Chapter 333: Three Letters, Local Bully

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It was clear that Song Fuli had chosen this moment with careful deliberation.

With the celebratory banquet nearing its end, guests would soon begin to depart. Blocking the main entrance at such a time would inevitably create an unsightly scene.

The greeter, realizing the implication of Song Fuli's actions, instantly broke into a cold sweat, his face turning deathly pale. He wanted to summon his courage and continue the negotiation, but Song Fuli merely shot him a small glare, and he felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar, frozen in place.

Another greeter, seeing the situation, quickly turned and scurried, stumbling into the banquet hall.

Around the main table, cultivators were in constant circulation. Ning Zhuo was perpetually surrounded by people. As the patriarch of the Ning Family's branch, he had to maintain a smile throughout, accepting toasts, and in doing so, solidify his relationships and standing with these individuals. Ning Zhuo showed no impatience, but rather seemed to revel in the moment.

The greeter finally managed to push through the crowd and squeeze in, transmitting his report to Ning Zhuo through a secret sound transmission.

Ning Zhuo smiled slightly, and announced for all to hear, "It is merely Song Fuli, what is there to fear? Pay him no mind, I have already made arrangements."

Seeing Ning Zhuo's extraordinary confidence, the greeter could only retreat, half-believing and half-doubting.

Those nearby, hearing Ning Zhuo's words, exchanged glances, a sense of apprehension filling their hearts. Ning Zhuo paid them no heed, continuing to converse and laugh with those around him. Initially, the crowd was awkward and their smiles were stiff. Slowly, they relaxed a little. Regardless, Ning Zhuo's mere composure in the face of impending disaster instantly won over many.

Song Fuli stood at the main entrance, his face expressionless, his arms crossed, like a stone statue, emanating an aura that warned all to keep their distance.

Suddenly, a letter flew towards him and hovered before him. Song Fuli swept his divine sense over it, reading the contents, and found it was a letter from Ning Jiufan. He knew that this Golden Core ancestor of the Ning Family possessed considerable combat power. But since he had taken this action, he had already anticipated having to face the issue of Ning Jiufan. Song Fuli put away the letter, still blocking the entrance, clearly showing no respect for Ning Jiufan.

Almost immediately, another flying letter arrived beside him. This time the letter was from Fei Si of the City Lord's Mansion. The content of the letter was much the same as Ning Jiufan's, with Fei Si urging Song Fuli to cease his actions and not disrupt the order. Song Fuli felt a chill run through him: "The City Lord's Mansion is actually supporting Ning Zhuo to this extent?" Song Fuli showed a look of hesitation.

The next moment, a third flying letter also arrived before him. This letter bore the symbol of the Southern Bean Royal Family. Song Fuli reached out and took the letter, his divine sense examining it. As expected, this letter was from Zhu Xuanji. Zhu Xuanji's meaning was much the same as the previous two letters. However, the wording was softer, yet more domineering. In the letter, Zhu Xuanji politely advised Song Fuli not to be impulsive, to think more about the relationship between the two countries and the future path of the Cloud Whale Caravan before acting, and to remain calm. The most crucial point was that even if Ning Zhuo possessed the mechanism creation known as the Mother Butterfly, it was merely his spoils of war!

Such biased words made Song Fuli reveal a look of anger. But soon, he suppressed this anger, and subconsciously looked up at the plaque above the main entrance. This plaque had been newly hung. Song Fuli's feeling upon seeing it was now completely different from before.

The three consecutive letters completely proved that Ning Zhuo's branch had firmly established itself. In addition to the main branch's Ning Jiufan, the City Lord's Mansion and the Zhu Royal Family also recognized it. Why bother looking for trouble anymore? Continuing to be so "ignorant of propriety" would only result in his own loss! Even if this was just a newly established force, it was still the local power of Fire Persimmon Immortal City. Even a mighty dragon finds it hard to suppress a local snake!

Song Fuli let out a cold snort and flicked his sleeve, walking away.

The greeter, already drenched in sweat, instantly slumped down, watching Song Fuli's retreating figure, his face filled with lingering fear: "He's finally gone!"

The greeter who had returned to report, however, suddenly turned around and looked towards the banquet hall. His eyes shone with light, and his heart was filled with immense excitement: "Patriarch's methods are simply heaven-reaching! Without even showing his face, he managed to settle a Golden Core cultivator like Song Fuli! This is simply too amazing!"

The Lava Immortal Palace matter had been settled, the beast tide had completely dispersed, and the Flying Cloud Caravan now seemed redundant, especially the enormous cloud whale floating in the sky, which seemed even more an eyesore! Song Fuli, having made a fool of himself at the entrance of Ning Zhuo's branch, also realized this.

"Hmph, the true face of the righteous path!"

He went to the City Lord's Mansion and met with Fei Si, directly stating that he and the caravan would leave the city in the coming days and head to the next immortal city. Fei Si, while showing a look of reluctance to part, confirmed the exact departure date of Song Fuli and others, and upon hearing it was tomorrow, the smile and reluctance on his face increased a little.

With the troublesome guest no longer blocking the entrance to Ning Zhuo's branch, the celebratory banquet smoothly dispersed. A large number of guests returned and spread the news of the grand ceremony of Ning Zhuo's branch establishment and the lavish gifts received during the banquet. The news spread further and wider, and for a time, related information circulated throughout the city, changing hearts and once again stabilizing the branch family's reputation.

Ning Jiufan and Zhu Xuanji were having a private discussion.

"Song Fuli has retreated." Zhu Xuanji received the latest intelligence, his face expressionless.

Ning Jiufan sneered, "Consider him sensible."

