Chapter 443: 关他五十年

In the main hall of the Lihuo Sect's branch in Qiyun Valley, the Sect Leader glanced at the list brought by Elder Wei of Jinmao Hall and couldn't help but grimace.

The white-bearded Elder Wei, observing his expression, said, "What's wrong? Is it that I, Wei, am not qualified, or are you worried that my Jinmao Hall won't return what we borrow?"

The Lihuo Sect Leader quickly waved his hand, smiling wryly, "Elder Wei, I genuinely don't have these materials on hand. If you truly need them, I'm afraid you'll have to wait. I'll send someone back to the main sect to gather them."

Since they were on the island anyway, just a short walk away, Elder Wei leaned back comfortably in his chair and waved, "Hurry up, we need them urgently."

"Alright, please wait a moment. I'll go make the arrangements," the Lihuo Sect Leader said politely, excusing himself.

He had just stepped outside and handed the list to a disciple to handle when another disciple hurried over and reported, "Sect Leader, Elder Hu of Jihuo Sect requests an audience."

The Lihuo Sect Leader fell silent, then exchanged surprised glances with the elder beside him. The elder chuckled, "No need to ask, another one here to borrow materials."

The Lihuo Sect Leader frowned, "How strange, why is everyone coming to our Lihuo Sect to borrow materials?"

The elder replied, "Could it be related to Shi Chun? According to reports from our disciples, Shi Chun just visited these few sects."

The Lihuo Sect Leader frowned and pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "Whether it's related or not, we can't get involved in the affairs of those major sects. The biggest problem now is why everyone is only borrowing from us?" He gestured towards the main hall. "Shudao Mountain and Yanbao Sect just borrowed a large quantity, and now we need to find a way to gather what Jinmao Hall wants. How can we possibly meet Jihuo Sect's demands?"

Despite his words, what else could he do? He dared not be presumptuous and had to personally go to the entrance to greet the visitor.

There was no need to be vague, as they truly had nothing left. As soon as the Jinmao Hall elder stated his purpose, the Lihuo Sect Leader immediately held up three fingers, making it clear: "We have nothing left. Three sects have already come to borrow from us. I don't know what you're all doing, but we genuinely have no more to give."

The elder from Jinmao Hall, who had come to borrow items, was startled, then immediately understood the situation. He didn't make things difficult. After finding out which three sects had borrowed, he left and went directly to other sects to borrow, even seeming a bit rushed.

He was somewhat worried that if they were too slow, other sects would have borrowed everything.

Although he knew almost all forging sects were gathered here, he worried about the 'what ifs' – what if someone was playing tricks?

If it turned out that only Jinmao Hall hadn't acquired Shi Chun's information, that would be a huge embarrassment.

He knew the nature of these sects very well. Hoping they would freely share information they paid for was a pipe dream. Even if they hadn't paid, they wouldn't easily tell you. As long as you weren't qualified to be on the stage, you could be trampled on at any moment.

As the elder handling this matter, he naturally couldn't allow such a mistake. If he couldn't even manage a small task, he wouldn't be able to account for it to the sect.

Jihuo Sect took some time but finally gathered all the items on the list. Then, they sent someone to bring Shi Chun, who was 'resting temporarily,' back.

Sticking to the old routine, they immediately demanded clarification on the responsibility for the truthfulness of the information.

For Shi Chun, this process was effortless, mainly because the other party was desperate.

By the time he emerged from Jihuo Sect's lodging, dawn had broken, and sunlight cast a mysterious golden glow on the rotating 'Divine Fire Spirit Gate' in the sky.

Young Master Nan and others who had already received their list items were waiting outside.

Wu Jinliang was also there, grinning cheerfully, and approached to greet him, saying, "The list for Jinmao Hall has already been delivered."

So Shi Chun took out the remaining lists and handed them to him, "You might as well deliver the rest to each household too."

"A small matter," Wu Jinliang said, waving his hand, and strolled off with Chu Jingting.

Shi Chun, meanwhile, headed to Jinmao Hall's lodging with Young Master Nan and Tong Mingshan.

The next sect's list items were already prepared, which naturally saved a lot of time in the subsequent process, allowing them to get straight to the point.

The process went smoothly without any surprises. Aside from being somewhat assertive when dealing with Jihuo Sect, Shi Chun remained relatively respectful towards the other sects. There was no need to offend them further. Throwing out the so-called Divine Fire secret was precisely to resolve this grievance with all the sects as much as possible, preventing them from constantly pestering him about Divine Fire secret techniques in the future.

To put it another way, he at least wanted to make them feel comfortable parting with their money. Therefore, he adopted a very humble posture, frequently bowing and flattering, allowing those who paid to act condescendingly towards him.

After leaving one sect, he moved on to the next. Along the way, Shi Chun felt many eyes watching him.

Fortunately, no incidents occurred until he left the last sect. Among the ten major forging sects, he successfully profited from nine of them.

Having succeeded one by one and completed his plan, Shi Chun felt a certain degree of satisfaction. Dusk was approaching once more.

As he returned to Mingshan Sect's lodging, feeling content with his success, the leaders of the relevant sects who had paid for the information began leaving with their people. They sought out other sects that Shi Chun had visited, trying to gauge their reactions and information.

They wouldn't approach those Shi Chun hadn't visited, as individuals unaware of the secret were not qualified to be involved in it.

