Hanzhou couldn't help but size Ning Zhuo up and down, "The Understanding Law Map is far more valuable than my bit of Bitter Water, which I can now refine myself. So, losing some is not a pity."
"But when we first met, we had seen each other only twice. And now, this is only our third encounter, yet you are lending me these two Understanding Law Maps."
"Aren't you worried that I might just take these maps and leave the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect?"
"You should know that such Understanding Law Maps are inheritances, treasures of great value."
The Bitter Water of Hanzhou is difficult to consume; those who aren't qualified and drink it might instead suffer misfortune. But the Understanding Law Maps don't have such serious drawbacks.
The Bitter Water contains the true intent of the Bitter Cold Scripture, which if absorbed too much, can sway a cultivator's mind towards the Bitter Cold Scripture, leading them to change their cultivation technique and start anew.
Understanding Law Maps are merely spells, they don't involve cultivation techniques and are much more universally applicable.
Ning Zhuo smiled and thought to himself, "Of course I don't fear. I have the Divine Power Life Thread, already planted in you, which allows me to sense your location at any time."
Outwardly, however, he waved his hand, "The value of the Understanding Law Maps is only evident in the right person."
"As Brother Hanzhou has gifted me the Bitter Water, which has benefited me greatly, I must reciprocate."
"As the ancients say, for a drop of water given, a spring is returned in gratitude. My virtue is not high enough to do just that."
"But lending out the two Understanding Law Maps is still possible!"
"As long as in the future, when I leave Little Struggle Peak to travel elsewhere, Brother Hanzhou can just return them to me."
"After all, these belong to the Ning Family, not to me personally."
Seeing that Ning Zhuo was genuinely lending them and not just showing off, Hanzhou was momentarily stunned.
"Ning Zhuo, this youngster, no, this junior actually has the demeanor of someone from a great clan."
"However, this could also be a communication skill deliberately trained by the large clan…"
Buddha Heart Demon Seal!
"Truth be told, I've seen countless people. With my beggar's appearance, very few people respect me."
"Even those who ask for my help, like Li Jingqing and the like, who are clearly far less capable than me, still boss me around."
"To lend out two Understanding Law Maps, after meeting only three times, Ning Zhuo…Young Master truly is magnanimous!"
Hanzhou's admiration quickly overcame his doubts.
He then thought of his own scheming.
"Although truthfully, I'm not sincere towards Ning Zhuo, and have always contemplated converting him to practice the Bitter Cold Scripture."
"No no no, he has such an understanding of the Bitter Cold Scripture. Is his current cultivation technique really suitable for him? By doing this, I'm actually helping him."
Buddha Heart Demon Seal!
"Even so, I am still scheming against him, aren't I?"
"But Young Master Ning Zhuo treats me with such sincerity!"
"Ah, I feel very ashamed about this matter…it doesn't sit right with my conscience."
Hanzhou felt both admiration and shame.
Having lived in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City for sixteen years, Ning Zhuo had always been contemplating human nature. With his judgment, he could bring forth a trace of power from the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, influencing others.
Now, he had grasped the Divine Power Life Thread. Once someone was tagged by the Life Thread, just a face-to-face encounter, a few steps distance allowed Ning Zhuo, with the help of the Life Thread and the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, to sense the vague thoughts and emotions at the bottom of others' hearts.
Although this was quite vague and these senses alone weren't clear enough for identification, Ning Zhuo could guess a lot based on his understanding of human nature, targeting specific enhancements or reductions.
Utilizing the Divine Power Life Thread and the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, he gained significant leverage in interpersonal communication.
For a while, Hanzhou's fondness for him increased significantly, and crucially, he felt nothing odd or abrupt about it—everything seemed as natural as spring rain. He thought it was all his own thinking.
He wanted to convert Ning Zhuo, not knowing that he was already being gradually manipulated and controlled by Ning Zhuo.
Feeling obliged to redress his own guilt during their sparring, Hanzhou devoted himself even more.
When the two parted, he actively suggested, "Daoist Fellow Ning Zhuo, if you struggle to utilize the martial arts from the Bitter Cold Scripture, I have a technique here that might alleviate your concern."
"Oh, what wonderful method might that be?" Ning Zhuo asked.
Hanzhou smiled, "Truthfully, it's nothing unusual—just Mechanical Techniques."
"I've seen you deploy the Five Elements Magic, sometimes using flying Mechanical Arms to assist in combat."
"I thought, perhaps by relying on Mechanical Artifacts, you could overcome the barriers in martial arts!"
Ning Zhuo hadn't thought of that himself. Instantly his eyes gleamed, and he sincerely thanked Hanzhou.
Upon their parting, Ning Zhuo fell into introspection, "I've been careless."
"Blinded by the joy of harvest. Such a simple method, and I, proficient in Mechanical Techniques, how could I not have thought of it?"
"Is it because I inherently possess the Demon-infused Bloodline Technique, which can already be transformed, so I didn't think further?"
"Or have I been focusing on my own combat lately, putting Mechanical Techniques on the back burner?"
"No, none of these are excuses."
"It's because I have been growing arrogant. After entering the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect, the combination of the Buddha Heart Demon Seal and the Divine Power Life Thread gave me massive advantages in interpersonal communication. It allowed me to easily reap huge benefits without fighting battles or needing long collaborations based on trust or emotional foundations."
"Ning Zhuo, oh Ning Zhuo, you still have a long way to go."
"Your cultivation level is just at the early stage of Qi Refining, your understanding of the Mechanical Techniques for the Mengye Tiger is not even initiated, your knowledge in cultivating is scarce, and you've only added some attack methods to your Wood Element skills, while you're still lacking in the other four elements."
