Chapter 349: Big Move Disabled

The night was dark, and the stars shone high, while a fierce wind howled, as if bidding farewell to the fleeing enemies. The Ming Shan Sect group, feeling the wind, were exceptionally relieved, all their tension and fear completely released.

Once they confirmed the group of persistent ruffians had vanished, they turned back and saw Wu Jinliang retrieving the three magic treasures that had been suspended in the air.

The mere sight of the treasures still suspended in the air made the group suddenly realize something important.

Recalling how Wu Jinliang had previously exchanged the large gourd, they couldn't help but connect it to Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang's origins from Wu Kang Mountain.

As elite disciples from their respective sects, they were not foolish. They instantly understood why Wu Jinliang, despite his evident power, had allowed the group to escape—it was utter nonsense about deeply hidden strength!

Not knowing was one thing, but once they realized the truth, remembering their own eager charge, they instantly cursed Wu Jinliang in their hearts. A wave of belated fear washed over them, and they repeatedly glanced back in the direction of the fleeing group.

They all understood one thing at that moment: this was no place to linger. One by one, they quickly moved towards Shi Chun.

Fortunately, they only knew Wu Jinliang had been bluffing the enemy; they were unaware of his other intention, which was to drag his knife and flee in the rear.

Wu Jinliang then approached Shi Chun. He first picked up the Grade Five magic treasure Shi Chun had discarded, examined it repeatedly, then brought it to Shi Chun. He observed Shi Chun's complexion, noting that he had clearly regained his strength.

He, too, breathed a sigh of relief before asking, “Chun Tian, are you alright?”

No sooner had he spoken than Shi Chun gasped and vomited a large amount of fresh blood. The torrent of blood truly startled everyone.

In their current predicament, truthfully, they were all counting on Shi Chun to lead them out of the Divine Fire Domain. Without him, no one felt confident in their own ability to succeed.

Even the two who had maintained contact with their original sects and harbored ulterior motives concerning Shi Chun before entering the Divine Fire Domain, absolutely did not wish for him to be in trouble now.

With things having come to this point, which of those powers would easily let go of any member of the Ming Shan Sect?

Without Shi Chun, even if they sought refuge with those powers, they would be scorned. What use would they be? Absolutely useless.

On the contrary, with so many people from various sects having died pursuing them, an explanation would surely be demanded. They could try offering themselves up.

Therefore, there was no way out, and the exit itself was an even more deadly obstacle. They didn't know how to leave, feeling as though they were on a pirate ship with no turning back. Indeed, the more one does, the more mistakes one makes.

Without their 'Big Boss,' they truly lacked a backbone. Were they to rely on the swindling Wu Jinliang, who had just scared them half to death?

“Big Boss.”

“Big Boss, are you alright?”

“Big Boss, what happened?”

“Chun Tian…”

The group cried out in alarm, hastily reaching out to check Shi Chun's injuries.

Shi Chun, blood still at the corner of his mouth, instead waved his hand forcefully to stop them, politely declining everyone's good intentions, including Zhen'er who stood by, startled and unsure what to do. He patted Zhen'er's supporting arm, indicating he was fine.

Zhen'er was not only unskilled in fighting but also had no knowledge of treating the sick or injured.

Seeing Shi Chun wave him off, Wu Jinliang, his hand still half-extended, asked with extreme concern, “Are you very seriously injured?”

Based on his understanding of Shi Chun, who was very resilient and possessed strong recovery abilities, how could this have happened?

Shi Chun first took out the Ice Goat and placed it before his mouth and nose, repeatedly breathing to stabilize himself.

He wasn't just seriously injured; he had almost lost his life.

He had personally experienced the terrifying power of an Earth Immortal. Even the slight backlash from the buffered force had almost torn him apart. Although his exterior appeared intact, all his internal organs were damaged, and he was suffering from severe internal bleeding.

Even more critically, in a moment of lost control, he subconsciously inhaled a large amount of the poisonous air from their surroundings.

He reacted immediately, suffering from both severe injury and poisoning.

The silver lining was that when he urgently used his Demon Bathing Art to heal, the powerful life force stored within him instantly activated. It was estimated that even a dying person could be revived by such immense vitality.

