Chapter 217: Watching the Show and Getting Burned
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit overheard Zhu Xuanji and the other Golden Core cultivators’ conversation, but soon after, it didn’t feel right.
It clenched its dragon claws into fists and continuously pounded the armrests of its throne.
“It wasn’t the City Lord’s Mansion that bombed the Immortal Palace, but Ning Zhuo!”
“What are you all doing? What are you doing?!”
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit gnashed its teeth, its face full of frustration as if scolding incompetent subordinates.
It desperately wanted to eliminate Ning Zhuo, as among all the competitors, Ning Zhuo posed the greatest threat to it.
But to its dismay, Zhu Xuanji, in whom it had placed high hopes, had managed to mislead all the Golden Core ancestors by himself.
“What kind of Divine Detective are you?”
“What are you even doing? You’re completely disgracing the title of Divine Detective!”
However, as the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit continued to listen, it gradually fell into silence.
“Don’t say it, really don’t say it…”
“Based on the clues Zhu Xuanji has gathered, his guess is actually quite reasonable.”
Putting itself in Zhu Xuanji’s shoes, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit realized that, from his perspective, the City Lord’s Mansion did indeed seem the most suspicious.
“But… why did things turn out this way?” the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit asked itself.
It quickly found the answer.
“It’s all Ning Zhuo’s fault!”
“He’s really good at hiding and pretending.”
“But then again, who would have thought that a mere sixteen-year-old boy, at only the third layer of Qi Refining, would dare to bomb the Immortal Palace?”
Such an action was the epitome of audacity and greed, with a kind of wild ambition far beyond what the world could imagine, all within that slender chest of his!
One must know, the entire Lava Immortal Palace was the legacy left behind by a Void Refining-level powerhouse.
It would be most fitting for a Void Refining cultivator to become the master of the Immortal Palace.
A Transformation Stage cultivator would be ideal to inherit the position of the palace master.
At the Nascent Soul stage, it would barely be acceptable, but by the Golden Core stage, the qualifications were already insufficient.
And Ning Zhuo wasn’t even at any of these stages. He was just a Qi Refining cultivator, the bottom rung of the entire cultivation world.
This felt like a tiny ant trying to devour a tiger or leopard—an utterly laughable notion.
Yet the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit couldn’t laugh at all.
Because it had personally witnessed how Ning Zhuo survived in the cracks between major forces, how he plotted against them, and how he managed to gain control over certain parts of the situation.
It also saw how Ning Zhuo’s cultivation power had swelled and surged, how he mastered the complete Divine Ability—Life Hanging by a Thread—and how he adapted to circumstances, building up his own small force.
Ning Zhuo was gradually, quietly approaching the throne of the Lava Immortal Palace!
To this day, no one had noticed him!
Such an experience and such a character were both exciting and inspiring, but from the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s perspective, it was a nightmare.
It wanted to regain its freedom. If Ning Zhuo truly became the palace master, it had no confidence that it could ever escape!
“Ning Zhuo, he’s just a little monster.” Ning Zhuo was only in the Qi Refining stage, but he gave the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit the most genuine and heavy sense of fear.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit continued listening.
When it heard that the Golden Core ancestors planned to use Ning Zhuo as bait to provoke the City Lord’s Mansion into making a mistake, attempting to assassinate Ning Zhuo, it finally revealed a satisfied and joyful expression.
“But… will the City Lord’s Mansion really make a move against Ning Zhuo?”
Although the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit eagerly anticipated this scene, its rationality told it that this was unlikely.
“If the City Lord’s Mansion does take action, Ning Zhuo won’t escape unscathed and might even die here.”
“If the City Lord’s Mansion doesn’t take action, Zhu Xuanji and the others will sense something strange and begin reflecting on the situation, which will bring Ning Zhuo even more trouble.”
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit considered this, and it immediately understood that no matter what happened, it would benefit. It couldn’t help but grin.
“No matter what, Ning Zhuo is in big trouble!”
“Hahaha, serves him right!”
“Who told him to have such little power yet be so greedy for the Lava Immortal Palace!”
“Setting everything else aside, just the secret attention these Golden Core ancestors are giving him is enough to prevent Ning Zhuo from freely cultivating like before.”
“In this situation, he’ll inevitably be heavily monitored, and wanting to break through to Foundation Establishment will be impossible!”
Seeing Ning Zhuo so unfortunate filled the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit with genuine joy, and it couldn’t help but throw its head back and laugh heartily three times.
