After searching continuously for a day and a night, the numerous Golden Core cultivators still failed to unearth the shadowy demonic cultivator.

Faced with this reality, the Four Great Powers of Fire Persimmon Immortal City all lost face.

The city’s martial law remained in effect, but it couldn’t suppress the diverse opinions and undercurrents.

Zhu Xuanji requested some mechanical fragments from Fei Si.

These fragments all originated from the out-of-control riot involving the mechanical monkey that attacked Yuan Er.

Since the shadowy demonic cultivator had not appeared, these mechanical fragments became the only clue.

Zhu Xuanji tinkered with these fragments.

He had also obtained the blueprints for the Fire Blast Monkey and, after a few glances, committed them to memory.

Spending half a cup of tea’s time, he pieced together three mechanical monkeys as best he could from the fragments in his hands.

The mechanical Fire Blast Monkeys were all tattered and broken, barely managing to stand before him.

Zhu Xuanji took out control threads, infused them with mana, and began to manipulate these mechanical Fire Blast Monkeys.

If Fei Si were to see this, he would surely be astonished: who knew that Zhu Xuanji possessed such skill.

Zhu Xuanji naturally had some attainment in the art of mechanism; this was one of the reasons he was chosen to come here and investigate the case.

After a moment, Zhu Xuanji put away all the control threads and sighed, having not discovered any valuable clues.

“Let’s review it all again.”

Zhu Xuanji closed his eyes, recalling the process of his investigation. First, the mechanical monkeys, then the Thousand-Jin Fire Essence, and finally, the shadowy demonic cultivator.

“Using the mechanical monkeys to self-destruct is clearly a precaution against the Root Tracing Spell.”

“There are no traces of the Thousand-Jin Fire Essence on the market, which would be easy for the Four Great Powers to accomplish.”

“The disappearance of the shadowy demonic cultivator most likely means there is an insider, who secretly let him go!”

All the clues were hinting to Zhu Xuanji that one of the three major families in Fire Persimmon Immortal City was perhaps the mastermind behind the Immortal Palace bombing, impersonating the shadowy demonic cultivator.

“But if the shadowy demonic cultivator had already escaped beforehand, why trigger the mechanical monkey explosion during the Fire Persimmon Festival, framing the Monkey Head Gang?”

“Wouldn’t that be redundant?”

Zhu Xuanji’s thinking became more and more profound.

“Perhaps the other party wants to use this to disguise themselves, creating the illusion that the shadowy demonic cultivator was present at the scene.”

“In addition, the other party eliminated Old Ape, probably because they felt Old Ape was performing too well. Publicly resolving him could weaken the City Lord’s authority.”

“Finally, the other party also seems to want to confuse me with this, delaying my investigation progress.”

Bang!

Zhu Xuanji clenched his fist and slammed it on the jade stone table.

He felt the enemy’s provocation towards him. These mechanical monkey fragments seemed to be mocking his incompetence, as if saying: come and investigate, I’ve left you clues!

But Zhu Xuanji had already learned his lesson from the mechanical monkeys, knowing that if the other party did this, he would definitely not find anything, but would instead waste his precious time and energy.

“If the mechanical monkeys are the other party’s provocation, then did Old Ape really make a mistake?” It was precisely this thought that prompted Zhu Xuanji to turn back midway on the day of the Fire Persimmon Festival, and he did not hesitate to use extreme-grade potions to verify whether Old Ape’s mind had been affected.

Zhu Xuanji’s verification yielded negative results.

After pondering deeply for a long time, he slowly opened his eyes, thinking to himself: “The most suspicious thing is still that explosion!”

The night was already deep.

Zhu Xuanji concealed his figure and returned to the Monkey Head Gang’s base, using magic to make Yuan Er fall into a death-like sleep.

Then, he took out an extreme-grade potion and carefully dripped a drop onto Yuan Er, but saw no effect.

Zhu Xuanji was disheartened: “What am I thinking? The possibility of Yuan Er’s mind being affected is too small!”

