Chapter 225: Divine Catcher

"Speak! Why did you kill Yuan Dasheng?" Zhu Xuanji suddenly spoke, his voice like iron, without a trace of warmth.

"Ah?" Ning Zhuo revealed a look of astonishment.

"Speak!" Zhu Xuanji shouted sharply, simultaneously erupting with a massive pressure, like an invisible mountain range, suddenly pressing down on Ning Zhuo.

This pressure was so immense that Ning Zhuo, caught off guard, was almost pressed to his knees.

He staggered, his waist and back inevitably bending, but he did not kneel, instead struggling to maintain a standing posture, a trace of stubbornness revealing itself in his gaze as he looked at Zhu Xuanji.

Golden light flourished in Zhu Xuanji's eyes, observing Ning Zhuo with an unprecedentedly tough stance!

The sharp gaze immediately made Ning Zhuo feel as if he were completely naked, standing in a world of ice and snow.

Ning Zhuo frantically activated his peak ninth-level magic power, injecting it into the Cloud Shadow Hidden Bud beneath his tongue.

The Cloud Shadow Hidden Bud activated, temporarily and arduously resisting Zhu Xuanji's observation.

But clearly, the resistance had a time limit.

Ning Zhuo was covered in sweat, gritting his teeth, and struggling to speak: "Yes, I did have selfish motives."

"I wanted to do business with the Mechanism Fire-Exploding Monkeys, I wanted to expand the business, and the Monkey Head Gang was my biggest obstacle."

"Yuan Dasheng's existence blocked my path to wealth."

"So when I saw it heavily injured and dying at the Fire Persimmon Festival, I secretly harbored murderous intent and actively sought a token from Lord Fei Si."

"Relying on this identity token, I entered the Monkey Head Gang and persuaded Yuan Er to let him give up on treating Yuan Dasheng."

"Yuan Dasheng eventually died from severe injuries, and I am indeed the culprit!"

"Hehehe." Zhu Xuanji sneered three times: "Anything else?"

His follow-up question was like a cold blade held directly to Ning Zhuo's throat.

Ning Zhuo looked at Zhu Xuanji arduously, his expression full of shock and panic.

Zhu Xuanji's gaze was like a falcon, firmly locking onto Ning Zhuo: "Don't tell me that you killed Yuan Dasheng for only this one reason!"

"Speak properly."

"Confession brings leniency, resistance brings severity."

"You should understand: what kind of end you will have if you continue to hide it."

"You must know, I am a member of the Nandou royal family, a person from the Divine Catcher Division."

"If we really want to settle accounts, your Ning family is nothing but a mantis under a wheel. Even the Meng family is not worth mentioning!"

Ning Zhuo was covered in cold sweat, his face was extremely pale, and his posture was tottering.

Thoughts were boiling in his mind, all kinds of ideas and countless questions emerging one after another.

"What exactly did Zhu Xuanji discover that he suddenly came to interrogate me?"

"What should I say? What do I need to say?"

"To what extent can I gamble?!"

Seeing Ning Zhuo hesitate, Zhu Xuanji snorted unhappily and suddenly increased the pressure.

Ning Zhuo could no longer support himself, and under the massive invisible pressure, he knelt on one knee on the ground.

Looking at Ning Zhuo's stubborn appearance, Zhu Xuanji asked again: "Where is the Demonic Path True Scripture?"

Ning Zhuo raised his head arduously, his look of confusion not fake at all; he really didn't know what Demonic Path True Scripture!

"I don't know. What kind of Demonic Path True Scripture?" Ning Zhuo immediately stated, "I have never seen any True Scripture, nor have I heard of any True Scripture."

This was true!

Zhu Xuanji had strong lie-detection abilities; he could distinguish between truth and lies.

Zhu Xuanji's brows furrowed: "If you don't have the True Scripture, how do you practice demonic arts? How do you collect the flesh and blood of your clansmen?"

