All Meng Kui nodded slightly.
He agreed with Fei Si's concerns.
Once such a major event occurred, his political achievements would look extremely bad. This would inevitably be a significant blemish on his career.
Fei Si requested to personally come forward and negotiate with Zhu Xuanji.
Meng Kui agreed to this request.
Fei Si's invitation letter quickly reached Zhu Xuanji's hands.
When the two met, Fei Si said bluntly, "Lord Zhu, the Golden Core Battle has just ended. Even if we want to seize the Magma Fairy Palace, we definitely don't want to see such a chaotic conflict happen again!"
"I believe Lord Zhu shares the same view as us."
Zhu Xuanji nodded.
He was known for detecting hidden truths and calming the people, and being a member of the royal family, he naturally protected the nation's condition and its people.
Fei Si continued, "The current situation is treacherous. As the acting City Lord, I can't see clearly for the time being."
"Whether Lord Zhu believes it or not, I am here to tell you that the City Lord's Mansion has never housed any Black Shadow Demon Cultivator, nor have we ever received the Demon Sect's True Scripture."
"I smell the scent of conspiracy. It is very likely that a mysterious force is orchestrating things behind the scenes. They orchestrated this Golden Core Battle. Their original aim was to instigate a confrontation between our two sides."
"However, an unexpected event occurred during the process."
"The mechanical weapons of the Zheng Family were too sharp, timely curbing the escalation of the conflict."
"Otherwise, according to the previous trend, if the fighting continued, the entire Fire Persimmon Immortal City would be in ruins. By then, there would be cries of suffering throughout the city."
Zhu Xuanji looked at Fei Si with a stern expression.
Fei Si's sentiments mirrored his own!
Because he also sensed something strange and wondered if there was a third-party force behind the scenes.
Since that was the case, Zhu Xuanji told Fei Si, "Whether you believe it or not, the True Scripture we seized was fake. It disappeared entirely once Zheng Shuanggou brought it back to the clan's defensive array."
"And after the carrier vanished, none of the True Scripture's contents were transmitted."
Fei Si's face changed slightly after hearing this. He pondered for a moment before saying, "Then, looking back, the third level of rumors is the most crucial."
Zhu Xuanji chuckled, "You don't need to probe."
"The third level of rumors was disseminated by our side to counterbalance the City Lord's Mansion and to prevent any mishap against Ning Zhuo."
Fei Si was shocked, "Why would the City Lord's Mansion want to harm Ning Zhuo?"
Then he suddenly understood, feeling a strong chill.
"I understand now."
"You suspect that the City Lord's Mansion used Ning Zhuo to bomb the Immortal Palace and secretly arranged for the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator in Fire Persimmon Forest. You suspect that the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator is colluding with us?!"
"Absolutely not!" Fei Si emphasized solemnly.
Zhu Xuanji simply smiled.
Fei Si became a bit anxious.
What was going on?
He had always been the one to wrong others, how could he now be the one being wronged?!
Fei Si quickly calmed down. He neither argued nor swore.
Because he knew, there was a deep rift between the City Lord's Mansion and Zhu Xuanji's side. Around the contest for the Magma Fairy Palace, the two sides were in a hostile stance.
Under such a relationship, whatever he said, Zhu Xuanji wouldn't believe him.
Even using magical treasures or other means to swear an oath would be useless.
Because Zhu Xuanji would instantly suspect whether the City Lord's Mansion had long prepared a way to lift the oath!
After the two parted, both were deep in thought.
Although they could not win each other's trust, the meeting was still extremely necessary and fruitful.
Both parties achieved their main objective, which was to control the intensity of their conflict.
The Meng Family did not want to rebel, and the South Bean Royal Family wanted to maintain domestic stability.
If the South Bean Royal Family became vulnerable due to internal strife within the Meng Family, it would inevitably attract incursions from surrounding cultivation kingdoms.
The current cultivation world maintained a terrifying balance. Countries of all sizes had been striving for military preparedness for nearly a hundred years.
Huoshi Mountain Summit.
In the depths of the clouds and mist.
Meng Kui sat cross-legged in mid-air. His eyes were bright blue, piercing through the layers of clouds, overlooking the entire Fire Persimmon Immortal City.
The Golden Core Battle deeply moved him.
Like Fei Si and Zhu Xuanji, Meng Kui also felt that a mysterious force lurked in the shadows.
And this force was using the Magma Fairy Palace to manipulate the entire situation of Fire Persimmon Immortal City to some extent.
The Golden Core Battle was this force's attempt to trigger a dispute between the South Bean Royal Family and the Meng Family!
"Who is it?"
"Show yourself!"
Since the last time he watched from the mountain, Meng Kui had remained still and unmoving.
This time, feeling provoked, he acted again.
Divine Skills—Mountain Gaze!
He performed his divine skills, while also taking out talismans.
Great Wind Talisman!
Yunyang Talisman!
The great wind arose, and the clouds flew, the mountain gaze listened to the sound of pines.
No matter how turbulent the weather outside, he sat quietly in the mountain, listening to the pine waves, unaffected by the wind and clouds, observing the changes in forces.
Meng Kui deftly operated his divine skills. After a moment, his vision abruptly changed.
It was no longer the usual scenery of the immortal city and the volcano, but a strange sight of manifested fates!
A huge dragon turtle with blazing flames stood on a lava stone slab, its head raised to the sky, with longing in its dragon eyes.
