Chapter 286: Far-Sightedness to Break the Calamity
Out of sheer necessity, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit quickly revealed the contents of the imperial palace trial to Ning Zhuo.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"What sound is that?" Ning Zhuo asked.
"Master, I'm being severely punished by the Immortal Palace's fire whip for revealing the trial contents to you." The situation was dire, and the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit urged frantically, "Hurry and fire the cannon!!"
Only then did Ning Zhuo relent and gave the order to fire.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless cannonballs, condensed from the power of the Five Elements, flew toward the golden furnace's location.
"As expected!" Zhu Xuanji's eyes flashed with a golden light.
He had already anticipated this.
In the next moment, the cultivators he had arranged activated a temporary formation, intercepting a large number of Five Element cannonballs in midair.
Zhu Xuanji threw out a formation disk, instantly creating a defensive formation to block the remaining cannonball attacks.
Taking advantage of the moment, he moved towards the golden furnace.
First, he casually killed a few Red Flame beasts, then arrived at the ruins of one of the golden furnaces.
"The Lava Immortal Palace originally had eight golden furnaces. Now, only three remain. Five have already been used up."
"The three intact furnaces are not worth considering. Ning Xiaohui's clues must be on the five used furnaces!"
"The first furnace—I already know its secrets, no need to investigate."
"That leaves the second, third, fourth, and fifth furnaces."
"The sequence of the furnace destruction might be in this order. In other words, the fifth furnace's destruction is the most recent."
"So, it's this one!"
Talent—Celestial Golden Eyes!
Technique—Trace Back Art.
In the next moment, Zhu Xuanji "saw" the past.
He saw a teleportation light circle form out of thin air, and from it, the corpse of Yuan Dasheng was ejected.
The door of the golden furnace opened automatically, sucking Yuan Dasheng's corpse inside.
Then, the furnace roared to life, blazing flames igniting, beginning the refining process.
As the smelting progressed, countless cracks appeared on the surface of the golden furnace.
When the forging process ended, the furnace collapsed, shattering into countless fragments and dust.
As the dust gradually dispersed, a mechanical ape stood motionless in its place.
"That is—the mechanical ape from the trial checkpoint?!" Zhu Xuanji's pupils slightly contracted in an instant.
The vision of the past ended here.
Zhu Xuanji came back to his senses, only to find that another round of cannon fire was already upon him!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under the barrage of cannon fire, the intact golden furnaces remained unmoved, but many Red Flame beasts perished.
The temporary formation Zhu Xuanji had set up finally couldn't hold out and was submerged under the rampant Five Element power.
Zhu Xuanji's body was enveloped in a golden light, standing firm amidst the bombardment, completely unaffected.
However, a powerful force was pushing him away.
Zhu Xuanji felt helpless.
This was because the force originated from the restrictions of the Immortal Palace. With the beasts destroyed, Zhu Xuanji no longer had the right to stay here.
As Zhu Xuanji participated in the palace trial, aiming for the position of the Immortal Palace's master, he didn’t want to resist such a force head-on, so he reluctantly complied.
Just as he left the golden furnace, a flying message arrived, hovering slowly in front of him.
It was a message from Meng Kui!
Zhu Xuanji glanced at the message and smiled faintly, "Is that all?"
He didn’t care much.
After Ning Zhuo confessed and admitted guilt, he acknowledged that the corpse of Yuan Dasheng had been taken by Sun Lingtong!
Han Ming had never seen the true face of Chuitaoke, only knowing that Chuitaoke had brought out Yuan Dasheng's corpse.
"Righteous Bone Gold Frame? Yuan Dasheng actually had immortal talent. No wonder even after his death, the demonic scriptures remained in his body."
"Ning Zhuo didn’t know Yuan Dasheng’s true value and handed over the corpse without realizing its worth."
"Sun Lingtong of the No-Void Sect, along with Chuitaoke, not only obtained the demonic scriptures but also used the golden furnace to turn Yuan Dasheng into a mechanical ape."