“Hmph, this beast even wasted a drop of my extreme-grade potion.”

Zhu Xuanji looked at the sleeping Yuan Er, his mood not good.

As he turned to leave, he flicked his sleeve, and the resulting gust of air struck Yuan Er’s cheek, making a crisp “slap” sound.

Zhu Xuanji quietly left the Monkey Head Gang’s base, facing the starry sky, and went to the Fire Persimmon Mountain peak to meet the City Lord.

“City Lord Meng Kui, I want to review all the records and thoroughly investigate all the people who have entered and exited the Lava Immortal Palace in recent years!”

……

Ning Zhuo returned home, rested for a moment, patiently waited until late at night, then put on the Azure Steel Han Armor and once again disguised himself as the Young Master.

He teleported to the dungeon and saw Han Ming.

As soon as he opened the cell door, he saw Han Ming squatting on the ground, scratching his head and cheeks, in a very unseemly posture.

Han Ming shuddered and quickly stood up, waving his hands at Ning Zhuo, with a terrified expression on his face: “S-Sir, please don’t give me any more monkey souls. My soul needs to digest, needs to be purified!”

“Now, my soul has become distorted, and has produced many monkey characteristics.”

“My behavior has also unconsciously started to change!”

Ning Zhuo nodded, also knowing that he could not drain the pond to catch the fish, and said gently: “You’ve worked hard during this time. Next, you only need to absorb this ape. I will give you a vacation to rest well for a period of time.”

Ning Zhuo madly purchased wild monkeys and handed them all over to Han Ming to absorb.

Ning Zhuo benefited from this, and his soul foundation rose to more than eighty times what it was when he first met Han Ming.

He had also seen Han Ming’s condition decline sharply.

Bang.

Yuan Dasheng’s corpse was taken out of the storage bag and thrown on the ground.

Han Ming was startled, his hair standing on end. At first glance, he felt that this Old Ape was not ordinary!

“Devour its soul, and you can have a vacation,” Ning Zhuo said.

When handling the corpse, Ning Zhuo deliberately eroded Yuan Dasheng’s soul and imprisoned it within the corpse.

Yuan Dasheng had not cultivated soul-related techniques, so he could only let Ning Zhuo manipulate him.

But doing so was still risky.

Ning Zhuo’s best option was to let Han Ming absorb it, and then he would absorb it from Han Ming, maximizing the use of this trophy.

“Thank you, sir, for your consideration!” Han Ming swallowed and began to cast the Soul Devouring Spell.

But the next moment, Yuan Dasheng’s corpse flashed with golden light.

Pfft.

Han Ming suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, rolled his eyes, and fainted on the spot.

Ning Zhuo was shocked, while manipulating several small puppets to rescue him, he vigilantly inspected Yuan Dasheng’s corpse.

Han Ming quickly woke up, and with lingering fear shouted: “Righteous Bone Golden Firmness!”

“This, this is Super Grade talent!!”

Ning Zhuo raised his eyebrows, his heart surprised: “Super Grade talent? This Old Ape has immortal talent? Are you not mistaken?”

Han Ming nodded, staring at the Old Ape’s corpse, and said decisively: “Absolutely right! I have read the sect classics thoroughly, and I am sure that this is the characteristic of Righteous Bone Golden Firmness. Possessors are often naturally loyal, righteous, and unyielding.”

“The bones of the entire body are the hardest, comparable to Vajra, and even the flesh is firm and strong. When the soul is attached to the bones, it will be firm and unyielding, and will not be easily moved by external objects.”

“In my current state, I can’t absorb its soul. I’m afraid that even in my prime, I may not be able to succeed.”

At this time, Han Ming also recognized the identity of the Old Ape, and exclaimed: “Unexpectedly, unexpectedly, the Monkey Head Gang’s Old Ape, Yuan Yi’s pet monkey, actually has immortal talent!”

Immediately, Han Ming was stunned.

He quickly raised his head and looked at Ning Zhuo, his eyes shining brightly.