“These words… why are they so small?”

Zhu Xuanji’s brow was tightly furrowed.

He strained his utmost, yet his vision remained a blur. After all, the raging flames at the time had obscured much, distorting his sight.

Ning Xiaohui’s handwriting was also incredibly tiny, nestled within the inner layer of the ice. It was perfectly normal that he couldn’t see clearly.

This posed a dilemma.

For Zhu Xuanji, if he had a physical object before him, a sweep with his divine sense would effortlessly reveal the truth.

But everything he was seeing was a result of his talent combined with the magical technique.

He couldn’t do any better!

“Couldn’t she have written a little bigger?”

“Ning Xiaohui knew she was certain to die. Before her death, she used her full strength to create the ice brick, hoping it would remain.”

“That is indeed possible.”

“After all, the Icy Jade Hand technique excels at snatching life from the jaws of death.”

“But ultimately, the ice brick did not survive.”

“Talent, after all, is not a divine ability…”

Thinking of this, a glint of light flashed in Zhu Xuanji’s eyes.

“Ning Xiaohui seems a little overly cautious.”

“Also, if she wanted to leave clues, why didn’t she reveal the truth directly when facing Zheng Shuanggou’s magical power clone earlier?”

“There is a possibility that Ning Xiaohui only discovered certain key points, or suddenly understood something, after bidding farewell to Zheng Shuanggou’s magical power clone.”

“There is also another possibility, which is that before her death, Ning Xiaohui’s mind was twisted by the desire for revenge, wanting to frame someone and make her enemy suffer.”

“There is also another possibility…”

“In Ning Xiaohui’s view, Zheng Shuanggou was not trustworthy!”

“Or, she preferred to report to me herself, rather than informing a Golden Core cultivator first.”

Zhu Xuanji’s thoughts raced like lightning, various notions surging one after another.

There were too many possibilities. After thinking for a while, he put away his scattered thoughts.

“It can be confirmed that Sun Lingtong is the murderer of Ning Xiaohui.”

“Furthermore, he also possesses the Funeral Pyre Prajna Liberation Scripture!”

What Zhu Xuanji saw in the second scene was precisely this image.

“Funeral Pyre Prajna Liberation Scripture! It is indeed as recorded in the royal family’s secrets. This type of Buddhist scripture can be used to release life and refine spirituality.”

“Sun Lingtong possessing this Buddhist scripture is excellent proof that the Emptiness Gate has deeply infiltrated the Lava Immortal Palace!”

“The Emptiness Gate…”

Zhu Xuanji secretly gritted his teeth. Because of today’s encounter, he felt an unprecedented hatred towards the Emptiness Gate.

“Calm down, calm down.”

“Anger is useless. The most sensible decision right now is to find Meng Kui!”

Zhu Xuanji forcibly stabilized his state of mind, swept his arm, and gathered all the shattered silver furnace fragments on the scene.

Although he couldn’t clearly see Ning Xiaohui’s dying accusation, it didn’t matter, he had other methods!

“You clean up the battlefield and collect as many clues as possible.”

“I will leave the palace for a trip and talk to Meng Kui!”

Before leaving, Zhu Xuanji saw Ning Zhuo looking at him expectantly: “Oh, right. Protect him well!”

“He is a chess piece arranged by the Emptiness Gate. Now he has repented and turned over a new leaf.”

The three family Golden Core old ancestors: ?!

Zhu Xuanji: “Ning Zhuo is a very important witness. Be sure to protect his life, he must not be harmed!”

The three family Golden Core cultivators quickly nodded in acknowledgement.

The next moment, Zhu Xuanji flew upwards and away.

Leaving Ning Zhuo alone to face the scrutiny of the many Golden Core cultivators.

Ning Zhuo was also shrewd. He immediately ran to Ning Jiufan’s side: “Old Ancestor, Old Ancestor!”

Ning Jiufan snorted coldly: “Tell me everything you know.”

Although his expression was stern, he still stretched out his arm and pulled Ning Zhuo to his side.

Ning Zhuo had already prepared his words. He had meticulously prepared this statement, originally intended for the second line of defense.

Now, he would slightly change the content and speak to the three family Golden Core cultivators.

The Golden Core old ancestors all pricked up their ears and listened attentively.

Zhu Xuanji hadn’t even heard it yet, and they would hear it first.

