Chapter 268

Boom!

A violent explosion came from afar.

Ning Xiaohui looked up, subconsciously gazing into the western sky.

Sure enough, cracks appeared in the light shield to the west, and three Fire-Walking Snakes infiltrated, landing one after another.

The battle on the ground broke out immediately.

Ning Xiaohui quickly turned her head and looked at the gourd-shaped furnace before her.

During this period, she had been driven crazy by Unlike Ning Zhuo and had been desperately earning merit.

At this moment, Ning Xiaohui was clearly much thinner, her eye sockets were sunken, and she had two large dark circles under her eyes; one look was enough to know that she was in a state of extreme physical and mental exhaustion.

But Ning Xiaohui's eyes were shining; her eyes were bloodshot, and every move she made revealed a sense of madness.

A feeling of dizziness suddenly struck.

Ning Xiaohui sat cross-legged on the ground, her upper body swayed, and then she immediately stabilized herself.

"This is a crucial moment for refining; I cannot slack off!" She hurriedly took out pills, pulled the stopper of the medicine bottle, and poured them into her mouth.

She swallowed five or six pills in one go.

With the pills in her stomach, Ning Xiaohui's spirit surged; she felt like a deflated ball, and the medicinal power filled her exhausted body once again.

"Hold on, once I refine this batch of materials, I will have another five merit points in my account!"

Ning Xiaohui knew well that her first-mover advantage would continue to shrink as time passed, so she acted frantically.

She used her talent, 'Ice-Fat Jade Hands,' to the best of her ability to repair mechanism buildings, both large and small.

The merit rewarded for this kind of task was often substantial.

But the frequent use of her talent was also more than Ning Xiaohui could handle.

So, in the intervals, she would come to the gourd furnace forest to accept some refining tasks.

There were many furnaces in the Lava Xian Gong, divided into four grades according to their quality: copper, iron, silver, and gold.

The gourd-shaped furnaces were spaced apart and arranged in an orderly fashion. Looking from afar, it was a huge gourd forest.

The furnaces were different from important places like the medical hall, the Five Elements Cannon Tower, and the General-Summoning Platform.

The furnaces were open to the public; even outsiders without the status of trial disciples could easily accept refining tasks here.

Ning Xiaohui sat cross-legged before the furnace, waves of scorching heat rushing toward her face, blowing her hair tips up, making them dry and yellow.

She stared fixedly at the furnace before her, not relaxing for a single moment.

"My merit is already at one hundred and twenty-seven."

"With thirty more merit points, I will be able to obtain a position at the History Pavilion."

"Ning Xiaohui, give it your all! Let Unlike Ning Zhuo and his group see clearly, let them fully appreciate the power of the Ning family's main branch."

"This time, I must win; I absolutely cannot lose!"

Ning Xiaohui shouted in her heart.

Ning Xiaohui had been squeezed out and driven away by everyone, forcing her to enter the Xian Gong.

Her current situation made her feel as if she had been pushed to the edge of a cliff, and this time, she had no way back.

Past humiliations, the pressure of Unlike Ning Zhuo chasing from behind, the expectations of the Golden Core ancestors—all these factors piled up on her, causing Ning Xiaohui to erupt with the most intense fighting spirit of her life!

Lava Xian Gong, Main Hall.

On the throne, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was spinning in circles in anxiety.

Its gaze pierced through the long sky, watching Ning Xiaohui, and also watching Unlike Ning Zhuo.

Seeing Unlike Ning Zhuo lying on the bed sleeping soundly, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit complained: "Stop sleeping, it's already burning your eyebrows, do you still have the heart to sleep?"

"Look at Ning Xiaohui, how hard she's working, how desperately she's fighting!"

Of course, it didn't dare to say these words directly to Unlike Ning Zhuo.

It just spoke to itself, venting its emotions.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was truly anxious to the point of desperation!

