Ban Ji suddenly paused, thinking of Ning Zhuo’s bronze shield. He twitched slightly at the corner of his eye: "Could this kid losing the shield also be his own act of deliberately showing weakness to the enemy?"
Seeing that his persuasion had stabilized Ban Ji’s mood and successfully shifted his attention to Ning Zhuo, Ban Jie calmly said, "Quite possible!"
"According to the intelligence, although he had the upper hand in the end, he used words to persuade Tie Zheng to surrender."
Ban Jie rubbed the tea cup in his hand, which was full of cracks, with a solemn expression: "Ban Ji, this person is different from the cultivators you usually deal with. Even without mentioning his talent, just this method of negotiation shows his insight and manipulation of human nature."
"He’s not someone easy to deal with."
Ban Ji impatiently said, "Do you still need to say that? He is my human tribulation!"
"Why are we still here? To drink mountain winds?"
As he spoke, he stood up.
This was near the Xuan Armor Cave. Ban Ji had tasted defeat here, and upon knowing that Ning Zhuo had won and once again outshone him, he didn’t want to stay any longer.
Ban Jie sighed, "You leave first."
"I still have some loose ends to tie up."
This time she had bribed many cultivators from the Xuan Armor Cave, otherwise, the intelligence wouldn’t have been transmitted so quickly.
She had helped Ban Ji by using concealed means that were too strong and had already offended the Xuan Armor Cave.
Next, she needed to quickly apologize and mend relations.
Ban Ji grunted in acknowledgment and left directly.
Ban Jie looked displeased as she packed up the tea set and cups, dismissed her subordinates, and flew alone towards the Xuan Armor Cave.
This operation was a complete failure and loss.
Ban Ji was neither able to trigger a king’s order nor obtain the first place, and their relationship with the Xuan Armor Cave had soured significantly.
"Human tribulation, is this truly the king’s order’s human tribulation?" At this moment, Ban Jie regarded Ning Zhuo with at least ten times more caution than before.
Cardinal Cave.
The Hao-surnamed cultivator knelt on the ground, having reported the detailed situation.
He had been quite proactive. Realizing that there would definitely be an investigation from the higher-ups, he went to the Cardinal Cave as soon as the Xingyun Trial ended, confessed, and sought forgiveness: he had accepted some bribes from the Ban family, yet hadn’t expected the Ban family to act as they did. However, when he sensed something was amiss, he immediately took measures to cover and disguise Ning Zhuo in the seventh battle.
The senior cultivator, after hearing his report, snorted coldly and chastised the Hao-surnamed cultivator a few times. Just as he was about to let him off lightly, his expression suddenly changed as he received a divine sense transmission.
The senior cultivator immediately put on a solemn face, sat up straight, and said to the Hao-surnamed cultivator in a detached tone, "Kneel here for now!"
"The god has decreed, summon Ning Zhuo to an audience."
"Your punishment will be determined by the god."
The Hao-surnamed cultivator exclaimed, "How did such a small matter alarm the god?!"
The senior slowly shook his head: "The god is unfathomable, every action has deep meaning. How can we, as subordinates, comprehend it?"
Deep within the Cardinal Cave’s Mansion, there was a long-standing offering of a bronze armor, which was the main body of the Nine-layered Profound Armor!
Within the armor dwelled a divine spirit known as Qingwu Langjun.
Qingwu Langjun was reviewing the information on Ning Zhuo. From Ning Zhuo’s initial participation in the Xingyun Trial at the Xuan Armor Cave to eventually becoming the sole winner and taking first place, the entire process was completely documented.
Qingwu Langjun chuckled to himself, "Interesting. The Ban family forcibly meddled, causing Ban Ji to encounter a bronze sword and bronze knife, yet miss the bronze shield that was supposed to be allotted to him. This also resulted in the bronze whip being assigned to Ning Zhuo."
"Later, their ambush reinforcements instead provoked Tie Zheng to attack. Their forceful aid backfired, much like lifting a stone only to drop it on one’s own foot."
As a divine spirit overseeing the Xuan Armor Cave, Qingwu Langjun remained indifferent to the Ban family’s intrusion.
His focus was more on Ning Zhuo.
"The next one is neither a Martial Cultivator nor a Body Cultivator, but a Mechanism Cultivator."
"He is also very young, exceptionally talented—a genuine genius."
