Chapter 275: Ning Zhuo Makes His Move
Ning Zhuo’s earlier concerns finally materialized—the Zheng Family had set their sights on the medical clinic!
The facilities in the Lava Immortal Palace's medical clinic were top-notch, greatly beneficial for repairing mechanical creations and treating cultivators.
Whichever force controlled the clinic would hold tremendous power over logistics.
This power could elevate the influence of any force to new heights.
If the Lava Immortal Palace opened in the future, the clinic would also become a business hub, with its facilities capable of generating enormous wealth daily.
The Zheng Family, with their many years of artifact refining business, couldn't compete with the clinic.
Even without considering other factors, just the business of repairing mechanical creations could yield massive profits.
Cultivators could dismantle the various mechanisms within the Lava Immortal Palace, gaining access to firsthand information, rapidly learning and mastering the techniques involved.
It was important to understand that these techniques originated from the Three Sect Lords, at the level of Void Refining masters, making them immensely valuable.
Among the three second-tier positions Ning Zhuo currently held, they corresponded to the medical clinic, the Five Elements Tower, and the Command Platform.
Of these, the medical clinic was undoubtedly the most valuable.
The reason being, the clinic could produce and create value, and its scope of use far exceeded that of the Five Elements Tower or the Command Platform.
Zheng Jian personally approached Ning Zhuo, asking him to name a price and relinquish the medical clinic.
This made Ning Zhuo chuckle lightly.
He had initially intended to nurture the Zheng Family's renovation team, maintaining an open attitude, but now the Zheng Family was directly trying to monopolize the entire clinic, treating it as their possession, not allowing other forces to get involved!
“This is the true attitude of a prominent cultivation family.”
In the past, the Zheng Family had mainly tried to win Ning Zhuo over, presenting themselves as friendly.
But when real conflicts of interest arose, the Zheng Family immediately revealed their strong, indifferent stance.
They went all out in competition, not hesitating to turn hostile. Any past friendship was discarded as long as the stakes were high enough.
“Zheng Jian’s persuasion is merely the first step in this competition.”
Ning Zhuo understood very well that if he refused, he would likely face a series of measures from the Zheng Family.
Looking at Zheng Jian, Ning Zhuo's expression darkened: “Brother Zheng Jian, are you joking? How could a place as important as the medical clinic be given up so easily?”
“I still remember the days when we worked together to refine the Mechanical Apes.”
“Today, let us compete fairly.”
Zheng Jian clasped his hands behind his back, shaking his head with a sincere expression: “Ning Zhuo, there are plenty of positions in the Lava Immortal Palace. Why must you fixate on the clinic’s positions?”
“If we compete like this, it will result in significant losses for both sides. This is extremely unfavorable for both our families.”
“Let’s be rational. If we give way to each other, it benefits both of us and the overall situation.”
Ning Zhuo smiled slightly: “I must insist on holding the clinic’s position. I hope the Zheng Family will yield.”
Zheng Jian finally snorted coldly: “How is that possible? My Zheng Family’s strength is clearly superior to your Ning Family. We are an established family of Huoshi Immortal City, while your Ning Family is merely a wandering clan from North Wind Country.”
“If it comes down to competition, you are bound to lose. Ning Zhuo, think carefully. Have you not grasped the situation?”
At this point, the negotiation had effectively fallen apart.
Ning Zhuo, his face expressionless, said: “I refuse to believe that. Let us compete and see the truth from our actions!”
With that, Ning Zhuo turned and left, ending the conversation on bad terms.
In this matter, he could not compromise, for the clinic housed the Critical Care Chamber!
This was extremely useful to Ning Zhuo, not only for storing certain incriminating items but also for secretly meeting with people like Sun Lingtong. It was an extremely safe location.
He had just made a Floating Ice White Jade Hand Mechanism inside the Critical Care Chamber. In the future, he might also choose this place for his Foundation Establishment.
The Critical Care Chamber was crucial for Ning Zhuo.
During the negotiations, he had considered feigning compliance with the Zheng Family.
After thinking it over, he realized there was no room for maneuver.
If Ning Zhuo agreed to give way, considering the Zheng Family’s nature and temperament, they would likely not allow him free access to the clinic in the future.
Even if they did, Ning Zhuo might be able to come and go, but the rest of the Ning Family would be excluded. If that happened, it would be even worse for Ning Zhuo.
It would almost be seen as Ning Zhuo selfishly prioritizing his own interests, abandoning his duty as a leader, and neglecting the Ning Family’s well-being.
“This situation is troublesome...” Ning Zhuo left the clinic, deep in thought about how to deal with it.
After the trip to the Kindergarten for Benevolence, his resolve had become firm, unwavering, ready to fight with everything he had to seize the Lava Immortal Palace.
There was no doubt that the struggle for the position of Palace Master of the Lava Immortal Palace had reached its final stage.
Ning Zhuo was now waiting for the palace examination.
This was currently Ning Zhuo’s only way to obtain the position of Palace Master.
“To become Palace Master, I must come out on top in the palace examination.”
“And to participate in the palace examination, I need merits.”
