Ning Zhuo's footsteps gradually quickened.
He took Yuan Dasheng to explore the Immortal Palace. During this period, there was risk.
Because Meng Chong might come in at this time.
Without Yuan Dasheng in Room Three to hold off the enemy, Meng Chong could easily kill his way to the preparation room.
"I hope this time Meng Chong remains unconscious thoroughly, leaving me as much time as possible to explore!"
Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo suddenly had an insight and thought of the concept of fate, which brought about many new understandings.
"The Magma Fairy Palace is like an arena. Meng Chong and I are both within it. Even if we are not face-to-face, there is an entanglement and confrontation of fate."
"I took the lead, setting up mechanical traps everywhere to hinder Meng Chong, which suppressed him to some extent."
"But he grows stronger with challenges and started special training, enhancing his strength quickly."
"I encountered a crisis and had to change my name, designing a plot against Han Ming. But unexpectedly, Meng Chong suddenly appeared in Ziyang Courtyard and defeated Han Ming."
"If he had acted more decisively at that time or pursued relentlessly and killed Han Ming, I would have been left with no way out, forced to abandon my name change and be indirectly defeated by Meng Chong."
"Not long ago, I narrowly eliminated Yuan Dasheng. According to Han Ming, my fate increased greatly."
"Thus, I relied on Yuan Dasheng, defeated Meng Chong, and even put him into an unconscious state once again, suppressing him once more."
"But it's hard to say what kind of formidable stance and how much progress Meng Chong will have made upon his return."
Ning Zhuo reflected on this as he arrived once more before the three doors.
"These three doors actually have flaws as well."
"Zhu Xuanji witnessed Yuan Dasheng using the Demon-infused Bloodline Technique once. Although the process might have been brief, the aura has leaked."
"In the future, anyone who masters this demonic technique will surely be suspected by Zhu Xuanji, leading to new doubts about Yuan Dasheng's death."
"New doubts will lead to new investigations."
"And such investigations are precisely very dangerous for me."
"If only I could conceal this Demonic Sect door."
Ning Zhuo had tried in this regard long ago, but unfortunately, even with the vigorous activation of the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, he could not raise the stone wall again to cover the Demonic Sect door.
"The urgent task is to seize every moment and opportunity to explore with all my might."
Ning Zhuo not only needed to race against time with Meng Chong, Zheng Jian, and others, but also with Zhu Xuanji.
"This time, I want to break through the Buddhist Sect first!" Ning Zhuo had already made up his mind.
The main reason was that the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng was of high quality, with clear advantages in storming the Buddhist Sect.
However, the first door Ning Zhuo pushed open was the Demonic Sect door.
He ventured into the Demonic Sect door, tried a bit, and then stopped voluntarily. His main purpose was only to collect the blood qi inside.
He did not retain any of the blood qi and directly infused it into Yuan Dasheng.
In an instant, Yuan Dasheng's red muscular body began to emit a dark red glow, with a menacing demonic aura, exuding a sense of dominance and ferocity.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, who had been watching Ning Zhuo, saw this scene and snorted with anger, flames spouting from its nostrils.
Normal competitors, unable to retreat, could only choose one of three doors and push forward to their doom.
But Ning Zhuo, relying on the Buddha Heart Demon Seal to cheat, had retreated from his challenge.
This retreat greatly increased the augmentation for Yuan Dasheng!
Protecting Ning Zhuo, he slaughtered his way through several Buddhist Sect gates with unstoppable force.
"As I expected, Yuan Dasheng had high cultivation in Qi Refinement in his lifetime, and the level of the Demon-infused Bloodline Technique was probably very high."
"Using his intact body and soul as the main ingredients, the spiritual nature obtained carries deep imprints of his actions in life."
"Therefore, when using blood qi, he could even create large areas of blood muscles."
Ning Zhuo broke through the three Buddhist Sect gates, standing before the door once more.
"What kind of reward will there be this time?" He anticipated the reward's high value, as there had been no clearance reward for the second Buddhist Sect gate.
Sure enough.
When Ning Zhuo touched the door, he immediately received the information.
Dozens of options made him instantly dizzy.
His first thought was: "Can I keep retreating and then take all these rewards?"
"Choose one first, then verify. What's the best option?"
After researching, Ning Zhuo found that most options were spells and mechanical diagrams. The only unique item was an Illusion True Lotus Seed.
"What is an Illusion True Lotus Seed?" Ning Zhuo asked in his heart.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, who had been waiting here, eagerly explained, "An Illusion True Lotus Seed imprints the essence of a certain divine skill, and once planted, it can assist cultivators in fully comprehending divine skills. It is extremely rare and precious, with limited availability..."
Slap, slap, slap.
The fire whip started lashing.
But the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit persevered through the pain, refusing to continue speaking.
Unable to hear the rest, Ning Zhuo subconsciously thought that was all there was.
"Limited availability, extremely precious! I'll choose it then."
After making his selection, an illusion of the lotus seed passed through the door, reaching the deepest part of Ning Zhuo's Upper Dantian Divine Sea.
"Is that it?"
"Then what?"
Ning Zhuo stood in place for a moment, somewhat stunned.
After planting the Illusion True Lotus Seed, it almost vanished, making it hard for Ning Zhuo himself to find it.
He tried various methods, all ending in failure.
"Perhaps, I need to return my soul to my body to access it." Ning Zhuo speculated, holding onto hope.
