Black and white dense smoke billowed continuously around the palace, with scorching lava slowly flowing at the base of the palace.
The palace, built with red bricks and golden pillars, towered majestically, resembling an ancient giant lying in the hot river of magma, bathing.
In the deepest part of the main hall, a small dragon coiled on a high-backed throne.
This small dragon was entirely orange-red, like condensed lava, with golden light flowing within its body, looking exceptionally majestic.
It had a dragon's head, a dragon's tail, and four dragon claws, but its upper body was that of a turtle. Its turtle shell was covered with uneven red-brown stones. The stones were spaced apart, with gaps crisscrossing, outlining a grid-like turtle pattern.
It was the Palace Spirit of the Magma Fairy Palace—the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit!
At this moment, the resting Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit slowly opened its eyes.
It looked up, gazing at the top of the palace.
The Magma Fairy Palace slightly trembled, helping its vision penetrate the palace roof, cut through layers of clouds and smoke, and finally saw a blurry figure.
It was the City Lord of the Fire Persimmon Immortal City!
To avoid the City Lord's detection, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit did not look closely. Immediately, it shifted its thoughts, and its vision started to extend downwards.
Its vision was extremely fast, swiftly covering the entire Fire Persimmon Immortal City, extending all the way to the dense and scorching Fire Persimmon Forest at the foot of the mountain before stopping abruptly.
In the fiery red eyes of the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, golden pupils shone brightly.
It intensified its inspection. In its vision, the physical objects of the mountain city, forest, and residents gradually blurred, revealing a magnificent grand array.
This grand array had two array eyes, a giant one inside the mountain, and a smaller one situated in the City Lord's Mansion. Additionally, there were five array pillars located respectively in the residences of the Zhou Family, the Zheng Family, and the Ning Family, as well as the dungeon and the city guards' barracks.
The array was massive, nearly covering the entire Fire Persimmon Mountain, and it interlinked with numerous small arrays in the Fire Persimmon Forest at the foot of the mountain.
The base of the array extended straight down from the summit of Fire Persimmon Mountain, deeply embedding into the mountain.
The azure-green patterns of the Immortal City Great Array intertwined, like an enormous net covering the sky and earth, locking the entire Fire Persimmon Mountain. The Immortal Palace was like a bird in a cage.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit snorted, feeling very irritated by this sensation of being constrained.
It pushed itself up with its front claws, leaping suddenly.
Although it had no wings, it flew swiftly and nimbly. Its speed was incredible, darting in mid-air like a bright orange-golden stream of light.
The stream of light drew a brilliant circle in the sky and then landed back on the seat.
In an instant, the dynamic Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit returned to stillness, with sparks flying due to inertia, landing on the seat and scattering in all directions within the dimly lit palace.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, having slightly vented its frustrations, raised its dragon head slightly again, gazing into the distance to scrutinize the outside world.
Its gaze first focused on the City Lord's Mansion.
At this time, in the mansion, a sturdy, big-eyed youth was sitting cross-legged, actively circulating his mana.
Unlike usual, the sturdy youth was not accumulating mana, but dispersing it.
He was the grandson of the City Lord—Meng Chong!
The City Lord's voice seemed to still echo in Meng Chong's ears.
"Meng Chong, my grandson, I have already used the Fortune-Designating Talisman to connect the aura of the Magma Fairy Palace to you! I have also lit the Divine Strategy Incense to calculate the best steps."
"Remember, you need to be the first to cultivate the *Five Elements Qi Regulation Art* to the third layer of the Qi Refinement Realm. This point is crucial; it will give you a huge initial advantage. Achieving this is half the success. The advantage will accumulate like a snowball, gradually leaving other competitors far behind."
"It's a pity that the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art is a Taoist cultivation technique. If it were a Buddhist cultivation technique, I could give you the Conversion Pill from my collection."
"Now, you need to disperse your cultivation quickly and re-cultivate the *Five Elements Qi Regulation Art*!"
"Someone will bring you enough Nourishing and Protecting Scatter to use without sparing any. Consume it all and achieve perfect dispersion as quickly as possible!"
Meng Chong exhaled a deep breath, his big eyes filled with determination.
The Fortune-Designating Talisman and Divine Strategy Incense were precious treasures of Nascent Soul Level, worth a fortune. The Fire Persimmon City Lord's significant investment could be said to place the heavy responsibility of seizing the Magma Fairy Palace directly on Meng Chong's shoulders.
Meng Chong felt filled with fighting spirit!
"Grandfather, you have done so much for me, if I, your grandson, still fail, then I am not worthy of the name Meng!"
"I won't disappoint you."
"I will definitely seize the first place!"
Meng Chong wore a resolute expression, closed his eyes tightly, and continued dispersing his mana.
However, his previous cultivation level was too high, reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refinement. Dispersion at this time required even more time.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit slowly shifted its gaze from the City Lord's Mansion to the Zhou Family Estate.
A secret underground chamber of the Zhou Family.
Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu stood before a grand array.
Zhou Zeshen said: "This Gathering and Dispersing As Desired Spirit Tide Array is something only our Zhou Family has in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City."
"Dazhu, you will enter this array to disperse your mana. Then you will choose the *Five Elements Qi Regulation Art* to re-cultivate."
"This grand array will help you accelerate the dispersion process and assist you in quickly re-cultivating."
"I'm counting on you!"
The Zhou Family had deep foundations, being the first among the three great families. This was unquestioned.
To scheme for the Magma Fairy Palace, the Zhou Family had made numerous attempts long ago.
One plan included sending the family members Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu to the Mudflow Sect for cultivation.
The Mudflow Sect was rare in that it excelled in Mechanical Techniques. After Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu mastered these skills, they returned to the family to await orders.
Unexpectedly, the Dharma Transmission Bell rang.
This forced them to make a choice.
After careful consideration, the Zhou Family decided to keep Zhou Zeshen while having Zhou Zhu risk switching to the *Five Elements Qi Regulation Art*.
Zhou Zhu had no objections, saying quietly: "Brother Shen, you are smarter than me. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do."
"There's no need for you to feel guilty. Contributing to the family is what I should do!"
Zhou Zhu took a step and formally entered the array.
He did not sit cross-legged but stood upright, like a tall pillar, sturdy and honest.
Dispersion began.
Zhou Zeshen sighed, feeling sorry for Zhou Zhu.
Zhou Zhu had a cultivation level of the eighth layer of Qi Refinement, one layer higher than him. Dispelling the mana painstakingly cultivated over the years was a great loss.
But there was no other choice!
The *Five Elements Qi Regulation Art* was likely the key to competing for the Magma Fairy Palace.
The Dharma Transmission Bell rang for the first time, causing such a commotion, indicating that the selection method of the Magma Fairy Palace had changed significantly after reaching the Qi Refinement Realm!
To cope with possible changes, the Zhou Family chose a conservative yet proactive approach.
The grand array began to hum, and pain showed on Zhou Zhu's face.
The invisible force generated by the grand array forcibly extracted the mana from Zhou Zhu's body, causing unavoidable harm to him!
But Zhou Zhu had the innate ability of quiet life-force cultivation. As long as he remained motionless, his body would explode with life-force, rapidly healing his internal injuries.
The grand array violently helped him disperse his mana, while Zhou Zhu's self-healing ability actively remedied his meridian injuries.
This was the crucial factor in choosing Zhou Zhu to re-cultivate.