< Chapter 59: Starting from Scratch >
Lava Immortal Palace, Main Hall.
“Roar!”
Seeing Yuan Dasheng defeated, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit tilted its head back in anger, its dragon claws fiercely slamming down on the armrest of its throne.
Although the leaderboard within the Lava Immortal Palace didn’t clearly show it, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit knew that Yuan Dasheng’s demonic skills were at a high level, perfectly complementing its own powerful physical body.
The problem was, having its soul drawn into the palace had deprived it of its original body, leaving it with only a puppet’s form.
The puppet body lacked blood energy, except when it came into contact with the demonic sects beyond Room Nine.
At that point, if Yuan Dasheng could just slightly unleash his true potential, he would soar to unprecedented heights.
But Ning Zhuo had blocked him!
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit had hoped that Ning Zhuo would make a mistake in the fight. From beginning to end, Ning Zhuo had avoided close combat with Yuan Dasheng. This completely dashed the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit’s hopes.
What further infuriated the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was seeing Ning Zhuo’s name on the leaderboard.
It was just too cunning! Yuan Dasheng had been utterly deceived.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit wished it could scratch off those few characters itself. But it couldn’t.
For any disciple participating in the trial, it couldn’t reveal the slightest bit of information. This was the strict rule set by the Three Sect Elders!
In Room Eight, Ning Zhuo began to clean up the battlefield. Despite his victory, he felt no joy. The outcome of this battle had been within his expectations.
At present, with his mastery of numerous spells, along with the various mechanical components, spirit stones, and spiritual power at his disposal, his overall strength far surpassed that of Yuan Dasheng.
Moreover, he had previously observed Yuan Dasheng and was well aware of his speed, strength, and other specific capabilities. Rather than a head-on confrontation, it was more accurate to describe this as a hunt!
“Even if I defeat it countless times, it will always come back. It won’t truly die.”
Therefore, this did not completely solve the problem.
Ning Zhuo carefully examined Yuan Dasheng’s mechanical components. While the Lava Immortal Palace had yet to clear them away, he hurried to check them.
Despite having the upper hand throughout the entire fight, Ning Zhuo felt significant pressure, sensing that it might be concealing some innate talent.
If there was an innate talent, it might manifest in the mechanical components. For instance, Ning Zhuo’s early wisdom talent could be discerned from his large head.
However, after scrutinizing them two or three times, Ning Zhuo found no hidden secrets. Although the components were substantial, their proportions were natural and reasonable, with no single part standing out excessively.
“Is it like Meng Chong’s Wild Sprint Thunderclap, which only becomes apparent once activated?”
“No, if it could be activated, it would have been used during the previous battle.”
“Is it the puppet body that prevents its use? Or is there another restriction?”
Ning Zhuo sighed. This search had yielded negligible results.
Soon, he left Room Eight, heading back quickly to repair the mechanical traps. He also froze the humanoid puppets and took them to the preparation room, placing them on various mechanical platforms. Using various mechanical tools, he repaired and reinforced them.
Yuan Yi and Dasheng suffered imprisonment, hit rock bottom, and then rebounded. They joined forces with their fellow inmates to break out of the Beggar Sect’s private prison. After several days of fierce street battles, they eventually overthrew the Beggar Sect.
After the war, Yuan Yi’s contributions were immense, and he was elected leader by the people.
Seizing the opportunity, he reorganized and established the Monkey Head Gang.
In the early days of the Monkey Head Gang, they faced joint suppression from other gangs in Huoshi City.
The situation was precarious several times, and it was only through Dasheng’s fierce battles that they managed to stand firm and gradually grow stronger.
During this blood-soaked process, Dasheng’s name was gradually forgotten.
More and more people began to respectfully call him Dasheng, and for the sake of the gang’s reputation, Yuan Yi gave him a surname, finally making him Yuan Dasheng.
“This is a man of great talent who started from scratch, endured the trials of blood and fire, and ultimately built a foundation!”
Ning Zhuo carefully studied Dasheng’s win rate during beast fights and several crucial gang battles afterward.
“Individually, Yuan Dasheng’s fights had wins and losses. But if we calculate the overall win rate, it’s very problematic.”
“His win rate is too high, indicating he has some powerful trump card!”
Generally, such individuals who rise from obscurity frequently encounter dangers, making it hard to conceal a trump card. But Yuan Dasheng managed to do so.
From this, it could be inferred that his hidden trump card was likely significant, very significant!
“He might have exceptional talent.”
“But this time in our confrontation, I didn’t uncover it.”
Ning Zhuo furrowed his brows, pondering deeply without a solution.
The underground workspace was silent, and the atmosphere was quite oppressive.
Yuan Dasheng’s own strength was already formidable enough to severely threaten Ning Zhuo’s leading position and greatly disrupt his plans.
Even more terrifying was the reaction of the other four major powers after Yuan Dasheng’s exposure.
The response of these righteous factions was almost unanimous: they would coerce and entice Yuan Dasheng to use him for their purposes!
With such a powerful weapon, any of them could gain a leading edge and even ultimately obtain the Lava Immortal Palace.
As for Yuan Dasheng cultivating demonic arts, it didn’t matter at all.
Weren’t there already plenty of demonic cultivators acting as the black gloves for righteous factions?
Sometimes, righteous cultivators even disguised themselves as demonic cultivators to do things that their righteous identities couldn’t.
And Yuan Dasheng was very easy to manipulate.
The Monkey Head Gang and Yuan Er were his weaknesses.
Once a strong alliance was formed, Ning Zhuo’s defeat would be almost certain.
The subsequent developments were easy to predict.
The righteous factions would team up with Yuan Dasheng, destroy the mechanical traps, and quickly surpass Ning Zhuo.
They would eventually become the masters of the Lava Immortal Palace, check the records, learn about Ning Zhuo’s actions, then capture Ning Zhuo and uncover the Buddha Heart Demon Seal!