**: The Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit**

Black and white smoke billowed incessantly around the palace, while scorching magma flowed slowly at its base.

The palace, built with red bricks and golden pillars, stood tall and majestic, like an ancient giant reclining for a bath in a river of hot magma.

Deep within the main hall, coiled upon a high-backed throne, was a small dragon.

This small dragon was entirely orange-red, as if formed from solidified magma. Golden light circulated within its body, making it exceptionally divine and majestic.

It had a dragon's head, a dragon's tail, and four dragon claws, but its upper body was that of a turtle. Its turtle shell was covered in uneven, reddish-brown rock blocks. These blocks were spaced apart, with intersecting gaps forming a well-like pattern on the shell.

This was precisely the palace spirit of the Magma Immortal Palace—the Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit!

At this moment, the resting Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit slowly opened its eyes.

It raised its head and looked towards the palace roof.

The Magma Immortal Palace trembled slightly, aiding its vision to penetrate through the roof, through layers of smoke and clouds, until it finally saw a faint, blurry figure.

It was the City Lord of Fire Persimmon Immortal City!

To avoid detection by the City Lord, the Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit did not look closely. Instead, it shifted its thoughts, and its gaze began to extend downwards.

Its vision moved extremely fast, quickly covering the entire Fire Persimmon Immortal City, stretching all the way down to the dense, scorching Fire Persimmon Forest at the mountain's base before abruptly stopping.

Within the Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit's crimson eye sockets, its golden pupils shone brightly.

It intensified its inspection. In its field of view, physical objects like the mountain city, forests, and residents gradually faded, revealing a magnificent grand formation.

This grand formation had two formation cores: one giant core was inside the mountain, and another smaller one was located within the City Lord's mansion. There were also five formation pillars, situated respectively in the residences of the Zhou, Zheng, and Ning families, as well as in the dungeon and the city guards' barracks.

The grand formation was massive, covering almost the entire Fire Persimmon Mountain, and was also interconnected with numerous smaller formations within the Fire Persimmon Forest at the mountain's base.

The formation's foundations plunged straight down from the summit of Fire Persimmon Mountain, deeply embedded within the mountain body.

The cyan-green patterns of the Immortal City's grand formation intertwined like an overwhelming giant net, locking down the entire Fire Persimmon Mountain. The Immortal Palace was like a bird in a cage.

The Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit snorted. This feeling of being restrained made it extremely irritable.

It pushed up with its front claws, lifting its body, and suddenly leaped into the air.

It had no wings, yet it flew swiftly and agilely. Its speed was extreme, darting through the air like a bright stream of orange-gold light.

The light stream traced a brilliant circle in the air before landing back on the throne.

In an instant, the Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit transitioned from motion to stillness. Sparks, carried by inertia, rained down onto the throne, then scattered and flew about in the dimly lit palace.

Having vented some of its frustration, the Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit slightly raised its dragon head again, its gaze piercing into the distance, observing the outside world.

Its focus first settled on the City Lord's mansion.

At this time, inside the mansion, a sturdy, big-eyed youth was sitting cross-legged, actively circulating his energy.

Unlike usual, the sturdy youth wasn't accumulating magical power but was dissipating it.

He was the City Lord's grandson—Meng Chong!

The City Lord's transmitted voice seemed to still echo in Meng Chong's ears.

"My grandson Meng Chong, I have used the Opportunity Designation Talisman to connect the energy of the Magma Immortal Palace to you! I have also lit the Divine Calculation Incense to determine the optimal steps."

"Remember, you need to be the first to master the 'Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art' and reach the third level of Qi Refining. This point is crucial, as it will give you a significant first-mover advantage. Achieving this step means half the battle is won. Continuously accumulating advantages, like a rolling snowball, you will gradually leave the other competitors behind."

"It's just a pity that the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art is a Daoist technique. If it were a Buddhist technique, I could have given you the Salvation Elixir I have here."

"Now, you need to dissipate your power as quickly as possible and restart your cultivation with the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art!"

"Someone will bring you sufficient Nourishing Meridian and Body Protection Powder. Don't be sparing; use it all to achieve a perfect power dissipation at the fastest speed!"

Meng Chong exhaled a turbid breath, his large eyes filled with determination.

The Opportunity Designation Talisman and the Divine Calculation Incense were both treasures of the Nascent Soul level, immensely valuable. Such a major investment by the Fire Persimmon City Lord essentially placed the heavy responsibility of seizing the Magma Immortal Palace directly on Meng Chong's shoulders.

Meng Chong's heart swelled with fighting spirit!

"Grandfather, you've done so much for me. If I still fail, I don't deserve the surname Meng!"

"I will definitely not let you down."

"I will surely seize this first place!"

His face full of resolve, Meng Chong closed his eyes and continued dissipating his power.

However, his previous cultivation level was too high, having reached the ninth level of Qi Refining. Dissipating his power now反而 required more time.

The Dragon-Turtle Fire Spirit slowly shifted its gaze from the City Lord's mansion to the Zhou family territory.

In an underground chamber within the Zhou family.

Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu stood before a large formation.

Zhou Zeshen said, "This Gathering and Dispersing Flowing Tide Array is unique to our Zhou family within Fire Persimmon Immortal City."

"Da Zhu, you will next enter this array to dissipate your power. Then, choose the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art to restart your cultivation."

"This array can help speed up the process of power dissipation and also assist you in quickly rebuilding your cultivation."

"I'm counting on you!"

The Zhou family had deep底蕴, ranking first among the three major families. This was undisputed.

To scheme for the Magma Immortal Palace, the Zhou family had made various attempts long ago.

Among them, they had arranged for family members Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu to join the Mudflow Sect for cultivation.

The Mudflow Sect was a rare sect skilled in mechanical arts. After Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu achieved some success in their studies, they returned to the family to await orders.

Unexpectedly, the Law Transmission Bell had sounded.

This forced them to make a choice.

After careful consideration, the Zhou family decided to preserve Zhou Zeshen's cultivation and have Zhou Zhu take the risk of switching to cultivate the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art.

Zhou Zhu had no objections to this, saying in a muffled voice, "Brother Shen, you're smarter than me. I'll do whatever you tell me to do."

"There's no need to feel guilty towards me. Contributing to the family is what I should do!"

Zhou Zhu stepped forward and officially entered the array.

He did not sit cross-legged but stood upright, like a tall, sturdy pillar—stable and unadorned.

The power dissipation began.

Zhou Zeshen sighed inwardly, feeling pity for Zhou Zhu.

Zhou Zhu had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, one level higher than himself. Dissipating the magical power painstakingly cultivated over many years was a significant loss.

But there was no other way!

The Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art was likely the key to competing for the Magma Immortal Palace.

This was the first time the Law Transmission Bell had sounded, and it caused such a commotion. This indicated that the selection method for the Magma Immortal Palace had undergone a major change upon reaching the Qi Refining stage!

To cope with possible changes, while choosing a conservative approach, the Zhou family also made proactive attempts.

The array began to hum as it operated. A pained expression flickered across Zhou Zhu's face.

The intangible force generated by the array violently pulled and extracted the magical power from within Zhou Zhu's body. This inevitably caused him harm!

However, Zhou Zhu himself possessed a Body of Quiet Nurturing Vitality. As long as he remained motionless, vitality would burst forth within his body, allowing his injuries to heal at full speed.

The array was helping him violently dissipate his power, while Zhou Zhu's own regenerative ability was also activated, actively repairing the damage to his meridians.

This was the key reason for choosing Zhou Zhu to restart his cultivation.

(End of )