Fei Si cooperated actively. In his view, "the Youthful Guest must be an elite of the Bukong Sect, otherwise Qi Bai would not have risked his life to rescue Sun Lingtong after their battle."
The Bukong Sect was a common enemy for both Zhu Xuanji and Meng Kui. If one were to investigate the Bukong Sect, it would not only involve the Zhu Family's attention and time, it was killing two birds with one stone. How could he not cooperate actively?
Two days later.
Zhu Zhen came to Zhu Xuanji in a hurry and reported his two achievements.
"The City Lord's Mansion, using the Ruyi Sash, found many Floating Cloud Silk Threads. Upon investigation, some types of these threads are special products of Flying Cloud Country."
"Although I have not found any clues about the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon, I discovered that large groups of Cultivators are secretly moving around, trying by all means to contact the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit. After my further investigation, I confirmed these Cultivators all come from the Meng Family!"
Zhu Xuanji's brow furrowed tightly.
Zhu Zhen's first achievement did not make Zhu Xuanji take much notice; at most, it was just a side note.
The second discovery was the key point.
Zhu Xuanji briefly pondered and immediately realized, "It seems Meng Kui had already known the trick with the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit a long time ago."
"In that case, he probably has always been holding back, never giving his all to fight against the Flame Beast Tide!"
Meng Kui, by relying on the Method of Deduction, had sensed the secret of the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit from the Qi Fortune and had been concealing it until now.
Now, Zhu Xuanji, through investigating the second Golden Furnace, had gone around in a circle and glimpsed a part of the truth about Meng Kui.
"Very good, worthy of being a tactician from the Meng Family!" Zhu Xuanji looked up at the heavy clouds above his head.
At this moment, his heart was full of anger, "These major feudal families!"
But immediately after, Zhu Xuanji suppressed this anger deep in his heart.
He asked Zhu Zhen to continue investigating the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon, while he himself sent a Flying Message, contacting Meng Kui, requesting a meeting.
Meng Kui acted and responded to Zhu Xuanji, coming to meet with him.
Currently, with two major Nascent Soul Level Flame Demon Beasts participating in the beast tide and often appearing, the Lava Fairy Palace had almost become an isolated island.
For Golden Core Level Zhu Xuanji, trying to enter or leave the Lava Fairy Palace on his own meant taking risks.
Only with Meng Kui's protection could he leave safely.
When Zhu Xuanji met with Meng Kui, he acted as if he had not discovered Meng Kui's small movements. With a serious expression, he started saying the situation was dire, that the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit harbored ill intentions, wanting to flee.
Meng Kui naturally showed a shocked expression, but in his heart, he had an epiphany, guessing that Zhu Xuanji might already know about his tricks.
Zhu Xuanji knew about Meng Kui's small movements, yet acted ignorant.
Meng Kui guessed Zhu Xuanji already knew about his small movements, he too acted ignorant.
Both parties knew the other was performing and were willing to continue the act.
Zhu Xuanji, "Now the volcano is erupting, danger is like eggs piled up, with one misstep, the entire Immortal City and countless citizens could face catastrophe."
"Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit bombarding Fire Persimmon Mountain is trying to use the overall situation to pressure us, creating a possibility for it to escape prison."
"Starting today, we shall implement the Locked Void Forbidden Zone, strictly forbidding all transmission methods within ten miles. Activate the Observing Heaven and Earth ability within the Array to mark all Nascent Soul Level existences, to prevent Nascent Soul Demon Beasts from suddenly attacking Fire Persimmon Immortal City."
Meng Kui showed hesitation, "Locked Void Forbidden Zone and Observing Heaven and Earth are the City Protection Formation's measures of last resort. Using them prematurely will result in significant Spirit Stone consumption, leading to a dangerous state of weakness. Lord Zhu, how did you determine it's time to use such measures?"
