If it weren't for Ning Xiaohui, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit would have slipped away.
After a moment of hesitation, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit finally spoke the truth: "Young Master, every time we initiate cannon fire, the Magma Fairy Palace consumes a massive amount of Five Elements Mana."
"If the battle results do not meet the minimum standard, the Magma Fairy Palace will consider the cannon fire a loss, exceeding the gains, and will hold the one who initiated the firing responsible, thus deducting merit points."
"In fact, if you repair some critical mechanisms in the medical pavilion, and the end result is even worse than before, merit points will also be deducted."
"Similarly, if your decisions on the command platform are erroneous, your merit points will be deducted during the post-battle assessment."
Ning Zhuo nodded, thinking to himself that such regulations were quite reasonable, effectively preventing some incompetents from occupying high positions.
He then thought of a new question and continued to ask: "What happens if all my merit points are deducted?"
"I mean, my current merit points are in the negative. Will this affect my position?"
This was a crucial question.
Upon hearing this, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit couldn't help but lament. Ning Zhuo, this little monster, always had a knack for pinpointing the key issues.
It had no choice but to answer again: "If the negative points persist for a while, the Cultivator's position rank will fall."
"Young Master, your merit points were negative before, and the reason it didn't affect your position is that you didn't have any position at all back then."
"But now that you hold three Second Rank positions, once the deadline arrives, if your merit points are still negative, all these positions' ranks will drop significantly."
Ning Zhuo instantly furrowed his brows: "So, when exactly is this deadline for my positions to drop?"
This was a significant issue for him.
Because he had just signed a contract with Zhu Xuanji, he couldn't let his soul enter the Immortal Palace himself.
In other words, once his position ranks dropped, he wouldn't be able to regain the Second Rank positions by clearing levels again.
So before that, Ning Zhuo had to quickly reverse his deficit in merit points.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit thought for a moment, then decided to tell Ning Zhuo the exact date.
The date was rather lengthy, and Ning Zhuo calculated, realizing there was still more than half a month left.
"No, that's not right!" A sparkle flashed in Ning Zhuo's eyes.
He paused for a moment and carefully asked: "Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, do I get a share of the merit points from the contributions of those under my Second Rank positions?"
"For example, as the Medical Pavilion Master, if others work in the medical pavilion under my leadership to complete certain tasks, wouldn't I get any share of those merit points?"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit trembled all over!
It circled around the throne in disappointment, looking up at the hall's ceiling, muttering: "Ning Zhuo figured it out; he discovered it; he finally figured it out!"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit sighed deeply, its expression desolate and slightly nervous.
"Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit..." Ning Zhuo kept calling, but got no response.
He frowned slightly, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
The reason he discovered this owed much to Ning Xiaohui.
Ning Xiaohui had repaired the Golden Blood Battle Ape several times at the medical pavilion, allowing Ning Zhuo to keenly notice changes in his merit points.
Although the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit didn't respond or give him a clear answer, Ning Zhuo was almost certain that this was the answer!
"So, my next task is to help others acquire more positions."
"And these positions must be related to the medical pavilion, the command platform, and the turret."
Ning Zhuo made a brief calculation.
If he completed tasks himself, he could certainly earn a lot, but there was a risk; sometimes tasks fall short and merit points are deducted instead.
However, if many people worked under his positions and he received a share of their merit points contributions, as long as the number was large enough, the accumulation rate could be quite considerable, and it might far exceed his personal efforts.
Most appealing to him was that enjoying these merit point shares posed no risk and wouldn't result in any merit point deductions.
"Zhu Xuanji and others are the most threatening competitors to me."
"But they are outsiders, unable to take such positions."
"So, as long as I cultivate these renovation team members well, and make sure none of the exceptionally outstanding ones have more merit points than I do, it will be fine!"
When Ning Zhuo returned to his quarters, he heard the Ning Family's renovation team members discussing task assignments.
He gathered them together and briefly informed them about signing contracts in the future.
Then he dismissed them and went into his room to begin his daily fixed-breathing cultivation.
Because he still carried several Golden Core cultivators' surveillance methods, he had to perform this routine daily to make it reasonable.
The next day.
Ning Zhuo opened his eyes, washed up, and left alone.
He arrived at the edge of the Magma Fairy Palace.
Battles frequently occurred here.
Some Red Flame Demon Beasts would break through the light shield, rush in, and be quickly killed by mechanisms.
After such battles, many new tasks usually arose.
