Chapter 224: Heart in Chaos
"All of you are always immersing your souls into the Immortal Palace, excluding me, forcing me to walk the path of physically entering the Immortal Palace."
"But speaking of it, I should really thank you all, especially Ning Zhuo. Haha, you've opened up a whole new world for me."
"Thirty years of the river flowing east, thirty years of the river flowing west, don't underestimate a poor girl."
"When I achieve something in the future, standing in front of you, looking down on you, I really look forward to seeing the shock on your faces!"
The more Ning Xiaohui thought, the more excited she became, feeling that her days were promising and full of hope.
Especially not long ago, she had received an order directly from Zhu Xuanji—tasking her to fully seize the positions related to the Records Pavilion.
Ning Xiaohui gladly accepted the command!
"As long as I accomplish this task, I will be recognized by the Golden Core Patriarchs and enter their eyes."
However, at this moment, including Zhu Xuanji, all the eyes of the Golden Core Patriarchs were on Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo’s previous suspicions were not wrong.
Before Zhu Xuanji left, he secretly set up monitoring methods on Ning Zhuo’s person and in his residence.
After Zhu Xuanji and the three families' Golden Core Patriarchs discussed things, the Golden Core cultivators from the three families also secretly moved, gradually concealing themselves around Ning Zhuo.
Each of them employed methods to set up surveillance on Ning Zhuo himself and his surroundings, observing him at all times.
They were hunters waiting for their prey, lurking around Ning Zhuo, silently waiting for the City Lord's Mansion to make a mistake.
At Ning Zhuo’s residence.
Under the silent watch of the six Golden Core Patriarchs, Ning Zhuo took out some pills and swallowed them to heal his injuries.
After finishing his rest, he looked around.
In front of all the Golden Core Patriarchs, he used several kinds of detection spells, then used magical instruments for scanning, and even activated formations to inspect the area.
As a result, he found nothing suspicious.
Ning Zhuo was only at the Qi Refining stage, and even though the magical instruments he used were of high quality and the formation was at the Foundation Establishment level, they were still unable to detect the presence of the Golden Core Patriarchs.
Ning Zhuo's actions, in the eyes of the Golden Core Patriarchs, were quite amusing, making them want to laugh.
Ning Zhuo then summoned the guards outside the house.
These people were all former stewards of the Ning family, possessing the cultivation level of the Foundation Establishment stage.
Ning Zhuo ordered them to guard the area carefully and asked them if there had been any suspicious individuals nearby.
The guards all answered: there were no suspicious people or situations.
Ning Zhuo was alone in the underground cultivation chamber.
He sighed, took out a manual on mechanical techniques, and started reading it carefully, frowning as he read.
After reading for just a little while, he couldn’t continue. He put the manual aside and went to the workbench, starting to fiddle with various mechanical parts.
After tinkering for a while, Ning Zhuo sighed deeply again and pushed all the mechanical parts on the table away.
Many parts scattered onto the ground.
Ning Zhuo reached out, grabbed his hair, and began banging his forehead against the table, letting out painful cries of frustration.
"The little guy's heart is in turmoil."
The six Golden Core Patriarchs saw this scene and all thought that Ning Zhuo was restless, unable to concentrate on reading or studying mechanical techniques. His pressure was immense!
Ning Zhuo’s broad forehead was reddened from the banging, and then he released his fingers, laying weakly on the table with his eyes closed, as if he had died.
He stayed in that position for a long time before suddenly opening his eyes and sitting up straight.
He grabbed his hair with both hands again and let out another painful scream.
But this time, he didn’t scream for long before standing up and pacing back and forth in the underground chamber with his hands behind his back.
His brows were furrowed, his face solemn.
He paced back and forth, sometimes looking up and sighing, sometimes crying out in pain, as if venting. His eyes occasionally reddened as he walked to the corner, pressing his head against the wall, engaging in a battle between his forehead and the wall, without using any magic.
The Golden Core Patriarchs silently observed, with some frowning slightly.
Zhu Xuanji’s eyes flickered slightly, his face serious, but he also felt some empathy in his heart.
Ning Zhuo’s pressure was far greater than what he outwardly showed!
Although his various detection spells revealed nothing, his wisdom told him that he was indeed being heavily monitored.
Especially among his monitors was a famous divine detective!
Every action he took, every word he said, had to be flawless, without a single slip-up.
Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Fei Si’s letter arrived in the evening.
Ning Zhuo looked at the jade slip, hesitating for a long time, his expression shifting continuously.
There was solemnity, fear, and even a trace of resentment, as if blaming Fei Si—if not for him, Ning Zhuo wouldn’t be in this predicament!
In the end, Ning Zhuo sighed, gritted his teeth, and suddenly reached out to grab the jade slip.
He pressed the jade slip against his forehead, constantly injecting his spiritual sense into it.
After reading the letter’s content, he sighed deeply again, his face filled with worry, as he placed the jade slip on the table.
He began pacing in front of the desk again with his hands behind his back.
After a while of pacing, Ning Zhuo took out a blank jade slip and used his magic power to write a letter in it.
He wrote a letter to Ning Jiufan, informing him that Fei Si had sent him a letter, asking about the events of the day.
Ning Zhuo didn’t know what to do, so he wrote specifically to seek guidance.
Ning Jiufan soon received the letter.
To be precise, he had already seen Ning Zhuo writing the letter and had guessed its contents.
