Chapter 406: Senders of Fire

Wu Jinliang was quite friendly towards them, grinning at them. Even though the darkness of night could hide many unpleasant sights, they still felt as if they saw Wu Jinliang grinning at them with a bloody maw.

While they were affected by this feeling, Shi Chun remained completely unperturbed, not even paying attention. He signaled Wu Jinliang to clean up the scene quickly so they could leave for their next engagement.

Zhen'er, being considerate, even walked up to Wu Jinliang and asked with concern, "Jinliang, was it delicious?"

Wu Jinliang didn't give her a direct answer, casually replying while working, "When there's nothing else to eat, anything edible tastes good."

Soon, he understood from everyone's strange reactions what was going on. Were they all disgusted with him?

He felt quite wronged. As Shi Chun had just said, the 'Smiling Tiger' was extremely cunning. Given the current situation, that person could ask countless questions. What if they pressed for answers or wanted to interrogate Gong Shixi and the other two? Even if the three were silenced, it would be useless, as there would still be ways to communicate. Forcibly preventing questions or executing them immediately would only arouse the Smiling Tiger's suspicion.

As long as it disgusted the Smiling Tiger enough to make him leave, he wouldn't hesitate to do it—he'd even eat a pile of excrement. He had to cooperate in whatever way was most effective for disgusting the opponent. Shi Chun had already mentioned drinking blood and eating flesh, so he certainly had to go along with it. Survival was the most important thing, right?

However, he quickly cast his resentment aside. Gong Shixi and the others surely had magical treasures in their pockets! In the future, he wouldn't need Young Master Nan to treat him; he could afford to enjoy himself. Instantly, he was filled with explosive energy.

With the scene quickly tidied up, the group swiftly moved on.

Midway, Li Hongjiu suddenly halted his flying dragon scale in mid-air, pondering. He realized he had been somewhat negligent. How did Gong Shixi get involved with Shi Chun? He should have woken Gong Shixi and asked.

Also, shouldn't avenging fellow disciples involve personally slaying the enemies? How could he have let them go so easily?

At the very least, he should have witnessed the deaths of Gong Shixi and the other two, right?

He rarely made such basic oversights in matters he took seriously. He couldn't understand what he had been thinking before.

He looked back.

Go back now? By the time he returned, they would probably be gone.

Since things were already like this, he figured Shi Chun wouldn't let those three go anyway, given what had already been done to them. So, he continued his journey on the flying dragon scale.

Upon entering the icy wilderness, Shi Chun's group immediately flew stealthily beneath the dark clouds, landing in an ice valley quite a distance from their target location.

A figure stirred, and Wu Hong, who had been hiding there, emerged.

Seeing his companions arrive, Wu Hong immediately came out to greet them, "Boss."

Shi Chun asked, "How is it?"

Wu Hong replied, "A group of fifteen people did arrive on the mountaintop. It's unclear which sect they belong to. Chu Jingting and his team are observing them, and there's no news of them leaving yet."

Good that they were still there. Shi Chun waved his hand, signaling everyone to depart immediately.

Before long, they reached the ice mountain piercing through the dark clouds, where they met Chu Jingting and Lao Changtai. Confirming that the people were still on the mountain, they immediately headed there.

Beneath the starry cloud sea, the ice peaks below also shimmered brilliantly. Setting aside the environment, it was indeed a rare and beautiful sight.

Feng Zhuoyi and the others from the Fengluo Sect looked around suspiciously. Li Hongjiu had instructed them to meet disciples sent by the Yanbao Sect here, but the people they were supposed to meet were late, and they had no idea when they would arrive.

One thing was for sure: no matter how influential Li Hongjiu of the Yanbao Sect was, he couldn't stop them from leaving.

They had already agreed to wait for one day at most. After a day, they would absolutely have to hurry back and leave. They couldn't afford to wait until the last minute to depart for someone else's business; the risk would be too great.

Not to mention waiting until the last moment, even after waiting for a while now, Feng Zhuoyi was starting to regret it. He felt he shouldn't have agreed so easily.

