Chapter 3: Zhu Zhihua's Doubts

  "Han Fu is missing!!" Yi Cheng, West Liu Mountain Villa

  Astonishment filled Qing Ling's stunning face, "Master Uncle, did you really give them the Golden Giant Strength Spirit Pearl?!"

  "Not bad, it was I who gave it to them, originally thought that would be the end of the trouble, didn't expect it to turn out like this!!" Zhu Zhihua's face was filled with bitter smile.

  "Since you're planning to use the King Kong Devil's power, shouldn't you have thought of an escape route already? Has Han Fu left or not?!"

  "Their retreat route was arranged by me, and the information I received is that they did not arrive at the designated location on time!" Zhu Zhihua said with a gloomy face, "Moreover, the troops I arranged were almost ambushed by the Wangfu Dao soldiers!"

  Qingling was silent and didn't speak, she gave Zhu Zhihua a light glance and let out a soft sigh.

  "It's actually not bad this way!" Zhu Zhihua understood Qingling's dissatisfaction but didn't explain.

  "It's already like this, what's the use of talking about it? Isn't Master Shu afraid that the Ning Wang Fu will investigate this matter?"

  "What's there to pursue?!" Zhu Zhihua smiled, "As the successor of Jingling Lake, I, as the elder of Jingling Lake, naturally cannot sit back and watch you make mistakes in your marriage. Giving the Golden Iron Great Strength Magic Spirit Pearl to Han Fu and others was also to test whether Wang Guanlan is qualified to be your husband. If he can't even pass this test, what qualifications does he have to marry you?!"

  Qing Ling's face was calm, and after a while, she said, "Wang Guanlan has already started building his estate in Fengming Valley. Not only did he not restore the 200-acre plantation, but he also enclosed that entire piece of land. I had thought of going to question him, but now it seems there's no need!"

  Zhu Zhihua's expression on his face was slightly stagnant, looking a bit awkward.

  "Master Shu, are you really sure that the Ning Wang Fu won't make a move against you?!"

  "Of course not, with Wang's intelligence, he would naturally know how to respond. In this matter, although I have some fault, it is not entirely inexplicable. He wouldn't do such an unwise thing! What a pity for Han Fu!!"

  "Is it possible to save him?!"

  "It's impossible. Since the person I sent to receive them saw the Taoist soldiers at the Wang Fu, it means he has already spilled everything out. The Ning King won't let him live!"

  "Besides him, there's also Song Kun and the two of them...!!"

  "Don't worry about Song Kun, Song Kun is from Tianji Pavilion, even if it's Ning Wang, he has to give some face to Zhitian Ming. This time, the main person in charge is Han Fu, and in Fengming Valley, Wang Guanlan's angry roar was only aimed at Han Fu!"

  Qingling nodded, "Then let's just forget about the 200 mu of Fengming grass in Fengming Valley. It would be better to avoid any more trouble and being at a disadvantage!"

  "What I'm worried about now is not the cultivation of phoenix tail grass, but something else!" Zhu Zhihua's expression gradually became serious.

  "What's going on?!" Qingling asked.

  "He has used the Nine Fire Dragon Technique twice in a row, this is somewhat strange!"

  "There's something strange, didn't you say that the analysis of Tianji Pavilion was fine? The reason he can cast the Nine Fire Dragon Technique is entirely due to the relationship between the five elements array, and it doesn't represent his actual strength in terms of technique. At most, it just means that his spiritual power is stronger than ordinary practitioners, maybe because of the Yuanshen Fruit!"

  "Yes, that's reasonable. I thought so at first too, but after careful consideration these past few days, the more I think about it, the more it doesn't feel right!"

  "What's wrong with this place?!"

  "Primordial energy, the primordial energy of heaven and earth!!" Zhu Zhihua said, "The reason why Tianji Pavilion came to that conclusion is because they didn't have anyone who had been to Fengming Valley, and they weren't familiar with the primordial energy of Fengming Valley, so they ignored this point. But I've been to Fengming Valley, because Wang Guanlan was going to accept a challenge as an array master, so at that time I specially paid attention to the primordial energy and the direction of the earth's pulse in the valley, and even tried to simulate an array diagram. So, I'm quite familiar with the situation in the valley. According to my calculations, the primordial energy of heaven and earth in the valley can't support him casting two Nine Fire Dragon Techniques in such a short time!"

  Qingling, although not a Taoist, was born in the sacred land of Wulin and had received excellent education since childhood. Being a clever and thoughtful person, she immediately understood and her expression changed, filled with doubt.

  Jiuhuo Yanlong Shu is the third-ranked technique in Wuxing Xuanhuo Jing. Without the assistance of a five-element array like Wang Guanlan's, a practitioner would need to be at least eighth rank to possibly perform it.

  Note that it is possible!

  The eighth rank is the most basic condition for performing the Nine Fire Dragon Technique, but it's not all.

  The practitioner's spellcasting requires the support of heaven and earth's primordial energy. The greater the power of the spell, the more heaven and earth's primordial energy is consumed. Of course, you can also carry your own heaven and earth's primordial energy like Wang Guanlan with the Red Flame Crystal.

  However, the Chi Yan Jing is only suitable for small spells like fireball techniques. Once you encounter large-scale spells, it's simply not enough. The amount of Huo Xing Yuan Li required by a Ninth Fire Flame Dragon is something that even 100 or 1,000 Chi Yan Jings would struggle to provide. Spells like the Ninth Fire Flame Dragon, which are ranked high in terms of fire attributes, have the best effect when cast in places with dense Huo Xing Yuan Qi. Feng Ming Valley is clearly not a suitable place for casting.

