Ning Family Clan Land.
In the cultivation secret room.
The Ning Family Ancestor meditated within a massive ice block, adjusting his breath.
In his arms, a pot-shaped magical treasure emitted a layer of immaculate white light.
The ice gradually melted away until it was entirely gone.
The Ning Family Ancestor slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air before reaching up to touch his forehead.
A depression remained on his head, though it was no longer as pronounced as before.
Anger and hatred simmered in the heart of the Ning Family Ancestor.
To him, this had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
He had already entered the Immortal Palace and awaited the perfect chance as the side hall was breached, ready to go in when an unexpected attack from a Peach Core of External Karma fell from the sky, grievously injuring him.
The Ning Family Ancestor was well aware of Meng Kui's Mountain Gaze divine skill and the Peach Core of External Karma.
After suffering severe injuries from the peach core, the Ning Family Ancestor could only flee, leaving the Magma Fairy Palace behind.
Thus, the excellent opportunity was entirely shattered by Meng Kui!
"Meng Kui is truly overbearing."
"The Magma Fairy Palace was supposed to be an ownerless treasure, left for the fated, giving everyone an equal chance."
"My Ning Family was already a latecomer. This time, it was a rare stroke of luck that allowed us to enter the side hall, and even that Meng Kui couldn't tolerate! He had to intervene and sabotage it!"
"In his heart, the Magma Fairy Palace must already be within his grasp."
"He won't let anybody else even touch it!"
Rubbing the Ice Heart Jade Pot, the Ning Family Ancestor gradually calmed down.
The Ice Heart Jade Pot was the Ning Family's heirloom treasure.
Carved meticulously from a single piece of translucent cold jade, the pot was crystal clear, like a serene ice lake, emitting a faint, cold light.
Touching the pot, the Ning Family Ancestor felt not the biting chill but a soothing, jade-like warmth.
The Ning Family Ancestor contemplated the current situation.
"Meng Kui is at the Nascent Soul Stage, and he is the City Lord of Fire Persimmon Immortal City."
"He justifiably and righteously uses his power to seal the volcano. If I want to enter the Immortal Palace, I must do so disguised. But if I disguise myself, I lose my righteous identity and become an easy target for Meng Kui's shameless attacks."
"Sigh, looking at it this way..."
"Our greatest hope still lies in the competition within the Qi Refinement Realm."
"But can Ning Xiaohui truly contend with Meng Chong in the Qi Refinement competition?"
The Ning Family Ancestor felt a heavy weight in his heart at the thought of Meng Chong's innate immortal aptitude.
He couldn't help but wonder: Had Meng Chong already reached the latter stages? Was he close to the finish line?
Touching the dent on his forehead again, the Ning Family Ancestor's gaze became resolute.
"It seems I must increase my support for the family's renovation team."
After pondering for a moment, the Ning Family Ancestor promptly gave orders.
Ning Xiaohui was the first in the renovation team to hear the good news.
"Oh? It's a direct order from the Ancestor himself, taking out the Ling Frost and Proud Snow Understanding Law Maps and using three bottles of White Snow Spring Sunrise Pills, distributing them to the entire renovation team. He will even use the Ice Jade Wine from the Ice Heart Jade Pot to reward the most outstanding cultivators in the renovation team?"
"Heh heh."
Glancing at her hands, Ning Xiaohui pouted, "Rewarding the most outstanding? They might as well just give it to me directly, such a pointless formality."
Since experiencing a life-threatening crisis, Ning Xiaohui's temperament had grown significantly.
With her grandmother's help, she had preliminarily mastered the Talent Ice Fat Jade Hand.
During this process, the power of the Ice Fat Jade Hand completely healed Ning Xiaohui's injuries.
As a result, Ning Xiaohui, as a latecomer, surpassed both the Zhou Family pair and the Zheng Family's Zheng Jian. While the latter three were still recovering, Ning Xiaohui had already begun her special training.
Ning Zhuo returned to the family's base.
Along the way, he smiled and nodded to familiar clan members.
After disarming Qi Bai and having a brief conversation with Sun Lingtong, Ning Zhuo hurried back in secret.
At this critical moment, he needed to return to the public eye quickly to prevent Han Ming from being captured and revealing she had seen Yuan Dasheng's corpse.
Officially, it was Ning Zhuo who had obtained Yuan Dasheng's corpse.
Although there was no evidence to link Ning Zhuo and the Youthful Guest, even if Ning Zhuo was discovered, he had various excuses, such as selling it on the black market or that the corpse was simply stolen.
However, it would definitely implicate Ning Zhuo's true identity.
To deal with a possible investigation, Ning Zhuo couldn't stay in the underground base for too long.
In the residence of Ning Ze.
"Little Zhuo, you're finally back. Yesterday, the whole city was in chaos, with conflicts everywhere. You didn't get hurt, did you?" Wang Lan hurried over to ask with concern.
Ning Zhuo shook his head slightly: "Aunt, you can rest assured. Ever since the assassination attempt, I've been very careful. Besides, the family has assigned guards to protect me; nothing will happen."
"That's good, that's good." Wang Lan suddenly sighed, "But while you are safe, your uncle has suffered."
"The prisoner in the next cell went mad suddenly. Just because of a minor argument, he grabbed your uncle's hair and repeatedly smashed his head into the bars."
"Your uncle is seriously injured and urgently needs a good environment to heal."
"Little Zhuo, go plead with the Young Clan Leader once more, asking him to release your dear uncle!"
Ning Zhuo's face darkened with sorrow, sighing: "Aunt, I didn't know such a thing had happened!"
