Chapter 278: Guiding According to the Situation

“Have they already been to the exit and returned?” Shi Chun and An Wuzhi were surprised. “That's impossible, given the distance.”

“Quick, run! The people from Shudao Mountain are coming after us!” Chu Jingtang yelled urgently.

Shi Chun and An Wuzhi looked behind him. In the distant, reddish sky, figures were indeed vaguely rushing towards them.

Not wanting to suffer an immediate loss, the three instantly dodged and fled. Chu Jingtang swiftly used his Wind Scale to carry the other two away.

However, the divine flame in An Wuzhi's hand was too conspicuous in the dim environment. Suddenly, a streak of light shot up into the sky from the pursuers behind them.

Bang! There was an explosion high in the sky.

Shi Chun and the others looked back. They saw the bursting fire light up the dark clouds high above, illuminating large sections of the clouds as brilliantly as a rising sun. It lasted for a while before fading lights and shadows began to fall, and the immense brightness finally extinguished.

This sight immediately made the three feel uneasy.

Sure enough, soon after, a group of people could vaguely be seen flying quickly towards them from the front. Despite the dim light, they were clearly heading straight for them.

Shi Chun suddenly realized something. He said gravely, “Quick, let go of the divine flame!”

“Huh?” An Wuzhi was greatly surprised. How could he bear to easily abandon the divine flame he had just obtained?

Seeing that he refused to let go, Shi Chun urged him anxiously, “Our light is too obvious; we can't escape.”

Chu Jingtang also shouted urgently, “Throw away the divine flame!”

An Wuzhi still found it hard to let go.

By the time he made up his mind, it was already too late.

In such a high-speed interception situation, opportunities are often fleeting. Even though it was only a few exchanged words, too much time had already been wasted. Once the two sides got close, it would be difficult to use the dim light to escape again.

If they were merely caught, it might have been fine. They could have thrown out the divine flame to lure the enemy and used the opportunity to escape.

The problem was that the opposing side had too many people, each of them possessing Wind Scales, and they quickly formed a blocking and encircling formation.

Shi Chun snuffed out the incense stick in his hand. He reached out to An Wuzhi, stopping him. “Never mind, don't throw it. Keep it as a bargaining chip. Didn't you say there were five more over there? If we use this one to lure them away, wouldn't it be better to come back later for the other five? Would you really get less than your share?”

As soon as he heard this, An Wuzhi slapped himself, his face filled with remorse. He realized he had truly been blinded by greed.

Shi Chun understood his feelings. They had been the same way back then, just for a mouthful of food. When people are extremely desperate, they disregard life and death.

“Oh, An, you, you scoundrel, you've really gotten us killed!” Chu Jingtang, forced to turn back by the interception, spoke with a tone of deep disappointment and exasperation.

His resentment was understandable. This was already the second time; he had almost been burned to death in the Iron Forest before. He had said back then that if this happened again, they couldn't work together anymore. But who knew, some people never learn.

As he controlled his Wind Scale, looking for an opportunity to escape, he asked, “Leader, what do we do?”

He was genuinely starting to panic. The signal sent by the other side had summoned many people, who were arriving from all directions, directly encircling their position.

“Run! Keep running!” Gu Lianni's sneering voice echoed through the night.

Shi Chun: “It's nothing serious. They might not be able to do anything to us. Let's land.”

Chu Jingtang looked back. Seeing that Shi Chun was serious and very calm, he thought, 'Alright, as long as he's not panicking, it's fine.' He immediately landed as instructed.

Swish, swish, dozens of encircling figures landed with them, kicking up a flurry of snow on the icy surface. Another few dozen figures remained airborne, forming an aerial encirclement.

Gu Lianni stepped forward, treading on a layer of soft snow. Yuan Yao followed closely beside her.

“Run, why aren't you running anymore?” Gu Lianni mocked playfully.