"That mechanical ape should be the one along the soul-entering route of the Immortal Palace."
"Previously, people speculated that it was part of the Immortal Palace's design by the Three Sect Lords. Who would've thought, this was the work of the No-Void Sect."
"The No-Void Sect has long coveted the Lava Immortal Palace, infiltrating it deeply. Not only did they rename things and add the mechanical ape to the trial checkpoint to obstruct the reconstruction team, but they also used the golden furnace to seek personal gain."
"Perhaps, those mechanical traps that once plagued all the reconstruction teams along the soul-entering route of the Immortal Palace were also the handiwork of the No-Void Sect?"
The City Lord’s Mansion had already captured two demonic cultivators from the Soul-Devouring Sect (the Triangular-Eyed and Hooked-Nose cultivators), and because of this, Zhu Xuanji believed that Chuitaoke and Sun Lingtong were both disciples of the No-Void Sect.
"Ning Zhuo’s confession was something I already coordinated with Meng Kui. Now he sends me Fei Si’s report, what does he mean by this?"
"Oh, I get it."
Zhu Xuanji felt a brief moment of doubt, then suddenly understood.
He looked up at the sky, snorted coldly, "That old fox."
Immediately, Zhu Xuanji wrote a flying message and dispatched a messenger to send it to Meng Kui.
Meng Kui had been waiting for this. When he saw the flying message, he immediately sent out a large hand to receive it.
After receiving Zhu Xuanji's approval, Meng Kui promptly relayed the order to Fei Si, instructing him to take action.
Ning Zhuo was still unaware that Han Ming had surrendered herself.
But he knew that Zhu Xuanji had already explored the fifth golden furnace.
This made him realize that the refining of Yuan Dasheng and the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, had been exposed.
If Zhu Xuanji learned of the mechanism that "refining immortal talent in the golden furnace would result in its destruction," then Yuan Dasheng's immortal talent would also be exposed.
Ning Zhuo felt fortunate: "Thankfully, back in the Kindergarten for Benevolence, I made the right decision—to betray Boss Sun and confess to Zhu Xuanji!"
Had he not done so back then, he wouldn’t have been able to smoothly reveal the secret that "Yuan Dasheng had already been handed over to the No-Void Sect." Without this early warning, Zhu Xuanji's exploration of the fifth furnace would have surely triggered the hidden danger.
And at this moment, Ning Zhuo no longer had the Buddha Heart Demon Seal for protection!
Even if he could temporarily stall for time, once Zhu Xuanji and others restrained him and prevented his free movement, he would be unable to escape, eventually exposed and defeated.
The reason he had managed to pass this stage safely was because of his prior actions.
One wrong step, and even if nothing happened at the time, once things unraveled later, there would be almost no chance to turn things around.
It was Ning Zhuo's foresight and over a decade of preparation, with various arrangements on the second defensive line, that allowed him to survive this calamity.
"Zhu Xuanji is becoming more and more troublesome."
"This guy actually has his eyes on the golden furnace!"
"Today's cannon barrage, although it halted his follow-up actions, also exposed many secrets."
"After this incident, Zhu Xuanji will undoubtedly realize that the No-Void Sect is highly concerned about the golden furnace, further confirming that the furnace holds significant clues!"
"He will certainly try again, and next time, he’ll be even better prepared."
"Sigh, what a headache!"
What Ning Zhuo faced was not just the palace trial, nor just cooperating with Sun Lingtong in public; he also had to deal with Zhu Xuanji, who relentlessly pursued the truth behind the scenes!
If Zhu Xuanji focused solely on the trial, it would have made things much easier for Ning Zhuo.
But the gap between reality and ideal was often stark.
Ning Zhuo had no choice but to divert his energy to constantly monitor the movements of the beasts. Whenever a beast horde approached the golden furnace, he would have to preemptively fire the cannon to prevent Zhu Xuanji from getting any chances.
"Choosing the position of commander of the Five Elements Cannon Tower back then was also the right decision."
The position of commander of the Five Elements Cannon Tower had, time and again, proven its immense value.
