Chapter 229: Third Layer Rumors
Ning Zhuo left the martial platform and returned to his own residence.
From his appearance, it was clear that his previous nervousness had been swept away, replaced by a confident stride, his head held high, full of energy, with no trace of his earlier repression.
He returned to the underground cultivation chamber, took out the mechanical scriptures, and soon focused, concentrating completely.
He approached the workbench and picked up the scattered mechanical parts from the ground, placing them back on the table, continuously dismantling and replacing them, conducting research on mechanical creations.
He worked like this until lunchtime.
He pushed the door open, went to the dining hall, and ate several bowls of rice.
The food was quite luxurious, all consisting of spirit food!
Although Ning Zhuo had already reached the ninth layer peak in cultivation, he still consumed a large amount of spirit food daily as a disguise.
After having his fill, Ning Zhuo returned to the underground cultivation chamber.
This time, he activated the Floating Cloud Cloth, covering himself in layers of floating clouds, pretending to cultivate the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.
The hidden cloud bud under his tongue helped him disguise himself as he infused it with his mana.
In Zhu Xuanji and Ning Jiufan's perception, Ning Zhuo appeared to be cultivating the fourth layer of the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.
After finishing his breathing exercises, Ning Zhuo took a brief rest, then closed his eyes again in the floating clouds, sending his soul directly into the Immortal Palace.
"Here again!"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had been silently watching Ning Zhuo.
Seeing him enter the Immortal Palace once more, it silently cheered for him.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit could never have imagined that one day it would be secretly supporting Ning Zhuo, wishing for him to pass through the Dao Gate path in one go.
"Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit?" Ning Zhuo cautiously called out, searching around.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit shrank back, although it had heard him, it didn’t want to respond.
It was trying its best to avoid communicating with Ning Zhuo.
After their last exchange, it had reflected on itself, realizing it had said too much, really too much!
Ning Zhuo had learned from his previous failure on the Dao Gate path. This time, he focused on choosing spirit stones as rewards from the start.
He had already claimed the leaderboard rewards once, and the next time was still four days away.
However, just from the passage rewards, he had accumulated quite a few spirit stones.
When Ning Zhuo once again reached the final stage of the Dao Gate path, the amount of spiritual power he had stored was at least thirty percent more than the last time.
Yet, he failed again.
"My spell proficiency still needs improvement... but such things require extensive practice; I can't rush it."
"If I had more spirit stones, I could still use the method of the Demon Sect, winning through quantity!"
Ning Zhuo had found a way to pass through.
He could either refine his spellcasting skills or accumulate enough spirit stones, calculating each step precisely, eventually gaining a quantitative advantage.
While Ning Zhuo was challenging the Dao Gate, Zhu Xuanji and Ning Jiufan kept a close watch on him.
"This Floating Cloud Cloth is a bit annoying," Ning Jiufan remarked.
Most of his detection spells couldn't completely bypass the Floating Cloud Cloth without causing severe depletion of the floating clouds.
"This should be something left to him by his mother. The techniques of the Flying Cloud Kingdom are indeed quite different from our Southern Dou Country."
The layers of floating clouds around Ning Zhuo made Zhu Xuanji and Ning Jiufan more restrained in their observations.
Zhu Xuanji continued, "It seems Ning Zhuo has fully calmed down. His mentality has undergone a transformation, which is excellent."
"He has passed this test, proving himself to be a good seedling for cultivation."
"Brother Ning, I must congratulate you."
Ning Jiufan smiled slightly, genuinely happy.
He had personally witnessed Ning Zhuo's performance over the past few days.
The latter had indeed made great progress in his mindset.
Moreover, Ning Zhuo himself possessed exceptional talent, and at this rate, he would surely become a pillar of the Ning family!
"Who's there?"
Suddenly, Zhu Xuanji shouted sternly.
His eyes brightened, shooting out golden rays. In an instant, his gaze was so sharp that even Ning Jiufan quickly looked away, avoiding direct eye contact.
Zhu Xuanji vanished instantly, leaving only a faint golden shadow in Ning Jiufan's vision.
Boom!
The next moment, Ning Jiufan heard a loud explosion.
He quickly turned his head and saw Zhu Xuanji clashing fiercely with a mysterious enemy.
Ning Jiufan hurried over to assist.
Zhu Xuanji waved his hand, and a golden light wall appeared out of thin air, surrounding Ning Zhuo, giving off an indestructible feeling.
The mysterious enemy was wrapped in a green magical glow, rapidly retreating.
"Where do you think you're going!" Zhu Xuanji chased after him.
The green magical light was shattered by his attack, revealing the enemy's appearance.
She had a graceful figure and a face like a peach blossom.
"No-Void Sect, Yang Chanyu!"
In an instant, the identity of the mysterious enemy surfaced in Ning Jiufan's mind.
As Yang Chanyu retreated rapidly, a smile played on her lips.