Let’s just say that Zhu Xuanji flew all the way and left the Immortal Palace again.

Outside the Immortal Palace, the Scarlet Flame Demonic Beasts were in turmoil, their attacks becoming increasingly frantic, but with Meng Kui’s help, Zhu Xuanji left smoothly.

Zhu Xuanji flew directly to Meng Kui’s location.

“City Lord Meng Kui, I have important information regarding the changes in the Lava Immortal Palace this time,” Zhu Xuanji said directly.

Meng Kui: “Lord Zhu, please enlighten me.”

Although he held the venerable position of Nascent Soul stage, Zhu Xuanji represented the royal family, thus they communicated as equals.

Zhu Xuanji then told Meng Kui how Ning Zhuo had confessed and his speculation that the Emptiness Gate was the mastermind.

Meng Kui’s heart trembled. After a moment of silence, he said: “Well done, Emptiness Gate! Infiltrating the Lava Immortal Palace right under my nose, with malicious intentions, inciting the Golden Core cultivators to fight amongst themselves. Now, killing Ning Xiaohui and destroying the Records Pavilion is precisely to eliminate the evidence of their crimes.”

“Since they could bombard the Records Pavilion, I fear that the inexplicable sudden attack on Fire Persimmon Mountain by the Five Elements Cannon Towers, which triggered the demonic beast tide, was also their doing!”

“Thus, disregarding the lives of tens of thousands of people in the entire city, they are indeed a sect of evil demonic cultivators!”

Zhu Xuanji: “This is just my speculation, there is no concrete evidence.”

“I naturally trust Lord Zhu’s deductions,” Meng Kui smiled.

Zhu Xuanji looked deeply at Meng Kui and stated his purpose: “Since that Emptiness Gate is the third force behind the scenes and has acted so brazenly, our two sides should cooperate fully and eliminate them first!”

Meng Kui nodded: “It should be so. Does Lord Zhu have a plan?”

Zhu Xuanji spoke eloquently.

Meng Kui smiled: “Lord Zhu’s words are reasonable.”

“If the Emptiness Gate were truly allowed to steal the position of Palace Master, neither the royal family nor my Meng family would be able to retain face.”

“I hereby reiterate my sincerity – I am willing to promise that regardless of which of our two sides or the other three families ultimately becomes the Palace Master, our current positions in the Lava Immortal Palace will remain unchanged! After the matters of the Lava Immortal Palace are settled, although positions may change, they will all be according to the rules of the court. What do you think?”

Zhu Xuanji’s pupils contracted sharply, his heart suddenly shaken!

“Well done, Meng Kui! This is a blatant open conspiracy.”

“No, perhaps someone among the three families has already secretly contacted Meng Kui…”

Zhu Xuanji could poach people and win over the Zhou, Zheng, and Ning families. Meng Kui, as the City Lord, backed by the Meng family, naturally also possessed such means.

It was simply a matter of reciprocity.

In the current situation, Zhu Xuanji could only acknowledge and go with the flow.

Soon, they reached a cooperation agreement.

Both Zhu Xuanji and Meng Kui belonged to the Southern Bean Kingdom, part of the same faction.

Previously, although both sides considered each other their main opponent, they maintained a competitive level, always staying in a state of fighting without breaking.

Therefore, there were no obstacles to joining forces at this moment.

Both Zhu Xuanji and Meng Kui hoped to eliminate the Emptiness Gate, this third party, and have the position of Palace Master emerge from between their two sides.

If the Emptiness Gate were to succeed, then the Zhu family of the Southern Bean Kingdom royal family and the Meng family of the important ministers would become a laughingstock, thus being shamed…

This was something neither of them could accept!

After signing the contract, Zhu Xuanji took out a jade slip and handed it to Meng Kui.

The content of the jade slip contained all the evidence, clues, and conjectures he had gathered.

Most crucially, it contained the three scenes Zhu Xuanji had “seen” on the ruins of the silver furnace.

Meng Kui held the jade slip and slowly closed his eyes. The aura of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator suddenly swelled, and he began to fully unleash his calculation techniques.

In an instant, mysterious energy overflowed, and smoke clouds rolled.

Several strands of Meng Kui’s hair instantly turned frosty white. He opened his eyes, his face showing fatigue.

Calculation often consumed the most precious resource in the world – lifespan.

