"Bombard the Golden Furnace?" Ning Zhuo shook his head, decisively rejecting the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, "Although I could indeed do that, the losses would be too great!"
"The Golden Furnace is the essence of the Gourd Fire Furnace Forest; if I were to bombard it, my accomplishments would be deducted to negative numbers."
"Not good, not good at all!"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit grew anxious and tried hard to persuade him, "That area is merely the Golden Furnace Ruins, young master. A complete Golden Furnace has strong defenses and may very well survive the bombardment!"
Ning Zhuo shook his head again, "You're not sure yourself. It's too risky!"
"Are we to let Zhu Xuanji obtain the clues to the Golden Furnace?!" The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit glared, unable to comprehend Ning Zhuo's composure.
Ning Zhuo then said, "Calm yourself, I've already made arrangements. Just watch!"
Soon, a large number of mechanical artifacts began to mobilize, forming several forces, and actively charged toward the invading Flame Demon Beast horde.
This scene took Zhu Xuanji and others by surprise.
Because they had already considered this aspect and had instructed all the Renovation Team members who had received their duties from the Command Platform to mostly ignore the defensive tasks concerning the Gourd Fire Furnace Forest.
Zhu Xuanji and the others quickly contacted the cultivators in charge of the relevant duties.
They found that not a single person had made such a troop arrangement.
Zhu Xuanji quickly believed their words.
The reason was simple; such a large-scale troop deployment had never been seen before. The cultivator who could achieve this would definitely hold a very high-ranking position.
With Mechanical Puppets hindering their advance, the Flame Demon Beast horde was intercepted at the outskirts, unable to approach the Gourd Fire Furnace Forest.
Zhu Xuanji and his fellows also found it inconvenient to take action.
Ning Zhuo then commanded the Five Elements Turret to initiate continuous bombardment.
Even though many of the mechanical artifacts were within the range of the bombardment, Ning Zhuo spared no expense.
After all, these were not cultivators, but mechanical artifacts.
Even if they were destroyed, just make another.
In fact, such mechanical artifacts served as cannon fodder, and by being sacrificed here, they truly realized their value!
The Command Platform arranged the troops, the Five Elements Turret attacked from afar; Ning Zhuo executed two moves in succession, quickly diffusing the crisis in the Gourd Fire Furnace Forest.
Zhu Xuanji's hopes were dashed, but he did not show any sign of disappointment.
He looked intently in the direction of the Command Platform with great interest.
After this battle, where would he not understand that the Command Platform had also been infiltrated by the enemy, and that the Bukong Sect was very likely to be behind it!
"The cultivator secretly controlling all of this doesn't need to enter the turret or the Command Platform to control everything."
"Do they hold high-level positions or have they found loopholes in the Lava Immortal Palace?"
"No matter who they are, whether they hold high-level positions or have found loopholes, I now understand that important clues are hidden here!"
"The opposing side is wary of my innate gifts and the Trace Origin Technique, thus they are doing everything they can to obstruct me."
"How interesting, haha."
Ning Zhuo's actions actually further fueled Zhu Xuanji's determination to scour the Golden Furnace Ruins for clues.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit paced around in the main hall.
It heaved a sigh of relief, feeling much of its pressure lifted, yet still as if weighed down by a massive boulder.
Unless Zhu Xuanji was disposed of, or the Golden Furnace Ruins destroyed, its grand plans for freedom were at risk of collapse.
"Ning Zhuo is finally sensible for once!"
"But still not reliable enough."
"Why not just fire and completely destroy the Golden Furnace Ruins? A decisive blow would be best!"
Thus, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit contacted Ning Zhuo, bringing up the suggestion again.
Ning Zhuo shook his head, "I've even handed over the Buddha Heart Demon Seal; if I don't become the Palace Master, I definitely won't get it back."
"I must become the Master of the Lava Immortal Palace!"
"Once I am Palace Master, the entire Lava Immortal Palace will be mine. How could I destroy my own treasure when the Golden Furnace is so valuable?"
These words left the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit utterly dumbfounded.
It muttered to itself with discontent, "What level are you at? You're merely at the Qi Refinement Realm! What makes you so confident that under the threat of such formidable enemies, you will emerge victorious in the end?"
"Ning Zhuo, oh Ning Zhuo, you are too overconfident."
"No, perhaps it's not confidence. This gambler has become blinded by his losses."
"He's betting the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, betting his own life, he can only bet on his ultimate victory!"
"This damned gambler!!"
"You bet your life, don't drag me, the Dragon Turtle, down with you."
At that moment, Ning Zhuo sent another message, "Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, I need your help!"
"Up next, there will definitely be countless plots against me."
"Since the Lava Immortal Palace is your territory, you need to keep an eye on these people and events that are against me. You must report to me promptly!"
"If I get caught off guard and targeted, it's your fault."
"You have to perform well and help me seize the position of Palace Master. Be confident, the future is ours!"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit huffed angrily.
It felt like Ning Zhuo was becoming increasingly rude to it, previously there had been a tone of negotiation, but now it was outright orders.
"If you really become the Palace Master, ordering me around all day, will I ever have good days ahead?"
Even the Fire Spirit couldn't help but feel a chill at the thought of such a scenario.
