The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit gradually saw through the ruse.
It disdainfully exhaled a puff of red-brown smoke, certain that Ning Zhuo's efforts were completely in vain.
However, just as it was about to lift its fingertip to stop Ning Zhuo, it dismissed the idea.
It suddenly found this spectacle quite entertaining.
It was like toying with a small ant, raising its palm each time to block the ant's path. Seeing no way forward, the ant could only turn and take another route. Continually blocking its way with its palm, the ant had no choice but to keep changing paths.
Isn't this amusing?
Ning Zhuo, unaware that he had been reduced to an ant, felt enormous pressure.
"I must succeed."
"I have to erase my name!"
Ning Zhuo was very clear about the gravity of the situation.
The success or failure of this could almost decide his life or death!
Even if it did not kill him, the outcome would still be extremely tragic.
Submitting to the Ning Family, confessing to the clan?
Ning Zhuo hardly considered this option.
Given the Ning Family's ethos, his honest confession would most likely be met with surface support but secret suppression.
Support? They would just use him as a tool.
His future life would certainly be extremely stifling, and the gains from the Immortal Palace would be taken by the family.
Freedom? Forget about it!
"What about joining the other three factions?"
Ning Zhuo silently shook his head.
Seeking refuge now would be terrible. Meng Chong, Zhou Zhu, and the others had been secretly harmed. As an outsider with such excellent results, he would certainly attract concentrated attacks from other major forces.
His frail body could not withstand this, absolutely could not!
"My biggest advantage is to always conceal my abilities and stay hidden. But now, a simple ranking list has exposed me, nullifying all the efforts of hiding for over ten years."
"I refuse to accept this!"
With such pressure and emotions, Ning Zhuo quickly assembled a rudimentary catapult.
He aimed, calculated the distance, and swiftly cut the rope.
In the next moment, the heavy stone in the catapult was launched.
Bang.
With a dull thud, the heavy stone struck the stone pillar, precisely hitting the spot where Ning Zhuo's name was inscribed.
Then, with another loud bang, the heavy stone fell to the ground, shattering the surrounding tiles.
However, Ning Zhuo's name on the stone pillar ranking remained intact, still prominently displayed!
Seeing this, Ning Zhuo's heart sank heavily.
He clenched his fists and stared fixedly at his name.
He had never expected to face a life-or-death crisis during his second exploration of the Magma Fairy Palace!
Had he not been in a puppet body, he would surely be sweating profusely.
All sorts of negative emotions inevitably arose and quickly spread in his heart.
Ning Zhuo couldn't help but recall his mother's dying instructions.
"Mother told me to stay safe. If my life is in danger, I can abandon this Immortal Palace."
"Life is still the most important!"
"Perhaps, I shouldn't have harbored any greed and come to explore the Magma Fairy Palace."
Suddenly, Ning Zhuo shook his head, his eyes glinting coldly.
"Heh, what's wrong with me?"
"Given another chance, I'd still do the same!"
"With such an opportunity in front of me, not fighting for it would be cowardly, worse than death."
"Calm down!"
"Even if I am ultimately exposed, I accept the worst outcome."
"Because it's all my own choice!"
Ning Zhuo quickly regained his composure.
Once calm, his mind soon came up with other ideas.
"The stone pillar ranking is hard to destroy, but maybe the Magma Fairy Palace itself provides a way to change or disguise names?"
"There are multiple areas in the preparation room I haven't explored."
Ning Zhuo started to explore everywhere.
He quickly scanned the workbenches, crafting tools, and various types of mechanism bases. Some were familiar, but most were not.
He reached the room's exit and touched the portal, but nothing happened.
"It seems the preparation room offers no rewards."
Finally, he fixed his gaze on the five stone pillars in the room's center.
Just a moment ago, he had touched the pillar to erase his name, but nothing happened.
However, thinking it over, Ning Zhuo felt the pillars couldn't be so simple.
He tried injecting spiritual power into one of the pillars. The next moment, the pillar emitted a thin beam of light, hitting Ning Zhuo's chest directly.
The light marked Ning Zhuo's chest with a seal.
Within a few breaths, the seal disappeared.
"Trial Disciple?" Ning Zhuo recognized the seal and felt it was familiar.
Suddenly, he realized the seal's font style matched the Buddha Heart Devil Seal.
"This isn't surprising; Mother took the Buddha Heart Devil Seal from the Magma Fairy Palace."
The seal from the Magma Fairy Palace hadn't disappeared but merely concealed itself.
Then, subsequent information transmitted to Ning Zhuo's mind.
"It turns out, the names on the ranking get rewards every week. And these rewards correlate with the specific ranking. The higher the rank, the richer the rewards."
"A week... from when does it start counting?"
"The exact rewards are also unspecified."
Ning Zhuo stood by the pillar, looking up at his rank, sighing internally.
"That's not the issue."
"I'd rather give up these rewards than keep my name up there."
For Ning Zhuo, the rewards were just icing on the cake. But name exposure would be a disaster!
"I must get off the list, get off the list!"
"What should I do?"
"I don't want my name there."
Ning Zhuo racked his brains but couldn't find a good solution.
But as he strained his thoughts, a very vague yet familiar sensation slowly emerged.
"This sensation..."
"Could it be the Buddha Heart Devil Seal?!"
In an instant, Ning Zhuo seized upon this sensation like a drowning man grasping a lifeline. Whether it worked or not, it was his only hope at the moment.
Immediately, he focused his mind, dismissed distractions, and concentrated fully on sensing the Buddha Heart Devil Seal.
In Persimmon Fire Immortal City.
Ning Zhuo's physical body lay on a bed, appearing just like normal sleep.
But within his Upper Dantian Divine Sea, the enormous Treasure Seal slowly began to shine.
Its glow intensified, emitting from his physical body and following the life thread to reach Ning Zhuo's soul.
Ning Zhuo's soul, residing within the puppet that was in contact with the five stone pillars, allowed the Buddha Heart Devil Seal's influence to extend to the pillars.
Ning Zhuo: "It's working, it's really working!!!"
In Ning Zhuo's intense desire, his name began to slowly sink down.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been watching Ning Zhuo all along.
Ning Zhuo's countless failures to erase his name and subsequent brooding seemed quite amusing to it.
It lay on the throne, its gaze penetrating the space, watching with great interest.
The next moment, it stiffened, its eyes suddenly emitting blinding red light.
It had sensed the Buddha Heart Devil Seal!
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, extremely excited, leaped into the air.
Roar!
It roared, its diminutive body producing an astounding sound. The entire Magma Fairy Palace radiated dazzling light once more!
At the peak of Fire Persimmon Mountain, the light beams shot skyward by the hundreds.
The entire Immortal Palace trembled incessantly, magma churned violently, and thick smoke billowed incessantly.
The Fire Persimmon City Lord, long on guard, was awakened and hurriedly acted to suppress the mountain's eruption.
"What happened?!" His heart was full of doubt.