Chapter 334: Breaking the Game
"That little brat! When you come back, I'll definitely hang you up and beat your butt until it's swollen." Ning Jiufan was so angry that he gritted his teeth.
A flying message, like a bird, kept bumping into the window lattice.
Ning Jiufan's spiritual sense moved as he opened the window and let the flying message in.
It was a letter from Ning Zhuo.
"Old Ancestor, by the time you read this letter, I must have already run away from home..."
The letter mainly contained Ning Zhuo's views on the current situation of the Ning family, Huoshi Immortal City, and the game between the Zhu family and the Meng family.
Ning Zhuo predicted that there would be significant conflict and competition between the Ning family, the Zhou family, and the Meng family over the Lava Immortal Palace's position. In this regard, he warned not to forget about the Taiqing Palace!
Taiqing Palace took away a group of Zheng family cultivators, some of whom held positions in the Immortal Palace. Ning Zhuo believed that this super sect might still not have given up on the Lava Immortal Palace.
This could be a point of leverage.
Ning Zhuo deliberately left a batch of supplies, which would soon be delivered to Ning Jiufan by his subordinates. Ning Zhuo's actions were meant to repay the main family line for their past nurturing grace.
Finally, Ning Zhuo reminded Ning Jiufan that he had left no mechanical creations behind and urged Ning Jiufan to take good care of the branch family. Although the Nascent Soul Demon Ape could be subdued with official techniques and magical treasures, Ning Zhuo strongly advised against doing so.
According to his words, winning loyalty with emotion was the true path!
After reading the letter, Ning Jiufan's anger subsided significantly, and he snorted, "That brat still cares about the family after all."
"But he's worrying too much, even daring to interfere with me, his Old Ancestor. Hmph!"
"Wait, could this letter be part of his scheme? Did he even calculate my anger into it?"
Ning Jiufan's expression shifted unpredictably.
One had to admit that during the process of seizing the Lava Immortal Palace, Ning Zhuo's patience and strategy left a profound impression on Ning Jiufan.
So much so that even though he was a Golden Core cultivator with extraordinary combat power, Ning Jiufan now became suspicious, secretly wondering if he had once again been deceived by Ning Zhuo and was being manipulated by him.
After pondering for a moment, Ning Jiufan let out a long breath, no longer troubled.
"Overthinking is pointless."
"Ning Zhuo's nature isn't bad. His heart is with the family. Though he is cunning and full of strange ideas, he has his limits. Such talent should be nurtured."
Ning Jiufan was already considering how to elevate Ning Zhong's status. Perhaps, through posthumous titles, he could raise Ning Zhong's position and strengthen Ning Zhuo's sense of belonging to the family.
"Besides, during the Ghost Festival, the family's grand ceremony can connect with the underworld. I will personally seek higher blessings and support for Ning Zhuo."
City Lord's Mansion.
"Ning Zhuo left?"
"A Nascent Soul-level mechanism that can travel through the air... He indeed knows the Lava Immortal Palace well."
Fei Si felt relieved upon receiving the news.
How could one allow others to sleep soundly beside their bed?
Although Ning Zhuo's cultivation was low, the combat power and strategy he displayed made almost everyone who knew him deeply wary.
Fei Si was no exception.
Zhu Xuanji left Huoshi Immortal City the next morning.
As he flew into the sky, he couldn't help but look back.
Mount Huoshi sprawled across the land, nestled between lofty mountains, like a giant that had just awakened.
After the previous violent eruption, the cooled lava on the upper section of the volcano had turned into vast carpets of red and black, covering the slopes.
The traces of flowing lava were like massive veins, winding and twisting, recording nature's silent roar.
And halfway up the volcano, the massive structures that formed Huoshi Immortal City stood, though slightly damaged, overall unscathed. The city, once on the verge of destruction from a beast tide, was saved by the unity of its residents, turning danger into safety.
At the foot of the volcano lay vast forests of persimmon trees.
Though the last Huoshi Festival had only been a few months ago, due to the volcanic eruption, the infinite geothermal heat had been absorbed by the city's defensive array, leading to a significant increase in the persimmon harvest.
On the once-bare treetops, many small persimmons had begun to form. Bright red and round, they seemed like the hope of Huoshi Immortal City’s future.
However, the future of Huoshi Immortal City remained shrouded in layers of mist, like the clouds that perpetually hovered over the mountain peak, unclear and uncertain.
A flash of golden light appeared in Zhu Xuanji's eyes, and he immediately saw through the mist, spotting the Lava Immortal Palace floating above the magma in the volcano's crater.
The Lava Immortal Palace was being rebuilt, with Meng Kui personally overseeing the work, using his magical powers to retrieve parts of the palace that had fallen into the magma. Many other cultivators were assisting him, working with all their might to reassemble the broken sections of the palace.
"The Three Sect Lords..." Zhu Xuanji showed a look of apprehension.
In recent days, whenever he calmed down, scenes of that final moment kept replaying in his mind, where he turned his weapon to help Ning Zhuo deal with Meng Kui.
In that instant, he had, almost instinctively, turned the mirror to reflect Meng Kui's magical hand.
That single action had placed the royal family of Southern Dou in Meng Kui's path, directly stopping him from striking Ning Zhuo.
"At that time, I protected Ning Zhuo... Was that really my intention? Or was I already under control?"
After the event, every time Zhu Xuanji recalled that critical moment, it felt strange, like he had been a puppet controlled by strings.
But as he recalled it more and more, his memories gradually blurred, as if his body's actions had preceded his thoughts.
Now, after so many recollections, he was becoming increasingly suspicious.
As he flew further from Huoshi Immortal City, Zhu Xuanji finally couldn't resist reaching up to touch the top of his head.
"Is there a thread of life hanging by a thread above my head?"
He touched nothing.
The scene he had once witnessed in the capital floated back into his mind. A particular statement from the Three Sect Lords became more chilling the more he pondered it.
Back then, the Empress Dowager of Southern Dou, in a fit of anger, had taken the Golden Phoenix Mirror.
The Three Sect Lords had said to her, "The cause and effect are already determined. Since you took the Golden Phoenix Mirror, you will now shield the inheritance of the Immortal Palace for me."
Whenever Zhu Xuanji recalled this, especially after Meng Kui had taken over as the master of the Immortal Palace due to Ning Zhuo’s concession, he increasingly felt that the Three Sect Lords' words were not directed at the Empress Dowager, but rather… at him!
"Looking back carefully, ever since I set foot on Mount Huoshi, I have been led by the nose."
"I always guarded against this possibility, staying vigilant against the City Lord's Mansion and the demon cultivators in the shadows. Even when clues were right in front of me, I maintained my own initiative."
"Yet, in the end, I achieved nothing."
"No, my greatest achievement might have been representing the royal family, using the Golden Phoenix Mirror to save Ning Zhuo at the critical moment!"
"Could the Lava Immortal Palace be a stage set by the Three Sect Lords, and I was merely one of the prearranged puppets?"