The interrogation finally yielded results. The two men captured were named Huo Xiren and Huo Chensan, the patriarch and an elder of the Huo family from Hetian City in the Great Success Empire.

However, Cheng Feiliu failed to extract any information about the "Fire Tree Silver Flower" from them. By cross-referencing the remaining half-fragment of the "Spirit-Bewitching Incense," the time the two princes passed out, and the time Huo Xiren and his companion arrived, Cheng Feiliu determined that the disappearance of the "Fire Tree Silver Flower" was unrelated to them.

In the end, Huo Xiren and Huo Chensan, those unlucky fools, were tormented for a long time before gaining their freedom. Yet, Cheng Feiliu confiscated Huo Chensan's "Herb Spirit Treasure Mirror," an artifact capable of detecting the aura of medicinal herbs. He had hoped to seize the "Fire Tree Silver Flower" in the process, but instead, he ended up losing both the desired prize and a pawn in the scheme.

Feeling guilty and aware that their very lives were somewhat indebted to the timely appearance of Cheng Feiliu and his party, the two dared not argue. They slunk away from Jiyang City, utterly disgraced.

With the "Fire Tree Silver Flower" vanished, the Cheng brothers flew into a rage. They summoned several arbiters from the "Thousand Spirits Medicine Gathering" to study the remaining half of the "Spirit-Bewitching Incense," hoping to uncover clues about the thief who stole the treasure. Unfortunately, none of the experts recognized the sliver of spiritual medicine.

While the five-rank Spiritual Pharmacists intensely analyzed the "Spirit-Bewitching Incense," Cheng Feiliu simultaneously ordered the Nie family to launch a full-scale search throughout Jiyang City.

No matter how strictly the secret was guarded, the earth-shattering commotion that night, coupled with the subsequent actions of the Nie family, allowed many observant eyes to notice something amiss. Thus, the news of the "Fire Tree Silver Flower's" theft rapidly circulated, becoming a hot topic of gossip in Jiyang City, alongside the emergence of the Heaven Spirit expert, Lord Nie Shen.

In three days, not only were the aristocratic clans and sects of the Great Success Empire, such as the imperial Cheng family and the Nie family, searching for the "Fire Tree Silver Flower," but various factions arriving from other nations, alerted by the news of the treasure, were also conducting covert inquiries. The atmosphere in Jiyang City grew thick with underlying tension...

...

On the evening of the third day, the north gate of Jiyang City was bathed in the light of a setting sun, blood-red and casting a dazzling, brilliant glow upon the vast expanse of ice and snow outside the walls.

"Hiss—"

With a faint cry, a streak of crimson shadow plunged from the heavens, descending like a bolt of light onto a small peak north of Jiyang City. The fierce downdraft of its descent kicked up the thick snow on the ground into a swirling frenzy, revealing the true form of the shadow as it landed.

Its massive body was covered in blood-red plumage. Its two wings, when fully extended, spanned nearly twenty meters each. Its thick, powerful legs seemed to contain inexhaustible strength, and its razor-sharp talons, upon striking the ground, pulverized a massive, hard boulder into dust.

Most distinctive, however, was the beast’s head. It possessed the body of an avian spirit beast, yet its neck supported a ferocious dragon’s head. Sharp fangs jutted out from its maw, gleaming with a chilling, cold light. Its blood-red eyes were wide open, resembling a pair of small lanterns.

It was none other than a sixth-rank spirit beast: the Blood-Devouring Dragon Hawk!

As the Blood-Devouring Dragon Hawk folded its wings, another crimson figure leaped gracefully from its back—a woman clad in red, possessing a charming face and a lithe, exquisite figure.

"Go amuse yourself!"

With a bewitching smile, the woman in red patted the Dragon Hawk's spine. The spirit beast nodded, spread its wings, and soared into the clouds, vanishing into a tiny red speck in the distance in the blink of an eye.

The woman in red took a step and instantly vanished from her spot. A moment later, when her beautiful figure reappeared, she was already a hundred meters away.

Before long, the woman in red materialized inside Jiyang City.

"'Fire Tree Silver Flower' stolen three days ago, whereabouts still unknown? Even members of the 'Spirit God Hall' have appeared? Elder Nie Shen of the Nie family, the Heaven Spirit expert..."

