Chapter 264: Proven by Facts

Xu Anchuan was reluctantly persuaded by him.

This meant he didn't fully agree but decided to follow Shi Chun's suggestion to see how it worked. If it was effective, they'd use it; if not, they'd discard it. In that case, Shi Chun would have no complaints, and Xu Anchuan would have an explanation for his superiors.

So, the matter was settled for the time being. The two men then went to their respective teams to make arrangements.

Except for Tong Mingshan, who was in seclusion, Shi Chun gathered his people aside and clarified the situation. "I just heard from the Four Cauldrons Sect that they have a mole planted in each of five other sects. Now, Xu Anchuan's side needs to provide five people, and we also need to provide five people. We'll form five teams to contact those moles and discreetly follow those five sects.

"The objective is that no matter which of the five sects discovers traces of the Divine Flame, they must report the information back to us in a timely manner.

"The moles from the five sects will leave markers along the way. You just need to follow these markers. Maintain an appropriate distance, so you don't have to get too close. Therefore, as long as you are careful, there shouldn't be much danger. Is there anyone here willing to take on this task?"

The search for the Divine Flame was still on. With Tong Mingshan's previous success as a precedent, An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin almost simultaneously volunteered.

"I will."

"I'll go."

After exchanging glances, the others also expressed their willingness to contribute, though not overly enthusiastically, as finding the Divine Flame didn't directly benefit them.

Of course, Tong Mingshan's gain had somewhat affected them.

Furthermore, since they were already there and had received so many benefits from the Great Leader, it would be unreasonable not to contribute at all.

Moreover, it sounded like there wasn't much danger, so they were willing to go.

Wu Jinliang simply grinned, making no other gesture. He knew very well that he didn't need to express anything; anything Shi Chun needed him to do would be directly assigned. The two were so close that Shi Chun wouldn't stand on ceremony with him.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Shi Chun nodded with satisfaction. His gaze swept over the ten faces before he finally instructed, "Wu Hong, Fang Zicheng, Hao Ji, Shen Moming, Xiao Sheng, I'll trouble the five of you to take on this arduous task."

The five people named were secretly speechless. It would have been better not to be chosen, but since they were, they could only nod in agreement.

An Wuzhi said, "I should go. I practice fire-attribute techniques, which makes things more convenient here."

Zhu Xiangxin added, "That's right, Great Leader, it's more suitable for the two of us to go."

They had seen a glimpse of the environment and situation here and witnessed the process of capturing the fire crocodile. They deeply understood that it would be difficult for them to achieve their dream on their own and recognized their original sect's ignorance in this area.

Tong Mingshan's success and the Four Cauldrons Sect's deference – although they didn't know how the Great Leader achieved it – made them realize that only by actively performing would they have a chance to fulfill that dream.

Reality told them that now, apart from Shi Chun, seeking refuge with anyone else would be futile. No matter which sect they joined, no sect would allow an outsider to absorb a Divine Flame they discovered, regardless of how loyal they appeared. Only through the Great Leader could they possibly get a slight chance.

To their surprise, Shi Chun simply waved his hand and interrupted, "Alright, let those five go. I will keep your matters in mind."

Just this one sentence instantly touched the hearts of the two, making them somewhat excited. Did they even need to ask what the Great Leader meant by "keeping their matters in mind"?

They immediately became obedient, no longer arguing.

A mere casual remark had them prostrating in admiration. Now, they were guaranteed to do whatever he asked.

Wu Jinliang, who was observing from the side, chuckled. He realized that the Great Leader was still the same Great Leader from Dongjiu Yuan, with his own methods, which had been evident since he first asked who would help him kill Feng Yaoyang.

"You all go ahead first. I have something to discuss with these five."

At Shi Chun's instruction, An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin immediately complied, and then Chu Jingtang and the others also left. Wu Jinliang was not among them.

After the others had left, Shi Chun said to the five chosen individuals, "Originally, for this tracking and contact mission, five people from the Four Cauldrons Sect would have been enough. I voluntarily insisted that our Bright Mountain Sect also contribute, essentially forcing five people in. Does anyone know my intention behind this?"

After speaking, he observed their reactions, determining that if he was going to use these people, he needed to start assessing their abilities.

The five exchanged glances, then all appeared to be deep in thought.

A moment later, Wu Hong hesitated, then said, "We want to know which five sects the Four Cauldrons Sect has moles in, and who those five moles are."

Shen Moming added, "And information about their road markers and signals."

Shi Chun smiled. "Precisely. Besides the main task, pay attention to these details, just in case. With your abilities, it shouldn't be difficult at all."

"Understood," some replied, others nodded.

Afterwards, Shi Chun took them to meet Xu Anchuan. After discussions, and particularly at Shi Chun's strong suggestion and insistence, each of the five teams was given a Wind Scale Beast.

Not everyone in the Four Cauldrons Sect had a Wind Scale Beast; they had only brought five in total. To facilitate this, Shi Chun voluntarily offered one of his two Wind Scale Beasts as a gesture of sincerity, allowing the Four Cauldrons Sect to keep one, which finally got the proposal approved.

After discussing methods for information transfer, the five teams set off.

With these arrangements made, the remaining people no longer needed to rush around searching aimlessly.

Once the next steps were arranged, Shi Chun finally had the leisure to observe Tong Mingshan, who was in seclusion sealed within the cave.

