On this side of the Divine Mountain, it's very easy to visit Dazhi City.

But nowadays, the outskirts of Dazhi City can no longer be described as desolate. From the air, there's a huge barren patch on the vast prairie.

Walking around Dazhi City is not possible anymore; roads have disappeared, covered entirely in thick dust that can easily bury a person. When the wind blows, everything turns gray; when it rains, the consequences are unimaginable, as some water channels have become swamp-like.

All businesses around Dazhi City have been destroyed, including the ranch where Wu Jinliang once stayed, flattened like dead wood.

With the water channels destroyed, there's a problem with the city's drinking water, and reports need to be submitted to request those proficient in Water Manipulation Technique to reshape the water channels.

Road construction has begun outside the city, and it cannot be delayed; when it rains, people can hardly move, and ordinary merchants' goods struggle to enter and exit. Without the flow of the lower class, the upper class lifestyle can't be supported.

Without the flow of the lower class, the existence of this city becomes unnecessary.

The transformed Jiang You'er smoothly entered the city and went straight to her destination.

Someone from the Extreme Fire Sect had sent word, making it very easy to find Yin Tianlu's location, who was still inside the building watching over Bai's Rice Shop.

A carriage stopped outside the courtyard gate of the building, and Jiang You'er, hidden within a cloak, directly knocked on the door.

Then, the people inside the building suddenly disappeared, including Yin Tianlu and three disciples of the Extreme Fire Sect, vanishing without a sound.

When the Extreme Fire Sect failed to contact them, they realized something had happened, but a hasty investigation yielded no results.

When the news reached Qiu Ben, there was a loud bang as he smashed the tea table with a palm, shattering the tea cup.

The senior disciple standing beside him, Huang Lang, was also very helpless.

Qiu Ben was furious, pointing outside the door and scolding angrily, "What is the Sect doing? What is Yin Tianlu? He absorbed three Divine Fires; he represents the future of the Sect. I was afraid of anything happening to him, forced him back, and the Sect sent him back out to meddle in these affairs. Was it absolutely necessary for him to get involved? As soon as something happened in Dazhi City, they should have known the danger and should have called him back. Let's see how the Sect resolves this now!"

Huang Lang sighed, "Master, please calm down. The matter has already happened; the only thing left is to find people."

Qiu Ben: "How to find them? Isn't it chaotic enough already? If they insist on finding, it's up to those of us here to search. If we find them, so be it; if not, the responsibility will be solely based on the higher-ups' word. Do you think they will admit it was their decision-making error?"

Huang Lang lowered his head and remained silent; he was not in a position to comment on such topics.

Though angered, the situation still needed to be reported. After Qiu Ben managed to suppress his anger and pondered for a long time, he slowly said, "Previously, it was Mrs. Bai interfering, and this time, too, an incident occurred while they were watching Bai's Rice Shop. Relying on the support of the Phoenix Clan, she really doesn't know her measure!"

Though the culprit couldn't be determined, Mrs. Bai was highly suspicious, and it was reported as such when he presented the situation.

When the news reached the Extreme Fire Sect, Yin Tianlu's disappearance shook the upper echelons, leading to a decisive decision being made promptly.

Upon receiving the Sect's resolution, Qiu Ben headed straight for the Divine Hall atop the main peak of Divine Mountain, seeking an audience with Goddess Feng Qingping, and matter-of-factly stated that three Extreme Fire Sect disciples had disappeared again in Dazhi City, vanishing while watching over Bai's Rice Shop, with Mrs. Bai being the chief suspect.

Time and again, it's simply unbridled. My Extreme Fire Sect will not tolerate this. There's nothing else to do; we must find them, sparing no expense!

Feng Qingping's eyebrows furrowed deeply. Last time, several Extreme Fire Sect disciples disappeared, and a valuable treasure was lost, directly connected to Mrs. Bai. Now, personnel disappearance is linked to Mrs. Bai again, leaving her unable to help speculate.

She had actually received secret notice from the Phoenix Clan, indicating they had already formed a cooperative relationship with the Extreme Fire Sect. If it truly was Mrs. Bai acting recklessly under the guise of the Phoenix Clan's background, it was time to restore order without any politeness.

