"Don't kill him!" Sun Lingtong shouted.
No reminder was needed; Ning Zhuo had already ordered the Martial Fighting Ape, Dasheng, to stop.
Yuan Dasheng, being a Martial Arts Master, was able to withdraw and hold back instantly.
"Little Zhuo, use the Talisman I gave you!" Sun Lingtong continued.
Ning Zhuo nodded, "Don't worry, boss, I'm familiar with these."
Ning Zhuo took out several Talismans, rushed to Qi Bai, and placed them over his three Dantian and other vital spots.
The Talismans activated, emitting continuous light, sealing Qi Bai completely.
"Hurry up and go!" Sun Lingtong urged, before his eyes darkened, and he collapsed, unconscious.
At the top of Fire Persimmon Mountain.
Meng Kui's face twitched slightly as he took in the results of Qi Bai and Ning Sun's battle.
The outcome of this battle surprised him somewhat.
When he saw Ning Zhuo placing the Talismans and not killing Qi Bai on the spot, his brows furrowed deeply.
Immediately, he murmured something and sent a transmission out.
Chi Dun and Fei Si had been on standby.
Chi Dun immediately flew into the air, rushing to the site of Qi Bai's defeat.
Ning Zhuo's retreat was very timely.
By the time Chi Dun landed, the place was already in ruins, deserted.
"Sigh, too late." Chi Dun quickly used a Spell, attempting to find some clues.
How could Ning Zhuo have left obvious clues?
Seeing Chi Dun in action, Zhu Xuanji, hundreds of miles away, felt a stirring: "The City Lord's Mansion is starting to move."
"Meng Kui's Divine Skill operation is about to end!"
Zhu Xuanji immediately realized this.
When the entire Array was activated, the City Lord's Mansion, under Meng Kui's orders, had retracted all its extensions and remained inactive, merely watching from the sidelines.
Zhu Xuanji knew: This was because the City Lord's Mansion and Meng Kui's fates were intertwined, especially Fei Si and Chi Dun, who were Meng Kui City Lord's right-hand men, tightly connected by fate.
If the two of them were drawn into the Array, Meng Kui would not sit still and would also be implicated.
"Meng Kui's Divine Skill operation ended much faster this time than I expected."
"In past battles, he could sustain it for a long time. This time, he restrained himself considerably because of the citizens of Fire Persimmon Immortal City."
"Perhaps he was also considering the Magma Fairy Palace."
"After all, the Magma Fairy Palace's performance under the Demon Beast attacks was far below expectations. It was also far weaker than I anticipated."
Zhu Xuanji stopped watching the battle and began to move again.
He probed forward, approaching Fire Persimmon Immortal City. Whenever the Wind Alarm Bell sounded, he would stop and retreat a distance, ensuring his fate wasn't affected.
Just as Zhu Xuanji suspected, the intangible Array was rapidly contracting. Furthermore, this contraction was speeding up.
Ning Zhuo stowed away the Martial Fighting Ape, Dasheng, and brought Sun Lingtong and Qi Bai to an underground base.
For over a decade, he and Sun Lingtong had secretly searched for gaps in the Immortal City, secretly building over twenty underground bases.
Many of the bases had never been used since their construction.
On most days, Ning Zhuo only used one specific underground base often — the one his mother had left for him, which had once held Han Ming.
This underground base was small, and Ning Zhuo hadn't visited it since its construction.
The primary feature was a Healing Array, built with quality materials, with no expense spared, resulting in excellent healing effects.
At the start of the battle with Qi Bai, Ning Zhuo had teleported repeatedly, exposing over a dozen underground bases, exhausting the strong enemy as much as possible.
This healing-focused underground base wasn't worth exposing. Such exposure would be a pure gift, and Ning Zhuo wasn't foolish.
So, when Sun Lingtong woke up again, he weakly opened his eyes and found himself in the Array.
Countless green light spots merged into his body, vigorously repairing his physical damage.
Waking up, Sun Lingtong shouted, "Little Zhuo! Help me up, I need to disarm Qi Bai!"
Ning Zhuo immediately deactivated the Healing Array and helped Sun Lingtong out.
Sun Lingtong was very weak; in the recent battle, his body and soul were heavily wounded, with terrifying injuries. If he hadn't taken the Late Autumn Life-Saving Pill, he might have already been dead.
Unable to walk on his own, Sun Lingtong, supported by Ning Zhuo, breathed heavily, his face pale, and soon his forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"Boss, can you manage?" Ning Zhuo asked with concern.
Sun Lingtong extended his small hand, "Give me a Mighty Rejuvenation Pill."
This Elixir Pill could enable a Cultivator to achieve a strong state temporarily, with Mana, vigor, and Spirit power rapidly recovering, dispelling fatigue. The side effect was that it would later lead to a prolonged period of extreme weakness and lethargy.
In fact, Ning Zhuo had already taken one during his battle with Qi Bai.
At that moment, while controlling the Iron Han Armor, he unleashed an extreme stance, but failed to hit Qi Bai's fatal point, landing on his chest instead.
Afterward, at Sun Lingtong's reminder, he fought on, reigniting his fighting spirit, and attacked Qi Bai in the ruined house.
During that time, Ning Zhuo had secretly taken a Mighty Rejuvenation Pill within the Iron Han Armor.
The Mighty Rejuvenation Pill could be taken only once within a day; taking more had no effect.
