**: The Guest Star Should Shine Upon the Northern Literary Pivot**

The Cangtie Han Armor was disintegrating.

Countless gashes were being torn and widened by the intense friction with the air, accompanied by the grating sound of twisting metal, peeling off piece by piece, chunk by chunk.

Innumerable tiny spatial fragments slammed into the mechanical war armor like hail, leaving behind dense clusters of deep pits and scratches. The clattering sounds concealed a lethal threat.

Some larger spatial fragments either struck or grazed Ning Zhuo, causing his body to shudder violently. It felt as if his internal organs were being churned to pieces. Blood continuously seeped from the corners of his mouth and the gaps in his damaged armor, staining Qing Chi's azure robes red.

This was only possible because his organs had been modified by the Ling Shen Technique, granting them extraordinary resilience. Otherwise, such extreme speeds and sharp turns would have already caused massive internal bleeding.

The spatial storm, like a primordial beast opening its gigantic maw, pursued Ning Zhuo relentlessly with a force sufficient to crush mountains and twist steel, greedily devouring every remaining inch of space.

It only came to an abrupt halt upon reaching the limit of the Earth Lung Turbid Qi.

The Guiji Qujing had completely vanished.

The spatial storm seemed to begin consuming itself, smoothing out all turbulence within a few breaths and transforming into a deep, deathly silent void.

Subsequently, this void was eroded and filled by a massive influx of Earth Lung Turbid Qi, eventually being completely submerged.

The area had once again become a thick barrier of earthly energy. But this time, Ning Zhuo didn't have a second Candle Body to create another Guiji Qujing.

In fact, the light goose formed by the Taisu Sanxing Chi had also faded and dissipated after constructing the initial passage.

It had reverted to its original ruler form.

Ning Zhuo didn't know the White Paper City Lord's spells and couldn't summon the light goose on his own.

Even using this heavy treasure was strenuous for him. After all, this was a treasure-level artifact, while Ning Zhuo's own mana quality was poor, only at the Foundation Establishment level.

Ning Zhuo landed, holding Qing Chi.

The Cangtie Han Armor let out a piercing screech, then the back armor shattered and peeled off on a large scale, with the disintegration rapidly spreading across the entire body.

This brand-new mechanical war armor had been utterly destroyed after such brief use!

It showed just how thrilling and perilous this life-or-death rescue mission had been.

Even now, Ning Zhuo could still vividly feel the bone-chilling, soul-freezing touch of the chaotic void currents!

His heart pounded wildly, his face etched with gravity.

In this decisive battle up to now, he had been completely forced into a passive position, teetering on the brink of defeat.

And this outcome was achieved by a single choice made by the main body of the Wangchuan Prefect. Aiming the Mingjiao Silhouette at the Guiji Qujing was indeed incredibly sharp and precise, dealing what seemed like a fatal blow to Ning Zhuo and Luo Si's side.

Ning Zhuo's expression was extremely grave.

Holding Qing Chi, he turned to look back at the turbid qi barrier, massive like a mountain wall, and gritted his teeth secretly.

The situation was quite dire.

Now, he and the Qingjiao Army were on one side, while Luo Si was on the other.

The turbid qi barrier cut off the transfer of military strength. Without the military strength boost, how long could Luo Si hold out over there?

"My earlier hesitation was wrong and not worth it!" Ning Zhuo lamented inwardly. "I wonder if the divine sense message I sent to Luo Si during that risky escape reached him?"

He needed Luo Si to keep holding on, to buy time.

Time was absolutely critical!

He desperately needed time.

"Lord Qing Yan!!!" Wails rose from the Qingjiao Army.

"Qing Chi!!!" Other ghost tribe cultivators urgently flew towards Ning Zhuo.

Meanwhile, Jiao Ma's birth father also flew above the ceremonial camp, shouting orders repeatedly, trying to stabilize the restless army.

Ning Zhuo narrowed his eyes, immediately realizing that the Qingjiao Army was also highly unstable, on the verge of collapse!