Ning Zhuo hurriedly said: "My lord, I am wronged!"

"I have been researching substitute puppets."

"Collecting the flesh and blood of clansmen for this aspect is very normal."

"You can take a look at my research records; they are right here."

Zhu Xuanji's gaze swept around, and the next moment, he used mental object-manipulation to retrieve many blueprints and several jade slips.

Among them were indeed records of the research and testing of substitute puppets, as well as many small directions and small achievements Ning Zhuo had envisioned.

Ning Zhuo was cautious by nature; when he announced to the outside world that he was going to develop substitute puppets, he was already preparing this evidence.

Zhu Xuanji examined this evidence and pondered without speaking.

*Pfft.

Ning Zhuo resisted the pressure to the limit and directly spat out a mouthful of blood.

He smiled miserably and simply changed his posture, sitting directly on the ground.

He looked at Zhu Xuanji, panting heavily, putting on a posture of admitting guilt and accepting punishment.

He said miserably: "This day has finally come."

"I knew there would be such a day, I knew..."

Seeing Ning Zhuo's posture of admitting defeat and wanting to cooperate, Zhu Xuanji slowly converged some pressure, giving Ning Zhuo some space to breathe: "Are you finally willing to speak?"

However, it was this small action that brought Ning Zhuo a great spiritual touch, allowing Ning Zhuo to collect the most critical information.

Ning Zhuo secretly gritted his teeth and decided to gamble!

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva arduously and shook his head at Zhu Xuanji:

"Divine Catcher, you know the inside story, and I have been exposed, but I can't say anything."

"I am just a little character; if I speak the truth, I will definitely die!"

"Hmm?!" Zhu Xuanji raised his eyebrows. "You actually still dare to resist?!"

He scanned Ning Zhuo from head to toe with a scrutinizing gaze: "Ning Zhuo, little kid, it is not easy for you to reach today; you should cherish it."

Ning Zhuo smiled miserably: "Of course I know—it is really not easy for me to reach today! No one knows this better than I do."

"I was born at the bottom, on the edge of the family's branch, just a little character."

"I am like a small blade of grass emerging from the mud, taking root on mud and feces."

"I need to exhaust all my efforts, absorbing all the nutrients I can obtain, so that I can grow."

"Just like how I control the black market, I also know this job is very dirty, and righteous cultivators disdain to intervene."

"Then what can I do?"

"Even if feces are smelly, as long as they are nutritious to me, I have to exhaust all my efforts to grab them."

Speaking of this, Ning Zhuo looked up at Zhu Xuanji, a look of jealousy revealing itself in his gaze.

"Lord Zhu, you will never understand me!"

"You are royal family, born higher than others."

"Your cultivation is as high as Jin Dan, and you can easily crush me."

"Just like now, you only need to stretch out a foot to easily step me to death, just like stepping on an ant on the side of the road."

"But why do you, such a noble person, have to make things difficult for me?"

"You clearly know the truth, why do you have to make things difficult for a little character like me?!"

The more Ning Zhuo spoke, the more aggrieved he felt, and the more angry he became.

His face twisted, full of terrifying hatred.

"I actually just want to live well and cultivate well!"

【Garbage text】

"I have no choice. At some critical moments, I am too weak, and I have no one to rely on. I can only do some things that are not so glorious to exchange for others' support."

"Today you came to arrest me, I had expected it long ago. As long as you produce the evidence of my crimes, I will admit them."

"But if you want me to come forward to testify and become the breakthrough point for the whole case, I absolutely cannot do it."

"You can just kill me."

"Because I am not just one person, I also have my family, my relatives and friends; I don't want to implicate them."

"I will take responsibility for my own actions!"

Speaking of this, Ning Zhuo revealed a look of determination to die.

Zhu Xuanji fell into silence.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been watching the show, but now it was full of confusion.

It couldn't understand what Ning Zhuo was saying now.

"What exactly are you saying?"

