Ning Zhuo slowly opened his eyes and found that his surroundings had changed dramatically; he was back in his underground workshop. A strong sense of weakness surged from deep within his heart.
Standing up, Ning Zhuo examined himself. "My physical body is fine, but my soul has been severely weakened." In Room No. 2, he had endured numerous hits from giant trees. "Although it was only my first exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace and I didn't enter Room No. 3, I made significant gains!"
"Especially the magical rewards from Room No. 2, which I was fortunate to bring back with me." Ning Zhuo did not rush to study the magic he had acquired. Instead, he first drank water and ate some food.
With his soul extracted, his physical body had been in a comatose state, maintaining heartbeat and breathing, but remaining immobile for a long time was not advisable. After all, Ning Zhuo was still just a Qi Refining stage cultivator and had not practiced any particular body-strengthening techniques. His physical body was not strong.
While eating and drinking to nourish his body, Ning Zhuo calculated the time spent before and after. "The first exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace took about three hours."
"A Qi Refining stage cultivator who has practiced the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art enters the Lava Immortal Palace differently than before. Previously, the true body entered the palace, but now the soul is drawn in… This means that even if the city lord continues to guard the top of Mount Huoshi, it won't be very effective anymore."
"No, the city lord will probably continue the blockade."
"On one hand, he needs to prevent cultivators above the Qi Refining stage from entering the palace in their true forms. After all, the Lava Immortal Palace has now made its appearance."
"On the other hand, by doing so, he also benefits his own power base. His own grandson, Meng Chong, who is still in the Qi Refining stage, has been preparing to claim the Lava Immortal Palace for a long time. In this regard, the city lord's side still holds a significant advantage."
"Meng Chong possesses superior immortal talents—'Wild Bursting Thunder'—far beyond what I can compare."
"Alas, I wonder how far he has progressed? Room No. 2 definitely wouldn't pose a challenge for him."
Although it was Ning Zhuo's first exploration and he hadn't reached Room No. 3, his gains were substantial. The Lava Immortal Palace offers completely different treatments to "outsiders" and its "own cultivators."
This was highly advantageous for Ning Zhuo.
Previously, Ning Zhuo had to contend with Foundation Establishment stage, Golden Core stage, and even Nascent Soul stage competitors. But now, under this testing method, his competitors are temporarily just other Qi Refining stage cultivators.
Ning Zhuo recalled the intelligence he had collected.
"Among the city lord's Qi Refining cultivators, Meng Chong is definitely the leader."
"The Zhou family's Qi Refining cultivators include Zhou Zhendeep and Zhou Zhu. These two have joined the Mud Flow Sect, and their mastery in mechanical arts is hard to estimate."
"The Zheng family's Zheng Jian is the face of the Qi Refining cultivators, possessing top-tier immortal talents like 'Piercing Heart Insight,' which is also quite remarkable."
"As for the Ning family, among their peers, Ning Xiaohui is the best. However, she is not willing to switch to practicing the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art."
"Alas, these are all geniuses in the world of cultivation," lamented Ning Zhuo. "Compared to them, I possess only inferior Early Wisdom potential, utterly unremarkable."
"The key difference is their profound backgrounds which enable them to receive strong support from their families, even assistance from Nascent Soul stage cultivators. I, on the other hand, am too ordinary and must struggle on my own. In this respect, I can only look up to them."
Ning Zhuo pondered the situation, his head aching unbearably. He found a bottle of soul-restoring pills, poured out a few, and swallowed them with water. Immediately afterward, he threw himself onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, a conflict was brewing in the Zhou family. "Why can't I use the Gather-Disperse Spirit Tide Formation here?" a Qi Refining stage cultivator shouted arrogantly.
"Because I am here," Zhou Zhendeep said darkly, stepping forward.
The Zhou family Qi Refining cultivator's mouth twitched, about to speak mockingly, when he saw Zhou Zhendeep produce a small flag. With a simple shake, the ground beneath the troublemaker's feet churned into a swamp, swallowing him rapidly.
"Zhou Zhendeep, you're too presumptuous, using force within the clan grounds! Ahhh…" His words were cut off.
His entire body was nearly engulfed by the swamp mud, his chin and mouth buried, but his nostrils remained above the surface, allowing him to breathe. He struggled desperately but couldn't move, his face turning red with fury and his eyes bulging with rage.
Zhou Zhendeep sneered, then glanced around and said to the onlookers, "I know there are people in the family who are dissatisfied with Zhou Zhu and me."
"But to use such petty tricks to disgust someone is really underestimating me."
Just then, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded from below.
Zhou Zhendeep's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly turned around and rushed into the basement.
The Gather-Disperse Spirit Tide Formation had already slowly come to a stop, and Zhou Zhu was lying on the ground, his eyes tightly closed, and blood was flowing from all over his pores.
"Zhou Zhu!" Zhou Zhendeep cried out loudly, rushing into the formation to check on him and administer emergency treatment.
Soon after, an elder from the Zhou family arrived, his face ashen. "Investigate! We must find the perpetrator and punish them severely!"
At the Zheng family's residence.
The refining room was bustling with activity.
A ten-foot-high furnace was wide open, its flames reflecting off Zheng Jian's reddened face.
At that moment, he was shirtless, his muscles bulging, and sweat rolling down his body as he fervently refined a tool.
He held tongs in one hand and raised a hammer high with the other, continuously striking the tool embryo.
The tool embryo was quite small, only about the size of a baby's palm.
Suddenly, the tool embryo burst into brilliance.
Zheng Jian's eyes sparkled with excitement as he quickly put down the hammer and scooped up a ladle of water, pouring it directly onto the tool embryo.
The clear water hit the tool embryo, hissing upon contact and generating a thick plume of white steam.
Zheng Jian immediately sensed danger and quickly retreated.
But he had already inhaled a bit of the white mist and couldn't help but cough twice, coughing up blood.
"Damn it, the water's been poisoned!"
Zheng Jian's face turned pale as he bolted out of the artifact-refining chamber.
City Lord's Mansion.
A black-clad assassin climbed over the courtyard wall, stepping across the rooftops, quietly pulling out a blowpipe-shaped magical instrument.
He secretly cast a spell, melting a small hole in the roof, and then slowly extended the blowpipe down through it.
But the next moment, he heard a low roar: "Thief, meet your death!"
The blowpipe was harshly shoved back, carrying terrifying electric light, directly piercing the assassin's mouth and shooting out from the back of his head, then vanishing into the sky at high speed.
In the glaring electric light, the assassin trembled violently for a few moments.
The next moment, he turned into char and plummeted headlong. He rolled down the roof, all the way until he hit the ground.
"Hmph!" In the room, Meng Chong slowly closed his eyes, continuing to disperse his power.
Ning Family.
Ning Xiaohui stood before the clan leader, her grandmother, and the family elders of the Talisman Hall by her side.
"I'm not opposed to modifying The Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, but I have some conditions!" Ning Xiaohui changed her tone.
Originally, the main line of the Ning family had always failed to elect a notable figure, only being able to nominate Ning Xiaohui.
Ning Xiaohui's grandmother and the supportive elders from Talisman Hall, also gradually unable to withstand the combined pressure from others, had no choice but to compromise.