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In the next moment, a thick shadow surged out like a tide, engulfing him completely.

The shadow tide roared, swallowing Zhu Xuanji and covering the entire alley, plunging it into darkness.

In the darkness, a pair of golden eyes suddenly lit up.

They were none other than Zhu Xuanji’s golden eyes.

Divine light overflowed from his pupils, piercing through the rolling shadows, revealing the hidden truth as he gazed directly at the demon cultivator.

The demon cultivator was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. Even though his concealment had been broken, he didn’t panic but instead sneered coldly and lunged at Zhu Xuanji.

**Bang…**

In the thick shadows, the two clashed fiercely.

Zhu Xuanji took a small step back, while the demon cultivator grunted and flew back into the shadows even faster.

Zhu Xuanji didn’t pursue the advantage but instead furrowed his brow, sensing something subtle.

“No wonder you’re Zhu Daren; you easily saw through my disguise!” The demon cultivator's voice echoed from all directions.

“But can you see through what comes next?”

As his words fell, countless ‘demon cultivators’ flew out from the shadows, surrounding Zhu Xuanji.

Zhu Xuanji gathered his mana, continuously smashing the approaching ‘demon cultivators.’

The ‘demon cultivators’ fell to the ground and scattered into pieces.

It turned out they were all mechanical constructs.

However, even though these mechanical constructs were scattered, they quickly reassembled in the shadows and continued to attack Zhu Xuanji.

Zhu Xuanji stood his ground, allowing the countless mechanical constructs to attack him from the shadows, defending himself with unwavering stability!

The demon cultivator in the shadows sensed something was amiss and was about to retreat when he suddenly heard Zhu Xuanji say, “Liu Ying, it’s a bit late to try and escape now, isn’t it?”

The demon cultivator Liu Ying felt a chill down his spine, his hair standing on end as Zhu Xuanji’s golden eyes locked onto him.

He frantically retreated, but Zhu Xuanji had already locked onto his true body, following closely behind.

**Boom, boom, boom…**

They fiercely battled several more rounds.

Liu Ying fell to the ground, unable to get up, his chest bones broken, with the fractured bones piercing his lungs, making each breath a struggle as blood spurted from his mouth and nose.

“Don’t, don’t kill me! I’m willing to surrender!” Liu Ying pleaded for mercy as Zhu Xuanji slowly approached.

Zhu Xuanji said, “It seems you only used shadows to replace your puppet strings to control the mechanical constructs.”

The demon cultivator Liu Ying was taken aback, “Could it be that Zhu Daren misunderstood something?”

Zhu Xuanji shook his head, “Just a precaution.”

“If there was a misunderstanding, the hundreds of people who died at your hands wouldn’t consider it one.”

Liu Ying’s pupils suddenly contracted, and shadows like a swarm of pythons attacked Zhu Xuanji from behind.

But as they reached within three feet of Zhu Xuanji, the shadows melted away like snow.

Liu Ying’s desperate attack failed, and in his dying moments, he shouted, “I don’t understand! I’m only in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. Even though I’ve entered the Lava Immortal Palace, why did you, Zhu Shenbu, prioritize coming after me?”

Zhu Xuanji didn’t answer.

In the next moment, Liu Ying died at Zhu Xuanji’s hands.

“The fifth one!” Zhu Xuanji took out a list and crossed off Liu Ying’s name.

Despite the demon cultivator’s shadow escape technique, under the golden eyes, there was nowhere to hide.

Zhu Xuanji had arranged the order on this list not by cultivation level but by suspicion and threat level.

Liu Ying’s techniques bore many similarities to those of the shadow demon cultivator.

More crucially, in Zhu Xuanji’s mind, Liu Ying might have grasped the divine ability *Life Hanging by a Thread*.

Although the possibility was slim, it was enough to rank him fifth on the list.

Before Zhu Xuanji set out, he had received a private audience with the ruler of Southern Dou, learning many secrets.

The ruler of Southern Dou had warned him, “Xuanji, when you go to Huoshi Immortal City, you must be extremely cautious of the divine ability *Life Hanging by a Thread* left in the Lava Immortal Palace by the three sects.”

“This divine ability can control others of the same kind, and the more familiar they are with them, the deeper the control.”

“If a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator grasps this divine ability, even if you are a Golden Core, you will be in great danger!”

“All because this divine ability’s control over others is as deep as their fate.”

Zhu Xuanji was greatly astonished, “Could *Life Hanging by a Thread* extract others’ fate?”

“Not quite!” The ruler of Southern Dou shook his head slightly, his voice clear, “But *Life Hanging by a Thread* can make fates overlap and add up, never internally conflicting or diminishing each other.”

“If a cultivator masters this kind of divine ability, they can link others on a large scale, binding their fate with their own.”

“Our founding Empress started with nothing, facing certain doom. She solely relied on the three sects' efforts to create the divine ability *Life Hanging by a Thread* for her!”

“It was by relying on this divine ability that many of her relatives, subordinates, and pioneers acted as shields for the throne.”