The purpose of probing each other was to foster unity.

The target, Situ Gu, belonged to Liantian Sect, which was the foremost forging sect in the world. Given their power and status, extracting the secret from Situ Gu was not something any single sect could easily undertake.

Those who mutually knew the secret could naturally unite to discuss it without worrying about leaks.

Consequently, among the ten major sects, eight of them met and then successively gathered at Shudao Mountain. Shudao Mountain's strength ranked second in the forging world, and its status sometimes served as an invisible rallying call.

The high-ranking officials of the nine major sects convened for a secret meeting.

This situation also drew the attention of some individuals.

In an elegant small courtyard atop a mountain temporarily cleared by Lihuo Sect, Mu Lan Jin was basking in the evening sun on a lounge chair in the pavilion, eyes narrowed as if dozing.

A man in black quickly ascended the stairs. He had three long, ink-like whiskers on his pale face. Both his appearance and build conveyed a sense of rugged simplicity, yet his eyes were sharp and intelligent, giving off an air of trustworthy shrewdness.

This man was Lu Mi, one of Mu Lan Jin's trusted confidants and right-hand men.

He approached Mu Lan Jin's lounge chair, where she appeared to be napping, and presented a confidential letter. "Master, it seems to be related to Shi Chun's individual meetings with the various sects. According to reports, Shi Chun sold the method for finding the Divine Fire secret to those nine sects."

Sold the secret method? A flicker of surprise crossed Mu Lan Jin's eyes as she suddenly opened them. This matter sounded preposterous. With two slender fingers, she took the confidential document and, without changing her indifferent posture, opened it to read.

The confidential document contained nothing more than an account of why Shi Chun sold the secret method for finding the Divine Fire, a process clearly known only to those present at the time.

Although it was unknown which sect's participant leaked the information, it was almost certain that there might be spies from Guanxing Pavilion among the high-ranking officials of those nine major sects.

"Divine Fire Incense..." Mu Lan Jin muttered to herself, searching her memory.

Lu Mi said, "It is quite strange. We've never heard of any interactions between them. I don't know why Situ Gu would entrust his self-developed 'Divine Fire Incense' to Shi Chun to test in the Divine Fire Domain. Liantian Sect certainly isn't lacking in people."

Slowly setting down the confidential document, Mu Lan Jin murmured, "Selling to nine different parties, that's interesting... He's using Situ Gu to extricate himself from this vortex in the forging world. This fellow doesn't forget to make a huge profit even when escaping."

Extricate himself? Lu Mi considered this and then added, "There's another strange point I wonder if you noticed, Master. The payments he received from the nine major sects were mostly forging materials."

Mu Lan Jin said indifferently, "Forging materials are naturally for forgers. The only one capable of forging among his group is that Tong Mingshan, right?"

Lu Mi replied, "That should be correct."

Mu Lan Jin continued, "If there are no other candidates, he's probably investing heavily in Tong Mingshan. If that's truly the case, then there's likely something significant about Tong Mingshan; otherwise, it wouldn't be worth such a huge investment."

Lu Mi nodded, "Being able to absorb four Divine Fires is indeed extraordinary."

"Four?" Mu Lan Jin's questioning tone seemed to carry a hint of amusement. She handed the confidential letter back to him. "He knows the modified competition rules are targeting him, he knows the sects are against him, and it's impossible for him to win. He knows that allowing Tong Mingshan to participate means those four Divine Fires are destined to achieve nothing significant in the competition. Yet, he still wants Tong Mingshan to appear and show off. Is it necessary for him to make such a futile effort?"

Lu Mi stroked his beard, pondering, "Considering it that way, it is indeed quite perplexing."

Mu Lan Jin continued, "That boy came from the place of exile; he's very pragmatic and not one to waste effort. The ten Divine Fire minimum was set to target him, certainly not a hasty decision, but specifically to exclude him. This suggests that the sects initially had a rough estimate of the number of Divine Fires Tong Mingshan could absorb. When the number suddenly decreased, everyone was surprised. Why the sudden reduction? The forging world revised the competition rules specifically against him, and he, in turn, drastically lowered the number to comply with the rules. When corresponding changes appear simultaneously between opponents, is it truly a coincidence? In our line of work, we tend to be quite sensitive to such 'coincidences'."

Lu Mi's eyes flickered slightly as he cautiously asked, "Does Master mean that Shi Chun, instead of backing down against the suppression from the ten major sects, actually had a contingency plan?"

Mu Lan Jin replied, "These are all just guesses. However, I do recall the Heavenly Rain Meteorite Convention; his true capabilities weren't revealed until the very end, under the eyes of countless people. Regardless of whether he has a contingency plan or not, he certainly has guts, and no small amount. To even leverage the power of my Guanxing Pavilion, it wouldn't be appropriate not to teach him a lesson."

Lu Mi was slightly taken aback, then immediately asked, "How shall we deal with him?"

Mu Lan Jin said, "I've already told the forging world that we won't interfere with their competition. I also want to see what trick Shi Chun is trying to pull. After the competition, we'll arrest all of them, find a 'good place,' and imprison him for fifty years."

Lu Mi was slightly stunned. To be honest, he wouldn't have been surprised if Mu Lan Jin ordered them killed or imprisoned indefinitely. However, a fifty-year imprisonment felt neither long nor short, and the duration seemed uncharacteristic of her usual decisive pronouncements.