Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Heading west, they quickly left Spiral Town and followed the mountain road up to Flaming Mountain. When Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei attempted to fly and reached the summit of Flaming Mountain, they discovered numerous small whirlwinds in the air. These whirlwinds were extremely dangerous; if touched, they would be swept away.

Moreover, no matter how it flies, it feels like it's flying in place, as if there's an invisible wall in between.

This means there are no shortcuts, no way to land directly on the summit of Flaming Mountain; people must climb the mountain step by step.

Zhou Qingfeng had no choice but to land and steadily walk up the mountain path.

Jin Wei, with one hand pressing down on his sword, followed beside him: "Young Master, it's almost dawn. Is your hand alright?"

Zhou Qingfeng clenched his fist, shook his head, and said, "It's alright."

With his powerful physique, losing two fingers was nothing; he could simply straighten the bones and recover in no time. What truly harmed him was the feeling of powerlessness he felt when facing absolute power. If it weren't for the help of divination, which allowed him to avoid misfortune and seek good fortune, he would have been unable to overcome this obstacle and would have undoubtedly died.

The life-or-death gamble set up by Iron Fan means that anyone who enters it will lose their life. From the very beginning, no way out is left for our side. If we don't gamble, we will be threatened by Iron Fan. In order to save our lives, we are forced to gamble. Once we start gambling, the probability of winning against Iron Fan is not just almost zero, but absolutely zero. This level is too dangerous.

A clever person will surely die if they encounter this, because they will be caught up in a gamble, racking their brains to figure out how to drink the poisoned wine, how much to drink, and which cup to drink.

The brave will surely die if they encounter it, because the brave are fearless of death and forge ahead. Once they decide to gamble with their lives, they will inevitably drink one of the cups.

Even cowards will surely die if they encounter this, because cowards are afraid of being crushed by the iron fan, thus falling into a gamble that they are doomed to die.

However, even if someone really thought that not gambling would mean not losing, no one could be sure that Iron Fan wouldn't actually kill someone.

This is a perfect, doomed gamble; under normal circumstances, there is no solution.

As Zhou Qingfeng ran, he reviewed his problems, while Jin Wei followed beside him, keeping an eye out for any unusual situations. The two of them quickly rushed towards the Flaming Mountain until dawn. When they reached a T-junction, three figures were rushing towards them from the opposite mountain road.

The two sides met unexpectedly and stopped in their tracks. They were about a hundred paces apart, and a great battle was about to break out.

Zhao Ying slowly drew the two daggers from his waist and calmly said, "Chief Yan, it seems we don't need to go looking for them; they've delivered themselves to our doorstep."

Li Ergou drew two magic maces from his waist: "Chief Yan, should I kill them?"

Yan Bipo calmly looked at Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei, then looked up at the road leading to the summit of Flaming Mountain: "A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan. The most urgent task is to obtain the Sky-Escape Ruler. Once we have the Sky-Escape Ruler, we will have the way to leave. As for the two of them, they are like birds in a cage, unable to escape. Once I have the Sky-Escape Ruler, I will turn around and kill them."

"Besides, we don't know what dangers or enemies we'll encounter along the way, so it's all unknown. But it certainly won't be easy to obtain the Heavenly Ruler."

“Fighting them now would waste time and increase the risk of injury. If we encounter dangers or enemies on the way, we might not be able to cope.”

"Even if we kill them to avenge Junior Sister Shen and Junior Brother Lu and retrieve the Yan Sha Demon Spirit, it would be meaningless if we couldn't leave this place."

Upon hearing this, Li Ergou quickly chuckled and said, "Chief Yan is wise and resourceful, I wouldn't have thought of such a thing."

Zhao Ying said coldly, "Chief Yan is trying to consider the overall situation, but he is afraid that the other party will not know what's good for them and will insist on fighting with us at this time."

Yan Bipo gestured and calmly said, "You two wait here, I'll go talk to him."

After speaking, Yan Bipo put his hands behind his back and walked forward alone. Every step was steady and powerful. He was not afraid of the enemy launching a joint attack. His strong strength gave him enough confidence. He was indeed powerless to fight against the Bell Elder, but he had never met an opponent of the same level.

Jin Wei said, "Young Master, the other party came over alone, and it seems he wants to talk to us."

Zhou Qingfeng reached out and pressed Jin Wei's shoulder, seemingly lost in thought: "Wait here for me. I'll go talk to him. I think I know what he's up to."

The two slowly approached each other, eventually stopping fifty paces apart in tacit agreement.

Yan Bipo coldly said, "Fellow Daoist Tiandao, what a skill! With a single move of diverting disaster, you killed two of my junior brothers and sisters."

Zhou Qingfeng said calmly, "If you hadn't tried to forcibly seize the Yan Sha Demon Spirit, why would things have come to this?! Alright, there's no point in saying more. Since we've met here, we must both have obtained crucial information and are here for the same goal. Now, let's see if Chief Yan wants to fight or negotiate. I'll be happy to oblige."

Yan Bipo remained calm, scrutinized Zhou Qingfeng's attire, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes, and coldly said, "Judging from your appearance, Fellow Daoist Tian doesn't seem like an ordinary rogue cultivator. You possess a high-grade Fiend-level heavy armor, a high-grade Fiend-level Immortal-Slaying Bow and Immortal-Slaying Arrows, and the pagoda you're holding in your palm must also be of extraordinary origin. Just who is Fellow Daoist Tian?"

"Just an ordinary rogue cultivator. These treasures were all obtained by chance." Zhou Qingfeng smiled faintly. He hadn't said anything before because it would have been useless, and now that the grudges had been settled, he couldn't say anything more.

"So be it." Yan Bipo narrowed his eyes upon seeing this and decided not to investigate the other party's identity anymore, because it was irrelevant. No matter who the other party was, they had to die, otherwise he would not be able to explain back to his sect, and he would not be able to get over the hurdle in his heart. If he could not kill his enemy and avenge his junior sister Shen, how could he have the face to live in this world?

Iwabi: "Let's talk."

Zhou Qingfeng: "How do we negotiate?"

Yan Bipo: "The fact that we met here proves that we are here for the same thing. Only that thing can take us away from Spiral Town. Time is of the essence, and we don't know what dangers and enemies we will encounter along the way. So, let's put aside our grudges and entanglements for now, cooperate for the time being, and get through this difficult time together. How about it?"

Zhou Qingfeng: "Great, that's exactly what I wanted."

Yan Bipo nodded and turned to leave.

Zhou Qingfeng turned and left.

There was no unnecessary talk between the two sides, because they were both smart people who knew when to advance and retreat, and were good at assessing the situation. Each had their own plans and schemes. If there was even one fool, a deadly battle would inevitably break out immediately. How long it would last and how many people would die was completely unknown. They would fight to the death, and in the end, no one would be able to escape.

A new round of competition has begun invisibly.

Yan Bipo must obtain the Escape Ruler in order to have enough leverage to continue the game with Zhou Qingfeng. He might even be able to force Zhou Qingfeng to hand over the Demon Spirit of Words in exchange for a way out without lifting a finger. Conversely, if Zhou Qingfeng obtains the Escape Ruler, Yan Bipo, Li Ergou, and Zhao Ying will surely die and be completely eliminated.

A life-or-death struggle has once again subsided into calm and stillness under the deliberate suppression of both sides.

At least a superficial harmony was maintained, and no real action was taken.