Chapter 2997: The Dark Forces of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions
Zhang Ruochen understood clearly in his heart that Luo Jinshu must have gone to the Divine King Mansion to report the matter of the Heavenly God Priest.
Unfortunately, with the current internal and external troubles of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization, and with King Yu having to support both the World-Protecting Grand Formation and the Nine Palaces Divine Seal, he was like a single pillar holding up a collapsing building, and might not be able to spare the energy to investigate this thoroughly.
After thinking it over, Zhang Ruochen looked at Feng Xi.
The Feng Clan had vast power and many experts; perhaps they could play a role in this matter.
Zhang Ruochen told Feng Xi about the Heavenly God Priest's silent disappearance, along with his conjectures.
Feng Xi was greatly alarmed, saying, "This matter is no small thing. But Xi can swear on her life that the traitor is definitely not among the Feng Clan's gods."
"Daoist Xi, you have only just entered the Divine Realm. How much do you really know about the Feng Clan's gods? You absolutely should not make such a guarantee," Zhang Ruochen said.
Feng Xi realized she had lost her composure. She composed herself and nodded gently. "I must return immediately and inform Seventh Uncle. At the very least, we in the Feng Clan should conduct an internal investigation. Otherwise, if a traitor truly emerges and causes a great disaster, the entire Feng Clan's reputation will be ruined."
The current Heavenly Beginning Civilization was isolated by layers of formations, making even communication between gods a difficult task.
This was especially true within Doulu City.
All of this was to guard against spies from the Hell Realm!
Zhang Ruochen was deeply worried. "If the Hell Realm is planning a major operation, what would their target be?"
Feng Xi answered almost without thinking. "The Divine King Mansion. To kill the Array Spirit of the World-Protecting Divine Formation."
She continued, "Cutting down the Divine Toon Tree would indeed cause the divine Qi of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization's great world to gradually dry up, but that is a very slow process. The divine Qi within the great world can still support the operation of the World-Protecting Divine Formation and sustain the Starry Sky Divine Formation in resisting the Shura Star Pillar Realm."
"However, if the Array Spirit is severed, the World-Protecting Divine Formation will become extremely fragile and collapse instantly."
"Daoist, you saw it earlier. Even with the World-Protecting Divine Formation's resistance, the Heavenly Beginning Civilization's great world was still shaken by the aftershocks of the war among the gods, creating spatial cracks one after another. It was only with the added power of the Nine Palaces Divine Seal that it stabilized."
"Once the World-Protecting Divine Formation is lost, it is easy to imagine that the entire Heavenly Beginning Civilization will be reduced to rubble in the starry sky."
"By then, the large number of gods and Saint-realm armies of the Heavenly Court still within the Heavenly Beginning Civilization's great world will be annihilated before they can evacuate. More importantly, the Starry Sky Divine Formation will collapse on its own, no longer able to block the Shura Star Pillar Realm."
Zhang Ruochen felt suffocated. "With King Yu guarding the Divine King Mansion, they cannot possibly succeed."
Feng Xi thought so too. After all, it was incredibly difficult for a Great God-level powerhouse from the Hell Realm to even descend upon the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. Sending a being capable of contending with King Yu was simply impossible.
"No!"
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of something. "The Flame Seed Assembly! If a shocking upheaval occurs at the Flame Seed Assembly, King Yu will have to go there in person. That would give them an opening."
This conjecture of Zhang Ruochen's struck Feng Xi like a thunderbolt. She could no longer sit still and only wanted to rush back immediately to discuss countermeasures with the Feng Clan's gods.
She said, "The Flame Seed Assembly is tonight, held at the City Lord's Mansion, presided over by the True God Jin Cheng."
No one knew exactly how many children King Yu had.
But currently, only two sons were still alive.
The elder was named Luo Jincheng, and Luo Jinshu was the second son.
The City Lord of Doulu City was precisely Luo Jincheng, who handled all worldly affairs of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. Before the war broke out, beings of the level of the Old Heavenly Lord and King Yu almost never showed themselves.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Let's make a hypothesis. If a shocking incident occurs at the Flame Seed Assembly and King Yu leaves the Divine King Mansion, who will be left to guard it?"
Feng Xi's expression changed again. "Feng Qi! Feng Qi met with Prince Lian and then went to the Divine King Mansion. He is the Divine King's disciple."
There was no need to analyze further. Feng Qi was already problematic.
If he had already betrayed the Heavenly Court, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Feng Xi said, "Let's go to the Divine King Mansion now and inform King Yu of this."
Zhang Ruochen stopped her. "What status does King Yu hold? And right now, his energy is focused on activating the World-Protecting Divine Formation and the Nine Palaces Divine Seal. Why would he agree to see us? We only suspect Feng Qi; we have no concrete evidence."
"Would the Divine King trust us, or his own disciple?"
"Besides, Daoist Luo has already gone to report this. The Divine King should be on alert."
Of course, Zhang Ruochen had to stop Feng Xi. First of all, he himself dared not go to the Divine King Mansion.
Because his current disguise might not fool King Yu.
Secondly, Luo Sha was very likely an executor of this plan. If she were captured by King Yu, how could she possibly survive?
Feng Xi breathed a secret sigh of relief. "Right, Uncle Luo has already gone to report! They will surely consider things more thoroughly than we do."
But Zhang Ruochen was not as optimistic as Feng Xi. After all, Feng Qi was a disciple King Yu had watched grow up. That kind of trust was enough to numb reason and create blind spots in thinking.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Where is the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden?"
Feng Xi showed a strange expression, wondering why Zhang Ruochen would suddenly ask this. "Daoist Huang Niu actually knows Luo Ji?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled wryly. "We've met once."