It might have been fine if it didn't know Ning Xiaohui's true progress, but it happened to be constantly watching her.

Every time it saw Ning Xiaohui's progress, time and again getting closer to the position at the History Pavilion, it suffered immensely.

"That old guy Zhu Xuanji is also not doing human things, actually secretly using Unlike Ning Zhuo to stimulate Ning Xiaohui."

After spinning a dozen circles, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit finally couldn't hold back, took a deep breath, and took the initiative to contact Unlike Ning Zhuo.

"Young Master, Young Master..." The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit lowered its voice as much as possible, pretending to call out weakly and affectionately.

Unlike Ning Zhuo had not been asleep for long before he was woken up.

He opened his exhausted eyes and said weakly: "Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, has your condition improved?"

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit smiled bitterly: "No, Young Master, my condition is worsening every moment, but the situation is too urgent now."

"I have to try my best to warn you, that Ning Xiaohui! She is a huge threat."

"Her merit is only about thirty away from being able to obtain the lowest position at the History Pavilion!"

"Young Master, you must get rid of her as soon as possible!!"

Unlike Ning Zhuo sighed and immediately expressed that he was also very troubled and in a difficult position.

"Ning Xiaohui must be stopped."

"But I have no chance!"

"The Golden Core ancestors are nearby, and that Zhu Xuanji is always watching me; he is suspicious of me."

Unlike Ning Zhuo pacified the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit: "There are still more than thirty merit points; Ning Xiaohui is still some distance away from success."

"We still have some time; we haven't reached the final moment yet."

"At this time, we must be calm and find the right opportunity!"

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit jumped on the throne in anxiety: "Calm, how can you ask me to be calm! Oh my, you're really worrying me to death."

Of course, it didn't dare to say this to Unlike Ning Zhuo either, and could only vent in secret.

Unlike Ning Zhuo took the opportunity to instruct the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit to keep a close watch on Ning Xiaohui.

At the same time, he asked the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit about the question the latter hadn't had time to answer last time.

Helpless, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit could only tell Unlike Ning Zhuo that his guess was correct.

As the medical hall master, one could indeed obtain a share from the merit of their subordinates.

However, similarly, once a subordinate messed up a task, the medical hall master would also be held responsible. In this case, the master's merit would also be deducted.

This result was still slightly different from what Unlike Ning Zhuo had anticipated before.

Just as Unlike Ning Zhuo was about to continue questioning the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, the latter took the initiative to disconnect the contact again.

It held its head and sighed on the armrest of the throne. Every time it communicated with Unlike Ning Zhuo, it had to be fleeced for information and suffer losses.

But it also had to rely on Unlike Ning Zhuo to deal with Ning Xiaohui.

It couldn't take it anymore; these days were truly too hard to endure!

Unlike Ning Zhuo called out to the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit repeatedly, but there was no response; he sighed deeply and lay on the bed without moving.

He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, his heart also feeling very heavy.

Unlike Ning Zhuo wanted to stop Ning Xiaohui and also wanted to get information about the History Pavilion, but there was no opportunity.

The protection the Golden Core cultivators provided them was really a bit too good.

Unlike Ning Zhuo also had a lot of anxiety and unease in his heart.

Every day that passed, the pressure from Ning Xiaohui grew greater.

But Unlike Ning Zhuo knew that he had to be extremely cautious.

It was really not easy for him to have reached this point. He was only a small Qi Condensation cultivator, and in dealing with Golden Core cultivators, he had to be careful every moment, keep his nerves taut, and not make any mistakes!

And once he couldn't take this pressure and blindly attacked Ning Xiaohui, he would fall into Zhu Xuanji's trap and expose himself.

Zhu Xuanji and the other Golden Core cultivators used the reform team as bait, wanting to fish out the true culprit who bombarded Fire Persimmon Mountain.

Similarly, Zhu Xuanji was also using Ning Xiaohui to fish.

