Two golden core stage cultivators, each riding on a cloud, flew towards the mountain summit.
Chi Dun, with a face smeared in ash and bearing a few minor injuries, coldly snorted from his gray cloud, “Fei Si! If not for you blocking my pursuit, I would’ve already captured that demon cultivator!”
His opponent in this argument was an elder in yellow robes with a goatee and sharp eyes, named Fei Si.
Fei Si snorted back, “You brute! Was I blocking your chase after the demon cultivator? I was preventing you from destroying Fire Persimmon Forest!”
The two bickered all the way to the city lord’s presence.
The heavy clouds parted like a curtain, revealing the true form of the city lord.
The current city lord’s expression was as calm as a still lake, clearly accustomed to their quarrels.
Fei Si and Chi Dun, one scholarly and the other martial, were the city lord’s most powerful aides, but the two had never gotten along.
After Chi Dun greeted the city lord, he immediately began to complain, accusing Fei Si of obstruction.
He argued that Fei Si’s interference allowed the Shadow Demon Cultivator to escape into Fire Persimmon Forest, forcing them to temporarily seal the forest.
Fei Si promptly rebutted, “Brute!”
“The value of Fire Persimmon Forest is immense, nurtured since the founding of the city. It took ten generations and hundreds of years of dedicated care to reach its current scale.”
“Fire persimmons are naturally explosive. A battle within the forest would trigger a devastating chain reaction, turning our city’s greatest resource into ashes!”
“A large portion of Fire Persimmon Immortal City’s revenue comes from the forest. One could say it is the forest that sustains the city.”
“You only care about your mission, completely shortsighted. If the forest is destroyed, how will the lord answer to the Southern Bean Kingdom?”
It turned out that the Sages of the Three Sects had hidden the Lava Immortal Palace deep within Fire Persimmon Mountain.
After suppressing the volcano, the land gradually transformed from barren to fertile.
The Southern Bean Immortal Dynasty recognized the potential of this location, assigning a nascent soul-level cultivator centuries ago to establish the Immortal City.
With the city’s grand formation absorbing the land’s power and fire energy, the forest had flourished.
Fire Persimmon Forest yielded great returns, giving Fire Persimmon Immortal City its name.
The annual harvest of fire persimmons even led to a unique city festival—the Fire Persimmon Festival.
On this day, the entire city joined in the harvest, filling the city with the joy of a plentiful yield.
Chi Dun, his neck stiff with anger, was about to retort.
The city lord interjected, “Enough. You’ve interrogated many cultivators; did you find any clues?”
Chi Dun quickly bowed and presented the record of statements.
The city lord, unmoving, allowed the records to drift over, flipping rapidly through each page with a gust of wind.
As a nascent soul cultivator with profound spiritual sense, he scanned the entire record in mere breaths.
There was no useful information.
Chi Dun asked, “City Lord, the demon cultivator is hiding in Fire Persimmon Forest. What should we do?”
The city lord’s spiritual sense surged as he sent the records back to Chi Dun, replying calmly, “What do you think we should do?”
Chi Dun furrowed his brow in difficulty. “The forest is critically important. I think it’s best to report directly to the Southern Bean Immortal Dynasty and ask them to send experts.”
“Just one handful of Red Scarf Soldiers would help us greatly reduce casualties.”
“Alternatively, we could call on the Divine Constable Division to capture the demon cultivator.”
“The constables, skilled in techniques like Heart Warning Technique and Origin Tracing Technique, are far better at hunting criminals than I am.”
The city lord glanced at Fei Si.
Fei Si immediately understood and called out, “Brute!”
“If you call the constables here, what’s left for us to do?”
“We’ve already been in secret negotiations with the Zhou and Zheng families. If we suddenly report this, how will we face the two families?”
“If we do that, we’d be breaking protocol!”
“How will the lord retain the trust of local cultivation families if he cannot keep his word?”
“After all, to govern effectively, we must maintain good relations and close cooperation with local noble families.”
“It’s the act of a scoundrel to go back on our word!”
Fei Si rebuked, growing more passionate.
He left part of his thoughts unsaid—
The discovery of the Lava Immortal Palace had occurred after the city lord assumed office.
According to regulations, the city lord should have reported it.
However, the Zhou and Zheng families had heavily bribed the lord, persuading him to keep it secret.
Drawn by the palace’s treasures, he decided not to disclose it.
Originally, the three parties had cooperated in secret without issues.
It was anticipated that the Ning family would eventually discover the Lava Immortal Palace, and the three parties were mentally prepared to accommodate them.
But an unexpected incident occurred—the Lava Immortal Palace was blown open!
The despicable Shadow Demon Cultivator, with only his strength, had turned a stable situation on its head.
The palace nearly emerged entirely, and it took the city lord’s intervention to barely suppress it.
However, the palace’s entry standards had lowered to the qi refining stage, and the Dharma Transmission Bell was heard far and wide.
Despite the city lord’s rapid orders to contain the cultivators present, the rumors had already spread.
Given time, the Southern Bean Kingdom’s royal family would undoubtedly learn of it.
If the city lord had managed to retrieve some treasures from the Lava Immortal Palace, there would be some merit to the situation.
But he hadn’t obtained anything worthwhile!
Losses on the part of the Immortal Dynasty were now inevitable.
In such a case, the city lord would never willingly give up; pressing on with exploring the palace was clearly in his best interest.
Unable to outargue Fei Si, Chi Dun threw up his hands, admitting the task was beyond him.
Fei Si sneered, “You brute, how could you come up with a plan? Leave it to me!”
The city lord looked at Fei Si and spoke indifferently, “Fei Si, if you have a solution, let’s hear it.”
Fei Si had already prepared his strategy.
He smiled, “My lord, I believe the best course of action is to maintain our composure.”
“It’s clear that the demon cultivator’s goal is the Lava Immortal Palace!”
“Earlier, he tried to enter the palace, only to be stopped by Zheng Shuangjun. Now, why did he show up near the dungeon?”
“On the surface, he seemed to be targeting the formation pillars beneath the dungeon.”
Fire Persimmon Immortal City’s grand formation relies on five key formation pillars, located in the Zhou, Zheng, and Ning family estates, as well as in the dungeon and the city guard barracks.
Destroying these pillars would destabilize the grand formation protecting Fire Persimmon Immortal City.
“But this is only his surface goal!” Fei Si’s eyes shone with confidence.
“It’s quite possible he exposed himself deliberately to lure Chi Dun into pursuit, hoping to draw the city lord out.”
“Finally, when he fled into Fire Persimmon Forest, it seemed desperate, but I find it suspicious.”
“Fire persimmons are volatile, and the forest has multiple formations. Why choose it as his hiding place?”
“Currently, the many formations within Fire Persimmon Forest have trapped the Shadow Demon Cultivator temporarily."
"He seems to be caged, but I suspect he’s merely trying to attract our attention.”
“I have a bold hypothesis. The Shadow Demon Cultivator may be a mere decoy, with other accomplices hiding in the background.”
“If we are drawn to surround him with full force, we’ll leave the volcano unguarded and expose a vulnerability.”
“Our knowledge of the enemy is extremely limited, and we have no idea how many foes might be hidden.”
“It’s even possible that the three noble families are involved, either as demon cultivator accomplices or even as masterminds!”
Chi Dun listened in stunned silence, mouth agape and eyes wide.