Chapter 283: One After Another

Unaware that everyone believed him dead, he was simply pleased to find them alive and well. Seeing them preoccupied, he naturally rejoined the group, with no particular thoughts—it was as straightforward as that.

But this explanation truly left everyone speechless.

While Wu Jinliang and the others were busy, they even called An Wuzhi over to lend a hand.

When they found treasures, they were overjoyed with each other.

They had all seen him nearby earlier, yet no one thought that he might have died. Everyone's attention was simply focused on the joy of treasure hunting.

As a result, An Wuzhi not only unearthed a wind scale right in front of them but also acquired a Qiankun bag.

Chu Jingtang couldn't help but ask, "Brother An, after surviving such a calamity, why didn't you flee? And you dared to come back to investigate the commotion?"

An Wuzhi replied, "What if there was still a chance to get the divine fire?"

Well, those who had nearly lost their lives because of his pursuit of the divine fire instantly understood his line of thinking. They found themselves unwilling to utter another word to him. Some even cursed him inwardly, lamenting the unfairness that such a troublemaker could still survive.

There was no longer any trace of the previous melancholy about losing a companion.

Chu Jingtang, annoyed, turned and waved his hand, "Alright, let's hurry up and keep searching. Don't miss this chance to get rich."

The group turned back to their work. An Wuzhi, still suspicious, looked left and right, finding their earlier reaction somewhat strange.

However, just as they had toppled an ice mountain, the resulting ground tremor seemed unusual, as if something had been struck. Shi Chun, who had just jumped to a higher vantage point and turned to look, reacted with a tremor like the ground itself. He suddenly shouted an urgent warning, "Go! Quickly!"

It was a truly terrifying shout. The ground's tremors had already made everyone realize what was happening. Fortunately, they all had wind scales and instinctively scrambled away. Only after taking to the air and activating their wind scales did they dare to look back in horror.

Sure enough, the ice dragon reappeared from underground. Without any other reaction, it immediately soared into the air and pursued them.

Shi Chun was speechless. He hadn't noticed its approach at all. He figured it was due to the momentary distraction caused by An Wuzhi earlier that allowed it to get close from beneath the ice.

He now felt that An Wuzhi was nothing but trouble. When he wasn't around, there were no problems, but the moment he appeared, he would drag everyone into misfortune.

When things went wrong, they always had to find a reason for their bad luck.

The group also blamed their leader: "Didn't you say keeping watch would be fine? This huge monster is right on our heels, and you're just noticing it now? That's too much!"

The others were somewhat alright, but Chu Jingtang was truly exhausted. What was going on? According to the Divine Fire Domain's time, they had been there for less than a day, and this was already the third time they had to flee for their lives, scared out of their wits. Were they even allowed to live? Was this truly a fight to the death?

They desperately fled on their wind scales, while the ice dragon thundered after them from behind, its aerial pursuit truly resembling a lightning storm.

The wind scales had picked up speed, but the ice dragon's speed was still gradually closing in from behind. With such a massive body, it flew incredibly fast, truly like a divine dragon, plowing through the dark clouds and revealing the starlight of the night sky.

In other words, the ice dragon flew faster than the wind scales.

At this rate, they were doomed; they would be caught sooner or later.

The thrilling sensation filled him with an indescribable feeling; it was as if he could see his own soul repeatedly looking back, constantly startled during the chase.

Shi Chun didn't know if Gu Lianni had managed to escape, and if so, how she had shaken off the pursuit. The monster's flight speed was clearly faster than the wind scales.

If Gu Lianni had escaped, the only possible method he could think of was to lure the monster away, buying time to flee.

Therefore, he wanted to use the same method. Just as he was about to shout for everyone to scatter, letting whoever could escape survive and whoever got caught be unlucky,

He suddenly saw Wu Jinliang snatch the large gourd from his back and, with a powerful thrust, send it flying towards the pursuing ice dragon, aiming squarely for its head.

He had no other intention; he just recalled how Spring had immobilized the ice mountain before. Since things were already dire, he figured he might as well try; it was a desperate measure.

He also pulled out a second gourd, preparing to use two if one wasn't enough.

After all, it was their first time using an immobilization spell on a monster of this level, so they were unsure about the dosage.

Shi Chun was speechless at the sight, considering it a futile effort. It was common knowledge, as he later learned, that immobilization talismans couldn't affect those who had absorbed divine fire.

Indeed, after the large gourd vaguely appeared to strike the ice dragon's head, the ice dragon continued to surge forward.

So, he shouted his own idea, "Everyone, split up and run! Let those who can survive, survive. Whoever gets caught..."

Wu Jinliang's voice suddenly echoed from behind, "Spring..."

Shi Chun looked back and saw that Wu Jinliang had actually stopped. He was utterly shocked, thinking Wu Jinliang was going to sacrifice himself as bait to secure a path to survival for everyone.

Just as he was cursing how this fellow had become so noble, he suddenly widened his eyes and stopped abruptly as well. He noticed that the ice dragon behind them wasn't chasing Wu Jinliang; it appeared to be hovering in mid-air.

Chu Jingtang and the others, equally shocked by Wu Jinliang's actions, had teary eyes or burning noses, moved by his great selflessness.

However, their emotion came and went quickly. They all realized something was wrong and stopped one after another.

The distance between them had grown quite long; some could no longer see Wu Jinliang and the ice dragon behind them, as the light wasn't very good.

Shi Chun had already quickly flown back, joining Wu Jinliang to fly towards the ice dragon behind them. Wu Jinliang held the gourd like a shield, ready to hurl it at any moment.

Before they even got close, Shi Chun's right eye ability showed him that the ice dragon seemed to have transformed into a giant caterpillar, covered in vast, sky-reaching, long, translucent pale blue tendrils. A massive, ethereal green substance tightly bound it.

