Fire Persimmon Immortal City.
The Ning Family's carriage traveled down the street, moving at a steady pace.
Pedestrians along the way voluntarily stepped aside.
This was all because the carriage bore the large Ning character on its cabin and banners, indicating it belonged to someone significant from the Ning Family. The carriage itself exuded multiple layers of magic artifact auras, signifying its high status, usually reserved for important figures.
Even if one couldn't recognize these signs, the dignified escort—eight cultivators surrounding the carriage, four at the Qi Refinement Realm and four at the Foundation Establishment Stage—made it clear that important figures from the Ning Family were aboard.
Inside the carriage sat Ning Zhuo.
The young talents at the Qi Refinement Realm from the Four Directions Powers in Fire Persimmon Immortal City had all suffered assassination attempts in a short time.
This severe stimulus not only brought the three families into closer cooperation but also increased their protection over their respective talents.
As a result, Ning Zhuo benefited from this heightened security, traveling in such a high-spec carriage.
At this moment, he sat cross-legged inside the carriage, his body surrounded by floating clouds.
The Ning Family cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage sensed this scene with their divine sense and couldn't help but praise Ning Zhuo's diligence.
Some of those who had guarded him for longer periods gradually realized that Ning Zhuo practiced cultivation with extreme dedication every day, working hard to the point of not engaging in any leisure or relaxation activities.
It was as if an incredible monster chased after him, and if he slowed down even a bit, he would be devoured by it!
The floating clouds could shield the fluctuations from his breathing exercises; in fact, even if any fluctuations leaked out, it didn't matter much.
Since his cultivation technique had reached its limit, it still required daily breathing exercises to refine new mana for use.
Using floating clouds to conceal his practice every time was indeed reasonable.
Whether it was the hardships and loneliness of his past growing-up experience or the recent assassination attempts, all these would severely lack a sense of security. Using such actions to slightly fill this inner sense of security was quite rational.
But in fact, Ning Zhuo was remotely controlling Yuan Dasheng!
Ning Zhuo first took out the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng and secretly placed it in Ning Ze's residence.
Then, when he left the family residence and boarded the carriage, drawing all the attention to himself, he quietly controlled Yuan Dasheng, activating it to start operations on the other side.
With the Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique, Ning Zhuo could observe Yuan Dasheng's surroundings at all times.
With the Heart Demon Seal planted, even without divine sense or puppet strings, Ning Zhuo could control Yuan Dasheng.
Coupled with the fact that Yuan Dasheng already had spiritual nature and could understand relatively complex commands, Ning Zhuo's chances of success were greatly increased in this action.
Yuan Dasheng donned the Iron Han Armor, which had the ability to disguise itself. This time, it disguised as an ordinary cultivator.
While Ning Zhuo rode the carriage, Yuan Dasheng walked down a nearby street, brushing past pedestrians with an air of nonchalance.
Upon reaching Ning Zhuo's small courtyard, Yuan Dasheng swiftly slipped into an alley and, seeing no one around, entered the sewer.
At a certain point in the sewer, it touched specific wall bricks and activated a hidden teleportation array.
In the next moment, Ning Zhuo felt a significant drop in control; Yuan Dasheng had already been teleported to an underground base.
This was the place where Han Ming was imprisoned, Ning Zhuo's transfer point whenever he ventured into the black market, and where he had previously stored Fire Essence.
Yuan Dasheng arrived beside the furnace.
It opened its storage bag and threw everything inside into the furnace.
It then closed the furnace door and infused spiritual power to gradually elevate the furnace's power.
The temperature of the air rose accordingly, and the crimson glow gradually dispelled the surrounding darkness.
The Iron Han Armor still covered Yuan Dasheng.
It sat cross-legged in front of the furnace, under Ning Zhuo's guidance, and began to activate the Cremation Prajna Spirit Liberation Sutra!
The spiritual power, in accordance with the Buddhist scripture, gradually manifested mysterious and wonderful abilities.
Within the furnace, the red flames burned, quickly melting all of Yuan Dasheng's possessions.
From the flames, specks of pink light emerged.
These pink lights danced gracefully at the tips of the flames like snowflakes.
After the cremation ended, when Yuan Dasheng opened the furnace door, these pink lights, imbued with spiritual nature, instinctively flew into Yuan Dasheng's arms, completely filling its spiritual nature.
The initial seventy-nine percent spiritual nature rapidly increased.
After a few breaths, some pink specks of light hovered outside Yuan Dasheng's body, unable to enter and eventually dissipated regretfully.
Because Yuan Dasheng's spiritual nature was complete!
One hundred percent spiritual nature!
Self-sufficiency in spiritual nature!
This was definitely a milestone; from now on, Yuan Dasheng's spiritual nature could recover on its own, not just relying on external supplementation.
"Very good, very good!" Ning Zhuo smiled wearily inside the carriage.
After all, it was his first time fully activating the Cremation Prajna Spirit Liberation Sutra and doing so remotely.
Luckily, his soul was profoundly deep, his spirit vibrant, and his Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique had already reached the sixth level. Such cultivation in the three techniques stood out prominently!
"Return along the original route," Ning Zhuo commanded, but the next moment, his smile froze.
A clear refusal came from the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng!
Ning Zhuo: ?!!
The Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng, wearing the Iron Han Armor, slowly stood up.
