: The Three Families Calculate

"Is this all the evidence?" Zhu Xuanji arrived at the Zhou family.

The Zhou family head personally received him.

Zhu Xuanji got straight to the point, saying he had rushed over immediately upon hearing about the attack.

"This might be the work of the Shadow Demon Cultivator! Based on our previous suspicions, someone secretly released him."

"This is an evil force lurking in the shadows!"

"If we hadn't discovered it in time, I'm afraid both of our Zhou family's Qi Refining geniuses would have perished."

The Zhou family head's expression was heavy.

Zhu Xuanji pinched the dead ant corpse in his hand, golden light shining from his eyes as he activated the Tracing to the Source Art.

He remained silent throughout.

The Zhou family head looked at him hopefully, asking if he had found anything.

Zhu Xuanji shook his head.

"The evidence from your family alone isn't enough. I'll go check the other families." Zhu Xuanji bid farewell to the Zhou family head.

He went to the City Lord's Manor, the Zheng family, and Ning Zhuo's small courtyard, one after another.

The investigation results were as he expected.

There were clues, and many of them.

The problem lay precisely in the "many"!

The Tracing to the Source Art could detect closely related items, but this close relation could be from multiple aspects.

For example, from the residue of the poison used to harm Ning Xiaohui, Zhu Xuanji found related ingredients, the medicine-brewing apprentice, the maid who delivered the medicine, and so on.

Based on this alone, could he conclude that the medicine-brewing apprentice or the delivery maid was the murderer?

No.

Because they were involved in brewing and delivering the medicine, they were closely related to the poison.

But could he determine they weren't the murderers?

Also no.

Because they could have secretly poisoned the medicine while brewing or delivering it.

The Tracing to the Source Art only discovered clues.

Truly深入 investigation required Zhu Xuanji's various interrogation methods.

But Zhu Xuanji decided to stop.

There were too many clues. If he continued the investigation, the energy and time required would be staggering.

Zhu Xuanji strongly suspected: This was deliberately set up by the culprit to delay his investigation progress!

Just like during the previous Persimmon Festival, when the mechanical monkeys went haywire and attacked Yuan Er.

Afterwards, Zhu Xuanji traced many clues from the wreckage of these mechanical Blaze Monkeys.

Were these clues useful?

Of little value.

What Zhu Xuanji preferred to see was the Tracing to the Source Art revealing only a few clues. The fewer the clues, the more valuable they were to investigate!

But now, every piece of evidence had so many线索.

Then, the culprit's intention to counter the Tracing to the Source Art was very obvious!

However, this was within Zhu Xuanji's expectations.

The reputation of the Tracing to the Source Art was spreading wider. Many capable individuals or forces would consciously take precautions against it.

All techniques in this world were tools, helping cultivators better achieve certain goals.

Since they were tools, they could be countered.

What was difficult to counter were always the strong individuals, not the excellent tools.

There were no invincible techniques, only invincible cultivators.

"Originally, I hoped the culprit would make a mistake. I was being too optimistic."

Zhu Xuanji left the four forces, deciding to proceed according to his original investigation plan.

"Perhaps, my methodical investigation has already put pressure on the culprit. That's why these attacks happened, trying to attract my attention!"

Zhu Xuanji's brows remained furrowed.

After his round of investigations, he felt something was amiss, something strange.

But when he thought about what exactly was wrong, he found nothing. Not only that, the previous strange feeling had also dissipated.

Zhu Xuanji's subsequent actions disappointed the heads of the three great families.

The three family heads secretly met to discuss their grand plan.

"Investigator Zhu is truly disappointing."

"Perhaps he has already found out which faction is behind this. But due to his position, he cannot reveal it publicly."

"What do you mean?"

The three family heads fell silent.

Although not stated explicitly, they all knew it referred to the City Lord's Manor!

Whether it was the last attack or this one, the City Lord's Manor actually suffered the least losses.

No, to be more accurate, they benefited from the misfortune.

Meng Chong, because he eliminated the assassins twice, saw his prestige greatly increase, firmly suppressing the Qi Refining geniuses of the other three families.

"Since Meng Kui took office, he has gotten along quite well with our three families. This might not be his doing. After all, Meng Chong has been far ahead in exploring the Immortal Palace." said the Zheng family head.

The Ning family head also analyzed: "Last time, I did suspect the City Lord's Manor. But this time, the intensity of the assassination was极高, with the momentum to wipe out the Qi Refining geniuses of our three families. Perhaps there really is a hidden force plotting something evil?"

The Zhou family head shook his head and sneered: "Didn't none of the talented juniors from our three families die?"

"Even if they had died, could it be traced back to the City Lord's Manor?"

The Zhou family head sighed deeply: "The Meng family is a major clan in our Southern Bean Immortal Kingdom."

"Meng family cultivators are generally known for their aggressive nature and strong personalities."

"Especially the four Meng generals, each has achieved illustrious military merits, slaughtering thousands. Let's not mention the other three fierce generals; Meng Kui is also one of the four. He appears peaceful and amiable, but it's all a facade."

"Gentlemen, think about it, since he took office, have our three families been doing well?"

"Have we been much more suppressed compared to under the previous city lords?"

