"Wen, do you wish to continue living in such a pitiful state?"
Zhang Tiancheng looked into Wen Zhixing's eyes and spoke again. He didn't believe Wen Zhixing couldn't understand.
"I..."
Upon hearing this, Wen Zhixing took a deep breath, then stood up and bowed with his hands clasped, his voice grave. "Brother, do you have a way? Just say the word, and I, your junior, am willing to follow your lead!"
"Good, junior brother, I have not misjudged you!" Zhang Tiancheng revealed a smile. These days, he had never genuinely attempted to recruit any furnaces. He didn't trust those people. Now, the only person he was willing to trust, even risking betrayal, was Wen Zhixing. Wen Zhixing hadn't been captured for long and had not yet become completely numb. After spending this time together, he too was willing to trust Wen Zhixing.
"Junior brother, I won't hide it from you; I am now a member of the Righteous Sun Sect!" Zhang Tiancheng didn't hesitate and laid his cards on the table.
"What! The Righteous Sun Sect, brother, you..."
Wen Zhixing's breath caught, seemingly extremely shocked.
"Brother, if this were discovered..."
"What if it's discovered? Junior brother, do you know who the person being chased outside the grand array just now was?" Zhang Tiancheng uttered with a light snort.
"Who?" Wen Zhixing's eyes flickered. He truly didn't recognize the person.
"Feng Ruoli, the deputy palace master of Wonderous Palace, and also the master of Ning Shan!"
"The deputy palace master of Wonderous Palace!" Wen Zhixing's eyes shimmered. The deputy palace master of Wonderous Palace had actually been chased all the way here.
"The ones chasing Feng Ruoli were people from the Righteous Sun Sect. Do you understand now, junior brother?" Zhang Tiancheng said with a faint smile.
"This..." Wen Zhixing took a deep breath, as if he was trying hard to digest this information.
"Junior brother, now you understand the strength of the Righteous Sun Sect, don't you? Brother has always considered you one of us..." Zhang Tiancai stood up and patted Wen Zhixing on the shoulder, his expression meaningful.
Wen Zhixing's body trembled slightly, then his eyes firmed as he spoke, "Brother, I understand! I am willing to join the Righteous Sun Sect!"
"Good, I was not wrong about you," Zhang Tiancheng said, quite pleased.
"Junior brother, I cannot stay long. I entrust this to you... remember to use it when no one else is around..." Zhang Tiancheng took out three talismans from within his robe. "You don't need to activate them. Just light them, and they'll work."
[Sound Transmission Manifestation Talisman: White Quality, a one-time Communication Talisman, can manifest one's image and is used for long-distance communication.]
[These items are a set and cannot be upgraded individually.]
Afterward, Zhang Tiancai gave a few more instructions and then left secretly.
So, Zhang Tiancheng has been using this to communicate with people from the Righteous Sun Sect.
Wen Zhixing inspected the talismans for a moment, then promptly lifted the stone bench Inside the house, dug a hole, and buried them. He then carefully restored the bench to its original position.
In the current situation, he could be under surveillance at any time. The timing wasn't right, and there was a risk of exposure. He would wait until Qiu Yinger stopped having someone watch him all the time before proceeding.
「Another day passed.」
On this day, Wonderous Palace was exceptionally lively.
Previously, not many knew about Si Nanyan being ambushed. But Feng Ruoli had been chased by assailants all the way to the front of Wonderous Palace. For Wonderous Palace, this was tantamount to being slapped in the face by the Righteous Sun Palace in broad daylight. People high and low within the palace were discussing the matter. Many Elders from Wonderous Palace clamored to strike back.
However, both the palace master and deputy palace master of Wonderous Palace were unavailable. Si Nanyan was in closed-door cultivation and not making an appearance. Feng Ruoli had used her Divine Ability to return to the sect but had also sustained severe injuries. Without someone to make a decision, the others ended up merely venting. Most crucially, even Feng Ruoli had been chased. Since their strengths were not as great as Feng Ruoli's, retaliating would be tantamount to seeking death.
