Crimson Persimmon Forest.

“Where did that shadowy demonic cultivator go?! Where?!” Chi Dun searched everywhere.

Golden Core cultivators from the three great clans were doing the same.

Fei Si’s face was ashen. He had never anticipated such an outcome. He issued a stern order, “Search! Find him for me! Dig three feet into the ground, but find this demonic cultivator!”

Under the gaze of countless eyes, the shadowy demonic cultivator had vanished without a trace!

Fei Si was furious with embarrassment.

He had botched this assignment!

Every citizen of the city now knew that the City Lord’s Manor had been made a fool of. They had meticulously planned so much, only to end up catching nothing.

“This shouldn’t be happening! It shouldn’t!” Fei Si gritted his teeth, looking towards Zhu Xuanji in the distance.

After a moment’s thought, Fei Si took the initiative to fly towards Zhu Xuanji.

Previously, Zhu Xuanji had forcefully ordered him to activate the formation, saving Yuan Dasheng’s life and embarrassing Fei Si. But now, the matter of the shadowy demonic cultivator’s disappearance was far more important than Fei Si’s personal pride.

Fei Si knew the weight of things. He immediately set aside his grudges against Zhu Xuanji, forced a smile onto his face, and asked for guidance, “Lord Zhu has been observing the entire time. I wonder what your Golden Eyes have seen?”

Zhu Xuanji shook his head. “I made no discovery.”

“If anyone was hiding, they would surely have revealed their presence under my Golden Eyes.”

“Throughout the entire process, there were no suspicious individuals. I can only surmise that the shadowy demonic cultivator had already left the Crimson Persimmon Forest before all of this occurred.”

Upon hearing this, Fei Si frowned deeply and instinctively and vehemently denied it, “No, he must still be here!”

Zhu Xuanji’s deduction was the most unfavorable to him.

Because he was responsible for the Crimson Persimmon Forest, he was essentially the jailer. But the prisoner had escaped, and he knew nothing about it.

Fei Si had put in a great deal of effort for this Crimson Persimmon Festival, only to end up with nothing, making the entire City Lord’s Manor a laughingstock.

Chi Dun flew over at this moment, harshly scolding him, “Fei Si, if you hadn’t stopped me, I would have chased down that demonic cultivator! I could have eliminated him that very night!”

“It was all your insistence on ‘maintaining stillness’ and ‘minimizing losses.’ Look at what’s happened now! The shadowy demonic cultivator has escaped! How exactly were you guarding the Crimson Persimmon Forest?”

Fei Si coldly snorted, “Leaving everything else aside, the Crimson Persimmons were successfully harvested. Just tell me, has that immense wealth been preserved?”

“Furthermore, the formation has been activated the entire time, recording everything. It can withstand any scrutiny.”

“If it is truly determined that the shadowy demonic cultivator escaped due to my negligence, then I will accept the punishment and personally plead guilty to the City Lord!”

The Zhou Clan’s Golden Core Ancestor flew over at this time as well. “The formation’s records must naturally be examined.”

The Zhou Clan Ancestor’s expression was also unpleasant.

Although the City Lord’s Manor was the biggest joke at the moment, their Golden Core cultivators from the three great clans had also accomplished nothing, losing face.

The Zhou Clan Ancestor continued, “The key now is whether this shadowy demonic cultivator escaped from the formation beforehand, or slipped away right under our noses today?”

“Judging from my understanding of formations, the Crimson Persimmon Forest’s formation is dense and layered, connected as one with the Immortal City’s Grand Formation. It is extremely meticulous and rigorous.”

“If I were that shadowy demonic cultivator, even if I could break the formation, it would inevitably cause a significant commotion. To escape so silently, is that something a Golden Core cultivator can truly achieve?”

For a time, Fei Si, Zhu Xuanji, and Chi Dun all fell into silence.

The three of them had all considered a terrifying possibility—

If the shadowy demonic cultivator had truly left beforehand, perhaps someone had secretly opened the formation and let him go!

The highest authority over the Immortal City’s Grand Formation rested in the hands of the City Lord. Fei Si, as the guardian of the Crimson Persimmon Forest, also had control over this portion of the layered formations.

