Ning Zhuo gradually opened his eyes and found that his surroundings had changed drastically; he was back in his underground workshop.
A strong sense of weakness welled up from deep within him.
Ning Zhuo stood up and examined himself.
"My physical body is fine, but my soul has been severely weakened."
In Room Two, he had suffered too many collisions from the giant wood.
"Although this was only my first exploration of the Magma Fairy Palace and I haven't entered Room Three, I gained a lot!"
"Especially the spell reward from Room Two, which I managed to bring back by sheer luck."
Ning Zhuo did not rush to study the spell he had obtained; instead, he drank water and ate food first.
His soul had been extracted, leaving his physical body in a state of unconsciousness. His heartbeat and breathing were maintained, but being immobile for a long time was still very undesirable.
After all, Ning Zhuo was currently only a Qi Refinement cultivator and hadn't specially trained in any body refinement techniques. His physical body wasn't strong.
While eating and drinking to replenish his body's nutrition, Ning Zhuo calculated the time spent.
"The first exploration of the Magma Fairy Palace took about three hours."
"For Qi Refinement cultivators who have cultivated the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, the method of entering the Magma Fairy Palace is different from before. Previously, one would enter with the physical body; now, the soul is drawn in. This means that even if the City Lord guards the peak of Fire Persimmon Mountain, it wouldn't make much sense."
"No, the City Lord would still continue to blockade the area."
"On one hand, he needs to prevent cultivators above the Qi Refinement stage from physically entering the palace. After all, the Magma Fairy Palace has now appeared."
"On the other hand, doing this also benefits his own forces. His grandson, Meng Chong, who is still in the Qi Refinement stage, had started preparing to seize the Magma Fairy Palace a long time ago. In this regard, the City Lord's side remains the most advantageous."
"Meng Chong possesses superior immortal aptitude—Raging Thunderbolt! I can't compare to that."
"Sigh, I wonder how many levels he has passed? Room Two surely won't be a problem for him."
Mere mortals with spirit roots only had the basic qualification for cultivation.
Above spirit roots, there were countless cultivation aptitudes.
Superior talents were called immortal aptitudes, which were extraordinary, often enabling the wielder to defeat enemies across stages.
Although Ning Zhuo's first exploration didn't lead him into Room Three, he gained a lot.
The Magma Fairy Palace treated "outsiders" and "its own cultivators" entirely differently.
This was very beneficial for Ning Zhuo.
Under the previous method, Ning Zhuo needed to face competitors in the Foundation Establishment Stage, Golden Core Stage, and even Nascent Soul Stage.
But now, under this mode of examination, his opponents were temporarily only other Qi Refinement cultivators.
Ning Zhuo recollected the information he had gathered.
"Among the Qi Refinement cultivators on the City Lord's side, Meng Chong is definitely the leader."
"The Zhou Family's Qi Refinement cultivators included Zhou Zeshen and Zhou Zhu. These two had joined the Mudflow Sect specifically and their expertise in mechanical techniques was hard to estimate."
"The Zheng Family's Zheng Jian is the face of their Qi Refinement stage. He possesses upper-class talent, Piercing Heart Insight, which is also impressive."
"As for the Ning Family, the best among the Qi Refining cultivators of the same level is Ning Xiaohui. However, she is unwilling to switch to the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art."
"Sigh, these are all geniuses in cultivation."
"Compared to them, I only have lower-class immortal aptitude, Early Wise, which is quite ordinary."
"The key is, they have deep backgrounds and can get strong support from their families, even help from Nascent Soul-level cultivators. I can't do that; I'm too ordinary and can only fight alone. In this regard, I can only look up to them."
Thinking about the situation gave Ning Zhuo a pounding headache.
He found a bottle of elixir pills for recovering the soul, poured out a few, and swallowed them with water.
Then, he hurriedly threw himself onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
While he was resting, a conflict was unfolding in the Zhou Family.
"Why can't I use the Gathering and Dispersing As Desired Spirit Tide Array here?" A Qi Refinement cultivator shouted arrogantly.
"Because I am here." Zhou Zeshen came out with a sullen face.
The Zhou Family's Qi Refinement cultivator smirked and was about to speak sarcastically when he saw Zhou Zeshen take out a small flag.
He aimed it at the troublemaker and gave it a shake; the ground beneath the Zhou Family Qi Refinement cultivator instantly turned into a swamp, swallowing him up quickly.
The Zhou Family's Qi Refinement cultivator shouted, "Zhou Zeshen, you are too rampant, daring to use force in the clan grounds! Ah..."
He couldn't say another word.
His entire body was almost swallowed by the mud; his chin and mouth were already submerged, leaving only his nostrils above the surface, giving him a chance to breathe.
He struggled desperately but couldn't move, his whole face turning red with rage, eyes wide open.
Zhou Zeshen sneered and then looked around at the crowd. "I know some people in the clan are dissatisfied with me and Zhou Zhu."
"But using such petty tricks to disgust me is really underestimating me."
Just then, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded from underground.
Zhou Zeshen's face changed drastically; he hurriedly turned and rushed into the basement.
The Gathering and Dispersing As Desired Spirit Tide Array had already slowly stopped, and Zhou Zhu was lying on the ground, his eyes closed, and blood was oozing from all his pores.
"Da Zhu!" Zhou Zeshen shouted and rushed into the array, checking on Zhou Zhu and administering emergency treatment.
Not long after, a family elder of the Zhou Family, with a face ashen, rushed over. "Investigate, we must find the culprit and punish them severely!"
The Zheng Family.
In the artifact refining room, it was bustling with activity.
A tall furnace stood open, its firelight illuminating Zheng Jian's reddened face.
At this moment, he was shirtless, his muscles bulging, sweat rolling down as he focused on refining artifacts.
In one hand, he held a pair of iron tongs; in the other, he raised a hammer high, continuously striking the artifact embryo.
The artifact embryo was quite small, only the size of an infant's palm.
Suddenly, the artifact embryo emitted a radiant glow.
Sparks of brilliance flashed in Zheng Jian's eyes; he quickly put down the hammer and scooped a ladle of water, pouring it over the embryo.
The clear water hit the artifact embryo, making a sizzling sound and producing a large amount of white steam.
Zheng Jian immediately felt a sense of danger and quickly backed away.
But he had already inhaled a slight bit of the white steam, causing him to cough twice and spit out blood.
"Damn it, this water is poisoned!"
Zheng Jian's face turned pale as he dashed out of the artifact refining room.
The City Lord's Mansion.
A black-clad assassin climbed over the courtyard wall, stepping silently on the roof, and took out a blowgun-like magic artifact.
He secretly used a spell to melt a small hole through the roof and then carefully lowered the blowgun through it.
But in the next moment, he heard a low roar: "Thief, prepare to die!"
The blowgun was mercilessly pushed, carrying terrifying electric light, piercing through the black-clad assassin's mouth and exiting through the back of his head. It then disappeared into the sky at incredible speed.
In the glaring electric light, the assassin convulsed violently.
The next moment, he turned into a piece of charcoal and rolled off the roof, crashing to the ground.
"Hmph!" Inside the room, Meng Chong slowly closed his eyes and continued his cultivation.
The Ning Family.
Ning Xiaohui stood before the clan leader, with her grandmother and the Talisman Hall elder by her side.
"It's not impossible for me to switch to the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, but I have some demands!" Ning Xiaohui changed her stance.
Originally, the Ning Family main line had been unable to put forward a suitable candidate, leaving only Ning Xiaohui.
Ning Xiaohui's grandmother, along with the supporting Talisman Hall elder, could no longer withstand the combined pressure from others and had to choose to compromise.