This time, Meng Kui’s calculation was also like this.

However, Zhu Xuanji had already promised that the lifespan consumed by Meng Kui’s calculation this time would be compensated through the lifespan-extending spiritual ganoderma from the royal treasury.

Zhu Xuanji: “Have you gained anything?”

Meng Kui nodded slightly: “I have four clues. They are: Ning Zhuo, Sun Lingtong, Zheng Danlian, and the Golden Furnace.”

At once, Zhu Xuanji’s brow furrowed tightly.

He could completely understand the appearance of Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong.

But why would Zheng Danlian be there?

And why would the Golden Furnace be there?

Zheng Danlian was one of the two Golden Core cultivators of the Zheng family, and the Golden Furnace was the highest-grade refining furnace in the Lava Immortal Palace.

“Why would Ning Xiaohui mention these two clues before her death?”

Meng Kui interrupted Zhu Xuanji’s thoughts: “Among the four clues, Ning Zhuo is the easiest to investigate. In my opinion, seize him directly and perform soul searching!”

Ning Zhuo was only at the Qi Refinement stage, making him easy to handle. The only trouble was the idea of Ning Jiufan of the Ning family.

Zhu Xuanji did not hesitate and directly shook his head in refusal: “Not appropriate.”

“Ning Zhuo does indeed have ties to the Emptiness Gate. I have already let him voluntarily confess and submit to the law.”

“He is my man and will be of great use in the future.”

Meng Kui smiled slightly, not getting angry at being refused: “Lord Zhu, as a divine constable, is naturally more skilled at solving cases and hunting down culprits than this old man. I will just wait and see here.”

Zhu Xuanji and Meng Kui parted ways.

Looking at Zhu Xuanji’s departing back, Meng Kui’s eyes turned cold.

“Zhu Xuanji doesn’t seem to have noticed yet that the Dragon Tortoise Fire Spirit has developed disloyal thoughts.”

“However, looking at this, it will be soon!”

“Emptiness Gate? Humph!”

Meng Kui did not pay too much attention.

After all, the Emptiness Gate had only dispatched one Golden Core true disciple and one Foundation Establishment stage outer disciple.

If a Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the Emptiness Gate had appeared, that would be a completely different matter.

So, although Meng Kui discovered that the Emptiness Gate was the third force and had been lurking before this, he was not in a hurry to personally take action.

“镇之以静即可。” (Keeping calm and waiting is enough.)

“Let Zhu Xuanji investigate that Emptiness Gate. It’s good to occupy some of his time and energy.”

Thinking of this, Meng Kui sent a message down, ordering his cultivators in the Immortal Palace to go all out and try to secure as many key positions as possible.

At the same time, he ordered his confidants to desperately contact the Dragon Tortoise Fire Spirit!

Zhu Xuanji flew back to the Lava Immortal Palace.

Along the way, his brow was tightly furrowed, and his gaze was deep.

If Ning Zhuo hadn’t voluntarily confessed, then in this situation, he would be thinking and hesitating – whether to perform soul searching on Ning Zhuo.

But now, Ning Zhuo had just turned over a new leaf a moment ago, and then immediately subjected to soul searching?

Soul searching has severe consequences, ranging from amnesia to becoming an imbecile.

Anyone with a bit of political acumen would not do such a foolish thing, let alone Zhu Xuanji.

“Now, my alliance with the three families has created a rift with the Zheng family. If I soul search Ning Zhuo, my relationship with the Ning family will only be superficial.”

“Meng Kui wants me to search Ning Zhuo’s soul… He’s just a small cultivator at the Qi Refinement stage, an outer chess piece pulled in by the Emptiness Gate. What could he possibly know?”

“Moreover, Meng Kui is also strange!”

Zhu Xuanji calculated the time.

When the crack appeared in the Lava Immortal Palace, Meng Kui did not take action in time.

The three family Golden Core cultivators had sent urgent flying letters, but without Meng Kui’s powerful protection, the flying letters would be attacked and destroyed by the ubiquitous Scarlet Flame Demonic Beasts as soon as they flew out of the Lava Immortal Palace.

“So, Meng Kui also deliberately suppressed the transmission of the flying letters and did not receive and escort them in time, causing me to receive them very late.”

“The Meng family’s desire to seize the Lava Immortal Palace is too strong.”