Feng Xi's gaze was playful, instinctively feeling that this matter was not so simple. "Since arriving on the Starry Sky Battlefield, Xi hasn't seen her either. If Xi isn't mistaken, the god guarding the flame seed of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization is her. So, she must be doing something extremely secret and important, and is being heavily protected."
"Can Daoist Xi help me investigate? The Feng Clan's power is vast, and they are on good terms with the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. It would certainly be much easier than me searching on my own," Zhang Ruochen said.
Feng Xi stared at him for a long time. "Alright."
Feng Xi clearly sensed that a major event was imminent, a storm was brewing, and she needed to return to discuss it with the Feng Clan's gods. Thus, she left in a hurry.
Outside, an autumn rain began to fall.
A fine, misty rain, the raindrops drifting continuously, cold but not biting.
Zhang Ruochen remained seated in the tea house, watching Feng Xi disappear into the hazy rain curtain, and let out a long sigh.
His heart was conflicted. He did not want the Heavenly Beginning Civilization to suffer a calamity, nor did he want to harm Luo Sha. It was precisely for this reason that he had not mentioned the hidden presence of the Rakshasa Clan's gods to Feng Xi.
This might cause Feng Xi, the Feng Clan's gods, and even King Yu and Luo Jinshu to misjudge the situation.
What should he do now?
He could only start from the Divine King Mansion, first confirming whether Feng Qi was problematic. As long as the crisis within the Divine King Mansion was eliminated, then even if Luo Sha and the others caused a huge commotion at the Flame Seed Assembly, it would not damage the foundation of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization.
But Zhang Ruochen himself could not enter the Divine King Mansion. Now, he could only hope to see Luo Ji as soon as possible.
King Yu might not trust him, might even be hostile towards him, but Luo Ji should believe him.
Zhang Ruochen decided not to wait any longer for Luo Jinshu. He put down his teacup, mounted the yellow ox, and left the tea house, heading straight back to the Divine Maiden Tower, intending to discuss the matter with Chi Yao first.
At least Chi Yao's identity was more legitimate than his.
But when he returned to the Divine Maiden Tower, he found it empty. Chi Yao had already left.
Yi Man saw Zhang Ruochen and walked over, lowering her voice. "Is the Realm Lord troubled by something?"
"Your help is not needed for my troubles."
Zhang Ruochen's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. He decided to go directly to the Flame Seed Assembly. If Luo Sha was also there, with the mysteries of the Wuji Divine Dao and the Heart of Truth, he should be able to sense her.
Yi Man said, "Actually, the Goddess Twelve Pavilions has an extremely vast network throughout the entire universe. Its cultivators are pervasive, and many have even infiltrated high positions. This is also true within the Heavenly Beginning Civilization."
"The wife of City Lord Jin Cheng, the True God Qing, was born from the Goddess Twelve Pavilions and has now stepped into the Divine Realm."
Zhang Ruochen was visibly moved. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Yi Man quickly knelt to apologize. "Earlier, the Realm Lord left in a hurry, and Yi Man did not have time to report."
For the Goddess Twelve Pavilions to become a top-tier intelligence force in the world, it naturally relied on more than just Xinghuantian and its one hundred and eighty Divine Maiden Towers.
Which cultivator had not been young?
In their youth, who had not experienced romance and rivalry?
Even someone of Luo Shengtian's status and talent could not resist the allure of a beautiful woman.
It could be said that the heavenly daughters cultivated by the Goddess Twelve Pavilions held a great attraction for young prodigies, and they would even deliberately invest in them.
The forces behind these young prodigies, along with their own potential, would generate a vast amount of cultivation resources, which would be fed back to the women of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions they married.
Thus, over the long years, more and more women from the Goddess Twelve Pavilions married into various major powers. Their cultivation environment and the resources they obtained even surpassed what they had before.
This was the dark force of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions, far more formidable than its visible power.
Yi Man said, "Yi Man's master is precisely True God Qing. This might be the reason the Realm Lord's wife sent Yi Man to the Heavenly Beginning Civilization!"
Zhang Ruochen quickly calmed down. "I want to see her."
...
Compared to the Luo God Mansion, the City Lord's Mansion was much smaller, but more heavily guarded and solemn.
Zhang Ruochen sat inside a black stone and leather carriage, lifting the curtain to observe the cultivators entering and leaving the City Lord's Mansion.
The Flame Seed Assembly was about to begin. Over a dozen streets near the City Lord's Mansion had been cleared and sealed off; ordinary people could not approach. But Yi Man was a disciple of True God Qing, so how could the guards of Doulu City dare to refuse her?
Outside the City Lord's Mansion was a staircase of one hundred and eight steps, a hundred zhang wide.
The stairs were covered with divine patterns and planted with war banners.
These war banners were extraordinary. Once attacked, they could instantly unleash formation inscriptions, transforming into a deadly killing formation.
Standing outside the City Lord's Mansion to welcome cultivators from various worlds was none other than Yue Tong Zhenjun.
"The Heavenly Realm Flame Seed Envoy, Shang Hong, has arrived."
Shang Hong arrived together with a group of gods and great saints from the Paradise Realm, including Kaifan Lili and Jia Linnan. He walked at the front, exuding an imposing aura. Even without releasing his divine might, he could still create a sense of pressure on cultivators.
Yue Tong Zhenjun immediately smiled and went forward to converse with Shang Hong.
"Shang Hong, so you came to the Heavenly Beginning Civilization too. When the Hell Realm army invaded earlier, why didn't I see you make a move?"
Qiu Yu Shenjun, along with a group of cultivators from the Demon Clan, grandly ascended the stairs and headed towards the main gate.