"Uncle has indeed suffered greatly this time."
"But I already pleaded with the Young Clan Leader last time. Pleading again now has very little chance of success."
"Unless..."
"Aunt, you repay all the cultivation resources you owe me over the years."
"This..." Wang Lan's face immediately changed, her brows furrowing deeply, her expression troubled. A surge of anger burned within her.
In her heart, she roared: "That Ning Xiaoren never gave any cultivation resources at all; the truth is far from this."
But she could only roar inwardly.
"Little Zhuo, to be honest, your uncle's family has very little savings. They spend a lot daily and have almost no surplus."
"Asking me to give it all at once is simply impractical."
Ning Zhuo interrupted her: "Aunt, I still need to cultivate. Repay part of it first; you've never repaid anything yet."
Unwilling to waste more time with Wang Lan, Ning Zhuo tactfully refused and then quickly retreated to his cultivation room.
He activated the Floating Cloud Handkerchief, concealing himself within layers of clouds before bringing out the remains of the Martial Fighting Ape, Dasheng, and the Golden Blood Battle Ape mechanism.
The former had been reduced to little more than a skeleton after the fierce battle.
If not for Yuan Dasheng's display of immortal aptitude, even the skeleton would have been consumed by the ghostly fire.
Ning Zhuo inspected the skeleton and found that, although the material remained the same, it had become far more fragile than initially.
"Is it because it bore the Righteous Golden Firmness?"
Ning Zhuo's eyes flickered slightly.
He had always wondered how Yuan Dasheng managed to exhibit the Righteous Golden Firmness within the Martial Fighting Ape and planned to consult some relevant texts in the future.
As the Martial Fighting Ape: Dasheng was nearly destroyed, Ning Zhuo took out the Golden Blood Battle Ape mechanism.
The embryonic divine skill—Life Hanging Thread!
Using the same method as before, he extracted Yuan Dasheng's spirituality from the Martial Fighting Ape skeleton and placed it into the Golden Blood Battle Ape mechanism.
"Yuan Dasheng's spirituality has notably changed!"
The moment he drew it out, Ning Zhuo noticed.
Previously, Yuan Dasheng's spirituality had resembled a pink light orb, its surface occasionally forming the image of a young monkey's head.
Now, though still a pink orb, its size had more than tripled. The conjured monkey head had matured from a young to an adult shape.
The outline of the adult monkey head was more defined, lifelike.
Furthermore, when suspended in midair, Yuan Dasheng's spiritual orb was shrouded in a halo.
This feature had never been present before.
Connecting the dots, Ning Zhuo quickly recalled the relevant entries in "On Spirituality."
"This halo must be spiritual brilliance."
"When spirituality overflows to a certain extent, it produces spiritual brilliance."
"As spirituality continues to grow, spiritual brilliance will intensify, interacting with everything to communicate and discern."
"So, Yuan Dasheng has reached the Wisdom Spirit Stage!"
Classifying spirituality by its state.
The first stage is Spiritless, the second is Dead Spirit, the third is Living Spirit, the fourth is Wisdom Spirit, and the fifth is Deity Spirit.
The Dead Spirit Stage branched into five phases, as did the Living Spirit Stage. From the lowest to highest within the Living Spirit Stage: Spirit Star, Spirit Sensitivity, Spirit Growth, Spirit Movement, and Spirit Vitality.
Previously, Yuan Dasheng's full spirituality had reached the Spirit Movement phase. At this stage, the spirituality was lively, driven by strong emotions.
According to Ning Zhuo's research, aligning actions with the energetic nature could fully reclaim control.
After the Spirit Movement phase comes the Spirit Vitality phase.
"Apparently, Yuan Dasheng has skipped Spirit Vitality and directly advanced to the first stage of the Wisdom Spirit Stage—Spirit Wisdom."
"Living Spirit Stage is also known as beast spirituality, driven by instinct. Wisdom Spirit Stage spirituality signifies wisdom, marked by its first major transformation: communication."
"That's why Yuan Dasheng could speak."
The first level of the Wisdom Spirit Stage, Spirit Wisdom, meant spirituality could now communicate normally with its surroundings.
Ning Zhuo placed Yuan Dasheng's spirituality into the Golden Blood Battle Ape mechanism but did not rush to communicate, instead storing it in his storage bag.
Surrounded by layers of floating clouds, Ning Zhuo took out his meditation mat, beginning his daily cultivation.
The Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique, level six.
The Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, level five.
The Demon-infused Bloodline Technique, level five.
"My cultivation level is still too weak, far too weak."
"Defeating Qi Bai this time relied mostly on Meng Kui's peach core and my years of accumulation."
"When will I be able to defeat strong foes solely with my own cultivation level?"
"Is there any way I can cultivate faster?"
"I need to advance quicker; I must become stronger!"
Having just survived a deadly battle, Ning Zhuo's desire for cultivation was ten times stronger than before!
Meanwhile.
In another part of the Ning Family Clan Land.
"Qi Refinement third stage pinnacle, Ice-jade Hands! With just these two factors, who among Zhou Zhu, Zhou Zeshen, and Zheng Jian can rival me?"
Ning Xiaohui's face was filled with pride.
This was because Zheng Jian and the others lacked strong offensive talents.
Ice-jade Hands were different!
"Ling Frost, Proud Snow Understanding Law Maps…" Ning Xiaohui unfolded the two maps, studying them closely.
"With my natural affinity for Ice-jade Hands."
"As long as I master the Ling Frost and Proud Snow techniques, I will gain wings like a tiger!"
"By then, only Meng Chong could be considered my formidable opponent."
"The others are of no concern."