Although it couldn't understand, at this moment it had already felt an ominous trend.

Because Zhu Xuanji actually slowly converged his momentum and no longer applied strong pressure to Ning Zhuo.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit couldn't help but growl: "Zhu Xuanji, what are you doing? You have already discovered him!"

"That's right, the young cultivator in front of you, he is the murderer, he is the murderer who blew up the Immortal Palace!"

However, Zhu Xuanji looked down at Ning Zhuo, but a look of pity revealed itself in his eyes.

He was Zhu Xuanji, and he had a title called "Observing Hidden Things and Settling the People."

All along, he had reported great sympathy and pity for bottom-level cultivators.

In Xuanlin City, he could take risks for a bowl of sugar water for a village elder at the bottom, and investigate the corruption of the Su family.

In the royal capital, facing the Nandou monarch, he spoke directly about curbing these great cultivation families and actively supporting talented cultivators at the bottom.

He was designed by Li Leifeng before he died; he was not angry but sad, willingly being calculated, and searching for the most suitable director for the Benevolent Child Garden.

He had a natural vigilance against those huge forces deeply entrenched in the Nandou Kingdom. And for cultivators in the middle and lower levels, he had pity from the bottom of his bones.

Looking at Ning Zhuo, who was sitting on the ground, sweating profusely and in a mess.

Zhu Xuanji sighed, his expression having a slight fluctuation for the first time: "You little brat, you are too good at scheming. Scheming like this will only lead to your own destruction."

"You clearly have innate talent, why are you so eager for quick success and instant benefits?"

His tone contained an emotion of hating that iron did not become steel.

Ning Zhuo smiled miserably: "My lord, I only discovered that I had innate talent after my soul entered the Immortal Palace and I found that the head of the puppet body was very large. Only after that did I realize I had innate talent."

Zhu Xuanji was silent.

In his eyes, Ning Zhuo was added with another impression of being a poor, pathetic, and ridiculous person who was teased by fate.

"Ning Zhuo, you have innate talent, you are an excellent young man."

"I will give you one chance."

"Think about it carefully, within three days, give me an explanation!"

"Please remember, the explanation you give me will determine your future."

Zhu Xuanji carried his hands behind his back, soared into the sky, and then transformed into a light rainbow, flying away.

Ning Zhuo still sat on the spot, motionless, for a long time.

Noisy sounds were getting closer; it was the cultivator guards near his house rushing over.

But what was the use of this?

Facing Zhu Xuanji, the force Ning Zhuo had built up was like paper, completely unreliable.

"Too weak, too weak!"

"My strength is still too weak."

Ning Zhuo clenched his fists tightly, his fingers digging deep into his flesh.

Lava Immortal Palace, main hall.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was dumbfounded!

Until Zhu Xuanji flew away, it still stared eagerly, deeply hoping that the latter would suddenly wake up, turn back, and kill Ning Zhuo.

"No, you just left like this?"

"He is the murderer, he is the real murderer!"

"But why do I feel like you even pity him?"

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit couldn't figure it out, feeling it was quite outrageous.

It wanted to watch the show, wanted to see Ning Zhuo get caught, but the result was—Ning Zhuo had survived another fatal crisis.

Even the dignified Divine Catcher Zhu Xuanji was deceived by Ning Zhuo.

"Are you a Divine Catcher?"

"Are you fake!"

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was furious.

It shifted its gaze back to Ning Zhuo, who was being helped up and surrounded by many cultivators.

"Acting, he is really too good at acting!"

Looking at Ning Zhuo, who was being comforted and appeased, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit felt a chill in its heart.

"This youth is really too cunning, too terrifying!"

"Is he really only sixteen years old?"

"Could he be an old monster who has practiced for five hundred years, reincarnated?"

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit became increasingly wary of Ning Zhuo.

It warned itself that when it interacted with this young cultivator in the future, it must be cautious in its words and actions!

Cautious in words and actions!