Chapter 24: Ning Zhuo Enters the Immortal Palace

Ning Zhuo began to examine the items left behind by Chen Cha.

First was a jade scroll, white as snow.

Ning Zhuo pressed it against his brow, pouring in his spiritual sense. After examining it, he discovered it was a compendium of formations called the "Serpentine Winding Array Collection," authored by the White Scale Hermit.

Ning Zhuo skimmed through it, a hint of surprise on his face.

"This White Scale Hermit is not human, but a male serpent demon."

"In his middle age, he suffered severe injuries, and his serpent body could not be restored. So, he crafted mechanisms to create a replacement, striving to make his serpent form complete again."

"And this jade scroll records the various formations deployed on his mechanical and flesh serpent bodies."

Although the White Scale Hermit didn't leave much information, Ning Zhuo sensed that this demon at least possessed Nascent Soul-level strength.

"Chen Cha obtained this jade scroll and diligently studied it, leading to his reputation as the 'Living Array Master' and his ability to create mechanical constructs."

"He's giving me his entire foundation."

The evidence for Ning Zhuo's judgment was that the jade scroll contained a wealth of Chen Cha's personal annotations, insights, and records of his own experiments and designs, as well as his experiences with mechanisms.

Knowledge is priceless.

This was the bedrock of Chen Cha's existence; even if he took on disciples, he would likely hold back a secret or two.

But unexpectedly, Chen Cha directly gave this jade scroll to Ning Zhuo.

"That old Chen..."

Ning Zhuo sighed and then opened the bag.

Inside were more than twenty wooden balls. The wooden balls varied in size, the larger ones like an infant's fist, the smaller ones like the tip of a little finger.

Each wooden ball was divided into two sides, one painted black, the other pure white. The black side bore the character for "death," while the white side bore the character for "life."

"Half-Dead, Half-Alive Beads." Having browsed the contents of the jade scroll, Ning Zhuo instantly recognized these wooden beads.

These wooden beads were Chen Cha's unique creation. Based on the White Scale Hermit's Formation Collection, combined with his own experience and a flash of inspiration, he designed these mechanical wooden beads.

These wooden beads were fundamental components for mechanical constructs, used in the joints.

When a wooden bead was flipped to the white "life" side, the joint would move freely. When flipped to the black "death" side, the joint would lock accordingly.

The brilliance lay in the subtle connections between these wooden beads. If array patterns were inscribed on the main components of the mechanism, one or more living arrays could be formed.

By controlling these wooden beads, either alive or dead, the mechanism could perform various precise movements.

"Good stuff."

"The application range of these Half-Dead, Half-Alive Beads is very wide."

"The Mechanical Fire Monkey could use them, and so could the All-As-You-Wish Rope, it seems. The actual performance should surpass the previous level."

Ning Zhuo's face lit up with joy.

He really liked these kinds of mechanical creations.

To others, these wooden beads might be worthless. But to Ning Zhuo, they were rare treasures that would greatly assist him.

Finally, Ning Zhuo examined the heaviest bag.

He found 5118 spirit stones inside.

The odd number once again plunged Ning Zhuo into a moment of silence.

"This is probably all of old Chen's savings, isn't it?"

Ning Zhuo sighed, feeling a little guilty.

He put the items away and began to actively recuperate.

The Nourishing Pill worked well, helping Ning Zhuo's body quickly adapt to the new Five Elements mana.

Ning Zhuo cultivated with all his might, striving to return to the third level of Qi Refinement as soon as possible.

"When I cultivate to the third level, will the Transmission Bell continue to boom throughout the city?"

"I must seize every second and go all out!"

"Mother was right. I'm just an ordinary person, unlike others who have backgrounds and resources."

"I'm probably already far behind others at this rate!"

Before her death, Ning Zhuo's mother told him to try his best to get a good ranking and become a Mechanism Seed in order to receive resource allocation.

Ning Zhuo lacked critical information, but he chose to gamble, without hesitation, and switched to cultivating the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Technique.

