: Discovering Ning Zhuo's Flaw

Zhu Xuanji left the warehouse, lost in thought the entire way.

He had never imagined that clues about the shadowy demonic cultivator would suddenly be delivered to him in this manner.

"Could the City Lord's Mansion be repeating their old trick?"

"Are they staging this themselves to divert my attention and scatter my energy, preventing me from giving my all in the competition for the Molten Rock Immortal Palace?"

If that were the case, Zhu Xuanji had to admit this scheme was extremely vicious!

The other party must have seen right through his character and seized upon it—his strong desire to protect the city's populace.

With the city besieged by demonic beasts, the City Lord's Mansion's forces were stretched thin. Fei Si couldn't possibly investigate the entire immortal city; he could only check if fire persimmons were buried in critical locations.

And even if these many fire persimmons weren't placed at key defensive points, detonating them in the city center would still cause massive casualties.

Excessive casualties and chaos in the city would inevitably affect the front lines.

Zhu Xuanji trusted his own abilities and tended to believe Fei Si hadn't lied, but what about Meng Kui?

Although the Meng family was known for their straightforward and direct nature, Meng Kui was the only strategist among the four generals.

Even if Zhu Xuanji confronted Meng Kui, he had little confidence in his ability to detect lies from a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

As Zhu Xuanji walked down the street, his eyes were unfocused, his mind swirling with various thoughts.

"But what if it's not them?"

"What if the City Lord's Mansion is simply a victim? What if neither Meng Kui nor Fei Si had any secret arrangements?"

"Then, is this shadowy demonic cultivator connected to the culprit who attacked Fire Persimmon Mountain?"

Countless possibilities flashed through Zhu Xuanji's mind.

He felt as if he were lost in a fog, unsure which path led to the truth.

"Lord Zhu! Finally found you!" A voice interrupted Zhu Xuanji's thoughts.

Zhu Xuanji focused his eyes and saw a Foundation Establishment cultivator dressed as a servant.

Zhu Xuanji asked his purpose.

The servant cultivator bowed deeply. "This humble servant is a subordinate of Lord Zhu Hou. Lord Zhu Hou has been selected as the new director of the Fire Persimmon Immortal City's Compassionate Orphanage and arrived here two days ago. He is fully prepared to assume the position."

"Tomorrow, an inauguration ceremony will be held."

"Lord Zhu Hou heard of your presence in the city and wishes to invite you to attend the ceremony."

"After all, this orphanage position was advocated by you."

Zhu Xuanji's spirits lifted, and he smiled. "This is the only good news I've heard today! You are right; the matter of the Compassionate Orphanage was reported by me to the monarch. I specifically recommended selecting talent from our Zhu royal family."

"I didn't expect my clansman Uncle Zhu Hou to take on this duty."

"With him here, I am reassured."

"Unfortunately, I am tied up with important matters and have no time to attend the ceremony."

At this point, Zhu Xuanji's eyes flickered, showing a hint of hesitation.

He understood Zhu Hou's intention. If he, the Divine Constable, attended the ceremony tomorrow, it would be a show of support for Zhu Hou, greatly improving his future situation and facilitating the orphanage's operations.

"Since I've already agreed to help Li Leifeng, why not go all the way?"

After some consideration, Zhu Xuanji decided on a compromise. "I will go see my clansman uncle now. Let's go."

With that, he grabbed the old servant by the collar and flew into the air with great fanfare, heading towards the Compassionate Orphanage.

Zhu Xuanji's actions quickly attracted the attention of countless people.

Just like when he openly went to find Ning Zhuo to execute his plan of "beating the grass to startle the snake," from this moment on, he had already begun supporting Zhu Hou.

Zhu Xuanji landed in the orphanage with the servant cultivator and met Zhu Hou.

Zhu Hou, only at the Foundation Establishment stage, was portly and had a gentle, generous demeanor.

Zhu Xuanji immediately cupped his hands in salute to Zhu Hou.

In his youth, Zhu Xuanji had received much kindness and guidance from Zhu Hou.

Therefore, even after becoming a Golden Core stage cultivator, he remained respectful and never treated Zhu Hou dismissively.

Zhu Xuanji then apologized to Zhu Hou, stating he could not attend the next day's inauguration ceremony.

Zhu Hou smiled slightly and gestured for him to sit first.

Zhu Hou also sat down. "Seeing you fly over so conspicuously, I already understood your intention."

"That you could spare the time to come already makes me quite happy."

