"What a treasure, what a treasure!" Zheng Danlian laughed heartily. Although he had already tried to overestimate it, he found that he had still greatly underestimated the combat power of the mechanical black snake.
"Come back." Zheng Danlian controlled it secretly.
But in the next moment, his expression changed slightly.
The mechanical black snake did not respond immediately. It took a full three breaths before Zheng Danlian could control it to swim back.
The other Golden Core Cultivators did not pursue it for a while—they were all intimidated by the power of the mechanical black snake.
The Taiqing Palace true disciple clutched his severed arm, still feeling a lingering fear: "This is definitely not an ordinary Night Rain Demon Soldier!"
The Purple Dawn Pavilion true disciple also stared intently at the mechanical black snake, deeply shaken: "I never expected that a small Zheng family in Fire Persimmon Immortal City could control such a sharp mechanical weapon."
"Hahaha, I'm back!" Zheng Shuanggou returned to the family land.
The family land had already activated a huge defense array, fully operational in power.
Fighting within the array, Zheng Shuanggou would surely have a great geographical advantage.
"Uh!" Zheng Shuanggou's laughter abruptly stopped.
His eyes widened as he looked at his own hands.
The Demon Dao True Scripture he held in his hands quickly disintegrated, like ashes flying away after paper burns.
Soon, Zheng Shuanggou was left empty-handed.
"What-what's going on?!" Zheng Shuanggou was stunned.
"Hand over the True Scripture!" Luo Shang, who had not seen this scene, commanded the Ghost General to attack again.
Zheng Shuanggou hurriedly shouted: "Wait, there's a problem with this True Scripture!"
"What problem? A True Scripture is a True Scripture!" The Taiqing Palace true disciple sneered.
He had personally felt the profound meaning of the True Scripture enter his mind, so he was very certain that this was the True Scripture.
Even though Zheng Shuanggou had hidden within the family array, the Taiqing Palace disciples were frantically attacking the array's light shield, trying to retrieve the Demon Dao True Scripture.
"Evil cultivators, dare to continue attacking my family's array!" Seeing his family's land being affected, Zheng Danlian snorted coldly and rushed over at full speed.
The mechanical black snake followed closely beside him.
Zheng Danlian soon faced the Taiqing Palace true disciple.
With a wave of his hand, the mechanical black snake leaped up, transforming in mid-air. When it landed in Zheng Danlian's hand, it had turned into a long-handled scythe.
The scythe was entirely pitch black, without a trace of any other color. Its aura was extremely restrained, almost like the most ordinary object.
Holding the scythe, Zheng Danlian fiercely slashed at the Taiqing Palace true disciple.
The Taiqing Palace true disciple stood motionless.
In an instant, it was as if he were in the midst of night rain, feeling extremely bleak, sorrowful, painful, and despairing.
His eyes became vacant.
He was cut into countless pieces, with blood and mana gushing out.
This was merely a single slash from the scythe.
All the Golden Core Cultivators present, including their own allies in the tri-family alliance, gasped in shock, truly feeling the unbelievable power of the scythe!
Zheng Danlian himself was also stunned.
In the next moment, he loosened his grip. The scythe transformed back into the mechanical black snake.
The black snake swiftly moved, crushing the countless pieces of the Taiqing Palace true disciple's flesh, then opened its mouth and directly swallowed the true disciple's Golden Core.
Zheng Danlian felt an immense wave of terror in his heart!
Because this series of actions by the mechanical black snake was not under his control at all; it was the black snake acting on its own.
"This-this demonic weapon is still unruly and bloodthirsty. Our refining plan... failed!"
Everyone was shocked.
The battlefield suddenly fell into a dead silence.
All along, although the Golden Core Cultivators had been fighting, they had been relatively restrained, not wantonly slaughtering civilians or destroying the city.
Because they all knew that Meng Kui, the Nascent Soul Level City Lord, was on the cloud-covered mountain peak.
No one expected that the black scythe would directly kill a Golden Core.
And it was done so cleanly and swiftly!
All the Golden Core Cultivators present, including Zhu Xuanji and Zheng Danlian, felt a chill down their spines.
If they put themselves in the position of the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator from the Taiqing Sect, could they withstand the ferocity of this demonic scythe?
No one had such confidence.
The things from the Night Rain Dynasty were fundamentally different from the current principles of cultivation, making them hard to defend against.
Seeing Zheng Danlian holding the black scythe, everyone's fighting spirit seemed to be extinguished by a blast of freezing snow.
The first to leave was the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator from the Purple Dawn Pavilion.
As for Sun Lingtong and Yang Chanyu, they had already left during the chaos of the battle.
