Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Chapter 1398: Chapter 555: Falsification (Part 2)

Therefore, the three-day deadline is actually not just a window of opportunity for Ning Zhuo, but also the survival deadline for the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit.

Of course, Ning Zhuo doesn’t want this situation to happen.

"If it happens, it would be quite ironic."

"I could clearly save the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit and truly repair the Nanming Fire Furnace, but instead, I became the culprit of its destruction."

"Danxia Peak made such a huge move to repair the Nanming Fire Furnace, hosting this widely influential Xingyun Trial. Yet it ended up being an accomplice to its final destruction."

The others are kept in the dark.

Even the people from Danxia Peak are unaware.

Ning Zhuo is the only one who knows the full situation right now.

But he also feels powerless.

Because the manifestation of the pink beam is controlled internally by Danxia Peak.

The recognition of the top performer is based on the movement of the pink beam.

Even if Ning Zhuo managed to control the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit and it acknowledged him on the spot, Danxia Peak would cover it up single-handedly.

Danxia Peak’s strategies are very rigorous, the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit seems within reach, but in reality, it is protected within the Dream Realm Array. Even if Ning Zhuo uses the Spirit Communication Mirror, he’s not sure he can extract it.

On one hand, the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit is very weak, forcibly extracting it is extremely dangerous and could lead to its destruction. On the other hand, when Ning Zhuo uses this method, he must pair it with the Life Hanging Divine Power. This leaves a noticeable trace.

If the truth that he mastered this divine power is divined, it would be catastrophic for him.

"I cannot let Danxia Peak drag this trial out. But I’m unable to influence the situation, what should I do?"

Ning Zhuo is certain that Danxia Peak already knows he is the best performer and most favored by the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit.

He is also sure that the state of the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit can survive beyond three days.

He cannot hold on for three days.

"How do I break this situation?" Ning Zhuo stands amidst the crowd, pondering bitterly for a solution.

While Ning Zhuo is lost in thought, cultivators take turns entering the stage.

Hundred Herbs Elder brings forth a Purple Mist Ganoderma, which he painstakingly planted, a labor of a hundred years. After being infused with mana, the ganoderma emits faint purple light, like fireflies, swirling around the Void Eaves Courtyard.

The pink beam ripples with waves.

Dong Nishang gently plays the zither, its sound clear and flowing like a spring. The tune "Vermilion Bird Introduction" expresses tranquility rather than sorrow. The flowing light within the pink beam rises and falls with the rhythm, astonishing the observers.

Jiang Ping presses his chest, imprinting with heart and mind. A red-golden light shines from his palm, causing Shen Hongyao to fall silent for a long time. The pink beam also displays ripples and wave light.

Nine Fire Dragon Lord releases nine fires in unison with great momentum, causing the beam to once again reflect a pink hue onto the Void Eaves Courtyard.

Tao Liang fully reveals his Elixir Qi, Cloud Wanderer silently performs a finger technique, Cang Yazi summons with beast speech, and Red Robe Guest burns his essence blood to make a vow... Various methods cause the pink beam to exhibit phenomena, proving the artifact spirit’s favor.

Then comes Zhu Fenxiang.

She strides confidently to the pink beam.

She extends her arms as if to embrace the pink beam ahead. At the same time, a surge of divine power rises from her!

In mid-air, the divine power surprisingly condenses into a phantom image of Nanming Vermilion Bird’s divine statue.

This scene stuns the crowd and elevates Zhu Fenxiang to the first rank, standing on equal footing with Ning Zhuo and Zhong Limei.

Situ Xing ranks lower.

He draws his Flying Sword, unleashing the culmination of his life’s cultivation, triggering the appearance of stars in broad daylight. The starlight pours down like water, flowing behind him to reveal the silhouettes of various constellations.

The stars naturally resonate with each other. The flowing colors inside the beam slightly flicker, as if stars in the night sky responding to each other, shining brightly and dimly, breathing in and out. This phenomenon starkly differs from other cultivators before him.

All cultivators have presented, marking the official end of the third round of the trial.

The host cultivator announces that those who caused the pink beam to change will enter the next round.

This surprises many spectators, as few cultivators are eliminated in the third round, most qualify to advance to the next stage of the competition.

Ning Zhuo sneers inwardly, this is the scenario he least wants to see.