“In this regard, I am at a severe disadvantage.”
This was what worried Ning Zhuo the most.
Earlier, when he had bombed the Immortal Palace, his merits had been deducted into the negatives. Since then, he had taken on several tasks and earned a lot of merits, but to this day, his merits were still an embarrassing negative number.
And this was just for the Immortal Palace bombing.
More recently, in his position as captain of the Five Elements Tower, he had directly bombarded the base of Mount Huoshi, triggering a tide of Red Flame Demonic Beasts.
Currently, the tide of beasts was still attacking the Lava Immortal Palace, and the damage they caused would also be partly blamed on Ning Zhuo.
Afterward, Ning Zhuo cooperated with the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, intentionally letting the Red Flame Beasts into the palace to meet the minimal requirements for his bombardment.
Eventually, the History Pavilion was destroyed, and part of that loss would also be attributed to Ning Zhuo.
“But for now, none of these have been settled.”
Ning Zhuo could already foresee that once everything was calculated, his merits would undoubtedly form a massive pit.
“I must fill this abyss of negative merits before the palace examination.”
“Not only must I fill it, but I must also accumulate enough merits to rank among the top, so I can qualify for the palace examination.”
In this situation, relying solely on his own efforts to earn merits was definitely not enough.
The only way forward was to borrow the strength of others!
The Ning Family, the Zheng Family, the Zhou Family’s renovation teams, and even the City Lord’s Mansion—all could provide assistance to maximize Ning Zhuo’s chances of participating in the palace examination.
Therefore, dealing with the Zheng Family and Zheng Jian was a delicate matter for Ning Zhuo.
He could neither suppress them completely nor retreat entirely.
The methods of conflict needed to be carefully handled, and the balance had to be tightly controlled.
Only in this way could Ning Zhuo achieve favorable outcomes.
After much thought, Ning Zhuo took action that very afternoon.
He led a group of people from the Ning Family, waiting by the roadside.
A battle had just ended, and the mechanical creations were retreating in waves.
Ning Zhuo stood at the front of the crowd, suddenly pointing: “Do you see that mechanical pillar? Ning Yong, go and bring it here.”
Ning Yong kicked off the ground, leaping forward, gathering his mana, and grabbing the pillar, pulling it from the mechanical procession.
Carrying the pillar on his shoulder, Ning Yong ran back to Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo had him lay the pillar flat on the ground, and together, they took on the repair task.
This was a repair mission that required multiple participants.
Ning Zhuo squatted down and began working while Ning Yong stood by watching.
In no time, Ning Zhuo dismantled the outer layer of the pillar. Then, he lifted the inner casing, revealing the internal structure.
The pillar was hollow, with its inner walls covered in array patterns, a central supporting beam, numerous brass gears, and hair-thin gold wires.
These gold wires and brass wheels were intricately interwoven, with some clearly tangled together.
Such complexity made Ning Yong feel dizzy just by looking at it.
Ning Zhuo’s eyes gleamed as he quickly judged: “It’s not too bad. We just need to replace some brass gears and reorganize the gold wire circuits.”
Ning Zhuo handled the most difficult and intricate tasks himself, while Ning Yong watched from the side.
At the final step, Ning Zhuo pulled out a small bronze wrench from his storage belt, faintly etched with talisman patterns.
Ning Zhuo guided Ning Yong, instructing him to use the small wrench to adjust the gears’ angles.
Ning Yong had to chant incantations with each gear adjustment, gradually completing the installation.
He followed Ning Zhuo’s instructions without question.
Whatever Ning Zhuo asked him to do, he did without hesitation or thought.
Obedience was his strength!
Once Ning Yong finished the last step, the repaired mechanical pillar stood upright again, moved on its four supporting legs, and rejoined the mechanical army.
Ning Zhuo then began distributing merits.
For this cooperative repair task, merit distribution depended on each person’s contribution.
However, contribution was difficult to quantify.
Beyond hard evidence, it also relied on the judgment of the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit and Ning Zhuo himself.
Since the History Pavilion’s destruction, Ning Zhuo had lost contact with the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit.
Without its participation, Ning Zhuo, as the head of the clinic, had the final say.
As the head, Ning Zhuo displayed righteousness and selflessness at this moment, suppressing his own merits to the minimum and giving the majority to Ning Yong.
Thus, Ning Yong watched as his merit points skyrocketed, reaching the standard for a medical officer position in an instant.
Ning Yong had already accumulated considerable merit on his own.
Ning Zhuo then instructed him to immediately head to the clinic and, in the capacity of a medical officer, continue accumulating merits there.
Ning Zhuo looked at the crowd behind him: “Who’s next?”
Ning Chen stepped forward.
“Young master, it’s me.”
“By the way, there’s a Zheng Family cultivator nearby who’s been watching us. He’s likely a scout sent by Zheng Jian.”
Ning Zhuo chuckled: “It doesn’t matter.”
“Our actions are for the greater good.”
“Zheng Jian alone cannot stop it!”
“Let’s continue.”
“Yes!” everyone responded in unison, their morale soaring.
(End of Chapter)