Chapter 189: Manipulating the Three Families’ “Puppet Strings”
Secret underground base.
A massive Blood Transformation Pool, resembling a coffin, hung from the room’s ceiling beam.
A thick metal pipe extended from the Blood Transformation Pool.
The pipe connected to a huge Blood Oil Bottle, which was filled with murky essence blood, appearing black and red.
From the bottom of the Blood Oil Bottle, five or six pipes extended out.
These pipes were finally inserted into the back of a Mechanical Ape.
Inside the Mechanical Ape, Yuan Dasheng’s spirituality was fully employing the ninth layer of the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique!
Essence blood was infused from the Blood Oil Bottle into Yuan Dasheng’s mechanical body, then through the operation of the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique, it became Demonic-Stained Essence Blood.
Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged opposite Yuan Dasheng.
Between him and Yuan Dasheng, as well as around them, there was a simple and somewhat hastily drawn formation.
The formation emitted a faint red light and a slight bloody smell.
The ninth-layer Demonic-Stained Essence Blood cultivated by Yuan Dasheng was purified through this formation and finally entered Ning Zhuo’s body.
Ning Zhuo then used the seventh-layer of the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique, continuously transforming it, eliminating the essence blood that did not suit him, and steadily accumulating his essence sea cultivation.
Of the ten portions of Demonic-Stained Essence Blood, only two to three portions could be used by Ning Zhuo in the end.
However, by doing this, Ning Zhuo did not need to cultivate on his own, saving him a great deal of time.
Moreover, as long as the scale was large enough, theoretically, the speed at which his essence sea cultivation grew would be incredibly fast!
“Having family is truly a blessing.”
“How can I expand the number of family members so I can obtain more blood and flesh?”
Ning Zhuo had been pondering this question.
After experiencing such enormous benefits, he found it difficult to pull back.
But he hadn’t lost his rationality.
He was well aware that his large-scale public purchase of his family’s blood and flesh had already strayed into a very gray area.
Just one more step forward, and he would be suspected of practicing demonic arts.
Recently, he had been too conspicuous, going against his long-standing principle of hiding his abilities.
Now, many people were watching him, waiting for him to make a mistake.
His large-scale purchase of his family’s blood and flesh was akin to fetching chestnuts from the fire, extremely risky. Even though he had claimed it was under the guise of “developing puppet mechanisms.”
Ning Houjun and Ning Youfu, the two former family elders of the branch families, had sent people or written letters after hearing about Ning Zhuo’s actions, reminding him to be extremely mindful of his reputation!
The scale could not be expanded any further.
Any further expansion would make it easy for someone to accuse him, catch him on a minor offense, and ruin his reputation.
And reputation was extremely important for a righteous cultivator!
Crunch.
Suddenly, the left arm of the Mechanical Ape emitted a muffled sound, then directly snapped off at the elbow.
Afterward, as if triggering a chain reaction, the shoulder and chest of the Mechanical Ape, as well as the abdomen, all exploded with mechanical fragments.
A large amount of essence blood spurted out.
Amidst the rapidly gushing blood, the Mechanical Ape couldn’t bear the burden and shattered into pieces.
Ning Zhuo furrowed his brows.
He wasn’t surprised nor distressed, as the Mechanical Ape was a typical crudely made product.
However, this was already the 132nd one.
The broken fragments had already piled into a small mountain.
Ning Zhuo looked up at the beam of the room.
The giant Blood Transformation Pool and Blood Oil Bottle hanging there also showed fine cracks, with signs of disintegration.
“It’s time to properly create a Mechanical Ape,” Ning Zhuo thought to himself.
Previously, he and Sun Lingtong had crudely crafted it together, mainly to break through to the seventh layer as quickly as possible.
Now that he had reached the seventh layer, Ning Zhuo’s cultivation in essence, qi, and spirit had broken through the shackles and could continue to rise.
Now that he had reached the seventh layer, Ning Zhuo needed to focus on the future.
