Chapter 236: Sit on the Mountain and Watch the Winds of Change!
Meng Kui nodded slightly.
He strongly agreed with Fei Si's concerns.
Once such a major incident occurred, Fei Si’s political achievements would look incredibly bad.
This would inevitably become a major stain on his life.
Fei Si requested that he personally step in to negotiate with Zhu Xuanji.
Meng Kui agreed to this request.
Fei Si's letter was soon delivered to Zhu Xuanji.
After they met, Fei Si said directly, "Lord Zhu, the Golden Core battle has just ended. Even if we wanted to seize the Lava Immortal Palace, we absolutely wouldn’t want to see such chaos happen again!"
"I believe that Lord Zhu shares the same view as us."
Zhu Xuanji nodded.
He was known for observing hidden dangers and safeguarding the people, and as a member of the royal family, he naturally maintained the country and its people.
Fei Si continued, "The situation is currently treacherous, and as the acting city lord, I can’t see it clearly either."
"Whether you believe it or not, Lord Zhu, I am here today to tell you that the City Lord's Mansion has never had any dealings with those shadow demon cultivators, nor have we ever received any demonic sect scriptures."
"I smell a conspiracy. It’s highly likely that a mysterious force is orchestrating everything from behind the scenes. They engineered this Golden Core conflict. Their original intention was to incite a confrontation between our two sides."
"But something unexpected happened."
"The Zheng family’s mechanical weaponry was too sharp, which timely suppressed the intensity of the battle."
"Otherwise, if things had continued as before, the entire Huoshi Immortal City would have been affected. At that point, the city would be filled with wailing and devastation."
Zhu Xuanji's expression became solemn as he gave Fei Si a deep look.
Fei Si’s perception aligned with his own!
Because Zhu Xuanji also felt something strange and suspected whether there was a third-party force behind the scenes.
Given this, Zhu Xuanji also told Fei Si, "Whether you believe it or not, the scripture we seized is fake, highly problematic. Once Zheng Shuanggou took it back to the defensive formation in their ancestral grounds, it vanished into thin air."
"And after the carrier disappeared, no scripture content was left behind."
After listening to this, Fei Si's expression slightly changed. He carefully deliberated for a moment before saying, "Then, looking back, the rumors from the third layer are the most crucial."
Zhu Xuanji laughed lightly, "There’s no need for you to probe."
"The third-layer rumor was spread by us. Its purpose was to counter your City Lord’s Mansion and prevent you from targeting Ning Zhuo."
Fei Si was shocked, "Why would the City Lord’s Mansion target Ning Zhuo?"
Then, it dawned on him, and he felt a strong chill.
"I understand now."
"You suspect that the City Lord’s Mansion used Ning Zhuo to blow up the Immortal Palace and secretly arranged for shadow demon cultivators in the Huoshi Forest. You think the shadow demon cultivators are working with us?!"
"That’s absolutely not the case!" Fei Si stressed firmly.
Zhu Xuanji only smiled.
Fei Si became a bit anxious.
What was going on?
He had always been the one falsely accusing others, but now he was the one being falsely accused?!
Fei Si quickly calmed down. He neither argued nor swore an oath.
Because he knew that there was a deep rift between the City Lord’s Mansion and Zhu Xuanji’s side. The struggle over the Lava Immortal Palace placed both sides in a hostile position.
In such a relationship, no matter what he said, Zhu Xuanji wouldn’t believe him.
Even if he swore an oath with magical treasures or other means, it would be useless.
Because Zhu Xuanji would immediately suspect that the City Lord’s Mansion had already prepared a way to nullify any oaths!
After their meeting, both men left deep in thought.
Even though neither fully trusted the other, the meeting was still necessary and fruitful.
Both sides had achieved their main objective—to control the intensity of their conflict.
The Meng family did not want to rebel, and the Southern Dou royal family also wanted to maintain stability within the country.
If the Southern Dou royal family became weakened due to internal strife with the Meng family, it would inevitably attract invasions from neighboring cultivation nations.
The current world of cultivation was balanced in a terrifying way. The various nations had been pushing themselves to the limit in terms of military preparation for nearly a hundred years now.
On the peak of Mount Huoshi.
Amidst the deep clouds.
Meng Kui sat cross-legged in midair, his gaze as deep as the blue sky, penetrating through layers of clouds as he gazed down upon the entire Huoshi Immortal City.
The Golden Core battle deeply affected him.
Like Fei Si and Zhu Xuanji, Meng Kui also sensed a mysterious force lurking in the shadows.
And this force was manipulating the situation in Huoshi Immortal City, using the Lava Immortal Palace to a certain extent.
The Golden Core battle was part of this force’s attempt to incite a conflict between the Southern Dou royal family and the Meng family!
"Who on earth is it?"
"Show yourself!"
Since last time, when he sat on the mountain and watched tigers fight, Meng Kui had remained calm and motionless.
This time, however, he was once again stirred into action.
Divine Ability—Sitting on the Mountain and Watching!
As he used the divine ability, he also took out talismans.
The Great Wind Talisman!
The Cloud Rising Talisman!
The great wind rises, and the clouds fly; sitting on the mountain, I listen to the sound of pines.
Let the storms rage outside the mountain. I sit still within, listening to the sound of the pine trees, unaffected by the turbulence, seeing through the shifts of power.
Meng Kui silently operated the divine ability, and after a moment, his vision suddenly changed.
No longer were there the usual scenes of the immortal city or the volcano, but instead, a strange spectacle of manifest destiny!