His internal injuries were repairing at an incredibly fast pace, and the absorbed toxins were being cleared and neutralized.

The speed of healing from that immense life force startled Shi Chun himself. It was the first time he had sustained such a severe injury and undergone this self-healing process since absorbing a large amount of killing intent at the last Heavenly Rain Meteorite Convention. He truly hadn't known his body's self-healing ability was so terrifying.

After this experience, he gained new insights regarding the killing intent, and also the strange bird that absorbs killing intent—it could even detoxify?

As for the large amount of fresh blood he had just vomited, it was all a result of severe internal bleeding. Although the injuries were healing rapidly, the accumulated blood in his abdomen still needed to be expelled.

Although the expulsion of such a large amount of accumulated blood looked frightening, it was actually a good thing.

In fact, the group hadn't noticed that the blood he vomited was already black and gave off a foul, fishy odor. That it had become like this so quickly demonstrated the potency of the poisonous gas in this place.

After repeatedly expelling several breaths of stale air, Shi Chun finally put down the Ice Goat in his hand and said to everyone, “Don't worry, it's just a minor injury. I'm fine now.”

Everyone exchanged glances. He had vomited almost half a basin of blood; how could that possibly be a minor injury?

Shi Chun was too lazy to explain further. He took a handkerchief from his Qiankun bag, wiped the blood from his mouth, and casually tossed it aside. Then he retrieved the Black Lotus magic treasure from Wu Jinliang's hand. After inspecting it, he cast a spell to activate it again.

The Black Lotus immediately floated up and grew larger, emitting flowing light. Under the enhancement of its flying lotus petals, it transformed into a human figure, sword in hand, soaring between heaven and earth, moving freely amidst the fierce winds, exuding a majestic aura.

Before long, all the light, shadows, and lotus petals contracted into one, transforming back into a small metal black lotus that landed on Shi Chun's palm.

Everyone could see that it was now under his control, whereas before it had clearly been problematic, out of control, and impossible to command.

Wu Jinliang said, “That woman's flute music was the problem.”

They all understood without him saying it. Shi Chun just wanted to test if he could still control it normally. After this test, he had a good idea. He weighed the Black Lotus in his hand and said, “As long as we don't encounter Wu Shanshan's group, this treasure should still be usable.”

Although it had flaws, it would be a shame to easily give up such a valuable treasure. A broken bowl can still be used to beg for food; it's better than empty hands.

With that, he put it back into his bag.

Then Wu Jinliang took out the three cushion-shaped magic treasures he had just acquired, held them in his hand, and chuckled awkwardly at Shi Chun, “Uh, this…”

He couldn't form a complete sentence, but his meaning was very clear.

In front of others, he was too embarrassed to beg without dignity. If there were no outsiders, he would definitely be shameless, just like when he begged for the precious robe on his body before, even crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang himself would not be out of the question.

Shi Chun glanced at the three treasures without hesitation and said indifferently, “Keep them for yourself.”

He clearly understood that Wu Jinliang deserved them. Not only had Wu Jinliang succeeded with his help, but without Wu Jinliang's quick thinking afterward to scare off Wu Shanshan's group, things would have been very troublesome.

Furthermore, given Wu Jinliang's cultivation level, he indeed needed a powerful magic treasure for self-defense. He couldn't always rely on opportunism to succeed.

“Heh heh, Big Boss is wise.” Wu Jinliang laughed like a fool, quickly stuffing the treasures back into his bag.

This was also a rule of Dong Jiuyuan, the land of exile: one couldn't simply take more because they felt they had contributed more. Any gains had to be submitted first, and the Big Boss would uniformly distribute shares to everyone.

To some extent, this scene also set an example, allowing the Ming Shan Sect group to see the rules in action.

Of course, everyone was envious. Such incredibly valuable treasures!

It was a shame about Black Tiger's corpse; who knew where the strong wind had carried it. Perhaps it still had some treasures on it.

Content, Wu Jinliang patted the Qiankun bag at his waist, then turned to Tong Mingshan and said, “Sect Leader, after we rest, please teach me how to make treasures recognize their master.”