On one hand, he needed a Golden Core level Mechanical Ape to fully bring out the value of Yuan Dasheng’s spirituality, and on the other hand, he needed a higher-quality Mechanical Ape that could produce essence blood.
Combining both needs, Ning Zhuo decided to immediately begin crafting a new mechanical body for Yuan Dasheng.
He took the initiative to visit Zheng Jian and invited him to collaborate in creating the Mechanical Ape.
Zheng Jian was pleasantly surprised.
The last time he worked with Ning Zhuo, he learned a lot about mechanism knowledge and greatly admired Ning Zhuo’s mechanical expertise.
“I wonder what new ideas Brother Ning has this time?” Zheng Jian asked for advice.
Ning Zhuo, however, shook his head: “I may disappoint Brother Zheng; this time, the mechanical creation is different from last time…”
After explaining, Zheng Jian indeed showed a disappointed expression.
It turned out that Ning Zhuo was not planning to reveal the mechanism design this time. He merely needed to refine high-quality materials with Zheng Jian and the Zheng family’s assistance.
Zheng Jian hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded, feeling that, based on his friendship with Ning Zhuo, he could help refine the materials for him.
Ning Zhuo took out Scarlet Sun Copper.
Zheng Jian was amazed.
“This kind of Golden Core level copper material requires extremely high heat to melt.”
“No wonder Brother Ning came to find me.”
“However, I’m only at the Qi Refining stage. Brother Ning, you may be overestimating me.”
Ning Zhuo explained that he could invite other cultivators from the Zheng family to do the job.
Only then did Zheng Jian nod: “As long as Brother Ning can afford the cost, based on our friendship, I will definitely help you find the right person in the family!”
“The price is not an issue,” Ning Zhuo responded readily.
The expert Zheng Jian brought from the family quoted a high price.
Ning Zhuo smiled and bargained: “What if I’m not only refining the Scarlet Sun Copper?”
He took out a second material.
As a result, the Zheng family expert frowned after seeing it: “This Myriad Strikes Profound Iron requires a tedious process of at least ten thousand hammer strikes.”
“Though it’s Golden Core level material, it takes too much manpower.”
“I don’t have the time for private jobs. There are still many important tasks from the family weighing on my shoulders.”
Ning Zhuo took out a third material.
This time, the Zheng family refining expert directly shook his head, saying he couldn’t do it.
“Unless one is at the Golden Core stage, which can directly refine it.”
“I’m only at the Foundation Establishment stage and would need to borrow the Heaven-tier refining room to have a chance of melting it.”
“But right now, the Heaven-tier refining room is already occupied.”
Ning Zhuo then asked how long the refining room would be occupied.
“That’s uncertain. I advise you not to hold out too much hope,” the Zheng family expert said candidly.
After leaving the Zheng family, Ning Zhuo soon contacted Zhou Zhenshen.
Zhou Zhenshen praised him: “Brother Ning, you truly have courage, attempting Golden Core level mechanical creations while still at the Qi Refining stage. Such boldness! Remarkable, remarkable!”
“I’m willing to give my full support!”
However, when Ning Zhuo mentioned the specific requirements, Zhou Zhenshen found himself in quite a difficult situation.
“Brother Ning, you want to arrange formations on these Golden Core level materials, and such a huge and dense formation at that. I, Zhou Zhenshen, cannot do it.”
“My family’s Foundation Establishment cultivators can barely manage it, but it will require a lot of manpower working together.”
“Otherwise, the construction time will drag on too long.”
Ning Zhuo calculated that the Zhou family’s labor costs were already high. With more people, the payment would put quite a strain on him.
However, when Ning Zhuo assigned the task of creating talismans to his former subordinates, he received excellent feedback.
The elite Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Ning family all expressed their willingness to refine various martial arts talismans for Ning Zhuo free of charge.
But how could Ning Zhuo agree to that?
Saving spirit stones was not important.
Ning Zhuo did not want to be the one to break his own rules and ruin the atmosphere he had painstakingly created within his team.