In the night sky, a giant mystical bird circled, its feathers azure and thunderbolts surrounding it, with a golden beak and silver claws, appearing very majestic.
In the darkness, an enormous tree that spanned heaven and earth extended its roots and branches without showing its full appearance.
The dark green roots spread, embedded in the lava stone slab and the body of the flaming dragon turtle.
Branches bore a huge red fruit. The red fruit extended above the dragon turtle's head, emitting red light, making it unable to raise its head.
Tears of blood streamed from Meng Kui's eyes, with intense pain emanating from the depths of his soul. The torment deepened rapidly with every breath he took.
Meng Kui knew his time to observe was extremely limited, so he focused with all his might, scrutinizing every detail.
He soon discovered that the dragon turtle's limbs were deeply embedded in the lava stone slab beneath it. Below the slab, terrifying molten lava boiled incessantly.
Buildings stood tall on the dragon turtle's shell, resembling the layout of Fire Persimmon Immortal City.
The dragon turtle was eager to move, attempting to lift its body and pull its limbs out of the stone slab.
However, if it did so, the stone slab would inevitably shatter, and the golden-red lava would instantly engulf it.
But if it didn't, the thunderous mystical bird circling in the night sky would swoop down, extending its claws to gouge out its dragon eyes. The dark green roots and branches permeating from the darkness would pierce through its body, rendering it a perpetual prisoner!
Before his eyes, Meng Kui's vision darkened suddenly.
The blood flowing from his eyes transformed into a streak of black blood.
Simultaneously, large patches of his hair turned gray instantly. A light breeze would blow, and they would melt away like snow under the sun.
"So that's it!"
"It seems the Magma Fairy Palace is reluctant to bear the burden and wants to break free."
"More precisely, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit here wants to escape. No wonder it has been repeatedly causing trouble."
In Meng Kui's understanding, the thunderbird undoubtedly represented him, Meng Chong, and the City Lord's Mansion's forces.
The fate of the Magma Fairy Palace and the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit condensed into the form of the dragon turtle.
And the giant tree's roots and branches extending from the darkness represented the South Bean Royal Family, Zhu Xuanji.
Meng Kui closed his eyes tightly, healing his wounds while assessing the situation: "The critical moment is approaching."
"The dragon turtle wants to break free from its predicament, and it must face threefold challenges."
"The first challenge is the lava beneath its feet, representing Fire Persimmon Mountain. If it pulls away, the stone slab shatters, and the lava will engulf it."
"The second challenge is the thunderbird pecking at its eyes."
"The third challenge is the giant tree's invasion."
"The red fruit on the giant tree's branches must be Zhu Xuanji. This man is a significant figure in the Golden Core Stage of the South Bean Royal Family."
"He overshadows the dragon turtle, making it unable to raise its head or open its eyes."
Upper Dantian Divine Sea.
The Buddha Heart Demon Seal suddenly shook violently, emitting Buddha's light and protecting Ning Zhuo.
"What's going on?!" Ning Zhuo exclaimed.
Buddha's light enveloped his entire body, and Ning Zhuo immediately activated the Cloud Concealed Bud, masking himself.
Buddha's light persisted for a while before gradually fading.
Ning Zhuo wondered hesitantly, unsure what crisis had triggered the Buddha Heart Demon Seal to protect him once again!
"What should I do?"
"There may still be detection methods left on me by the Golden Core Cultivators."
"Is Zhu Xuanji still observing me?"
Ning Zhuo found himself in turmoil.
He had to be cautious with every move, not revealing the slightest flaw.
According to his analysis, he was likely still being covertly watched.
All because Zhu Xuanji made it clear before. He suspected a hidden mastermind and warned Ning Zhuo to remain vigilant.
"Given Zhu Xuanji's personality, he wouldn't voluntarily withdraw monitoring methods knowing I was in danger."
This made Ning Zhuo extremely inconvenienced.
From now on, every move he made would be severely restricted.
He could no longer secretly meet with Sun Lingtong, nor attempt to remove the surveillance methods.
If Ning Zhuo tried to remove them, it would undoubtedly signal to the Golden Core Cultivators— he had ulterior motives!
Under normal circumstances, a young cultivator with lingering dangers would be eager to have more detection methods planted on them.
"Why did Zhu Xuanji suddenly want to examine my Three Elixir Fields?"
"After the Golden Core Battle, what did he discover to cast such suspicious eyes on me?"
"Did Han Ming get caught?"
"Or was it the self-destruction of the Demon Sect's True Scripture?"
If Han Ming got caught and exposed the fact that the Youthful Guest possessed Yuan Dasheng's corpse, Ning Zhuo had already prepared an explanation.
But Ning Zhuo knew well that such an explanation would have a limited effect.
Given that Zhu Xuanji was already suspecting him, such an explanation might even backfire!
"The City Lord's Mansion's subsequent reactions also warrant close attention."
"Fei Si... is also tricky to fool."
"Alas, the destruction of the Demon Sect's True Scripture was a flaw!"
If possible, Ning Zhuo would have preferred to hand over the real True Scripture.
But things didn't go his way.
He was already fortunate enough to get this far, having managed to enlist Yang Chanyu to fabricate it.
Sun Lingtong had already informed Ning Zhuo afterward about this through the Magma Fairy Palace.
"If Elder Sun could enlist Yang Chanyu, he must have paid a price."
"Even though he told me it was a hefty sum, do I not know him? Hmph, he's hiding something from me."