Some issues couldn't withstand calm scrutiny. Looking back, Li Hongjiu's request felt truly abrupt. Could there be a problem? Li Hongjiu's reputation wasn't worth risking so many fellow disciples.

Get divine flames just for a small favor? Could such a good thing really fall from the sky and land on their heads? Even for a major sect, divine flames couldn't just be produced on demand, could they?

Every time he thought of this, he was filled with regret. Ultimately, Li Hongjiu's influence was secondary; he simply hadn't been able to resist the allure of the divine flames.

Suddenly, the cloud sea churned, and a group of figures burst through it, descending directly toward their mountain. This prompted everyone from the Fengluo Sect to grab their weapons and prepare for defense.

Their initial reaction was that the people from the Yanbao Sect had finally arrived.

However, upon clearly seeing the newcomers, they were quite surprised to find them to be a group of black-clad masked figures, becoming even more highly vigilant.

Of course, they still thought they might be from the Yanbao Sect.

After the masked group landed, they scrutinized them for a moment.

After confirming they were the Fengluo Sect group, Shi Chun pulled down his mask, cupped his hands, and said with a smile, "You must be Brother Feng Zhuoyi. I am Shi Chun. I have long admired the esteemed reputation of the Fengluo Sect."

And indeed, he did recognize these people. After receiving Young Master Nan's message about the four factions potentially being a threat, he had already carefully observed the appearance of all four groups when entering the Divine Flame Domain, essentially to guard against them.

The moment he revealed his face, the Fengluo Sect group was startled. Everyone knew him; there probably weren't many who entered the Divine Flame Domain who didn't recognize the Mingshan Sect group.

The others were fine, as they didn't know the sect's secret instructions. But for Feng Zhuoyi, his mind buzzed, and he secretly cursed his own foolishness. Li Hongjiu had mentioned the matter of Jieyun Mountain at the time. Shi Chun's presence here now was certainly no coincidence; he was likely here to deal with them.

In that instant, he was filled with profound regret, convinced that Li Hongjiu was collaborating with Shi Chun's group, deliberately luring his own group here.

He just couldn't understand: wasn't Li Hongjiu supposed to be hunting Shi Chun? How could they be cooperating? If not for that, how could he have fallen for it?

He forced himself to calm down and said, "Shi Chun, there's more than just our group around here. Many other sects are searching for divine flames. If you want to leave, do so quickly. We have no grievances with each other, so let's pretend we didn't see you."

Even if the sect ordered them to eliminate Shi Chun now, he wouldn't dare act. He was certain that this top-ranked individual from the Heavenfall Meteorite Gathering was absolutely formidable, someone they couldn't afford to provoke.

Shi Chun said, feigning surprise, "Li Hongjiu told me to deliver divine flames to you. Are you sure you don't want them?"

He turned and beckoned to An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin, signaling them to show the goods.

An and Zhu didn't know what trick Shi Chun was up to, but they stepped forward and complied. Each held an egg-shaped object about a foot long. They lifted their hands and broke open a piece of the "eggshell." Instantly, one egg emitted a blue divine flame light, while the other glowed with a celadon-glazed light. Both flames displayed exquisite forms and radiated the power of divine fire.

The gaze of the Fengluo Sect group instantly darted to the two divine flames, and the light in their eyes, filled with desire, could not be concealed.

Heaven help them, since entering the Divine Flame Domain, it was the first time they had seen what divine flames looked like. No, it was the first time in their lives they had seen what divine flames looked like.

Some people's Adam's apples were already bobbing up and down, repeatedly swallowing.

An and Zhu instinctively exchanged glances. They deeply understood the feelings of these people at this moment. They themselves never dreamed they could be so calm holding divine flames one day. The group before them was like a mirror, reflecting their former selves, truly like a dream.

Reaching this point, they were also grateful to Shi Chun, knowing well that without him, they wouldn't have had the slightest chance to touch divine flames, let alone absorb a terrifying number of more than ten divine flames.

