"The three families are planning to unite to fight Yuan Dasheng..." Ning Zhuo took this matter very seriously.
The enemy's strength was uncertain, and Yuan Dasheng could not exert his full power.
Because of the rescue of Sun Lingtong, many of Yuan Dasheng's techniques had been exposed. For example, the Sun-Breaking Hand, the Backhand Retrieval, and the Righteous Golden Firmness.
Of course, the Immortal Aptitude should still be a classified area. Normal people would think it was due to excellent materials that allowed Yuan Dasheng to resist the ghost fire's burning.
This could be inferred from the reactions of Meng Kui and the others after the battle.
If they had discovered the Spiritual Nature and Immortal Aptitude, they would have desperately searched the entire city, rather than remaining in this calm, observational state.
Even so, it was best not to reveal the Immortal Aptitude and Righteous Golden Firmness on Yuan Dasheng's body again.
Ning Zhuo also considered that the Golden Blood Battle Ape's body was made of low-level materials, so there was no way to expect much from its performance.
"How can we maximize Yuan Dasheng's strength?"
While thinking about this question, Ning Zhuo felt fortunate. Fortunately, over the past ten days, he had focused on the Cremation Prajna Spirit Liberation Sutra.
"Using the Cremation Sutra to forge spiritual mechanism components to enhance Yuan Dasheng's combat power!"
"This should be the way to break the impasse."
"Just why do the three families have the confidence to challenge Yuan Dasheng?"
"The Netherworld Envoy, Qi Bai, had also appeared, so in the three families' plan, they would also take Qi Bai into consideration."
"The source of their confidence must be the preparation room, right?"
In the Magma Fairy Palace, after Room No. 3, there was a preparation room.
The preparation room contained a lot of mechanism pedestals and tools. As long as you paid some spirit stones, you could repair puppet bodies.
In the later two preparation rooms, spirit stones could also be used to purchase many low-level materials to make certain modifications to the puppet bodies.
The strong point of the human race was wisdom, and the field where wisdom could be fully displayed was tools.
A fulcrum and a lever could allow a person to lift an object far exceeding their own strength limit. This was the simplest mechanism, yet it possessed the power to amaze people.
The art of cultivation was all about using various resources more reasonably and in a more cultivational manner. In the art of cultivation, mechanical techniques were the ultimate expression of tools.
Ning Zhuo's gaze was profound.
"The renovation team of the three families exploring the Immortal Palace had now all reached the peak of the third layer."
"These days, they had been actively practicing mechanical techniques, and they had become extremely familiar with puppet bodies, hangman's nooses, and other objects."
"Now, they planned to make good use of the preparation room, fully exercising their ingenious ideas, to burst forth with powerful combat strength and overthrow Yuan Dasheng in one fell swoop."
Ning Zhuo, with his keen mind and clear understanding of the situation, quickly saw through the key point of the three families' joint action.
"It was the preparation room!"
"Now the question is, should I send Yuan Dasheng to appear in the first three gates ahead of time to block them?"
The joint action of the three families actually had a fatal flaw.
As long as Yuan Dasheng intercepted them early, they wouldn't even get into the first preparation room.
However, this simplest and most violent answer was not the optimal solution to this problem!
"If I did that, it would be fine once. Twice, three times, and the three families would start to suspect Yuan Dasheng's precise interception."
"If they never managed to break through, the three families might even collaborate with the City Lord's Mansion!"
That was entirely possible.
On the path of Soul Entering Immortal Palace, the most advantageous party was the City Lord's Mansion.
The three families united and competed with Meng Chong's group but were always on the losing side.
To the eyes of Meng Chong and his party, they had monopolized all the major leaderboards. The three families, because of Yuan Dasheng, could not fully utilize their numerical advantage.
If Ning Zhuo pressured them too much, pushing them to despair, they would inevitably seek the help of the City Lord's Mansion.
Would the City Lord's Mansion agree?
That was hard to say.
If Soul Entering Immortal Palace were the only path, Ning Zhuo thought it was unlikely the City Lord's Mansion would agree to collaborate.
But now, Body Entering Immortal Palace was also a path. On this path, the City Lord's Mansion had very little competitiveness, almost no presence on the grand stage.
The Zhou Family and the Zheng Family held the advantage.
And the first place was Zhu Xuanji. He had previously contributed three quasi-Golden Core level mechanism artifacts in one fell swoop. Such a grand gesture had directly propelled him to the first position.
"For the City Lord's Mansion, they needed Meng Chong to progress faster, as quickly as possible, to surpass Zhu Xuanji's progress!"
"Yuan Dasheng, having repeatedly repelled Meng Chong, was a major obstacle. Therefore, jointly attacking Yuan Dasheng, defeating him, and uncovering his internal mechanism was very motivating for the City Lord's Mansion."
"Even if in the future, Yuan Dasheng were repaired by the Immortal Palace and re-entered the trial gates, they would have gained crucial information to defend against and target him."
"So, the key point for the City Lord's Mansion to decide is to eliminate the Mechanical Monkey. Whether the three families' combined strength surpasses Meng Chong."
If it did, they wouldn't agree to collaborate.
If not, they would most likely proceed with a collaboration!
The current Yuan Dasheng struggled to face Meng Chong alone.
Once the four forces united, Yuan Dasheng would be up against not only Meng Chong but also other geniuses, with over a hundred people in the renovation team.