Even though this army was newly formed, it could provide the crucial military strength boost. Without this boost, Ning Zhuo, relying solely on himself, basically had no place at the table in this decisive battle.

He had to stabilize the Qingjiao Army!

The Qingjiao Army consisted of two main parts: the Jiao family faction, which was very stable. But the other part was the ghost tribe Qing family. With Qing Yan dead and Qing Chi unconscious, the cultivators in this faction were panicked and leaderless, their morale hitting rock bottom, teetering on the edge of collapse.

Divine Ability - Human Life Hanging by a Thread!

At this critical moment, Ning Zhuo directly applied the divine ability to Qing Chi in his arms.

He quickly cast spells, applying detection and healing techniques one after another onto Qing Chi.

"Qing Chi, wake up, wake up quickly."

Qing Chi, being a ghost tribe member, was rescued at the risk of their lives by Ning Zhuo, Luo Si, and Qing Yan. Surprisingly, her injuries weren't severe and she healed quickly.

With the aid of the divine ability, she opened her eyes.

After a brief moment of confusion, her eyes reddened, quickly welling up with tears.

But Ning Zhuo directly set her upright on the ground, making her stand, and held her shoulders: "Qing Chi, now is not the time for grief. Do you want revenge?!"

Ning Zhuo's forceful question stunned Qing Chi.

Ning Zhuo shouted again: "Your father is dead, and the culprit is the Wangchuan Prefect. He is your father's killer! Do you want revenge?!"

The grief on Qing Chi's face was quickly replaced by anger and hatred.

Green flames flickered deep within her pupils as she gritted her teeth and replied: "Yes! I must have revenge!!"

Ning Zhuo took a deep breath, looking directly into her eyes: "Right now, the perfect opportunity for revenge is right before us."

"You need to steady yourself, then lead the Qingjiao Army to continue stationed here. I need your help to provide military strength."

"The more military strength, the better!"

"Can you do it? Qing Qing!"

"Only by working together can we ruin the Wangchuan Prefect's century-long scheme, restore peace and tranquility to White Paper Immortal City, ensure your father's sacrifice isn't in vain, and seek justice for all the innocents who were blood-sacrificed!"

Qing Chi took a deep breath and nodded fiercely: "Xiao Ma, I'll listen to you! Let's take revenge together!!"

As she spoke, hot tears streamed from her eyes.

Ning Zhuo licked his dry lips. Facing Qing Chi's clear and fervent gaze, he found it somewhat difficult to meet her eyes directly.

He averted his gaze, looking towards the sky: "I've cast a spell on you that will allow you to receive my divine sense messages promptly, and even receive spell enhancements from me."

He provided a cover for the Human Life Hanging by a Thread divine ability.

"Trust me!"

"We haven't lost yet."

"Next, as long as I find a flaw in this formation, I can influence the battle again and reinforce Luo Si!"

***

Wangchuan Immortal City.

City Lord's Manor.

"Heh, I'm in again." Zeng Jide, along with Sun Lingtong, transformed into a pool of shadow, flowing like water through crevices, once again slipping into the City Lord's Manor.

Previously, he had almost left the manor grounds.

But at the last moment, Sun Lingtong's heartfelt words struck a chord, jolting him awake: He also found it strange; why had he obtained the Wangchuan Whirlpool Eye so easily?

Clearly, this was a trap deliberately set by the Wangchuan Prefect, specifically arranged for Zeng Jide to steal!

"The Wangchuan Prefect possesses the innate talent 'Flowing and Drowning, Forgetting to Return,' which allows him to extract the cultivation memories of others from the Wangchuan Long River."

"Therefore, even though he's a ghost cultivator, he is also proficient in Confucian cultivation and especially skilled in formations. The latter two points are clearly evident from his current large-scale actions."

"But despite having such profound formation mastery, he didn't add any additional formations to protect the Wangchuan Whirlpool Eye."

"This setup was obviously meant for me to steal, wanting to use this to get rid of me."