Zhu Xuanji slightly shook his head, "He is a cloud merchant, having traveled far and wide, his demeanor is naturally flexible. This time, he blocked the entrance simply because he felt Ning Zhuo was weak and easy to bully. In reality, he was an outsider and did not know what had ultimately transpired. After recognizing the reality, he proactively retreated. I felt no surprise about this."

Speaking of this, Zhu Xuanji looked at Ning Jiufan and sincerely praised, "Your Ning Family has produced a Qilin."

Ning Jiufan stroked his beard and smiled.

Ning Zhuo, though a low-level cultivator, had leveraged the power of three parties to directly force back the Golden Core cultivator Song Fuli. From this perspective, Ning Zhuo's tactics were quite brilliant. His administrative ability as the patriarch of a clan was absolutely sufficient. In fact, Ning Jiufan had already discovered Ning Zhuo's talent after hearing about the three-party agreement in the Lava Immortal Palace. Now, it was just a confirmation.

The two continued their private discussion and finally reached an agreement, signing an alliance. Zhu Xuanji immediately handed a jade slip and a magic treasure to Ning Jiufan. Ning Jiufan swept his divine sense over the contents of the jade slip and nodded with satisfaction. The jade slip contained the Official Beast Taming technique, and the magic treasure could spread the might of an official. Combined, they could help Ning Jiufan forcefully tame the Nascent Soul demonic ape!

Watching Ning Jiufan examine the contents of the jade slip, Zhu Xuanji confirmed once again in his heart, "This time, in the struggle for the Lava Immortal Palace, the Ning Family is the biggest winner!"

"Leaving aside Ning Zhuo, just considering Ning Jiufan, his gains are extremely exaggerated!"

"The Nascent Soul demonic ape he ultimately saved, after being forcefully tamed, can become the ultimate trump card for guarding the Ning Family." Of course, to a certain extent, it could also contend with the Meng Family.

The Ning Family, which controlled a Nascent Soul level demonic beast, had instantly risen to become the most powerful cultivation family in Fire Persimmon Immortal City. Coupled with the Ning Family's implementation of the branch family system, in due time, the clansmen of the branch and main families would continuously multiply, and the scale of their forces would also inevitably be the largest.

Strongest in combat power, largest in scale! The Southern Bean Royal Family's strong support for the Ning Family was naturally a game between the Royal Family and the influential official, the Meng Family, which was still ongoing. If Meng Chong succeeded and Meng Kui became the City Lord, it would be nominally flawless. But the reality was that Meng Kui's position as City Lord was directly ceded by a Ning Family cultivator. And according to the Recruitment Edict, this process did not go through the Royal Family's assignment, was not entirely compliant, and there was room for dispute.

"No problem." Ning Jiufan showed a satisfied expression after examining the contents of the jade slip.

"For subsequent cooperation, Brother Ning can contact Uncle Zhu Hou." Zhu Xuanji said.

Ning Jiufan nodded slightly to him, and they parted ways.

Zhu Xuanji watched him leave, sighed, and turned towards Ning Zhuo's branch family. Although he greatly disliked interacting with Ning Zhuo, he had no choice but to do so. "I have to go there," Zhu Xuanji could only steel himself and secretly meet with Ning Zhuo.

In the Patriarch's study, Ning Zhuo was all smiles and enthusiasm: "Great Divine Constable, you've finally arrived. These past few days, this junior has been looking forward to it day and night."

Zhu Xuanji held out his hand, a look on his face that clearly said "we are not close": "Don't come over, stay away from me. If you have something to say, just stand over there and say it, that will be fine."

He continued, "I will correct two points."

"First, you are not some junior anymore, you are the patriarch of a branch family, don't lose face."

"Second, you were not looking forward to me, but rather an official position in my Southern Bean Kingdom. Just yesterday, I received the King's decree. You will only receive compensation, no official position."

Ning Zhuo immediately changed his expression and exclaimed, "This isn't fair! The Recruitment Edict clearly stated..."

"Alright. Don't think my Zhu Royal Family is easy to bully, Patriarch Ning Zhuo." Zhu Xuanji directly interrupted, "You actually know in your heart that your transfer of the Immortal Palace Master position to Meng Kui was a private handover without the approval of my Zhu Royal Family."

"This is a violation of regulations."

Ning Zhuo immediately retorted, "Divine Constable, your words are improper. You were also present at that time. If I had not transferred the position of Palace Master to Meng Kui and let this Nascent Soul expert take action, between you and me, who could suppress the entire beast tide?"

Zhu Xuanji: "I possess four divine abilities and can fight at the Nascent Soul level. Patriarch Ning Zhuo, your true combat power is on par with mine, how could you not resist the Fiery Blaze Beast Tide?"

Ning Zhuo quickly said, "How could that be? My cultivation is weak, how could I possibly compare with you, sir? Please, Lord Zhu, be merciful and generous, and do not inflate this junior's ego."

"At that time, I was also thinking of my family, and the lives and property of all the citizens of the city, which is why I handed over the position of Immortal Palace Master to Lord Meng Kui."

"Lord Meng Kui is the current City Lord of Fire Persimmon Immortal City. Compared to us, handing it over to him is clearly more appropriate, isn't it?"

"Hehehe." Zhu Xuanji was so angry he laughed instead, "Ning Zhuo, you had already calculated all of this. You handed over the position of Palace Master to the Meng Family, nothing more than to continue playing both sides. You were certain that my Zhu Family wanted to deal with the Meng Family, and at that time, your Ning Family would be the best partner."

"You succeeded!"

"Your Golden Core ancestor, Ning Jiufan, has already been secretly granted an official position by my Royal Family. And he was given a magic treasure that can forcefully tame that Nascent Soul mother ape."

"The Royal Family will not give Ning Zhuo any compensation, but will reward the 'entry standard'." As he said the words "entry standard," Zhu Xuanji couldn't help but emphasize his tone.

(End of this chapter)