Chapter 208: Peak of the Ninth Layer!
The City Lord’s Mansion’s renovation team had been in collective seclusion for cultivation, and it had been going on for some time.
When the three leaders—Li Duolun, Feng Feidao, and Guan Tiesuo—met each other, they discussed Ning Zhuo.
The fat man, Li Duolun, spoke first, “Have you heard? Someone has already caught up to our record!”
The short man, Feng Feidao, nodded, “I know, it’s Ning Zhuo from the Ning family.”
Guan Tiesuo’s voice was deep and filled with confusion, “We have Young Master Meng Chong on our side. What’s going on with the Ning family? How did he do it?”
Li Duolun explained the situation.
They learned that Ning Zhuo had used the Five Elements Technique, blasting his way through. Even someone as tough as Guan Tiesuo couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air after hearing it.
He admired, “Impressive!”
“We’ve all cultivated these Five Elements Techniques, and Ning Zhuo can rely solely on them to break through to the second Dao Gate. His skill in spells is clearly extraordinary!”
“Keep in mind, we are ranked on the leaderboard, and every so often, we can draw rewards from it.”
“As long as we select a technique, we can receive an infusion of knowledge and gain spellcasting experience.”
“Even so, none of us could achieve what Ning Zhuo has.”
“He hasn’t received any rewards from the leaderboard and relies solely on himself. That’s what’s truly terrifying!”
Feng Feidao folded his arms and speculated, “How could Ning Zhuo, in such a short time, master the various Five Elements Techniques to such an extent?”
“Could it be that he spent all his time practicing spells when he wasn’t cultivating?”
“Thinking about it carefully, he must have been stuck at the third layer of Qi Refining for a long time.”
“But he didn’t have any follow-up techniques, so his cultivation couldn’t advance.”
“In such circumstances, it’s only natural that he spent all his time and energy practicing spells.”
However, Li Duolun shook his head, “That’s the standard for normal people. From what I know, Ning Zhuo isn’t a normal person.”
Clearly, Li Duolun knew more.
He explained a bit more about Ning Zhuo’s achievements to the two of them.
Ning Zhuo had taken control of the black market and dealt with the young clan leader of the Ning family.
Ning Zhuo was also currently openly crafting a Golden Core-level Mechanical Ape with the help of three families.
Although he repeatedly clarified to the outside world that this time he was only crafting the Mechanical Ape’s exterior and skeleton, to achieve this with his Qi Refining third-layer cultivation was already quite remarkable.
Now, the Ning family’s renovation team was completely under Ning Zhuo’s control, with him calling all the shots.
The genius from the Ning family’s main bloodline, Ning Xiaohui, had already been squeezed out by him.
“A young man like him, who climbed up from the bottom, should not be underestimated,” Li Duolun had a high evaluation of Ning Zhuo.
The other two fell into silence after hearing these words.
As pioneers, they felt the pressure of being pursued.
Feng Feidao sighed, “This Ning Zhuo is indeed no ordinary genius!”
“I’m really curious, what kind of talent does he possess?”
Guan Tiesuo’s eyebrows slightly raised.
With a hint of disbelief, he guessed, “Could it be that he has immortal talent?”
The three of them exchanged glances, once again left speechless.
In the best training chamber of the City Lord’s Mansion.
Meng Chong looked at the jade slip in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed, and he muttered, “Ning Zhuo, huh…”
It was the first time Meng Chong had officially learned Ning Zhuo’s name.
“Hmph.”
“You want to catch up with me? You’ve got a long way to go. First, try your best to reach my level.”
“If you can do that, I’d be happy.”
“Because right now, this exploration is somewhat boring.”
Meng Chong was eagerly awaiting trouble from Dasheng, the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape.
He longed for revenge.
However, during this recent period, under Ning Zhuo’s arrangements, Dasheng had deliberately avoided him, leaving Meng Chong feeling quite frustrated.
Setting the jade slip aside, Meng Chong immersed himself in cultivation again.
Immortal Talent—Wild Sprint Thunderclap!
In the next moment, countless bolts of lightning surged from his body.
With the boost from the lightning, his cultivation advanced rapidly, with each breath bringing an improvement.
