Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Zhu Xuanji quickly recalled.

"Sun Lingtong has been the black market leader in Huoshi Immortal City for many years, always planning. The underground secret base exposed during the battle with Qi Bai is clear evidence."

"At the beginning of the Golden Core chaotic battle, it was Yang Chanyu who appeared and deliberately exposed the demonic Dao true scripture. However, this scripture was fake, leading the Zheng family to face consequences from the Taiqing Palace."

"No-Void Sect used this scheme to break the tight alliance between me and the three families. They succeeded!"

"Well done, indeed worthy of being a major sect of the demonic path, the most adept at stealing under heaven."

"It turns out, you've been preparing for this for at least a dozen years. That's quite a long-term plan."

Just as Zhu Xuanji was about to continue listening, a letter flew in from the window.

The flying letter hovered in front of Zhu Xuanji, clearly sent to him.

Zhu Xuanji opened the letter, scanned it with his spiritual sense, and his expression changed drastically.

The letter was from a Golden Core cultivator of the Zheng family, informing Zhu Xuanji that a major incident had occurred at the Lava Immortal Palace. The spherical light shield had been damaged, and a large number of Red Flame Demon Beasts had rushed in, potentially threatening the Record Pavilion. The letter urged Zhu Xuanji to return immediately!

Zhu Xuanji instantly felt that something was terribly wrong. He checked the time on the letter and realized that a cup of tea's worth of time had already passed since the message was sent.

"Damn it!" Zhu Xuanji could no longer remain seated and stood up abruptly.

"My lord?" Ning Zhuo hurriedly inquired.

Zhu Xuanji looked at him, "Something major has happened at the Lava Immortal Palace. I must handle this first. We'll discuss your matter later."

"Wait!" Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted.

"Lord Zhu!" Ning Zhuo's face was filled with urgency, "Is it No-Void Sect again?"

"Please take me with you. Take me with you."

"I'm afraid there might be eavesdroppers. They might already know that I've defected to the righteous side."

"If you leave me here, I'm scared!"

"I'm in great danger. I must stay by your side!"

Zhu Xuanji was momentarily speechless.

However, after a brief thought, he realized that Ning Zhuo's words made sense.

"You brat..." Zhu Xuanji grabbed Ning Zhuo by the collar, leapt out of the window, transformed into a long rainbow, and flew towards the peak of Mount Huoshi.

On the way, three more flying letters were delivered.

Zhu Xuanji didn't examine them closely nor did he stop, flying at full speed towards the Lava Immortal Palace.

Mount Huoshi's peak was not far.

After about ten breaths, Zhu Xuanji arrived at the mountaintop.

There, several more flying letters had just been sent out, heading toward Zhu Xuanji.

With a sweep of his arm, Zhu Xuanji gathered them all.

He multitasked, reading the letters with his spiritual sense while visually inspecting the Lava Immortal Palace, focusing on the breach in the spherical light shield, his brows deeply furrowed.

Meng Kui had already taken action, dealing with the countless Red Flame Demon Beasts outside the breach.

Without the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit siphoning mana, the spherical light shield was now receiving ample mana infusion, and the breach was rapidly mending.

Zhu Xuanji's expression changed again, and the aura around him surged violently, his first moment of losing composure, exuding intense killing intent.

The reason was that he had seen in the letter: the Record Pavilion had been destroyed, Ning Xiaohui was dead, and Yang Chanyu was still on the run!

"Well done, No-Void Sect."

Zhu Xuanji was furious, grinding his teeth in anger.

With Ning Zhuo in tow, he charged towards the Lava Immortal Palace.

Outside the Immortal Palace, the Red Flame Demon Beasts were already in a frenzy, madly attacking the spherical light shield.

Zhu Xuanji's undisguised movement attracted numerous beasts to attack him.

However, all the flames and molten lava were blocked by Meng Kui's Nascent Soul-level large hand.

Zhu Xuanji advanced unimpeded, nearing the Lava Immortal Palace, with Ning Zhuo successfully brought in by the treasure light's guidance.

Once inside the palace, he let out a long howl.

The howl echoed throughout the palace, with surging sound waves reverberating within the spherical light shield.

Zhu Zhen and the Golden Core cultivators from the three families were overjoyed when they heard the sound, knowing that Zhu Xuanji had returned.

Soon, they gathered midair.

"Lord Detective!"

"Hurry, we just lost track of Yang Chanyu. We urgently need your intervention."

"It's time for your Celestial Golden Eyes to display their divine power!"

As they gathered, another bad piece of news came.

Zhu Xuanji's face darkened again, "Wasn't Yang Chanyu marked with a tracking technique?"

The Golden Core cultivators sighed, and one of them replied, "It's the Supreme Water Art! I sensed that she used a drop of it to swiftly dissolve my technique."

"Quickly take me to the last location." Zhu Xuanji dared not delay.

The Golden Core Ancestors all flew off together.

Upon reaching the destination, Zhu Xuanji's eyes gleamed with golden light as he employed various techniques.

While carrying Ning Zhuo, he led the group of cultivators in pursuit.

As they proceeded, more and more clues appeared, and the trail split into several directions.

In the end, Zhu Xuanji halted, his expression as dark as water, "As expected of No-Void Sect's true disciple, their methods of forging false traces are superb."

The Golden Core cultivators exchanged glances.

Zhu Zhen said, "Brother, this is not your fault. There are many places within the Lava Immortal Palace that we cannot approach."

"This makes it very easy for Yang Chanyu to hide."

Zhu Xuanji's face was stern as he turned to glare at the Golden Core cultivators, coldly saying, "Return to the Record Pavilion!"

Meanwhile.

