344: Chapter 344 If it weren't so, then so be it.

That was a three-foot-long silver-gray flying shuttle, forged entirely from third-rank strange fire-grade spirit silver; the shuttle body was engraved with drag-reducing and wind-gathering Array Inscriptionss, and the tail was inlaid with six Wind-Travel Stones.

This was a supreme grade flying Magical Artifact he had purchased at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion for one hundred thousand Spirit Stones; it was designed specifically for travel and could fly twenty thousand li in a single day.

Products from the Sect are always top quality.

Su Cheng leapt onto the flying shuttle and infused it with his spiritual power; silver-gray light surged from the shuttle's body, the Wind-Travel Stones hummed, and he transformed into a streak of silver light, shooting into the clouds.

According to the distance marked on the Sect map, it was several hundred thousand li from Tianlan Province to the Mingxin Sect in Canghai Prefecture.

Including rest and resupply along the way, it would take at least two months at the fastest.

Fortunately, the Spirit Spring Secret Realm would not open for another year and a half, so there was more than enough time.

The flying shuttle tore through the air, and the mountains and rivers of Tianlan Province receded rapidly beneath his feet.

Three days after Su Cheng left.

In the southeast direction of Tianlan Province, inside a shaded stone cave in a remote mountain range, Duanmu Bei put away the last Formation Flag and stretched his stiff limbs.

It had been two years.

His Soul Power had recovered by ninety percent, he could once again manifest two Yinhun Clones, and the hidden injuries in his body had basically healed.

The black Treasure Artifact long saber lay across his knees, and the Soul-Erosion patterns once again emitted a faint, dark purple shimmer.

Duanmu Bei walked out of the cave entrance, squinted his eyes to adjust for a moment, and then ascended into the air by controlling his artifact. (Controlling an artifact is faster than flying on one's own.)

It was time to return to Taining Province.

He had stayed in Tianlan Province long enough, and continuing to linger would only attract unnecessary attention.

The clues to that group of people had been cut off, and it was impossible to track down anything from the traces left two years ago.

As for Sun Boyong of the Tianhai Sect, there was nothing he could do to the other party. Besides, the place they departed from at that time was the Prefecture City of Tianlan, so it could always be investigated.

Therefore, Duanmu Bei was no longer in a hurry. The strange fire had already been snatched away, and having delayed for so long because of it, his mindset had instead become much more stable.

What was the rush? He was a Cultivator at the Late Golden Core Stage with several hundred years of lifespan remaining; he had plenty of time.

Once back at the Sect, he would mobilize the Xuanyin Sect's intelligence network to investigate slowly; that group of people could not hide in the shadows forever, and sooner or later, they would reveal their flaws.

Controlling his artifact, he tore through the air, heading east.

Three days later, Duanmu Bei stopped when he passed through Ningyuan Prefecture City.

He needed to replenish some Medicinal Pills; during the two-plus years of healing, the consumables in his Storage Pouch had bottomed out.

Ningyuan Prefecture City had several Golden Core Family forces, and the markets had everything one would need.

Duanmu Bei changed into an ordinary gray Daoist robe, concealed his aura, and walked into the market.

He went to the Treasure Gathering Tower in the city and bought some cultivation resources.

After finishing his purchases, he found a teahouse to sit in, ordered a pot of spirit tea, and drank it slowly, using it as a way to steady his state of mind.

As the spirit tea went down his throat, warm Spiritual Qi flowed along his Meridians. Duanmu Bei closed his eyes to feel it for a moment, then beckoned the waiter over and asked casually, "Waiter, I have been living in the deep mountains cultivating for these past years. I wonder if there have been any major events in the province over these last two years?"

The waiter was a Cultivator at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, and hearing this, he smiled and said, "You've asked the right person, sir! The biggest event in Tianlan Province these past two years is undoubtedly the Danding Sect."

"Oh? How so?"

"The Danding Sect produced an incredible Genius Disciple named Su Cheng, who refined a top-grade nine-orifice golden spirit pill on the spot during the Alchemy Hall Competition the year before last! Do you know what effect that pill has? It permanently increases the speed of spiritual power absorption and conversion by forty percent!"

Duanmu Bei's finger gently circled the rim of his teacup, "A top-grade Medicinal Pill... that is indeed remarkable."

