Ning Zhuo only brought ten people to explore the Magma Fairy Palace together.
They pushed open the first door, the second door, and the third door, and everything went very smoothly along the way.
Soon, everyone reached the preparation room.
Many people's eyes were focused on the ranking list on the five stone pillars.
The names on the list were all from the City Lord's Mansion.
Meng Chong firmly occupied the second position.
The first position was unshakably labeled "Entry Standard."
"Meng Chong is still first, truly deserving of his immortal aptitude!" Ning Yong exclaimed.
Ning Chen sighed, "With Meng Chong around, the renovation team of the City Lord's Mansion always dominates the ranking list. I really want to know what rewards they get from the Immortal Palace each time."
Someone else said, "If it weren't for Meng Chong, we would definitely be listed on the rankings. In that case, Zhuo would undoubtedly be first!"
Ning Zhuo smiled faintly in his heart, "I have always been and will always be first."
"And the real second place is not Meng Chong, but Elder Sun. It's just that he's not on the list."
In this regard, Ning Zhuo's concealment was quite good.
So far, no one had discovered the trick behind the "Entry Standard."
After that, the cultivators of the Ning Family discussed the entry standard. Everyone marveled at how the Three Ancestral Masters, being high-level cultivators, had high standards. Despite trying for so long, they had never met the entry standard. Even someone as talented as Meng Chong was no exception.
Some guessed Meng Chong's actual progress. The fact that he firmly held second place made everyone wonder which level he had reached.
With the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng as an insider, Ning Zhuo certainly knew Meng Chong's true progress— the first level of the Dao Sect's trials.
This was intentionally arranged by Ning Zhuo.
The Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng did not appear frequently to intercept Meng Chong.
Although Meng Chong always made a fuss and repeatedly called for the Mechanical Monkey every time he came in, he desperately wanted to fight Yuan Dasheng again and reclaim his position.
Ning Zhuo needed Meng Chong to achieve good results.
Ning Zhuo needed to show his "progress" in cultivation. His publicly disclosed cultivation level of the third layer of Qi Refining was indeed somewhat low. He needed a suitable reason to display a stronger Qi Refining level.
To become stronger, he needed to expose the fourth to sixth layers of the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.
Ning Zhuo's plan was to let Meng Chong achieve good results first, and then he would follow, reaching the checkpoints to obtain subsequent cultivation techniques.
Meng Chong had to do it first.
On one hand, for the ranking list. On the other hand, Ning Zhuo needed to maintain a secret cooperative relationship with the City Lord's Mansion.
Once Ning Zhuo's achievements surpassed Meng Chong's, the City Lord's Mansion would likely take measures to curb him. At that time, even if Fei Si appreciated Ning Zhuo, he could not disobey Meng Chong and Meng Kui's will and would act against Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo had taken back the black market but did not want Fei Si to quickly expel him.
"Anyway, the Demon Sect and the Buddhist Sect have been locked away by me."
"The difficulty of the subsequent levels of the Dao Sect's pathway has increased significantly, and with Meng Chong's strength, surpassing me is not easy."
"Based on the reconnaissance results, Meng Chong's chances of surpassing me are minimal."
"According to the layout style of the Three Ancestral Masters, there might be a third Dao Sect, requiring the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art to be cultivated to the ninth layer's peak to open."
That's just to say, Meng Chong's cultivation level was truly at the third layer of Qi Refining.
For him to open the second Dao Sect, he needed to cultivate to the peak of the sixth layer of the Qi Sea. Until now, he had not yet mastered the Qi Refining techniques for the fourth to sixth layers.
Room four, room five, room six...
The wooden giant puppet formed by the team crashed all the way under Ning Zhuo's control.
"Zhuo, charge! Charge all the way through!"
"Zhuo, you're stronger than before!"
"Yes, that's what I feel too."
Ning Yong and others were carried by Ning Zhuo all the way, cheering, and were extremely happy.
At this moment, their feelings towards Ning Zhuo were different from before.
Ning Zhuo controlled the black market with decisive command. Especially with those uncles who were Foundation Establishment cultivators all working in the black market under Ning Zhuo, Ning Chen, Ning Yong, and others were deeply impressed and shocked.
If, in the past, they were wholeheartedly convinced of Ning Zhuo.
Then now, they worshipped Ning Zhuo, bowing in admiration to the ground.
Ning Zhuo felt deeply about their change in attitude. It was all because he could see the lifelines of people hanging by a thread.
These people's lifelines were tougher and more solid than ever before.
"The eighth level is cleared!"
"Zhuo's strength has significantly increased, it's like a complete transformation."
"Use my leg, Zhuo!"
"No, use my arm to pummel the enemy! Zhuo, I'm too idle."
"The ninth level, the ninth level! Wow, this is my first time here, so this is what it looks like."
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Ning Zhuo cleared the ninth level and reached the central hall.
"Roar!"
At the right time, in the right place, the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng appeared.
After a fierce battle, the giant puppet disintegrated, leaving only Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo reverted to his individual form, quickly taking Yuan Dasheng with him to the front.
He pushed open the second Dao Sect and entered, pleasantly surprised to find: the trial of the Dao Sect was indeed special!
Ning Zhuo was infused with a spell called the Art of Five Elements Generation and Subjugation.
The principle of this spell was quite simple, consisting of the Five Elements Generating each other (Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood) and the Five Elements Overcoming each other (Wood overcomes Earth, Earth overcomes Water, Water overcomes Fire, Fire overcomes Metal, Metal overcomes Wood).