The murmurs from the teahouses and taverns were ceaselessly captured by the woman in red's ears...

Her delicate, beautiful eyebrows gradually knitted together. The woman in red continued forward a short distance, then abruptly halted, a trace of surprise coloring her lovely face. "There is a scent of my own kind within Jiyang City. Yet, it is so faint, so incredibly weak, making it almost impossible to pinpoint her exact location..."

...

North of Jiyang City, the Imperial Estate.

In the hall newly erected that morning, five figures were seated in order. The foremost was a stout, tall, and powerfully built old man. His long hair was the color of snow, and a white beard flowed down to his chest. His face was square and honest, and when his eyes opened and closed, faint, deep-red firelight seemed to flicker within them, exuding an aura of natural, commanding majesty.

This elder was Cheng Feixing, the Supreme Emperor of the Great Success Empire, and the imperial family's only sixth-rank Spiritual Pharmacist.

Seated on either side of him were Cheng Feiliu and Cheng Feihong. Bringing up the rear were the Fourth Prince, Cheng Zixuan, and the Fifth Prince, Cheng Zirong, both looking dejected and downcast. Many parts of their bodies were still wrapped in bandages; after being stunned by the incense three nights prior, they had also been nearly buried alive by falling earth and debris. They had suffered serious injuries; had they not been Spiritual Masters, they might have lost their lives in the ruins that night.

"It is indeed someone from the 'Spirit God Hall,'" Cheng Feixing murmured to himself after hearing Cheng Feiliu's account, stroking his long beard and narrowing his slender eyes.

"Could the one who harassed my elder brother on the road also be from the 'Spirit God Hall'?" Cheng Feiliu mused internally.

"Precisely. I long suspected it. The water-based spiritual technique that person used appears to be the 'Sea of Azure Tides Birth Art,' a secret technique of the 'Spirit God Hall.' Hearing your third brother confirm it now solidifies my belief." Cheng Feixing nodded. "Third brother, recount the details of the battle as it occurred."

"..." Cheng Feiliu promptly recounted the entire sequence of events.

"And that person’s voice was thin and piercing, like a woman's when speaking?" Cheng Feixing inquired, puzzled.

"Exactly. He must suffer from some sort of private ailment in that regard," Cheng Feiliu replied.

"Third brother, what private ailment? Didn't you hear the Huo family patriarch curse him as a spineless old relic? Put plainly, he’s just an old eunuch!" Cheng Feihong scoffed.

"Now I understand!"

Cheng Feixing snorted through his nose, and the ambient temperature in the room seemed to rise several degrees. "It appears the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower' was nothing more than a trap set by that individual. By broadcasting the news of the treasure during the 'Thousand Spirits Medicine Gathering' auction, his aim was likely to lure out members of the Flower Spirit Clan."

"The Flower Spirit Clan?"

Cheng Zixuan and Cheng Zirong, the unfortunate pair, both managed to lift their heads curiously. Cheng Feiliu, however, experienced a sudden epiphany. "I see it now. He wanted the blood of the Flower Spirit Clan, which is why he deliberately demanded the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower' be auctioned with such fanfare. Then, delaying Elder Brother's journey was specifically to prevent him from reaching Jiyang City before the Flower Spirit Clan members arrived, thus avoiding having the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower' taken back to the imperial palace and ruining his scheme."

"Hmph."

Cheng Feixing let out a cold laugh. "What a pity that the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower' was stolen, and that person was driven out of Jiyang City by Lord Nie Shen. Without the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower,' how will he lure the Flower Spirit Clan? Hmph, this man thought himself clever, but in the end, he grasped at water in a bamboo basket."

Pausing, Cheng Feixing's gaze settled on the two princes. "Tell me," he said calmly, "what did you do after leaving the tunnel? Did you ever open the jade casket?"

"No, absolutely not, Imperial Grandfather, this child can swear on it..." Cheng Zixuan and Cheng Zirong were deeply reverent toward this grandfather. Hearing his question, they immediately scrambled to relate everything that happened from leaving the tunnel until they were overcome by the medicinal incense, holding nothing back.

"That is baffling. Since you did not open the jade casket to leak the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower's' aura, and you showed no flaws on the journey, how could anyone know the herb's location?"

"..."

Everyone in the hall was utterly perplexed...