"Remarkable doesn't even begin to cover it!" The waiter seemed to have become interested. "That Su Cheng is now the Danding Sect's prized possession. He only hands in a few pills a month, and who gets them and who doesn't is decided personally by the Alchemy Hall Head.

The forces lining up outside to beg for pills are queued until next year; even Nascent Soul Great Sects like the Giant Spirit Sect and the Fentian Sect have to wait obediently."

"A Foundation Establishment Disciple being able to refine top-grade second-rank pills is indeed a Genius." Duanmu Bei's tone was flat as he added, "But to be able to refine top-grade pills, could it be that he has some special methods?"

"That's for sure. It's said that Su Cheng has a precious artifact pill furnace and a third-rank strange fire in his hands, and it seems he has even comprehended a Concept!" The waiter lowered his voice and said, "With a third-rank strange fire and a precious artifact pill furnace, Alchemy is like a game to him."

Duanmu Bei's hand holding the tea paused, his mind filled with thousands of thoughts.

"A third-rank strange fire?" His voice didn't change as he asked again, "He is just a Foundation Establishment Disciple; where would he get a third-rank strange fire?"

"Who knows? I heard he only obtained it shortly before the Alchemy Hall Competition, so it must have been some Opportunity. It's not that strange for a Danding Sect Disciple to have such a thing, is it? I heard several Disciples have strange fires!"

Duanmu Bei held the teacup and asked another seemingly casual question, "Does that strange fire have any special characteristics? For example, regarding its aura... does it carry any evil nature?"

The waiter was taken aback, then shook his head and smiled, "Sir, how can you say that? How could something belonging to a Danding Sect Disciple have an evil nature? They are a proper Nascent Soul Great Sect of the Righteous Path, and the strange fire is said to be very pure in nature; otherwise, how could he refine top-grade Medicinal Pills?"

Duanmu Bei nodded and asked no more.

He gave the waiter ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones as a tip and sent him away.

The spirit tea in the teacup had gone cold, and he did not drink any more.

Two years ago.

A third-rank strange fire obtained before the Alchemy Hall Competition.

The strange fire he had spent fifty years planning for was also third-rank, and it had been taken by someone from the Ten Thousand Snakes Valley more than two years ago.

The timing seemed to match up.

The waiter said the fire was pure and had no evil nature; these words actually dissipated some of Duanmu Bei's doubts.

The dark, evil aura of his fire was deep to the bone; if it were taken out and used as it was, it would be impossible for people to call it pure.

But the doubts dissipating somewhat did not mean they were entirely gone.

Duanmu Bei sat in the teahouse for another quarter of an hour; his expression remained normal throughout, but in his heart, he was weighing these words over and over.

He recalled meeting that young man at the city gate of Tongbao City two years ago, and remembered how Sun Boyong, in order to make him retreat, said that the person was a Core Disciple of the Danding Sect.

At the time, he had only regarded the other party as an ordinary Cultivator, not taking it to heart, and he hadn't believed it at all.

Duanmu Bei recalled it once more, and now, the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

He set down his teacup, stood up, and left the teahouse.

After leaving the city gate and ascending into the air by controlling his artifact, his speed was thirty percent faster than before.

Whether it was evil or not, that was all for outsiders to see.

Once a strange fire has been in someone's hands for a long time, the exterior can completely change depending on what Cultivation Technique is used to nurture it and what methods are used to suppress its evil nature.

He, Duanmu Bei, knew better than anyone the true nature of that fire; it was something matured using the flesh, blood, and essences of countless living beings, evil to the bone.

But what if someone had sealed its evil nature? Wouldn't what outsiders see be "upright and peaceful"?

Of course, it was also possible that it was just a coincidence.

But Duanmu Bei did not fully believe it was a coincidence.

Duanmu Bei's speed increased by another two points.

He would not go looking for Su Cheng right now; as a prized Disciple of the Danding Sect who was held up and protected by a group of Golden Core Elders within the Sect, going there would be equivalent to seeking death.

But he could investigate. Upon returning to the Xuanyin Sect, he would mobilize the Sect's secret intelligence network to check Su Cheng's background.

Where he came from, when he joined the Sect, and what he did before and after joining the Sect.

As long as the investigation was deep enough, he would always be able to find a flaw.

"If it is not, then so be it; but if it truly is..." Duanmu Bei said coldly.