But casting it was very complex.
From the simplest perspective, this spell could be divided into ten small spells, corresponding to the two aspects of generation and subjugation.
On this basis, spells could be linked together. For example, Wood generates Fire, followed by Fire generating Earth, ultimately resulting in Wood element's spiritual power turning into Earth element's spiritual power.
It wasn't just about generation; there was also a subjugation chain.
These spells could be combined to form a very complex relationship map.
Ning Zhuo tried it out briefly and quickly discovered that this Art of Five Elements Generation and Subjugation had an extraordinary significance for the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.
"Before, to cast Embrace Ice Technique, I had to extract the Water element part from the Five Elements Mana."
"But now, I can convert the other four elements into Water element mana."
"With this, I have pure mana of the Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth elements, making casting the Embrace Ice Technique not only more convenient but also more powerful due to the abundant mana!"
After obtaining the Art of Five Elements Generation and Subjugation, Ning Zhuo faced another selection.
The walls of the room were covered with small round plates, some circular, some elliptical, resembling array plates.
Each array plate bore the marks of the Five Elements and intricate array patterns.
"These mechanisms are called Five Elements Spiritual Conversion Disks. I must use Five Elements Mana to unlock the mysteries on the array plates before I can use them."
Clearly, the more complex the puzzle on a Five Elements Spiritual Conversion Disk, the higher the difficulty and quality.
This encounter of Ning Zhuo's was not as advantageous as that collated from the Buddhist Sect.
In the first trial of the Buddhist Sect, he managed to get the body of Yuan Dasheng, gaining a huge advantage with the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng and his immortal aptitude.
But in the special trial of the second Dao Sect, he could only rely on his proficiency in Five Elements Magic to try and solve the puzzles, to obtain a piece of the Five Elements Spiritual Conversion Disk.
He was still very young and lacked the time to practice magic. The reason he often taught others spellcasting was mostly due to the rewards from the ranking list, which had led to his abnormal accumulation of spellcasting experience.
Ning Zhuo tried for a while, then voluntarily withdrew from the Dao Sect's trial, entering the Buddhist Sect's pathway to attempt passing it.
His Qi Sea cultivation was due to his Divine Sea cultivation, which had been directly boosted by Ice Jade Wine.
Ning Zhuo understood clearly that his greatest advantage was still in the Divine Sea. Therefore, the Buddhist Sect's pathway was the most suitable for his main assault.
Yet results still failed.
When his soul returned to his body, Ning Zhuo was once again praised by the entire clan!
He cleared the ninth level, entered the central hall, and saw the Dao Sect; this achievement was top in the Ning Family, breaking his previous record.
Many praises flooded over him, Ning Zhuo maintained his inner calm.
On one hand, this was thanks to Sun Lingtong's years of guidance. On the other hand, Ning Zhuo was very clear about the situation.
With the issuance of the Recruitment Decree, the situation became more complicated than before!
Ning Zhuo had to ensure that on the path of Soul Entering Immortal Palace, he always remained in a highly advantageous competitive position. At the same time, he had to pay close attention to the competition route of entering the Immortal Palace in person.
Zhu Xuanji was the outstanding figure on that latter route.
This made Ning Zhuo feel pressured but also grateful that Zhu Xuanji's focus had shifted from investigating cases to the Immortal Palace.
However, within the competition of Soul Entering Immortal Palace, Meng Chong, with his immortal aptitude, posed the strongest challenge to Ning Zhuo.
During the exploration of the Magma Fairy Palace, Ning Zhuo had also encountered bottlenecks and was stuck on the first levels of the second Buddhist Sect and the second Dao Sect.
What Ning Zhuo needed to do now was to fully advance his cultivation level!
Based on his understanding of the Magma Fairy Palace, it's highly likely that a third Buddhist Sect, Dao Sect, and Demon Sect would appear next. By then, he would need the corresponding cultivation level to open the doors.
Ning Zhuo was unlike Meng Chong or Ning Xiaohui, who had the support of their family and could focus solely on one task.
Ning Zhuo had to navigate among various major forces, finding opportunities to carve out space for his development and maximize the absorption of external resources.
For instance, Ice Jade Wine was something Ning Zhuo urgently needed.
With it, he saved several months of hard work, and his Qi Sea cultivation level instantly soared to the peak of the sixth layer!
Ning Zhuo's exploration of the Magma Fairy Palace once again achieved great results!
Ning Xiaohui heard the news, and her face turned somewhat pale.
Recently, Ning Zhuo had undoubtedly become the Ning Family's star figure! He pulled Ning Xiaoren down from the position of Young Clan Leader and unified the black market, becoming its new master in no time.
Then, Ning Zhuo gathered most members of the renovation team and again successfully explored the central hall.
Ning Xiaohui felt immense pressure!
Each time Ning Zhuo scored in the Immortal Palace, Ning Xiaohui felt as if an invisible giant hand slapped her face, which made her feel humiliated and angry.
Ning Xiaohui knew that she bore the prestige of the main bloodline!
"I must explore the Immortal Palace and surpass Ning Zhuo's achievements to be considered successful!"
"If I explore alone, that Mechanical Monkey won't find me so quickly."
"Magma Fairy Palace, here I come!"
Ning Xiaohui opened her eyes and, in her puppet form, pushed open the first door.
Yuan Dasheng had been waiting for her, grinning and baring his teeth.
Ning Xiaohui felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.