"Brother Ning Zhuo, I'm here!" Zheng Jian laughed heartily as he saw Ning Zhuo alight from the carriage, taking a few steps forward to greet him.
Ning Zhuo hurriedly cupped his fists in salute: "Brother Zheng."
"No need for formalities!" Zheng Jian grabbed Ning Zhuo's arm, stopping him from continuing the salute, "Come, let's go to the second floor."
Behind them, Ning Xiaohui leisurely stepped down, using the back of a servant as a step.
Seeing Zheng Jian pulling Ning Zhuo instead of acknowledging her, a layer of frost covered her face.
Ever since their successful exploration of the Immortal Palace, Ning Zhuo had demonstrated his value to the three families, causing his status to soar.
To better win over Ning Zhuo and hasten the fabrication of evidence, Ning Xiaoren had framed Ning Ze.
One must understand, Ning Ze had served under Ning Xiaoren for many years; even if he had no achievements, he had put in hard work.
Such actions from Ning Xiaoren made Ning Zhuo secretly disdainful and wary.
Ning Zhuo and Zheng Jian, arm in arm, walked into a garden.
The plaque above the garden gate bore the three large characters of "Ciyou Garden."
Ciyou Garden was crowded, with people conversing about the name Li Leifeng.
Li Leifeng had finally reached the end of his life. According to his will, Ciyou Garden had prepared an inheritance ceremony to distribute Li Leifeng's belongings.
"I didn't expect Old Li to pass away. When I was a child, I grew up watching his puppet shows." Zheng Jian sighed.
Ning Zhuo also sighed: "Old Li was a respectable man. Since taking charge of Ciyou Garden, he saved countless orphans and street kids."
Zheng Jian patted Ning Zhuo's back: "Old Li had a joyful death, passing away peacefully! Look at how many people have come today; it shows his great reputation. His life was absolutely worth it!"
Ning Zhuo nodded slightly and remained silent.
Most of the crowd had gathered in a five-story pavilion for the inheritance ceremony.
Ning Zhuo and the others also entered the pavilion.
The pavilion was arranged in a square shape.
Climbing the stairs to a private room on the second floor, Ning Zhuo saw the brothers from the Zhou Family.
"Come, sit."
"The meals prepared by Ciyou Garden this time still have that old taste, bringing back memories."
"Yeah, I remember enjoying the puppet shows here as a child. The room across the way was my frequent spot."
"I used to love watching the shows from the railings when I was a child."
Ning Zhuo remained silent, his gaze falling on a corner of the hall.
As a child, he always snuck in when the ticket checkers weren't looking. Hiding in the corner or behind a pillar, he could watch the shows and sometimes pick up leftover pastries or fruits that guests hadn't eaten once the place was vacated.
Though intelligent early, Ning Zhuo still had a playful heart.
His aunt and uncle were strict, often letting Ning Ji eat snacks in front of him without sharing even a single sweet fruit.
As a child, Ning Zhuo craved sweets too.
He remembered one time when he was caught and fearful, Li Leifeng came to him, patted his head, took his hand, and led him backstage to give him clean pastries and fruits that Li Leifeng hadn't touched.
People came and went around them, seeing this scene without any surprise, casting kind glances at Ning Zhuo.
The specifics had blurred in Ning Zhuo's memory.
In his recollection, the entire experience was enveloped in a gentle light, filling his heart with a warm feeling whenever he thought of it.
This was why almost the entire city turned up to mourn Li Leifeng's passing. The cultivators attending the inheritance ceremony were mostly prominent figures.
"With Li Leifeng gone, who knows what will happen to Ciyou Garden?"
"I heard the next head of the garden hasn't been decided yet."
"I know the reason. Li Leifeng asked Zhu Xuanji to have the Divine Hunter choose his successor."
Zheng Jian and Zhou Zeshen exchanged valuable information casually.
Ning Zhuo silently noted it.
"By the way, how are your souls recovering?"
"Almost healed."
"Same here."
"When shall we explore the Magma Fairy Palace again?"
As they heard this, everyone instinctively glanced at Ning Zhuo.
It was Ning Zhuo's performance last time that led to their significant breakthrough.
Ning Zhuo didn't want to repeat it. He had already acquired the cultivation technique and spent his days in rigorous practice.
Of course, the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art and Demon-infused Bloodline Technique couldn't be practiced. The techniques' qi flow between levels four and six differed significantly from the first three levels.
But the Mirror Stand Spirit Communication Technique could be practiced.
All disturbances were suppressed and contained by the Treasure Seal, allowing Ning Zhuo to often appear dazed while secretly practicing the Divine Refining Technique.
Ning Zhuo said, "For now, I can't think of any methods. If we continue exploring the Immortal Palace, we might fall into that dark trap again."
Zheng Jian and the others trembled in unison.
Falling into the trap last time had left them in a state worse than death. They couldn't see, hear, or touch anything and had to endure until their soul power reached its limit, finally being ejected from the palace.
This nightmarish experience was something they never wanted to repeat.
