Chapter 107: A Three-Way Calculation

"Is this all the evidence?" Zhu Xuanji arrived at the Zhou family estate.

The Patriarch of the Zhou family personally received him. Zhu Xuanji went straight to the point, stating that he had rushed over the moment he heard of the attack.

"This is likely the work of the Shadow Demon Cultivator! Based on our previous speculations, someone must have secretly released him."

"This is an evil force lurking in the shadows!"

"If we hadn't discovered it in time, I fear our two Qi-Refining geniuses of the Zhou family would have perished," the Zhou Patriarch said with a heavy expression.

Zhu Xuanji pinched the dead ant in his hand, golden light radiating from his eyes as he activated the Trace-Back Technique. He remained silent throughout. The Zhou Patriarch looked at him with hopeful eyes, asking if he had made any discoveries.

Zhu Xuanji shook his head.

"The evidence from your family alone is not enough; I must check the other families."

Zhu Xuanji bid farewell to the Zhou Patriarch. He went successively to the City Lord's Mansion, the Zheng family estate, and Ning Zhu’s small courtyard. The results of the investigation were as he expected. There were clues—plenty of them.

The problem lay in the sheer quantity. The Trace-Back Technique could detect closely related objects, but this "close relationship" could manifest in many ways. For instance, from the poison residue that harmed Ning Xiaohui, Zhu Xuanji found the raw ingredients, the servant who decocted the medicine, the maid who delivered it, and so on. Could one rely solely on this to conclude that the servant or the maid was the culprit?

No. Because their roles in decocting and delivering medicine were intimately connected to the poison.

But could one determine they were *not* the culprits?

Also no. Because they could have secretly poisoned the medicine while decocting or delivering it. The Trace-Back Technique could only uncover clues; a truly in-depth investigation relied on Zhu Xuanji’s various interrogation methods.

However, Zhu Xuanji intended to stop. There were too many clues; if he were to continue investigating, the time and energy required would be staggering. Zhu Xuanji strongly suspected that this was a deliberate setup by the culprit, intended to drag out his investigation.

Much like the previous incident involving the erratic behavior of the Fire Persimmon Mechanism Monkeys and the attack on Yuan Er, Zhu Xuanji had traced many clues from the remains of those mechanical monkeys afterwards. Were those clues useful? They held little value.

Zhu Xuanji preferred to see only a few clues emerge under the Trace-Back Technique. The fewer the clues, the more worthwhile they were to investigate. But now, every piece of evidence yielded so many leads. The culprit’s intention to counter the Trace-Back Technique was becoming very obvious.

However, this was also within Zhu Xuanji's expectations. As the reputation of the Trace-Back Technique spread, many capable individuals and factions would consciously prepare defenses against it. In this world, cultivation techniques were merely tools to help cultivators realize certain visions. Since they were tools, they could be countered. It was the strong among men, not the excellent tools, that were difficult to counter. There were no invincible techniques, only invincible cultivators.

"I was a bit naive to hope the culprit would reveal a flaw so easily!"

Zhu Xuanji left the four major factions, deciding to proceed according to his original investigative plan.

"Perhaps my methodical investigation has already put pressure on the culprit, which is why these attacks occurred—an attempt to divert my attention."

Zhu Xuanji’s brows remained furrowed. After completing his circuit of investigations, he felt that something was not quite right, yet when he analyzed it closely, he found nothing. Moreover, even that strange feeling began to dissipate.

Zhu Xuanji’s subsequent actions left the patriarchs of the three families disappointed. The three patriarchs met in secret to discuss their grand strategy.

"Chief Inspector Zhu is truly disappointing."

"Perhaps he has already figured out which faction is responsible, but due to his position, he cannot make it public!"

"You mean...?"

The three patriarchs fell silent. Although they did not say it explicitly, they all knew they were referring to the City Lord’s Mansion. Whether it was the last attack or this one, the City Lord’s Mansion had suffered the least.

No! More accurately, they had benefited from the disaster. Because Meng Chong had rooted out assassins twice, his prestige had soared, firmly suppressing the Qi-Refining geniuses of the other three families.

"Ever since Meng Kui took office, he has gotten along well with our three families. This time, it might not have been his doing. After all, Meng Chong’s willpower in exploring the Immortal Palace is far ahead of the others," the Zheng Patriarch said.

The Ning Patriarch also analyzed, "During the last attack, I did suspect the City Lord’s Mansion. But this time, the intensity of the assassination was extreme, with the clear intent to wipe out the geniuses of all three of our families. Perhaps there really is a hidden power plotting against us?"

The Zhou Patriarch shook his head and sneered, "Didn't our three families' genius descendants all survive?"

"Even if they had died, could we have investigated the City Lord’s Mansion?" The Zhou Patriarch sighed deeply. "The Meng family is a great family of our Southern Bean Immortal Kingdom!"

"The cultivators of the Meng family are generally aggressive and strong-willed!"

"Especially the Four Generals of the Meng family—each one has achieved great military success and slaughtered thousands!"

"I won't even mention the other three. Meng Kui is one of the four, and while he appears peaceful, it is all a facade."

"Gentlemen, think about it: since he took office, have our three families had an easy life?"

"Has it not been much more oppressive than under the previous city lords?"