Because he frequently used his immortal talent, Meng Chong had become thinner during this period.
His cheekbones were now prominent, and his eye sockets were sunken.
He had been using his immortal talent far too often.
But while he paid a price, he also reaped great rewards.
Currently, his cultivation had already reached the late fifth layer, nearing the peak!
City Lord’s Mansion, study room.
Fei Si was handling official matters.
At the crack of dawn, he had already begun working.
The jade slips he had processed were neatly stacked in a corner of the desk, and the pile nearly reached Fei Si’s chin.
Just as Fei Si was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a subordinate brought in another pile of new jade slips.
Fei Si had long since adapted to this situation and let out a sigh of turbid air.
Ever since the Recruitment Decree was issued, the workload he had to handle had increased more than tenfold.
Many of the matters seemed trivial, but in fact, they were of great significance.
Because too many important figures had flocked to Huoshi Immortal City, such as Golden Core-level true disciples from Taiqing Palace and Zixiao Pavilion.
Fei Si had to handle these matters with care.
If mishandled, it could greatly impact the stability of Huoshi Immortal City and Meng Kui’s rule.
At the same time, he had to guard against demonic cultivators like those from the Soul-Devouring Sect.
Not long ago, Luo Shang had made a move, engaging in a fierce battle in a secret underground base.
During the battle, even a trace of Nascent Soul-level aura had erupted.
This situation served as a wake-up call for Fei Si.
Afterward, based on an investigation of the scene, they discovered traces of No-Void Sect’s spellcasting.
According to their speculation, at least one Golden Core-level true disciple from No-Void Sect had participated in the battle. But it was still unknown who it was.
With the Recruitment Decree issued, Huoshi Immortal City had become a whirlpool of turmoil!
The move by the Southern Dou Kingdom’s ruler had greatly strained Meng Kui’s attention and resources.
Not only Fei Si but also Chi Dun had been running themselves ragged lately.
Fei Si had thought about recruiting an assistant, but he wasn’t satisfied with any of the candidates.
Either their abilities weren’t sufficient, or their status was lacking.
Naturally, Fei Si thought of Ning Zhuo.
Although the latter only had a third-layer Qi Refining cultivation, which was quite lacking, his abilities had long been noticed by Fei Si.
Fei Si couldn’t help but recall the latest intelligence about Ning Zhuo.
He hadn’t expected that Ning Zhuo would achieve such a feat—tying Meng Chong’s record!
“Now this kid, Ning Zhuo, has also obtained the follow-up technique for the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.”
“But excess leads to failure.”
“This principle, perhaps he doesn’t quite understand yet, given how young he is and how much he’s already achieved.”
“Only after suffering setbacks will one truly grasp this deeply.”
“Kid, you should stop now. If you take another step, you’re going to have bad luck.”
Fei Si only said this to himself in his heart, never actually advising Ning Zhuo.
He appreciated Ning Zhuo and thought highly of him, seeing Ning Zhuo as a younger version of himself.
Fei Si had also suffered setbacks from overreaching.
Now, he was eager to see Ning Zhuo face similar setbacks.
Fei Si quietly waited for an opportunity. He wanted to wait for Ning Zhuo to fall into a low point before stepping in to help.
In this way, winning over someone’s loyalty would be twice as effective with half the effort.
Ning Family’s Ancestral Grounds.
“Damn it, damn it!” Ning Xiaohui suddenly opened her eyes.
Her aura surged like boiling water, and her chest heaved violently.
While cultivating the follow-up technique for the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, her mind was always unsettled, filled with irritability.
Comparison only brought harm.
Especially after experiencing the immense convenience that the Flowing Cloud Talisman brought to her cultivation, she found it increasingly unbearable to endure her current slow progress.
This made her long even more for the Flowing Cloud Talisman.
Going from frugality to extravagance was easy, but going from extravagance to frugality was hard.
Every time she thought about how the Flowing Cloud Talisman had fallen into Ning Zhuo’s hands, she felt particularly uncomfortable.
Her treasured talisman was helping her enemy and opponent, helping others increase their cultivation!
Ning Xiaohui felt extremely upset and deeply frustrated.