"Then, probably worried I'd continue stealing here and cause worse trouble, he activated his arrangement, sending out the state-power-enhanced golden tablet to attack, forcing me to flee in disgrace."

"Very well, very well…"

Zeng Jide gritted his teeth secretly.

The Wangchuan Prefect's dismissive treatment felt like throwing a bone to a beggar, severely offending the pride of a master thief of his caliber.

Especially since he had a junior sect member with him.

Moreover, this junior was someone Zeng Jide valued and quite admired, considering her very promising.

In the future, when this junior grew up and recalled today, she would surely laugh: Senior Zeng Jide of our sect was nothing special, easily brushed off by the Wangchuan Prefect.

Where would that leave his face?

Revenge! He must take severe revenge!

Therefore, Zeng Jide turned back with Sun Lingtong and returned to the City Lord's Manor.

"I'm going to teach the Wangchuan Prefect a lesson he won't forget!"

This time, Zeng Jide directly led Sun Lingtong to the very core of the City Lord's Manor.

Regarding the Painted Skin Rakshasa, Zeng Jide still had no intention of lending aid.

He still only wanted to teach the Wangchuan Prefect a lesson, not offend him to the death.

"Huh? The defenses here are loose on the outside but tight on the inside, with a grand formation set up. Yet it feels incongruous with the surrounding defensive layout. Strange, strange."

Zeng Jide quickly noticed the anomaly and was drawn to it.

The old and the young penetrated the formation space, arriving at the core area, where they found a giant stone.

The stone was over ten zhang thick and nearly a hundred chi long, resembling the fossilized spine of some creature.

The surface of the fossilized spine was covered with large amounts of mud, lava, plant roots, etc., and had many spiral-shaped, twisted holes.

The giant stone was deeply embedded in the ground, incessantly drawing Earth Lung Qi on a terrifying scale.

"What is this?" Sun Lingtong sent a divine sense message, asking Zeng Jide.

Zeng Jide: "This should be an Earth-element heavy treasure, using the formation to disperse its power outward. Strange!"

"Such a grand setup must have a major purpose."

At that moment, Sun Lingtong had a sudden inspiration and almost clapped her hands: "This is perfect! Senior, since the Wangchuan Prefect has bullied us like this, let's steal this and teach him a profound lesson."

But Zeng Jide hesitated: "This… wouldn't this offend the Wangchuan Prefect a bit too much?"

In a short time, he couldn't identify the origin of the formation surrounding the giant stone.

***

Black Cloud Space.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!...*

After a series of explosions, Ning Zhuo, clad in his third set of Cangtie Han Armor, squeezed into a formation space as dark as ink.

Absolute silence and suffocating darkness surrounded him.

"The spatial storm nearly killed me, but it also created many flaws, allowing me to break in easily."

"Of course, there are two other reasons."

"First, the Earth Lung Turbid Qi barrier lies within the great formation, hindering its operation. Second, the Imperial Guards are wiped out; no one is controlling the formation."

The sharp pain that flared up from various parts of his body and the bone-deep fatigue reminded Ning Zhuo of his recent narrow escape.

There was no time for Ning Zhuo to receive proper treatment.

He could only press on, injured, racing against time!

Panic and despair were firmly suppressed deep in his heart. Ning Zhuo did his utmost to remain calm and focused.

"Ghost tide surges, White Paper in peril; Lone Swan holds candle, piercing the heavenly veil. The guest star should shine upon the northern literary pivot; When all lights shine bright, the calamity destroys itself."

"I've luckily blasted my way into the formation's internal space. I should follow the guidance of 'the guest star should shine upon the northern literary pivot,' reach the key position, and carry out sabotage!"

This was the method to break the situation he had thought of back at the altar battlefield.

Now, forced by circumstances, he had no choice but to attempt it.

Ning Zhuo's divine sense struggled to spread through the viscous darkness.

Thick black clouds were everywhere, severely hindering the effectiveness of his divine sense.

He immediately tossed out numerous mechanical mirrors.

