Random Recommendation:

Truly, this excuse was flimsy.

But having one was better than none, far better.

Everyone knew the essence beneath this veil of shame. But with this veil, the Meng family’s situation improved greatly. At the very least, they wouldn’t become the target of public outcry, cursed by all.

“Alright,” Meng Hu was not unaware of the gravity of the situation, he merely hoped Meng Kui had some clever plan.

Meng Kui detailed the situation to Meng Hu, explaining the circumstances, including his previous actions and future plans.

Meng Hu found it strange: “Brother, if it were me, I would have directly intervened long ago. Yet you always preside over the mountaintop, taking action rarely. You are a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator, the pillar of Fire Persimmon Immortal City. If you had acted repeatedly, the internal strife would have been quelled long ago.”

Meng Kui smiled slightly and slowly shook his head: “Not long after the Immortal Palace emerged, I used the Divine Strategy Incense and performed a divination using a divine ability, obtaining a prophetic verse.”

“According to the revelation of the prophecy, although I am a Nascent Soul cultivator, the strongest in the city, frequent intervention will not have much effect on the ownership of the Lava Immortal Palace.”

Meng Hu reached out: “Brother, what is the prophecy? Let me, your clan brother, take a good look at it.”

Meng Kui stroked his beard: “Just listen carefully.”

Saying this, he recited aloud—

Immortal palace spirit favors the Meng gate,
True and false enemies hard to differentiate.
Wind and clouds shifting, all is illusion,
Immortal talent in hand, that is the truth.
Golden Core falls, lamentation empty,
Volcano stirs, yet the body remains unharmed.
Great men pursue the moon in the water,
Juniors contend for dominion.
Navigating both sides, advantage reveals itself,
Enduring until the enemy tires, then leaping forth.
Gain and loss of righteousness, a single thought,
New lord pacifies the people, filling old pits.

After hearing this prophetic verse, Meng Hu suddenly understood, comprehending Meng Kui’s actions.

He was somewhat dissatisfied, muttering: “Brother, is your divination accurate? I remember clearly, it was written in the secret records of the Heavenly Orbit Manor—”

“Always relying on luck will surely be blinded by luck.”

“Listening to this prophetic poem, many parts are ambiguous and can be interpreted in many ways.”

“Only the last sentence is somewhat interesting.”

“New lord pacifies the people, filling old pits… pacifies the people… I’ve seen the intelligence, isn’t that Zhu Xuanji known as ‘Investigator of Secrets and Pacifier of the People’?”

“Could it be that he will be the Master of the Immortal Palace? So, he is the enemy we need to watch most closely?”

“But the first sentence of the prophetic poem also says that this Immortal Palace favors our family, I’m confused.”

Meng Kui smiled slightly: “You don’t need to understand it, just act according to my orders. And watch.”

Saying this, Meng Kui pointed his hand.

A small, inconspicuous artifact-grade flying stone, with lightning speed, pierced through the clouds and smoke, shot through the lava, all the way down, and finally shot into the Demonic Ape Royal Court, injuring and waking a sleeping old ape.

The old ape looked at its pierced hand, immediately becoming enraged and shocked, erupting with a Nascent Soul level aura, rushing out of the royal court, and charging towards the crater.

Hearing the old ape’s movement, the two previous Nascent Soul level Fiery Serpents and Flame-Treading Lizards immediately stirred.

Roaring like thunder, the Nascent Soul level Demonic Ape brazenly appeared, swinging its fist and smashing directly at the spherical light barrier.

At the same time, the Fiery Serpent and Flame-Treading Lizard also appeared from two other locations, joining forces to attack the Lava Immortal Palace!

Meng Kui once again unleashed his great hand seals, moving around everywhere.

With the addition of a Nascent Soul level beast, his previous efforts were clearly insufficient, far from enough.

The remaining spherical light barrier of the Lava Immortal Palace was quickly smashed by the Demonic Ape’s fists, leaving countless cracks.

Zhou Nongying was eliminated and was actively healing in his room.

“The merciful Venerables of the Three Sects transmitted me out in time, avoiding death. However, with my departure, the Zhou family has no hope of victory.”

Zhou Nongying was sighing with emotion when he heard the sounds of Nascent Soul level combat.

He walked out of the house, looked up, and was instantly shocked.

He just happened to see the scene where the Fiery Demonic Ape’s fist shadows flew, shattering the spherical light barrier.

“It’s over, the Nascent Soul level beasts are going to attack the city!” Zhou Nongying’s face was filled with despair.

The next moment, an artifact-grade seal flew out, crashing down, repelling the Fiery Demonic Ape.

Meng Kui’s roar came: “Do not even think of coveting the Lava Immortal Palace, I, Meng Kui, am here! To succeed, you must step over my corpse.”

His roar immediately stabilized some hearts, but it was not enough.

The Nascent Soul level Fiery Serpent opened its mouth and spat out a river of flames. The river of fire spread, incinerating all mechanisms and structures along the way.

The Flame-Treading Lizard lowered its head and heavily crashed into the Lava Immortal Palace.

The Lava Immortal Palace consequently tilted violently, like an iceberg lifting a corner. The raised part of the Lava Immortal Palace heavily fell back, stirring up monstrous waves of lava.

The giant waves crashed down, and a large part of the Immortal Palace’s foundation immediately collapsed, along with the remaining incomplete mechanisms and structures above, also buried in the lava.

Following closely behind were tens of thousands of Crimson Flame Beasts, landing from the completely breached outer circle of the Lava Immortal Palace, rushing towards the inner circle.

The Commander’s Platform, the Five Element Cannon Towers, and the automaton army were all operating at full capacity, intercepting as many Crimson Flame Beasts as possible.

