it doesn't matter who gets the 'Desolate Blade,' as long as it doesn't end up with the other two branches."

"You..." Shi Chun pointed to his nose, hands trembling too much to speak, angry at being uninformed about something so crucial. If he had known earlier, he would never have cooperated with Gong Shixi, or at least not exposed his identity.

Yet he understood why the other party kept silent—great secrets are best kept with as few people knowing as possible, and they wouldn't be easily divulged, so he ended up making himself angry.

Wu Jinliang rubbed his face with both hands, laughing helplessly, "We've really trapped ourselves, how delightful, thank you!"

He said this while bowing towards Xu and You to show his thanks.

Xu Anzhang sighed, "How is this my fault? You guys always act first without letting me know, had you communicated with me first about your plans, I would have stopped it, preventing this situation."

Shi Chun gave a tight-lipped, mocking smile, "If we communicated with you, nothing would be possible, coherent indeed, but we'd likely still be in the Iron Forest searching for Divine Fire, right?"

Only a fool wouldn't detect the sarcasm. Xu Anzhang said, "Arguing about this now is pointless. At this juncture, I think Yuan Yao's reminder is good. Retreating to the exit for shelter is a viable option, especially since Tong Mingshan has prospects of winning."

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