On the mountainside of Chuyun Peak, the white clouds were pristine.

A young disciple clad in a moon-white robe was ascending the mountain path, step by step.

He raised his foot, about to step onto a stone step when his vision blurred. He found himself rooted to the spot, unable to move, even his spiritual sense becoming hazy.

Then, a figure flickered beside him, and a tall young man materialized, none other than Han Li.

"Tell me in detail about the situation in the Scripture Repository of the sect," Han Li said slowly, his eyes gleaming with a strange blue light as he stared into the young man's eyes, his voice carrying an eerie quality.

"The Scripture Repository is located on Ji Sheng Peak and is divided into an outer and inner section. The outer section is open to all disciples and elders, while the inner section is only accessible to inner disciples and elders..." the white-robed disciple replied in a vacant tone, like a lifeless puppet.

Listening to the disciple's words, Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but a thoughtful look flickered deep within his eyes.

As a crucial location of utmost importance, the Cold Flame Sect naturally managed its Scripture Repository with extreme care.

Normally, when sect disciples and elders exchanged scriptures, they not only had to pay a large number of spirit stones but also had to deduct sect contribution points.

Sect contribution points were the measure of a disciple or elder's contribution to the sect. They were typically earned by completing tasks issued by the sect. The more difficult the task, the higher the contribution points awarded. Without sufficient time to accumulate, it was impossible to have enough contribution points to exchange for high-level cultivation methods and secret techniques.

Therefore, some people inevitably took shortcuts and sought other ways.

Once upon a time, many rogue cultivators with ulterior motives would join the Cold Flame Sect as outer elders, secretly sneaking into the Scripture Repository to steal scriptures. However, without exception, they were all discovered, and their fates were invariably miserable.

The reason was none other than the Scripture Repository's defenses being too tight. These people simply had no opportunity.

According to the white-robed disciple, a Nascent Soul elder was stationed in the repository year-round, and there were constant patrols, day and night, without interruption. In addition, there were countless powerful restrictions, making it difficult for ordinary cultivators to approach.

Han Li pondered for a long while in place. He retracted his finger from between the white-robed disciple's eyebrows, and his body disappeared from the spot in an instant, like a phantom.

The white-robed disciple's foot, which had been raised for so long, finally came down with a thud.

He staggered, almost falling.

After steadying himself, he rubbed his slightly numb calf, looked around blankly, shook his head inexplicably, and continued walking up the mountain.

About an hour later.

Han Li's figure appeared on Ji Sheng Peak. He stood beneath a tall, verdant ancient cypress tree, gazing at a two-story octagonal pavilion in the distance.

The pavilion was about nine zhang tall, with eight corners and eight sides, but only had one main door facing south.

The walls and roof of the pavilion were all engraved with complex runes for lightning protection and fire prevention.

Two teams of patrolling cultivators circled the pavilion, crisscrossing and taking turns to patrol.

After watching for a long time, a thoughtful expression appeared on Han Li's face. His figure blurred, and he disappeared from the spot.

That night.

Deep within the Cold Flame Sect, there was a valley where a series of bluestone halls were located. Patrol teams of disciples walked around constantly, numbering as many as seven or eight teams. The leaders were all Nascent Soul cultivators, obviously placing great importance on this place.

A patrol team silently flew past the entrance of the valley. The leader, a man in a green robe, seemed a little sleepy and yawned silently.

Just then, another patrol team flew over from dozens of zhang away, patrolling in different directions.

Seeing this, the green-robed man couldn't help but curl his lips.

Although the Celestial Talisman Hall was an important place in the Cold Flame Sect, arranging so many night patrol disciples was overly cautious.

Not only was the location hidden, but the sect-protecting grand formation enveloped the entire mountain gate. How could anyone sneak in here?

He naturally dared not say these words aloud. Instead, he transmitted a message to his disciples behind him, ordering them to be careful and vigilant, and was about to fly into the valley.

At that moment, a thunderous crash suddenly echoed from a hall not far from the green-robed man, followed by an explosion of purple lightning. Then, everything quickly returned to silence.

