Situ Gu seemed unaccustomed to beating around the bush and asked directly, "What's the purpose?"

"Senior, it's like this, the library master of Dazhi City has three daughters and a son..." Shi Chun began arranging the details of the apprentice recruitment he agreed upon with the Red-clothed Woman and explained them roughly. In the end, he emphasized, "To say the least, if it weren't for going to help that eldest girl find you to apprentice under, I wouldn't have gone to the Refining Heaven Sect and just happened to run into the Demon Path's actions. Otherwise, I wouldn't even know who kidnapped Zhener."

Senior, I'm just trying to establish a connection with someone who has influence next to the Demon Queen, that's why I exaggerated this story. That girl is just scared of the Extreme Fire Sect and just wants to hang a name as your disciple to protect her family. As for teaching her, it's up to you. If you want to teach, teach her; if you don't, it's okay."

Facing such a big figure, Wu Jinliang again nodded repeatedly in agreement, "That's right, just hang a name, it doesn't matter if you don't manage her afterward."

Situ Gu turned around, his wide robes and sleeves fluttering in the incoming wind, facing the vast heaven and earth. He rejected directly without thinking, "No way! When I take on disciples, it's the Refining Heaven Sect taking on disciples. The sect accepting disciples is no joke. I am an elder of the Refining Heaven Sect. If I act recklessly, where are the sect's rules? I have my limits too."

The refusal was so straightforward that Shi Chun felt speechless and wanted to ask him, where were the limits when you accepted Zhener?

After some thought, he immediately changed his approach, "Senior, I'm doing this because I have no choice. Not to mention myself, Zhener is different from normal people and has been targeted by the Demon Path. If I don't find connections to rely on, what will I do with Zhener in the future, keep bothering you for help?"

Wu Jinliang secretly gave him a glance, thinking about how Master was already talking about the future when Zhener's whereabouts were unknown, and there was no telling if she could be rescued.

Situ Gu was silent for a moment, his distant gaze slowly falling as he said, "I'll take the library's female disciple."

Such a straightforward change of decision stunned Wu Jinliang, leaving him in awe of the senior, realizing the senior's limits could indeed be flexible.

Shi Chun quickly bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.

Situ Gu was uninterested in such rituals, turned back to him, "First, rescue her. Falling into the hands of the Demon Path, her identity as a Fire Spirit should have already been exposed. Once she is rescued, think of ways to extract her from these conflicts."

Wu Jinliang found this troublesome yet not particularly difficult hearing it from him.

"That's right, that's right, senior is absolutely right. I will make sure to ensure a proper arrangement, guaranteeing you a satisfactory explanation," said Shi Chun, determined to send her to the Netherworld.

Situ Gu said, "Let's go. If there's nothing else, let's set off."

Shi Chun looked a bit stunned and asked, "Where to?"

Situ Gu replied, "Naturally, to capture someone from Juku State's Phoenix Clan's Divine Mountain hiding the Demon Path. Didn't you say they are the same faction that kidnapped Zhener?"

Shi Chun exclaimed in surprise, "That Jiang You'er probably isn't high up in the Demon Path. Capturing him won't be enough to exchange for Zhener."

Situ Gu said, "I need to find someone to deliver a message to that faction of the Demon Path. If not him, could you find someone else in that faction?"

Ah, so that was the plan, Shi Chun thought with a bitter smile, saying, "The Demon Path is adept at hiding. It's not that easy to find them. If it's just to deliver a message, then finding him should be fine. By the way, what message does the senior want to deliver? No need for you to go to the trouble; I can deliver it instead."

Situ Gu stated, "Just happen to be going to the library, all you need to do is help identify the people."

Considering it, Shi Chun agreed immediately, "Alright, we'll follow the senior's plan. By the way, when Zhener was kidnapped, I caused a commotion, and disciples of the Refining Heaven Sect went after the kidnappers. Did none of them get caught?"

Situ Gu shook his head, "They escaped. Lost track of them. We found it strange too, but hearing from you that it was the Demon Path, it's no surprise they escaped. The two Xun Gates outside were immediately sealed, and without permission, no one is allowed to leave. To prevent favoritism, the Heavenly Court even dispatched elite troops to help with the blockade. The Demon Path is now trapped in Yan State and can't escape. Enough, the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it is for Zhener. It might cause her more suffering. Let's first go to the Phoenix Clan's Divine Mountain and find someone."

With that said, he directly cast a spell to lift the two into the air, about to fly them away.

This move startled the two, with unknown authority for flying in the Royal Capital being trivial.

"Senior, please wait," Shi Chun shouted anxiously, "The entrance to Juku State is being inspected, and we need to use some disguising tricks to get in. Please proceed first, and we'll meet up and contact in Juku State afterwards."

Wu Jinliang also nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes. See, I'm so tall and imposing, it's easy for people to notice."

Situ Gu said no more, nodded, waved to release them, then vanished in a blink.

The brothers looked at each other, breathing a sigh of relief, not wanting to let anyone know they exited Juku State after making trouble at the East Victory Royal Court, feeling guilty like thieves.

The method to return to Juku State remained the same, diving underground, first borrowing the path through the Netherworld, then proceeding to Juku State...

Just after Situ Gu's green figure vanished into one of the Xun Gates, three red-armored Heavenly Court men emerged from a nearby Xun Gate leading to Yan State.