His divine sense refracted between the mirrors, rapidly expanding the detection range.

But it was still black clouds, rolling black clouds everywhere.

"It's time to use this."

Ning Zhuo took out a small storage pouch.

The white storage pouch was semi-transparent. Inside, a mass of hazy literary qi emitted a snowy light, shining through the pouch.

Wenguang Yingxue Nang (Literary Light Reflecting Snow Pouch)!

This was a gift from Wen Ruan Yu. The pouch contained a store of his literary qi.

"Literary talents appreciate and contend with each other… Literary qi attracts each other…" Ning Zhuo silently recited, carefully activating the Wenguang Yingxue Nang.

The snowy light suddenly brightened. Initially just a spherical ball of snowy light, it carved out a space in the darkness, enveloping Ning Zhuo.

Then, the pouch itself seemed to be pulled by some invisible force, deforming slightly. The spherical snowy light became extremely directional, transforming into a cone shape, its tip stretching towards a specific direction.

Ning Zhuo didn't hesitate any longer and immediately accelerated towards the direction indicated by the Wenguang Yingxue Nang.

The closer he got to the target, the more concentrated and brighter the snowy light on the pouch became, drawn like a magnet. Simultaneously, the conical shape of the snowy light became less sharp; the tip blunted, transforming into an ellipse.

When Ning Zhuo finally arrived, the elliptical light body had almost reverted to a spherical shape, its glow stable and pure.

Ning Zhuo observed left and right, his divine sense sweeping the area, but found nothing unusual.

"The energy flow here is abnormally smooth. There should be a node here where the formation's channels converge and pass through, yet it's cleverly hidden without the slightest leakage. Without the literary qi's guidance, it would be impossible to detect!"

He continuously cast detection spells, and after a moment, his spirits lifted.

"This must be a hub!"

"But I can't be sure if it's my target…"

Ning Zhuo fell into hesitation again.

Formations shouldn't be tampered with randomly. Without identifying the true target, a single move could affect the whole situation. It's likely that tampering with this hub could drastically alter the others.

After thinking for a few breaths, Ning Zhuo decided to mark this spot first and then search the surrounding area.

***

Altar Battlefield.

*Pfft—!*

Luo Si was sent flying backwards like a ragged sack, vomiting blood profusely along the way.

Severely injured!

The Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity pursued closely, throwing a punch straight at him. Luo Si barely managed to dodge at the critical moment.

The Earth Fiend Deity then grasped the Earth Lung Turbid Qi, covering the area. Luo Si took out a talisman, exchanging it for astonishing speed, and dodged again.

He had no military strength boost. Of his two trump card treasures, one was destroyed by the explosion, and the other was stuck on the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity, firmly suctioned by it.

The moment of his death seemed imminent.

The Wangchuan Prefect hid within the tributary, no longer attacking personally, focusing entirely on eroding the ice coffin to retrieve the Mingjiao Scissors.

The Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity laughed heartily: "Luo Si, you traitor! Have you gone mad, actually defecting to White Paper Immortal City?"

"Look at you now! The 'Young Master' you pledged to has abandoned you, running off with his beloved in his arms!"

"And you pledged yourself to someone like that?"

"Could you really be fooled by the Grey Bone Old Man to this extent?!"

Luo Si remained silent, scrambling frantically under the Earth Fiend Deity's continuous assaults.

Losing his last shred of patience, the Earth Fiend Deity sneered and struck: "You die first! The Grey Bone Old Man is doomed too!"

Restrained by the turbid qi, Luo Si watched helplessly as the fatal fist was about to smash his skull.

*Pfft!*

At the life-or-death moment, the Earth Fiend Deity suddenly deflated. The fist, affected, veered off course, striking Luo Si's shoulder instead.

Luo Si was injured further, but he managed to keep his life.

The Earth Fiend Deity, shocked and furious, threw another punch.

*Pfft!*

It deflated again, its divine body shrinking sharply like a punctured balloon.

What's happening?!

Wangchuan Prefect: ?!!

(End of )