In the allied forces of the three families, the five Qi Refinement geniuses were the clear leaders, the core figures of the battle.
Any battle plan basically revolved around these five people.
The benefit of Ning Zhuo's concealment became evident at this time. He made up his mind to listen carefully, remember everything, and then come up with countermeasures.
Ning Zhuo and the other four entered a secret room.
The secret room was laid out like a classroom, with a middle-aged Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator standing at the front.
The five of them found seats and sat down.
"I am Zheng Hua," the middle-aged cultivator introduced himself, "This time, I will explain the general strategy of this joint operation."
Suddenly, Ning Zhuo recalled intelligence concerning Zheng Hua.
He was a mid-Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, had reached middle age but already served as an elder of the Zheng Family. This was mainly because of his talent — "Gold Stone Cutter" — which enabled him to process many difficult-to-melt materials.
Zheng Hua himself was also highly skilled in artifact refining, having reached the master level and was one of the top cultivators in Fire Persimmon Immortal City.
Zheng Hua released his mana, which condensed into the lifelike form of the Golden Blooded War Ape – Dasheng, suspended in mid-air.
Zheng Hua said, "This mechanical monkey should be familiar to everyone, or more precisely, it should have left a deep impression."
Everyone, including Zhou Zeshen, Zhou Zhu, and Zheng Jian, wore solemn expressions.
Ning Xiaohui's face was grave.
Ning Zhuo frowned tightly.
Zheng Hua continued, "According to the currently collected intel, this mechanical ape is primarily a close-combat mechanism."
"Its body is likely made of Vermilion Fire Glaze, a material refined from Vermilion Flame Stone. Against this material, ice techniques are the best choice."
"Its skeleton likely contains Red Gold Xuan Iron, and the surface is inscribed with restrictive enchantments."
"Judging by the restrictive runes and battle situations, it should be a defensive enchantment. I personally hypothesize that it is most likely the Vajra Body Protection Technique."
"So using lightning techniques to wear down the enchantments is also a meaningful tactic!"
"The brain of the mechanical monkey should have a special component for calculations. If we can destroy this, it will greatly aid the battle."
"Because, although the mechanical monkey's materials are not extraordinary, its combat power mainly comes from its exquisite martial arts. Achieving this requires very high standards for the calculation components."
"If we cannot destroy its head, then its two palms would be the secondary target."
"Its palms probably hide many Martial Arts Talismans. Destroying these talismans can also reduce its combat ability."
Zheng Hua's analysis eased the tension among the five a little.
Then, with a shift of his thoughts, the Golden Blood Battle Ape condensed from mana suddenly shattered and reformed into the image of the Netherworld Envoy · Qi Bai.
With a much heavier expression, Zheng Hua said, "In my view, although this mechanical puppet has appeared less frequently, it is more threatening than the mechanical monkey."
"Its skeleton is made of Gloomy Blue Nether Iron, with parts of the bones replaced by soul wood. Although we cannot determine the exact age of the soul wood, based on the specifications of the mechanical monkey, it should be at least a century old."
"But these alone aren't enough for this puppet to control so many ghosts simultaneously."
"It probably has other vital components helping it master the ghosts."
"This puppet has the ability to weaken spirits. Judging by the mana fluctuations, it closely resembles the Soul-Cutting Technique."
"It has a mechanical component in its neck that can emit drum-like sonic attacks, severely shaking the souls of living beings. Once emitted, it is very difficult to defend against with just our own abilities."
"Its eyes are a focal point of the design, made from mixed materials, and its power is currently unknown. I suspect it might hide some sort of finishing move!"
"There are mechanical ejection ports all over its body. Once activated, they can eject Yin-type silk threads at high speed. The threads can converge in an instant, forming a black protective cloak with excellent defensive capabilities."
"From this point of view, perhaps we can use mud spells to block up the ejection ports."
Zheng Hua concluded, "This servant ghost puppet has at least two arrays on it. There are at least eighteen spell talismans, making it clearly a long-range combat mechanism artifact. I strongly advise close combat entanglement."
Once again, the expressions of the five individuals became serious, each thinking: The intelligence is too scarce! The information on the servant ghost puppet was clearly insufficient compared to the mechanical monkey and lacked many targeted tactics. Dealing with it would not be easy.
Ning Zhuo frowned even more deeply, thinking to himself: Too much information has been leaked. Zheng Hua's analysis was almost entirely accurate, deserving of being one of the Zheng Family's top refiners.
As for the Soul-Cutting Technique, although its details were noticed, no one linked it to the Soul Devouring Sect.
Because of the existence of modified versions of the spell, there were multiple versions of the Soul-Cutting Technique. It wasn't just the cultivators of the Soul Devouring Sect who could use this spell.
It's just that the disciples of the Soul Devouring Sect could wield it more powerfully.
In fact, the Soul-Cutting Technique existed long before the founding of the Soul Devouring Sect.
According to legend, its original source was one of the top ten ancient beasts, the Ghost Fiend Soul Devourer.
The Ghost Fiend Soul Devourer was a thirty-zhang long beast, resembling a lion or a tiger, with a huge and sturdy body. Its limbs were strong and powerful, with claws sharp as knives.
Its body was covered with dark scales that emitted a faint glow at night.
The Ghost Fiend Soul Devourer had three eyes on its head, with the central eye capable of seeing ghosts.
Its wide mouth and sharp teeth could easily shred any soul.