Paying his subordinates was far more valuable than paying the Zheng or Zhou families!
After doing some calculations, Ning Zhuo realized that if he paid the spirit stones, he could barely cover a third of the project.
“This isn’t the Zhou or Zheng families deliberately inflating prices. In fact, their prices are already quite fair relative to the market.”
Once materials reached the Golden Core level, Ning Zhuo’s accumulated funds suddenly seemed very shallow!
His idea of using various factions to jointly refine the mechanism was good, but in practice, it encountered many difficulties.
After some thought, Ning Zhuo came up with a solution.
“It’s time
to expose some information about Meng Chong!”
Through the Turtle Breathing Gang, Ning Zhuo secretly “leaked” the news that Meng Chong had successfully passed certain trials and obtained techniques from the fourth to sixth layers to the three major families.
Zhou Zhenshen exclaimed: “Meng Chong is indeed impressive! The City Lord’s Mansion is far ahead!”
Zheng Jian clenched his fists: “I must obtain the subsequent techniques. Being stuck at the third layer is unbearable.”
The Ning family patriarch and the various family elders deliberated: “The Five Elements Qi Regulation Art was left by the Three Sect Lords, and its potential is immense. The subsequent techniques are a major issue for our family.”
The elders discussed among themselves: “Who can take on this important task?”
“Ning Xiaohui has already left the modification team.”
After a brief discussion, the elders’ minds all turned to Ning Zhuo’s name.
It seemed, probably, possibly… the Ning family could only rely on Ning Zhuo to obtain the subsequent techniques!
The elders continued to discuss: “Although we personally dislike him, we have to admit that Ning Zhuo is capable.”
“The key issue is whether someone like Ning Zhuo, even if he acquires the subsequent techniques, will hand them over to the family?”
At this point in the discussion, the elders looked at each other in silence.
After a long while, someone broke the silence, looking at the Ning family patriarch: “Ning Zhuo loves money. Patriarch, you should communicate with him more.”
The Ning family patriarch, looking troubled, nodded. Just thinking of Ning Zhuo gave him a headache.
There were two routes to explore the Lava Immortal Palace.
Entering the palace with one’s body could earn merit points to exchange for various cultivation resources.
Entering the palace with one’s soul involved being tested by numerous trials but could grant access to the subsequent techniques of the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.
And this was a reward that those who entered with their bodies could not obtain.
In the arrangement of the Three Sect Lords, entering the palace with one’s body was for outsiders and guest cultivators, while entering with one’s soul was for nurturing their own people, and the true transmission techniques would never be made public.
For the three families, they had deeply studied the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art. Even though they only had three layers, they found this technique to be exceptional. Their desire for the subsequent techniques had always been present, silently accumulating.
And this desire was exactly what Ning Zhuo had discovered and manipulated as “puppet strings.”
Without Ning Zhuo approaching them, Zhou Zhenshen and Zheng Jian both came to him on their own.
They didn’t know how many trials needed to be passed to obtain the techniques.
But they knew that Ning Zhuo was strong and had a significant conflict with the Ning family’s main branch.
If they could invite Ning Zhuo to assist in their exploration of the Immortal Palace, it would greatly benefit them. Moreover, strengthening ties with Ning Zhuo and supporting him could help provoke a second internal conflict within the Ning family.
This mutually beneficial situation made the scheming Zhou and Zheng families enthusiastic, and they proactively offered Ning Zhuo a discount!
The problems that had been troubling Ning Zhuo were thus easily resolved.
When the Ning family’s main branch learned of Ning Zhuo’s cooperation with the Zhou and Zheng families, they were furious.
Many people wanted to take action and accuse him of colluding with outsiders, disregarding the family’s interests, and damaging Ning Zhuo’s reputation.
But they were stopped.
The Ning family patriarch, pinching his nose, once again summoned Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo gladly went.
After Ning Zhuo left, the sound of things being smashed once again came from the Ning family patriarch’s study.