Zhu Xuanji's expression changed as he made a new discovery.
He immediately gave an order, instructing the trial disciples to retrieve a dismembered arm from the pile of discarded items stacked like a mountain.
The arm was deep red and gleamed with a metallic luster. It was incredibly heavy and exuded a chilling demonic aura.
"The quality is very high, definitely made from Golden Core-level materials. And it isn't just a single material, but a newly synthesized composite made through sophisticated alchemical techniques," Zhu Xuanji muttered to himself.
"Is this also a mechanism from the Magma Fairy Palace?"
"What kind of construct uses such materials?"
Three major mechanisms of the Magma Fairy Palace, the Taoist Master, the Buddhist Physician, and the Demon General, immediately came to Zhu Xuanji's mind.
"Could this be the arm of a Demon General?" Zhu Xuanji naturally speculated.
He was intrigued and commanded the trial disciples to retrieve the crimson iron arm.
But they did not succeed.
One of the trial disciples wore a troubled expression: "Lord Zhu, I can't do it. My contributions are too low."
Zhu Xuanji laughed: "No matter. The Magma Fairy Palace is not peaceful; there are continuous attacks by Red Flame Demon Beasts. You can take advantage of this to accumulate a significant amount of contributions."
After the trial disciples acted accordingly, Zhu Xuanji noticed that the contributions they earned from killing the same Red Flame Demon Beast were much higher than others'.
Zhu Xuanji also discovered that trial disciples could receive crucial information from time to time, giving them more ways to earn contributions.
While it was nearly impossible for anyone else to proactively gain information from the Immortal Palace, and the paths to earn contributions from the Palace were few, the most important being the slaying of Red Flame Demon Beasts.
However, this method was fraught with risk due to the fierce battles.
In contrast, the trial disciples had a variety of options. For instance, they could retrieve mechanical parts from discarded rooms for repair and reassembly.
After observing their actual earnings, Zhu Xuanji was surprised to find that the revenue from repair work was better and could rival the gains from slaying Red Flame Demon Beasts.
"Is this the privilege enjoyed by those who practiced the cultivation techniques provided by the Three Ancestral Masters?"
"Compared to that, it's obvious that we are being treated differently..."
Zhu Xuanji couldn't help but sigh.
For a moment, he fantasized about switching cultivation techniques.
But it was just a fleeting fantasy.
He was already at the Golden Core Stage. If he were at the Foundation Establishment Stage, there might be a slight possibility of changing and retraining.
Once a Golden Core was forged, the foundation was set permanently, making it impossible to retrain in this lifetime.
The saying "No regrets for the Golden Core" precisely illustrated this point.
The trial disciples accumulated contributions at a rapid pace. Soon, someone had amassed enough to exchange for the crimson iron arm from the discarded room.
Zhu Xuanji examined the arm, using his Golden Eyes talent and the Trace Origin Technique to probe it.
He saw an underground magma cave.
The cave was vast, with countless columns, some thick and some thin, supporting the cave walls.
A gigantic demon ape, exuding Golden Core-level aura, was sleeping with its eyes closed.
Among the stone pillars where it slept, there was an entrance stocked with the demon ape's spoils of war. Among them was a badly damaged mechanical puppet.
"Mechanical Demon General!!" Zhu Xuanji's eyes sparkled.
"It looks like this underground magma cave should be the lair of the demon ape, similar to a royal court."
"The Mechanical Demon General fell here, but if I can retrieve it, I am sure to gain significant contributions."
"If I can repair it and return it, the contributions should be even greater!"
Zhu Xuanji could easily guess: retrieving the Mechanical Demon General's contribution would far exceed the cumulative contribution of the three quasi-Golden Core organic beasts he had previously offered free of charge. The Mechanical Demon General itself was a Golden Core combat power and perfectly matched the original constructs of the Magma Fairy Palace.
Monarch Meng Kui's recruitment decree prompted him to lift the blockade on the mountaintop and the Immortal Palace.
Countless people flocked to the Magma Fairy Palace. Most were turned away, but a small number of them met the standards and entered the palace.
The Magma Fairy Palace became even more bustling than before the blockade.
Zhu Xuanji also felt the pressure of competition.
He urgently needed to gain a massive amount of contributions to widen the gap between himself and his pursuers, solidifying his advantage.
The three Golden Pill Ancestors of Fire Persimmon Immortal City were Zhu Xuanji's allies.
The three families pursued dual strategies.
The first was to rely on Zhu Xuanji, pledging loyalty, and seeking support from the royal family.
The second was to train their own renovation teams and continuously break through the barriers of the Magma Fairy Palace.
This was how cultivator families operated; they did not put all their eggs in one basket.
Therefore, true major cultivator families had high-level cultivators serving in different countries, sometimes even in rival nations.
...
Bang!
Ning Xiaoren slammed his palm on the table in fury and growled: "Did he really do that?!"
"Good, good."
"I thought it was the Zhou Family and the Zheng Family who successively figured out the arrangements and acquired the trial disciple's imprint."
"I didn't expect it to be Ning Zhuo!"
"For merely a thousand Spirit Stones, he sold such critical information to Zheng Jian and Zhou Zeshen!"
"Does he not understand that our Ning Family could seize this opportunity to gain an advantage, leveling the playing field with the Zhou and Zheng families?"
"He put his selfish interests above the family's broader strategy!"
"Ning Zhuo is so shortsighted, so narrow-minded, so selfish."
"Just because he wasn't promised any Ice Jade Wine, he immediately sold the information to outsiders."
"Traitor!"
"Is he still a member of the Ning Family? After all these years of education, did he learn nothing?!"
"He must be taught a lesson, realizing just how poorly and terribly wrong he acted."
Ning Xiaoren paced back and forth in the study. After a moment, he ordered the freezing of resources allocated to Ning Zhuo in the renovation team.
But soon, he remembered that Ning Zhuo's cultivation resources came from many other lucrative channels as well.
Ning Xiaoren's thoughts turned to Ning Xiaohui, recalling how she had rallied main branch members but only managed to get to the second room, whereas Ning Zhuo had broken through to the eighth room.
"Ning Xiaohui is hopeless."
"If she had suppressed Ning Zhuo, this boy wouldn't dare to be so ambitious, so audacious!"
Ning Xiaoren paced again before issuing a second command.
Ning Zhuo joined the renovation team, giving Ning Xiaoren the right to command him and assign tasks.
"Aren't you obsessed with mechanical constructions?"
"Very well, Ning Zhuo."
"Now, you won't even have half an hour to research your mechanisms," Ning Xiaoren sneered inwardly.
Ning Zhuo refused the order.
Ning Zhuo withdrew from the renovation team.
"What?!" Upon hearing this, Ning Xiaoren was stupefied on the spot.
When he recovered, he was filled with rage and hatred.
"How dare he! How dare he!"
"How dare he defy the family's command, unilaterally pulling out of the renovation team?!"
"Ahhhhh!"
Ning Xiaoren was infuriated. He grabbed the inkstone on the table and smashed it on the floor.
After smashing it, he felt something was missing.
So, he went to the private dungeon to see Ning Ze.
"Your good nephew!" Ning Xiaoren raised a long whip and relentlessly lashed at Ning Ze in a fit of rage.
Ning Ze: "Ah—!"