For the weak, taking it recklessly could lead to sudden death.
Sun Lingtong had consumed many such pills.
When he lost contact with his master and was rescued by Ning Zhuo, he was only in the Qi Refinement Realm. It was difficult to make a living in the vast Fire Persimmon Immortal City, and at times of danger, he had no choice but to rely on the Mighty Rejuvenation Pill to cope with critical crises.
Having taken it many times, Sun Lingtong had gained plenty of experience.
At this moment, after consuming a pill, his nostrils flared, his pale cheeks reddened again, his energy surged, and his eyes regained their sparkle.
His hair stood on end, as if he had been electrocuted.
He lifted his pants and looked inside, nodding in satisfaction, "This Elixir Pill is top-grade."
The top-grade Mighty Rejuvenation Pill made Sun Lingtong's entire body rise energetically.
The mid-grade one didn't have the same effect.
So far, Sun Lingtong hadn't tried the supreme-grade Mighty Rejuvenation Pill.
Supreme Elixir Pills were extremely rare, often possessing miraculous effects.
Sun Lingtong lifted his head proudly and marched towards Qi Bai with vigor.
Qi Bai, covered in Talismans and placed within the Array, was unconscious with no signs of waking. His Essence, Qi, and Spirit Seas were all firmly suppressed by the Talismans.
Sun Lingtong extended his tiny hand and smacked Qi Bai's face gently.
Qi Bai remained motionless, but the slapped part of his cheek reddened and swelled visibly.
Sun Lingtong snorted in anger, sat cross-legged, and placed his hands together, bowing his head, reciting an intricate incantation softly.
After a while, he slowly opened his eyes.
His eyeballs and pupils were shrouded in a spiritual glow. Smoke rose from his hands, forming white, cloud-like wisps. Tiny silver lights, like countless diamonds, twinkled within the smoke, dazzling brightly.
Sun Lingtong continued chanting, his voice getting softer, almost silent.
A few breaths later, his hands vanished, replaced by clouds connected to his wrists.
Bukong Sect Spell - Sea-Watching Cloud Capturing Hand!
The white cloud touched Qi Bai's body, quickly probing into the Upper Dantian Divine Sea.
The cloud swirled, endlessly surging.
Soon, the cloud pulled back. Unlike before, it was now bulging, obviously wrapped around something.
Sun Lingtong controlled the cloud, bringing it to the empty ground beside him, and then it dispersed slowly.
A Seal was immediately revealed.
It was a square-shaped Jade Seal, its body square like ink jade, cold and sinister. The seal's surface bore a Human Race skull, crystal clear like transparent water, embedding a Spirit Communication Bead in its teeth. Within the bead, blue Netherworld Flame constantly burned.
The bottom of the seal bore an inscription of four characters - Netherworld Ghost God!
Netherworld Ghost God Seal.
This was not a Magic Artifact but a Magical Treasure!
With it, Qi Bai had invoked the avatars of two ghost gods, the Inspector General and the Bull Head Ghost Soldier.
This was Qi Bai's most prized treasure, the core of his overall strength, which Sun Lingtong first stole.
"This Jade Seal, as long as you use Yin-attribute Mana, can be refined."
"Even if we aren't Ghost Cultivators, it would be a handy weapon if we ever venture into the Netherworld in the future!"
"Seal it first."
Sun Lingtong took out Talismans and placed them on the front and back of the Magical Treasure.
He once again used the white smoke, letting it enter Qi Bai's Divine Sea.
Soon, the smoke returned, extracting a drum.
It was the Soul-stirring Drum that had given Ning and Sun a hard time in battle.
Like the Netherworld Ghost God Seal, it too was a Magical Treasure.
Sun Lingtong, using Talismans, easily sealed it.
After all, it wasn't a Spiritual Treasure and lacked Spiritual Nature.
The Upper Dantian Divine Sea had no more treasures.
Yet, Sun Lingtong still extracted a lot of Divine Sense, storing it all in a Jade Slip.
He then used the Sea-Watching Cloud Capturing Hand to probe Qi Bai's Qi Sea.
The Qi Sea held no substantial treasures but contained a number of Spell Talisman Seeds.
When a Cultivator practiced a certain spell to a certain extent, it formed Spell Talisman Seeds. Further development on this path could lead to Divine Skills.
However, the difficulty and cost were much higher than using Talent. Moreover, the resulting Divine Skills were relatively common.
Talent was acknowledged as the fertile soil for Divine Skills; the resulting Divine Skills were either extremely powerful or unique.
Using white smoke, Sun Lingtong extracted some shadows of the Talisman Seeds.
He took out Talisman papers, and as the white smoke brought the shadows onto the paper, it immediately turned into a Talisman.
"All top-grade ones, can sell for money!" Sun Lingtong nodded in satisfaction.
Ning Zhuo added, "Better keep some in stock for ourselves first."
In the recent battle, he almost exhausted his Mechanism Artifacts accumulated over ten years, feeling very uneasy.
Finally, Sun Lingtong used the white smoke to extract a large amount of Mana from Qi Bai, storing it in the Spirit Storage Ball.
The white smoke officially entered the Essence Sea Lower Dantian.
Sun Lingtong explored for a while, suddenly trembling in excitement, exclaiming with joy, "It's actually this item, what a treasure, what a treasure!"