After exiting, the three immediately flew away, yet didn't go far, finding a suitable spot, all disappearing into the depths of a mountain forest.

Examining the surroundings to confirm nothing amiss, they swiftly replaced their red armor, changing their appearance again, one of whom, a yellow-bearded man, was surprisingly Ju Shihong, Hall Master of the Mountain Patrol Hall of Refining Heaven Sect.

The other two were not strangers either; they were the chief experts involved in kidnapping Zhener.

After changing their appearances again, the three quickly left the forest, intercepted a carriage on the road, changed carriages again in the city, walked a while, and switched carriages once more.

After several repetitions, the three finally appeared in front of a large mansion on foot.

In the backyard, Ju Shihong surveyed the surroundings before following the other two to climb over the wall and head straight for a room.

The room was divided into inner and outer sections, with bead curtains pressing against gauze as a partition.

Standing in front of the curtain, the three could see a silhouette pacing behind the gauze.

"Young Master." The two leaders greeted with cupped hands, and Ju Shihong, upon hearing, instantly adopted a respectful expression and quickly followed suit.

The person behind the gauze spoke, their tone displeased, "Didn't you say once you had the person, you could safely withdraw? How did such a big commotion arise?"

Ju Shihong quickly replied, "Reporting to the Young Master, the withdrawal went smoothly, we have no idea how a sudden explosion occurred."

One of the accompanying experts spoke up to help, "Young Master, the sudden change was indeed quite unexpected this time."

The man behind the gauze paced back and forth before asking, "I heard you were chased, are you sure you didn't expose your identities?"

The other companion expert said, "We used some eye-blocking skills to bluff through, escaped smoothly without revealing our Demon Path identities."

The man behind the gauze snorted, "Fortunately, someone among the Heavenly Court's troops has a weakness in my grasp, or you'd never escape easily. Is the person brought out?"

The expert who had just spoken immediately untied a Qiankun Bag from his waist and presented it with both hands, "Young Master was correct, this woman is indeed a Fire Spirit, keeping her in the Qiankun Bag for a short period won't kill her, which conveniently facilitated her escape."

The gauze and bead curtains parted; a gray-clad man with a clear human mask on his face emerged expressionlessly, took the Qiankun Bag, performed a spell, and released a woman who was unconscious, holding her waist with one hand, letting her lie in the crook of his arm, admiring closely.

After a moment, he exclaimed, "Really a Fire Spirit, indeed a Fire Spirit, a Fire Spirit cultivated into human form, truly rare."

Ju Shihong interjected on the side, "Young Master, she is not just a Fire Spirit, but a Spiritual Object born from extraordinary conditions, a rare Water Flames among the Divine Fire."

"Oh!" The gray-clad man continued to admire the beauty in his arms, "Situ Gu is so attentive, she must hold great secrets."

Upon hearing this, Ju Shihong hesitated for a moment but still reminded, "Young Master, based on my understanding of this woman, she seems quite different in thoughts, appears very capricious, and is not of flesh and blood. I'm worried interrogating might not open her mouth."

The gray-clad man stroked Zhener's face with one hand as if admiring a fine piece of art, laughed, "No problem, luckily an elder recently mastered our Demon Path's extremely difficult 'Search God Technique', isn't this heaven helping us? When the elder arrives, all secrets within her Spiritual Sense will be revealed to us."

Upon these words, the three around fell silent, feeling deeply disturbed; someone had mastered the legendary 'Search God Technique', thus not only the Fire Spirit's secrets were at risk, weren't their future secrets equally unsafe?

In Juku State, at the foot of Divine Mountain overlooking Yao Mountain City, two figures flashed down from the sky.

One in an azure robe was Situ Gu, the other in auburn attire was Shi Chun, disguising as a disciple of the Refining Heaven Sect after altering their appearance, accompanying a disciple beside Situ Gu.

As for Wu Jinliang, his height was truly inconvenient, hence he did not come along.

The two headed towards the mountain gate resembling a small town, Shi Chun felt admiration for Situ Gu, damn, neither informing one's own Sect nor the Phoenix Clan, directly visiting someone's place to capture, unafraid of stirring trouble.

Personnel from Divine Mountain had come to intercept and inspect them; those guarding here were trained specifically to recognize robes from top factions to avoid the error of belittling the powerful.

Upon closely inspecting Shi Chun's attire features, they courteously inquired, "May I ask who you two are?"

Shi Chun immediately declared aloud, "Please inform the Goddess that Elder Situ from the Refining Heaven Sect is visiting."

As he spoke, he surprisingly found a sense of pleasure from arrogantly relying on formidable backing, his nostrils almost pointed skyward.

The questioner was startled, not expecting the person before them to be Situ Gu, the Cultivation World's premier artifact refining expert, instantly paid respects deferentially, "Greetings, Senior Situ, please wait a moment, I will report immediately."

He then turned and ran, calling people to hurry and report up the mountain.

Looking at the towering archway of the mountain gate, Shi Chun thought of the Mountain Guarding Array, glanced at the Refining Heaven Sect disciple's robe on himself, had a sudden notion, whispered, "Senior, have you seen the 'Beidou Refusal Array'?"

Situ Gu did not open his mouth, directly transmitted his voice, "Once specifically visited to see the array, it is indeed mystical, I could not comprehend it."

Shi Chun whispered, "Senior, can you make an excuse to view it again, take me to the array core to open our eyes, we can catch the person afterward, no rush right?"

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