Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Ning Zhuo's steps gradually quickened.

He was taking Yuan Dasheng to explore the Immortal Palace, a journey fraught with risks.

After all, Meng Chong could enter at any moment.

Without Yuan Dasheng in Room Three to fend off enemies, Meng Chong could easily break into the preparation room.

"I hope Meng Chong's unconsciousness is thorough this time, giving me as much time as possible to explore!"

At this thought, a new insight suddenly dawned on Ning Zhuo, as he recalled the theory of Qi fortune.

"The Lava Immortal Palace is like an arena, and both Meng Chong and I are within it. Even if we're not face-to-face, there's still a struggle and entanglement of Qi fortune between us."

"I took the initiative, setting up traps and obstacles everywhere for Meng Chong, gaining the upper hand."

"But he grows stronger when faced with challenges, rapidly advancing through special training."

"I encountered a crisis, had to change my name, and devised a plan involving Han Ming. Yet, in the Ziyang Courtyard, Meng Chong suddenly appeared and defeated Han Ming!"

"If he had been more decisive or relentless back then, killing Han Ming, I would have been at a dead end, and my plan to change my name would have failed, leading to my indirect defeat by Meng Chong!"

"Not long ago, I narrowly eradicated Yuan Dasheng. According to Han Ming, my Qi fortune surged!"

"So, I used Yuan Dasheng to defeat Meng Chong, leaving him in a comatose state, once again suppressing him!"

"But who knows what kind of formidable stance and degree of progress Meng Chong will return with next time!"

As Ning Zhuo's thoughts reached this point, he had already arrived in front of the three gates.

"These three gates are actually flaws!"

"Zhu Xuanji once witnessed Yuan Dasheng using the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique. Although the process was brief, the aura had already leaked."

"In the future, if someone masters this demonic technique, Zhu Xuanji will definitely notice the signs and develop new suspicions about Yuan Dasheng's death."

"New suspicions will lead to new investigations!"

"And such investigations would be extremely dangerous for me."

"Sigh, if only I could conceal this demonic gate!"

Ning Zhuo had long tried to address this issue. Unfortunately, even with all his effort to frantically activate the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, he could not make the stone wall rise again to cover the demonic gate.

"The most urgent matter now is to seize every bit of time and opportunity to explore with all my might!"

Ning Zhuo not only had to race against Meng Chong and Zheng Jian but also against Zhu Xuanji.

"This time, I will first break through the Buddhist gate."

Ning Zhuo had made up his mind.

The main reason was that the golden-blood battle Yuan Dasheng had fought made him extremely advantageous in traversing the Buddhist gate.

However, the first gate Ning Zhuo opened was the demonic gate!

He ventured into the demonic gate, and after some attempts, he voluntarily stopped.

His primary purpose was to obtain the blood energy within.

He infused all the blood energy directly into Yuan Dasheng without leaving any for himself.

In an instant, Yuan Dasheng's red muscles began to emit a dark red glow, filled with demonic energy, exuding a sense of dominance and ferocity!

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, which had been closely watching Ning Zhuo, was so furious that it breathed fire through its nostrils.

Normally, competitors couldn't retreat once they entered; they had to press forward, even to their doom!

But Ning Zhuo, cheating with the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, retreated after clearing the gate.

This retreat had a tremendous impact on Yuan Dasheng.

With the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit guarding him, Ning Zhuo slaughtered his way through several checkpoints in the Buddhist gate, invincible.

"As I expected, Yuan Dasheng had very high proficiency in essence cultivation when he was alive, and the level of the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique was likely very advanced!"

"Using his intact body and soul as the main material, the spirituality obtained has deep imprints of his past actions."

"Therefore, when using blood energy, he could even produce a vast amount of blood tendons!"

Ning Zhuo fought his way through the three checkpoints of the Buddhist gate and once again stood before the door!

"What reward will there be this time?"

He anticipated that the reward would be valuable since there had been no reward after passing the second gate of the Buddhist gate.

Sure enough, when Ning Zhuo touched the door, he immediately received a message!

The dozen or so options made him momentarily dizzy.

His first thought was: "Can I keep retreating and collect all these rewards?"

"Let's pick one first and then verify it! What would be the best choice?"

After studying the options, Ning Zhuo found that most of them were spells and mechanical blueprints, with only one being special—a Phantom True Lotus Seed.

"What is this Phantom True Lotus Seed?" Ning Zhuo wondered.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, which had been waiting eagerly, couldn't wait to explain: "The Phantom True Lotus Seed imprints the essence of a divine ability. Once planted, it can help a cultivator fully comprehend the divine ability. It is extremely rare and precious, with limited quantities!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The fire whip lashed furiously.

But the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit gritted its teeth and endured the pain, refusing to continue speaking.

Unable to hear more, Ning Zhuo subconsciously assumed that was all there was to know.

"Limited quantities, extremely precious—I'll choose this one then!"

After Ning Zhuo made his choice, an illusionary lotus seed was immediately transmitted through the door, reaching the deepest part of his Upper Dantian Spiritual Sea.

"Is that it?"

"And then?"

Ning Zhuo stood there momentarily stunned, feeling a bit foolish.

After the Phantom True Lotus Seed was planted, it almost disappeared, becoming so difficult for Ning Zhuo to find that even he struggled to locate it.

Ning Zhuo tried various methods, all of which failed.

"Maybe I need to return my soul to my body to connect with it!" Ning Zhuo speculated, harboring hope!