He saw raging flames and, on a molten lava stone slab, a gigantic dragon turtle with its head bowed, gazing up at the sky, its dragon eyes filled with yearning.
In the night sky, a massive black bird was circling, its feathers a bright blue, adorned with thunderbolts, its golden beak and silver claws extremely majestic.
In the darkness, a colossal tree that reached up to the heavens was so vast that its full form could not be seen; only its branches and roots stretched out.
The dark green roots extended, rooted in the lava stone slab and also in the body of the flaming dragon turtle.
On the branches was a huge red fruit, hanging above the dragon turtle’s head, emitting a red light, causing the dragon turtle to be unable to lift its head.
Tears of blood streamed from Meng Kui’s eyes, and sharp pain surged from the depths of his soul.
With every breath he took, the pain intensified rapidly.
Meng Kui knew his time for observation was limited, so he focused intently, examining every detail.
He quickly noticed that the dragon turtle’s limbs were deeply embedded in the molten stone slab beneath it. Below the stone slab was a seething sea of terrifying lava.
On the turtle’s shell stood the structures of Huoshi Immortal City.
The dragon turtle was itching to move, wanting to pull its limbs out of the stone slab and get free.
However, once it did, the stone slab would inevitably shatter, and the golden-red lava would engulf it in an instant.
But if it didn’t act, the black bird circling in the sky would swoop down, extend its sharp claws, and gouge out its dragon eyes.
The roots and branches stretching from the darkness would pierce its body, turning it into a prisoner forever bound here!
Meng Kui’s vision suddenly went black.
The blood that had flowed from his eyes turned into black blood.
At the same time, large patches of his hair turned white instantly.
A gentle breeze blew, and his hair dissolved like snow in the sunlight.
"So, that’s how it is!"
"It seems the Lava Immortal Palace is unwilling to bear such a heavy burden and wants to break free."
"To be more precise, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit here wants to escape. No wonder it keeps going mad again and again."
In Meng Kui’s understanding, the black bird undoubtedly represented him, Meng Chong, and the power of the City Lord's Mansion.
The Lava Immortal Palace and the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s destiny had condensed into the form of a dragon turtle.
And the gigantic roots and branches extending from the darkness represented the Southern Dou royal family and Zhu Xuanji.
Meng Kui closed his eyes tightly, healing his injuries while assessing the situation: "We are approaching the most critical moment."
"The dragon turtle wants to escape, but it must face three major obstacles at the same time."
"The first is the lava beneath its feet, representing Mount Huoshi. If it tries to escape, the stone slab will shatter, and the lava will consume it."
"The second is the black bird attacking its eyes."
"The third is the giant tree’s invasion."
"The red fruit on the branches of the giant tree must represent Zhu Xuanji. He is the Golden Core fruit of the Southern Dou royal family."
"He shines on the dragon turtle, preventing it from ever
lifting its head or opening its eyes."
In his upper dantian, the Buddha Heart Demon Seal suddenly trembled, emitting a burst of Buddhist light that protected Ning Zhuo.
"What’s going on?!" Ning Zhuo was startled.
The Buddhist light covered his entire body, and Ning Zhuo immediately activated the Concealing Cloud technique to hide himself.
The Buddhist light lingered for a moment before slowly dissipating.
Ning Zhuo was confused, unsure of what crisis had caused the Buddha Heart Demon Seal to protect him once again.
"What should I do?"
"There might still be detection methods from those Golden Core cultivators left on me."
"Is Zhu Xuanji still watching me?"
Ning Zhuo found himself in a dilemma.
Every move he made had to be careful, without the slightest slip-up.
According to his analysis, it was highly likely that he was still being watched in secret.
After all, Zhu Xuanji had made it very clear before. He suspected there was a mastermind behind the scenes and warned Ning Zhuo not to let down his guard.
"Given Zhu Xuanji’s personality, he wouldn’t easily withdraw his surveillance methods, knowing that I’m still in danger."
This made Ning Zhuo feel very restricted.
From now on, his every action would be severely constrained.
He could no longer secretly meet with Sun Lingtong, nor could he attempt to remove the surveillance methods.
If Ning Zhuo attempted to remove them, it would undoubtedly signal to the Golden Core cultivators that he had ill intentions!
Under normal circumstances, any young cultivator still in danger would be eager for as many detection methods on them as possible.
"Why did Zhu Xuanji suddenly want to inspect my three dantian?"
"Did he discover something after the Golden Core battle that made him cast a suspicious eye on me?"
"Did Han Ming get captured?"
"Or was it because the demonic scripture self-destructed?"
If Han Ming had been captured and exposed the fact that the corpse of Yuan Dasheng was in the possession of the childlike guest, then Ning Zhuo was already prepared with an explanation.
However, Ning Zhuo knew well that such an explanation would have little effect.
Now that Zhu Xuanji had begun to suspect him, such an explanation might even have the opposite effect!
"I also need to keep a close watch on the follow-up actions of the City Lord's Mansion."
"Fei Si... is also not easy to deal with."
"Sigh, the destruction of the demonic scripture is a flaw!"
If possible, Ning Zhuo would have preferred to hand over the real scripture.
But things did not go as he wished.
To get to this point was already fortunate enough, having managed to enlist Yang Chanyu’s help in creating the fake.
Regarding this matter, Sun Lingtong had already informed Ning Zhuo afterward through the Lava Immortal Palace.
"Boss Sun must have paid a price to get Yang Chanyu involved."
"Although he told me it was for a hefty sum, do I not know him? Hmph, he’s hiding something from me."
(End of the chapter)