Yang Chanyu met up with Sun Lingtong.

"This time, we've really angered Zhu Xuanji. I just saw him, and wow, his expression was terrifying," Yang Chanyu said with a smile.

Sun Lingtong spoke in a deep voice, "Next, we will likely face Zhu Xuanji and Meng Kui working together."

Yang Chanyu shrugged, unconcerned about the upcoming situation.

She took a few steps forward, deliberately standing in front of Sun Lingtong, then bent down and lowered her head, closely observing Sun Lingtong.

Sun Lingtong frowned, instinctively wanting to step back, but unwilling to lose face, stiffened his neck and widened his eyes, "What are you doing?"

Yang Chanyu stared into Sun Lingtong's eyes, "The Water Virtue Treasure is really useful!"

"You seem quite concerned about me."

"If you hadn't sent it in time, I would have been chased by Zhu Xuanji across the heavens and earth by now, running all over the place."

"I can tell, his Celestial Golden Eyes are nearly at the level of a divine ability!"

Sun Lingtong rolled his eyes, "As long as you understand that."

With that, he turned to bypass Yang Chanyu and continue walking.

However, Yang Chanyu took a step sideways, once again blocking Sun Lingtong's path.

Her bright eyes stared intently at Sun Lingtong, leaning in so close that their faces were only a fist apart.

Finally, Sun Lingtong couldn't hold back, stepped back, and shouted, "What are you up to now? Walk properly!"

Yang Chanyu chuckled, her gaze becoming sharp, "Tell me, what's your relationship with Ning Zhuo?"

"Haven't I already told you? It's a cooperative relationship!" Sun Lingtong spread his hands.

Yang Chanyu said, "But I feel like it's more than that."

"Ning Zhuo was summoned out of the Immortal Palace by Zhu Xuanji. As soon as he left, you asked me to act against Ning Xiaohui and even warned me that there might be a Golden Core ambush."

"Did you seize the chance to clear his suspicions during this time?"

"Impressive, you carried out your scheme right under Zhu Xuanji's nose, turning the dignified Detective into your eyewitness. That's quite the clever trick!"

Sun Lingtong took a step back, and Yang Chanyu took a step forward.

Continuing to press him, she said, "And the bombardment from the Five Elements Tower—was that your doing too?"

"Your arrangements in the Immortal Palace were all centered around the Record Pavilion, so you simply destroyed the pavilion."

"You acted against Ning Xiaohui because that naive girl had taken over the duties at the Record Pavilion and might have discovered your crimes!"

Sun Lingtong raised his voice, "What are you thinking?"

"How could we control the Five Elements Tower? You're dreaming!"

Yang Chanyu wasn't easily fooled and let out a cold laugh, "Why can't you control the Five Elements Tower? Ning Zhuo controls the medical hall, and even someone like me, an outsider, was able to be secretly placed there."

"The Five Elements Tower and the medical hall share the same essence."

"There's no use hiding from me now!"

"I don't want to be blasted by the Five Elements Tower while fleeing from Golden Core cultivators one day!"

Yang Chanyu's resolute expression showed her determination to know the truth

.

Sun Lingtong clicked his tongue in annoyance, thinking: This woman is truly troublesome! What a headache.

For a moment, Sun Lingtong felt a bit overwhelmed, quickly pondering what to say and what to keep hidden.

The fight for the Lava Immortal Palace had reached its final stage.

A valuable asset like Yang Chanyu must be won over at all costs.

However, Sun Lingtong couldn't give her too much hope because Elder Qing was still behind her. If expectations were too high, it would easily attract the attention of Elder Qing and others.

But he also couldn't give her no hope. He had to make her feel that there was potential and profit to be gained, ensuring she could still be used in the future.

Sun Lingtong began to carefully choose his words.

Zhu Xuanji, along with Ning Zhuo and the others, arrived at the site of the Record Pavilion.

It was now a massive crater. The Record Pavilion had been blasted to nothing, not even a trace left behind.

Zhu Xuanji employed tracking techniques, but there were no results.

His face was terrifyingly dark.

Ning Zhuo held his breath, not daring to make any noise.

The other Golden Core cultivators also remained silent.

After a long while, Zhu Xuanji finally spoke, "Let's go, to the next location."

Soon, the group arrived at the Gourd Furnace Forest.

They stood before a silver furnace.

The silver furnace had been destroyed.

The one responsible was Zheng Jianlian.

"Ning Xiaohui had my monitoring spell on her."

"When I sensed that she had lost her life, I was so anxious that I destroyed the silver furnace."

"But... ultimately, I couldn't save her."

Zhu Xuanji ignored him, standing amid the ruins of the silver furnace, surrounded by fragments of the furnace.

Zhu Xuanji activated his Celestial Golden Eyes and employed the Trace Back Art.

Soon, he "saw" Ning Xiaohui fleeing in panic, hiding inside the silver furnace.

He also "saw" Sun Lingtong using the Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Resolving Sutra to incinerate Ning Xiaohui.

Finally, he saw Ning Xiaohui desperately fighting for her life in the furnace. Realizing that death was inevitable, she used her remaining mana to carve words into the ice bricks!

It turned out that Ning Xiaohui, filled with a strong desire for revenge, had used all her strength to leave clues for Zhu Xuanji.

Ning Zhuo had been far from Ning Xiaohui, and previously, with the Lava Immortal Palace in between, communication had been difficult. By the time she was in the silver furnace and the flames had risen, their connection had grown even fainter.

The characters Ning Xiaohui left on the ice bricks were extremely small and hidden.

Neither Ning Zhuo nor Sun Lingtong had noticed!

(End of this chapter)