Outside Heaven Dou City.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
In a courtyard filled with birdsong and fragrant blossoms, Ning Fengzhi stood on the viewing bridge with his hands behind his back, brow furrowed.
Beside him, Ning Rongrong pouted haughtily, deeply unhappy that her father had confined her at home.
"Fengzhi, something's happened again."
Just then, Sword Douluo Chen Xin landed from the air.
He appeared abruptly behind Ning Rongrong, his face grave. It clearly wasn't good news.
"Uncle Jian, just tell me directly. Don't tell me something's happened in Sunset Forest again?"
Ever since Bone Douluo Gu Rong had gone missing, Ning Fengzhi had looked especially haggard, weighed down with worry.
"Mm. The imperial family just sent word that the outer camp has come under a large-scale attack. They want us to go there at once."
At that, Ning Fengzhi felt his scalp go numb.
After giving Ning Rongrong a few quick instructions, he left the courtyard at once.
He and Sword Douluo hurried to the capital at top speed and soon reached their destination.
Following an attendant into the palace hall, Ning Fengzhi looked around and realized he was already late.
Though frail with age, Emperor Xue Ye still sat on the throne. The Crown Prince, "Xue Qinghe," stood obediently beside him.
To Ning Fengzhi's slight surprise, Yu Yuanzhen, clan leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, had arrived even earlier. His expression was grim.
"Ah, Sect Master Ning has arrived. Shenji, tell us what happened again."
Emperor Xue Ye gave a slight wave, his gaze falling on Meng Shenji, who had hurried back to report.
"It happened like this. Not long ago, a Titled Douluo appeared at the Sunset Forest camp..."
He recounted the whole story in detail, doing his best to describe what had happened. To evade responsibility, he even embellished it a little.
In short, he made Chen Zidian out to be an invincible monster. No wonder Yu Yuanzhen's face had stiffened. At level ninety-five, his strength was comparable to Gu Rong's.
"That mysterious figure should be the expert who defeated Bone Douluo and Poison Douluo."
"But strangely, he didn't slaughter everyone. Otherwise, given the defenses at Sunset Camp, the casualties would have been severe."
"So my personal guess is that he has some reservations. He also said this was a warning, which means there may well be another attack!"
Ning Fengzhi hadn't interrupted once during the report. He listened in silence, his expression thoughtful.
There was no denying that the situation was deeply troubling. What exactly did that mysterious expert want?
At first glance, it seemed he was furious about the empire's blockade of the forest and had retaliated.
But as an enemy, he hadn't taken the opportunity to kill anyone. However they looked at it, the whole thing was strange.
"Could it really be Spirit Hall? They captured two Douluo affiliated with Heaven Dou, but don't intend to openly break with us just yet?"
"That explanation barely holds together, but I still feel there's more to it. There's some other scheme at work!"
The more Ning Fengzhi thought about it, the further his mind wandered. He sank into silence.
Everyone offered their own opinions, but no one could reach a conclusion.
After a while, Qian Renxue, still in disguise, smiled and interrupted the discussion.
"Everyone, wild guesses won't get us anywhere. Let's settle on a plan first. What should we do next?"
"At least we can look on the bright side. That mysterious expert isn't bloodthirsty. Perhaps Bone Douluo and Poison Douluo still have a chance of surviving?"
Her words struck Ning Fengzhi right in the heart. He looked up at "Xue Qinghe," clear approval in his eyes, completely unaware that Qian Renxue was impersonating him.
In truth, she'd said this simply to spur them into action, making it easier to get the people of the Heaven Dou Empire to continue gathering intelligence for her.
After all, others might not know, but she knew perfectly well this had nothing to do with Spirit Hall. The strength and depth of this mysterious force had made her feel threatened.
"I suggest we wait and see."
Yu Yuanzhen was clearly getting cold feet.
So far, the matter had little to do with him.
Dugu Bo was a guest of the imperial family, and Gu Rong was an elder of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Why should he take a risk?
"Perhaps we could try talking to him? If it really is a misunderstanding, wouldn't that make everyone happy?"
Suddenly, Prince Xue Xing, who had been silent in a corner, offered a new idea. No one had thought of that before.
Everyone's eyes lit up. They saw the sense in it. The mysterious expert hadn't slaughtered everyone—perhaps there really was room to talk!
But how could they approach him? Sending someone weak would be disrespectful, while sending a powerful expert would be too risky. Yu Yuanzhen was particularly opposed.
"Then let's keep things as they are for now."
"Didn't he say there'd be a second time?"
"As long as we don't withdraw the outer camp, that fellow will most likely come again."
"When he does, we'll have the initiative. If he's willing to talk, that's best. If not..."
Ning Fengzhi narrowed his eyes and made a throat-slitting gesture, which didn't quite suit his station.
The meaning was simple: set an ambush and lure him in. Talking would be ideal; if that failed, they would try to fight.
With Chen Xin and Yu Yuanzhen joining forces, backed by Ning Fengzhi's support, perhaps they could take him down quickly.
It sounded risky, but when faced with a completely unknown enemy, they had no better option. Emperor Xue Ye agreed.
Soon, everyone began putting the plan into action.
There was no need to prepare. They headed straight for the Sunset Forest camp.
Xue Qinghe, with Qian Renxue in disguise, would represent the imperial family and secretly contact the guardians.
Along with the two elders, Pufferfish and Snake Lance, two more enshrined elders, Thousand Jun and Falling Devil, were added to their ranks. Four Titled Douluo in total!
"When necessary, act in Spirit Hall's name. Just don't expose my identity."
"Everyone in the Heaven Dou Empire currently suspects that Spirit Hall is behind this."
"If we'd really done it, that would be one thing. But we didn't, so we can't let them pin such a huge blame on us."
Qian Renxue gave them her instructions in secret, her resolve set.
The mysterious enemy posed a greater threat than the Heaven Dou Empire.
If Chen Xin and Yu Yuanzhen couldn't handle him, having the elders and enshrined elders step in was a perfectly good option.
As she thought this, Thousand Jun and Falling Devil went into hiding, ready and waiting for their target to take the bait.
And clearly, they'd guessed correctly about this much.
Lin Feng's order had been to keep drawing attention.
One act of destruction, though shocking, wasn't enough to meet the goal. He would definitely strike again.
One day, beneath the same gorgeous sunset, Chen Zidian strode through the air, repeating the same routine as before.
From deep within Sunset Forest, he released his spiritual power from afar, deliberately alerting everyone that he was heading for the camp.
With last time's experience, both the empire's forces and the Soul Masters from independent mercenary groups reacted immediately.
The former quickly set up their defenses, while the latter hurried to take cover. Yet they didn't go far, still driven by curiosity to see what would happen this time.
"Huh? Quite a crowd..."
Chen Zidian looked like he was showing off, but in truth he was cautious.
He'd already expanded his perception to its limit, covering the surrounding area.
He sensed the anomaly at once. Chen Xin's aura was relatively well concealed, but Yu Yuanzhen was comparatively restless.
"Two ninth-rankers? No, there's another one hiding even deeper! Interesting. So you're planning to ambush me?"
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