Its tail was snake-shaped, with a snake-head tip containing a blue-glowing gem that could store endless soul power.
The back of the Ghost Fiend Soul Devourer had a pair of large black wings resembling bat wings. It could fly at high speed, easily catching escaping ghosts.
Zheng Hua dispersed his mana and looked at the five people seriously, "The above is just a speculation based on current intelligence."
"It doesn't rule out the possibility that our full mobilization might increase the challenge, making the two mechanisms mentioned above even stronger."
"It also doesn't rule out the appearance of a third or even a fourth mechanism!"
"Alright, if any of you have questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to answer them."
Zhou Zeshen was the first to ask, "These two are both mechanisms, why not target that? I want to ask, have we not discovered the method to control these two mechanisms?"
Zheng Hua shook his head, "No."
"Thread control, staff control, and divine sense control are the most classic methods, but none fit the situation of these two puppets."
"We speculate that it should be spiritual control."
"The Magma Fairy Palace has the palace spirit Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, which can control mechanical puppets."
"Previously, when the Magma Fairy Palace faced a demon beast siege, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit supposedly took action, piloting a humanoid puppet to control the battlefield."
"This is the related battle report, which you can all review."
Zheng Hua took out a jade slip and handed it to the five in the hall.
When it reached Ning Zhuo, he pressed the jade slip to his forehead and saw the defensive battlefield at the top of the volcano, witnessing the mobilization of Golden Core level puppets and Taoist masters.
"This should be from when Elder Sun and I were fighting Qi Bai."
"Who recorded this footage? How could they do this right under Meng Kui's nose!"
"This viewing angle seems to be a distant view?"
A name floated up in Ning Zhuo's mind — Zhu Xuanji.
He guessed correctly.
Indeed, it was Zhu Xuanji who provided the jade slip to the three Golden Pill Ancestors of the families.
Then the three family ancestors copied the footage and delivered it to their respective families.
While everyone was reviewing the jade slip, Zheng Hua continued, "If it is indeed spiritual control, then the mechanical monkey and the servant ghost puppet can be considered spiritual treasures."
"Spiritual treasures?!" Zheng Jian exclaimed involuntarily.
Talisman Treasures, Magic Artifacts, Magical Treasures, Spiritual Treasures.
In terms of quality, spiritual treasures stood at the pinnacle. The town treasures of super sects, families, and cultivation realms were all spiritual treasures.
"This person seems to be my family's Golden Pill Ancestor?" Ning Zhuo saw his family ancestor being hit on the head by a walnut and forced to retreat in the jade slip's footage.
He remained expressionless and passed the jade slip to the next person.
"The three families' understanding of Dasheng and Qi Bai is very deep already."
"They even speculated about the truth of spiritual control!"
"As expected, those who can become major families in the Immortal City all have deep foundations and strength, not to be underestimated."
"However, they only guessed part of it; there is still some distance from the truth."
But it wasn't their fault.
They just lacked critical intelligence, and once they had it, they would be able to fill in the gaps and uncover the truth!
"If they reached the coffin room and learned about the Cremation Prajna Spirit Liberation Sutra, they would soon suspect the real identities of Dasheng and Qi Bai."
"But I've already raised all the stone walls of the Buddhist and Demon Sect."
Previously, Ning Zhuo still had a flaw.
In the second transition hall, the Buddhist and Demon sectors were still visible.
However, as the Divine Skill Life Hanging Thread's embryonic form approached bloom, and with Ning Zhuo's improvements in cultivation and soul power, he finally managed to erect stone walls in the second transition hall, completely blocking them.
Ning Zhuo deliberately said, "If these are the only pieces of intel, I don't think our chances of defeating the mechanical monkey and the servant ghost puppet are high."
"I suggest delaying actions, continuing to dive deeper and gather more comprehensive intelligence."
"On the basis of full preparation, we can then explore the Magma Fairy Palace extensively!"
Zhou Zeshen immediately gave Ning Zhuo an appreciative look, thinking: Ning Zhuo thinks like I do, we both use our brains.
Ning Xiaohui snorted coldly, "Ning Zhuo, why are you afraid before the battle even begins?"
"You want to gather intelligence; this is the perfect opportunity to fight that damn mechanical monkey!"
"Tearing it apart will give us the critical information we need!"
Ning Zhuo snorted coldly, "Ning Xiaohui, I understand you often get killed by the mechanical monkey, and I understand your eagerness for revenge."
"But that doesn't mean you can charge into battles mindlessly."
"Your recklessness will only bring more failures!"
"You!" Ning Xiaohui glared, face full of anger and disbelief.
No one, or rather no peer, had ever been this discourteous to her!
Ning Zhuo was the first.
Moreover, he directly ridiculed her in front of outsiders.
"You, a mere branch lineage..." Ning Xiaohui gritted her teeth, eyes blazing with anger.
Ning Zhuo interrupted mercilessly, "And you, who can't even reach half of my achievements from the main line, what do you think you are?"
Ning Xiaohui stood up abruptly, her entire body exuding a chill.
A white ghost emerged from her body, staring sinisterly at Ning Zhuo, "When did the Ning Family's branch lineage become this audacious?"
Ning Zhuo's pupils constricted, he swiftly leaped back, pulling away, and stared at the ghost, "What creature are you?!"
The ghost trembled angrily, "I too am of the Ning Family's main line!!"