  Wang Guanlan used the Five Elements Formation to forcibly transform all the heavenly and earthly primordial energy in the valley into fire-elemental primordial energy, successfully casting the Nine Fire Dragon Technique. However, after dispersing the Nine Fire Dragon Technique, casting it again would be unscientific.

  Because there wasn't that much yuanqi in the valley to begin with, according to Zhu Zhihua's calculations, all the heavenly and earthly yuanqi within the Phoenix Cry Valley and the Five Elements Array's range of influence had been completely depleted, only enough for one use of the Nine Fire Dragon Technique. In fact, after the first time the Nine Fire Dragon Technique was used, Zhu Zhihua already felt that the valley's yuanqi had been completely exhausted. However, the interval between Wang Guanlan's two uses of the Nine Fire Dragon Technique wasn't long, and in such a short period of time, it was impossible for the valley's heavenly and earthly yuanqi to recover. At that time, everyone's attention was focused on Wang Guanlan's Nine Fire Dragon Technique, and they were all in a state of shock. Zhu Zhihua didn't think much of it at the time, but after the matter had passed, he began to feel some doubt. Now, after several days of calculation, he finally confirmed that his doubts weren't unfounded - there was no way the Phoenix Cry Valley could have had that much heavenly and earthly yuanqi for Wang Guanlan to squander.

  "Perhaps he still has a treasure or even a spiritual artifact on him that can store the Fire Element's energy, enough to let him use the Nine Fire Dragon Technique once more!"

  "This can be explained, and what happened later was similar. But at that time, I was right next to Ning Wang Wang Bi Cheng, and I can confirm that he was also surprised by Wang Guan Lan's ability to cast the Nine Fire Dragon Technique, and had no mental preparation whatsoever, so..."

  "Wang Guanlan is a self-taught Array Master, perhaps there are such things in those inheritances!"

  "It's the only explanation that makes sense!" Zhu Zhihua shook his head in a strange manner, "But if it really does make sense, then Wang Guanlan is in grave danger, because he may have the ability to unleash the Nine Fire Dragon Technique at any time!"

  Qing's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly raised his head. Ah, if Wang Guanlan really had such a thing on him, then it couldn't be said that only by paying a certain price could the Nine Fire Flame Dragon Technique be performed. In that case, this guy would have to be reevaluated.

  "And there's another thing, even more troublesome!" Seeing Qingling's expression, Zhu Zhihua seemed to think she hadn't suffered enough blows yet, and continued, "Wang Guanlan suddenly broke through to the Condensation Period and awakened the Earthly Fiery True Fire, do you know why?!"

  "What's the reason?!" Qingling said in confusion, "He is the young master of Ning Wangfu, and he already possesses the earth-destroying fire qilin bloodline. Awakening to the earth-destroying true fire isn't impossible either!"

  "Otherwise? The true fire of the Ning Wang Fu's land is almost awakened every 200 years, and it has been more than 160 years since the last awakening. Isn't it a bit too early?"

  "What do you think is the reason?!"

  "Earthly Fire Pulse!" Zhu Zhihua said in a deep voice, "His Five Elements Array extracted the primordial energy of the earth's pulse, and should have extracted the fire element energy from that underground lava flow. After being transformed and purified by the five arrays, it was absorbed by him, which is why he suddenly awakened to the Earthly True Fire!"

  As soon as he mentioned the underground fire vein, Qingling's expression also changed, "Your meaning is that he has already discovered the fire vein under Fengming Valley?!"

  "He is the master of the Five Elements Formation, and anyone who is proficient in formations is extremely sensitive to the flow of the earth's veins. As long as his formation has extracted the yuanqi from that fire vein, he must have some feeling, this is something he can't hide!"

  "What are we going to do?!" Qing Ling jumped up abruptly, looking somewhat anxious. "If the Ning Wang Fu finds out..."

  "Don't panic, there's no use panicking in this situation!" Zhu Zhihua said. "Moreover, even if they discover the Earth Fire Flow, nothing will happen. Ordinary people can't get close to it anyway, and even if they could, they wouldn't be able to penetrate too deeply. The Ning Wang Fu has failed once before in this regard, so this time they'll be even more cautious. I think after some initial exploration, the Ning Wang Fu won't go any further. In recent years, they should only let Wang Guanlan go there to cultivate. You're his fiancée now and will be his wife in the future, just find an excuse to go with him, and it shouldn't be hard to resolve things!"

  "Although that's the case, he still has to acknowledge me as his wife!!" Qingling heard this and a hint of bitter smile flashed across her delicate face, "This engagement, in my opinion, is just like a farce!"

  "Is this a joke?!" Zhu Zhihua seemed to be at his wit's end, "It can't be said that it's a joke. Even the mighty Golden Strength Demon God couldn't suppress him. It can only be said that it's fate, Wang Guanlan is the demon star destined for you. If you can't subdue this demon star, then your entire life will be unable to achieve a breakthrough!!"

  Qingling fell silent, her eyes closed in quiet contemplation. Zhu Zhihua was about to say something more, but seeing Qingling's state, he knew she needed a moment of calm and so didn't disturb her further. He shook his head, let out a sigh, and left.