Zhu Xuanji smiled slightly, took out a Royal Order, and actively displayed it, "I am not required to explain to you. Lord Meng, you only need to cooperate."
Meng Kui's pupils shrank slightly. Even at Nascent Soul Level, he could not challenge a Royal Order.
Meng Family was one of the pillars of Southern Bean Country and Meng Kui was a court minister. Naturally, there were many constraints, with the hold in the hands of the Zhu Family's Royal Family.
The Royal Order in Zhu Xuanji's hand was authentic; seeing the token was as good as seeing the Monarch, Meng Kui did not wish to defy and sighed, "My views differ from Lord Zhu, but since you insist and brought out a Royal Order, I shall follow the command."
"However, once this affair at the Lava Fairy Palace is over, I must report the details. I hope Lord Zhu Xuanji will not blame me."
"Of course." Zhu Xuanji said, and with the Royal Order in his hand officially activated, it instantly turned to dust, scattering with the wind.
The Royal Order was extremely precious and held strong effectiveness.
Once used, it would be expended.
But Zhu Xuanji's arrangements were meant to try to block off the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon at all costs. He knew all too well that triggering the City Protection Formation early and using up a lot of resources carried great risk, but he had no choice but to do it!
Regarding the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon, Zhu Xuanji did not mention a word to Meng Kui.
Before, Meng Kui concealed the secret of the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit from him. Now, Zhu Xuanji hid the existence of the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon from Meng Kui. Achieving open and honest, wholehearted cooperation between the two was not impossible, just exceedingly difficult.
As Zhu Xuanji had anticipated, the second round of the palace examination had already entered its final stages, after the twenty-seventh question, it was announced over.
The ranking list of the second round of the palace examination was arranged on the spot.
None of the Cultivators were surprised.
In their usual participation in the palace examination, they also carefully calculated.
Because for the majority of the time, ten arenas were transparently visible, and there were Cultivators resting, standing below for an overall observation. Hence, the outcomes of most of the arena battles could be verified.
Even if it was not possible to investigate, based on the gap in strength between both sides, they could roughly predict the outcomes.
What the Cultivators did not know was how the second round of the palace examination results were combined with the current overall ranking.
How much the second round of the palace examination results accounted for in the total score and specifically how they were calculated was unclear to them.
The truly nervous moment had arrived.
The ranking of the overall results had just been freshly released!
First place, Zhu Xuanji.
Second place, Shuzhong Jun.
Third place, Zheng Danlian.
Fourth place, a cultivator from the Meng Family, A.
Fifth place, Zheng Shuanggou.
Sixth place, Purple Dawn Pavilion Golden Core True Inheritor.
Seventh place, Ning Jiufan.
Eighth place, Yang Chanyu.
Ninth place, the entry standard.
Tenth place, Zhou Nongying.
Eleventh place, Ning Zhuo.
Twelfth place, Meng Chong.
Thirteenth place, Song Fuli.
As stated in the second round of the palace examination, another ten were eliminated, leaving only thirteen to enter the third round of the palace examination.
When the results came out, the expressions of the cultivators in the main hall's square varied greatly.
Those who did not pass looked solemn, while those who did relaxed, exhaling their foul breath, no longer as tense.
Upon carefully studying this ranking, one would make many discoveries.
The first place was Zhu Xuanji, which was expected by everyone. Zhu Xuanji had already been first in achievements, and he had the most victories in the second round of the palace test.
The second place was Shuzhong Jun, which was also understandable. After all, in the previous achievement ranking, Shuzhong Jun was among the top. This time, he performed very well in the second round of the palace test, only losing more often to Zhu Xuanji.
The Zheng Family's two Golden Cores were ranked third and fifth, living up to the Zheng Family's reputation for focusing on artifact refining, and holding many advantages in creating mechanisms.
Representing the Meng Family, there was only the fourth place external aid cultivator, A, and the twelfth place QI refinement genius Meng Chong, both appearing somewhat fatigued.
