Chapter 38: Successful Set-Up

Within the City Lord's Mansion.

"What did you say? The Purple Sun Retreat suffered a surprise attack from demonic cultivators?" Fei Si, who was occupied with official duties, immediately stood up, his face filled with shock.

"How is Young Master Meng Chong?" he immediately inquired.

Only after learning that Meng Chong was safe did the heavy stone in his heart finally settle.

He immediately issued an order, dispatching a team of cultivators to the Purple Sun Retreat for support.

"I'll go first!" Fei Si no longer cared about the official duties at hand. With a leap, he soared into the sky, his figure like a rainbow, flying towards the Purple Sun Retreat.

"The arrangements for Meng Chong at the Purple Sun Retreat, both before and after, were extremely secretive."

"But he had only just arrived there when he was attacked by demonic cultivators!"

"Is it really demonic cultivators?"

A cloud of suspicion loomed over Fei Si's mind.

He was the right-hand man of the current Fire Persimmon Immortal City Lord, possessing a ruthless personality and skilled in treacherous schemes. Many things that the Fire Persimmon Immortal City Lord found inconvenient to do, and that Chi Dun was too dim-witted to handle, could only be done by him.

Previously, Fei Si had discovered that Zhou Zhu of the Zhou family, relying on his innate talent, was forcefully enduring his injuries, causing his cultivation to dissipate rapidly, posing a great threat to Meng Chong.

So he made arrangements, activating the Zhou family's hidden asset, to plot against Zhou Zhu, greatly delaying Zhou Zhu's cultivation dissipation.

And Zheng Jian of the Zheng family was also making rapid progress using refining techniques, so he was also secretly targeted.

Finally, to disguise his own actions, he activated a suicide soldier to deliberately attack Meng Chong. Meng Chong killed him in self-defense, thus showing off his strength among the three major families, indirectly demonstrating the power of the City Lord's Mansion.

Of course, Meng Chong was unaware of this matter. Only Fei Si and the City Lord knew about it; no third person was privy to the plot.

As for the Ning family, Fei Si also paid attention to Ning Xiaohui. However, she was still in a power struggle with her family, fighting for more benefits for herself, and had not started dissipating her cultivation, posing no threat. So Fei Si did not take action.

The City Lord's Mansion, of course, had also arranged an internal mole within the Ning family. But Fei Si considered that activating the mole to take action would be pointless. It would be better to let the Ning family off, creating the fact that only the Ning family had not been attacked among the four powers.

What would the Zhou and Zheng families think then?

Fei Si used this point to subtly lay a trap, plotting against the Ning family.

It was precisely because he had done so much that he was thrown into such great alarm when he heard that Meng Chong had been attacked!

"Could it be that the other three families have seen through the truth and are secretly retaliating against us?"

"But which family could it be?"

"And how did our secrets leak out?"

The four powers of Fire Persimmon Immortal City were in a state of balance. Everyone was righteous, and even if they wanted to retaliate, they wouldn't do it openly on the table, wouldn't tear away the facade, but would instead resort to underhanded tactics.

Arranging for or disguising as demonic cultivators was the most common method.

Fei Si landed within the Purple Sun Retreat, causing a surge of qi that stirred up a cloud of dust.

He looked around and saw traces of intense battles everywhere. Among the broken walls and ruins lay the corpses of many cultivators, as well as a large number of shattered mechanical components.

The Foundation Establishment Peak swordsman who had been defeated by Han Ming earlier and had escaped using a Void Escape Talisman had returned.

Seeing Fei Si, the swordsman's face turned pale, and he hurriedly stepped forward to pay his respects.

"Desertion in the face of battle, you will be held accountable later!" Fei Si had already received an emergency report from the cultivators on his way here, and knew what happened during the entire assault.

The swordsman lowered his head in obedience, but in his heart, he never regretted his decision.

His colleague, who was also at the Foundation Establishment stage, had taken the initiative to attack that mechanical demonic cultivator, and had never returned.

It was clear that he had met with misfortune.

He had at least saved his life!

As for being held accountable, he would simply accept it. With life, there was always a future, and there was always possibility.

Fei Si walked past the swordsman and quickly rushed to the Pill Refining Room.

