Without wasting any time, Cao Ying shot forward powerfully, leaving a trail of qi across the sky. She swung her sword and clashed with the old man, who had introduced himself as Hun Yun.

The battle between two Soul Formation cultivators unleashed a tremendous wave of force. Lin Tian’s attention was fixed ahead, watching the fight while recovering his condition.

They traded attacks, hammering Hun Yun with massive force. Cao Ying smiled with satisfaction. Fighting another Soul Formation cultivator always got her blood pumping.

"Old man! Are you tired already?" Cao Ying called out.

A slash of fire struck Hun Yun, sending his body flying backward as parts of his robe caught and burned.

"Fellow Daoist. This is a fight between him and me. I ask that you not act aggressively," Hun Yun said.

"Is it wrong for me to attack you?"

Cao Ying stood on the sky floor, then swung her arm hard to the side. The swing turned into a blade slash attack aimed straight at Hun Yun.

Hun Yun moved fast. He slammed his magic staff into the sky floor, summoning black runes that launched black spears rather than skulls this time.

Cao Ying’s attack and Hun Yun’s clashed head-on, followed by a powerful burst of qi. It didn’t last long before an explosion shook the sky, splitting the clouds apart, leaving many people completely awestruck.

Lin Tian narrowed his eyes. The effects of the battle were nearly on par with a collision between Earth-grade technique forces. But they were far more terrifying than any fight between Nascent Soul cultivators.

Ahead, Cao Ying was pushed back, her body radiating a deep red qi aura. In the other direction, Hun Yun stood at a distance, breathing hard with his hands visibly trembling.

Lin Tian stood up and walked toward Cao Ying. His condition had fully recovered, and he was ready to continue fighting. On the other side, Mo Lihai was still injured and Hun Yun was exhausted.

If Hun Yun had to fight two people head-on at the same time, there was no way he would win.

"Brat! You’re lucky that woman protected you. Next time, there won’t be anyone to save you," Hun Yun said firmly.

Hun Yun chose to leave, taking Mo Lihai away from the area. Cao Ying fixed him with a sharp look and was about to go after them. But Lin Tian stopped her immediately.

"No need. Just let them go," Lin Tian said.

Cao Ying turned and looked at Lin Tian. With a small sigh, she nodded slowly and went along with what he said.

The situation at the location gradually calmed and returned to normal. From ahead, Li Qingxue and Han Xin flew toward Lin Tian. Noticing their approach, Cao Ying immediately went on full alert.

"You two? What do you want?" Cao Ying asked.

"We want to clear up what happened before, and put aside the hostility and the misunderstanding," Li Qingxue replied.

Lin Tian walked toward them. He knew what Han Xin had done, but he couldn’t fully blame them either.

Their ignorance had been rooted in the camouflage illusion Lin Tian himself had used, not in any conscious choice of theirs.

So it wouldn’t be fair to judge them outright.

"I understand what happened. So I won’t hold it against you."

"As a consequence, some of your disciples were unfortunately caught in the middle," Lin Tian said.

"I’m somewhat disappointed by that, but I know we crossed a line."

Li Qingxue stepped forward gracefully, stopping close to Lin Tian, "If you don’t mind, I’d like to invite you to the Yunlan Sect as an apology from us."

"There’s no need for that. I have some things I need to take care of. So I have to go."

Without saying much else, Lin Tian and Cao Ying took flight and left the area, their qi trails cutting across the sky. Li Qingxue and Han Xin remained behind, both of them gazing into the distance, watching the two of them leave.

"Tomorrow is the day I need to bring them tribute. Have more prepared for that," Li Qingxue said.

Han Xin bowed her head and pressed her hands together, "Understood."

She and Li Qingxue flew off to return to the Yunlan Sect. Elsewhere, Cao Ying glanced sideways at Lin Tian. She was curious whether he had managed to get the earth flame or not.

"How did the auction go?" Cao Ying asked.

"I got it. It took some fighting, both with money and effort."

