What a Well-Cast Bait! Dou Power, Third Stage

[Yin Yang Twin Flames Information]: Born in the void of the cosmos, two flames, one black and one white, intertwined and moved like Yin Yang Twin Fish.

Yin and yang were the laws of nature, the source that gave birth to all things. The Yin Yang Twin Flames, born from that source, were a form of flame manifested by the origin itself, filled with the dual powers of life and death. Yang Fire saved people and brought endless vitality; Yin Fire killed people, leaving not even bones behind.

This Heavenly Flame normally existed within the void and could only be seen at specific times.

"That really slapped me in the face."

Gu Han rubbed his face.

When he had first seen the auction list, he had confidently believed there would be no information on Heavenly Flames.

In the end, the information had merely been wrong. There really was a Heavenly Flame at the place where the auctioned information claimed one had been born.

"Yin Yang Twin Flames."

A burning light appeared in Gu Han's eyes.

Of the twenty-three Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, only three were within reach for an ice-attribute Dou Qi cultivator like him: Bone Spirit Cold Flame, Sea Heart Flame, and Yin Yang Twin Flames.

Bone Spirit Cold Flame was a peculiar flame that combined extreme cold and extreme heat. It could only be encountered in places of extreme cold and extreme yin during the alternation of day and night once every hundred years. In theory, it was the Heavenly Flame most suitable for him.

Sea Heart Flame was a miraculous flame born in the depths of the ocean. It could draw upon the power of the sea and dissolve into water. Ice Attribute could be considered a mutation of the water element, so it suited him as well.

Lastly came the Yin Yang Twin Flames. As the saying went, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things. Those two were yin and yang, the source of all power. Ice could be classified as yin, so he could naturally try refining it.

"The good news is that many Alchemists believe this information is false, so not many people will explore it."

"Besides, the Yin Yang Twin Flames can only be discovered at a special point in time. Even if someone goes there, they will most likely fail to find them."

"I have the Black Tortoise Shell. As long as I reach that place, I'll definitely know when the Yin Yang Twin Flames will appear."

"As for the location, I'll have to ask Nalan Su tomorrow."

Gu Han composed himself and shifted his attention to the first piece of Opportunity information.

More than a decade ago, shortly after Xiao Yan was born, Xiao Lin, the Dou Wang head of the Xiao Family, had led several Dou Ling Elders from the clan on an expedition. When they returned, only he remained. He had been severely wounded and poisoned, and before long, he died.

The Xiao Family's strength had suffered greatly. Unable to continue developing in the Imperial Capital, the entire clan moved back to its ancestral home in Wutan City. At the time, they had still been considered a powerful Dou Ling family in the Northeast Province.

However, on the way back, the Xiao Family had been ambushed and surrounded by a group of black-clad men. All the Dou Ling Elders had died in battle. After the remaining old, weak, sick, and disabled members returned to Wutan City, they could only become one of the city's three great families.

Who would have thought that the Black Flame City Lord had actually been one of the black-clad men involved in that ambush?

Then he was very likely to know the identities of the others who had taken part.

If this information were given to the Xiao Family, he would definitely earn a favor.

"But whether I should tell them, and how I should tell them, can wait until then."

Gu Han would not blindly befriend the Xiao Family and Xiao Yan based on preconceived notions.

This was a real world, and every person in it was real as well.

Composing himself, Gu Han began visualizing the Black Tortoise Shell.

The night passed without incident.

A new day arrived.

A maid's voice rang out from outside the room. Gu Han left the Xuanwu Secret Realm and opened his eyes.

After washing up, he put on the uniform of a Misty Cloud Sect Outer Disciple, left his room, and went to meet the Nalan Family.

At the dining table in the inner hall sat only Nalan Su, an ordinary-looking old man, and Nalan Yanyun, who had removed her veil.

Gu Han walked over and sat to the old man's right, his gaze briefly sweeping over Nalan Yanyun.

The girl was only fifteen, but her figure was already delicate and shapely, her curves graceful.

Her looks were not bad. Though she was slightly inferior to Nalan Yanran, she possessed a distinctive charm, pure with a touch of seduction. There was also a trace of sorrow between her brows, making it easy to stir a man's protective instincts.

Gu Han only glanced at her once before withdrawing his gaze. He began chatting with Nalan Su while unhurriedly eating breakfast.

What put Gu Han at ease was that before he could even ask, Nalan Su took the initiative to bring up the Heavenly Flame. "The Miter Auction made a joke of itself last night. The item auctioned in the end was false information."

"Uncle Nalan, are you referring to the information about a Heavenly Flame's birthplace?" Gu Han asked smoothly.

"That's right." Nalan Su began explaining. "This information was publicly auctioned through the Mittel Auction House by a Dou Wang expert from the Mulan Empire."

"There were two auction methods. One was for the highest bidder to obtain it. The other was for each person to pay fifty thousand Gold Coins. As long as there were at least ten participants, the information would be disclosed to everyone who had paid."

"To be honest with you, my Nalan Family wants a Heavenly Flame. I paid those fifty thousand Gold Coins, and there were also several Fourth Grade and Fifth-Grade Alchemists."

"After receiving the information, those Alchemists determined that it was fake."

At that point, Nalan Su deliberately paused for effect.

But seeing that Gu Han remained calm and did not press him, he continued his explanation.

The information auctioned by that Dou Wang concerned the birthplace of the twenty-second Heavenly Flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame. It was supposedly located at an Oasis within the Tagor Desert, in Mulan Empire territory, called Twin Fish Oasis. It had earned its name because, when viewed from the sky, the Oasis and part of the surrounding desert resembled two fish biting each other's tails.

Everyone had initially been thrilled to obtain this information, but one Alchemist suddenly spoke up. He said that he had once acquired an ancient book that recorded some information about the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.

The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was born in a burial ground filled with countless Magical Beasts. It was formed from the essence of innumerable Magical Beast corpses. Its few recorded appearances on the Dou Qi Continent had all been in the distant Beast Region.

After hearing this, the others asked the Alchemist to produce the ancient book, and he did not hesitate.

After everyone studied it, they confirmed that the ancient book was genuine and that the information it recorded had some age to it.

In other words, Twin Fish Oasis simply did not possess the conditions needed to nurture the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame. This was false information.

In the end, the Mittel Auction House sought out that Dou Wang for a confrontation, only to discover that he had already vanished. Fortunately, the Gold Coins had not yet been handed over, avoiding a tremendous loss.

"So, the so-called Heavenly Flame birthplace was fake information deliberately released by that Dou Wang from the Mulan Empire?" Gu Han summarized.

"That is our view as well." Nalan Su nodded. "The Jia Ma Empire and the Chuyun Empire are mortal enemies, but our relationship with the Luoyan Empire and the Mulan Empire is merely ordinary."

"With the Tagor Desert and the Snake People Race acting as a barrier, there has not been much friction between the Mulan Empire and the Jia Ma Empire. Still, they have never stopped plotting against each other."

"That Twin Fish Oasis lies within Mulan Empire territory. Using information about a Heavenly Flame as bait, they clearly have no good intentions."

Gu Han nodded slightly, indicating that he had learned something.

Whether it was bait or not did not matter. He only needed to know about Twin Fish Oasis.

After the casual conversation ended, the Nalan Family's party continued their journey.

Meanwhile, within Wutan City.

At the Xiao Family Martial Arts Plaza, voices surged like a tide.

At that moment, five shining words appeared on the Testing Demonic Stone Tablet.

"Dou Power, Third Stage!"