Mysterious mirror hanging high

"Back then, Song Jianxu divined the prosperity of the Song family, which he predicted would occur within this [Dinggu Secret Realm]. So, he bought a token to unlock this secret realm. After the [Dinggu Secret Realm] was revived, cultivators holding the token could enter it."

"Originally, this was just a secret realm for foundation building. In reality, it could have been sent to a foundation building cultivator. However, since it concerned the future fortune of the Song family, Song Jianxu sent Sun Baiyuan, who had just formed a low-grade golden elixir, to handle the matter."

"As luck would have it, after Song Jianxu made this divination, he was summoned by the Feng family. They said they wanted him to make another divination, so he left the Song family."

"What a coincidence! Song Wangshan, who had just emerged from retreat, learned of this matter and took the token from Sun Baiyuan, traveling to this secret realm on his behalf."

"At the time, the Zhang and Wang families were clashing with the Song family over interests, so naturally, they weren't on good terms. Although Song Jianxu's divination was a secret, somehow it leaked out and reached our clan members. The masters of the Zhang and Wang families were also afraid that Song Wangshan had found some incredible opportunity in the Dinggu Secret Realm and would help the Song family rise to prominence, so they also took the token to open the secret realm and followed him."

"Fellow Daoist Ye should have guessed what happened next. The three Jindan True Immortals from the three great families died together in the Dinggu Secret Realm. When the soul lamps went out, the three families got the news and prepared to enter the secret realm to investigate. However, the Dinggu Secret Realm had already disappeared into the void and drifted away."

Jing Yu frowned and said, "Are you suspecting that it was Master Song who orchestrated this scheme, luring the two most accomplished Jindan Masters from your Zhang and Wang families into the scheme and causing their deaths?"

"This isn't something that's difficult to guess." Zhang Gengshi said calmly, "How else could such a secret matter have leaked out? I'm afraid it was intentional!"

"But Song Wangshan is also dead!"

Zhang Gengshi sneered, "Song Wangshan's pills are top-grade, they're Nascent Soul seeds that have the potential to form a Nascent Soul. Apart from the Feng family, where else in the Red Dust Sea can we find such a prodigy? Isn't it normal for him to die?"

"Fellow Daoist Ye, please think about this. Why did Song Jianxu send Sun Baiyuan, Song Jia's son-in-law, to handle this matter in the first place?"

"And why was the Feng family so hastily dismissed after this matter was finalized?"

"In the unsolved case of Dinggu Secret Realm, Song Jianxu may not be the mastermind, but perhaps just an accomplice..."

Jing Yu raised an eyebrow: "You mean..."

Zhang Gengshi suddenly slammed the two hickory nuts in his hand onto the table, leaving two large holes, and said sternly:

"Fellow Daoist Ye, be careful with your words!"

"Zhang didn't say anything."

As Jing Yu watched Zhang Geng, whose expression had returned to calm and who slowly sat down, a thought struck him:

"Feng family!"

"The Zhang and Wang families actually suspected that Master Song was being manipulated by the Feng family. They set up this scheme solely to destroy the two families' most outstanding direct descendants..."

"With a mere Foundation Establishment-level [Dinggu Secret Realm], there's absolutely no danger of killing three Jindan True Immortals at the same time. Besides the three of them killing each other, there's only one possibility: being killed by a cultivator of a higher level..."

"Perhaps Feng Qijie, the Nascent Soul True Lord of the Feng family, was already hiding in the secret realm..."

"This also perfectly aligns with why the Jindan cultivator sent by Master Song in the beginning was Sun Baiyuan, because Sun Baiyuan, this outsider Master Song, was originally a discarded pawn!"

"But then, for some inexplicable reason, it was the upper-grade Jindan cultivator Song Wangshan who went... because from the very beginning, the Feng family had no intention of letting go of the Song family's True Lord's promising Nascent Soul seed."

"If my speculation is correct, then it's no wonder that the two great masters, Zhang Qingmang and Wang Fujia, hate Master Song so much. Their most outstanding descendant was murdered in this way, leaving the family without successors. If they can't cultivate another late-stage Jindan cultivator of their surname, their influence will inevitably decline, and there's even the possibility of their family being destroyed..."

"I hate Master Song. I hate him for aiding and abetting the evil, for being an accomplice to the evil, and for being so self-righteous that he ruined the Song family's hopes for a future rise..."

"As for the Feng family, the mastermind..."

Jing Yu looked up and met Zhang Gengshi's slightly gloomy face.

"You don't dare to hate?"

Zhang Gengshi seemed to understand the meaning in Jing Yu's eyes, and laughed grimly.

"Hongchenhai Jindan Zhenren are not allowed to attack those who are from the foundation-building family or above. Hehe... How come there is no rule that Yuanying Zhenjun cannot attack Jindan Zhenren?"

"Everyone praises the Feng family of Tingfeng Island as a famous righteous immortal clan in the southern region of Luoxing Lake. Righteousness... what a righteous path!"

"Zhang Gengshi, what is your intention in telling me this today?" Jing Yu frowned.

"I just want to let Fellow Daoist Ye know that the hatred between Patriarch Qingmang and Master Fujia is actually only due to Song Jianxu... At most, there are direct descendants of the Song family, and they don't have much ill will towards Fellow Daoist Ye."

Zhang Gengshi smiled and said, "Even the ancestors of the two families are happy to see Fellow Daoist Ye's success in forming his elixir."

"Firstly, the Song family on Xingluo Island has limited spiritual resources for forming a core. If Fellow Daoist Ye uses more, Song Jinghong will have to use less. This is a good thing no matter how you look at it."

"Secondly, if Fellow Daoist Ye succeeds in forming a pill, but Song Jinghong fails... once Song Jianxu dies, the Song family will have to change its name. It's hard to say whether the Song family will change to Sun or Ye."

"Seeing the Song family being replaced like this, Song Jianxu must be grieved in his grave. The ancestors of the Zhang and Wang families naturally felt greatly relieved."

"There is one more thing, and that is to make Fellow Daoist Ye understand the principle that even a tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind."

"If you stand out too much, it might not be a good thing."

"The trees are beautiful in the forest, but the wind will destroy them..."

Jing Yu murmured, "What a great [wind] that will destroy it!"

"Did the noble Qingmang Zhenren instigate this banquet?"

But Zhang Gengshi shook his head and said, "It's really not!"

"This banquet was Zhang's own initiative."

"Ancestor Qingmang doesn't think highly of Fellow Daoist Ye, but I, Zhang, feel I have not misjudged him. Fellow Daoist Ye is a hidden dragon in the abyss, and he will definitely be something extraordinary in the future!"

Zhang Gengshi's tone was now much warmer and more intimate than before. He whispered, "Although Gengshi's cultivation aptitude isn't particularly outstanding, he has considerable experience with the Yu Zhi family and knows that he shouldn't put all his chips on one person."

"Releasing kindness now is also to make a good connection."

"I only hope that if you win this round in the future, you won't kill us all. It would be best if you could leave some bloodline for our Zhang family. Geng Shi can also make a vow to his inner demon that the bloodline of the Zhang family will never come to seek revenge in the future!"

Zhang Gengshi said earnestly, "In return, if the Song family is defeated, Gengshi will also find a way to mediate for you and give you a chance to live."