"I don't know if you two have studied Meng Kui’s past military reports. This man is even better at setting traps than our Zhou family; he has a nickname: 'The Chancellor on the Mountain Peak.'"

"Do you think a man like that is easy to deal with?"

The Ning Patriarch became thoughtful. "Now that you put it that way, I actually share many of those feelings."

"The City Lord’s Mansion was the first to discover the Magma Immortal Palace."

"Followed by the Zhou and Zheng families."

"According to intelligence gathered by my family, it was the two of yours who secretly bribed Meng Kui to keep him from reporting it to the imperial court."

"But think about it carefully: if Meng Kui had reported it the moment he discovered it, would we even have a chance?"

"On the surface, it seems the Zhou and Zheng families took the initiative to seek cooperation, but could this already have been part of his layout?"

The Zheng Patriarch snorted coldly. "It is very likely."

"Meng Kui is actually harder to deal with than the others in the Meng family because he is more insidious!"

"By relying on the Magma Immortal Palace, he has made our three families cooperate actively, allowing him to govern the Immortal Palace smoothly and harmoniously these past few years."

"Previously, he deliberately released information to relax surveillance, attracting countless rogue cultivators and demon cultivators to explore the Red Flame Demon Caverns."

"Countless people have died over the years. These people used their lives to pave the way, slaying countless Red Flame Demon Beasts, which reduced the pressure on the Immortal Palace and allowed the City Lord’s Mansion to gradually acquire detailed information about the palace and the caverns."

"If the City Lord’s Mansion had tried to do it alone, I fear the City Guard troops would have been wiped out by now."

The Zhou Patriarch added, "Since the emergence of the Magma Immortal Palace, Meng Kui has personally presided over it, suppressing the palace with all his might and forbidding anyone from approaching."

"Hmph."

"His excuses were clever and sounded perfectly righteous."

"In reality, his actions completely prevented our three families from entering the palace to explore its treasures."

In the past, it was very difficult for cultivators from the Zhou and Zheng families to enter the Immortal Palace. They had to climb to the summit of the volcano, enter the Red Flame Demon Caverns, and choose the correct path to reach the palace within the mountain. During this process, they had to face the Red Flame Demon Beasts along the way. Even then, they could not break through; only those whose mechanical arts were recognized by the palace spirit could enter.

Originally, with the emergence of the Immortal Palace, it should have been easy for the three families to enter and exit. But Meng Kui’s personal suppression prevented the three families from even reaching it. Although the City Lord’s Mansion had no cultivators inside either, the three families knew very well that in this regard, the City Lord’s Mansion had a competitive advantage that far outweighed the Qi-Refining stage. In the competition among the Qi-Refining stage, Meng Chong’s superior talent was a massive advantage.

The Zhou Patriarch looked pained. "At this point, finding the true culprit is no longer important. What matters is the Magma Immortal Palace."

The other two patriarchs nodded in succession.

The Zhou Patriarch pressed the advantage. "Only by uniting and collaborating more closely can we hope to contend with the City Lord’s Mansion."

"To show my sincerity, I am willing to fully open the Gathering and Dispersing Wishful Spiritual Tide Array for the use of your two families."

The Ning and Zheng patriarchs were surprised. This was a point the Zhou Patriarch had never conceded during previous negotiations. They did not expect that the injuries suffered by the Zhou family’s two geniuses would actually prompt the Zhou Patriarch to make this decision.

"Good!" the Zheng Patriarch said excitedly. "In that case, I will produce my family’s heirloom—the Piercing Needle."

The Ning Patriarch nodded. "Then my Ning family will provide the Ice Light Vein-Strengthening Talisman!"

"The Gathering and Dispersing Wishful Spiritual Tide Array can help cultivators breathe and accumulate power faster."

"The Piercing Needle can open up a cultivator’s spiritual meridians in advance during the Qi-Refining stage, saving them the effort of years of arduous cultivation."

"The Ice Light Vein-Strengthening Talisman can cover the inside and outside of a cultivator’s meridians with a layer of ice light. With this protection, a cultivator can breathe at a speed thirty percent higher than their limit without worrying that the meridians won't support it and will collapse under the pressure of their spiritual power."

The genius cultivators of the three families had been injured one after another and needed recovery. They urgently needed to cultivate other members of their teams to raise their overall strength. These assassinations had made the three patriarchs realize the cruelty of the competition and the strength and tyranny of their opponent. They set aside their pride and cooperated more actively.

At the Ning residence, in the dining room.

"Mother, how much longer do we have to wait?"

Ning Ji had just reached out with his chopsticks to grab some food, but his mother, Wang Lan, swatted the back of his hand with her own chopsticks. Ning Ji felt the pain and jerked his hand back.

Wang Lan glared at her beloved son. "What does it matter if we wait a little longer?"

"Your father is still in the private prison; how can you even think of eating?"

Ning Ji rubbed the back of his hand. "But we don't need to wait for Ning Zhu to come over to eat. We never had this rule before. Didn't we always just eat first?"

Wang Lan snorted coldly, "How can now be compared to the past?"

"Ning Zhu is so highly regarded by the Young Patriarch. As long as he speaks a good word for you to the Young Patriarch and pleads for your father, your father will be able to come out!"