Shi Chun replied calmly, “If I wanted to run, I would have already done so. I guarantee you wouldn't even see my shadow.”

Yuan Yao scoffed, “What arrogance.”

Shi Chun: “If I wanted to run, I wouldn't be staying here waiting for you. I would have already run to the ten elders at the exit. What could you possibly do to me?”

He said this to confirm the situation with Wu Jinliang and the others. It was unusual for these people to return so quickly, and he was concerned something might have happened to Wu Jinliang's group.

As soon as he spoke, Gu Lianni's expression darkened. “Stop talking nonsense and hand over the divine flame!”

The eyes of the Shudao Mountain disciples were already fixed on the divine flame, unable to look away.

Seeing that the other side showed no interest in Wu Jinliang's situation, Shi Chun immediately felt relieved. Knowing that Wu Jinliang should be safe and sound, he immediately smiled and said, “Since I am here holding the divine flame and waiting for you, I will naturally hand it over to you. Miss Gu, why are you in such a hurry?”

Gu Lianni laughed at this. She put her hands on her hips and said, “Waiting for me? You really know how to flatter yourself. You were clearly cornered with nowhere to run, yet you claim to be waiting for me? Is this how you won first place at the Heavenly Rain Meteorite Convention? It seems there's really no one left in Sheng Shenzhou!”

“Haha...”

The group of Shudao Mountain disciples chuckled in agreement.

An Wuzhi felt secretly ashamed, blaming himself.

Shi Chun smiled faintly, “If I were truly flattering myself, I wouldn't have deliberately left marks along the way, allowing you to discern my direction. If I hadn't left marks, could you have found me so quickly?”

Gu Lianni was slightly taken aback. Her gaze flickered slightly. She thought to herself, 'Could he have really deliberately left marks along the way?'

Seeing her actually pondering, Yuan Yao immediately advised, “Aunt, this scoundrel has a glib tongue and is a cunning rogue. He was famous for his deceit at the Heavenly Rain Meteorite Convention. You must not believe him; not a single word of his can be trusted. Those marks along the way were clearly left when he was chasing and attacking the divine flame, and have nothing to do with being path markers.”

Chu Jingtang found this explanation quite agreeable. The leader had indeed thoroughly deceived people at the Heavenly Rain Meteorite Convention. His own predicament as an elite disciple of the Azure Ripple Sect, expelled from the sect, was precisely due to the leader's doing.

However, at this moment, he genuinely hoped the leader's deceptive skills could actually work. Otherwise, it would be dire; his life might very well end here.

Upon hearing this, Gu Lianni's spirits lifted. That's right, she almost fell for it.

However, before she could speak, Shi Chun waved his hand and said, “Alright, arguing about this is meaningless. You won't believe anything I say, so let's just get straight to business. My efforts with Shudao Mountain were not to snatch their divine flame, but merely to show Miss Gu my capabilities.”

He turned and pointed to the divine flame in An Wuzhi's hand. “I found the Divine Flame of Ice!”

Then he gestured towards the exit. “And you've seen the Divine Flame of Fire.”

He then put his hands behind his back and said calmly, “These are my capabilities. Luring Miss Gu here was also to prove my sincerity, so I can discuss cooperation with Shudao Mountain.”

Yuan Yao still insisted, “Aunt, his words are absolutely not to be trusted. He was clearly trying to escape just now. He's only boasting now because he had no other way out.”

Shi Chun refuted loudly, “That wasn't escaping. I had already obtained the divine flame long ago. The reason I didn't leave was that I was waiting for you here. I wanted to test you, to see if you could stop me. If you couldn't stop me, I would have truly left, because you wouldn't be worthy of cooperating with me. Since you did stop me, you are qualified to talk with me here.”

Yuan Yao extended his hand and said, “We can talk, but first, hand over the divine flame. Once you've given it up, we'll believe your sincerity. Then you can discuss whatever you wish.”

