"The Ten-Mile Burning Forest uses human fire as the Fire Seed. On the surface, it refines various Magic Artifacts, but in reality, it utilizes accumulated incense to refine the Fire Crown Divine Pine."
"This is indeed the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King's strategy, deeply concealed. Unfortunately, faced with the overwhelming forces of Liangzhu Country, such schemes were aborted midway."
Lin Bufan possesses his own worldview and insight. Even while observing today's battle, he glimpsed some of the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King's plans.
"The fire within the wood is being refined by the Fire Crown Divine Pine. That tree must have been confined initially and its life spared. Thus, this Fire Seed always has an owner. Although I seized it, I still need to refine it before handing it over to Ning Zhuo."
Lin Bufan pondered secretly.
According to the agreement he reached with Ning Zhuo through Divine Sense secretly at the front lines,
Lin Bufan would help Ning Zhuo obtain the fire within the wood, while Ning Zhuo would reward Lin Bufan in other aspects of their cooperation afterward.
In the alliance between the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect and the Ning Family, although not involved in the covert strategy, Lin Bufan took the initiative to help Ning Zhuo refine the Fire Seed.
Orders were swiftly issued by Liu Er.
Luo Chen fled in defeat, with only his Nascent Soul surviving.
Grand Master Yan Jin was captured, while his deputy, Fairy Liuyan, perished in battle. The Great Forest Protection Array fell into the hands of the Three Generals Camp.
The Fire Crown Divine Pine was heavily sealed and strictly guarded.
Thus, the battle concluded, the Three Generals Camp emerged victorious, suffering over three hundred soldiers' casualties, and took full control of the Ten-Mile Burning Forest.
The victory dispatch was sent out immediately.
The work began!
Ning Zhuo entered his camp and then entered the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon, energizing the three major Mechanical Platforms to quickly replenish the Mechanical Puppets.
In this battle, his Mechanical Army had also suffered significant losses. If not for a mid-battle reinforcement, his entire army would have been annihilated.
One by one, the Mechanical Puppets were swiftly fashioned.
By now, Ning Zhuo had become increasingly skilled at this task, resulting in slight improvements in both production and efficiency.
The improvement wasn't substantial.
What could truly bring about a significant increase in efficiency was still the Mechanical Platforms.
"There should be other Mechanical Platforms in that Storage Bag. Unfortunately, I can't open it for now," Ning Zhuo thought of the Mechanical Princess Shuang Ling's military supplies.
With soldiers in hand, there's no worry in the heart.
As the number of Mechanical Puppets increased, Ning Zhuo grew more relaxed.
During his leisure time, he reviewed the expedition.
"A Nascent Soul can escape into the void; it's really hard to kill a Nascent Soul Cultivator completely. Mu Lan's case is a rarity after all."
"In the end, I still didn't test my limits. Forget it."
"The Ten-Mile Burning Forest, Yunjian Enquiring Dragon Platform, Gnarly Root Hundred Herbs Cave, and Thousand Vine Talisman Sky Corridor, among others, were set up around the Dragon King Giant Wood Mountain as resource strongholds."
"According to the intelligence, these strongholds were constructed jointly by the Dragon King Temple and other major forces in the Thousand Peak Forest. Each one came with a high price!"
"Unexpectedly, the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King clandestinely supported the Fire Crown Divine Pine to become a deity. He didn't just use the Ten-Mile Burning Forest to forge a deity but further used the deity to secretly erode this stronghold. Quite a calculation."
"However, precisely because of this, there was public incense, a fatal flaw!"
For more than a decade, Ning Zhuo had been contemplating the situation and forces in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City, gaining profound insights.
Like Lin Bufan, he also perceived the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King's scheme.
Thinking this, he rubbed his chest.
"I designed the Five Internal Organs Temple Spirit God Skill, never expecting to use it here."
Now, his Fire Element Heart Temple was filled with vast amounts of incense.
During the battle, Ning Zhuo secretly handed his heart to Sun Lingtong, instructing him to steal the incense away.
Incense, in its nature, still requires a deity to collect.
