Chapter 374: A Young Hero

Liu Zhen first inquired about Ning Zhuo from Sun Lie.

"You mean Ning Zhuo? In today's Fire Persimmon Immortal City, he's known to everyone," Sun Lie replied to Liu Zhen with slight surprise.

"May I ask how your sect heard of Ning Zhuo's reputation, and why you are inquiring about his situation?" Sun Lie was curious.

Liu Zhen explained the reasons, as there was nothing to hide. Moreover, he greatly trusted Sun Lie, who had saved his life.

After listening, Sun Lie suddenly understood: "So, Ning Zhuo is no longer in Fire Persimmon Immortal City. He has gone out to travel. No wonder he always cultivates in seclusion and hasn't appeared publicly for many days."

Ning Zhuo had left secretly, using the mechanical creation, Ten Thousand Mile Roaming Dragon. This secret was only known to the high-level cultivators in Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

Sun Lie was clearly not among them.

Liu Zhen then cupped his hands and bowed: "Master Sun, please tell me more about this Ning Zhuo."

Sun Lie said, "Speaking of Ning Zhuo, he is indeed a young hero, very extraordinary."

"In his early years, his parents..."

After Sun Lie's introduction, Liu Zhen was silent for a long time.

He was inclined to believe that everything Sun Lie said was true, as the latter had no reason to deceive him. And these circumstances could be easily learned from others.

"But if that's the case, this Ning Zhuo is truly astonishing and incredibly inspiring!"

Although Ning Zhuo was not currently in Fire Persimmon Immortal City, he had become a topic of fervent discussion among the city residents, the more they talked, the more spirited they became.

Although he was born into a large clan, he was humble in his early years, subjected to much ostracization and harshness, and was not prominent.

It was during the emergence of the Lava Immortal Palace that he rose rapidly, gradually displaying his talent, and eventually successfully established a branch family, replacing the Zheng family and becoming the head of the Ning family branch.

The city residents would not know the ultimate truth of the Lava Immortal Palace, but the existence of the Ning family branch was always there, silently telling everyone about Ning Zhuo's achievements!

Such a foundation would be quite rare even for a middle-aged person. And Ning Zhuo was just a sixteen-year-old youth.

Ning Zhuo's success inspired many young people. It gave the vast majority of the bottom-level city residents an ideal role model. Ning Zhuo's success was their inner aspiration.

Therefore, without realizing it, Ning Zhuo had become the idol of the Fire Persimmon City residents.

"Ning Zhuo actually has such a background. He suffered constant disdain for many years and only recently gained the favor of the clan's Golden Core ancestor."

"How did he do it?"

"Establishing a branch family is a very sensitive matter!"

Liu Zhen was curious and found it incredible.

How did Ning Zhuo achieve a peaceful division of the family? What was going on with the main branch of the Ning family? Did they not try to stop it? Didn't the Ning family have a Golden Core ancestor? Did they just watch him establish a branch?

Liu Zhen realized that things were far from as simple as they appeared on the surface. Ning Zhuo must have reached many secret agreements with the Ning family's Golden Core ancestor, Ning Jiufan, and the main branch of the Ning family in private!

Liu Zhen thought for a moment and pressed Sun Lie: "Then, how do the other forces in Fire Persimmon Immortal City view the Ning family branch?"

Sun Lie smiled: "That's a good question."

"I won't talk about other things. Let's just talk about what happened during the branch family's establishment ceremony when Ning Zhuo arranged the flowing feast."

After listening, Liu Zhen's face was filled with shock.

"Ning Zhuo is just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but on the day of the branch family's establishment ceremony, he actually attracted the esteemed Golden Core cultivators, Fei Si and Zhou Nongying, to personally congratulate him!"

"And even Zhu Hou, a member of the royal family, was present?"

"Song Fulie, a Golden Core cultivator from Yunshang, had a disagreement with Ning Zhuo. He blocked the door and made things difficult for Ning Zhuo that day, but he was subsequently forced to retreat by several urgent letters, looking quite disheartened!"

What did this indicate?

Liu Zhen was very clear.

"This shows that this new force established by Ning Zhuo has been fully recognized by the established powers in Fire Persimmon Immortal City."

"Their level of recognition is extremely high, they are even willing to step forward to persuade Song Fulie to retreat!"

"It seems that the Ning family branch will definitely flourish in the future."

"This young man, Ning Zhuo, is truly remarkable!"

Liu Zhen originally thought that Ning Zhuo was just the young master of a cultivation family, who had been sheltered by his elders since childhood.

He never expected that he had almost started from scratch, establishing the foundation of the branch family as its head!

Sun Lie showed a mysterious expression and told Liu Zhen, "According to rumors, Ning Zhuo even played a quite important role in the final moments of the battle for the Lava Immortal Palace."

"Is that so?" Liu Zhen listened carefully, and various speculations surfaced in his mind.

"This is truly inspiring!" Liu Zhen sighed with emotion.

Of course, he couldn't just gather information from Sun Lie.

He left the Purple Yang别院 and went to various places in Fire Persimmon Immortal City, seeking information.

This information was not much different from what Sun Lie had said.

Liu Zhen came to the original site of the Zheng family and looked at the plaque of the Ning family, his heart filled with emotion: "Although Ning Zhuo is young, he is by no means simple."

"Looking back at his history of rising up, he was treated harshly and ignored when he was young. He firmly seized the opportunity of the Lava Immortal Palace. Despite his status as a member of a large clan, he was willing to be the master of the black market, working for the City Lord's Mansion."