"I wonder if you two have investigated Meng Kui's past battle reports. This man is even better at setting traps than our Zhou family. He has a nickname: 'Prime Minister of the Mountaintop.'"

"Would someone like that be easy to deal with?"

The Ning family head seemed thoughtful: "Now that you mention it, I actually have similar feelings."

"The City Lord's Manor was the first to discover the Molten Rock Immortal Palace."

"Next were the Zhou and Zheng families."

"According to my clan's intelligence, your two families jointly bribed Meng Kui in private, asking him not to report it to the court."

"But think carefully, if Meng Kui had reported it immediately upon discovery, what would there be left for us?"

"On the surface, the Zhou and Zheng families actively sought cooperation with him, but was this already within his scheme?"

The Zheng family head snorted coldly: "Very likely!"

"Meng Kui is actually harder to deal with than other Meng family members because he is more sinister."

"Relying on the Molten Rock Immortal Palace, he made our three families actively cooperate with him, allowing him to govern the Immortal City smoothly with harmonious上下 relations these years."

"Previously, he deliberately leaked information and relaxed surveillance, attracting countless rogue cultivators and demonic cultivators to explore the Blazing Flame Demon Molten Cave."

"Over the years, countless people have died. These people used their lives to fill the cave, killing innumerable Blazing Flame Demonic Beasts, greatly reducing the pressure on the Immortal Palace, and allowing the City Lord's Manor to gradually obtain detailed intelligence about the palace and the cave."

"If the City Lord's Manor had to act alone, by now, the city guard army would probably be wiped out."

The Zhou family head added: "Since the Molten Rock Immortal Palace appeared, Meng Kui has personally stationed himself there, suppressing the palace and strictly forbidding anyone from approaching."

"Hmph!"

"His excuse is excellent, extremely high-sounding."

"In reality, his actions completely prevent cultivators from our three families from entering the palace to explore its legacy."

In the past, it was very troublesome for Zhou and Zheng family cultivators to enter the palace.

They had to climb to the volcano peak, enter the Blazing Flame Demon Molten Cave, choose the correct path, and only then could they enter the palace within the mountain.

During this process, they also had to face the Blazing Flame Demonic Beasts along the way.

Finally, the cultivators would reach the palace but couldn't breach it. Only those whose机关术 had gained the palace spirit's recognition could enter.

Originally, with the palace's emergence, cultivators from the three families could enter and exit frequently with ease.

But Meng Kui's personal suppression made it impossible for the three families to access the palace.

Although the City Lord's Manor also had no cultivators entering the palace, the three families clearly understood that the City Lord's Manor's competitiveness in this aspect was far inferior at the Qi Refining stage.

In the Qi Refining competition, Meng Chong had superior talent—this advantage was truly enormous!

The Zhou family head said with a sincere expression: "At this point, finding the real culprit isn't important. What's important is the Molten Rock Immortal Palace!"

The other two family heads nodded in agreement.

The Zhou family head pressed his advantage: "Only by uniting and cooperating more closely can we possibly contend against the City Lord's Manor."

"To show sincerity, I am willing to fully open the Gather-Scatter Free Spirit Tide Formation for your families to use."

The Ning and Zheng family heads were somewhat surprised.

The opening of this formation was a point the Zhou family head had始终 refused to budge on during their previous negotiations.

Unexpectedly, this assassination, where the Zhou family's two geniuses were injured the most,反而 prompted the Zhou family head to make up his mind and offer the Gather-Scatter Free Spirit Tide Formation.

"Good." The Zheng family head clapped his hands, "In that case, I will take out my clan's hidden treasure—the Advancing Needle."

The Ning family head nodded: "Then my Ning family will contribute the Icy Light Meridian Strengthening Talisman."

The Gather-Scatter Free Spirit Tide Formation could help cultivators meditate faster and accumulate法力.

The Advancing Needle could, during the Qi Refining stage,提前开拓 the meridians within a cultivator's body, saving them the arduous work of凿琢.

The Icy Light Meridian Strengthening Talisman could coat the inside and outside of a cultivator's meridians with a layer of icy light. With this protection, the cultivator could meditate at a speed thirty percent higher than their极限 without worrying about their meridians collapsing under the冲刷 of法力.

The天才 cultivators of the three families were接连 injured and needed recuperation.

They urgently needed other members of their respective teams to提升 their cultivation levels.

These assassinations made the three family heads realize the残酷 of the competition and the strength and霸道 of their opponent.

They set aside their pride and cooperated more actively.

Ning Ze's residence.

Dining room.

"Mother, how much longer do we have to wait?" Ning Ji had just reached out with his chopsticks to pick up some food when his mother, Wang Lan, directly smacked the back of his hand with her own chopsticks.

Ning Ji cried out in pain, quickly withdrawing his hand.

Wang Lan glared at her beloved son: "What's wrong with waiting a little longer?"

"Your father is still in the private prison, how can you eat with an appetite?"

Ning Ji rubbed the back of his hand: "But we don't need to wait for Ning Zhuo to arrive before eating. We never had this rule before; we always ate first, didn't we?"

Wang Lan snorted coldly: "How can now be compared to the past?"

"Ning Zhuo is so highly regarded by the Young Clan Head. As long as he puts in a good word for your father with the Young Clan Head and pleads for mercy, your father can be released!"

(End of )