The position of the medical hall’s chief was also very useful.
Ning Zhuo entered the critical care ward, meeting with Sun Lingtong in secret.
He shared with Sun Lingtong the information he had just gleaned from the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit about the trial.
He then took out the Golden Core-level mechanical ape and the Golden
-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng.
Right before Sun Lingtong’s eyes, Ning Zhuo used the divine ability "Life Hanging by a Thread" to draw out Yuan Dasheng’s spirit.
Yuan Dasheng's spirit floated in midair, round like a ball.
On the ball, a monkey head appeared, vivid and lifelike.
The monkey head didn’t make a fuss, but instead looked solemnly at Ning Zhuo and spoke, "My lord."
Ning Zhuo nodded to him, "There is a task I need you to do."
"For the next period of time, I need you to hide inside this mechanical body. When I give the order, you’ll launch a counterattack."
After Ning Zhuo finished speaking, he infused his mana into the root of his tongue, where a strange flower was hidden.
As his mana infused the strange flower, it released a puff of cloud-like smoke.
Ning Zhuo exhaled the cloud smoke towards Yuan Dasheng's spirit.
The cloud smoke enveloped Yuan Dasheng’s spirit, turning it into a semi-transparent form, with many cloud patterns appearing around the glowing spirit ball.
Ning Zhuo placed Yuan Dasheng’s cloud-patterned spirit into the Golden Core-level mechanical ape.
He allowed Yuan Dasheng some time to adjust to his new body. Afterward, he ordered him to hide again.
Finally, Ning Zhuo opened up the mechanical ape’s body and removed many of the internal components, placing them in the critical care ward.
After a secret discussion with Sun Lingtong, Ning Zhuo returned to his temporary residence and sought an audience with Ning Jiufan.
"Ancestor, with the second round of the palace trial imminent, after much thought, I believe it’s best to lend this to you!"
With that, Ning Zhuo took out the Golden Core-level mechanical ape and handed it directly to Ning Jiufan.
Ning Jiufan was surprised and instinctively scanned the entire mechanical ape with his spiritual sense.
He saw that this mechanical ape was tall, standing over eighteen feet high. Its bones and joints were made of Ten Thousand Strikes Mysterious Iron. Its chest and back were primarily constructed from Scarlet Sun Copper. Its claws and teeth were crafted from diamonds.
The materials used for the mechanical ape were of the highest quality and extremely durable.
However, compared to its exterior, the inside of the mechanical ape was empty and needed many mechanical components to be filled in before it could be operated.
"Little Zhuo, well done, very well done." Ning Jiufan stroked his beard, satisfied, "I’ll accept your filial piety. Indeed, the second round of the trial may require its use!"
From the moment the news of the second round of the trial was passed down, he had been thinking of ways to prepare from all angles.
Of course, he had thought of the Golden Core-level mechanical ape in Ning Zhuo’s possession.
However, out of respect for his seniority and the image of righteousness, he didn’t want to directly ask Ning Zhuo for it.
Now, with Ning Zhuo offering it on his own, Ning Jiufan felt gratified. He thought that Ning Zhuo was indeed part of the Ning family, and that his previous efforts to protect Ning Zhuo had not been in vain. Now, he was being rewarded in return.
"This mechanical classic, *The Secret of Ice Sculpting*, is the focus of my mechanical techniques. Take it back and study it." Ning Jiufan retrieved a jade slip from his storage ring.
Ning Zhuo’s face lit up with joy, and he quickly accepted it, bowing in gratitude.
Seeing Ning Jiufan opening up the Golden Core-level mechanical ape, Ning Zhuo tactfully excused himself.
Huoshi Immortal City, City Lord's Mansion.
After receiving Meng Kui's reply, Fei Si immediately began to take action.
He entered the dungeon and saw Han Ming, speaking bluntly: "According to your statement, that Chuitaoke used you to help him enhance his soul foundation?"
"I don’t believe it."
"Come, come, show me. Use it on me!"
(End of Chapter)