Tong Mingshan nodded slightly, without responding, indeed feeling quite speechless. He noticed that this large man, when nothing was amiss, would call him 'Brother Tong' or 'Tong Mingshan,' but when he had a request, he would call him 'Sect Leader.' He was the same with the Big Boss: casually calling him 'Chun Tian,' but when something was needed, proclaiming 'Big Boss is wise.'

However, having said that, after this incident and roughly understanding what had transpired, everyone looked at the joyful Wu Jinliang with his new treasures and gained a new respect for him. They realized that this thick-browed, big-eyed fellow was truly shameless when he wanted to be, but his decisiveness was also remarkably bold. They themselves couldn't have done it, at least not made such a decision in that instant.

Reflecting on it, they felt a belated fear. Without this thick-browed fellow's bluff, the consequences would have been hard to predict.

For now, no one wanted to ask for more details. Chu Jingting said, “Big Boss, it's not advisable to stay here long. If that woman realizes what happened, she might turn back and counterattack.”

Shi Chun looked around, then suddenly stared at Wu Jinliang and asked, “What if we hadn't been able to scare them off just now, and they could still track us?”

Wu Jinliang was startled, then hesitated and said, “You want to confirm that?”

Shi Chun retorted, “Shouldn't we confirm it?”

In the distance, under white clouds and blue skies, over a vast blue sea, a group of figures flashed into view on the highest peak of Qi Yun Valley.

Upon hearing the report, Sect Leader Su Qiao of the Extreme Fire Sect personally arrived with a group of high-ranking sect members.

Soon, a fallen Soul Lotus Lantern was brought before Su Qiao. After repeatedly confirming it was Black Tiger's Soul Lantern, Su Qiao's already grim expression grew even more severe, as did that of the high-ranking members of the Extreme Fire Sect.

The Extreme Fire Sect's true ultimate move, which had been planned for many years, was now ruined, gone. For this, they had even brought out their ultimate treasure, the Barren-Breaking Broken Blade.

“Who did this? What exactly happened inside?” Su Qiao growled chillingly, his eyes filled with murderous intent, as if he wanted to devour someone.

However, no one could answer…

In the Land of Eternal Night, under a sky full of stars, a dense swarm of figures moved through the air.

As Wu Shanshan's group, approaching from the opposite direction, passed by that group of people, before she could even clearly see who they were, she cast a spell and loudly called out, “Brother Yin!”

No one else should be able to follow the markers they left and arrive.

Indeed, the group they had just passed stopped abruptly. Yin Tianlu then led his fellow disciples to turn around and approach.

“Senior Brother Yin, something has happened to Senior Brother Black Tiger.” A disciple of the Extreme Fire Sect who had escaped wailed aloud.

The Extreme Fire Sect group all showed shock in their eyes, their gazes sweeping over the returning individuals. Indeed, Black Tiger's figure was nowhere to be seen.

With the wind scales swirling around, speaking in the air was inconvenient. Yin Tianlu, his face greatly changed, forcefully pointed to the ground and was the first to dive down.

After the two groups met, Wu Shanshan didn't see anyone from Shu Dao Mountain and urgently asked, “Brother Yin, where are the people from Shu Dao Mountain?”

Yin Tianlu said in a deep voice, “First tell me what happened with Black Tiger.”

“He was killed by Shi Chun's side,” Wu Shanshan explained casually. She dared not seek revenge again; the opponent's strength was too terrifying. She continued to press, “What about Gu Lianni and the others? The magic treasure for finding divine fire might be in Shu Dao Mountain's possession.”

The fact that she could say this showed she regretted it. If she had known Shi Chun's side didn't want trouble, she shouldn't have forced them to act. They had already revealed the whereabouts of the secret technique, so why provoke them and offend them? Who knew how they would retaliate later.

Killed by Shi Chun? Yin Tianlu's eyes widened as he looked at the fellow disciples who had been tracking them, and he angrily asked, “What happened?”

His fellow disciple immediately reported the sequence of events, his voice choked with sobs.

Jin Hao, who was accompanying the main body of the Extreme Fire Sect's forces, also came to Wu Shanshan's side and explained, “Senior Sister, there was an accident. The people from Shu Dao Mountain couldn't be held; they escaped.”