He was truly afraid that Shi Chun would give up and release the divine flame. Once the Divine Flame of Ice escaped into the vast ice plain below, they didn't have Shi Chun's special right eye ability.

This was also why Shi Chun later stopped An Wuzhi from releasing the divine flame, telling him to keep it as a bargaining chip.

With a bargaining chip in hand, others will give you a chance to speak.

Gu Lianni also realized and said, “Exactly, hand over the divine flame first. Once you've shown your sincerity, you can discuss anything you want.”

An Wuzhi and Chu Jingtang both wanted to warn Shi Chun not to fall for it. However, neither of them spoke. The last time they were surrounded by so many people was during the Heavenly Rain Meteorite Convention when they were 'forced to abdicate.' At that time, there were even more people surrounding them. They were all eyewitnesses and knew perfectly well that the leader should be clearer-headed than them and wouldn't fall for such a clumsy trick.

Shi Chun chuckled, “How can one divine flame show my sincerity? If I could truly only produce a mere one, how could I make Miss Gu believe my sincerity? Wouldn't staying here be seeking death? Without some capability to convince you, how would I dare to talk with you all here?”

He raised his hand and made a 'six' gesture. “One is too few. How about six?”

“Six divine flames…”

The Shudao Mountain group exchanged bewildered glances. Some thought they had misheard. Others whispered, wondering if this guy had lost his mind.

Chu Jingtang and An Wuzhi exchanged glances, trying hard to control their facial expressions.

Gu Lianni couldn't help but ask, “Six divine flames? Are you dreaming?”

Even by the time they left on the final day, she wouldn't dare to guarantee that her Shudao Mountain sect would definitely find six divine flames.

Shi Chun countered, “Do you think it's appropriate for me to talk nonsense at a time like this?”

Gu Lianni: “Stop trying to fool and deceive me. I only trust my own eyes, and I only see one!”

Shi Chun: “Once we've agreed, I'll naturally let you see six divine flames. However, we need to clarify beforehand that these six are just the beginning of our cooperation. I can only give you three, and I must keep three myself. After this, any divine flame I find will be allocated alternately: one to Shudao Mountain, then one to my Mingshan Sect, and so on.

Any divine flames Shudao Mountain finds on its own do not need to be shared with us; you can keep them for yourselves.

Furthermore, in the artifact refining competition after we leave, Shudao Mountain must not win against my Mingshan Sect. Helping Shudao Mountain find divine flames is not meant for Shudao Mountain to compete with us for first place.

For Shudao Mountain, allowing more disciples to obtain more divine flames should be far more valuable than competing for rewards. However, my Mingshan Sect desperately needs the first-place reward, because we are poor, and because we need reputation.

This is why I waited here for Miss Gu, and also the cooperation my Mingshan Sect wants to discuss with Shudao Mountain.”

He wasn't joking. Given the situation, he truly wanted to leverage the circumstances and cooperate with Shudao Mountain. If he could secure such a significant alliance, then later, when searching for divine flames, there would be no need to sneak around, hide, or be afraid of anything. Moreover, he would have ample manpower at his disposal.

What others saw as danger, he now saw as an opportunity.

The Shudao Mountain disciples began to whisper among themselves.

Gu Lianni also couldn't help but exchange a glance with Yuan Yao. He had even laid out the future distribution of benefits, especially openly demanding that Shudao Mountain concede first place. This did not sound like a bluff made without confidence.

Yuan Yao, for a moment, also became uncertain about this. He no longer insisted that Shi Chun could not be trusted at all.

Gu Lianni said, “How can I believe you can produce six divine flames?”

Ultimately, empty words were useless; she wanted to see something tangible.

Shi Chun spread his hands. “If we reach an agreement, I will naturally let you see six divine flames. If we don't, it will be a fight to the death, and I guarantee you won't get a single one. However, since I dared to wait for you here, I believe you will agree. Didn't everyone come here for divine flames? More divine flames—I don't think anyone can refuse such a benefit!”