Qin scanned the courtyard of Qinghong Inn with his spiritual awareness, sweeping a one-mile radius around the inn. He found only common folk - merchants, tavern keepers, and ordinary residents. No cultivators possessing spiritual energy were detected in any direction.

Satisfied after this thorough check, Qin exhaled slowly. Choosing to hide here amidst Zhuzhou's bustling market streets was no accident. The cacophony of worldly clamor, the suffocating mundane stench, and the near-absence of heavenly qi all served as natural barriers against fellow cultivators. This chaotic environment with its countless distractions and risks - from wayward sparks igniting oil stores to greedy eyes spotting rare treasures - made it anathema to most immortals.

Precisely for someone like Ye Qin who needed isolation, this place was ideal. It would shield him while he unraveled the mysteries of his two prized possessions: the undying flame and the treasure gourd.

Holding the fire-essence box in one hand, Ye Qin studied the small ember it contained. In cultivation circles, flames held infinite variations - from yang fires burned by cultivators to yin phantasmal fires of ghostly cultivators,'s fiery breaths, wood-burning embers, stone-collision sparks, subterranean magma, celestial heavens' burning stars, and even mythic infernal or divine fires beyond comprehension.

He'd encountered the more common types firsthand. The most legendary - like heaven-falling fire that turned thousand-mile landscapes into deserts of ash - remained only in ancient scrolls. Each flame type bore unique traits; yang fires burned hot while yin fires chilled cold,'s breaths varied wildly with their species. And deep-earth or celestial fires? Those were volatile beasts nearly impossible to control.

The undying flame within the jade box appeared no different than ordinary magma fire at first glance. Only a grain of rice in size, it emitted faint crimson light and passively absorbed surrounding fire qi. Yet when held in his palm, it felt scarcely warm - its spiritual energy presence was almost imperceptible. This tiny ember's power probably couldn't even match the weakest flameball thrown by an early-stage cultivator.

Determined to test their differences, Ye Qin conjured a small innate true fire in his right hand. As he drew defensive seals with his left across the room, temperatures soared instantly as the incantation sealed heat within a narrow space. Without further cultivation energy input, both flames continued burning separately until finally, after nearly two hours, the natural true fire burned itself out.

But the jade box's ember still flickered undiminished.

The contrast was undeniable - exactly what Ye Qin had expected from something named "undying flame." Yet beyond this perpetual burning trait, he detected no other advantages. And he certainly doubted it could truly resist destruction forever. A well-placed water technique would likely extinguish even ten such embers with ease.

Unfortunately, his only sample remained untouched for now - not worth risking damage to.

The mystery of its eternal combustion consumed Ye Qin's thoughts. If solved, perhaps it would explain why Guangyu Zhenren had gone through so much trouble bringing this ember back to Xianyuan City.

Focusing intently on the flame's internal structure, patterns emerged. The core formed a swirling vortex like an ancient wind-and-flame wheel - rotating slowly yet exerting strange gravitational pull over fire qi. This spiraling shape triggered recognition in Ye Qin after some contemplation and verification against copied jade tablets from Qingdan Library.

A fire-element gathering array suddenly surfaced in his mind, its pentagonal structure eerily similar to the ember's internal pattern.

"Fire-element Gathering Array! The ember's inner workings mirror this ancient technique exactly," he murmured, comparing them closely. While most cultivators would never master array formations - few dedicated lifetimes to such studies when even basic alchemy or weapon-making demanded enough time already - Ye Qin knew enough about these fundamentals.

The gathering arrays were ancient techniques designed to concentrate elemental qi for cultivation. Different versions existed for each element - fire, water, etc., with distinct visual forms optimized for attracting specific qi types.

Understanding this connection, Ye Qin suddenly realized the true origin of gathering arrays: perhaps they weren't human inventions at all, but adaptations derived from naturally occurring phenomena like fire sources or water origins. The fire-element version's unique shape indeed proved it differed fundamentally from other elemental origins.

This revelation electrified him - no wonder Guangyu Zhenren had taken such interest in this ember. Such primordial artifacts would surely captivate high-level cultivators who'd long grown indifferent to common treasures.

Yet practical application remained distant for Ye Qin. Since he had no intention of studying arrays, purchasing ready-made gathering array disks and banners from Xianyuan's markets made more sense than deciphering the ember's internal structure himself. These pre-etched disks offered simplified versions with reduced power but required zero array knowledge to use.

Still, something about this ember nagged at him...

Days passed in eerie silence at Ye Qin's courtyard. The inn steward's chosen maidservants, all teenagers around fifteen or sixteen years old, found themselves mysteriously repelled when trying to clean the space. Pushing against the seemingly invisible barrier only sent them gently sliding backward, their calls unanswered by any soul inside.

This strange occurrence spread alarm through the staff like wildfire. The bewildered inn steward personally arrived at the courtyard and discovered the same phenomenon - an unseen force gently but firmly keeping him out.

Instead of fear, this anomaly ignited his excitement. Kneeling in the mud with his silk robes discarded around him, he performed three reverent bows to the courtyard, proclaiming aloud: "This is a true immortal's trace!"

As a lifelong devotee of cultivation lore, the innkeeper had heard countless tales about immortal phenomena - from mass deaths during ancient court upheavals to modern stories of scholars achieving ascension through divine instruction. Yet this was his first actual encounter with an immortal being.

The young man who'd arrived just yesterday must be that hidden immortal! Finding such a treasure within one's establishment was pure good fortune, and the steward vowed to honor it by following all proper rituals. After all, immortals were capricious beings - they might appear through sheer luck or only reveal themselves when presented with the right offering.

Even in prosperous Zhuzhou City, few wealthy nobles could claim such a rare connection to the heavens...