Ning Zhuo stayed at the back of the battlefield.
After the battle, some mechanical puppets limped back to retreat.
Ning Zhuo proactively approached these partially disabled puppets, holding his merit badge, and looked at the new task content.
Then, he precisely picked out the task targets, grabbed the target puppets, and pulled them out of the retreating team for immediate repair.
He disassembled these mechanical puppets as much as he could to examine their internal structures.
Soon, he found that the mechanisms used in these puppets were very familiar to him.
"Almost all of these mechanisms and components appeared in the trial levels."
For others, they might only be familiar with the mechanism components on the Daoist paths.
But Ning Zhuo had cleared three paths; he had received many rewards, making him quite familiar with these structures.
However, he still had to pretend to research them on the surface.
Ning Zhuo's solitary morning actions attracted the attention of Zhu Xuanji and others.
When he returned, he was criticized by the Ning Family Ancestor.
Cultivators in the Immortal Palace faced not only the life-threatening challenges of battling demon beasts but also potential threats from other cultivators.
At this moment, there were still many loose cultivators in the Magma Fairy Palace.
Ning Jiufan didn't want to see Ning Zhuo injured or even killed because of solo actions.
This would be a significant loss for the Ning Family in the current situation.
Even though Ning Zhuo was currently just at the Qi Cultivation Stage.
Ning Zhuo accepted the criticism, and from that afternoon, he started to move with the main group.
To leverage the Magma Fairy Palace's powers and considering that each position control increased their control over the Magma Fairy Palace, the Golden Core cultivators took great care.
As a result, every renovation team had Golden Core-level cultivators overseeing them.
Zhu Xuanji and others were very cautious, from their perspective: the person controlling the Five Elements Turret and bombarding the Fire Persimmon Mountain was still hiding in the shadows, not yet exposed.
Since this individual could control the Five Elements Turret, he clearly was a leading figure on the Immortal Palace path.
The advancement of the renovation team posed a massive threat to this person.
They were likely to launch a sneak attack to eliminate such threats in their infancy!
Renovation team members generally only possessed Qi Cultivation Stage cultivation, weak in combat strength, and required Golden Core cultivators to watch over them.
Such an arrangement made Ning Zhuo feel quite inconvenient.
He had to bear his growing impatience and slightly accelerated his performance pace.
"Oh..."
"Wow, so strong!"
"I didn't expect Ning Zhuo's mechanical skills to improve again. Impressive!"
Everyone was astonished by Ning Zhuo, praising him repeatedly.
Ning Zhuo's swift understanding and mastery of "unknown" mechanisms left people in awe.
It was evident that he was on a completely different level compared to others.
Ning Zhuo wanted to keep a low profile, but the situation forced him to stand out.
"I need to quickly accumulate enough merit points to access the medical pavilion."
"Once there, I can stay in the medical pavilion daily, performing numerous mechanical puppet repairs, giving a perfect explanation to the outside world."
As the Medical Pavilion Master, Ning Zhuo naturally knew the minimum position standards of the medical pavilion.
Ning Zhuo's displays of mechanical prowess were noted by many Golden Pill Ancestors.
Among the renovation team members, Ning Zhuo more than stood out, emerging as the absolute top talent!
Even someone like Zhu Xuanji, who had seen many talented cultivators, couldn't help but be moved by Ning Zhuo's performance.
"This junior Ning Zhuo indeed has a remarkable talent in mechanical techniques!"
Zhu Xuanji made an obvious comparison in his mind: Ning Xiaohui.
Ning Xiaohui, with her exceptional Ice-jade Hands talent, healed and repaired mechanical puppets effortlessly, almost unfairly.
But even so, Ning Xiaohui's merit accumulation rate was much slower than Ning Zhuo's.
Zhu Xuanji's heart was slightly stirred, and he recorded Ning Zhuo's situation on a jade slip.
Then, Zhu Xuanji casually threw the jade slip, which turned into a stream of light, hovering in front of Ning Xiaohui.
Ning Xiaohui took the jade slip, placed it on her forehead, and scanned it with her divine sense, startled internally.
"It's Ning Zhuo?!"
"How did he progress so rapidly?!"
The jade slip also carried Zhu Xuanji's voice: "Do you think Ning Zhuo will reach the minimum standard for the medical pavilion position faster than you?"
"I heard that his recent goal is to secure the physician position."
Ning Xiaohui's pupils shrank, almost gritting her teeth: "Ning Zhuo!!!"