"In addition to cultivating the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Technique, I also need to find a way to approach Lava Immortal Palace."

Since the explosion at the Immortal Palace, the summit of the volcano had been completely under lockdown, with no loitering allowed.

"What will the family's reaction be?"

"Organizing the Qi Refinement cultivators to collectively switch to the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Technique is the right thing to do."

"If I can make good use of Chen Cha's connections, I might be able to enter the Lava Immortal Palace through the City Lord's channels."

Ning Zhuo decided to wait and see, waiting for the situation to develop into a suitable opportunity.

His choice was correct.

A few days later, someone from the family came to his small house and informed him that he had been selected to be a member of the Ning family to switch to cultivating the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Technique.

Ning Zhuo followed orders, disguised himself, and returned to the family to participate in the first training session.

"Ah Zhuo, you're here too?" Ning Yong was very happy to see Ning Zhuo.

Ning Chen also walked over and nodded slightly to Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo greeted them and looked around.

He found that most of them were from the branch families; members of the Ning family's main line were quite rare.

"I heard that a family elder wanted Ning Xiaohui to participate, but Ning Xiaohui resolutely refused and even caused a big scene." Ning Yong whispered in Ning Zhuo's ear.

Ning Xiaohui was their classmate, the number one student from beginning to end, even during the grand examination.

Ning Chen said, "She has talent that we can only envy – the Ice Jade Hand. Why take the risk of switching to cultivation? I don't think that decision was wrong."

"Even I would rather choose to cultivate the Snowfield Talisman Scripture than the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Technique, which only has three levels!"

From Ning Chen's words, Ning Zhuo heard obvious resentment.

But there was nothing to be done; they were all just small figures.

The training was much shorter than expected, only announcing that selected members of the Ning family should actively switch to cultivating the new technique and that the top ten would receive different resource rewards. Then, in the afternoon, they announced the disbandment.

According to Ning Zhuo's observation, he found that the family members generally had a strong motivation to switch to the new cultivation method because of the rewards.

But Ning Zhuo would definitely not claim this reward.

No one knew that he was already at the second level of Qi Refinement.

He would definitely keep this secret first and would not actively reveal it.

Just as he was about to leave the family territory, Ning Zhuo was stopped halfway by his uncle, Ning Ze: "Cultivate well, Xiao Zhuo. I spent money to arrange for you to come in."

Ning Zhuo uttered an "ah" sound, his face flushed red, both ashamed and grateful, and bowed to Ning Ze to express his thanks: "Uncle, nephew has, has troubled you to worry."

Ning Ze nodded slightly: "It's good that you know."

He had no choice either. Young Master Ning Xiaoren was urging him tightly, even threatening to arrange for Ning Ji to be included in the conversion list.

Faced with such a threat, Ning Zhuo's aunt, Wang Lan, instantly compromised and was willing to let go.

Ning Ze could only send a generous gift to the young master.

As soon as the young master received the gift, he arranged for Ning Zhuo to be included in the conversion list.

In the following days, Ning Zhuo secretly cultivated with all his might while taking the time to participate in the family's training, gradually revealing his cultivation of the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Technique.

He deeply concealed his abilities, and his progress in switching was average and inconspicuous.

But in secret, he spared no spirit stones, using them wildly, and his mana accumulated extremely quickly, soaring from the second level of Qi Refinement all the way to the third level.

Tonight, Ning Zhuo reached the peak of the third level.

"There's no further progress possible. The Transmission Bell has been silent all this time." Ning Zhuo sighed, "Alas... when will the Ning family's conversion team be able to enter the Lava Immortal Palace?"

Little did he know that in the depths of the Lava Immortal Palace, on a bronze stele, his name, Ning Zhuo, was slowly appearing.

Qi Refinement Rankings, first place, Ning Zhuo!

In the next moment, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit on the throne roared loudly.

Divine Power – Puppet String of Fate!

Invisible silk threads pierced through space, instantly suspending Ning Zhuo.

Before Ning Zhuo could react, his soul was drawn away by the threads, pierced through space, and directly entered the Lava Immortal Palace!