The Arsonist Is Xiao Yan!

"What!?"

"You said he already left?" Gute slammed the table, glaring at the innkeeper as his spittle sprayed all over the man's face.

"Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

The innkeeper could only crane his neck back desperately, trying to stay as far from Gute as possible. If not for the Third Grade Alchemist badge hanging on this old bastard's chest, he would have called someone to throw him out long ago.

"My lord, he really did leave. He checked out half an hour ago." The innkeeper wiped the spit from his face and said helplessly, "I'm sure I didn't see wrong. That First Grade Alchemist was very handsome. I remember him clearly."

"Damn it, it's all Otto's fault!" Gute cursed, clenching his fists. "If that old bastard hadn't wasted my time, how could this have happened?"

"No, I'm going to settle this with him... Forget it, I can't beat him!" Gute sighed and trudged dejectedly toward his home. He was only a Da Dou Shi, while the other man was a Dou Ling.

What he did not notice was a shadow flickering in a dark corner, following far behind him.

Night had fallen. The moon was bright and the stars sparse, its clear light spilling down so that the roads could be seen plainly even without lanterns.

Tonight was a pleasant night.

In a secluded building in the southern part of the city.

Gute carefully held a white jade box the size of a washbasin, his face full of obsession. "Treasure... my treasure..."

Gute cautiously opened the white jade box, revealing numerous chunks of ice. At their center sat a rouge-colored jade bottle.

This was the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, a fine treasure Gute had gone to great lengths to snatch... no, trade from a fellow alchemist.

Bang!

A dull boom suddenly rang out as the door to his room, along with its frame, was kicked straight inside.

Gute shuddered in fright and nearly flung away the Ice Spirit Cold Spring in his hands. Fortunately, he treasured it like his life and immediately shielded it against his chest.

"Otto, you old lunatic, what the hell are you doing?!" Gute roared.

He instinctively assumed Otto was behind this. After all, he had kicked Otto's door in that morning; it was perfectly reasonable for Otto to retaliate that night.

Yet... what drifted in through the doorway was a figure in black robes.

His feet did not touch the ground as he floated in midair. Beneath the hood, his face was deep and pitch-black, like a black hole swallowing every trace of light.

"Damn it! Who are you?!" Gute cried in shock.

"Hehehe... hand it over!"

Lu Bu gave a sinister chuckle and made a grabbing motion. The Ice Spirit Cold Spring in Gute's hands instantly flew into Lu Bu's grasp.

"Ah! My treasure... treas—" Gute cried out, but Lu Bu struck the back of his neck with a hand chop. His body went limp, and he fainted.

Lu Bu chuckled wickedly, took out some rope, and tied Gute up tightly against a pillar.

Then...

"Hehehe... now all of these are my treasures!" Without another word, Lu Bu packed up every medicinal ingredient in Gute's house and stuffed them into his Ring.

Then he spread out his soul power and carefully, thoroughly scanned every corner of the room.

"Hm? Looks like there's something here?" Lu Bu raised a brow in surprise. He dug his fingers into a section of wall and tore off a panel, revealing a palm-sized jade box within.

The moment Lu Bu opened it, his face changed in shock.

Inside the jade box was a thumb-sized gray stone. Its surface was smooth and flawless like fine jade, but a crack split across it, allowing the scene within the stone to be seen clearly.

Within the stone was a faint bluish glow, gently wriggling.

"A Spirit Absorption Stone?" Lu Bu could not help but exclaim. He had never expected Gute to possess one.

There were three things needed to devour a Heavenly Flame: the Blood Lotus Pill, the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and the Spirit Absorption Stone.

According to Yao Lao, none of the three could be omitted. But Lu Bu was different. With the Devouring Ancestral Talisman Protection, he did not need the first two. The Spirit Absorption Stone, however, was another matter. He absolutely had to have it; without it, there would be nowhere to store the flame seed.

"This trip was worth it." Lu Bu chuckled, dismantling every wall in the room, stripping everything hidden inside, and stuffing it all into his Ring.

"What a haul..." Lu Bu chuckled as he turned to leave the house, but then... his footsteps abruptly stopped.

