Chapter 85: Three Families Joint Examination

Whether it was the Zhou Clan, the Zheng Clan, or the Ning Clan, all of them placed great importance on this joint test.

Inside the reception hall.

The Zhou Clan Head sat upright in the main seat, with the Zheng Clan Head on his left and the Ning Clan Head on his right.

"Strange, that shadowy demonic cultivator, who exactly is he? He's vanished without a trace!" The Zhou Clan Head took a sip of tea, placing the cup down. "This time, our Fire Persimmon Immortal City has lost face."

He spoke these words, but the Zhou Clan Head's expression remained calm, showing no signs of embarrassment turning to anger. Instead, he appeared relaxed and collected.

This was clearly a probing remark.

After the incident, the Zhou Clan's higher-ups gradually realized something.

Just as Zhu Xuanji had guessed, the Zhou Clan members were also wondering who the mole was, who had secretly released the shadowy demonic cultivator beforehand.

The Zheng Clan Head had a loud voice, stating directly, "In my opinion, that shadowy demonic cultivator escaped long ago! On the day of the Fire Persimmon Festival, our three clans' Golden Core Ancestors joined forces to dig, nearly hollowing out the entire mountainside, but we still couldn't find a trace of him."

The Zhou Clan Head looked at the Ning Clan Head, his eyes narrowed. "Brother Ning, how do you see this matter?"

The Ning Clan Head spread his hands. "No matter where the shadowy demonic cultivator came from, or who he colluded with, none of that is important."

"Currently, City Lord Meng Kui is personally stationed at the volcano summit, preventing any cultivators from entering the Immortal Palace."

"In this way, only Qi Refining disciples can use the Soul-Entering Immortal Palace method to compete for the inheritance of the Immortal Palace."

"Meng Kui's own grandson, Meng Chong, possesses Superb talent. The two of you brothers surely understand the significance of Immortal Talent."

"Only by joining forces, working closely together, and fully supporting our juniors can we possibly contend against that Meng Chong."

As he spoke these words, the Ning Clan Head was unaware that Meng Chong had failed to explore the Immortal Palace again and had already fainted.

But his words drew agreement from the Zhou Clan and Zheng Clan Heads.

The pressure brought by Meng Chong's Immortal Talent was too great for them, which was one of the main reasons they had agreed to Ning Clan's alliance.

The three clans had a strong desire to form an alliance and were willing to contribute their respective foundations to greatly support their juniors. But the question was how to allocate the resources.

If your clan takes more, my clan will have less to use.

None of the three clans were willing to suffer a loss, so the initial alliance was deadlocked on the division of interests.

The three clans temporarily couldn't reach an agreement.

"Let's observe this test first," the Zhou Clan Head said.

The Zheng Clan Head nodded. "Then let's take a good look!"

The Ning Clan Head remained silent, a trace of worry in his eyes.

He knew that this cultivation test jointly organized by the three clans had a very important hidden meaning - the three clans would assess the quality of each clan's modified cultivation teams, and then decide on the allocation of resources!

The Ning Clan Head was very clear that his side was the weakest. He now only hoped that the gap between them and the Zhou Clan and Zheng Clan wouldn't be too great.

Ning Zhuo was led by a servant to the Zhou Clan's training ground.

The plaza was already filled with many cultivators.

Most of them were young faces, with few middle-aged or elderly people.

The crowd was clearly divided into three groups, representing the Zhou Clan, Zheng Clan, and Ning Clan respectively.

"Zhuo, you're here." Seeing Ning Zhuo appear, Ning Yong immediately stepped out of the crowd and jogged towards him.

Ning Chen was also in the crowd, waving to Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo smiled and waved back.

Since the last time he blew up the Immortal Palace, the relationship between Ning Yong, Ning Chen, and him had undergone a qualitative change, transforming from ordinary classmates to comrades who had experienced life-and-death battles together.

The training ground was noisy.

Ning Zhuo and Ning Yong joined the Ning Clan's crowd, blending in inconspicuously.

Ning Zhuo casually chatted with Ning Yong and Ning Chen while observing the people around him.

"The scale of the Ning Clan's modified cultivation team has expanded!"

The number of people in the Ning Clan was the largest, exceeding sixty.

The Zhou Clan and Zheng Clan had twenty-nine and forty-five people respectively.

The Ning Clan gathered in one place, appearing numerous and powerful.

Many young people's eyes scanned back and forth, sometimes staring directly at the cultivators from the other two clans, carrying a hint of secret rivalry.

Ning Zhuo pondered to himself, "Among the three great clans, the Ning Clan started the latest, and its overall strength is also the weakest."

"Originally, the size of the modified cultivation team was also the smallest."