"Haven't you thought of any good methods recently?" Zheng Jian asked.
Ning Zhuo shook his head.
Zhou Zhu sighed.
Zhou Zeshen encouraged: "I'm almost at the third level's peak. Once I achieve it, we'll set off and explore the Magma Fairy Palace again."
Everyone agreed with nods, forming a pact.
At this moment, the inheritance ceremony formally began.
Li Leifeng's belongings were publicly displayed for people to choose from.
Whoever found something they liked could take it directly, as a donation.
Some lower-level cultivators were overjoyed with their gains.
Some families or powerful cultivators also took some items—usually insignificant things—and often gave Ciyou Garden a large sum of spirit stones or resources in return.
Suddenly, Zhou Zeshen made a slight sound and, with a grasping motion, formed an invisible force to capture a mechanized wooden board, bringing it to the second floor.
He took it and played with it, then laughed, "It truly is this."
"I remember coming here as a child with my father, crying non-stop, and Old Li took out this toy to cheer me up."
"This mechanized toy is quite complicated. You need to manipulate each change, obtaining a bit of information at a time."
"Eventually, piecing together the information forms a divine legend."
Saying this, Zhou Zeshen handed the mechanized toy to Zheng Jian beside him.
Zheng Jian played with it briefly, lost interest, and handed it to someone else.
Zhou Zhu took it in curiosity, asking, "Did you eventually get the legend?"
"Of course," Zhou Zeshen said, "It took an entire summer. The divine legend obtained was only part of it, making me quite upset."
"But I still transcribed the story onto a jade slip and carried it with me."
"Because of this experience, I gained much patience. Whenever I get agitated, I take out the jade slip, rub it a few times, and quickly regain my composure."
With that, Zhou Zeshen produced the jade slip and passed it around for everyone to see.
Ning Zhuo played with the mechanized board and then read the story on the jade slip.
The jade slip recorded a divine legend.
In the story, a Supreme Immortal traversed the void and grew tired.
He took out the Sameness Bag, held the bag's mouth, intending to shake it fifty times. After forty-nine shakes, he was too exhausted to continue and let go of the bag's mouth, releasing a mechanized world.
In the mechanized world, the heavens and earth turned upside down, water and soil mixed, and smoke and fire swirled.
The Supreme Immortal took out the Five Elements Staff and threw it into the mechanized world, setting the Five Elements in motion, stabilizing the heavens above and the earth below, with oceans and rivers in orderly distribution.
The Supreme Immortal entered the mechanized world to rest. To have someone serve him, he used three thousand threads and flicked them three times.
The first flick, the thread struck the immortal energy, creating an immortal puppet.
The second flick, the thread struck the demonic energy, forming a demon puppet.
The third flick, the thread struck the divine energy, resulting in a divine puppet.
The three puppets served the Supreme Immortal meticulously.
Once rested, the Supreme Immortal prepared to continue his journey. Before leaving the mechanized world, the three puppets pleaded to follow him.
The Supreme Immortal told them it wasn't that he didn't want them to follow, but that they couldn't.
Forcibly taking them would lead to their destruction.
The three puppets didn't believe him.
The Supreme Immortal instructed them: Look at the threads on your bodies.
The puppets became aware.
The immortal puppet saw its threads were ideals, wisdom, freedom, and betrayal...
The demon puppet saw its threads were strength, chaos, love...
The divine puppet saw its threads were principles, order, fairness...
In an instant, Ning Zhuo was deeply moved!
He suddenly thought of himself.
He thought of the historical texts he had read, the various figures within them, and the countless times he had pondered their thoughts and choices at critical moments.
As he grew older, he gradually realized: all of these people, regardless of their strength, followed certain patterns!
He thought of Yuan Dasheng.
Despite Yuan Dasheng's strength, a thread of loyalty and righteousness firmly bound him. The reason Ning Zhuo could plot against him was due to understanding this thread.
He thought of his uncle Ning Ze and Ning Xiaoren, who also had threads on them.
He thought of Han Ming. Even for a Demon Cultivator, there was a thread named greed.
"If I grasp these threads, I can manipulate them like mechanized objects. Can't I?"
"Then..."
"Do I have threads on me?"
Thinking this, Ning Zhuo felt a sudden, inexplicable shiver!
He slowly raised his head.
Slowly raised his head.
In a trance, he saw it.
He saw a nearly invisible giant thread. It was—the Life Hanging Thread!
At that moment, the Illusion True Lotus Seed in his Divine Sea silently sprouted.
In the Magma Fairy Palace.
The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit awoke from its slumber, pressing its chest in puzzlement at an inexplicable sense of fear.
The Life Hanging Thread vanished from Ning Zhuo's sight, disappearing.
Ning Zhuo lowered his head, his face expressionless.
"An interesting little story." Ning Zhuo smiled, returning the jade slip to Zhou Zeshen.
"Indeed quite evocative." Zhou Zeshen took the jade slip and casually agreed.
He could never have imagined that his casual gesture would provide Ning Zhuo with such a tremendous chance!