Zhu Xuanji’s expression grew solemn as he accepted the mission.

As a Golden Core cultivator, even though he was suppressed by the grand formation within the Immortal City, there were only a handful in Huoshi Immortal City who could stand as his enemy in a direct confrontation.

But the fear lay in losing the battle for fate. If his fate were weakened, it would easily lead him into a seemingly coincidental trap.

By then, even a Golden Core would have nothing to rely on.

Liu Ying was once a suspect.

Now, with Liu Ying’s death, Zhu Xuanji dismissed his suspicion, “It seems I was overthinking it.”

“Come to think of it!”

“These suspects are all in the Foundation Establishment stage; how could they possibly comprehend a divine ability?”

The Southern Dou royal family was deeply wary of anyone possessing the divine ability *Life Hanging by a Thread* because their founding Empress had built her power on it.

If someone within the Southern Dou Kingdom possessed such a divine ability, the royal family would prefer to quietly eliminate them to prevent this person from growing too powerful and destabilizing the Southern Dou Kingdom’s rule.

The Gift Ceremony ended, and Ning Zhuo returned to his clan’s territory.

Ning Zhuo closed his eyes and meditated, focusing his spirit on his Upper Dantian.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the lotus seed had already sprouted, emitting a faint radiance.

“The divine ability seedling of *Life Hanging by a Thread*.”

Ning Zhuo had already comprehended the use of this divine ability.

The power and mystery of a divine ability often surpassed that of mana.

The reason for this was that a divine ability was built upon a profound understanding of the principles of heaven and earth!

Take Ning Zhuo as an example: on the surface, he seemed to have been inspired by stories of celestial beings and gods, thus grasping some essence and triggering the Phantom True Lotus Seed in his Sea of Consciousness.

But in reality, this was only a catalyst. The greater premise was Ning Zhuo’s deep insights into societal operations, human behavior, thoughts, and so on.

These accumulations and reserves underwent a qualitative change under the influence of the Saint Immortal’s stories.

On the foundation of the Phantom True Lotus Seed, the seedling of the divine ability *Life Hanging by a Thread* sprouted.

Because the comprehension was inherently his own, once the divine ability was understood, the cultivator would naturally understand all its uses.

“If Han Ming’s theory of fate is correct, then this is probably the opportunity I gained after defeating Yuan Dasheng when my fate surged.”

Ning Zhuo had an epiphany.

The Golden Blood Battle Ape · Dasheng was likely not the opportunity because its main component was Yuan Dasheng’s corpse, which Ning Zhuo originally owned.

Opportunities often worked this way.

For most people, a story is just a pastime; no one can derive great benefits from it.

But for a particular person, the same thing can yield unimaginable benefits.

**Four guards followed closely by Ning Zhuo’s side.**

Two of them were in the Qi Refining stage, and the other two were at the Foundation Establishment stage, all dispatched by the Ning family to protect Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo was now extremely important to the Ning family’s exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace. The family’s level of concern was evident from the four guards.

After leaving the family residence, Ning Zhuo didn’t immediately return to his home.

He visited several shops, purchasing many special bricks, array discs, and other items for setting up formations.

The four guards noticed this and communicated via spiritual sense.

“This brat Ning Zhuo seems to be building his own cultivation chamber.”

“These chambers have decent defensive capabilities and can shield against spiritual sense. How are we supposed to monitor him? Using magical instruments would cause too much commotion.”

“Report this to the young clan leader.”

“But honestly, this kid is pretty rich!”

“Well

, he’s the young clan leader’s favorite now, and with the combined resources of the three families, he naturally has a lot of money at his disposal.”

After completing his purchases, Ning Zhuo spared no expense and hired a formation master to set things up.

After leaving in the morning, by the afternoon, a new small compartment had already been constructed in his bedroom.

The compartment was built entirely of stone bricks, with a stone door that could be moved left and right, opened, and closed with the infusion of mana and controlled by spiritual thought.

However, the formation was not yet fully set up.

The small compartment lacked significant defensive power.

Of the four guards, the two in the Qi Refining stage patrolled the courtyard and its surroundings.

The two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, one concealed, and the other stood at the door of Ning Zhuo’s back room, resting with their eyes closed.

Night fell!

Ning Zhuo opened his eyes, gently got out of bed, activated the switch, and entered the underground workroom.

“Youngsters these days!” one of the Foundation Establishment cultivators slowly opened his eyes, a knowing smile appearing on his face.

Ning Zhuo looked around the workroom, his expression tense. He first checked several places to see if there were any changes.

These were his detection methods; if an outsider entered here, it could cause changes in these areas.

There were no changes at all.

Under the spiritual monitoring of the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, Ning Zhuo let out a long sigh of relief, his brow relaxing, and his whole body unwinding.

He strolled around, touching this and fiddling with that, as if he had returned to his lair, radiating a sense of safety and comfort from the inside out.

He sat on a chair, stretched, and yawned.

After resting for a while, he slowly got up.

He took a cushion from his storage bag and placed it in the center of the room.

After sitting cross-legged, he took out several bottles of pills, placing them in front of him.

