Chapter 384: Mutual Affection

Such cultivation methods are of significant importance.

Take Huagu Zi for example; if she wishes to establish a family and branch out in the future, these cultivation methods would be a vital part of her family's inheritance!

"Ancestor should arrive in the coming days."

"At that time, I'll extract the relevant information on the Venomflame Chrysanthemum and have him take it back for the family's use."

Ning Zhuo made his arrangements inwardly.

While waiting for Patriarch Ning Jiufan, he continued with his cultivation.

By now, having successively experienced crucial battles against Han Zhou, Chang Yan, and Huagu Zi, he had thoroughly established his footing on Mount Xiao Zheng, gaining recognition from a wide range of cultivators.

Coupled with the fact that Senior Disciple Lin Shan Shan and his ilk no longer plotted against him, Ning Zhuo's days became very peaceful.

Each day, he would go to the training ground to spar with Han Zhou.

Oh, and Huagu Zi as well.

This half-demon, half-human female cultivator, on the second day after presenting her gift, once again blocked Ning Zhuo's path and publicly presented him with another gift.

Having no other recourse, and sensing that further significant improvement from sparring with Han Zhou was difficult, Ning Zhuo allowed Huagu Zi to participate in his daily sparring sessions.

Huagu Zi was overjoyed!

That night, she couldn't sleep, hugging her quilt tightly with her legs clamped together, a look of infatuated smiles and fantasies on her face, tossing and turning, lost in her thoughts throughout the night.

Although she was weaker in close combat, she was very strong in spellcasting duels.

When Ning Zhuo sparred, he mainly engaged her in spellcasting duels.

In terms of wood-attribute spells, Ning Zhuo was still completely outmatched by Huagu Zi. But unlike his peers, he wasn't hot-headed; his difficult experiences in Tinder City had long since taught him what was truly important.

Ning Zhuo immersed himself in sparring, and countless new sensations once again flooded in.

After each sparring session, he would meticulously ponder and review his gains and losses during his rest periods. Upon returning to his cave abode, he would also re-examine the day's spellcasting duels, summarize his experiences, and continuously refine himself.

His progress was once again visible to the naked eye, with different improvements every day.

"As expected of you, Young Master Ning Zhuo!" Huagu Zi witnessed Ning Zhuo's rapid progress firsthand, praising him repeatedly with fervent enthusiasm, almost bordering on flattery.

As she spoke, she seized the opportunity to take a few steps forward, wanting to get closer to Ning Zhuo.

"Not at all, not at all, I still have a long way to go," Ning Zhuo subtly retreated a few steps, always mindful of maintaining distance from Huagu Zi, while not forgetting to humbly seek guidance, "I saw you cast some wood-attribute spells with great speed, almost without any preparatory signs. Why is that?"

"Ah, that's the Heart Seal," Huagu Zi said casually, her eyes burning as she stared at Ning Zhuo.

"Heart Seal!" A sharp glint flashed in Ning Zhuo's eyes.

Huagu Zi took advantage of his moment of thought to move forward a few more steps.

Ning Zhuo's expression turned cold: "Stop where you are and explain it to me from there."

Huagu Zi shivered, shouting inwardly, "I've been lectured, Young Master Ning Zhuo lectured me!!"

A feeling of joy spread through her heart.

And Ning Zhuo, who perceived the inner turmoil through the Human Fate Suspended Threads and the Heart Demon Seal of My Buddha, couldn't help but feel his face darken slightly.

Fortunately, Huagu Zi was quite obedient and readily explained to Ning Zhuo: "Young Master Ning Zhuo must know about the Mouth Seal, Body Seal, and Heart Seal."

Ning Zhuo nodded.

Huagu Zi spoke from a high vantage point: "These three are all techniques used by cultivators to manipulate, essentially the same thing, just different ways of guiding and using spiritual power."

"The Mouth Seal is controlled through specific incantations and syllables. For example, the character 'Zha' sound, the two breaths of 'Heng Ha', and so on."

"The Body Seal usually involves hand gestures and mudras, but it can also be achieved by twisting the body. For instance, the most well-known Demonic Sky Dance."