It looked around blankly, then down at its hands and body, feeling extremely puzzled.
It didn't know who it was or where it was.
Ning Zhuo hurriedly issued another command!
So, Yuan Dasheng felt a voice in its mind, telling it what to do.
But Yuan Dasheng chose not to heed this voice. It clutched its chest with its hand.
In its heart, a wave of strong emotions—anger, hatred, like an opening floodgate—came surging out.
Yuan Dasheng was almost instantly overwhelmed by these intense emotions.
It let out a low roar, a sorrowful ape cry.
The sound startled Han Ming in the cell.
Han Ming had been recuperating these days.
Before leaving, Ning Zhuo had loosened her restraints. Although she was still chained, her activity range now covered half the cell's space.
At the same time, Ning Zhuo had set up mechanisms here to feed Han Ming at regular intervals.
Considering Han Ming's excretion needs, Ning Zhuo added a small wooden compartment in one corner of the cell, which contained a waste bucket.
Whenever the waste in the bucket accumulated to a certain level, the floor tile under the bucket would open and spray clean water, flushing the waste away.
To prevent Han Ming from feeling lonely, Ning Zhuo even placed some books in the cell, covering various topics, for Han Ming to pass the boredom.
Even so, Han Ming was on the brink of breaking down!
She yearned to see a youthful guest, even spotting a cockroach would lift her spirits and bring a sense of happiness.
So when she heard the ape's cry, she was first terrified, then overjoyed.
She quickly ran towards the cell door, but was yanked back by the chains midway.
Han Ming fell to the cold floor tiles, screaming towards the cell door, "I'm here, I'm here!"
"Master, is that you? Have you come?"
Yuan Dasheng heard Han Ming's voice but didn't respond.
The intense anger quickly subsided, replaced by a vast ocean of sadness, like a layer of drifting ice on the sea's surface. Beneath the ice was an immense expanse of sorrowful water.
The sorrowful emotions were so profound that they deeply immersed Yuan Dasheng's spiritual nature, burying it.
Yuan Dasheng's eyes, originally mechanical and dull, now reflected an unfathomable sadness, a deep melancholy.
It moved slowly, with heavy footsteps, like a walking corpse, passing through the teleportation array, leaving the underground base.
Han Ming continued to scream desperately, struggling against the chains, unwilling to let the dungeon return to silence.
"Please, master, are you outside?"
"Please, I don't want to be locked up any longer!"
"I'll do anything, just let me out, I can't take it anymore, I really can't! Sob…"
Han Ming broke down.
The underground base returned to its former stillness, like the hand of despair tightening around her throat.
She cried for a long time until she fainted.
Ning Zhuo, through Yuan Dasheng, sensed what was happening with Han Ming, but he could no longer care!
"Yuan Dasheng, stop, stand still!"
"Return the way you came, return the way you came!!"
Ning Zhuo used the Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique to communicate intensely with Yuan Dasheng.
But it was useless!
Yuan Dasheng's spiritual nature refused the command.
"Full spiritual nature! I didn't expect such a drawback!"
Ning Zhuo in the carriage became extremely anxious; if Yuan Dasheng's identity was revealed, it would expose his fatal flaw.
Heart Seal!
Buddha Heart Demon Seal!!
Ning Zhuo closed his eyes tightly, fully responding to the treasure seal, causing two streams of blood to flow quickly from his nostrils.
It was no use.
He only had the cultivation level of Qi Refinement, barely able to harness a fraction of the treasure seal's power. The distance between him and Yuan Dasheng was too great, and with Yuan Dasheng's autonomous action, the distance continued to grow.
Even using the Heart Seal only made Yuan Dasheng's actions slightly stiff, slightly slower, without achieving any decisive effect.
Through the Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique, Ning Zhuo saw that Yuan Dasheng had already left the sewer and exited the alley, stepping into the bustling street.
For a moment, Ning Zhuo felt an urge to jump off the carriage and rush directly to Yuan Dasheng.
But he quickly suppressed this foolish thought.
"Calm down, calm down."
Ning Zhuo's breathing stabilized, his eyes full of cold determination.
He told himself to stay calm, and remarkably, he adjusted his mindset in an instant.
The efficiency surprised even him.
He quickly assessed the current situation.
Yuan Dasheng was covered in the Iron Han Armor, disguised as an ordinary cultivator, which wouldn't attract attention in Fire Persimmon Immortal City.
"The situation isn't the worst yet."
"Emotions have strong impacts but aren't enduring. Didn't the prior rage and hatred get replaced by sorrow?"
"Once the emotions subside to a certain level, my control over Yuan Dasheng will return."
"In contrast, jumping out of the carriage and heading near Yuan Dasheng would be the biggest mistake."
Within the floating clouds, Ning Zhuo took a deep breath and completely calmed down.
With so many guards, he needed to continue to the Zheng Family.
"Even if Yuan Dasheng is exposed, I still have my final card."
"This change of events is nothing compared to previous crises like the leaderboard alteration and the planned killing of Yuan Dasheng."
Ever since blowing up the Immortal Palace, Ning Zhuo had grown rapidly.
Not just in terms of his cultivation level but also in his mindset.
Challenges, difficulties, and the pressure of death had shaped him, imbuing him with the demeanor of a strong individual.