When the letter arrived, he only needed to inject his spiritual sense into it and take one look to confirm that his guess was completely accurate.
Ning Jiufan didn’t dare to decide on his own, so he passed the letter to Zhu Xuanji and the other Golden Core Patriarchs.
Even though Ning Zhuo was just a junior at the Qi Refining stage, his letter had barely been delivered before it was read by six Golden Core cultivators in turn—this level of attention was rare.
After reading the letter, everyone turned their gaze to Zhu Xuanji.
Zhu Xuanji smiled faintly, "Ning Zhuo, this poor little guy, is already lost and at his wit’s end."
"Let him reply, respond as he normally would."
"Since Fei Si is suspicious and wants to dig deeper into why I visited Ning Zhuo today, let Ning Zhuo tell the truth—it’ll just continue to stir up the snake!"
Zhu Xuanji needed the City Lord's Mansion to make a mistake, ideally sending assassins to kill Ning Zhuo, so Zhu Xuanji could catch them in the act.
Fei Si writing a letter directly to inquire made Zhu Xuanji a bit concerned.
He worried that Ning Zhuo might slip up and be easily seen through by someone as cunning as Fei Si!
So, he decided to let Ning Zhuo tell the truth. After all, the conversation between him and Ning Zhuo had been carefully planned in advance.
At the time, on his way over, Zhu Xuanji had already set his goal: to make the City Lord’s Mansion feel the pressure from him.
In the bedroom, Ning Zhuo was already lying down, tossing and turning on the bed, unable to sleep.
Suddenly, he received a secret transmission from Ning Jiufan.
Ning Zhuo immediately opened his eyes, his excitement barely concealed, but he was quickly warned by Ning Jiufan to act as usual.
Ning Zhuo went to the study, sat at the desk, and grasped the jade slip, beginning to write a letter.
Following Ning Jiufan's instructions, he truthfully detailed his conversation with Zhu Xuanji.
The letter focused on two key points: Yuan Dasheng and the Demonic Dao True Scripture.
At the end of the letter, Ning Zhuo deliberately asked Fei Si: What did he know about the Demonic Dao True Scripture?
Early in the morning, Fei Si sat at his desk, handling the various affairs of the Immortal City.
He had barely left his seat all day.
It wasn’t until the crescent moon rose that he finally managed to finish most of the tasks.
Of course, by tomorrow, or even later tonight, new matters would arise.
With the talent recruitment order issued, Huoshi Immortal City had been flooded with too many outsiders.
This put enormous pressure on the City Lord's Mansion’s management of the city.
If it weren't for Fei Si and Chi Dun working tirelessly, the city would have already descended into chaos.
Fei Si was highly concerned about Zhu Xuanji’s actions!
On one hand, Zhu Xuanji was a member of the royal family and was currently confirmed to be the biggest competitor of the City Lord's Mansion in the struggle for Lava Immortal Palace.
On the other hand, Zhu Xuanji had made a high-profile visit to Ning Zhuo today, coming in with a strong presence, clearly indicating something urgent had happened.
Everyone in Huoshi Immortal
City was talking about it. As the acting city lord, Fei Si naturally wanted to understand the true details.
Considering his close private relationship with Ning Zhuo, he simply wrote a letter in a jade slip to directly inquire with him.
"Finally, a reply." Fei Si took the jade slip written by Ning Zhuo and injected his spiritual sense into it.
After reading it, Fei Si’s expression shifted slightly.
"Demonic Dao True Scripture?"
"What is this?"
"I don’t know anything about a True Scripture, yet you’re asking me?"
Fei Si put down the jade slip, frowning as his mind raced.
"Is the Demonic Dao True Scripture the technique of the Three Sect Lords?"
Fei Si thought of the Three Sect Lords’ methods, remembered his conversation with Meng Kui, and considered the City Lord's Mansion’s speculation about the technique related to the Three Dantian Foundation Establishment.
"If this Demonic Dao True Scripture is indeed one of the techniques for the Three Dantian Foundation Establishment and is paired with the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art..."
"Then obtaining this True Scripture would indeed be of great help in exploring the Immortal Palace and seizing the position of the palace master."
"No wonder Zhu Xuanji was so eager, flying over in such a grand manner—it was clearly to pressure Ning Zhuo into handing over the Demonic Dao True Scripture!"
"But how did Zhu Xuanji find out? Where did he get the lead on the Demonic Dao True Scripture?"
Since Zhu Xuanji had entered Huoshi Immortal City, Fei Si had been closely monitoring his every move.
After all, Fei Si was the brains behind the City Lord's Mansion, and Zhu Xuanji was a royal envoy from the Southern Dou Court.
Because Fei Si had been watching from the shadows all along, he was very curious about where Zhu Xuanji had obtained the clue.
"Recently, Zhu Xuanji has been leading three Golden Core cultivators, openly and boldly exploring the bottom of the volcano."
"Could it be that they found clues to the True Scripture at the base of Mount Huoshi?"
With this question in mind, Fei Si went to the top of the volcano to seek out Meng Kui.
He inquired with Meng Kui, who had been stationed at the top of Mount Huoshi and should have been aware of Zhu Xuanji and the others' movements.
Meng Kui knew a little and immediately told Fei Si about the matter of the mechanical demon general.
Fei Si marveled in his heart, "The Ning Family Ancestor has sacrificed a lot this time!"
(End of Chapter)