What she didn’t know was that after obtaining the Flowing Cloud Talisman, Ning Zhuo had set it aside and handed it over to Sun Lingtong for inspection.
After all, this talisman had been retrieved from Ning Xiaohui.
Ning Zhuo couldn’t guarantee whether she had tampered with the talisman.
The thing that Ning Xiaohui so desperately wanted was, to Ning Zhuo, something
he could take or leave.
Ning Zhuo didn’t care much about increasing his cultivation; what he lacked was the purification and refinement of his Three Treasures cultivation.
In the cultivation chamber, Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged on a meditation mat.
He opened his mouth and swallowed a Pure One Pill, mobilizing his mana to quickly digest the pill, then used his essence blood to envelop its medicinal power.
His blood and qi circulated throughout his body, channeling the medicinal power as well.
He took out the magic tool, the Tornado Windmill, to purify his mana.
At the same time, he also activated the Clear Source Treasure Mirror.
This magic tool, which he had obtained from the Zheng family, had been purchased by selling the follow-up techniques.
The quality of the magic tool was high, and its effect far surpassed that of the Tornado Windmill.
Ning Zhuo infused his Three Treasures cultivation into the Clear Source Treasure Mirror.
Then, the Clear Source Treasure Mirror would return the cultivation back to him.
The returned cultivation was much purer and more refined than before.
Throughout Ning Zhuo’s cultivation process, the formation in the cultivation chamber was constantly at work.
The formation provided significant assistance to Ning Zhuo.
This formation had been custom-built for Ning Zhuo by several formation experts from the Zhou family, sent by Zhou Zhenshen, and it had a powerful refining effect.
With all these methods combined, Ning Zhuo’s speed of purifying and refining his cultivation became astonishing!
The development of the cultivation world had reached a point where it had efficiently tapped most resources. Various means to assist cultivation were readily available, highly advanced, and influenced every aspect of a cultivator’s practice.
This made cultivators’ demand for resources unprecedentedly huge!
As long as the resources were abundant and the methods appropriate, cultivation could progress at a breakneck pace.
Ning Zhuo, using his connections and relying on his own skills, had brought the resources of the three great families to his advantage.
In the past, even favored sons of heaven like Zheng Jian and Zhou Zhenshen would have struggled to reach Ning Zhuo’s level.
The emergence of the Lava Immortal Palace had led to different goals for the three families. Due to the pressure from the City Lord’s Mansion, the three families were forced to cooperate closely.
This had provided Ning Zhuo with fertile ground for growth.
In the past, it would have been difficult to mobilize the resources of all three families as Ning Zhuo had done!
Thus, several days passed swiftly.
In the cultivation chamber.
Ning Zhuo was enveloped in layers of floating clouds.
He was multitasking, pushing the ninth-layer technique and starting the crucial breakthrough.
In an instant, he broke through from the peak of the eighth layer to the early stage of the ninth layer.
The breakthrough was so natural, without a trace of obstruction.
As Ning Zhuo continued to simultaneously operate the three cultivation methods, his essence, energy, and spirit—the Three Treasures cultivation—soared rapidly!
Early stage of the ninth layer…
Mid-stage of the ninth layer…
Late stage of the ninth layer…
Peak of the ninth layer!
Just as Sun Lingtong had predicted earlier, the dual cultivation of Yin and Yang had been of great significance. It had given Ning Zhuo a solid foundation.
When Ning Zhuo purified his eighth-layer cultivation to its limit and made the breakthrough, he leaped from the early stage of the ninth layer directly to the peak of the ninth layer!
Ning Zhuo felt his Three Dantians finally no longer swollen and uncomfortable.
His whole body also felt lighter as a result.
“Peak of the ninth layer!”
“The speed far exceeded my expectations!”
“Next is further purification.”
“And preparing for Foundation Establishment!”
Three Dantian Foundation Establishment…
At the thought of this, Ning Zhuo couldn’t help but feel full of anticipation, his heart surging with excitement.
In the cultivation world, those who could cultivate three Dantians with three different methods and then advance to the Foundation Establishment stage were extremely rare.
Even in great sects like the Soul-Devouring Sect and the No-Void Sect, this was the case.