Wu Jinliang immediately took out the Qiankun Bag, intending to retrieve A Xun's relics from inside.

Shi Chun knew what he wanted to do, reached out to stop him, and pointed to a nearby pavilion, "What's the rush? It's easy to be noticed here, not convenient. Since there's already a Reversing Soul Tree found on the way up the mountain, there might be more. Let's look further up."

Wu Jinliang thought so too. They were still on the mountain path and hadn't started searching formally, yet they had found one already. Such smooth sailing surely meant there was more than just this one tree.

The two immediately continued sneaking up the mountain, and as Shi Chun expected, they sporadically discovered more during the journey, though all the Reversing Soul Trees they encountered seemed not that large.

Seeing more and more of them, some even forming small groves, eventually, they didn't feel it was unusual anymore.

However, the two became increasingly cautious in their ascent, seeming somewhat sneaky.

No choice, the closer they got to the Divine Palace at the mountain's peak, the tighter the security indeed became.

Sensing something amiss, Shi Chun led Wu Jinliang to retreat down the mountain to a secluded spot with several Reversing Soul Trees, where they hid and took a break.

Seeing no further actions, Wu Jinliang didn't understand why, and whispered, "Why neither up nor down?"

Shi Chun looked up at the sky, "Let's wait and see if the rich fragrance at midnight is related to that golden meteor shower."

"Oh." Wu Jinliang understood and let him, wanting to try something else on his own. He took out A Xun's relics, asking, "Are there any Reversing Soul Trees nearby? Point out one, and I'll try using A Xun's stuff."

Shi Chun looked at him, "You're sitting right inside a tree trunk."

"Huh?" Wu Jinliang immediately stood up, turned around, and reached out again, feeling the air, "Is this it? Is this the one?"

Seeing him groping like a blind man and already off course, Shi Chun had to draw a circle on the ground slope, marking the position of the tree trunk, letting Wu Jinliang mess around freely. He had to use his right eye's superpower to keep watch. Otherwise, they could easily be caught, as the place was teeming with experts far beyond their cultivation.

This long wait forced Shi Chun to pay a heavy price; constantly maintaining vigilance consumed his own blood energy.

Outside the mountain gate, another disciple of the Extreme Fire Sect was reported to ascend the Divine Mountain, reaching the temporary resting spot of Qiu Ben's group. Here, they handed over a stack of papers, which contained the information gathered from Dazhi City.

Qiu Ben examined the contents under the lamp, noticing they were formed from the City Guard's perspective in Dazhi City. Estimating that the sect obtained this information quickly by "communicating" with someone inside the City Guard, he mentally pieced together the incident's context after reading it, forming a rough outline of the event.

He also understood why Po Yuan identified Huang Yingying as the key.

Most importantly, he already knew where Huang Yingying was. Po Yuan had seized Huang Yingying in Dazhi City and brought her directly to the Divine Mountain, explaining why Shi Chun's group was moving toward the Divine Mountain.

It seemed there was something noteworthy about Huang Yingying.

Qiu Ben immediately took out the map of the Divine Mountain. His coming here was naturally well-prepared; he wouldn't come blindly.

His finger searched across the map, finally pointing to a location marked "Yishuo."

Knowing Huang Yingying's background, he naturally also knew where she'd be after being brought back; the entire Golden-haired Rat clan was confined in this so-called "Yishuo" on the Divine Mountain.

After confirming the location and observing the surrounding terrain slightly, he told his elder disciple Huang Lang beside him, "Go call Po Yuan to see me and say I want to observe the energy flows at night."

"Yes." Huang Lang received the order and departed.

Qiu Ben slowly began to collect the spread-out items.

Not long after, Po Yuan was brought in. Even before entering, he stood outside, watching him with a demeanor neither servile nor bossy.

Qiu Ben was accustomed to the other's unbowed manner. Only because he was on someone else's turf and visiting, otherwise, he wouldn't mind teaching this little demon how to behave, considering he's merely an Earth Immortal to dare act proud in front of him.

He strode out of the room, addressed Po Yuan as he passed by, "Take me to the Yishuo area to check."

Po Yuan's eyes flickered, knowing the other must have investigated the Dazhi City incident and found out Huang Yingying's whereabouts.

Escorting this group was part of his duties now, with no excuses. He personally led the way.

This was the Extreme Fire Sect's own decision to visit the Yishuo area, not his doing, and he hadn't divulged where Huang Yingying was. It was the Extreme Fire Sect who found out, allowing him to defer responsibility later.

Yishuo was on the other side of the main mountain range, and after spending some time, they arrived next to a pitch-black cliff.

Po Yuan nodded down the cliff, "Here it is."

Qiu Ben led the jump down, with the group following, descending to a damp cliff bottom. Each disciple of the Extreme Fire Sect lit up Sandalwood Gold Flame Energy for lighting. At their feet, there was slippery moss and streams flowing so shallow they couldn't even cover the soles of their shoes.

Seeing the firelight, a large rat with an iron ring locked on its nasal bridge scurried over to check. Upon seeing Po Yuan, it bent slightly to bow and spoke in a male voice, "Yuan Xunshan, do you have any orders?"

Po Yuan said, "Just here to take a look."

"Oh, alright." The big rat hopped ahead, leading them into a cave.