Wang Yu, the manipulator behind the scenes, is also surprised.

Among those qualified for the next round, all Golden Core and Nascent Soul level cultivators should have been eliminated. But nearly all of them have been "sponsored" by Wang Yu to proceed.

The sole exception is Cloud Wanderer. Despite being at the Golden Core level, he still attracted the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit’s favor.

Among the Foundation Establishment cultivators, surprisingly, there are three individuals who also successfully attracted the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit’s favor.

They are Ning Zhuo, Zhu Fenxiang, and Situ Xing!

Among them, Zhu Fenxiang’s degree of favor from the artifact spirit even slightly surpasses Ning Zhuo.

This causes Ning Zhuo’s perception and evaluation to greatly drop.

Wang Yu regrets, "Why is it that, among these people, there are no cultivators from my Danxia Peak or Alchemy Hall? Alas."

He calms himself: "The focus going forward continues to be engaging these foreign cultivators, secretly negotiating with them, aiming to draw them to Danxia Peak or the Alchemy Hall."

"Investigate Cloud Wanderer thoroughly."

"Leave Ning Zhuo, Zhu Fenxiang, and Situ Xing aside for now, as the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit can still endure for about ten days."

"Why haven’t the results of Ning Zhuo’s background investigation come out yet? What is the Foreign Affairs Hall doing?"

Ning Zhuo returns to the Bluestone Cave Mansion to discuss countermeasures with Sun Lingtong.

Sun Lingtong says: "Danxia Peak plays well. They treat Chun Yangzi, Red Robe Guest, and Tao Liang as targets, and Zhong Limei approaches Tao Liang on stage. Tonight they will definitely meet these talents in private and negotiate."

"On the surface, they handle it thoroughly, at least their disguise is good."

"They eliminated their own people, Gu Lianjie and Qing Baizi. Gu Lianjie is Foundation Establishment, let’s not discuss him. Qing Baizi, a Nascent Soul level even got eliminated. If anyone accuses Danxia Peak of fraud, this self-certifies as the best evidence."

"They also supported other Foundation Establishments, with more than six people tied for first place. They knew the truth, using this to prove you’re not special, making it easier to pressure you in negotiations. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Sun Lingtong shakes his head repeatedly, sighing: "These righteous path tactics, they really play them in set plays."

He looks at Ning Zhuo: "Little Zhuo, you deliberately raised Zhu Fenxiang’s position and supported Situ Xing, which was absolutely correct."

"This helps us share a lot of pressure!"

Ning Zhuo sighs: "I realized some things later on. Since there’s no way to expose it, since I can only watch Danxia Peak’s fraud helplessly, I may as well play along and also help with the deception."

If it’s only Ning Zhuo alone, then he would be too special, and the pressure would be far too great!

The power of Danxia Peak within Myriad Images Sect is very strong.

If nothing else, the Alchemy Hall being under Danxia Peak’s control is evident enough.

According to Ning Zhuo’s continuous investigation, Danxia Peak also exerts great control over the Talisman Making Hall and Commerce Hall.

Ning Zhuo is not brand new here, now he already has a vague estimate of the internal factions’ strengths within Myriad Images Sect.

This type of information is not traded by the Commerce Hall. Ning Zhuo can only collect intelligence from various sources, piecing it together, regularly researching, to achieve incremental small results.

"The true power and resources of Myriad Images Sect are mainly concentrated in the Eight Peaks and Sixteen Halls."

"The Sixteen Halls are practical-doing entities."

"The Eight Peaks are the largest faction gatherings."

"Among the Eight Peaks, Heavy Array Peak, Danxia Peak, and Ten Thousand Beasts Peak are visibly strong. They should be the top three."

"These three main peaks have a common, prominent feature—they excel in a particular cultivation technique."

"The mentor-apprentice relationship and technique inheritance provide cultivators with more identification, more references, experiences from others, guidance, and support."

"In contrast, Purple Thunder Peak and Hundred Herbs Peak mainly focus on resource production."

"Sword Cry Peak has strong combat power but seems unsustainable. Fuyao Peak takes a casual stance, especially its Peak Master, who lives too freely."

"Specially is Flowing Cloud Peak. This main peak has never been stable, always in turmoil. Particularly, each Feiyun Conference triggers significant upheavals in power structures, even overturning them."