The sixth place was taken by the Purple Dawn Pavilion Golden Core True Inheritor, which surprised no one. Purple Dawn Pavilion, Taiqing Palace—these were all super-sects, and since they had sent a Golden Core True Inheritor to compete for the position of Palace Master, they must have selected their candidate carefully.
From the achievement of the Purple Dawn Pavilion Golden Core True Inheritor, one could infer that if the true disciple of Taiqing Palace had not died, he would probably also be on the ranking list. In this respect, many cultivators on the list had to thank Zheng Danlian.
Ning Jiufan and Ning Zhuo both made the list. The same was true for the entry standard and Yang Chanyu. In the overall achievement rankings, the Bukong Sect and the Ning Family were not far apart.
Some cultivators, upon seeing this, sighed at the great achievement Ning Zhuo had made. In the latter part of the second round, he severely wounded the Golden Blood Battle Ape and achieved a great victory, causing Sun Lingtong, who had entered at the standard level, to plummet in the rankings, ultimately only managing to scramble to the ninth place.
Zhou Nongying fell to the tenth place. This was a bit embarrassing.
From this point of view, the Zhou Family was probably the one that suffered the most in the second round of the palace test. Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zeshen were both eliminated, leaving only one lone Golden Core survivor.
In fact, many golden core cultivators were eliminated.
For example, Zhu Zhen from the royal Zhu Family. He also sensed the outcome of his elimination earlier, withdrew in advance, and didn't invest energy in the palace test but actively completed the tasks Zhu Xuanji had entrusted to him.
Similarly, the two Golden Core True Inheritors from the Cloud Merchants were also brushed off the list.
Among the Meng Family's Golden Cores, many were eliminated. The second round of the palace examination revolved around mechanisms and suppressed all cultivators' cultivation levels to the Qi Refining Level, reducing the differences in cultivation to the extreme.
Overall, the majority were Golden Core Level Cultivators, with only one—Sun Lingtong at the Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and only two Qi Refinement Realm cultivators, Ning Zhuo and Meng Chong.
Meng Chong possessed immortal aptitude, which was abundantly demonstrated in the second round of the palace test. On the arena, many of his opponents conceded voluntarily, and the Golden Core Cultivators of the Meng Family did the same.
From this perspective, perhaps it was the support for Meng Chong that led to the significant depletion of the Meng Family's Golden Core power.
The ranking of Ning Zhuo actually surpassed that of Meng Chong by some margin.
The cultivators were shocked at first glance, but they quickly came to terms with it.
Ning Zhuo shone brightly in the second round of the palace test. The severe injury he inflicted on the Golden Blood Battle Ape made a deep impression. The Five Elements Pawns he created seemed unremarkable at first glance, but they were balanced, without obvious weaknesses in any area. There were not a few who lost to Ning Zhuo, and anyone who had competed against him could truly appreciate that this talented youth was not simple.
Considering that Ning Zhuo's innate talent had not been tested and even the immortal aptitude Meng Chong was suppressed, everyone's imagination about Ning Zhuo's potential increased manifold.
"The Ning Family has produced an excellent junior."
"Although there is a deep contradiction between the main and branch lines of the Ning Family, Ning Zhuo has already caught the attention of Ning Jiufan, and his future is boundless!"
"He has innate talent; in decades or a century, he will undoubtedly be an important senior figure in Fire Persimmon Immortal City."
Ning Zhuo's reputation soared.
Yet what the public did not know was that Ning Zhuo's true ranking was even higher.
Just one day later, the transportation circle brought the thirteen cultivators back to the square in front of the main hall once again.
"The third round of the palace test begins!"
Boom.
In the astonished gazes of the crowd, the doors of the main hall slowly opened for the first time in hundreds of years.
The entrance was filled with the Five Element Spiritual Energy, weaving into a colorful vortex of spiritual energy.
A powerful force erupted from the vortex, drawing all the cultivators inside.