"It should be worth it for Luo Mei’s growth down the road," Cao Ying said.

Lin Tian kept a cool expression and gave a brief nod without saying a word. They continued moving fast to get back to the Lingxian Sect as soon as possible.

From a distance, the sect came into view. Many disciples were training with energy and focus, not a single one of them looking idle.

Lin Tian’s arrival was greeted by An Yue. Word of Lin Tian’s departure to the Wuwei Sect had spread. They knew that Lin Tian had gone to that sect to demand accountability, and An Yue had filled them all in on the details.

"Master Lin?" An Yue called out.

"Yue’er? Have you already handed over those array scrolls and the pill recipes?"

"Yes. I’ve already given them out."

Lin Tian’s attention drifted toward the Pill Refinement Hall building. He asked An Yue to return to her training and told Cao Ying to head back to her rocky hill to cultivate.

He walked alone, leaving the front courtyard of the sect until he arrived at the entrance of the Pill Refinement Hall. Wu Yue spotted Lin Tian coming, and the woman hurried over to meet him.

"What brings you here?" Wu Yue asked.

His steps stopped. His hand patted his bag of holding and produced a glass jar with the High-Grade Earth Flame stored inside. Wu Yue froze in shock.

"A High-Grade Earth Flame?" she asked.

"I’m sure Mei’er needs an earth flame to help her start refining pills. This fire will help her a great deal," Lin Tian replied.

He sent the High-Grade Earth Flame floating over toward Wu Yue. But without warning, Wu Yue smashed the glass jar, drawing the attention of many people around them, including Lin Tian.

"You! What do you think you’re doing?!" Lin Tian said sharply.

Because the Earth Flame had no owner and the array inside the jar was destroyed, the flame immediately flew off uncontrolled, leaving the sect like a bird taking flight into open sky.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get that?!" Lin Tian snapped.

"I’m the one who will give Luo Mei the Earth Flame, not you. Do you think you can just buy her over with something like that?" Wu Yue shot back.

Lin Tian clenched his fist tight, the fury inside him desperately wanting to kill Wu Yue on the spot.

But he managed to hold it back, because Luo Mei looked up to her as a teacher and had learned a great deal of pill refinement from Wu Yue.

Killing Wu Yue in front of Luo Mei... would only hurt the girl deeply.

"Fine. That fire is gone now, off to who knows where. I won’t go looking for it again," Lin Tian said.

He turned and walked away, leaving the back courtyard of the sect. Wu Yue arrogantly turned her face away and stepped back inside the Pill Refinement Hall to meet with Luo Mei.

"What happened?" Luo Mei asked.

"Nothing. You can go back to your training, Mei’er," Wu Yue answered.

Without realizing it, the whole thing had been witnessed firsthand by Cao Ying. Her eyes narrowed sharply as she stared toward the Pill Refinement Hall.

She hadn’t expected the Earth Flame that Lin Tian had risked his life to obtain by fighting a Soul Formation cultivator to be discarded so casually by Wu Yue.

Cao Ying felt a sting of pain watching it. She flew to the back courtyard of the sect immediately and stood in front of the Pill Refinement Hall.

The woman in the red robe walked in and found Wu Yue in the middle of cultivating, while Luo Mei was studying herbal materials for pills from a record scroll.

"Do you realize what you just did?" Cao Ying asked.

Wu Yue opened her eyes and looked up, clearly seeing Cao Ying had arrived at the Pill Refinement Hall with her eyes narrowed sharply.

"M-Master Ying? What brings you to the Pill Refinement Hall?" Wu Yue asked.

"Do you realize what you’ve done? You threw away that High-Grade Earth Flame."

"I don’t need it... Luo Mei doesn’t need it."

Cao Ying stepped forward firmly, "Lin Tian sacrificed everything to get that Earth Flame. I saw it myself."

A red qi orb formed at the tip of her right index finger, then shot forward and entered Wu Yue’s forehead.

"Now you’ll see for yourself the sacrifice Lin Tian made for that fire you threw away so easily!"