Chapter 297: The Master of the Divided Family!
"Dividing the family? This is sheer nonsense!"
"Ning Zhuo's nonsense can be excused, but you're all grown men. How could you follow along with this nonsense too?"
"I disagree with dividing the family!"
Upon hearing this news, Ning Jiufan flew into a rage and immediately called a halt.
"Dividing the family would greatly harm the Ning family's fortune."
"Ning Zhuo is the child destined to bring prosperity to the family. He absolutely cannot be separated!"
"If the family is divided while I'm still overseeing it, causing the Ning family to further decline, how will I, Ning Jiufan, face our ancestors in the underworld?"
Ning Jiufan's stance was resolute.
He was the only Golden Core cultivator in the entire Ning family, and his declaration immediately overturned the situation.
"What? The family’s Golden Core Patriarch has halted the matter?" When Ning Zhuo heard this bad news, his face turned grim.
The messenger who had been communicating with him wore a mournful expression. "The family has already brought your bloodline umbilical cord, as well as the plaques and ancestral tablets for the family division, but they were all intercepted by the Patriarch halfway and confiscated."
"The patriarch specifically instructed me to make sure you understand this isn’t because the main branch of the Ning family doesn't want to cooperate, but because an arm can't twist a leg."
Ning Zhuo remained silent for a moment.
He fell into deep thought, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the cup lid.
After a long silence, he spoke, "I understand the situation, and I believe in the sincerity of cooperation from the main branch."
"This is neither your fault nor mine; it’s just that an unexpected event occurred."
"I will still honor our agreement by releasing Ning Xiaohui’s grandmother and recruiting Ning Xiaoren under my banner to help him make meritorious contributions."
"But I hope the Ning family’s main branch will contribute its strength and work with me to persuade the Patriarch."
"Convey my intentions back to them."
The messenger, relieved yet worried, respectfully took his leave.
Ning Zhuo let out a deep sigh.
Ning Jiufan had always kept away from mundane affairs, so it was unexpected that he suddenly intervened.
Was it because the matter of dividing the family was too significant, or had Ning Zhuo already caught Ning Jiufan’s constant attention? Or perhaps both?
Not long after, Ning Zhuo took the initiative to visit Ning Jiufan and brought up the matter of dividing the family.
Ning Jiufan snorted coldly, his face full of displeasure, and directly gave Ning Zhuo a flick on the head. "You still dare mention it?!"
"I noticed you’ve been quiet for a while, but I didn’t expect you to come up with something this big the moment you opened your mouth."
Ning Zhuo pleaded, "This time it’s because of Ning Xiaohui's grandmother..."
Ning Jiufan cut him off immediately, "I don’t want to hear any of that!"
"Since she made a mistake, she should be dealt with according to the family rules. This is not your bargaining chip to seek personal gain."
Ning Jiufan glared, "What did I tell you before? I told you not to let mundane affairs distract your energy and time. You should focus fully on the palace examination."
"What have you done?"
"Or do you think your performance is already excellent enough to relax?"
Seeing that the situation wasn’t favorable, Ning Zhuo quickly said, "Patriarch, please calm your anger."
"Forgive me for being bold, but even if you stop me this time, can you stop my intentions?"
"I am serious about dividing the family, and my resolve will not waver!"
"I firmly believe that separating from the main branch will be a mutual release, and both sides will have their own futures. On the contrary, living together only leads to annoyance, mutual hindrance, and in the end, we’ll fight until blood flows, causing unbearable human tragedies!"
"If it really comes to that, Patriarch, you will also bear part of the responsibility."
Ning Jiufan flew into a rage. "You brat!"
A surge of Golden Core energy burst out, forcing Ning Zhuo to his knees.
Knowing this was a critical moment, Ning Zhuo held on, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, but still stubbornly raised his head. "Patriarch, if you don’t believe me, how about we make a bet?"
Ning Jiufan’s momentum faltered slightly. "What kind of bet?"
Carrying a secret, privately agreed bet, Ning Zhuo left the room.
He sighed deeply. This was already the best outcome he had fought for with all his strength.
Having come this far, Ning Zhuo certainly wasn’t willing to give up. He might as well gamble with the Ning family Patriarch!
Although the family division had failed, Ning Zhuo still released Ning Xiaohui’s grandmother and recruited Ning Xiaoren, which sparked widespread dissatisfaction among his subordinates.
The branch family had long been disgusted with the main branch, and Ning Zhuo, as their hopeful future leader, showed such flattery to the main branch.