Both the cushion and the pills made the two Foundation Establishment cultivators envious.

Ning Zhuo was only in the Qi Refining stage, but as one of the top talents in the combined revision team of the three families, he had access to a large amount of resources.

Before starting his cultivation, Ning Zhuo thought for a moment, then took out a handkerchief from his chest.

The handkerchief was as white as snow, soft in texture, without any patterns.

As Ning Zhuo infused it with mana, clusters of white clouds gradually emerged from the handkerchief, surrounding him.

The white clouds piled up on each other, gradually enveloping Ning Zhuo completely.

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators both frowned deeply.

They communicated via spiritual sense, “This seems like the Floating Cloud Handkerchief.”

“Yes, that’s the magical instrument, produced in Feiyun Country!”

“How does Ning Zhuo have it?”

“Hmm? It could be his mother’s keepsake. Don’t you remember? The records say Ning Zhuo’s mother, Meng Yaoyin, was from Feiyun Country.”

“Oh, I remember now. That must be it. But what do we do now? We can’t sense his cultivation state!”

“The Floating Cloud Handkerchief has strong concealment abilities; that’s why it’s so renowned.”

“It doesn’t matter; our primary concern is Ning Zhuo’s safety. Monitoring him is secondary. We’ll report this situation in the morning.”

Ning Zhuo had long planned and anticipated many scenarios.

Just as the two Foundation Establishment cultivators guessed, this handkerchief was indeed his mother’s keepsake.

The clouds produced by this magical instrument had excellent concealing properties.

With these clouds, it would be difficult for others to see his cultivation state.

Even if someone with golden eyes looked, it would trigger intense consumption of the clouds, giving Ning Zhuo ample warning and time to adjust.

Of course, there were still risks.

In the cultivation world, techniques were endless, with countless talents and spells. There might be some method that could pierce through the clouds, observe Ning Zhuo’s true state, and not even trigger any reaction from the clouds.

Ning Zhuo had considered this.

But as they say—he had no other choice.

He had done his best.

The four forces were vast and powerful. The combined revision team’s overall cultivation was progressing rapidly.

Ning Zhuo’s previous defensive measures would inevitably fail.

Zhu Xuanji’s continuous investigation also brought immense pressure.

Ning Zhuo had to race against time.

The longer he waited, the more likely it was that his carefully constructed defenses, built over a decade, would collapse.

He had to seize the Lava Immortal Palace before anyone else.

Therefore, taking risks in these areas was necessary!

**The Demonic Blood Tendon Technique extracted essence blood!**

**The Five Elements Qi Regulation Art absorbed mana.**

**The Mirror Platform Spirit Technique forged his spiritual sense.**

He cultivated the three techniques in turns, swallowing expensive and rare pills one after another.

Even the cushion he sat on was a supplementary magical instrument provided by the combined forces, which could enhance Ning Zhuo’s cultivation speed.

All three techniques advanced rapidly, their progress visible to the naked eye.

“There’s no problem with the cultivation methods.”

“But I can’t practice any spells, and the new divine ability seedling is also off-limits.”

Ning Zhuo itched to try out the divine ability seedling of *Life Hanging by a Thread* to see its effects.

But in this situation, he could only endure.

**At the top of Mount Huoshi, amidst the billowing clouds, Meng Chong was also cultivating.**

He hovered in mid-air, his eyes closed, still in a deep sleep.

The current Lord of Huoshi Immortal City, Meng Kui, floated above Meng Chong, placing a hand over Meng Chong’s head.

He activated his mana, channeling his essence into Meng Chong.

Meng Chong was his direct grandson, sharing the same bloodline, so a portion of Meng Kui’s essence could be naturally absorbed by Meng Chong.

Meng Chong benefited from this; his sunken eye sockets and protruding cheekbones began to fill out, the speed of the change visible to the naked eye.

Meng Kui, on the other hand, grew visibly weaker.

Even though he was in the Nascent Soul stage, he had practiced few techniques that focused on the physical body.

Of course, even without focusing on his body, a Nascent Soul cultivator’s physical foundation was stronger than most Golden Core body cultivators.

The key issue here was the enormous loss.

The essence blood Meng Kui offered was purified through layers of processes, with only a tiny portion being absorbed by Meng Chong.

Although the loss was significant, the benefit was that the essence blood Meng Chong absorbed was pure, without any foreign impurities.

Meng Kui hadn’t wanted to resort to this, but he had no choice. He knew that the three families’ combined forces had made significant progress in their exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace.

Yet Meng Chong remained stuck in Room Three, still unconscious.

So, he had to take action.

“Meng Chong, my grandson, you are destined to be the new master of the Lava Immortal Palace. Wake up now!”

Meng Kui’s voice echoed.

Meng Chong slowly opened his eyes, “Grandfather, I…”

Meng Kui instructed him to close his eyes and rest, focusing on recovery.

A cultivator’s essence, energy, and spirit were their three treasures.

Meng Kui had fully replenished Meng Chong’s essence, so now he needed to rest.