Little did he know, in the Magma Fairy Palace main hall, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was laughing so hard it lay down, pounding its shell with its dragon claw, extremely delighted!
At last, it had finally tricked Ning Zhuo.
The pain from the whippings contrasted with its inner joy!
What the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit hid was that, while the Illusion True Lotus Seed was precious, the likelihood of comprehending divine skills with it was extremely low. Many Golden Core Cultivators planted Illusion True Lotus Seeds but obtained little insight. The reason being these seeds all imprinted the essence of one skill—Life Hanging Thread!
In the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit's view: For a mere Qi Refinement Realm cultivator like Ning Zhuo to gain insight was a sheer fantasy!
Ning Zhuo pushed the door open again, entering a new hall and seeing the three fresh doors of Buddhism, Daoism, and Demon Sect.
He first tried using the Buddha Heart Demon Seal to retreat, finding the door significantly harder to open.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding: "Could it be that the effects of the Buddha Heart Demon Seal are no longer enough at this point?"
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, seeing this, became increasingly calm.
It knew the real reason—it's not that the Buddha Heart Demon Seal's influence was inadequate, but Ning Zhuo, being only at the Qi Refinement Realm, could not draw out much power from the Treasure Seal. Reaching this point, its influence on the gate was insufficient.
Unless Ning Zhuo's cultivation improved significantly.
But that was not achievable in a short time.
After paying a huge price, Ning Zhuo retreated successfully, returning to his previous position.
Upon touching the door again, he found he could choose a reward once more, so he picked a spell.
Ning Zhuo pushed the door again and entered the hall, but did not continue retreating.
It consumed too much!
Ning Zhuo tried touching the Buddhism, Daoism, and Demon Sect doors.
He found the mechanisms of the three doors to be roughly the same as before.
Touching the door, he obtained Buddhist, Daoist, and Demonic cultivation techniques from the fourth to the sixth level.
"Finally, I can continue cultivating."
"These cultivation techniques couldn't have come at a better time!"
Ning Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief. Though he had predicted as much, it wasn't until reality matched his expectations that he truly felt at ease.
Having found nothing else, Ning Zhuo retreated again, choosing another reward before heading back the way he came.
He returned to Room Three, leaving Yuan Dasheng.
Then he went back to Room Two, where he found the others still trapped, unaware of the outside world.
Ning Zhuo jumped into a pit, quietly waiting.
He waited until the others' souls were exhausted and sent back to their bodies. Then he waited a while longer before using the Trial Disciple Seal to easily return his soul to his body.
Two days later.
Ning Xiaoren brought Ning Zhuo into his study.
Upon entering, he saw Ning Ze already on his knees, his head covered in blood from being hit with a paperweight.
Ning Xiaoren, with an expression of grief, said to Ning Zhuo, "At first, I didn't believe it either. But then the evidence was right in front of me, and your first uncle confirmed it in person."
"Ning Zhuo, my dear nephew, I never expected, I truly never expected, your uncle to be so disgraceful!"
"He's been embezzling the funds I secretly provided for your cultivation every year!!"
Ning Zhuo's pupils contracted, his face a mix of disbelief and anger.
"Uncle, is this true?!" Ning Zhuo roared at Ning Ze.
Ning Ze's body trembled as he slowly raised his head to look at Ning Zhuo.
His eyes were murky, his face extremely unpleasant, and his body bore numerous marks of severe torture.
He stared at Ning Zhuo, then at Ning Xiaoren, whose gaze was piercing.
Ning Ze, with a heart filled with despair, took a deep breath and said heavily, "Yes, it was me."
Ning Zhuo staggered, unable to bear the blow, and stepped back, supported by Ning Xiaoren's hand.
Overwhelmed by the shock, Ning Zhuo tightly closed his eyes, tears streaming down.
For a moment, his vision was black.
Memories of the past flooded back.
"Kneel!" Ning Ze held a bamboo stick, his voice stern.
Young Ning Zhuo raised his head, "Why are you punishing me? I said, it wasn't me, it really wasn't me!"
Smack.
The bamboo stick struck hard.
A distinct red mark instantly appeared on Ning Zhuo's face, quickly swelling.
Ning Zhuo continued to raise his head.
Ning Ze was furious and swung the bamboo stick again.
Smack, smack, smack!
Ning Zhuo was struck in the back of his knees and had to kneel down.
"Uncle, why don't you believe me? I was framed, I didn't do it. Boo hoo hoo..." Ning Zhuo raised his arm to wipe away his tears.
"Still being stubborn!" Ning Ze threw down the bamboo stick and turned to leave, "Today you will kneel here until you admit your mistake before you can eat dinner!"
That time, Ning Zhuo knelt from dusk till dawn, collapsing from exhaustion.
In the morning, Wang Lan said to Ning Ze, "Husband, though Little Zhuo is wild, he is honest. At least he has never lied to us."
"I think he might not have committed this wrong."
Ning Ze snorted coldly, "Of course I know he was wronged."
"But what can I do?"
"The child who actually did wrong, his father is a Family Elder of the war hall."
"We can't afford to offend him!"
"If Ning Zhuo admits his fault, the problem will be resolved. Stubbornness will only bring more trouble!"
Wang Lan exclaimed, "Ah, so that's the reason."
"Husband, you did the right thing."
"What's a little injustice and wronging for children?"