"Moreover, the Spiritual Plant Cabin for the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon has only been roughly set up, and the Spirit Hidden Willow has consumed a lot. The Mechanical Dragon itself also consumes a lot of Fire Essence, and you haven't solved these issues yet."
"There's also your mother's injury, which is still only being treated on the way and you haven't found a radical cure yet!"
As Ning Zhuo thought about these, his mood stabilized, and a calm and low-key aura emanated from him.
He went to the Yuanlai Mountain again, and as expected, he was stopped once more.
He inquired about the news from Lin Shanshan, and was reprimanded not to pry into matters that didn't concern him!
Thus, Ning Zhuo understood that the people sent by the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect to collect intelligence in Fire Persimmon Immortal City hadn't returned yet.
If they had, the negotiations between the two parties would have progressed to the next stage, and their attitudes wouldn't be so uncompromising.
"Are the people from the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect too slow?"
"I reckon by now, my message should have reached Fire Persimmon Immortal City."
Based on the distance between the Ten Thousand Medicine Valley and Fire Persimmon Mountain, the Flying Message that Ning Zhuo sent utilizing his mana alone would lose accuracy at around five or six li, and at ten li, his mana would be exhausted, and it would fall.
His message was conveyed through a courier station.
In a Cultivation Kingdom like Southern Bean, there were officially established courier stations.
These stations were classified into large, medium, and small sizes, responsible for transmitting messages, transporting goods, providing lodging, food, and a cultivation environment.
The stations were all garrisoned.
When mobilized, the soldiers stationed at the large courier stations could even level local territories, clearing out gangs and sects.
Ning Zhuo's letter traveled back through these stations, dispatched and transported in batches, until it finally arrived at its destination — Fire Persimmon Mountain.
Fire Persimmon Mountain's peak.
Lava Fairy Palace.
After some time of strenuous recovery efforts, Meng Kui had managed to piece together the missing parts of the Immortal Palace and had restored some of its former grandeur.
Many cultivators gathered around the restored parts, pounding and tinkering, setting up Arrays, industriously busy like bees.
These precise and meticulous tasks were not something that Meng Kui could handle alone.
The cultivators he hired weren't only from the Zhou Family, he used the Meng Family's connections to recruit talents from various Immortal Cities in the Southern Bean, offering heavy rewards.
A small portion of the expense was also borne by the City Lord's Mansion of Fire Persimmon Immortal City.
It was this portion that made Fei Si always look gloomy and feel financial pressure.
Ning Jiufan and Zhou Nongying were invited to discuss pressing matters inside the Lava Fairy Palace.
Meng Kui presented a scene located deep within Fire Persimmon Mountain.
In a vast sea of magma like rushing rivers, a sprite sparked radiantly, playing merrily within the ocean of magma, darting in and out.
It transformed into a Magma Demon Ape, raising its arms excitedly and ripping through the lava, stirring up fierce winds. At times it turned into a nimble fire rat. Sometimes it shifted into a Runaway Fire Snake, swiftly unique. Occasionally, it became a Flame Stepping Lizard, imposing and chilly.
It even took on human form, draped in a robe of flames, sitting cross-legged in the sea of fire, mimicking the appearance of someone in cultivation practicing breathing techniques!
Whenever this happened, the surrounding flames seemed attracted by some invisible force, coming close to the sprite but maintaining a respectful distance, like vassals paying homage to a king.
Each slight fluctuation of the Fire Essence could resonate with the surrounding flames, creating splendid vortices of fire, breathtakingly beautiful!
Meng Kui said, "As you can see, this is a Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Fire Spirit!"
Zhou Nongying and Ning Jiufan were speechless for a moment, considerably astonished.
A treasure like Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Fire Spirit had surpassed the Nascent Soul Level, reaching the Transforming Spirit Level!
Meng Kui continued, "The previous volcanic eruption drew it up from deep beneath the earth. I, managing the Lava Fairy Palace, ordinarily inspecting it, accidentally discovered it."
"Today, inviting your two families here is to discuss a method to capture it."
Ning Jiufan looked worried, "I'm afraid that with our current strength, capturing it would present many difficulties. It occupies too great an advantage in terrain, and the Lava Fairy Palace is currently far from participating in combat."
Zhou Nongying sighed, "Although that's true, this matter must be addressed, and can't be delayed much longer. Look, the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Fire Spirit can already transform into human form, although its human appearance is still vague and a bit bizarre, retaining many animal traits."
"I think, it was the Fire Persimmon Mountain eruption that attracted its attention, and after coming up, it discovered there was Spirit to absorb, hence it loiters unwaveringly."
"Initially, to explore the Lava Fairy Palace, many cultivators sacrificed themselves here."
"It's precisely because of this offering, the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Fire Spirit rapidly transformed towards human form. If it truly achieves this step, its wisdom will increase dramatically, making it at least ten times harder to capture!"
Ning Jiufan remained contemplative.
A creature with human intelligence, yet without any rules to constrain it, powerful inherently and wild... it was evident that its existence was a significant threat to the entirety of Fire Persimoon Immortal City.
Meng Kui directly said, "Both of you should prepare more. When I'm ready, I will lure it up and encircle it for capture. Daoist Fellow Ning Jiufan, I know you possess a Fire Core Pomegranate, I ask you to lend it to me for use in the trap."
"Appropriate compensation will not leave you shortchanged."
Ning Jiufan agreed.
After flying back to his clan's territory, a servant handed him the letter from Ning Zhuo.
Ning Jiufan unfolded the letter and read, "Hmm? This youngster has reached the Ten Thousand Medicine Valley? It reminds me of the old days..."
He continued reading, raising an eyebrow, "What? He suggests I should take along Elder Yuan for a journey?"