Since he was already here, he had to leave something behind!

Lu Bu's eyes rolled as he took out brush and ink, writing a sentence on the pillar Gute was tied to:

The arsonist is Xiao Yan!

"Perfect!" Lu Bu chuckled. He then took out a firestarter and set the entire house ablaze before striding away and vanishing into the night.

A few minutes later, flames shot into the sky, glaringly obvious against the darkness.

Inside the Alchemist Guild, Foklan and Otto walked out of their offices at the same time and looked toward the south of the city in surprise.

"Old Otto, isn't that Gute's house?" Foklan asked uncertainly.

"That's his place." Otto wore an odd expression. "Could someone have raided his treasure room? Who's so kind as to help us vent this frustration..."

"Waaah! My treasures! My treasures—aaaaah!"

Before Otto could finish, a wail came from the south of the city. It was as mournful and desolate as a cuckoo crying blood, enough to sadden anyone who heard it and bring tears to any listener's eyes...

"Hahaha...!" Otto slapped his thigh and burst into wild laughter. "That old bastard's treasure vault finally got raided! Hahahaha!"

"Otto, you can't be like this. We're members of the Alchemist Guild, trained with strict discipline. We absolutely can't laugh... Hahaha..." Foklan grabbed Otto's arm. "Hahaha, come on, let's go visit our old friend, hahaha..."

"Remember, hahaha, absolutely no laughing, hahaha...!"

The next day, the culprit Lu Bu arrived at the center of Black Stone City, reaching the "airport" to board a flight for the Tagor Desert.

Of course, in the Dou Qi Continent, places like this were not called airports. They were called flying transport agencies, responsible for aerial transportation and mainly serving passengers.

For example, powerful individuals such as Da Dou Shi and Dou Ling sometimes needed to hurry somewhere. If they were not short on money, they would choose this mode of travel.

Although Lu Bu could fly himself, flying on his own was exhausting. Traveling through wind and rain was both tiring and consumed Dou Qi.

Anything that could be handled with money never needed to be handled with physical effort. Of course, that was another matter if one had no money.

Thanks to his identity as an alchemist, Lu Bu received VIP treatment the whole way and boarded a flight exclusively for alchemists, entirely free of charge.

It had to be said that being an alchemist was indeed quite useful. It saved a great deal of trouble.

As the Flying Magical Beasts slowly took off, they sped toward the eastern part of the Jia Ma Empire under the Beast Tamer's command.

Watching Black Stone City gradually shrink outside the window, Lu Bu's gaze flickered. It would have been nice if Xiao Yi Xian were here. The journey was lonely, and he really needed someone to chat with.

Shaking his head, Lu Bu suppressed his tangled thoughts, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating.

Since he was bored, cultivating was the best way to pass the time. Once he entered meditation, an entire day had passed by the time he came back to himself.

Three days later, the Flying Magical Beasts landed steadily in the center of Desert City. This was one of the largest cities on the edge of the Tagor Desert. Perhaps because he was not the protagonist, Lu Bu had not encountered as much trouble along the way as Xiao Yan had.

The alchemists traveling with him were fairly friendly. Aside from one or two fooling around with the maidservants, the other two were quiet, and no bloody incident occurred in the air.

After leaving the city center, Lu Bu wandered leisurely through the city, buying snake-repelling medicine and the droppings of several high-level Magical Beasts to drive creatures away from and protect his campsite.

He had already prepared all sorts of dry rations and food back in Black Stone City. Next... he needed a map!

After asking around a little, Lu Bu learned of a shop called "Ancient Map." According to the locals, it was the best map shop in all of Desert City.

The maps made by this shop were detailed to an outrageous degree and incomparably accurate—far better than even those produced by the Jia Ma Empire's officials.

Lu Bu was speechless after hearing that. If he was not mistaken, it should be Hai Bodong's shop. But the problem was... what kind of reclusive life was that reputation supposed to be?

"Forget it... it has nothing to do with me. I should just go get the map..." Lu Bu muttered as he headed toward Ancient Map.