Chapter 363: Interchanging Comprehension Charts

Yuanlai Mountain, Training Ground.

Ning Zhuo was drenched in sweat, panting heavily, and waved at Lin Shanshan, indicating that he needed to rest.

Lin Shanshan stopped her attacks and took out a bottle of medicinal wine, handing it to Ning Zhuo.

Ever since the rumors started, Lin Shanshan no longer used the training ground on Xiao Zheng Peak. To avoid gossip, she asked Ning Zhuo to secretly come to Yuanlai Mountain and use the training ground her father frequently used.

This training ground was not only of high specifications but also rarely visited, making it most suitable for teaching martial arts.

"This is?" Ning Zhuo asked in confusion, reaching out to take the medicinal wine.

Lin Shanshan explained, "This is Warm Autumn Wine."

"Its main ingredients are Hornless Dragon Fruit, Blazing Sun Flower, and Celestial Dew. It has extremely strong nourishing and warming medicinal effects on the body and will definitely remove the lingering cold qi within your body, young master."

Ning Zhuo clicked his tongue, "This is Elixir realm medicinal wine; it will surely remove the bitter cold qi within me."

"This is too valuable!"

"Could it be that someone has returned from Huoshi Immortal City, and your esteemed sect has finally investigated thoroughly?"

Lin Shanshan shook her head, "Our disciples from other branches haven't returned yet. This is something I personally requested from a sect elder in my own name."

"Speaking from my personal heart, I believe in you, Young Master Ning Zhuo."

"From the sect's perspective, there must be concrete evidence and reliable intelligence. Otherwise, Father would be acting arbitrarily, which is not the best way to lead a sect."

"I understand." Ning Zhuo sighed with emotion, "Leading a sect is in fact leading people's hearts. Blindly being overbearing, even with good intentions, will lose popular support. Those in power should be close to the people and benevolent, and their governing methods should ideally be like a spring breeze and gentle rain, moistening things silently, that is the right path."

Upon hearing this, Lin Shanshan's eyes lit up and she praised, "Young Master Ning Zhuo's words are quite similar to my father's views. Perhaps in the future, the two of you can have a very pleasant conversation."

Ning Zhuo quickly expressed that he had long heard of Lin Bufan's reputation, and this time residing on Xiao Zheng Peak, he had witnessed Lin Bufan's governing abilities from the prosperity of Wan Yao Valley, and his heart was filled with admiration.

"I know that Lord Lin Bufan is occupied with numerous affairs, so it is almost impossible for him to meet with a humble person like me."

"I only hope that this time, with the opportunity to discuss the cooperation between our two races, if I can meet Lord Lin, that would be truly wonderful!"

Ning Zhuo very much wanted to leave a good impression on Lin Bufan.

After all, in the future, he was very likely to propose the transaction of the Nascent Breath Spirit Vessel.

Although he knew in his heart that this matter was very difficult, he had to at least meet and talk with Lin Bufan first to determine whether there was any hope in this option.

Lin Shanshan said, "Since Young Master Ning Zhuo wants to challenge Chang Yan soon, it's best to completely dispel the bitter cold qi and fully recover before doing so, so that you have a greater chance of winning."

"Calculating the journey and days, the disciples' report should be back in these few days."

"If you cannot defeat Chang Yan, you might miss the subsequent alliance negotiations."

"I give you this wine, both for you as a friend, and also to seek more benefits for my sect."

"Compared to the great matter of our two sides forming an alliance, what is a mere Warm Autumn Wine?"

Lin Shanshan persuaded Ning Zhuo to accept the medicinal wine with tactful and reasonable words.

Ning Zhuo nodded, "Miss Lin is right."

He uncorked the bottle and looked inside.

He saw that the Warm Autumn Wine was amber-gold, as clear as the warm sun in autumn, emitting a faint medicinal and fruity fragrance that was refreshing.

Ning Zhuo first transmitted a message: "Boss, pay attention, I'm going to drink it."