Fortunately, there were a large number of Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators who had previously moved from Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

These people filled the front lines, forming small arrays. These arrays were like fortresses, blocking the tide of the Crimson Flame Beasts’ attacks.

A brutal battle of offense and defense immediately erupted!

Zhu Zhenxin’s heart was pounding, and while fighting desperately, he noticed the ruins of the Golden Furnace.

The task Zhu Xuanji had assigned him suddenly became much easier at this moment, allowing him to see a great possibility of successful completion.

The Lava Immortal Palace was violently shaking, but in the Hall of Opportunity, it remained peaceful.

Ning Zhuo used spirit stones, surrounded by a team of automaton warriors, and broke through several secret halls.

After pushing open a door, he encountered the second cultivator he had seen.

It was none other than Zheng Danlian!

Zheng Danlian was dodging a huge wooden hammer. He wanted to get close to the central area to shut down the automaton trap and retrieve the elixir deep within the trap.

Seeing Ning Zhuo appear, Zheng Danlian immediately showed joy: “Ning Zhuo! You’ve come just in time…”

Ning Zhuo immediately closed the door again.

Zheng Danlian’s words were stuck in his throat, and his expression immediately turned gloomy.

“Under the Great Opportunity, the possibility of me encountering other cultivators has greatly increased.”

“Taking advantage of this good opportunity, I should ideally rendezvous with Boss Sun!”

Zheng Danlian was not the optimal choice, and he didn’t necessarily have to cross the secret hall room in front of him. There were many routes he could choose.

Therefore, Ning Zhuo decisively withdrew, chose another door, and slipped in.

Not long after.

Three cultivators entered this Hall of Opportunity.

They were Scholar, Song Fulian, and the Golden Core True Disciple trio from Purple Heaven Pavilion.

The Golden Core from Purple Heaven Pavilion maintained a tracking spell, and after scouting around, immediately frowned: “Why are there two paths? He opened one door, then retreated, and left through another door.”

Song Fulian also frowned: “Could it be that he sensed our tracking, so he’s setting up a maze?”

The Golden Core True Disciple from Purple Heaven Pavilion snorted coldly: “Simple! We’ll open both doors and take a look, won’t that do?”

Thus, the Golden Core from Purple Heaven Pavilion and Song Fulian each opened a door.

They successfully discovered Ning Zhuo’s traces of departure, and…

Zheng Danlian, who was still navigating the automaton traps!

Of course, at the same time they opened the doors, Zheng Danlian also discovered them.

“Don’t worry about Ning Zhuo, let’s take him down first!” Scholar made a decisive decision and rushed into the secret hall first.

The True Disciple from Purple Heaven Pavilion was somewhat unwilling, but also knew that this was the best choice, and after a cold snort, followed closely behind.

Song Fulian was the third to follow.

Zheng Danlian stared with wide eyes.

Just Scholar alone made him quite wary. Now, there were also the True Disciple from Purple Heaven Pavilion and Song Fulian. With this kind of battle, what chance of winning could he have?

Zheng Danlian immediately had the thought of retreating.

But the awkward thing was that he was in the midst of the automaton traps, making it inconvenient to move, and there was no way to withdraw in time.

By the time he reached the outer perimeter of the automaton traps, Scholar and the other two had already surrounded him from front and back.

“If you want to eliminate me, I will surely drag one of you with me!” Zheng Danlian shouted, issuing a threat.

Scholar smiled slightly: “I don’t believe it. Attack!”

The three-on-one battle unfolded.

Zheng Danlian immediately fell into a disadvantage.

Left with no choice, he could only completely abandon his retreat plan, constantly retreating, stepping back into the layers of automaton traps.

He had been navigating this place for a while and was close to successfully passing the test and being able to shut down the automaton traps.

In contrast, Scholar and the other two had just arrived and were not familiar with the area.

With a slight advantage in terrain, Zheng Danlian temporarily stabilized his position.

But it was clear that his situation remained precarious.

Sun Lingtong and Yang Chanyue ran side by side.

Yang Chanyue occasionally turned her head to look at Sun Lingtong: “This serious and earnest expression of yours is quite rare.”

Sun Lingtong rolled his eyes at her: “We’ve worked so hard to get here, we’re just a step away from the finish line. Please give it your all, and when we seize the Immortal Palace, we won’t treat you unfairly.”

Yang Chanyue: “I’m quite curious, even if we obtain the Immortal Palace, how will we face the blockade of Meng Kui and the city protection formation, not to mention the surrounding beast tide.”

“We have a plan!” Sun Lingtong didn’t want to say more.

If he could replace Yang Chanyue with Ning Zhuo, he wouldn’t hesitate for a moment.

“Under the Great Opportunity, I successfully rendezvoused with Yang Chanyue.”

“But if Little Zhuo is still alone, it will be relatively dangerous.”

“Alas, if only I had the opportunity to return the Golden Blood Battle Ape·Great Victory to him during the second round of the Palace Examination, I would feel a little more at ease at this time.”

“Someone!”

Sun Lingtong pushed open a door and found a figure sitting in meditation.

After being disappointed, his eyes lit up again.

Yang Chanyue subsequently stepped over the threshold, and she also showed a hint of interest: “Oh? It’s Meng Chong.”

Meng Chong had paid a huge price to defeat Zhou Nongying.

Fortunately, he had previously obtained healing elixirs. After taking them, his injuries were mostly healed, although his complexion was still pale.

What made him more uncomfortable was that he had not obtained any spirit crystals like Ning Zhuo. This meant that he could only accelerate the recovery of his Five Element magic power through meditation.

(End of this chapter)