In addition, several formation pillars of the Immortal City’s Grand Formation were located within the residential clan lands of the three great clans. Therefore, the three great clans also had the potential to manipulate the formation and secretly release the shadowy demonic cultivator.

If that were the case, then the situation would be serious.

A lone Golden Core demonic cultivator was an entirely different concept compared to a cultivating family!

Zhu Xuanji looked at the Zhou Clan Ancestor, thinking to himself, “The City Lord’s Manor is almost impossible. Because they have absolutely no motive.”

“As for the three great clans, each of them is a suspect.”

“On one hand, the City Lord’s Manor has consistently held an advantage in the competition for the Magma Immortal Palace. On the other hand, the three great clans certainly don’t want to see the Magma Immortal Palace acquired by the City Lord, leading to the introduction of the Meng Clan to reside in Crimson Persimmon Immortal City!”

“If it’s truly one or more of the three families, then the Zhou Clan is the most suspicious.”

“The Zhou Clan of Formations, the Zheng Clan of Weapons, and the Ning Clan of Talismans, the Zhou Clan is the most skilled in formations.”

The Zhou Clan Ancestor, however, appeared very frank. He continued, “That the shadowy demonic cultivator escaped before – let’s temporarily disregard that possibility.”

“During the process of harvesting the Crimson Persimmons today, there were suspicious points.”

“That’s right!” Chi Dun immediately nodded, knowing what the Zhou Clan Ancestor was referring to.

Earlier, a dozen or so mechanical monkeys had suddenly turned berserk, breaking free from the control of the Foundation Establishment cultivators and attacking Yuan Er, the current leader of the Monkey Head Gang.

This anomaly had not escaped the notice of the Golden Core cultivators.

They had held back their actions, while Fei Si had dealt with it decisively, directly activating the formation and destroying all the mechanical monkeys.

The Zhou Clan Ancestor continued, “Why did those mechanical monkeys go berserk? Who was controlling them?”

“After the mechanical monkeys were destroyed, that old ape of the Monkey Head Gang made a mistake, triggering a chain reaction of explosions in a field of thousand-year Crimson Persimmon trees.”

“Was it truly a mistake? Or was it influenced by some spell or magical treasure?”

“Did the shadowy demonic cultivator use the explosion to attract our attention and seize the opportunity to escape?”

Fei Si immediately waved his hand, activating the formation and retrieving the images from that time.

The Golden Core cultivators watched repeatedly, but could not find anything suspicious.

Fei Si: “I will conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the berserk mechanical fire monkeys.”

Zhu Xuanji then said, “I used my Golden Eyes to monitor the entire situation and confirm that the old ape did indeed make a mistake!”

Chi Dun frowned, “It’s a bit strange. That old ape is the foundation of the Monkey Head Gang and has been harvesting Crimson Persimmons for many years. In the beginning, there were indeed errors. But in recent years, it has always completed its tasks perfectly. Why did it make a mistake this time?”

Fei Si considered for a moment before saying, “Since it is flesh and blood, mistakes are unavoidable. The Monkey Head Gang has suffered a lot of targeting recently, and Yuan Er was even ambushed and attacked before. It’s very possible that the old ape was unsettled and made a mistake.”

As he said this, Fei Si thought of Ning Zhuo.

Then, he thought of his forty percent share of the profits.

He began to feel that this forty percent share was a little too hot to handle.

The Zhou Clan Ancestor then said, “Do you think that the shadowy demonic cultivator could be hiding inside the old ape’s body?”

“Whether it was the sudden rampage of the mechanical monkeys or the old ape’s mistake, in any case, a chain reaction of explosions occurred.”

“The flames obscured our vision, and in that instant, the shadowy demonic cultivator killed the old ape and hid inside its body.”

Saying this, the Zhou Clan Ancestor turned his gaze towards Zhu Xuanji.

“This old man has a question I don’t understand. May I be so bold as to ask, Lord Zhu, why did you save that old ape?”

For a time, the gazes of the others also turned towards Zhu Xuanji.

A glint of schadenfreude flashed in Fei Si’s eyes.