Returning to their expelled sect with this harvest, one could imagine their future would not only be limitless but also incredibly glorious!

At the same time, because of this, both harbored hidden worries. If they were to abandon this side and return to their sect, it would be a betrayal of Shi Chun, both morally and logically. Upon reflection, though dangerous, following Boss Shi had indeed been good to them!

At Shi Chun's wave, the two re-closed the opened "eggshells," and the divine flame light instantly vanished.

Only then did the Fengluo Sect group awaken as if from a dream. Feng Zhuoyi, swallowing hard, stared blankly at Shi Chun, realizing his judgment was wrong. These people weren't here to cause trouble at all; otherwise, there would be no need to show them any divine flames.

They said Li Hongjiu asked them to deliver divine flames. Did they want them or not?

Of course they wanted them, but was something like this just given away so easily? Even a fool could figure out that there must be something to do between wanting and getting.

After much thought, he asked, "What do you want us to do?"

Shi Chun cupped his hands and said, "Gentlemen, this isn't the place to talk. How about we find another spot?"

He dared not linger here, fearing Li Hongjiu might realize and rush to this location, as Li Hongjiu knew about this meeting point. He had to move quickly.

Where to? Feng Zhuoyi was still a bit hesitant, but he figured they truly had no reason to beat around the bush. Still, he was somewhat worried and asked doubtfully, "You have divine flames, but you don't absorb them yourselves? Can you really give them to us?"

"If I were to say we have too many divine flames to use, would Brother Feng believe me?" Shi Chun asked, seemingly in jest, then turned to Tong Mingshan and the others. "Gentlemen, it's best to let them see for themselves."

Although they didn't know what their boss was planning, Tong Mingshan and the other two still acted according to his intention. They all cast spells, releasing blue and celadon-glazed divine flame auras from their bodies.

This scene filled the Fengluo Sect group with envy, and they finally understood why the others said they had more divine flames than they could use. The others had already absorbed divine flames of the same attributes, so these two were no longer needed.

Heavens, just how many divine flames had they absorbed? Could the rumor of finding hundreds of divine flames really be true?

After Shi Chun waved his hand, signaling his companions to retract their divine flame auras, he looked around and said, "The light was quite conspicuous just now. If someone saw it, these two divine flames might not end up in your hands. Brother Feng, let's find another place to talk."

Faced with the tangible temptation before him, Feng Zhuoyi looked at the reactions of his fellow disciples, then finally gave a muffled "Mm."

So, the group quickly moved to another location.

They left the icy wilderness and descended into a ravine.

As soon as they landed, Wu Jinliang quickly directed his people to search the area thoroughly.

Shi Chun also didn't waste time with formalities, gesturing an invitation, "Brother Feng, how about we step aside to talk?"

They had already moved locations, why step aside again? Feng Zhuoyi was suspicious. Although he felt the other party might not be here because of the Jieyun Mountain incident, he still felt uncertain and a bit worried.

Seeing this, Shi Chun changed his approach and said, "Brother Feng must have guessed that your presence here is due to a favor I asked of Li Hongjiu."

As he spoke, he pulled out four pre-prepared papers and handed them to Feng Zhuoyi, gesturing for him to read the contents first.

Puzzled, Feng Zhuoyi unfolded the papers with a doubtful expression and examined them by starlight. The handwriting wasn't exactly sloppy, but it was definitely crooked and poorly formed, clearly written by someone who didn't write often.

Nevertheless, the characters were legible.

The first paper read: "Zhen'er is in my hands. I trouble senior to come to the Divine Flame Domain to help me leave."

What did this mean? Feng Zhuoyi grew even more puzzled. Based on the literal meaning, was it meant to be sent to someone outside?

Yet, he immediately dismissed the idea as impossible. The passage to the Divine Flame Domain was not a two-way route for free travel; it was a one-way channel. The re-opening entrance was here, and the outside was the exit. People from outside simply couldn't enter.