Yet, as she was raised by Granny Qi, there was a debt of nurturing kindness, and Granny Qi is now the leader of the Bai Family, hence she was still contemplating how to target Mrs. Bai, when one wave had not subsided before another arose.

Upon further thought, there wasn't really any further contemplation to be done; with Qiu Ben forcing the issue, she was urged to fulfill the Phoenix Clan's promise.

After a long pause, Feng Qingping asked, "How do you want my side to cooperate?"

Qiu Ben said, "I've always believed that simple and direct methods are the most effective."

Feng Qingping asked again, "What kind of simple and direct method?"

Qiu Ben: "Capture people, interrogate them. As long as they fear death, I don't believe anyone can withstand severe interrogation."

Feng Qingping: "Granny Qi is the leader of the Bai Family; do you think she will yield under your torture?"

Qiu Ben: "No matter how capable one is, they can't handle everything. If she doesn't talk, surely someone else will. I don't believe there isn't a participant or acquaintance under her."

Feng Qingping: "What if it turns out not to be Mrs. Bai who did it?"

Qiu Ben: "That's not Extreme Fire Sect's concern. We've already paid the price."

The implication being that without enough benefits given to the Phoenix Clan, they won't agree to cooperate.

After Feng Qingping listened, she was silent for a while, then proposed a condition, "No torture for Granny Qi."

That was the only dignity she could provide for the debt of nurturing kindness.

Qiu Ben, resolute and decisive, replied, "Fine. As long as she doesn't flee, there's no need to torture her. Once someone opens up, she can't avoid confessing unless she intends to destroy the clan! To prevent any slip-through, once personnel are positioned in all places, a command will be issued simultaneously, arresting all relevant personnel!"

Though simple when said, the arrangement was a process.

Not only would operations commence on the Divine Mountain, but action in Dazhi City also needed to be simultaneous.

The Central District Commander Feng Jue was shocked to be involved, not expecting action against Granny Qi; initially opposed, but after knowing it was the Phoenix Clan's decision, he could only silently accept it.

Soon, Po Yuan descended from the mountain again, urgently leading a few people to Dazhi City.

After a long flight and arriving secretly, he first secretly met with the City Lord Li Xianghong to inform her of the decision from the Divine Mountain.

Li Xianghong was also shocked to take action against her own friend. After contacting the Divine Mountain to confirm, she had no choice but to secretly proceed with the arrangements as ordered.

Once the news that everything was in place was received from various quarters, the Goddess Feng Qingping in the Divine Hall told her maid, "Please bring Granny Qi here, tell her I have business with her."

"Yes." The maid accepted the order and left.

It wasn't far, leaving the palace, a quick flight down the mountain to the nearby hill.

Upon learning of the Goddess's summons, Granny Qi didn't think much of it; after all, it was a fairly routine matter. She immediately left the house, flying to the Divine Hall with the reporting maid.

As she landed outside the hall, she noticed Feng Jue, whose face no longer bore a smile, greeting her with a salute. Only then did she notice something amiss. Usually met with a smiling face, what was different today?

She immediately asked politely, "Young Lord Jue, what's the matter? Did someone upset you?"

Feng Jue did not respond, simply turned his body to gesture her inside.

Seeing his silence, Granny Qi chuckled without asking more, propped on her cane, lifted her skirt, and stepped over the threshold.

Upon entering, she discovered a stranger she hadn't met before inside the hall. She had never seen Qiu Ben from the Extreme Fire Sect, but she had her own channels of information from the mountain. Seeing that Qiu Ben's hair was just growing back, she guessed who he was but pretended not to know.

This wasn't much, but what truly struck her as unusual was that the Goddess, who was usually on the main seat, didn't descend to greet her, which was against normal protocol.

Meanwhile, Feng Qingping on the main seat also nodded slightly towards Feng Jue at the door.

Thus, Feng Jue turned around, took out the Mother-child Talisman, and sent out messages to act from his hand.

Soon, around the hill where the Bai family was situated, a group of people emerged and encircled the area.

In Yao Mountain City, the loafer Hua Chong was strolling the streets, and as he passed through a crowd, he was caught off guard when those passing by turned around to attack, directly pinning him to the ground, covering his head, and tossing him into a nearby carriage to take him away.

