Ning Zhuo dispersed his divine sense, covering two flying messages, and quickly read through them, understanding the causation.
"Interesting." A gleam flashed in Ning Zhuo’s eyes.
He looked at the two flying messages in his hand and began to ponder the value of this information.
Ning Zhuo originally thought that his performance in Yu Heye’s presence was sufficient to convince Shen Xi, Situ Xing, and others to let him join the team.
But now, Situ Xing was again making things difficult for Ning Zhuo.
"No, he’s not making things difficult for me; he’s giving Shen Xi a hard time." Ning Zhuo knew well, he and Situ Xing had never even met.
"Shen Xi recommended me to use me to increase his influence in this gang."
"Currently, he has only Su Lingkou by his side."
"But Situ Xing is very wary of Shen Xi; there is a hidden contest between the two, and I am a pawn in this struggle."
Where there are people, there is worldly society.
As an outsider, Ning Zhuo stepping into this place, encountering such situations was quite common.
Looking now, just joining this small group, Ning Zhuo would be dragged in, becoming a pawn in the confrontations between Shen Xi and Situ Xing.
It is imaginable that if Ning Zhuo truly joins the Myriad Images Sect, without understanding the situation, he is very likely to become a frontline pawn in the transition between the old and new.
With small groups like Shen Xi and Situ Xing, it’s manageable, since their strength is ultimately only at the Foundation Establishment Stage. But if he is blind to the situation, dragged into the large chessboard of the Myriad Images Sect, and caught in the whirlpool of old and new transitions, that would be disastrous.
"Boss." Ning Zhuo transmitted thoughts with his divine sense through the Life Hanging Thread, contacting Sun Lingtong inside the Shuyu Pavilion.
During Ning Zhuo’s brief retreat to break through his cultivation level, Sun Lingtong had always been inside Meng Yaoyin’s former cave mansion, using her innate talent to glean insights from the pages of Luoshu, comprehending formations.
Sun Lingtong listened to Ning Zhuo’s brief description, thought for a moment, and responded, "Little Zhuo, with such small matters, you should make the decision yourself."
Ning Zhuo was taken aback, "Boss, you’re so assured of me? Before we set out from Fire Persimmon Immortal City, we agreed that whenever it involved more significant decisions, we must discuss and communicate in advance."
Sun Lingtong chuckled, "Wasn’t that what we agreed upon just before we set out? We’ve traveled a long way together across several countries, even participated in the Thousand Peak Forest campaign, and even disrupted the hundred-year plan of the Lord of Wangchuan."
"You are no longer the same as before."
"For such things, just make the decision yourself!"
A stream of warmth from being trusted surged in Ning Zhuo’s heart.
Sun Lingtong was already irritable, "If it’s not truly a big deal, don’t disturb me anymore."
Ning Zhuo broke off the contact with Sun Lingtong and reviewed the flying messages for the second time.
He could let the first message slide, but in the second message, Shen Xi detailed some intelligence regarding Gongsun Yan.
The intelligence included the opponent’s talent, appearance, combat habits, and so on.
Shen Xi also speculated: because Gongsun Yan is Lin Jinglong’s most capable subordinate. If Ning Zhuo gets involved, he would likely still be opposed to him in the future.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat. Therefore, knowing some enemy information in advance does no harm.
To a normal person, Shen Xi’s heartwarming gesture might have already moved them secretly.
But Ning Zhuo knew very well: he and Shen Xi were already on the same line, Shen Xi helping Ning Zhuo was just helping himself.
Ning Zhuo rubbed the mechanical ring on his finger, his thoughts arising and then dissipating.
There are too many ways to handle the problem.
But just like handling the Yu Heye issue before, he needed to fully understand the situation and grasp the power of striking.
If the force is too light, the opponent won’t respond; if the force is too strong, it becomes counterproductive and breaks ties.
What to do?
Inside the cave mansion.
Gongsun Yan sat cross-legged on a cushion, his gaze fixed on a piece of wood in his hand.
This piece of wood was about three feet long, thick as a child’s arm. It had been struck by lightning into a block of charcoal, but it wasn’t lifeless.
If observed closely, amidst the scorched marks and cracks, gentle and jade-like blue-green radiance could be seen, thread by thread. As the blue light circulated, some incomplete thunder patterns could be seen, flickering faintly.
Gongsun Yan held this piece of wood in his hand and felt the waves of warm intensity emanating outward.
This was precisely the precious wood he obtained in exchange for agreeing to fight for Lin Jinglong—Thunderstruck Wood: Spring’s Birth!
This dates back to the Lin Family’s primary cultivation technique "Ten Thousand Woods Spring Thunder."
This technique can extract the essence from ten thousand woods, cultivating wood element mana, and thereafter transform into spring thunder.
Its essence is: thunder and rain, life and death shining together. Wood element mana is always characterized by growth and endurance; Yimu spring thunder can both harm enemies and nurture life.
Any cultivator practicing "Ten Thousand Woods Spring Thunder" has the capability to mass-produce Thunderstruck Wood: Spring’s Birth.
Gongsun Yan was already familiar with this treasure.
He skillfully crushed a spirit stone, increasing the concentration of spiritual energy in the cave mansion.
The Thunderstruck Wood: Spring’s Birth was immersed in this spiritual energy, gradually forming a layer of misty blue fog on its surface. Gongsun Yan took a deep breath, feeling the freshness of the air, as though he was in a forest after a rain.
He could feel more profoundly the vitality of grass and trees budding in early spring within the Thunderstruck Wood: Spring’s Birth, and the unique brisk cleansing of all things by the thunder.
The distractions and irritability that had been lingering in his Divine Ocean Dantian were slowly dissolving under this breath.
This was precisely the reason Gongsun Yan wanted to use this kind of wood.
His talent, Talent Melting Heart, was merely a low-class talent. This level of talent has its strengths and also its obvious weaknesses.
Melting Heart can generate Heart Fire. You can consider Heart Fire as a quasi-fire seed, which can pair with any fire-based cultivation techniques in the world to form an appropriate fire seed.