The green-robed man paused, seemingly not reacting.

"Who's there!"

"Not good, someone has infiltrated the Celestial Talisman Hall!"

The night patrol disciples behind the man exclaimed in alarm.

The green-robed man finally reacted and pounced down in shock, instantly arriving outside the hall.

"Who dares to trespass into the Celestial Talisman Hall! Surrender immediately!" the man shouted, gripping a magical treasure in his hand. With a wave of his hand, the patrol disciples behind him immediately dispersed, surrounding the hall.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Other night patrol disciples also immediately flew over, seven or eight teams, hundreds of people, surrounding the hall so tightly that not even a fly could escape.

The hall was dark and silent.

All the halls here were covered by restrictions, making it impossible to probe them with spiritual sense.

Several leaders exchanged glances, unsure whether to rush in.

As night patrol disciples, they were not qualified to set foot here.

"What happened?" A beam of white light flew over and landed outside the hall, revealing the figure of an old man with white hair.

"Master Fan, you're here! Someone just broke into the Celestial Talisman Hall! We were about to go in and search, but according to the rules, we are not qualified to enter," a leader said quickly, walking to the old man's side.

"What! A bunch of fools, what rules are you keeping at a time like this! What are you waiting for, hurry up and go in!" the white-haired old man shouted furiously, charging into the hall.

Seeing this, most of the captains immediately followed, but two were left outside.

Rushing to the entrance of the hall, the white-haired old man paused.

The restriction on the main door of the hall was intact.

The old man was puzzled, but he didn't have time to think. He took out a token-shaped object, and a beam of white light flew from it, landing on the door.

The door shimmered with light and creaked open.

The men immediately rushed into the hall. The white-haired old man waved his hand and cast a spell.

White light immediately bloomed in all parts of the hall, illuminating the interior.

The crowd was stunned. The hall was simply furnished, with only a dozen white jade shelves, which could be seen through at a glance.

There was no one inside! There were several charred marks on the ground.

"No one? Could they have escaped?" The several leaders exchanged glances.

The green-robed man was also in the hall, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He was right next to the hall when the incident occurred, and his eyes had not left it for a moment. How did that person leave?

"Ah! Celestial Shadow Stone! Moon Gazing Grass!" The white-haired old man rushed to a white jade shelf, his face pale and his lips trembling.

Each of these white jade shelves was filled with materials, and the shelves were surrounded by restrictions. However, the restrictions on two jade shelves had been broken, and some of the materials on them were missing.

"Flowing Ripple Wood, Iron Heart Feather!" The old man ran to another shelf, beating his chest and stamping his feet, extremely heartbroken.

The faces of the several Nascent Soul leaders were also unsightly.

"Chase after them! Activate all the night patrol disciples, and you must catch the thief!" the white-haired old man shouted angrily, jumping up and down.

...

The theft of a large number of precious talisman-making materials from the Celestial Talisman Hall caused a great uproar in the Cold Flame Sect. Countless night patrol disciples were mobilized to search for the thief.

The hunt for the thief lasted from midnight to dawn. Later, many outer disciples were awakened and joined the capture force.

As a result, almost the entire Spirit Flame Mountain Range was turned upside down, but not a trace of the thief was found.

This matter quickly alarmed the sect's higher-ups. A Nascent Soul elder who was skilled in tracking personally came to the Celestial Talisman Hall. After investigating, he determined that the thief had escaped using a type of lightning teleportation formation, leaving no trace. He was unable to track them down.

Seeing that even a Nascent Soul elder could not find the thief, it was impossible to disturb the Integration stage Supreme Elder over such a small matter. Master Fan of the Celestial Talisman Hall reluctantly gave up and stopped the capture operation.

Although the overt capture operation ended, the sect naturally would not let the matter go so easily.

There were no signs of intrusion into the sect-protecting grand formation surrounding the Spirit Flame Mountain Range. The person was naturally still in the Spirit Flame Mountain Range. The Cold Flame Sect secretly dispatched experts to search for them.

After this incident, the defenses in various places within the Cold Flame Sect were several times more strict than usual.