It was called a cave, but it was more like a dungeon. Starting from the entrance, there was an iron gate, and all the way into the cave were iron cages. The surroundings and even the ground were welded iron grids, though the main gate was open.

Standing outside, one could already smell a pungent and foul odor, let alone after entering.

Inside, it was pitch-black with not a trace of light, yet the glow of Sandal Gold Flame Energy illuminated pairs of reflective eyes in the darkness.

The group walked through, occasionally spotting large rats squatting on the sides. Each one had dull and dirty fur, many appearing lethargic.

"Why are there no lights?" Qiu Ben asked.

Po Yuan replied, "There's no fire allowed here."

The specifics weren't mentioned; it's actually one of the punishments.

Soon, a large, mangy rat with patchy fur like a mangy dog ran over, bowing in greeting, and spoke in an old man's voice, "Yuan Xunshan, what do you need from us? Just ask."

Po Yuan said indifferently, "Just walking and observing."

"Alright," the old man's voice was humble and obedient, then he crawled to the side, accompanying them forward. It was clear his limbs were no longer nimble.

Po Yuan introduced, "This is the clan leader of the Golden-haired Rat clan, his name is Jinfu."

Qiu Ben glanced at the old rat, uninterested, he continued to survey the surroundings, discovering no good-looking fur among the large rats, all emaciated, clearly the kind that's perpetually hungry. Occasionally, he saw several small rats huddled together in a damp corner, not yet grown.

Seeing strangers arriving, the huddled small rats trembled visibly, so small they already had iron rings through their noses, locking their demon bones.

It wasn't just the small rats; the eyes of the large rats clearly reflected tension too.

Qiu Ben could roughly understand some meaning; presumably, few people visited at night, and when someone did, it usually meant trouble more often than not.

Based on some background information provided by the Sect on Huang Yingying, he roughly understood some situations about the Golden-haired Rats. Usually constantly enslaved for work, failure resulted in severe punishment and starvation; each year, the Divine Mountain would give them some land to plant their own food, but the problem was in the word 'each year'. The size of the land allocated depended entirely on the mood of the benefactor.

It was said that in earlier prosperous years, the Golden-haired Rat clan numbered in the thousands; after falling into the hands of the Phoenix Clan, they gradually dwindled to two or three hundred.

Apparently, the difficulty in breeding the Golden-haired Rats was also a reason, compounded by the current harsh living conditions.

As they walked and observed, the group suddenly stopped, discovering in one corner of the cage an old man huddled there, hugging his knees, his clothes filthy and tattered beyond recognition, his hair matted and face grimy, extremely wretched.

Seeing people coming, the little old man first appeared spirited, full of expectation but upon seeing Po Yuan, he quickly shrank back in fright.

"Why isn't his demon bone locked?" Qiu Ben asked.

Po Yuan said indifferently, "His name is Huang Yingying. Years ago, he saved the Goddess's daughter during an incident, and the Goddess once pardoned and granted him freedom. Not long ago, he committed a minor offense and was captured again. After all, having saved a family member of the Goddess, he was granted amnesty, and his demon bone wasn't locked again."

Huang Yingying lowered his head, filled with hatred, hating Po Yuan. He originally had no issues; it was this scoundrel who insisted on reporting him for problems, forcibly dragging him back and knocking him from the clouds to the depths.

To him, life in Dazhi City before was like living as a deity; now, life was truly worse than a pig or dog.

Never experiencing good days was one thing, but having experienced them and then returning, it was truly torment, each day like a year.

But this resentment could only be bottled up inside, not daring to show a hint.

And Qiu Ben's task was to get acquainted with him, which was the mission for this trip, to facilitate control.

Afterwards, they continued as if nothing happened.

After the group had perused the entire dungeon environment, they turned back and left.

After confirming the outsiders had departed, Huang Yingying in the dark mumbled a curse, "Po Yuan, you better not land in my hands one day!"

"Ai." The chief's sigh, along with slowly approaching sounds, arose from the side, "You said someone would come to rescue you, you said you'd manage to have us all released, everyone kept their ears open and eyes wide to help watch. Where are they?"

Huang Yingying: "Chief, they will come, they certainly will because they need something from me, and I'm still holding their leverage."

The chief sighed, "Yingying, you must think it through, don't act recklessly, a single careless move could spell doom for the entire clan! When there was food, we didn't mistreat you, don't cause us harm."

At this moment, Huang Yingying would not heed this advice, having tasted the pleasures of the outside world, now solely determined to escape, muttering complaints, "Chief, stop calling me Yingying, you don't know, people outside laugh at me, saying it's a woman's name, why did you give me such a name back then?"

Chief: "With my vast knowledge, I certainly knew it was a woman's name. When you were born, with just a touch, I knew you were the best-boned pup, naming poorly means better survival; you know this reasoning. Giving you a name a bit more lowly was to grant you more blessings. Such a good name, not everyone has the naming skills for this kind of name.

In the end, you see, you're the only one here who went out to enjoy blessings. Ultimately, it's because I gave you a good name, don't be ungrateful. If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself for changing your surname. Jin is fine, a golden noble life, whereas Huang, what is Huang? It's yellow, do you understand what it means for something to yellow?"

In the darkness, Huang Yingying instinctively pinched his fingers to calculate, could it really have been the wrong choice to change his surname?

Nearby, other large rats approached, joining the conversation, "Chief, I want to change to an even lower name, help me think of one."

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