Sun Lingtong nodded and immediately transmitted a message back, indicating that he was watching.

Ning Zhuo then raised the bottle and took a small sip.

When the Warm Autumn Wine first entered his mouth, the liquid was warm and smooth, with a hint of sweetness and coolness, as if a mountain spring had flowed down his throat.

A moment later, a strong warmth rose from his throat and quickly spread throughout his limbs and bones. The warmth was like the sunshine in spring, gradually penetrating his skin, dispelling the cold qi in his body, making him feel as if he was bathing in warm sunlight, incomparably comfortable.

The bitter cold qi that remained in Ning Zhuo's body quickly dissipated with the spread of the wine's effects.

Not only that, the tension in Ning Zhuo's muscles and meridians caused by the recent special training also subsided.

"Good wine." Ning Zhuo praised.

Lin Shanshan's heart rippled, feeling quite touched. After thinking for a moment, she still said, "Young Master Ning Zhuo, when you travel to other places in the future, don't easily consume external substances."

"At least, you have to check them first."

"My father always taught me that the martial world is dangerous and people's hearts are hard to discern..."

Ning Zhuo nodded, "If it were anyone else, I would naturally check. But Miss Lin, I trust you."

Lin Shanshan couldn't help but smile and shook her head slightly.

Ning Zhuo stretched his limbs, "After drinking a sip of medicinal wine, all my fatigue has dissipated. Let's continue, Miss Lin."

Lin Shanshan's voice was gentle, "Okay."

The two continued to spar.

Ning Zhuo concentrated, fully immersing himself in the training, every thought pondering how he could fight to counter Lin Shanshan.

He possessed the Early Wisdom talent, which made him exceptionally intelligent. Compared to the extremely complex mechanism techniques, the intricacies of martial arts were much simpler and clearer.

Therefore, Ning Zhuo improved rapidly.

At first, he was completely suppressed by Lin Shanshan. Then, gradually, he had occasional counterattacks. Now, the number of counterattacks was increasing, and his defensive stance was becoming more stable.

Lin Shanshan secretly marveled at the intelligence Ning Zhuo displayed, and the feeling of being inferior in her heart grew stronger.

The special training reached Ning Zhuo's physical limit, and the two stopped again.

During the rest period, when talking about Ning Zhuo's next opponent, Lin Shanshan proactively offered him advice: "Chang Yan is a demon cultivator, his true form is an earth snake, without poison, but extremely skilled in earth element spells."

"If you want to increase your winning rate, you must find a way with the wood element."

In the relationship of mutual generation and mutual restraint of the Five Elements, fire generates earth, and wood restrains earth.

Using fire element spells to deal with earth element would be half the effort for twice the result. But using wood element, it would be the opposite, twice the result for half the effort.

Lin Shanshan continued, "I saw you fighting before, although your Five Elements spells were fierce, after careful study, I found that these spells were not geared towards combat killing, but rather towards refining and manufacturing. Is that not the case?"

Ning Zhuo rubbed his nose, "Miss Lin's discerning eyes have seen through it."

"The cultivation method I practice comes from the Lava Immortal Palace, and is all used for refining mechanisms."

"Using them against enemies is not the advantage of these Five Elements spells."

Hearing that Ning Zhuo's cultivation method originated from the Lava Immortal Palace, Lin Shanshan's heart stirred, and she couldn't help but feel a lot of curiosity.

But inquiring about others' cultivation methods was also an offensive matter, so Lin Shanshan suppressed her curiosity and continued the previous topic: "Since that is the case, Young Master Ning Zhuo might as well learn some of our Wan Yao Sect's wood element spells."

Among the Five Elements spells, Wan Yao Sect was naturally most skilled in the wood element.

Although their signature wood element spells were either used for planting, alchemy, or healing, Wan Yao Sect was a large and wealthy sect and also collected many wood element spells oriented towards combat.