"The Heart Seal, on the other hand, guides spiritual power through intent and willpower, allowing for instantaneous spell casting."

"The reason why I can cast certain spells with extreme speed is because I use the Heart Seal!"

Ning Zhuo was very interested in this, as his Heart Demon Seal of My Buddha could emit the Heart Seal.

Huagu Zi said: "The prerequisites for using the Heart Seal are, first, a high degree of mental concentration, which requires training. Second, possessing spell rune seeds in the Foundation Establishment dantian."

Ning Zhuo nodded: "I understand that point as well. During the Foundation Establishment stage, cultivators will choose certain spells to become their innate spells."

"If cultivation is refined to a certain extent, and the understanding of the spell goes from the surface to the inside, grasping the principles within, then spell rune seeds can be formed."

"When the Golden Core is finally forged in the future, these spell runes will be engraved on the surface of the Golden Core, completely elevating them to innate spells."

"These innate spells are not only more powerful when cast, but also released faster, and can be combined with other things on their foundation to produce more complex and varied power."

"However, how does one comprehend these spells and realize the spell rune seeds? And how should I choose them?"

Huagu Zi replied: "First, there are limitations to the spells we can choose. Depending on the cultivation method we practice, many cultivation methods will naturally produce some spell rune seeds after reaching a certain stage. And these spells are often closely related to the cultivation method, being part of the cultivation method itself."

"As for how to realize spell runes, I used them many times, and then comprehended them, finally forming them."

Ning Zhuo then pressed her, asking how many times she had used them.

In the end, Huagu Zi told him that she couldn't count. She had formed the rune seeds in her Foundation Establishment dantian during the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

It would be difficult for Ning Zhuo to want rune seeds in the early Foundation Establishment stage.

"On one hand, there is the issue of comprehending the core principles of the spell. On the other hand, forming rune seeds requires the dantian to glow. Only with luminescence can one use the light to construct spell rune seeds."

This greatly disappointed Ning Zhuo.

Because the stage where the dantian glows is not something possessed in the early Foundation Establishment stage.

Only when the dantian's foundation reaches the point of overflowing can it produce resplendent light.

If the Heart Seal wasn't possible, then the Body Seal and Mouth Seal could still be cultivated.

Ning Zhuo discussed this matter with Huagu Zi.

Although Huagu Zi was a rogue cultivator, her inheritance was excellent, and she was very knowledgeable about these things, telling Ning Zhuo everything without reservation.

Excluding her burning gaze, her constant attempts to get closer to Ning Zhuo with small actions, and her occasional infatuated laughter and drooling, she was indeed a good teacher.

Ning Zhuo chose to practice the Mouth Seal.

Under Huagu Zi's guidance, Ning Zhuo made rapid progress, quickly compressing the Mouth Seal to the limit of his current ability.

"Earth脈潛潛, Profound Root幽幽, Vines intertwined, all things imprisoned. Rise!"

Wood Attribute – Root and Vine Entanglement.

"Pine winds howling,翠浪濤濤, Forest sea surging, overturning the earth.荡!"

Wood Attribute – Pine Waves and翠浪.

"Ancient trees苍苍, Tree realm茫茫, Heaven and earth change color, Spiritual Root is born.临!"

Wood Attribute – Tree Realm Descends.

Considering that his ten fingers needed to operate the puppet threads, hand seals were out of the question.

The Heart Seal was currently beyond his reach, so he could only use the Mouth Seal.

When he used the Mouth Seal now, the incantation was a bit long. The actual time it took to cast the spell was not much different from before, and might even be slightly slower.

However, in actual combat, Ning Zhuo's combat power had noticeably increased.

This was because when Ning Zhuo cast spells before, he had to be fully concentrated, mentally controlling the spiritual power with meticulous precision.

Now, he only needed to speak the Mouth Seal to cast the spell, and his attention could be completely focused on controlling the puppets, achieving dual-tasking.

"Didn't see you for a day, Fellow Daoist Ning Zhuo has made such progress again, congratulations!" Han Zhou entered the training ground and saw the scene of Ning Zhuo practicing, sincerely exclaiming.

Sun Lingtong also greatly agreed, nodding repeatedly within the Puppet Dragon.

