: The Third Wave of Rumors

2024-08-12 Author: Gu Zhenren

: The Third Wave of Rumors

Ning Zhuo left the martial stage and returned to his residence.

Even from his outward appearance, it was clear that his previous tension had completely vanished. He now walked with a confident stride, head held high, and brimming with energy, no longer carrying the oppressive feeling from before.

He went back to his underground cultivation chamber, took out mechanical texts to study, and quickly became deeply absorbed and focused.

Arriving at his workbench, he picked up the various mechanical parts that had been previously pushed to the floor, placing them back on the table. He continuously disassembled and replaced components, engaging in the development of mechanical creations.

He worked straight through until lunchtime.

Pushing the door open, he went to the dining hall and ate several bowls of rice in a row.

The food was quite extravagant, all of it spirit food!

Although Ning Zhuo was now at the peak of the ninth level, he still consumed large amounts of spirit food daily as a disguise.

After eating his fill, Ning Zhuo returned to the underground cultivation chamber.

This time, he activated the Floating Cloud Handkerchief, enveloping himself in layers of mist, and pretended to cultivate the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art.

The Cloud Implicit Bud hidden beneath his tongue root, infused with Ning Zhuo's magic power, helped him maintain his disguise.

To the perceptions of Zhu Xuanji and Ning Jiufan, Ning Zhuo was clearly cultivating the fourth level of the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art.

After finishing his meditation and breath circulation, Ning Zhuo rested briefly. Then, still shrouded in mist, he closed his eyes and directly sent his soul into the Immortal Palace.

"He's here!"

The Longyuan Fire Spirit had been silently observing Ning Zhuo.

Seeing Ning Zhuo enter the Immortal Palace again, it silently cheered him on.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit never imagined that one day it would secretly support Ning Zhuo, eagerly hoping he could clear the Daoist path in one go.

"Longyuan Fire Spirit?" Ning Zhuo called out tentatively, looking around.

The Longyuan Fire Spirit shrank its head. Although it heard, it didn't want to respond at all.

It was trying its best to avoid communicating with Ning Zhuo.

After their last exchange, it had reflected on itself and realized it had said far too much, really far too much!

Having failed in his previous attempt to explore the Daoist path, Ning Zhuo learned his lesson. This time, from the start, he tried to select spirit stones as rewards whenever possible.

He had already claimed the leaderboard rewards once before; the next claim was still four days away.

But relying solely on the spirit stones from clearing stages, the accumulated amount was still considerable.

By the time Ning Zhuo reached the final stage of the Daoist path again, the spiritual power reserves he held were at least thirty percent greater than before.

Yet, he failed once more.

"My spellcraft still needs improvement... but that requires extensive practice and can't be rushed."

"Alternatively, with more spirit stones, I could still emulate the method used to clear the Demon path—overwhelm with quantity!"

Ning Zhuo had discovered the way to clear the stage.

Either hone his spell-casting technique, or summarize his experience, devise a comprehensive and detailed strategy, meticulously plan each step, and ultimately build up an advantage through quantity.

While Ning Zhuo was challenging the stage, Zhu Xuanji and Ning Jiufan continued to keep a close watch on him.

"This Floating Cloud Handkerchief is still a bit annoying," Ning Jiufan said.

Most of his detection spells couldn't perfectly bypass the Floating Cloud Handkerchief without causing significant consumption of the mist.

"This should be an inheritance left to Ning Zhuo by his mother. Things from the Flying Cloud Kingdom indeed have usage methods quite different from our Southern Bean Kingdom."

The layers of mist surrounding Ning Zhuo made it harder for Zhu Xuanji and Ning Jiufan to observe him as freely as before.

Zhu Xuanji continued, "It seems Ning Zhuo has completely calmed down. His temperament has undergone a transformation, which is excellent."

"He has withstood this trial. He's promising material for cultivation."

"Brother Ning, congratulations."

Ning Jiufan smiled slightly, feeling genuinely happy.

He had witnessed Ning Zhuo's performance over the past day or two.

The latter had indeed shown significant improvement in temperament.

Coupled with Ning Zhuo's innate talent, if he continued like this, he would surely become a pillar of the Ning family!

"Who's there?" Suddenly, Zhu Xuanji shouted sharply.

His eyes flashed brightly, emitting golden rays. For a moment, his gaze was so sharp that Ning Jiufan quickly averted his eyes to avoid staring directly.

Zhu Xuanji vanished instantly, leaving only a faint golden afterimage in Ning Jiufan's sight.

Boom!

The next moment, Ning Jiufan heard a violent explosion.

He hurriedly turned to look and saw that Zhu Xuanji and a mysterious strong enemy had already exchanged a fierce blow.

Ning Jiufan swiftly moved to assist, rushing over.

Zhu Xuanji waved his hand, and a golden light wall materialized out of nowhere, enveloping Ning Zhuo and giving off an impregnable feeling.

The mysterious enemy was shrouded in emerald-green spell radiance. The figure was rapidly retreating.

"Where do you think you're going!" Zhu Xuanji pursued closely.