"The clan's higher-ups suddenly carried out a large-scale expansion. Do they feel they lack foundation and are using numbers to make up for it?"

"The Ning Clan has a strong desire for the Molten Lava Immortal Palace!"

Ning Zhuo also secretly observed the Zhou Clan and Zheng Clan cultivators.

The Zhou Clan cultivators were generally silent, rarely communicating with each other, giving off a sense of repression. In the center of the crowd, two figures, one tall and one short, one strong and one thin, stood side by side, clearly possessing the demeanor of leaders.

"It's Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zeshen." Ning Zhuo, having a lot of intel, immediately identified them.

The Zheng Clan cultivators all had well-developed muscles, exuding a robust aura. Their eyes were bright, and their gazes resembled sharp weapons. Many Ning Clan cultivators actively avoided their eyes.

Standing at the forefront of them, the young cultivator was wearing a headband and had his eyes closed. What was eye-catching was the few hook-shaped magical artifacts hovering around him.

"It's Zheng Jian!" Ning Zhuo thought.

After looking at the two clans' cultivators, he looked at the Ning Clan's and immediately felt that although the Ning Clan had a lot of people, it clearly had the feeling of a rabble.

An elder from the Zhou Clan appeared before everyone, activating the testing formation and announcing the start of the cultivation method test.

"Da Zhu, let's go." Zhou Zeshen said.

"Mm." Zhou Zhu responded in a muffled voice.

Clearly, he was the one with the higher cultivation, but he followed behind Zhou Zeshen.

The two were originally in the center of the crowd, but when they started walking, the Zhou Clan members in front seemed to have eyes on the back of their heads, shifting a few steps to the side.

After the two geniuses from the Zhou Clan passed by, they immediately returned to their original positions.

As Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zeshen walked, the Zhou Clan members flowed like water, separating and merging freely, revealing a tacit understanding and exquisite coordination in formations. Each of their steps seemed to be in sync, with shadows of people crossing in the formation, but without any confusion, fully demonstrating the style of a great clan.

A gleam flashed in Ning Zhuo's eyes as he immediately captured the key clue, further inferring, "These Zhou Clan cultivators are extraordinary, with excellent coordination. All are as one and should have deep attainments in battle formations."

The number of people in the Zhou Clan's modified cultivation team was the smallest, but it couldn't be underestimated!

Seeing this scene, many knowledgeable cultivators revealed solemn expressions.

More people didn't take it to heart. There were the most of this kind of people in the Ning Clan.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, Zhou Zhu took the lead in entering the testing formation.

After entering the formation, he fully activated the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art, causing the formation to emit the light of the five elements.

The Zhou Clan elder glanced at it and announced loudly, "Zhou Zhu, Peak of the Third Layer."

In an instant, the Zhou Clan cultivators cheered.

They were clearly prepared, speaking in unison with consistent tones, causing the other two clans' cultivators to look sideways.

Then, Zhou Zeshen entered the formation.

"Zhou Zeshen, Mid Stage of the Second Layer!" the elder announced.

The Zhou Clan cultivators cheered again.

Someone in the Zheng Clan sneered, disdainfully saying, "Still a genius? How is he only at the mid stage of the Second Layer? I've already reached the Third Layer!"

Zheng Jian opened his eyes, giving the speaker a faint glance. The latter immediately fell silent.

This small scene also fell into Ning Zhuo's view.

"Mm, another piece of useful information."

"Zheng Jian in the Zheng Clan's modified cultivation team is an absolute leader, with extremely high authority."

Inside the reception hall.

The Zheng Clan Head exclaimed, "Brother Zhou, your clan's Gathering and Dispersing Ruyi Spiritual Tide Formation is indeed useful."

The Ning Clan Head nodded slightly, deeply agreeing.

They naturally knew more, understanding that Zhou Zeshen had only modified his cultivation not long ago, yet he had reached the mid stage of the Second Layer.

This speed was very fast.

The Zhou Clan Head feigned a sigh. "Can such results be achieved by relying solely on the Gathering and Dispersing Ruyi Spiritual Tide Formation? This junior, Zhou Zeshen, has been risking his life. Although he doesn't have Zhou Zhu's talent, he has desperately caught up by relying on a large number of treatments."

"Several times, he fell into a near-death state, causing many clan members to worry about him."

The Zheng Clan Head was moved. "With descendants like this, there's no need to worry about the clan's prosperity."

The Ning Clan Head also echoed a sentence, but his heart became even heavier.

Ning Zhuo was still silently observing. He knew that Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zeshen had both studied at the Mudflow Gate and was very curious about their mechanism skills.

Unfortunately, today's event didn't give them a chance to display their mechanism arts.