Chapter 241: Cannon Fire at Mount Huoshi!
Zhu Xuanji sighed in disappointment, then thought of something and asked, "At the time, where did Daoist Brother Zheng Jianlian battle that mad Foundation Establishment cultivator?"
Regarding this, Zheng Shuanggou remembered clearly and directly told Zhu Xuanji the answer.
With this clue and having obtained the mechanism blueprint, Zhu Xuanji finally turned and left.
Ning Zhuo wandered for a long time, feasting his eyes on various sights.
After leaving the Cloud Market and returning home, he resumed his cultivation once more.
After performing a round of the Fourth Layer of the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, he sat cross-legged on a mat, with clouds shrouding his body, eyes tightly closed, shoulders slouched, and head lowered—his soul once again entering the Immortal Palace.
Inside Room One of the Immortal Palace, there were numerous mechanical puppets.
Some of them were gathered in groups, while others lined up, one by one passing through the first gate.
"Greetings, brother. Why does your appearance seem different from ours?" A passerby puppet asked as Ning Zhuo jumped down from a small mountain of mechanical parts.
Ning Zhuo chuckled, "I am Ning Zhuo of the Ning Family. Do you know of me?"
"Ah?" The puppet gasped in surprise and nodded repeatedly, "So it’s Young Master Ning Zhuo. I’ve heard of your great reputation."
Ning Zhuo pointed at his large head, "This is the manifestation of my natural talent. As for what kind of talent, I don’t know yet. The main family of the Ning Clan has been preparing to test me, but they’re not ready yet."
Ning Zhuo’s appearance caused murmurs among the crowd.
As he walked toward the first gate, the puppets all stepped aside voluntarily.
"Thank you, everyone." Ning Zhuo clasped his hands in gratitude, collected spirit stones as a reward, and left Room One.
"This is the first time I’ve seen Ning Zhuo."
"The famed genius of the Ning Family is actually so approachable!"
"Haha, approachable? You must have misunderstood something about the master of the Black Market. Young masters of these large cultivation families, though they smile on the surface, can be ruthless when they take action."
"Seeing him today, the famed Ning Zhuo seems to be just so. Nothing too impressive."
"The Monkey Head Gang wiped out the Viper Gang in one night, and that was Ning Zhuo’s doing. You really think he’s not impressive?!"
In Room Two, there were still many puppets attempting the trials.
It’s worth mentioning that a long time ago, Ning Zhuo had voluntarily removed the traps he had added, greatly lowering the difficulty of passing through Rooms Two and beyond.
This sparked numerous speculations among the various factions of Huoshi Immortal City. The most prevalent theory was that when Meng Chong and others reached a certain checkpoint, it indicated that the difficulty of the previous trials no longer served as a test or challenge, so Ning Zhuo had voluntarily removed the traps.
Another popular theory suggested that the Three Sect Lords blessed all living beings. They not only selected and trained elite disciples but also ensured that those with less talent could keep pace with the frontrunners, preserving hope while still maintaining pressure on the leaders from those behind them.
In truth, this was simply because Ning Zhuo found it troublesome. He realized that the traps were becoming increasingly ineffective against the number of challengers. Maintaining them would consume too much of his time and energy, so he decided to dismantle them.
The further one went through the trials, the fewer mechanical puppets there were.
By the time Ning Zhuo reached the first central hall, he was the only one left.
Under the protection of Golden-Blooded Battle Ape Dasheng and Nether Envoy Qi Bai, he once again met with Sun Lingtong.
Given that many Golden Core cultivators were likely monitoring Ning Zhuo, this was their only means of communication.
Sun Lingtong inquired about the matters of the Cloud Market and Cloud Commerce, and Ning Zhuo told him about his shopping experience.
"I bought you a Somersault Cloud and also got Yang Chanyu a Seven-Colored Auspicious Cloud."
Sun Lingtong was displeased, "Why did you buy something for her?!"
Ning Zhuo sighed, "Well, during the Golden Core battle, she did contribute quite a bit."
"If it weren’t for the fake scripture she personally created, our plan might have been exposed at the very beginning."
"You give her this cloud. I think she’ll be pleased, and maybe it’ll make her reduce some of the amount she charges. That’s not a bad thing either."
Sun Lingtong stared at Ning Zhuo for a moment and immediately realized that the lie he had told before, about spending a large sum to invite Yang Chanyu to help, had been seen through by Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo intended to use this treasure-level Seven-Colored Auspicious Cloud to ease Sun Lingtong's burden.
"Stop doing these pointless things. Wasting money like this! Can this Seven-Colored Cloud be returned?" Sun Lingtong asked.
Ning Zhuo’s tone grew serious, "Boss, be honest with me. What exactly did you promise to make Yang Chanyu agree to help us?"
"Hahaha. The weather’s great today! The sunshine is nice." Sun Lingtong dodged the question with an irrelevant response.
Ning Zhuo snorted and stopped discussing the matter.
Clearly, though they were inside the Lava Immortal Palace, Sun Lingtong spoke about weather and sunshine, using this absurd reply to express his unwillingness to talk about the real issue.
Ning Zhuo had no choice but to compromise and drop the topic for now.
"I’ll hand over the Somersault Cloud and the Seven-Colored Cloud to you when I next enter the Immortal Palace."