"In the future, you can rest assured leaving the orphanage to me."

"Having watched you grow up, how could I not know your aspirations? Our views align."

"I will do my best to identify talented individuals here and send them to the royal family."

"Accumulating earth forms a mountain, gathering fur forms a robe. With continuous accumulation like this, we will surely help the royal family counter the influence of the many powerful ministers."

At this point, Zhu Hou sighed deeply.

"Currently, in Southern Bean Kingdom, the Meng family, the Su family, and others have become too powerful to control."

"The late Grand Emperor, deeply afflicted by emotional wounds in his later years, failed to handle this properly, leaving such a mess for his descendants."

Zhu Xuanji remained silent; he did not wish to rashly blame his ancestors.

Regardless, the founding emperor of Southern Bean Kingdom, who established such a foundation, undoubtedly had merits that outweighed his faults.

Seeing Zhu Xuanji's gloomy expression, Zhu Hou proactively changed the subject. "By the way, Xuanji, while sorting through Li Leifeng's belongings, I found something interesting!"

"Take a look."

Zhu Hou showed a mysterious expression and took out a jade slip, handing it to Zhu Xuanji.

The surface of the jade slip was smooth, the kind of smoothness from frequent use and handling. Clearly, Li Leifeng had used it often during his lifetime.

Zhu Xuanji took the jade slip and scanned its contents with his spiritual sense.

He quickly discovered it was Li Leifeng's diary from his lifetime.

This diary mainly recorded some outstanding orphans in the Compassionate Orphanage.

Li Leifeng was very adept at identifying the strengths of these children and determining if they had the potential for cultivation.

Li Leifeng had even created a detailed list, meticulously recorded by name and date.

Upon closer inspection, Zhu Xuanji found that Li Leifeng didn't just care for the orphans within the orphanage; sometimes, he would also aid impoverished children outside.

Although the orphanage received support from various parties, resources were still limited overall.

From this list, one could see Li Leifeng's philosophy in managing the orphanage.

He didn't practice absolute equality in resource distribution but allocated more or less, focusing investment on orphans with greater potential.

On one hand, he hoped to have a successor. Thus, he had always actively cultivated a replacement.

On the other hand, he hoped these resources could be used more valuably, yielding positive returns.

He very much wished to cultivate some successful cultivators. Once these cultivators had spare capacity, they could, in turn, contribute more resources back to the orphanage, creating a virtuous cycle.

Zhu Xuanji sighed with emotion. "Truly worthy of Li Leifeng. His benevolent and caring heart emanates from this jade slip."

Holding this old jade slip, he felt its substantial weight.

Li Leifeng had managed the orphanage with utmost dedication. In Zhu Xuanji's perception, such sincerity was even more valuable than a magic treasure!

Seeing the change in Zhu Xuanji's expression, Zhu Hou smiled. "Feeling a bit better now?"

He continued to comfort Zhu Xuanji. "Xuanji, you put too much pressure on yourself."

"You must know you are not struggling alone; everyone is moving forward together."

"Don't be too hard on yourself or demand too much of yourself."

"You are already doing excellently."

"Perhaps you might make mistakes sometimes, but who is without fault?"

"All cultivators are human, and all humans make mistakes."

"Currently, our royal family lacks talented individuals; you are the only promising cultivation seed to emerge."

"Don't shoulder too much, and moreover, don't think you are fighting alone."

"People like me, your clansman uncle, though lacking in cultivation and talent, can still contribute to the royal family. Accumulated bit by bit, this strength should not be underestimated."

Zhu Xuanji said solemnly, "Thank you for your concern, Uncle."

After Zhu Hou's care, his mood had indeed improved.

However, just as Zhu Xuanji was about to return the jade slip to Zhu Hou, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

Because his spiritual sense had scanned to the end of the list, where he discovered a familiar name.

Ning Zhuo!!!

"Why is his name on this list?!"

Zhu Xuanji hurriedly examined it closely.

In the jade slip, Li Leifeng had made detailed records in the column related to Ning Zhuo.

Over a decade ago, during a puppet show at the orphanage, Li Leifeng accidentally discovered a child hiding in a corner, secretly watching.

The child not only watched secretly but also took leftover pastries to eat when the guests dispersed.

Later, Li Leifeng saw him twice more.

On the third time, feeling pity for the child, he took him backstage and offered him some fresh pastries.

From then on, the child visited more frequently.