Her eyes glowed green as she fixed her gaze on Ning Zhuo, whose soul was still inside the Immortal Palace.
Clearly, this was a detection spell.
The green light gradually receded, and Yang Chanyu smiled softly, "I see."
After saying this, she turned her body, her speed increasing sharply, leaving only a pink afterimage as she disappeared into the shadows of the street.
"I'll pursue! You stay here." Zhu Xuanji left those words before quickly chasing after her.
Ning Jiufan concealed his presence, moving directly to Ning Zhuo’s side. He pushed his mana to the limit but restrained his aura, letting nothing leak out, standing guard.
Hearing the commotion, the Foundation Establishment guards quickly arrived.
They were astonished by the presence of the golden light wall, but none of them noticed Ning Jiufan, who was hiding nearby.
Zhu Xuanji and Yang Chanyu continued their chase, engaging in battle as they went, each clash resulting in explosive sounds.
The booms, the collapsing buildings, echoed like thunder through the night sky, reverberating endlessly, startling the entire Huoshi Immortal City.
Ning Zhuo's soul was still within the Lava Immortal Palace, while his body remained encased in the golden light wall.
Outside the circle, the Foundation Establishment guards maintained tight defense, carefully protecting him.
After the earlier disturbance, the floating clouds settled back in place, tightly shielding Ning Zhuo once more.
However, based on the earlier performance, it was clear that this level of defense was incredibly fragile against a Golden Core-level opponent, practically useless.
Inside a certain tavern.
Explosions continued to resound, and the patrons inside, hearing the noise, rose from their seats, crowding by the windows to watch the commotion.
Taking advantage of this moment, Sun Lingtong, disguised as a middle-aged man, flashed and disappeared under the table.
The people secretly monitoring him had their view blocked for just a second, and when they looked again, the target had completely vanished.
"Where did he go?"
Sensing something wrong, the watchers immediately rushed to the scene, surrounding the table where Sun Lingtong had just been sitting, looking around frantically.
"Search quickly!"
"He can't have gone far."
"He must be nearby!"
The pursuers all looked extremely grim, some immediately activating detection spells to scan all the tavern’s patrons.
"Hmm?!"
"Who's being so rude?"
"Using a spell to probe me?"
Several patrons immediately became angry.
Such detection spells were quite powerful, and for the ones being probed, it felt like a strong offense.
But in the next moment, the spellcasters deliberately released their aura, each wearing a fierce expression.
There were six of them in total, all possessing Foundation Establishment cultivation!
The combined release of their auras immediately suppressed the entire room.
Those patrons who had wanted to confront them turned pale, breaking into a cold sweat, shrinking back and staying silent.
This kind of display quickly made them realize: they had just offended some ruthless people, most likely a faction they could not afford to provoke.
The pursuers searched frantically. Soon, their search expanded to the entire tavern, but they still couldn't find Sun Lingtong.
In a hurry, they left the tavern and spread out around the area.
As they moved, the elderly figure of Sun Lingtong, whom they passed by, was actually their target.
One of the pursuers bumped into Sun Lingtong, knocking him to the ground but didn’t bother to stop, continuing forward at full speed.
Sun Lingtong immediately let out grunts, acting like an ordinary old man who had been knocked over by careless passersby, struggling to get up in a helpless state.
Sun Lingtong, from the No-Void Sect, was a master at disguising himself as people from all walks of life!
The next wave of pursuers merely glanced at him, then stepped right over his
body.
Each pursuer carried a magical tool.
They continuously infused them with mana, causing the tools to emit strong waves, conducting a thorough search of the surroundings.
Sun Lingtong was within their range, even at the center, yet he remained perfectly still.
As a disciple of the No-Void Sect, he had this kind of confidence, able to resist most detection tools!
However, at this moment, there was a trace of gloom in his eyes.
After spreading the second wave of rumors, Sun Lingtong had noticed a large number of people mobilizing, all trying to track down the source of the rumors.
Sun Lingtong investigated and immediately discovered that these searchers primarily came from the four major factions of Huoshi Immortal City.
But it didn’t stop there. Even the Taiqing Palace had sent disciples to join the investigation.
"The critical moment is coming next," Sun Lingtong thought to himself.
Now, all the major factions in the city were on the move, desperately searching for the mastermind behind the rumors.
This made spreading rumors increasingly difficult for Sun Lingtong, shrinking his maneuvering space by more than a hundredfold!
If Sun Lingtong continued at this pace, the risks would skyrocket by tenfold.
However, at the moment, he still held onto the third wave of rumors.
At this moment, Sun Lingtong, disguised as an old man, lay helplessly on the street.
He looked up at the sky, recalling in his mind the conspiracy he had hatched with Ning Zhuo inside the Lava Immortal Palace.
With a serious tone, Ning Zhuo had told him, "Big Brother Sun, according to my plan, the third wave of rumors is the most crucial."
(End of Chapter)