「Wonderous Palace, Wutong Peak,」
Within a secret chamber, Feng Ruoli was sitting cross-legged, focused on healing her injuries. Her complexion was pale, devoid of any blood; her entire being looked as though her soul had been extracted. Her whole body emanated a lifeless aura.
"Master, how are your injuries?" Ning Shan stood by anxiously.
"It's nothing, I won't die." Feng Ruoli barely opened her eyes, her gaze dim, her whole body extremely weak. This time, she had been chased to the brink of death and narrowly escaped alive.
"Master, what exactly happened this time?" Ning Shan's expression eased slightly as she asked.
Feng Ruoli heard this, her brows furrowed tightly, and her complexion darkened. "The Righteous Sun Sect has produced another cultivator at the Divine Communication Realm. There will be some trouble in the future..."
"This..." Ning Shan's face changed color as well.
Originally, the Righteous Sun Sect and the Wonderous Palace had always been evenly matched in strength. The Divine Communication Realm represented the top fighting force for both sides. But three years ago, an Elder from the Righteous Sun Sect had broken through in their cultivation and successfully stepped into the Divine Communication Realm. And now, another from the Righteous Sun Sect had entered the Divine Communication Realm. With this, the gap between the two sides had completely widened.
Seeing Ning Shan's worried face, Feng Ruoli actually smiled. "Shan'er, don't worry. As long as your Ancestor Master is still alive, no matter how many Divine Communication Realm cultivators they have in the Righteous Sun Sect, they won't dare to truly attack us."
"Ancestor Master..." Ning Shan's expression relaxed slightly, but she still said with some worry, "Master, the Ancestor Master has been in closed-door cultivation for so many years without emerging, what if..."
"Shan'er, don't speak nonsense!" Feng Ruoli reprimanded sharply.
THUMP!
Ning Shan's heart trembled, knowing she had spoken out of turn, and immediately knelt.
"Such words must never be mentioned again!"
"Yes, disciple will remember!" Ning Shan lowered her head, not daring to say anything more.
"Alright, you may leave. I need to regulate my energy to heal my wounds." Feng Ruoli, her expression tired, had no real intention of punishing Ning Shan and merely waved her off.
"Master, shall I bring a few furnaces for you..." Ning Shan stood up, pondered for a moment, and then spoke respectfully.
"Furnaces?" Feng Ruoli shook her head. "At my level of cultivation, those furnaces in the sect have long since become irrelevant. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone out to seek heaven and earth treasures to concoct elixirs." The furnaces of the Wonderous Palace were mostly of shallow foundation and were frequently used for essence absorption. There were hardly any high-realm furnaces. For her, they were naturally of little use.
Ning Shan looked somewhat forlorn but then suddenly thought of something and said, "Master, I remember someone who might be of use to your injuries."
"Who?"
"Wen Zhixing."
"Wen Zhixing?" Feng Ruoli frowned; she did not recognize this person.
"Master, Si Nanyan was severely injured that day and only escaped disaster by using essence absorption on this man," Ning Shan added.
"Not dead?"
"Not only did this person not die, but he is also full of vigor." Ning Shan continued speaking and then recounted her encounter with Wen Zhixing.
"Interesting." Feng Ruoli's eyes flickered slightly. "Bring him to me."
"Yes!" Ning Shan bowed and quickly left.
Junior sister, it seems you've stumbled upon some treasure. Feng Ruoli's gaze turned crafty. But your senior sister here, I just love your things...
「The moon was high in the branches, and the night was deep and silent.」
I'm just short of the last point of Fortune Points. At this moment, Wen Zhixing was completely unaware of this; he was troubled by the lack of that last Fortune Point. The effects of the Wonderous Soul-devouring Pill were just too unbearable. These days, he had hardly gotten a good night's sleep. He was nearly driven mad by the torment.
[Fortune Fragment discovered. Would you like to consume a month of life-span to randomly retrieve it?]
"Huh?" Wen Zhixing was startled. A Fortune Fragment? Where did that come from?
The next moment, his room door was pushed open, and a figure flashed in.
Wen Zhixing's heart jolted, but before he could react, a hand-knife strike was already targeting his neck.