"How could they do such a thing? The Vermilion Bird Fire is Jian Li’s natal spirit fire.

Would he really agree to have his cultivation foundation destroyed like this?"

Jian Li was not weak.

He was a sword cultivator with extremely strong offensive power.

Even if he could not defeat the two island masters working together, he should at least have been able to escape.

The gray robed monk glanced at the people gathering around before replying with a frown, "It is said that Jian Li’s sworn younger sister accidentally damaged his natal sword, causing his combat strength to drop significantly. That is why the Emperor and Island Master Ying... Right now, Jian Li has been imprisoned. Martial Uncle Zhunsheng has gone to seek instructions from the abbot. The abbot said this matter is for you to decide. As for what our Fanghu Mystic Isle should do..."

"Amitabha. Those who follow different paths cannot work together. Though we are monks, principles still matter. Gather all our disciples and inform the Emperor and Island Master Ying. If they do not return Jian Li’s spirit fire and restore his damaged foundation, all monks of Fanghu Mystic Isle will immediately withdraw from Yingzhou Celestial Isle and return to Fanghu Mystic Isle," Tongchan said calmly with his hands pressed together.

Although he had not yet figured out the meaning behind the thoughts of the young man beside him, it was already certain that the situation on Yingzhou Celestial Isle was filled with layers of hidden schemes.

Fanghu Mystic Isle itself might even be used as a pawn.

This matter was too serious to continue going with the flow.

It was better to step out of the situation first and observe.

As he thought this, Tongchan glanced at Xiao Shou.

So his disciple had been right again.

Jian Li had indeed been set up by Yu Lin and fallen into misfortune.

With his own black flame available, why would they still do something like this?

Still, this monk Tongchan was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

He had not expected him to respond like this.

Perhaps the monks of Fanghu Mystic Isle were not villains after all.

In the novel, they were likely deceived and used by Xiao Ran and General Ping Guo.

Watching Tongchan calmly announce Fanghu Mystic Isle’s decision in front of the crowd while remaining composed amid the uproar, Xiao Shou thought this to himself.

He did not notice that, while lost in thought, the small black flame in his hand that was still in its immature state of awareness, was jumping continuously.

It seemed to have suddenly discovered that it could move beyond the place it had originally been unable to leave.

Driven by instinct and its desire, the small flame grew extremely excited and pounced toward a certain direction.

Noticing the abnormal movement of the little flame, Xiao Shou was just about to call it back when, at that very moment, he suddenly received a voice transmission from Tongchan.

"Little benefactor, when you have time, let us have a proper talk. This monk is quite interested in the things you mentioned, such as the female protagonist, the supporting character, and General Ping Guo."

"Eh?"

What nonsense.

When did I ever say any of that?

Thrown into extreme shock and having no idea how he had been exposed, Xiao Shou could no longer act composed.

He stared blankly as Tongchan finished transmitting his message. He gave him a respectful gesture and then calmly led the other monks away.

Xiao Shou stood there, almost completely frozen.

After quite a while, he finally reacted to the situation he was now facing.

His identity as a transmigrator seemed to have been exposed.

It had not been exposed to his clever disciple, nor to the scheming supporting character, nor to the ruthless female protagonist, nor even to his powerful grandfather.

Yet somehow, under circumstances he did not even understand himself, it had been exposed to a monk who was practically a stranger.

A shadow seemed to fall over Xiao Shou’s heart.

He wanted to be alone.

He even felt like dying on the spot.

But the many gazes focused on him made it impossible to even have a moment of peace.

At this point, he could not care about anything else.

He immediately used an illusion to cover the surroundings and retreated before anyone could react.

At the same time, he made up his mind that he would never encounter that strange monk Tongchan again.

If he saw him in the future, he would just avoid him.

Right now, Xiao Shou felt rather fortunate that he had been disguised ever since arriving at Yingzhou Celestial Isle.

This way, even if his identity as a transmigrator had been exposed, his current identity after transmigration had not been revealed.

So in the future... there should be no trouble, right?

After coming to this conclusion, Xiao Shou felt somewhat relieved.

But once he relaxed, he had the vague sense that he had forgotten something important.

He could not recall it at all.

Forget it.

It was already night.

He would rest first and deal with everything tomorrow.

After all, there was nothing that could not be solved after a good sleep.

Xiao Shou firmly believed this.

Meanwhile, the small black flame that had been completely forgotten by its owner fluttered its tiny wings as it flew along, heading toward the direction that made its instinctive self drool.

Normally, a small flame separated from its source like this would gradually burn out and extinguish once it left its owner and stopped receiving spiritual energy.

But the Terrestrial Fox Black Flame was different.

Its nature allowed it to burn away all sins and impurities born of the earth, turning them into fuel for itself.

In other words, the sins and impurities of the land were like food and growth energy to it.

And so, in an environment filled with such nourishment, the little black flame that has been forgotten by its owner and now free, began its search for food.