"For now, the Lava Immortal Palace seems to be a relatively safe place. After all, there aren’t many who possess enough knowledge in mechanics to enter the palace," Ning Zhuo said.
Sun Lingtong nodded, "Zhu Xuanji seems to have set his sights on you."
"Even if this detective hasn’t found any evidence against you, someone with his years of experience can develop a kind of instinct from handling so many cases."
"Little Zhuo, although your plan is risky, you should act quickly!"
"I’m assigning Nether Envoy Qi Bai to assist you. I won’t get involved myself. Too many people will only complicate things."
Ning Zhuo nodded and waved goodbye to Sun Lingtong.
This time, his main goal was to break through the Daoist Gate!
With Nether Envoy Qi Bai and Golden-Blooded Battle Ape Dasheng by his side, he forged ahead.
The checkpoints along the way posed no threat to him, and for every reward option he encountered, Ning Zhuo always chose spirit stones.
The leaderboard rewards were also, without exception, spirit stones.
Ning Zhuo had maxed out his spirit stone reserves!
At the third Daoist Gate.
He pushed the door open...
The third-to-last trial.
The second-to-last trial.
The final trial!
Ning Zhuo used brute force to solve problems. Lacking sufficient magical skills, he simply burned through spirit stones, refining a vast amount of spiritual energy and winning through quantity!
After spending over half an hour, he finally succeeded, clearing the final trial on his own.
Golden-Blooded Battle Ape Dasheng and Nether Envoy Qi Bai were left behind at the second-to-last trial.
There was no choice. Bringing another helper would have drastically increased the difficulty of the final challenge.
The last trial tested the spell-casting abilities of the trial disciple alone.
Ning Zhuo entered the final reward room.
The moment he stepped inside, he received a Foundation Establishment method focused on the Middle Dantian.
With this, he had collected all three Foundation Establishment methods and could now proceed with the final fusion, forming a complete and comprehensive Three Sect Lords' Foundation Establishment method!
Using such a method for Foundation Establishment would be a true Three Dantian simultaneous cultivation Foundation Establishment!
On the wall, amidst a collection of numerous official waist badges, Ning Zhuo had already set his sights on a target after communicating with the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit.
Without hesitation, he reached up and grabbed the topmost badge.
Five Elements Tower Commander!
It was also a high-ranking second-grade official position.
"Master, Master, you’ve done it! You’ve finally done it!" The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s excited voice immediately echoed.
"I noticed when you first arrived, but I saw you were busy with the trials, so I didn’t dare disturb you," the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit explained.
Ning Zhuo nodded, "Enough with the nonsense."
"Let’s execute the plan we discussed."
"Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, activate the Five Elements Tower for me!"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit responded immediately, "As you command, Master."
It lacked the authority, but now that Ning Zhuo had become the Tower Commander, he granted it permission, allowing the Fire Spirit to fully activate the tower.
The next moment.
Within the Lava Immortal Palace, a three-story tower suddenly began to rise.
After a series of mechanical sounds, the tower clicked and locked into place at a certain height.
Once elevated, the tower had now reached six stories.
"What’s happening?" Many cultivators inside the Immortal Palace, startled by the massive commotion, cast spells to look from afar, seeing the towering Five Elements Tower rise even higher.
Then, under countless astonished gazes, every window on all six levels of the tower opened, and from within extended numerous heavy, sturdy cannons.
Most of the cannons were of the magical item level, but the much larger main cannons, ten times the
size, had reached the level of treasure-grade. Each floor had one such main cannon.
The massive black cannon muzzles exuded an imposing aura.
"It feels like something major is about to happen!" Those who witnessed this scene felt their hearts tighten.
Inside the reward room.
Ning Zhuo’s voice was as firm as iron, "Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, channel full power, prepare to fire."
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s voice grew equally cold, "Mana infusion complete, tower ready."
Ning Zhuo clenched his fist and decisively ordered, "Fire!"
Boom!!!
The simultaneous firing of all the cannons merged into one deafening roar.
The five-colored mana-formed cannonballs, numbering in the hundreds, shot out in all directions.
They traced arcs through the sky before plunging into the molten lava of Mount Huoshi.
They burrowed deep into the mountain, plowing through the terrain, recklessly creating numerous tunnels.
Then, amidst various groups of demon beasts, they erupted in a thunderous explosion!
Boom, boom, boom...
This time, the explosions no longer merged into one but detonated in succession.
The Five Elements multicolored mana shockwaves spread fiercely, destroying everything in their path with overwhelming force.
Countless Scarlet Flame demon beasts were reduced to ashes in the explosions.
Mount Huoshi quaked as it had never done before!
The ground shook violently!
Molten lava erupted, shooting skyward in an instant, reaching hundreds of feet high.
The scorching flames blazed furiously, forming massive pillars of fire that engulfed the entire summit of Mount Huoshi.
This was a hell of flames, imbued with unparalleled destructive power, shaking heaven and earth, intent on devouring all life!
Meng Kui had been meditating in silence, but upon witnessing this hellish scene of terror, even a Nascent Soul expert like him was left dumbfounded.
"What... what is going on?"
"How dare the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit do this?!"
"It’s gone mad, completely mad!!!"
In an instant, Meng Kui recalled the scene of the sitting mountain.
He suddenly understood, "That Dragon Turtle pulled in its limbs, even though the rock slabs shattered, it still dove into the lava."
"It’s making a desperate bid for freedom!"
(End of Chapter)