"Do not use this demonic weapon again." Zhu Xuanji left this sentence behind and chased after the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator from the Purple Dawn Pavilion.
Recovering, Zheng Danlian held the long-handled black scythe and shouted: "I killed the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator! Someone, gather up his corpse. This is my Zheng family's contribution to Fire Persimmon Immortal City!"
But in the next moment, a Ghost General appeared next to the body of the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator from the Taiqing Palace.
The Ghost General clapped and laughed mischievously: "It's over, it's over, this person is a true disciple of the Taiqing Palace!"
"You're talking nonsense!" The two Golden Core members of the Zheng family turned pale instantly.
The other Golden Core Cultivators also changed their expressions, looking at the corpse.
Zheng Shuanggou realized something was wrong and hurried to the corpse, wanting to collect the body.
But at this moment, another Ghost General appeared, blocking him.
Just as the two sides were about to clash, Zheng Danlian waved the black long-handled scythe. In an instant, a Golden Core-level and a Foundation Establishment-level Ghost General were cut into countless pieces.
But it was already too late.
Luo Shang's voice came again: "Fire Persimmon City Zheng family, have you thought about how to explain this to the Taiqing Palace? Hahaha."
His laughter was full of schadenfreude.
On the other side.
"Zhu Xuanji, you can't catch up with me. Give up." The Purple Dawn Pavilion true disciple unleashed his full power after leaving the Immortal City.
He moved like purple lightning, his speed skyrocketing to the limit, quickly disappearing on the horizon.
"Purple Dawn Pavilion!" Zhu Xuanji recognized the sect and realized the opponent indeed had a strong speed advantage. After some thought, he turned back to the city.
There were more urgent matters to deal with there.
Not long after.
In the Zheng family's council hall.
Zhu Xuanji and the Golden Core members of the three families all had serious expressions, and the atmosphere in the hall was very oppressive.
After discussing the black long-handled scythe and the unfortunate Taiqing Palace true disciple's Golden Core, they had no reliable solution.
Furthermore, the Demon Dao True Scripture, on which they had placed high hopes, was something Zheng Shuanggou had only comprehended up to the fifth layer of Qi Refinement Realm.
After disbanding, Zhu Xuanji hid his true appearance and aura, walking alone on the street.
"Things have escalated." He frowned deeply, sighing.
The death of a Taiqing Palace true disciple during the chaos of the battle put the Zheng family in a dire situation.
Protect the Zheng family?
Could they be protected?
These were all things Zhu Xuanji had to consider carefully.
If he did not protect them, the alliance he had painstakingly built up would immediately fall apart.
But to protect them, he would have to face the consequences and confront the Taiqing Palace, a giant sect. This was very frightening.
This put Zhu Xuanji in a dilemma!
"How did things develop to this point?"
"This Night Rain Demon Soldier is much more sinister than I imagined."
"How did the Zheng family obtain it?"
Zhu Xuanji knew that the Zheng family had gained this opportunity from the Magma Fairy Palace. But he had never delved into the specifics.
This battle made Zhu Xuanji deeply understand the formidable power of this demonic weapon!
It undoubtedly disrupted his original plan.
"The good news is that the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator appeared."
"The bad news is that more than one Black Shadow Demon Cultivator appeared, and I didn't catch a single one."
"Strange..."
An odd feeling lingered in Zhu Xuanji's heart.
But despite his best efforts, he couldn't pinpoint what was strange.
When he came back to his senses, he was surprisingly standing in front of Ning Zhuo's residence.
"Anyway, now that the Demon Dao True Scripture has fallen into Zheng Shuanggou's hands, the danger to Ning Zhuo has significantly decreased..."
"..." Zhu Xuanji suddenly fell into a peculiar silence.
He stood outside the courtyard gate, quietly staring at the house for a long time.
Entering the house, he saw Ning Zhuo again.
Zhu Xuanji smiled with golden sparks in his eyes: "Ning Zhuo, I used you as bait before, letting you bear much risk."
"This time, I'll reward you with a cultivation technique, to thank you for your cooperation."
Ning Zhuo feigned great joy, his eyes shining as he eagerly asked: "Lord Zhu, what cultivation technique might it be?"
Zhu Xuanji smiled faintly: "Demon-infused Bloodline Technique."
"Demon-infused Bloodline Technique?" Ning Zhuo chewed on the words, as if hearing them for the first time.
Zhu Xuanji did not detect any flaw and continued: "Before you begin cultivating, let me test your foundation to see if you are fit for this technique."
"Come, stretch out your hand, and I'll check your three dantians to make a comprehensive assessment of your aptitude."
Ning Zhuo's heart skipped a beat, but he had to bite the bullet and say: "Thank you, Lord Zhu!"