If Unlike Ning Zhuo were to rush to take the bait, Zhu Xuanji would be the happiest one.

"Wait!"

"Even if I have to bite the bullet, I must wait."

"Wait for the right opportunity."

"What is Song Fuli doing? Has he still not realized he's been robbed?"

The next day, City Lord's Mansion.

After receiving permission, Song Fuli entered the study to pay a visit to Fei Si.

Seeing Song Fuli's gloomy expression, Fei Si's heart tightened, but he still kept a smile on his face and asked about Song Fuli's intention.

Song Fuli's first words shocked Fei Si.

"What?! All the auction items your side prepared for the auction have been stolen?" Fei Si stared.

Song Fuli nodded with a heavy expression: "With such a major event, how could I joke with you, Lord Fei Si?"

"We only just discovered it!"

"Once we discovered this, we immediately sealed the scene, and I came to find you immediately."

"All along, our side has strictly followed the rules since entering the Lava Xiancheng, and the supplies, magic treasures, etc., we brought were all within the specified range."

"Our side is fully capable of setting up higher-spec arrays to protect our goods."

"It is precisely because we are constrained by your city's rules that we cannot exert our full strength, leaving the protection of the goods at less than sixty percent."

"Now that this has happened, I ask Lord Fei Si to help. After all, our goods were lost in Fire Persimmon Xiancheng."

Song Fuli said it was a request, but his tone was anxious, implicitly containing resentment and blame toward the City Lord's Mansion.

Fei Si dared not be the least bit careless and hurriedly got up to go back with Song Fuli to survey the scene.

At the treasure vault scene, fake goods were placed on the shelves.

If Sun Lingtong and Yang Chanyu were here, they would discover that these fake goods were all their own handiwork, without exception.

Fei Si checked the surrounding arrays again.

To protect the cloud merchants' goods, the City Lord's Mansion had also put in effort. They had specifically made arrangements here, connecting the city defense array into the temporary array here.

Strictly speaking, the defense here was not low.

However, the fact before Fei Si was—the cloud merchants' goods were really stolen!

"This is a tricky situation!"

Fei Si's brows furrowed deeply.

Just this event alone was already very bad.

If not handled properly, Fire Persimmon Xiancheng would lose its credibility severely.

As a city, if it couldn't even guarantee the safety of the property of merchants coming to do business, then what face did it have to ask merchants to voluntarily limit their strength?

If this credibility could not be restored, under a vicious cycle, the number of merchant teams coming to Fire Persimmon Xiancheng would become fewer and fewer.

This was extremely unfavorable for the development of Fire Persimmon Xiancheng.

And currently, the City Lord's Mansion wanted to rely on the cloud merchants to help defend Fire Persimmon Xiancheng and the Lava Xian Gong.

"Which bastard stole the cloud merchants' treasures at this critical juncture?"

"Damn it, damn them!"

Fei Si was extremely angry in his heart; he suppressed his anger and forced himself to calm down.

"Regarding this matter, our side will definitely give Brother Song an explanation!" Fei Si immediately guaranteed to Song Fuli, doing his best to pacify him.

After issuing the order to continue sealing the scene, Fei Si left the Cloud Market, first reporting to Meng Kui, and then immediately contacting Zhu Xuanji.

"Lord Divine Catcher, I have to rely on you!" Fei Si's plea for help was without any regard for his own face.

Zhu Xuanji received his "plea for help letter," sighed lightly, his face full of worry.

Song Fuli and his group of cloud merchants were indeed a powerful aid.

Especially the Cloud Whale beast, which was at the Nascent Soul level.

In case several Nascent Soul-level Scarlet Flame demonic beasts besieged them together, Zhu Xuanji was counting on the Cloud Whale to share some of the pressure for Meng Kui when the time came.

"It seems I have to go out."

"Investigate the case with all my might, capture the criminal, and do my best to recover the stolen treasures!"

"On this basis, try to win over the cloud merchant group..."