In Zhu Lang Pavilion, both upstairs and downstairs, people suddenly burst out, with those upstairs breaking into guest rooms to catch people, while those downstairs were besieged in the woods, causing a loud tiger roar to emanate.

After this action, Lou Xiu, who had been guarding beside Yin Xu, apologetically left, restoring Yin Xu's freedom.

Actually, it was just to make Yin Xu cooperate a bit, needing her to allow a group of people upstairs to act, while also preventing her from leaking the news, thus her freedom was briefly restricted.

Yin Xu wouldn't thank him; she quickly extended her head out the window to see the situation downstairs where the tiger roared, seeing a White Tiger revealed under pressure. It initially wanted to resist, but seeing the pursuers reveal their City Guard identity, it didn't want to cause a conflict and surrendered quietly.

The event occurred suddenly and ended quickly. The Bai family's people didn't know what was happening and, not wanting to cause a scene at the foot of the Divine Mountain, mostly cooperated quietly as soon as the City Guard revealed their identity.

Yin Xu quickly went out to check the situation, running into Tian Shen coming over.

In a low voice, Tian Shen reported, "Those being caught seem to be guests watching Wang Ping, and they all appear to be from the Bai family."

"The Bai family?" Yin Xu was startled when thinking of the White Tiger she saw downstairs. Existing here, how could she not know the Bai family's connection with the Phoenix Clan? This is the domain of the Divine Mountain's influence, how could the City Guard take action against the Bai family?

Not understanding the situation, she immediately returned to her room, took out the Mother-child Talisman, and transmitted the relevant information to Shi Chun. Since those watching Shi Chun were involved, she was unsure if this information would be useful to him, but she informed Shi Chun immediately.

In Dazhi City, a group of people suddenly stormed into Bai's Rice Shop.

Seeing the City Guard rush in to catch people, even Bai Qiru was surprised. Although not knowing the reason, everyone cooperated and were all quietly taken away.

The same scenario unfolded at Chao Yue Hall, where a group of City Guards surrounded and rushed in, startling the guests, who were reading and chatting, into chaos. The bookstore owner's family of five were all taken away without exception.

Dong Wenshu shouted, "What are you doing? What do you want? I want to see the City Lord, I want to see the City Lord!"

A kind-hearted City Guard sighed, "Sir, stop shouting. This is ordered by the City Lord. We're all old acquaintances; don't force us to use harsh measures, it'll be embarrassing for everyone."

The three sisters of the Dong family were visibly frightened, each with good looks but all with faces full of panic and confusion, unsure of what their family had done wrong. Could it be that the issue with their cousin hadn't been resolved?

Their family was known for being honest and straightforward; apart from the incident with Fan Wuzhe, they couldn't think of anything that could involve them.

Neighbors and passersby watching the scene were pointing and discussing, suspecting there might be a misunderstanding, believing it impossible for such a family to commit any crime...

"What do you want to do?"

"Who allowed you to break in?"

On the Divine Mountain, Wu Jinliang and three others, who were under house arrest by the Bai family, also heard the unusual commotion outside.

They ran out from their underground Cultivation quiet room, peered out from window cracks and door seams, finding a group from the Divine Mountain had surrounded the area, with the Bai family's forces clearly in confrontation with them.

Watching closely, Wu Jinliang crouched by the window crack suddenly reached out for the Mother-child Talisman, receiving a message from Shi Chun saying that the City Guard at Zhu Lang Pavilion was catching the Bai family's members and inquiring about the situation with Granny Qi.

Wu Jinliang was stunned, peeked out the window crack again, and instantly realized something was off. This wasn't the City Guard capturing the Bai family; this was the Divine Mountain making a move. He quietly cursed under his breath, "What's the point of asking?" He glanced back at the other three, "I tell you, stop watching, hurry and follow me to escape!"

"What happened?" Chu Jingtang asked, the three all turning to look.

"Who knows, just run first!" Uttered Wu Jinliang, who became like a headless fly, not knowing which way to run.

Eventually, he gestured to everyone to follow him back into the quiet room, where he started prying up the floor tiles.

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