Li Ji’an was responsible for the area that was the sheltered district, the lower tier of the Cultivation Realm, which was specially set up by the Ten Thousand Laws Palace to demonstrate the charity of the Holy Palace.

After a period of fermentation, the purpose of True Man Chunyuan had long been widely publicized. Although it was only said to be a Spirit Flame instead of a Fire Element Holy Spirit, it did reassure everyone.

After all, everyone knew that the Spirit Flame had nothing to do with themselves.

So the task of Li Ji’an’s three-man team was also very smooth.

After bringing the cultivators in his responsible area to the place, Li Ji’an followed the captain and stood on the verification side, maintaining order.

He saw several individuals dressed in the Inner Sect disciple attire of Ten Thousand Laws Palace begin interrogating one by one.

"Does the Spirit Flame have any connection with you?" Just this simple question, but during the questioning, it was obvious something like Heart Inquiry Secret Technique was being applied.

This scene was identical to when the Ten Thousand Laws Palace screened the remnants of the Liu Family after its destruction in Odd Stone Forest years ago.

Years ago, while he was in Odd Stone Forest with Ning Sujin, he had also asked this question.

Ning Sujin had relied on her Primordial Spirit comparable to a Nascent Soul True Monarch to deceive such a Divine Soul Secret Technique.

According to her, this secret technique directly targeted the heart; even the Divine Sense of a Core Formation True Man couldn’t resist it.

Three days later, after the city-wide screening was completed, there was understandably no result.

"You heartless thing, who have you hooked up with now? It’s been half a month without coming to me." Just as a steward of the Ten Thousand Laws Palace announced the dismissal, a woman cultivator with quite a dusty charm approached Li Ji’an, filled with resentment.

"Slap!" Li Ji’an slapped her rear in return.

In a low voice, he said, "Do you have the guts of a leopard? The people above are still here."

"Hiss~ You rascal, I’ll be waiting for you tonight." The female cultivator was not angry at the slap but instead changed her attitude, cast a flirtatious glance, and sashayed away.

"..." Li Ji’an lightly bit the tip of his tongue.

The reaction just now was almost instinctive.

Compared to the previous few times when it took a few months to activate Huang Jie’s Essence Blood, this time activating Zhao Ming’s Essence Blood took only half a month, but the sense of assimilation with the Faceless Mask was more pronounced.

Apart from previously only borrowing Huang Jie’s appearance without paying much attention to his original memories, it was also because Huang Jie’s heart nature was normal, despite being ruthless and calculating.

But now activating Zhao Ming’s Essence Blood, Li Ji’an strictly simulated his memories’ behaviors rigorously to avoid exposure, and Zhao Ming’s traits were particularly distinctive, making the assimilation more evident.

This person, besides being inherently fond of gambling, was also adept at hooking up with female cultivators.

Several mistresses in the Cultivation Realm were not bad, and in the eyes of ordinary male cultivators, some were of Fairy level.

Moreover, his grasp on the mindset of female cultivators was quite accurate; those mistresses knew he had no skills or resources, and poor character, yet could still be manipulated by him.

They often sponsored his gambling funds.

His methods toward female cultivators were also simple and crude: he didn’t treat them as people and didn’t play any deep emotional tactics, always approaching with the mentality of an aggressor.

Watching everyone leave, including the Sect members, Li Ji’an slowly exhaled.

His crisis was temporarily resolved.

He just needed to wait for an opportunity to leave the Ten Thousand Laws Palace area and return to the Biyun Sect.

However, it was still unknown when Gugu could be freed from his predicament.

-----------

Above a dense forest a thousand miles southeast of Profound Light Immortal City.

This was the place where Li Ji’an previously let Little Fire Spirit enter Gugu’s mouth within its Universe.

It was also where the Fire Holy Spirit ultimately disappeared from True Man Chunyuan’s sensing.

At this moment, a handsome young gentleman with red lips and white teeth, exuding youthful vigor, stood in the sky with a face full of doubt.

"Clearly getting closer, but how could it suddenly disappear?" He muttered to himself.

"Master, could it be that the Fire Holy Spirit... has fallen?" Behind the young gentleman, an elderly man with white hair and beard spoke tremblingly.

"Hmm?" The gentleman’s long, slanted eyes narrowed into a line.

Immediately, he said with a tone of disapproval: "Do you think this old man has gone mad, raising such a big fuss?"

"The disciple dares not; the disciple only..." The old man behind hurriedly explained.

Before the old man could finish explaining, the gentleman waved his hand: "Relay my orders: Until the Holy Spirit is seen, the seal remains unbroken; all sect members skilled in Earth Escape must conduct underground searches."

"Obey the master’s command!" The old man quickly bowed his head to accept the order and then fled away swiftly.

"Ah, Holy Spirit..." Once the old man was gone, only the gentleman remained.

He was none other than the famous Pill King, True Man Chunyuan, a descendant of the current True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws, ranking second only to the True Monarch within the Ten Thousand Laws Palace.

Moments later, a thread of gleaming golden flame slowly floated out from his Dantian, eventually resting in his palm.

"Bao’Er, Bao’Er, where in the world do you think that Holy Spirit has gone?" True Man Chunyuan gazed at the spirit flame in his palm with a face full of tenderness.

However, after a while, the spirit flame showed no reaction.

"Slap!" True Man Chunyuan’s expression instantly turned fierce and rancorous, violently rousing his magical power, slamming it hard onto the ground with one hand. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Ultimately just a lifeless object with no consciousness, not a Holy Spirit at all!" His eyes were filled with disdain.

Nonetheless, the spirit flame inherently had no consciousness; once contracted, it wouldn’t run, wouldn’t dislike, and indeed couldn’t be harmed, being immortal and indestructible.

Naturally, it also couldn’t grow!

"A second-tier Holy Spirit, if this old man cultivates carefully, within two hundred years, there might not be a chance of advancing to the fourth tier... By then, maybe this old man’s Immortal Elixir could be refined..."

"Where exactly have you gone?"

"Could the Holy Spirit have some hidden divine abilities for concealment?"

...

After murmuring to himself for a while, True Man Chunyuan suddenly stood up, his Core Formation late-stage magical power surged.