Ning Zhuo continued, "Did you hear that? We need to cooperate fully."
"You give me warning, and I will fend off Zhu Xuanji while also preemptively guarding against the conspiracies targeting me."
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit shouted in frustration, "Annoying to death!"
After panting heavily a few times, it then pretended to be weak, agreeing with Ning Zhuo, and encouraged him to give his all in striving to win the position of Palace Master as soon as possible.
The second round of palace examinations.
The eighth exam question.
Ning Zhuo stepped through the transport light circle, set foot on the platform, and immediately saw his opponent.
His first opponent today turned out to be Meng Chong.
Meng Chong also saw Ning Zhuo and gritted his teeth, "It's you, huh? You've narrowly won before, but this time I'm going to make sure you taste defeat!"
Meng Chong's mechanical artifact skills were poor, so facing Ning Zhuo, he naturally had a record of complete defeat.
Ning Zhuo greeted with a bowed hand and a smile, "Brother Meng Chong, it's a great honor to cross hands with you in the first battle of the day."
Meng Chong waved his hand dismissively, "Save those useless, hypocritical words. Eh? I can actually see you?"
This was still the preparation phase, but everyone's vision was clear.
Ning Zhuo nodded slightly, "It seems that there's been a small change in the rules of today's competition."
Each question's content would have slight changes.
Over these days, all the cultivators had gotten used to this.
Sure enough, new information came through, announcing that this test question would not conceal the refining process, allowing it to be known by others.
The palace exam officially began!
Meng Chong took a quick leap to the desk, beginning to analyze and inspect the materials.
Ning Zhuo, on the other hand, walked leisurely to his desk with his hands behind his back, surveying the materials and also observing the outside world.
There were materials in various quantities, some for the Qi Refining Level, and some for the Foundation Establishment Level.
The supply of materials had already evolved continuously from before, showing a difference.
Immortal Aptitude—Frenzied Rushing Thunder!
After completing his inspection, Meng Chong boldly activated his most powerful trump card.
His body flickered with lightning, making every one of his movements at least twice as fast as others!
Whether in smelting or cutting, these actions were also sped up by the Immortal Aptitude, twice as fast.
In the same amount of time, others could only make one mechanical puppet, with perhaps a little time to spare, but Meng Chong could make two.
It was with this trump card that he managed to win more than he lost by fighting two against one.
"His Immortal Aptitude has been developed to such an extent, truly worthy of being a favored child of heaven."
Even though Ning Zhuo was well aware of Meng Chong, he couldn't help but feel impressed at this moment.
You must know that in the process of crafting mechanical artifacts, many steps and details require meticulously precise control.
Meng Chong had achieved this, maintaining such precision even while working at double speed.
His progress in developing his Immortal Aptitude was really too rapid.
Ning Zhuo still clearly remembered when Meng Chong first used Frenzied Rushing Thunder, he could only charge in a straight line. Because he couldn't stop in time, the entire puppet's body crashed into trap wires and was cut into countless pieces.
Now, however, he handled it with ease.
"But, you still don't want to use your brains, huh."
"Today's test isn't about being faster," Ning Zhuo's mouth curled slightly, and he was very relaxed.
Meng Chong moved quickly, progressing faster than Ning Zhuo, and Ning Zhuo could see his entire refining process clearly.
Thus, during Ning Zhuo's own refining, he purposefully adjusted his design plan. He targeted Meng Chong's mechanical puppet and specially crafted mechanical parts for it.
When the battle began, Ning Zhuo faced two with one, using mechanical parts for a targeted approach, achieving an easy victory.
"Aaah!" Meng Chong grabbed his hair, somewhat crazed.
He had hoped to defeat Ning Zhuo to salvage his own repeatedly lost reputation, but he didn't expect to lose even more decisively this time!
"Alright, alright, alright, Ning Zhuo! Next time, we'll compete again!" Meng Chong was not discouraged and dropped a harsh line before stepping down from the platform.
This scene was witnessed by a few cultivators beneath the platform.
One of them was from the Meng Family.
He furrowed his brows, "This Qi Refining youngster Ning Zhuo has won quite a few times."
After realizing this, he quickly checked the battle records and was surprised to find that it wasn't his imagination—Ning Zhuo's personal record was impressively among the top!
Ning Zhuo's previous battles had always been close calls, with many narrow victories, which could easily be misunderstood.
But this time, he defeated Meng Chong cleanly and decisively, alerting those with intentions.
That very night.
Ning Zhuo received bad news, multiple security incidents had popped up in the Black Market, and even with the former stewards of the Ning Family acting collectively, they had been counter-charged by thugs.
The order in the Black Market was in chaos, with every merchant and vendor suffering losses to one degree or another.
And these people quickly banded together, collectively demanding compensation from the Black Market side!
No one in the Black Market could make such a decision, and the City Lord's Mansion was also holding them accountable. Facing such immense pressure, without any solution, they had no choice but to send a message to Ning Zhuo.
Seeing this letter, Ning Zhuo had an epiphany, "It seems someone has finally realized my impressive record."
He would've liked to continue hiding his talent, but his extraordinary skill in crafting mechanical artifacts was ultimately impossible to conceal.