It hadn’t laughed for long when it heard the Golden Core cultivators discussing Ning Xiaohui.
It heard Zhu Xuanji issue the order for Ning Xiaohui to compete for the position of Chief at the Historical Pavilion.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit could no longer laugh.
At that moment, it suddenly realized that the unluckiest one was actually itself!
The Historical Pavilion!
This unique mechanism tower recorded every significant event since the Lava Immortal Palace’s creation, along with the detailed processes of each event.
Many records within the Historical Pavilion were highly valuable!
Once Ning Xiaohui became the Chief of the Historical Pavilion, she would be able to easily review them.
Every major and minor event in the Lava Immortal Palace would be laid bare before her eyes.
In this way, all the little tricks the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had employed, every scheme it had orchestrated to escape, would be completely exposed!
It was as if a critical weakness had been struck. The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit fell into a state of extreme panic and helplessness.
“What should I do? What should I do?!”
“If Ning Xiaohui rises to power, she’ll know everything.”
Yet, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had limited power and couldn’t interfere.
It could only watch as Ning Xiaohui, in the near future, rapidly accumulated merits and smoothly became the Chief of the Historical Pavilion.
Ning Xiaohui’s success was almost inevitable, as no one was competing with her.
In this path within the Immortal Palace, the only person with the status of a trial disciple was her.
Ning Xiaohui was currently a healer and also had the innate talent of the Ice Jade Hand, making her exceptionally skilled at repairing mechanisms. Her merit accumulation speed far surpassed others, both in the past and present.
The position of Chief of the Historical Pavilion wasn’t of a particularly high rank, and even if she didn’t get that title, positions like verifier would still allow her access to the records in the Historical Pavilion!
“What should I do? What should I do?”
“Zhu Xuanji! You’re so incompetent when dealing with Ning Zhuo, but when it comes to me, you hit my weak spot immediately!”
“You’re too ruthless, too ruthless! Why are you targeting me like this?”
“And why did the Ning family choose this time to send in Ning Xiaohui’s commendation, allowing Zhu Xuanji to discover the Historical Pavilion?”
“Why am I so unlucky?”
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit anxiously paced back and forth in the main hall.
It had been watching the show, but suddenly, the fire spread to its own body!
It could no longer remain calm.
“I must stop Ning Xiaohui!”
However, it was impossible to do so on its own, as it was the palace spirit of the Lava Immortal Palace.
Facing someone with the status of a trial disciple, it couldn’t take action, reveal their information, or even lie.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit struggled in the depths of despair but suddenly halted.
“Wait a minute!”
“I can’t do it, but someone else can.”
“Specifically… Ning Zhuo!”
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit wanted to use Ning Zhuo.
“Ning Zhuo and I have the same interests.”
“Ning Zhuo bombed the Immortal Palace, and Ning Xiaohui will inevitably discover this from the Historical Pavilion.”
“Ning Zhuo can help me!”
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit became excited.
In fact, apart from Ning Zhuo, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit didn’t dare contact anyone else.
The information it had previously disclosed to Meng Chong was strictly from the perspective of the Lava Immortal Palace and didn’t reveal its true identity.
“For now, I can only contact Ning Zhuo.”
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had no choice but to take this route to save itself.
At Ning Zhuo’s residence.
The overturned house and floor had already been repaired.
Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged on a mat, silently healing his injuries.
A group of Foundation Establishment cultivators surrounded him, their faces filled with concern, probing him indirectly, repeatedly asking what had happened.
“This is not something you can know. Leave now.” Ning Zhuo’s expression was cold as he slowly closed his eyes.
The Foundation Establishment cultivators had no choice but to leave the room.
They closed the door and exchanged glances. Each of them looked uneasy, their brows furrowed with doubt.
Under the pressure of Zhu Xuanji, the force Ning Zhuo had just established showed signs of collapsing.
The loyalty of these former stewards to Ning Zhuo was questionable.
Later on, the branch family members who had actively chosen to follow Ning Zhuo generally did so because they saw promise in his future and sought to profit, not out of a desire to risk their lives.
Some admired Ning Zhuo’s
performance and achievements, but most supported him simply because there was no second option in the Ning family branch.
“What exactly did Ning Zhuo do to make Lord Zhu Xuanji go to such lengths?”
“He won’t say anything, so how can we know?”
“Keep a close watch on this. Something feels off.”
“Yes, Lord Zhu Xuanji’s attitude is clearly hostile. Could it be that Ning Zhuo did something wrong?”