And because the Fire Crown Divine Pine belongs to the fire element, it perfectly matches Ning Zhuo's Fire Element Heart Temple.
Others, lacking Ning Zhuo's unique Divine Arts, would find it impossible to exploit the Fire Crown Divine Pine's critical flaw, even if discovered.
"Old Dice, you should be able to use this incense, right?" Ning Zhuo shook his wrist, shedding his bracelet, summoning the Dice Bone Demon God.
The Dice Bone Demon God immediately knelt down on one knee: "Your old servant greets the master."
"Master, your Dharma Eye is perfect. As this incense is public, it is ownerless and suitable for my recuperation."
"However..."
"However what?" Ning Zhuo inquired.
The Dice Bone Demon God replied, "However, the principle of this old servant is quite different from Artifact Refining. While I can absorb and convert this public incense into Divine Power, the conversion rate is far lower than that of the Fire Crown Divine Pine."
Ning Zhuo waved his hand generously, "It doesn't matter."
The Dice Bone Demon God was instantly grateful, praising Ning Zhuo's magnanimity and kindness.
Ning Zhuo watched from the side.
It was his first time witnessing a deity absorbing incense.
Although well-read, the books hadn't covered such secrets.
Ning Zhuo first released the Fire Element Heart Temple, placing it in the cabin, shrinking it to alcove size.
The Dice Bone Demon God's meditation posture was peculiar, not sitting cross-legged but half-squatting, leaning forward with both hands pressed on the cabin floor.
The small temple's doors opened, revealing the incense inside.
The incense coalesced into a unique flame.
On its outermost edge was a constantly drifting gray smoke. The flame itself had two layers: the outermost was bright red, and the inner layer was golden amber.
The Dice Bone Demon God inhaled deeply, drawing the incense into his mouth and nose.
He swiftly refined it, transforming it into new Divine Power.
Streams of Divine Power were quickly absorbed, forming Divine Arts to heal himself.
Ning Zhuo discerned: "Though deities are powerful, they require incense to refine into Divine Power. With Divine Power as a foundation, they can perform many Divine Arts."
"The Dice Bone Demon God, severely wounded, needs a large amount of Divine Power to heal."
"His dojo was eradicated, his followers survived but stayed with me, thus having no chance to collect incense."
"This is why deities need followers, doctrines, and to establish their territory."
"Doesn't a deity have a means to grow their own Divine Power?" Ning Zhuo asked the Dice Bone Demon God.
The Dice Bone Demon God answered: indeed, there are, but compared to absorbing and converting incense, the efficiency is much lower.
For deities, converting incense into Divine Power is the primary way.
Many deities retain their physical bodies, like some Demon Cultivators. Transforming demonic power or mana into Divine Power is far less efficient and effective than incense.
The Dice Bone Demon God further explained incense to Ning Zhuo: "Master. Public incense has only two layers, while most personal incense has three layers."
"The outermost layer, the Red Dust Shell, embodies endless desires of the followers."
"The middle layer is the Vow Layer, reflecting the power of their prayers and petitions."
"At the core lies the Divine Core, often inscribed with a deity's name in Divine Text."
"Incense with a deity's name belongs to that deity. Other deities find it hard to use unless the original owner loans it."
The Dice Bone Demon God deeply gazed at the Fire Element Heart Temple: "Master, your unique Divine Art might also absorb incense to generate Divine Power."
"Oh?" Ning Zhuo showed interest.
But the Dice Bone Demon God added: "However, walking the path of a deity has many drawbacks."
"Master, you have a bright future ahead. This old servant does not recommend you follow that path."
Ning Zhuo nodded, recognizing this.
Besides, cultivating Divine Power would make him dual cultivate. The disadvantages were numerous, and he was already triple cultivating three Dantians. This significantly slowed his cultivation progress, making it difficult and unrewarding to cultivate Divine Power further.
The Dice Bone Demon God finally absorbed most of the incense, restoring himself to his original state.
Ning Zhuo continued cultivating his physical body while awaiting Lin Bufan's return.
He had high expectations for the fire within the wood.
However, three days of waiting didn't bring Lin Bufan but instead the envoys of Supervisor Zhao Xi and a response.