"He is very good at using others to achieve his own goals. In the process of strengthening himself, he used many resources from the Zhou family, the Zheng family, and even the City Lord's Mansion."

"He also stirred up internal family affairs, bringing down the young clan head of the main branch. His political maneuvering was incredibly sharp!"

"Rather than saying he is a young hero, it's better to say he is a young formidable figure."

"One must never underestimate such a person! Be wary of him leveraging power and influence."

Liu Zhen left early and did not know that his junior sister apprentice had already been placed under house arrest for helping Ning Zhuo too much.

With different thoughts in his heart, he proactively walked to the gate of Ning Zhuo's branch family.

Facing the cultivator serving as the gatekeeper, he directly said: "I am a rogue cultivator, and I heard that you are hiring here?"

The gatekeeper glanced at him: "If you want to work, please register first. Someone will lead you there. Do not wander around our Ning clan's grounds casually, otherwise, you will be responsible for the consequences."

Liu Zhen had no intention of wandering around.

After all, his strength had been greatly weakened, and he was just recovering from a serious illness.

This time, he just wanted to take advantage of the recruitment opportunity to delve into the Ning family branch and personally investigate the situation.

Shortly after, Liu Zhen and other temporary workers were led into the refining room together.

Inside the refining room, a large number of furnaces were continuously smelting and refining day and night.

According to the foreman's arrangement, Liu Zhen arrived at his post and began working.

After just half a day, his weakened physique could not bear it, and he was so weak that he saw stars.

"The workload is too heavy, there was hardly any rest throughout the entire morning."

Liu Zhen, covered in dust and grime, felt quite dreadful.

He couldn't continue; if he did, he would faint from exhaustion.

He spoke to the foreman.

The foreman had already been dissatisfied with his efficiency: "Why is your body so fragile and unable to endure such hardship?"

Liu Zhen sighed: "I never expected this work to be so heavy!"

The foreman shook his head: "Otherwise, why would the Ning family pay us such high wages? It is indeed a bit difficult for you to earn this money. Go, go."

"If you can't do it, there are plenty of others who can."

As he was speaking, a one-armed cultivator walked in and shouted irritably: "Why is the output of your Room Three the lowest among all the refining rooms?!"

"What exactly are you doing?"

"Do you not know that we are rushing the work? If this batch of Jade-Moistened Profound Steel is not refined, there will be more later! The family's inventory is almost full!"

The foreman waved his hand at Liu Zhen, no longer paying attention to him, and instead ran to the one-armed cultivator, bowing and scraping and repeatedly apologizing.

The one-armed cultivator was none other than the One-Armed Craftsman, one of the Three Rogue Cultivators of the black market.

Since Ning Zhuo established the branch family, he had recruited him and temporarily appointed him as the head of refining for the branch family.

The One-Armed Craftsman greatly enjoyed this position and had always had an extremely high level of enthusiasm for work.

Liu Zhen left the grounds of the Ning family branch, his heart already clear. Although the branch family had just been established, its style was excellent, and everyone was working with great fervor.

Even though the One-Armed Craftsman was an external guest elder, he treated this as his own career.

As Liu Zhen was about to leave the main gate, a group of young cultivators happened to be talking excitedly and walking into the grounds with their heads held high.

Liu Zhen keenly observed: Although these cultivators were very young, their demeanor was unusual, and the other members of the Ning family treated them with respect and admiration.

Some of the young cultivators were even carrying parts of demon beast corpses, residual with killing intent and fighting spirit.

They should have just returned from hunting.

Liu Zhen went to inquire with the gatekeeper and learned the identities of these people.

They were almost all Ning Zhuo's schoolmates.

Especially the leaders, Ning Yong and Ning Chen, who had followed Ning Zhuo even before the division of the family.

They had received much care from Ning Zhuo. Apparently, in Ning Zhuo's heart, the friendship with these two classmates was the deepest.

"So, they are Ning Zhuo's confidantes, future pillars of the family."

"But their cultivation is generally weaker, so why are the demon beast corpses they hunted generally at the Foundation Establishment level?"

Liu Zhen,带着疑惑，再次询问.

The answer he received caused a shock in his heart.

It turned out that according to the agreement among the three families, many cultivators in Ning Zhuo's branch family held important positions in the Lava Immortal Palace.

With these positions, they could borrow the power of the Immortal Palace to help them hunt.

"So, the Ning family branch also has a certain degree of control over the Lava Immortal Palace?"

Discovering this point, Liu Zhen's assessment of the Ning family branch was raised another level.

"The Ning family branch is extensively refining artifacts. Running this business will definitely not have poor efficiency."

"Jade-Moistened Profound Steel... How did the Ning family branch suddenly have such large-scale cooperation with the Jade Steel Mountain side?"

"The Ning family branch has significant control over the Lava Immortal Palace, which allows them to firmly establish themselves in the power structure. As long as these positions remain, they will not fall in rank."

"In comparison, the main branch of the Ning family has very few people who hold positions in the Immortal Palace. The contrast between the two is quite stark."

"The Ning family branch is backed by Fire Persimmon Mountain, inherited the foundation of the Zheng family, and has very close relationships with other forces in the city. Their development is both fast and stable."

Liu Zhen was filled with emotion.

He was quite envious of Ning Zhuo!

This was the foundation of a man's endeavors.

"I am much older than him. Compared to him, I have practically lived in vain for so many years!" Thinking of this, Liu Zhen suddenly felt somewhat dispirited.

He suppressed his disappointment, compiled the information into a jade slip, and sent it out first through the relay station in the Southern Bean Kingdom.

Afterwards, he and Sun Lie set off together on their journey back to the Myriad Medicine Gate.