Ning Zhuo thought for a moment and said, "My challenge to Chang Yan is in a few days. If I learn other wood element spells, I will have to modify them. It's almost impossible to succeed in such a short time."

"So, Miss Lin, are you suggesting that I study your sect's Enlightenment Diagrams?"

Lin Shanshan nodded, and immediately felt the ease and pleasure of "talking to intelligent people saves worry and effort."

"That's exactly what I mean," Lin Shanshan said.

"There are twenty-seven wood element Enlightenment Diagrams in my Wan Yao Sect."

"Twelve of them are related to the three main cultivation methods of Wan Yao Sect and cannot be easily shown to outsiders. But the remaining fifteen can potentially be seen and studied by Young Master Ning Zhuo."

"However, you need to select a few from the fifteen. There is only so much time left, so I suggest initially selecting three, and then refining it to one, which might succeed."

Speaking of this, Lin Shanshan paused and added, "For anyone else, this kind of preparation wouldn't be possible. But Young Master Ning Zhuo, your comprehension is astonishing, there is a real possibility of success."

Ning Zhuo rubbed his nose, feeling that Lin Shanshan had much more confidence in him than he did in himself.

In fact, he had come into contact with Enlightenment Diagrams before.

Ning Family's Frost Rime and Proud Snow Enlightenment Diagrams were on him.

He had tried to study them before, but did not succeed. He stared at them for a long time, without any clue.

"This time, if I can't comprehend the wood element Enlightenment Diagrams, won't I lose face?"

Despite these concerns, Ning Zhuo readily agreed.

This was an opportunity delivered to his door, failing to take what heaven bestows would bring retribution!

Lin Shanshan had already prepared the jade slip and handed it to Ning Zhuo at this moment.

Ning Zhuo's divine sense swept over it, carefully selecting from the fifteen wood element Enlightenment Diagrams.

A moment later, he made his decision: "I choose these three diagrams."

Thus, after today's special training ended, Lin Shanshan first led Ning Zhuo to the Library Pavilion.

She showed her token to the elder guarding the pavilion.

The elder's face was weathered and old: "According to the sect's rules, Shanshan, you are indeed qualified to bring one person to the top floor, but you can only take one book."

Lin Shanshan then led Ning Zhuo up the stairs to the top floor, and took a diagram of "Old Tree with Entangled Roots."

After coming down and completing the registration, Lin Shanshan took Ning Zhuo to visit her second senior brother and borrowed a diagram of "Listening to Waves on a Mountain Night."

Finally, they came to the back door of her home.

"Young Master, please wait a moment, I will be right back." Lin Shanshan instructed before entering the mansion to seek an audience with Lin Bufan.

However, Lin Bufan was not at home.

Lin Shanshan then entered her father's study and searched for a while, finding the diagram of "Peeping at the Sky Under a Tree" on the bookshelf.

Soon after, Ning Zhuo and Lin Shanshan both left Yuanlai Mountain and went to Xiao Zheng Peak.

Ning Zhuo carried the three wood element Enlightenment Diagrams and took out his own Frost Rime Diagram and Proud Snow Diagram.

Lin Shanshan was slightly surprised: "So Young Master Ning Zhuo also has Enlightenment Diagrams on him."

Ning Zhuo said, "I am ashamed, logically speaking, these are treasured family heirlooms, yet I carry them with me, seeking an opportunity to study them. But since leaving home, I have had little time."

"These two Enlightenment Diagrams shall be temporarily used as collateral and handed over to Miss Lin."

Lin Shanshan refused to accept.

Ning Zhuo exclaimed, and quickly said, "I said the wrong thing, haha."

"Daoist Friend Lin, this time you and I spar and exchange together, in high spirits, we exchanged Enlightenment Diagrams, which is truly a testament to the gradual improvement of relations between our two forces."

Only then did Lin Shanshan smile and reach out to accept the two Ning family Enlightenment Diagrams.