Under the power of his right eye, he couldn't discern anything specific, only a cluster of red matter continuously releasing tiny particles that entered the silhouette within.

Meanwhile, the ten elders meditating beneath the large pillar on the mountaintop also noticed the distant figures.

One elder asked, "Is that still Shi Chun and his group?"

Another elder replied, "It seems so."

An elder inquired, "What are they doing lingering there?"

No one knew, and they couldn't leave their post to investigate.

However, they soon noticed that the five dispersed teams had run down the mountain, searching for something, and then gradually scattered and moved further away.

It proved that sometimes it was right to take advantages from the main force and grant them to smaller branches.

It proved that Shi Chun was correct in giving most of the Wind Scale Beasts to those five teams. After only half a day, one of the tracking teams returned with news; it was Hao Ji.

There was no need for pleasantries. As soon as they met, Hao Ji immediately reported, "The people from Crimson Cloud Fortress, whom we were tracking, say they found traces of the Divine Flame in an Ironwood Forest. They saw a flash of fire, but the Divine Flame is sentient and has hidden itself. Currently, the Crimson Cloud Fortress people are searching there."

"What is an Ironwood Forest?"

"As the name suggests, it's a forest of iron, or rather, it resembles a forest, but it's naturally formed, not man-made."

After asking for more details, Shi Chun's spirits lifted. It was good that the Divine Flame had hidden itself; his right eye's ability was perfectly suited for such an encounter. He immediately said, "Excellent, Brother Xu, it's time for us to depart."

Xu Anchuan's heart felt heavy. If they went directly, how could Crimson Cloud Fortress allow outsiders to interfere with the Divine Flame they had just discovered? If the other party found them to be weaker, a direct conflict was highly probable. However, since the decision had been made, he couldn't go back on it. As he had said before, they had to observe the situation first.

Of course, he was more puzzled by the current situation and asked Hao Ji, "Why are you the one reporting back?"

Because Hao Ji was using a Wind Scale Beast from his side, Xu Anchuan had already told his own people that some of Shi Chun's subordinates were not part of their demonic path and to be cautious when working with them. Wind Scale Beasts were not cheap; how could they be entrusted to outsiders so readily?

Hao Ji immediately explained, "I'm not familiar with the Crimson Cloud Fortress mole. It's more convenient for him to stay there for communication if something happens, so he remained there to continue observing, and I came back to report."

Upon hearing this, Shi Chun immediately praised him internally, "Well done!"

It was obvious and clear that this was certainly Hao Ji's reasoning to convince his Four Cauldrons Sect counterpart.

For relaying information, it was always more reassuring to have one's own people do it. This showed that Hao Ji was aware of what he was doing by pushing for this role.

Xu Anchuan asked Shi Chun, "We don't know when Tong Mingshan will finish here. Should we leave a few people to guard him?"

Shi Chun agreed, "That's right. Near the ten elders, nothing much should happen. If anything seems amiss, just run towards them."

Of course, precautions still needed to be taken. For safety, Shi Chun left Wu Jinliang in charge, along with Lao Changtai.

In other words, although the Four Cauldrons Sect was powerful, Shi Chun had more faith in Wu Jinliang's abilities.

Only now did he truly understand why the Demonic Path insisted on bringing him in. Under restrictive conditions, there truly weren't many options in terms of the capabilities of the personnel the Demonic Path could hastily bring in.

Xu Anchuan, on the other hand, left behind two individuals with more severe fire injuries so they could heal. For those who played with fire, burn remedies were quite effective.

After everything was clearly explained, just as they were about to depart, another person suddenly arrived: Wu Hong, from one of the five tracking teams.

His sudden return naturally meant something important. Wu Hong reported, "The Golden Sea Pavilion, whom I was tracking, hasn't found any traces of the Divine Flame yet. However, while passing through an ice plain, they discovered people from the Summer Dao Mountain, the second largest artifact-refining sect, searching in an ice valley. The Golden Sea Pavilion suspects that Summer Dao Mountain might have found traces of the Divine Flame because the Golden Sea Pavilion was driven away by Summer Dao Mountain. Recognizing their inferior strength, Golden Sea Pavilion didn't engage in conflict and left the ice plain to search elsewhere."

Shi Chun immediately asked Xu Anchuan, "Brother Xu, which side should we go to first?"

Even Crimson Cloud Fortress feared conflict, and Xu Anchuan was even more unwilling to provoke Summer Dao Mountain. He chose the former without hesitation, saying, "You can't get fat with one bite. Let's go to Crimson Cloud Fortress. After all, they saw a flash of fire there, while there's no confirmation from Summer Dao Mountain."

Shi Chun didn't object and immediately asked Wu Hong, "Do you know the approximate location of that ice plain?"

Wu Hong replied, "Yes, we pass through it on the way there and back."

Shi Chun said, "Mark the approximate location for us."

Wu Hong immediately squatted down and roughly sketched it out with his finger.

Xu Anchuan looked at Shi Chun with a hint of exasperation. What was this? Judging by this stance, did he really intend to try and snatch something from Summer Dao Mountain?

In front of everyone, he found it difficult to say anything and didn't want to show weakness publicly.

After learning the approximate distance and direction, and memorizing the general landmarks, Shi Chun sent Wu Hong back. He then immediately proceeded with the original plan, riding off on a Wind Scale Beast. This time, there was no need to look for markers; Hao Ji would lead the way.