Hearing the reproach in his voice, Sunx Fuping answered quickly, "The sacrifices here ran away, so I had to use the backup Array outside and then summon you, Venerable, to this place. Did something happen out there? Are you feeling unwell?"

His first choice for the sacrifice had been Hee Lingchuan and Fuzzy Peach, but those two saw their chance and fled. He could only resort to his backup plan, using Hee Chunhua and the others as sacrifices, and then employ another method to summon the Deity he’d called forth into this place.

This additional transfer was simply unavoidable.

Nian Songyu said with a grim expression, "There was a small mishap outside, causing my power to weaken. This Black Flood Dragon revives endlessly; this cannot be its true form. I need you to find the very source of its life!" With that, he raised a hand and made two circles over Sunx Fuping’s head, as if sprinkling something.

Faint specks of light trickled from between his fingers, like fluttering blossoms or swirling snow, raining down in fine motes over Sunx Fuping’s entire body.

To an onlooker, it might have seemed like he was just sprinkling glitter on Sunx Fuping. Only Sunx Fuping himself knew the truth: the sensation was like a gentle spring rain, not only clearing his mind and refreshing his body but also healing the majority of his wounds.

Hee Lingchuan had used Siege Weapons to subject him to two rounds of furious bombardment, an assault no ordinary person could have endured. Sunx Fuping had exhausted all his life-saving techniques, and only with Nian Songyu’s desperate efforts to protect him did he barely survive. Still, his injuries were severe, the internal damage many times worse than the external. The fact that he was even standing was a miracle.

But with more than a dozen of those little ruffians still standing on the floor above, he had to force himself to keep up appearances.

Yet the Venerable had smoothed away his injuries with ease. This was a feat beyond the power of any mortal, and Sunx Fuping was, of course, filled with even greater awe.

"Please enlighten me, Venerable!"

He was unaware that the Venerable before him was, in fact, extremely displeased. Divine Descent was a highly dangerous process. The so-called Celestial God’s Will was especially vulnerable to injury before it had entered its host vessel.

Sunx Fuping’s failure to stand guard during this process was a grave transgression.

However, successful Divine Descents were so rare they could be counted on one hand, and this secret was not to be shared with outsiders. Even if Sunx Fuping were to read the ancient texts until they disintegrated, he could never have known.

Fortunately, the Venerable still needed him to deal with his own troubles, so he spared a little extra Divine Power to mend his injuries.

"Since it is the source of the Black Flood Dragon’s life, it must be something that has remained unchanged from beginning to end—something this great fire cannot destroy. And by the way, it’s not the Grand Square Pot. Since you managed to find your way here, I imagine you must have some idea."

The Venerable had given his hints. Now it was up to Sunx Fuping to find a way to complete the task.

Sunx Fuping nodded, then quickly asked, "V venerable, what about my position as National Preceptor?"

A dark smile touched Nian Songyu’s lips. "If we make it out of this place, you will have your heart’s desire."

A great weight was finally lifted from Sunx Fuping’s mind. He dashed into the ruins before the Great Wind Army could attack again.

...

The Venerable had only given him a few hints, but as Sunx Fuping pondered them for a moment, his expression changed.

’Find the source of the Black Flood Dragon’s life,’ in layman’s terms, meant finding the opponent’s Achilles’ heel. However, the crucial point of the Venerable’s statement wasn’t just the information that ’the Black Flood Dragon’s true form is not on the battlefield.’

Sunx Fuping was a man of insight and experience; he had figured out long ago that the reason the Black Flood Dragon was seemingly immortal was that it had hidden its weak point somewhere else and was using the power of the Grand Square Pot to repeatedly heal its wounds.

For a monster like this, how could it possibly die if its vital spot was never struck?

But the Venerable’s words held a deeper meaning, and the more Sunx Fuping thought about it, the more horrifying the implications became.

Sunx Fuping had always believed the Black Flood Dragon was an Artifact Spirit secretly born from the Grand Square Pot. ’If that were true, why would the Venerable ask me to find the "source of its life?" Wouldn’t the Grand Square Pot itself be the source of its life?’

But the Venerable had specifically denied this.

’So, what in the world *is* that Black Flood Dragon?’

Sunx Fuping ran for a moment, then paused for a good while amidst the ruins before a flash of inspiration finally struck him.

’Could it be...?’ 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He changed direction and headed due north.

The sprawling ruins before him were the true face of Panlong Ancient City after the Alliance Army’s retreat all those years ago.

The previous peace, prosperity, and tranquility had been nothing more than a beautiful illusion.

Yet between the illusion and the reality, there had to be some things that had not changed.

Soon, Sunx Fuping passed the grand, high-gated Zhong Residence. Zhong Shengguang had later purchased it from the Chen Family and renovated it, even replacing the name plaque over the entrance.

Sunx Fuping didn’t linger, however. This was not the place he was looking for.

He went straight through the Sub-prefecture Yamen, crossed a massive, dried-up chasm, and finally found another stretch of ruins—

The Official Residence.

At least, they had been the Official Residence of Panlong City before their destruction.

The Official Residence was now vastly different from how it had been in times of peace. But Sunx Fuping still quickly found his target among the ruins.

It was an unremarkable residence with just two rooms and a small courtyard.

There was a burial mound in the courtyard.

Sunx Fuping ignored the mound, turning instead to the two ruined rooms and beginning to search frantically.

The large bed, the vanity, the small bed...

He even pried open a secret compartment in the vanity, only to find its contents had long since been charred black and fused into a single lump.

’None of these could be the source of the Black Flood Dragon’s life.’

’But the place is only so big, and there are only so many things here. Could my deduction be wrong?’

Sweat dripped from Sunx Fuping’s forehead.

Time was of the essence. The Venerable was out there, fighting the monster from the Grand Square Pot with all his might. If Sunx Fuping couldn’t find the key to turning the tables soon, then forget his grand ambitions—it was questionable whether he’d even keep his own life.

Sunx Fuping paced back and forth inside the residence three times.

Perhaps his anxiety had blinded him, because only after finishing his third lap did he suddenly whirl around and dash back to the main room.

The bed in here had been burned down to a ruined frame. Only half a wall remained, and it was blackened with soot.

But on this half-wall, there was a gray patch.

It was the wall’s original color.

It looked as though something had originally been hanging there, shielding that spot from the fire and preventing the wall behind it from being blackened.

’This shape...’

Sunx Fuping muttered to himself, "A saber. I remember a saber used to hang here."

That’s right. This was where Zhong Shengguang had lived before becoming Commander-in-Chief. Sunx Fuping had been here before; it was where he’d found the grave of the Baling Expedition Team member.

Furthermore, while waiting for Nian Songyu, Sunx Fuping had thoroughly explored this very residence, so he had a clear impression of its furnishings.

In fact, the furniture in this official residence was so spartan, just the same few items, that it would have been difficult not to remember them.

The wall was still here, the bed was still here, but the saber that had hung on the wall was gone.

The condition of the wall after the fire proved the saber had been there the whole time, fitting the Venerable’s description: "something this great fire cannot destroy."

So his deduction hadn’t been wrong. Someone had taken it.

Sunx Fuping stood up, forcing a name through his clenched teeth as if he wanted to shred the very words to pieces. "Hee Lingchuan, you little bastard!"

The always calm and composed National Preceptor Sunx had finally been unable to stop himself from cursing.