Even if he brought in the Netherworld Envoy, Qi Bai, and consumed its last Spiritual Nature to join the fight, the result would still likely be more losses than wins.
"So, allowing them into the preparation room to conduct thorough pre-fight preparations and then letting Yuan Dasheng appear would be the correct move?"
"More accurately, this battle shouldn't let the three families' joint forces suffer a crushing defeat. Yuan Dasheng, despite winning, should leave them with false hope—a misconception that with a bit more effort next time, they could defeat him."
If Yuan Dasheng appeared too strong, once the three families despaired, they would still contact the City Lord's Mansion.
Seeing the strength of Yuan Dasheng, they too would pressure Meng Kui and Meng Chong into making collaborative decisions.
Only by making the three families believe they had narrowly missed success this time would they avoid seeking cooperation with the City Lord's Mansion.
They would eagerly strive to overcome Yuan Dasheng, letting the repaired Yuan Dasheng continue to create obstacles for Meng Chong.
"Only in such a situation would be the best for me."
Ning Zhuo felt the pressure.
The complex situation demanded him to pursue a complex result.
Yuan Dasheng being defeated was unacceptable.
Yuan Dasheng achieving an overwhelming victory was unacceptable.
Yuan Dasheng had to achieve a minor victory, giving the three families' joint forces false hope. Only this way could Ning Zhuo truly be the winner of this contest.
"Battle is just an action."
"It's a tool."
"Just like not long ago, Zhou Zeshen proactively challenged me and fought. He used the tool of battle to build friendship and improve relationships with me."
"The fight between Yuan Dasheng and the three families' joint forces is my tool to continue maintaining control over the Magma Fairy Palace!"
Ning Zhuo shared this news and his analysis of the situation with Sun Lingtong.
Sun Lingtong praised and sighed with emotion, "Little Zhuo, your understanding of various forces and your grasp of human nature surpass mine. In this regard, I am becoming increasingly reassured."
Ning Zhuo humbly replied, "Not at all. I still have many shortcomings."
Sun Lingtong said, "Since that's the case, I will also work harder lately to unlock Qi Bai's storage bag!"
After being wanted, Sun Lingtong stayed in one of the few underground bases, moving every now and then.
His injuries had long healed.
In his daily life, besides cultivating and exploring the Immortal Palace, he focused on researching Qi Bai's storage bag.
During Ning Zhuo's intervention in the black market, he had risked appearing in the city and gave orders to the leader of the Turtle Breath Gang. That had been his only outing.
Developing his cultivation to this day, a cultivator's storage tools all had verification, defense, and self-destruct mechanisms.
Back then, after Ning Zhuo killed the three ghosts of the Huang Family, he had pondered long before opening their three storage bags. A small ghost head even flew out of one of the bags, attempting to attack Ning Zhuo. Uncaught off guard, Ning Zhuo had been well-prepared and directly annihilated the little ghost.
As a disciple of a major demon sect, Qi Bai's storage bag had high defensive measures.
Sun Lingtong, being in the Foundation Establishment Stage, had been diligently cracking Qi Bai's storage bag. While making progress, it was very slow.
According to Ning Zhuo's estimation, a storage bag so tightly guarded must have been very important to Qi Bai.
Inside it likely contained many of Qi Bai's personal items.
Under the Cremation Prajna Spirit Liberation Sutra, these items would add Spiritual Nature to the Mechanical Puppet Qi Bai.
Ning Zhuo nodded, "If the Netherworld Envoy Qi Bai could participate in this battle, I would be more confident."
"But don't take too many risks, Elder Sun."
"Since Qi Bai's death, there had been no movements from the Soul Devouring Sect, which was quite abnormal."
"It is very likely their people are already here."
Sun Lingtong, aware of the severity, nodded, "I understand!"
He revealed a serious expression, "The hawk-nosed and triangular-eyed individuals from the Soul Devouring Sect are imprisoned by the City Lord's Mansion. I'm not worried about them—they are a bait specifically laid out by the City Lord's Mansion."
"I am more concerned about Han Ming."
"Since that battle, Han Ming has been missing. If she had contacted the people of the Soul Devouring Sect in secret, our threat would be even greater."
"Sigh... we can only take it one step at a time." Ning Zhuo sighed. After taking control of the black market, he had been diligently gathering information in this area, but without success.
A few days later, Ning Zhuo indeed received a notification to go to the Zhou Family.
In an underground hall, the entire renovation teams of the three families gathered.
The leaders of the three families appeared together, officially announcing the initiation of a new joint action!
"I've long been unhappy with that Mechanical Ape."
"United, we three families, led by five geniuses, will certainly wash away our shame."
"In these days, my mechanical techniques have greatly improved. I am no longer the same as before!"
"Hahaha, then let's give it our all."
The crowd exchanged enthusiastically, their morale was quite high.
The leaders of the three families made the following arrangements: sealing off the underground hall for several days of special training. During this time, all renovation team members were to live and eat there, forbidden from leaving recklessly.
After the meeting, Zhou Zeshen, with a smile, approached Ning Zhuo proactively: "Brother Ning, come with me. We need to discuss the detailed battle plan."
Ning Zhuo smiled and initiated conversation, "Brother Zhou, thanks a lot for the rivet rapid-fire crossbow, it was very useful."
Zhou Zeshen laughed heartily, "Next time we spar, I will surely win your Mechanical Monkey blueprint from you, Brother Ning."
"This way, please." Zhou Zeshen gestured with his arm.
Ning Zhuo: "Please."