Little did he know, back in the main hall of the Lava Immortal Palace, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was laughing so hard that it lay down, using its dragon claw to pound its shell in glee.

Finally, finally, it had tricked Ning Zhuo.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was in pain from the lashes but felt immense satisfaction.

What it had concealed was the fact that while the Phantom True Lotus Seed was precious, it also reduced the chance of comprehending divine abilities. Many Golden Core cultivators who had planted the Phantom True Lotus Seed failed to comprehend anything because the divine abilities imprinted in these lotus seeds all originated from one thing—Life Hanging by a Thread!

In the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit's view, Ning Zhuo, a mere Qi Refining Stage cultivator, had no chance of understanding it—it was simply a fantasy.

Ning Zhuo pushed the door and stepped out, once again entering a hall with the three gates of Buddha, Dao, and Demon.

He first tried to use the Buddha Heart Demon Seal to retreat again, shocked to find that the door was much harder to open.

A sense of unease arose in him: "Could it be that the influence of the Buddha Heart Demon Seal is no longer sufficient at this point in my exploration?"

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, watching this, became increasingly calm.

It knew the real reason—it wasn't that the Buddha Heart Demon Seal's influence was insufficient; rather, Ning Zhuo was still in the Qi Refining Stage and hadn't fully drawn out the power of the Buddha Heart Demon Seal. Having reached this point in the exploration, its influence on the gate had begun to wane.

Unless Ning Zhuo made significant progress in cultivation, which wouldn't happen overnight.

After paying a great price, Ning Zhuo finally managed to retreat and return to his previous position.

Touching the door again, he found he could choose another reward, so he selected a spell.

Ning Zhuo pushed the door open once more, entering the hall but could no longer retreat!

The cost was simply too high, so Ning Zhuo tried the three gates of Buddha, Dao, and Demon!

He discovered that the mechanisms of the three gates were similar to before.

Touching the Dao gate, he obtained the contents of the techniques from the fourth to the sixth layers of the three gates.

"Finally, I can continue my cultivation!"

"These techniques arrived just in time!"

Ning Zhuo let out a sigh of relief. Although he had anticipated this, it wasn't until now, when his guess matched reality, that he felt truly at ease.

After exploring around and finding nothing else, Ning Zhuo once again retreated, selected another reward, and returned the way he had come.

He returned to Room Three, left Yuan Dasheng there, and went back to Room Two, where he found everyone else still trapped, completely unaware of the outside world.

Ning Zhuo then jumped into a pit and waited silently.

When the souls of the others were exhausted and returned to their bodies, he waited a little longer before easily returning to his own body using the trial disciple's mark.

Two days later!

Ning Xiaoren led Ning Zhuo into his study.

Upon entering, Ning Zhuo found Ning Ze, his head covered in blood from being struck with an inkstone, kneeling on the ground.

Ning Xiaoren, his face filled with grief, said to Ning Zhuo, "At first, I couldn't believe it until the evidence was laid before me, until I personally confirmed it from your uncle!"

"Ning Zhuo, my dear nephew, I never imagined, I never could have imagined that your

uncle would be so shameless."

"He actually embezzled the cultivation funds I secretly sent you every year!"

Ning Zhuo's eyes reddened, filled with disbelief and anger!

"Uncle, is it true?" Ning Zhuo growled at Ning Ze!

Ning Ze's body trembled as he slowly raised his head to look at Ning Zhuo.

His eyes were cloudy, his face extremely haggard, and his body bore numerous signs of severe torture.

Ning Ze stared at Ning Zhuo, then at Ning Xiaoren, whose gaze was sharp and unforgiving.

Ning Ze's heart sank into despair. He took a deep breath and, with an unbearably heavy tone, said, "Yes, I did it."

Ning Zhuo's body swayed, and he couldn't help but step back, only to be caught by Ning Xiaoren.

Ning Zhuo, unable to bear the blow, tightly shut his eyes as tears streamed down his face.

His vision temporarily darkened as memories flooded his mind.

"Kneel down!"

Ning Ze, holding a bamboo cane, spoke sternly.

Young Ning Zhuo raised his head high, "Why should I be punished? I said it wasn't me. It really wasn't me."

Smack!

The bamboo cane came down hard.

A red mark instantly appeared on Ning Zhuo's cheek, soon swelling up!

But Ning Zhuo still held his head high.

Furious, Ning Ze raised the bamboo cane again!

Smack, smack, smack!

Ning Zhuo was beaten until his knees buckled, and he had to kneel down.

"Uncle, why don't you believe me? I'm being wronged, it wasn't me. Boohoo…" Ning Zhuo raised his arm to wipe his tears.

"Still being stubborn!" Ning Ze threw down the bamboo cane and turned to leave. "Today, you will kneel here until you admit your mistake, then you can have dinner."

That time, Ning Zhuo knelt from evening until dawn, eventually fainting.

The next morning, when Wang Lan got up, she said to Ning Ze, "Husband, although Xiao Zhuo has a wild nature, he is indeed honest. At the very least, he has never lied to us!"

"I think this wrongdoing might not have been him after all."

Ning Ze snorted coldly, "Of course, I know he was wronged!"

"But what could I do?"

"The child who did it, his father is an elder in the Battle Hall!"

"We can't afford to offend him."

"Ning Zhuo just needs to admit his mistake, and this matter will be resolved!"

"Being stubborn will only bring more trouble."

Wang Lan gasped, "Oh, so that's how it is!"

"Husband, you did the right thing."

"A little suffering for the child is nothing."