Inside the Pill Refining Room, Meng Chong was crouching down, taking care of Sun Lie who was lying on the ground.

At this time, Sun Lie's complexion had improved a lot.

Although Meng Chong was not skilled in treating others, Sun Lie was a master alchemist who carried many healing elixirs with him.

"Young Master Meng Chong, are you alright?" Fei Si asked with an anxious expression, his concern and nervousness overflowing.

Even though he already knew that Meng Chong was unharmed, it was important to put on a show at this time.

Many times, redundant words were not useless; they could express a certain attitude! And attitude could often indicate one's stance.

Meng Chong glanced at Fei Si and directly shook his head, indicating that he was unharmed.

"If he's unharmed, then why is he naked and exuding a fragrant aroma?" Fei Si felt very strange, but he would never say it out loud.

He then turned his attention to Sun Lie, and said impolitely, "Sun Lie, it's fortunate that Young Master Meng Chong is alright, otherwise you would be held responsible!"

"Your death is a small matter, but Young Master Meng Chong is a person with supreme immortal talent, the hope of the Meng family. If you hinder him, ten lives wouldn't be enough to compensate for it."

Although Sun Lie was a master alchemist, he was ultimately only at the Foundation Establishment Peak stage, not the Golden Core stage.

In fact, even if Sun Lie was at the Golden Core stage, Fei Si would still scold him at this time.

This was his cleverness.

Sun Lie leaned against the wall, half-lying, and gave Fei Si a big eye roll.

He was unconventional in character and didn't like people like Fei Si very much. Even if Fei Si was at the Golden Core stage, so what? He would still argue back.

Everyone was righteous, and they had to act according to righteous principles.

Cultivation wasn't everything.

Sun Lie immediately retorted, "I'm hindering Meng Chong? It was your City Lord who personally invited me to take action. Do you think I want to be involved in the Lava Immortal Palace's muddy waters?"

As a master alchemist, even if Sun Lie's cultivation was a bit lacking, he had good skills, and he would be treated with courtesy wherever he went, and he wouldn't have a bad life.

Fei Si glanced at the ruined medicinal herbs in the pill furnace and coldly snorted, "Now that's great, your attempt to help Young Master Meng Chong has failed. Exposing this place means that the risk of staying here is even greater."

Sun Lie chuckled, "Fei Si, which ear did you hear me say that this attempt failed?"

"I've already succeeded!"

"Huh?" Fei Si was stunned.

"Ah?" Meng Chong was taken aback, "Old Sun, my cultivation hasn't completely dissipated yet."

"Hahaha." Sun Lie didn't rush to explain, but instead laughed loudly, very smug.

Fei Si sneered, pointing to the ruined medicinal herbs in the pill furnace, "Facts speak louder than words, Sun Lie, what's the point of being stubborn at this point?"

"Hahaha!" Sun Lie's laughter rose, full of mockery.

But soon, he aggravated his wounds, his laughter stopped abruptly, and a hint of pain appeared on his face.

"Cough cough cough...Ugh!" Sun Lie coughed violently, then his Adam's apple bobbed, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood.

The blood exuded a strong aroma of wine.

"What a pity, what a pity." Sun Lie stared at the blood and slapped his thigh.

Meng Chong quickly handed him another elixir, "Old Sun, don't say that, quickly eat some elixirs."

Sun Lie pushed his hand away, "Elixirs aren't always better the more you take, I just took medicine, and the medicinal power is already filling my body, slowly digesting over time. Any more would be too much."

Fei Si narrowed his eyes, sensing something strange, "What are you regretting?"

Sun Lie stared at the blood on the ground and said, "That's Thousand Flame Soul Liquor. It's made with thousand-year-old Spirit Flame Flowers, pure Soul Essence, and Spring of Flame Water. The aroma is rich, and the wine strength is fierce. I was almost finished drinking it!"

Meng Chong sighed, "Old Sun, don't regret it. It's just Thousand Flame Soul Liquor. I'll ask my grandpa, and he'll definitely get you another jar."

Sun Lie then grinned and looked at Meng Chong, "Good child, it wasn't for naught that I put so much thought into setting up this scheme for you."