"Finally, his qi fortune is exceedingly prosperous, far surpassing that of ordinary folks. The Ban family’s aid for Ban Ji inadvertently benefited him instead."
"Meeting these three conditions, he is indeed the destined one I’ve been waiting for!"
Qingwu Langjun made a judgment, and couldn’t help but recall a past event.
He had once discreetly visited a Dun Jia Xuan Master, "I request the master to divine for me, to foresee my path of cultivation."
The Dun Jia Xuan Master, a demon cultivator, had fortuitously acquired a fragmented legacy of divination in his early years. Coincidentally, his true form was a Profound Turtle, closely aligned with this legacy. Through millennia of arduous practice, he had amassed divination abilities.
The Dun Jia Xuan Master couldn’t refuse Qingwu Langjun’s request, and thus divined for him.
After seven days and seven nights of divination, he informed Qingwu Langjun of his results, "Langjun, your choice of the path to becoming a god is correct. Just proceed with the steps, and you’ll be fine."
Qingwu Langjun snorted in displeasure, "It’s precisely because I’ve hit a bottleneck on this path that I sought your divination."
"Don’t perfunctorily appease me. Quickly tell me how to break through next!"
The Dun Jia Xuan Master nodded urgently and continued, "Langjun, your true form is the Artifact Spirit of the Nine-layered Profound Armor. By absorbing countless Mysterious Armors refined by others, you’ve accumulated ample dao and principles, gradually developing the supernatural, transforming from Artifact Spirit to Divine Spirit."
"Your bottleneck is precisely due to this reason."
"You’ve accumulated too many principles, too complex. Only by purifying them can you advance further!"
Qingwu Langjun’s expression relaxed slightly, "Before coming to you, I consulted numerous high sages from the same sect. I already know this issue; I wanted you to divine how I should purify it!"
The Dun Jia Xuan Master then said, "Langjun, fret not, I have already divined your cultivation opportunity."
"In twelve years, the Myriad Images Sect will hold the Feiyun Conference again. The Xuan Armor Cave will also conduct several Xingyun Trials. Your destined one will stand out at this time, participate in the trial, take the first place, and voluntarily appear before you."
Qingwu Langjun raised an eyebrow slightly, "Oh?"
The Dun Jia Xuan Master continued, "This person is a male cultivator, highly gifted, very young, and with exceptionally prosperous qi fortune, far surpassing ordinary people. You shall distinguish him clearly upon encounter."
Qingwu Langjun pondered for a moment, then questioned, "Given his youth, his cultivation level may not be high. Since he is actively participating in the Xuan Armor Cave trial, his cultivation level might be between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core."
"With such a cultivation level, can he aid me in overcoming my bottleneck?"
Qingwu Langjun was somewhat skeptical.
The Dun Jia Xuan Master stated, "Langjun, fear not, I have elucidated the method for you. By then, all you need to do is to confer your many True Intents as the head prize, remove the principles, and bestow them upon him through empowerment."
Qingwu Langjun arched an eyebrow once more.
The Dun Jia Xuan Master further said, "Langjun, your accumulation is too exuberant. The path of divine spirit cultivation lies in purity. Yet, the True Intents and principles you’ve comprehended can mainly be divided into four parts: Mechanical Techniques, Artifact Refining, Military Family, and Martial Arts."
"To pursue one path to Becoming a God, you must abandon the other three areas."
Qingwu Langjun sighed, "This method I’ve already heard. However, transmitting True Intent and empowering principles is exceedingly difficult. It requires finding extremely rare treasures that can bear the True Intent and principles, and also requires the assistance of a grandmaster in Artifact Refining to stabilize my form. Otherwise, I risk suffering severe injury, even demise. Is my destined one a grandmaster in Artifact Refining?"
The Dun Jia Xuan Master shook his head, "No, he is not. However, the exact reality I do not know. I merely divined that this person can aid Langjun in overcoming the bottleneck, propelling further progress. As to how he exactly achieves this, it does not appear in this divination outcome."
Qingwu Langjun squinted, half-believing, half-doubting.
Past events, like smoke, twelve years swiftly passed.
Qingwu Langjun remained half-believing, half-doubting.
He smiled faintly, came back to his senses: "Given the present situation, summoning Ning Zhuo to test it will reveal the truth of the divination."
"If it’s false, I’ll surely reckon with the Dun Jia Xuan Master! Uh, almost forgot he has already passed away."
"Oh well, oh well."