He knew the reasons – this was actually the result of accumulating power over time!

"Xiao Zhuo's fundamental skills are very solid. It's just that for the past fourteen years, in Tinder City, he has been negligent in direct confrontations and sparring."

"Mainly to conceal his sharp edge and hide his shortcomings, so even if there were sparring or duels in the academy, Xiao Zhuo only used one or two tenths of his strength, naturally gaining no benefit."

"Although, relying on the black market control stage, he had several real combat experiences. But life-and-death battles are very dangerous, requiring him to go all out. This, in turn, eliminated the benefits of sparring, discovering one's flaws through direct confrontation, and improving one's abilities."

"Brother Han Zhou." Ning Zhuo transmitted his voice while sparring, greeting him.

Just as Han Zhou was about to respond, Huagu Zi's voice transmission immediately followed: "How did you beggar get in here?"

"This is my and Young Master Ning Zhuo's world, old lady!"

"Go away!!"

Han Zhou: "?!"

He let out a cold laugh and replied via voice transmission: "Fellow Daoist Hua, you may not know this, but this training ground is where Fellow Daoist Ning Zhuo and I often spar. Compared to us, you were the last one to join."

As a result, Huagu Zi was unreasonable, incessantly demanding that Han Zhou leave and leave her alone with Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo had the Human Fate Suspended Threads and immediately sensed something.

Immediately, he spoke coldly to Huagu Zi: "Fellow Daoist Hua, Brother Han Zhou was invited by me. As the saying goes, amongst three people, there must be a teacher for me. Having one more person to spar with is greatly beneficial to all of us!"

He did not transmit this message but spoke it directly, which secretly moved Han Zhou.

Huagu Zi's face changed, revealing a fawning smile: "Young Master Ning Zhuo is right."

Distracted while speaking, she was hit in the abdomen by a puppet fist controlled by Ning Zhuo.

Huagu Zi flew backwards like a lobster, falling to the ground.

Han Zhou was startled.

Ning Zhuo said coldly: "Fellow Daoist Hua, when we spar, please concentrate fully."

Huagu Zi cried out in her heart: "He hit me, he hit me again! He hit me in the abdomen, it hurts so much... it hurts so comfortably!"

Huagu Zi bared her teeth, her expression twisted, preventing her joy from showing, unaware that Ning Zhuo had sensed it all clearly.

"This female cultivator..." Ning Zhuo's face grew colder.

Han Zhou was worried for Ning Zhuo.

But the next moment, Huagu Zi floated back up and said with a demure expression: "Young Master Ning Zhuo, you are right to lecture me!"

After saying this, she shot a fierce glare at Han Zhou.

Han Zhou: ...

During their subsequent interactions, Han Zhou often received fierce glares from Huagu Zi.

"I'm probably superfluous!" Han Zhou felt depressed, sensing that he was being excluded.

However, Ning Zhuo paid more attention to him and did not neglect him.

Ning Zhuo needed to rely on Han Zhou to act as a third party to restrain Huagu Zi's infatuation. After all, Huagu Zi was much more restrained when outsiders were present.

When the sparring session for the day ended, the three of them left the training ground and walked together for a short distance.

Ning Zhuo walked in the middle, with Han Zhou on his left and Huagu Zi on his right, already displaying a small aura.

Ning Jiufan, hidden in the crowd, observed Ning Zhuo and secretly nodded: "How long has this kid been here, and he already has two Foundation Establishment cultivators following him. And their cultivation is higher than Ning Zhuo's."

"As expected of a descendant of my Ning family."

Ning Zhuo parted ways with Han Zhou, coldly refused Huagu Zi, thwarted her attempt to return to his cave abode with him, and entered the cave abode alone.

Soon, Ning Jiufan paid him a visit.

Ning Zhuo led him into the cave abode and bowed deeply to Ning Jiufan: "Ancestor, you've finally arrived! I've been looking forward to this for many days!"

Ning Jiufan immediately felt a strong sense of vigilance in his heart. This was not the first time he had been tricked by Ning Zhuo.

"What kind of crooked ideas are you having again, kid? Wait, you didn't cause some trouble, did you?"