The ice dragon's posture at this moment was somewhat comical: its head was lowered, and its rear body was raised high, having assumed this peculiar shape for some unknown reason.

Small wisps of flame occasionally emerged from its mouth, instantly forming colossal ice stalagmites upon touching the ground. A low, guttural "ho-ho" sound constantly rumbled within its maw, betraying its unwillingness.

In this state, it was highly unlikely the ice dragon was feigning distress to lure them.

Shi Chun cautiously approached, and a quick glance surprised him slightly: he found an additional phantom of divine fire inside the ice dragon—six of them? What was going on?

A thought then struck him, and he recalled the divine fire in Yuan Yao's hand. He probably guessed what Gu Lianni and her group had sacrificed to escape.

This made him even more perplexed and suspicious: had the five divine fires previously within the ice dragon all been swallowed by it?

If so, it would explain why several divine fires had gathered together so unusually.

But what puzzled him was that if they could be swallowed, why had the divine fire that chased them earlier seemed to complain to the ice dragon? Could the damage caused by his Demon-Slaying Hand be more terrifying than the ice dragon's?

Thinking of the Demon-Slaying Hand also brought to mind his previous method for dealing with divine fire.

Wu Jinliang cautiously approached and chuckled, "It really got immobilized?"

Glancing at those who dared not approach from afar, he added, "We also wield magic treasures, no less potent than that Gu Lianni's. If we meet that woman again, I'll make her pay!"

Shi Chun didn't understand what was happening. Hadn't they said that those possessing divine fire couldn't be immobilized?

Seeing the small wisps of flame continuously emerging from the ice dragon's mouth and forming huge ice stalagmites that raised the ground, he didn't hesitate. He suddenly flew above the ice dragon, retracted his wind scale, and bravely descended directly onto the ice dragon's head.

He landed with a palm strike: the Demon-Slaying Hand!

Not just one strike, he continuously hammered it with both palms, sweeping from its head all the way to its tail.

After reaching the end of its raised tail, he slid back down, then continued to strike his way back to its head with the Demon-Slaying Hand.

Seeing no reaction, he finished striking its back, then its sides, and after that, its belly.

Wu Jinliang retracted his wind scale, landed on the ice dragon's back, stomped his feet twice, and shouted, "Spring, what are you doing?"

Shi Chun ignored him, not even knowing if what he was doing was effective.

One by one, Chu Jingtang and his group also bravely approached. They were utterly surprised and amazed to find the ice dragon truly immobilized in mid-air.

Shen Moming's first reaction was to blurt out, "An immobilization talisman?"

Wu Jinliang chuckled, "Old Shen, you've got good eyes! Don't forget our origins—Wukang Mountain. They have magic treasures, and so do we."

Leaning on his great saber with crossed legs, he spoke fluently, "Our boss, you see, once got a calligraphic inscription from the Lord of Shengzhou and gifted it to Wukang Mountain, saving its life. In return, Wukang Mountain bestowed upon us the legendary Fifth-Grade Immobilization Talisman. And just like that, at a crucial moment, it saved all our lives. You just need to know this; don't leak it!"

An Wuzhi asked strangely, "Don't immobilization talismans fail to affect those with divine fire?"

Wu Jinliang shrugged, feigning mystery. He couldn't make up any more stories, so he left them to guess.

Tong Mingshan asked, "What is the boss doing?"

His tone conveyed caution. Not only was he afraid, but the others were too, fearing that Shi Chun might somehow awaken the ice dragon.

Fortunately, just as he finished speaking, Shi Chun, who had been rapidly striking with his palms, also finished. He flew back onto the ice dragon's back, having delivered perhaps a thousand Demon-Slaying Hand strikes in one go, utterly exhausted. This made him frantically pull out his ice sheep and suck from it for a while. This was all he could do; he didn't know if this would kill the ice dragon.

Putting away the ice sheep, he drew his blade and walked to the spot where the ice dragon had absorbed the six divine fires. He was about to cut it open to investigate when his raised blade suddenly halted. He saw the six divine fires, large and small, fluctuating and slowly rising within the ice dragon's body.

What was happening?

Soon, faint silver-blue flames emerged. Shi Chun watched, surprised and wary, as his right eye's ability showed him the emerging flames burning away a section of the tendril net that bound the ice dragon.

The others gradually saw the emerging flames as well. Tong Mingshan and An Wuzhi immediately retracted their wind scales and landed beside Shi Chun, watching with wide eyes.

The other two also landed, wanting to get closer to see the spectacle. Chu Jingtang, out of good intentions, pulled Shen Moming with his left hand and Wu Jinliang with his right, dragging them a little further back.

After one wobbling divine fire completely floated out into the air, Tong Mingshan observed Shi Chun's reaction.

An Wuzhi, however, couldn't hold back. He grabbed it, allowing it to struggle, but steadily controlled it with fire manipulation techniques. After sensing it, he exclaimed joyfully, "Boss, it's Ice Flame! It's indeed the Divine Fire Ice Flame, it's..."

He trailed off, his words caught in his throat, as he saw more flames emerging, followed by another divine fire.

An Wuzhi instinctively extended his other hand and grabbed another one. He looked at the others, but they were all looking at their feet, where more flames seemed to be struggling to emerge.

As soon as this one appeared, Tong Mingshan also didn't hesitate; he reached out and grabbed one. Observing Shi Chun's reaction, he noticed that Shi Chun was still looking down, as faint silver-blue flames continued to emerge.

Chu Jingtang stroked his beard, leaning forward to observe from a distance. He clicked his tongue and muttered, "Could there really be five divine fires?"