Moreover, Ning Ze and Wang Lan, still grieving over the loss of their son, stirred up trouble everywhere, spreading rumors that Ning Zhuo had changed and secretly struck a deal with the main branch, receiving great benefits and abandoning the branch family.
They wanted to force Ning Zhuo to prove his innocence.
And how could he prove his innocence?
Nothing short of avenging his cousin, Ning Ji, by holding the culprit accountable!
Due to insiders like Ning Xiangguo, the City Lord’s Mansion saw an opening and quickly seized the opportunity to secretly cooperate with Ning Ze and Wang Lan, stirring up the branch family against Ning Zhuo and demanding that he explain the whole situation.
But Ning Zhuo didn’t show up.
He knew that if he did, he would have to back down.
And once he backed down and dealt with Ning Xiaohui's grandmother, he would lose his most important reason. How could the elders of the Ning family still approve of his family division proposal?
At the very least, he needed to maintain the hope of dividing the family, not letting it diminish.
Meanwhile, the second round of the palace examination had reached a critical stage, forcing Ning Zhuo to focus all his energy on the examination.
The eighteenth question.
The content of the question was undergoing slight changes—the arena was open, the preparation stage was concealed, and cultivators were allowed to use spells to assist.
Ning Zhuo engaged in battle with Sun Lingtong.
Sun Lingtong released the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, taunting Ning Zhuo to surrender immediately.
But after Ning Zhuo finished his preparations, he didn’t create any mechanical puppets. Instead, he simply crafted over twenty floating mobile mechanisms!
"The one who should surrender is you, Sun Lingtong!"
"I’m going to settle all the humiliation I’ve suffered over the years, being coerced, controlled, and oppressed by you, right here and now!"
Ning Zhuo shouted, his fighting spirit soaring.
The next moment, the more than twenty floating mechanisms flew into the air and simultaneously cast spells at the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng.
The explosion of spells was incredibly fierce. Such an extreme configuration pushed the attack power to the limit.
The Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, was engulfed in a brilliant storm of spells.
It fought back fiercely, taking down nearly ten floating mechanisms, but in the end, it collapsed, riddled with wounds, its body in a pitiful state.
"No! My Battle Ape! You brat, you're dead!!" Sun Lingtong roared, his eyes ablaze, staring at Ning Zhuo with murderous intent.
Sun Lingtong, who had long mingled in the black market and had been trained by his master since childhood, had excellent acting skills.
Ning Zhuo sneered fearlessly and shouted excitedly, "Sun Lingtong, do you know how long I’ve waited for this day? Did you think I didn’t know? I’ve secretly investigated and studied your mechanical apes many times!"
The cultivators watching the battle were thrilled, cheering loudly!
During this period, Sun Lingtong had been virtually undefeated, far too dominant.
No one expected that this time, Ning Zhuo would manage to pull off a lucky victory.
Yes, in the eyes of the cultivators, Ning Zhuo had simply used an extreme strategy in the arena, betting everything on the twenty floating mechanisms.
However, some observant individuals silently took note of Ning Zhuo's earlier "excited" declaration, revealing that he had studied the mechanical apes in secret.
Since he had studied them, why hadn’t Ning Zhuo shared his precious information earlier, when the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, first appeared, so that others could benefit?
If he had shared it, maybe others could have defeated Sun Lingtong too!
This made many realize that even though Ning Zhuo had admitted his guilt and submitted to punishment earlier, he had withheld much information.
That information gave him certain advantages.
Just like in this arena victory, intelligence had played a key role. Because Ning Zhuo had a unique understanding of the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, he was able to determine the advantage early on and secure victory.
After this day’s palace examination, some
emissaries came to Ning Zhuo, hoping to purchase his intelligence.
Ning Zhuo declined them all.
By the next day's palace examination, people were surprised to find that Sun Lingtong no longer used the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng.
Sun Lingtong glared at Ning Zhuo throughout, his eyes full of hatred, practically overflowing.
Naturally, people speculated that Ning Zhuo had heavily damaged the mechanical ape in their battle the previous day, and it couldn’t be repaired in time.
Ning Zhuo thus gained more praise. At the same time, without the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, people weren’t as interested in the intelligence he had.
In the subsequent palace examinations, Sun Lingtong never used the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, again.
His aim was to lower his performance to be more in line with Ning Zhuo’s. That way, the rankings of "Ning Zhuo" and the "entry standard" wouldn’t have a significant gap.
If there were too large a gap between Sun Lingtong and Ning Zhuo's performance, the truth that the name didn’t match the person would become too obvious.