The green spell radiance was shattered by his attack, revealing the enemy's appearance.

She had an elegant figure and a face like a peach blossom.

"Bukong Sect, Yang Chenyu!" Instantly, the identity of the mysterious enemy surfaced in Ning Jiufan's mind.

Yang Chenyu retreated swiftly, a smile playing on her lips. Her eyes emitted a jade-green light, fixed intently on Ning Zhuo, who was still soul-projecting into the Immortal Palace.

Clearly, this was a detection spell.

The green light fully retracted, and Yang Chenyu chuckled softly, "So that's how it is."

After saying this, she turned, her speed increasing sharply. Leaving only a pink afterimage in her original spot, she vanished into the shadows of the street.

"I'll pursue. You stay here," Zhu Xuanji said before hastily giving chase.

Ning Jiufan concealed his presence and went directly to Ning Zhuo's side. He pushed his magic power to the limit but restrained his aura, not letting a trace leak out, standing guard vigilantly.

Hearing the commotion, the Foundation Establishment guards rushed over. They were startled by the presence of the golden light wall, none of them noticing the invisible Ning Jiufan nearby.

Zhu Xuanji and Yang Chenyu, one chasing, one fleeing, continuously clashed along the way, creating repeated explosions.

The sounds of explosions and collapsing houses thundered through the night sky, continuous and unending, alarming the entire Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

Ning Zhuo's soul was still in the Lava Immortal Palace, his body encircled by the golden light wall. Outside the light, Foundation Establishment guards were heavily deployed, providing strict protection.

The previous mist, disturbed earlier, had repositioned itself, shielding Ning Zhuo completely.

However, based on the recent events, it was clear—such defenses were extremely fragile against Golden Core-level opponents, practically decorative.

In a certain tavern.

The constant explosions prompted the patrons to leave their seats and gather by the windows to watch the excitement.

Seizing this opportunity, Sun Lingtong, disguised as a middle-aged man, flashed and slipped under a table, disappearing.

The agents secretly monitoring him merely had their view blocked for a moment. When they looked again, their target had completely vanished.

"Where did he go?"

Sensing something wrong, the monitors immediately rushed to the scene, searching frantically around the table where Sun Lingtong had just been.

"Search quickly!"

"He can't have gone far."

"He must be nearby!"

The pursuers all wore ugly expressions. Some directly activated detection spells, scanning all the patrons on the floor.

"Huh?!"

"Who's so ignorant?"

"How dare they cast spells on me!"

Some patrons immediately took offense.

Such detection spells were quite intrusive and considered a strong affront to those being scanned.

But the next moment, the spellcasters deliberately released their auras, each wearing a fierce expression.

There were six of them in total, all at the Foundation Establishment level!

Releasing their cultivation auras together immediately suppressed the entire room.

The patrons who had wanted to retaliate moments earlier turned pale, sweating profusely, and fell silent obediently.

This display made them realize they had just offended dangerous individuals, likely from a faction they couldn't afford to provoke.

The pursuers searched frantically. Soon, the search expanded to the entire tavern, but they still couldn't find Sun Lingtong.

They hurriedly left the tavern, spreading out into the surrounding areas.

Along the way, Sun Lingtong, now disguised as an old man, passed by the pursuers.

The pursuers paid him no mind, bumping into Sun Lingtong and knocking him to the ground. They hurried on without even pausing, rushing forward at full speed.

Sun Lingtong immediately let out groans and moans, perfectly mimicking an ordinary old man knocked down by a reckless passerby, appearing helpless and unable to get up.

Sun Lingtong, coming from the Bukong Sect, was a master of disguising himself as various characters—it was second nature to him!

Subsequent pursuers merely glanced at him before stepping over his body.

Each pursuer held a magical instrument.

They continuously channeled magic power into them, causing the instruments to emit strong fluctuations as they thoroughly scanned the surroundings.

Sun Lingtong was within the range, even at the center, but he remained completely still.

As a disciple of the Bukong Sect, he had the confidence to resist most detection instruments!

However, a shadow of worry lingered in his eyes.

After Sun Lingtong released the second wave of rumors, he noticed large groups of people actively searching for the source of the rumors.

Sun Lingtong conducted his own detection and quickly found that these investigators mainly came from the four major powers of Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

But that wasn't all. For instance, the Taiqing Palace had also sent disciples to participate in the investigation.

"Next is the critical moment," Sun Lingtong thought to himself.

Now, all the major forces in the city were acting, frantically searching for the mastermind behind the rumors. This made spreading rumors increasingly difficult for Sun Lingtong; his room for maneuver had shrunk by a hundredfold compared to before!

If Sun Lingtong continued down this path, the risks would increase more than tenfold.

But currently, he still held the third wave of rumors in reserve.

At this moment, Sun Lingtong, disguised as an old man, lay helplessly on the street.

He stared at the sky, his mind recalling the secret plot he had devised with Ning Zhuo in the Lava Immortal Palace.

Ning Zhuo had said to him with grave seriousness, "Brother Sun, according to this plan of mine, the third wave of rumors is the most critical."

(End of )