The child often hid in corners watching the puppet shows, utterly captivated each time.

This was quite different from other children.

Generally, children's minds are unsettled, and their attention easily wanders. The first few times they see a new, unfamiliar puppet show, they might concentrate for most of it.

But when watching old, familiar shows, they often run around the audience seats, unable to sit still for long.

However, Li Leifeng noticed that this child was always highly focused.

This piqued Li Leifeng's interest.

He observed secretly and was surprised to find the child was imitating his techniques for controlling the mechanical puppets!

Others just watched the show, but this child was constantly learning, practicing the various puppet control techniques during Li Leifeng's performances, watching and practicing simultaneously.

The child hid in the shadows, secretly learning, his small hands concealed in his sleeves, constantly moving.

After暗中 observing for a while, Li Leifeng was astonished.

He discovered that for some simpler techniques, the child needed only two or three viewings to mimic them quite well.

After realizing this, Li Leifeng found it immensely interesting. Whenever the child came to watch secretly, he would temporarily add scenes, often ones with more complicated and difficult puppet operations.

These added puppet shows would only trouble the child for two or three performances, at most four or five. Then, he would have mostly learned them.

Finally, with the "Fang Qing Clears Injustice" play, which had many characters and extremely complex operations, it stumped the child for over ten performances.

But after more than ten performances, the child had grasped about seventy to eighty percent of it.

"He has a remarkable talent for mechanics!" Li Leifeng considered taking him as a disciple. After暗中 investigating, he learned the child was named Ning Zhuo, a disciple from a branch family of the Ning Clan.

Ning Zhuo's father had died before he was born. When he was two, his mother also passed away.

Although he had an uncle, for some reason, he still lived alone, his life exceptionally difficult.

After discovering this, Li Leifeng intentionally left extra pastries, inviting Ning Zhuo to eat whenever he came to watch the shows.

Ning Zhuo was quite fond of food but very polite. Each time, he showed great respect to Li Leifeng, understanding etiquette well.

Every time Li Leifeng saw the small child bowing respectfully to him, he couldn't help but reach out and pat his head.

Li Leifeng wrote in his diary: "This child Ning Zhuo has a rather large head, full of intelligence at first glance."

He also commented on the Ning family: "The Ning family is a major cultivation clan, but that's all. Just from Ning Zhuo's situation, one can see the hardships faced by branch family disciples."

After inviting Ning Zhuo to eat multiple times, Li Leifeng felt the timing was right.

Once, when no one else was around, Li Leifeng specifically asked Ning Zhuo if he would like to acknowledge him as his master, promising to teach him more exquisite puppet control techniques.

Ning Zhuo's response, however, surprised Li Leifeng.

He said he didn't understand any control techniques at all; he just enjoyed watching puppet shows.

Li Leifeng knew this was a lie. Having seen many people, he was absolutely certain from the look in Ning Zhuo's eyes each time he watched the puppet shows that the latter had a great fondness for puppets!

Li Leifeng thought, haste makes waste, and decided to wait and invite him again later.

However, after the first failed invitation, Ning Zhuo rarely came to the orphanage to watch shows.

On the rare occasions he did come, Li Leifeng would specially add a performance of "Fang Qing Clears Injustice" for him. This was the most complex puppet show to control; even Li Leifeng felt physically and mentally exhausted after each performance.

Li Leifeng knew only such a puppet show could attract Ning Zhuo to come watch more often.

By the time Ning Zhuo was four, he could already move his fingers while watching "Fang Qing Clears Injustice." The control techniques he had developed through practice reached about fifty percent of Li Leifeng's proficiency.

Such talent led Li Leifeng to conclude that this child would achieve great things in the future!

"A needle in a bag can only be hidden temporarily. After he turns six, he will inevitably stand out!" This was Li Leifeng's own judgment written in the diary.

Reading this, Zhu Xuanji's heart shook violently. He sprang to his feet.

His eyes widened, staring fixedly at the jade slip in his hand!

He continued reading.

He found that Li Leifeng's subsequent records were sparse.

This was because Ning Zhuo's visits to the orphanage sharply decreased! When he was five, he came only two or three times a year. By six, he stopped coming altogether.

"Ning Zhuo, Ning Zhuo!" Zhu Xuanji muttered the name, his eyes gleaming with golden light, his expression terrifyingly stern.

He hadn't expected to obtain such a crucial clue from Li Leifeng's belongings.

This allowed him to understand Ning Zhuo's true nature!

(End of )