: How Dare He? (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Zhu Xuanji's expression shifted as he made a new discovery.

He immediately ordered the trial disciples to retrieve a severed arm from the mountain of discarded scrap.

The arm was deep red, shimmering with a metallic luster, unusually heavy, and exuded a dense demonic aura.

"The quality is incredibly high, definitely materials fit for the Golden Core level. And it's not a single material either, but a new composite created using alchemical methods," Zhu Xuanji inwardly exclaimed.

"Is this also a mechanism from the Molten Rock Palace?"

"What level of mechanism would use such materials?"

Zhu Xuanji's mind instantly recalled the three great mechanical constructs of the Molten Rock Palace—the Dao Master, the Buddha Physician, and the Demon General.

"Could this be the arm of a Demon General?" he naturally speculated.

Greatly intrigued, he commanded the trial disciples to retrieve the crimson iron arm.

But they failed.

The trial disciple wore a bitter expression: "Lord Zhu, I can't. My contribution points are too low."

Zhu Xuanji smiled and said, "No matter. The Molten Rock Palace is still unstable, with continuous attacks from Blaze Beasts. This is a perfect opportunity for you to accumulate a large amount of contribution points."

After the trial disciples followed his advice, Zhu Xuanji made another discovery: when killing the same Blaze Beast, trial disciples received far more contribution points than others.

He also noticed that trial disciples occasionally received key information and had more ways to earn contributions.

In contrast, others rarely received messages from the palace itself and had very few ways to gain contributions, with slaying Blaze Beasts being the most important method.

However, this method was fraught with high risks due to the dangers of battle.

On the other hand, the trial disciples had a wider range of options. For example, retrieving mechanical parts from the discard rooms to repair and assemble them.

After observing their actual gains, Zhu Xuanji was surprised to find that the rewards from such repair work were even better, fully comparable to slaying Blaze Beasts.

"Is this the preferential treatment enjoyed by cultivating the techniques provided by the Three Sects' Masters?"

"Compared to them, we are clearly being treated differently..."

Zhu Xuanji sighed with emotion.

For a brief moment, he entertained the fantasy of switching his cultivation path.

But it was only a fleeting thought.

He was already at the Golden Core stage. If he were still at the Foundation Establishment stage, there might have been a slim chance of restarting his cultivation.

But once the Golden Core is formed, one's foundation is set for life, with no possibility of starting over in this lifetime.

As the saying goes, the Golden Core allows no regrets.

The trial disciples accumulated contribution points at an astonishing speed. Soon, someone had gathered enough to exchange for that crimson iron arm from the discard room.

When Zhu Xuanji came into contact with the arm, he used his Golden Eye talent and the Trace Origin Art to investigate it.

He saw an underground molten cave.

The cavern was vast, supported by countless pillars of varying thickness holding up the walls.

A giant demon ape, radiating a Golden Core-level aura, lay sleeping.

Within the stone pillar where it slept was a hole storing the ape's various spoils of war. Among them was a severely damaged mechanical puppet.

"The Mechanical Demon General!!" Zhu Xuanji's eyes lit up.

"From the looks of it, this underground molten cave must be the demon ape's lair, akin to a royal court."

"If the Mechanical Demon General fell here, but I can recover it, I'll surely gain a massive amount of contributions."

"If I can repair it and then return it, the contributions should be even greater!"

Zhu Xuanji easily deduced that the contribution from retrieving the Mechanical Demon General would far exceed the total from his previous donation of three quasi-Golden Core mechanical beasts. After all, the Demon General itself was a Golden Core-level combatant and an original mechanism perfectly suited to the Molten Rock Palace.

The monarch's recruitment decree had forced Meng Kui to lift the blockade on the mountain peak and the palace.

Countless people flocked to the Molten Rock Palace. While the majority were barred from entering, a very few met the standards and gained entry.

The Molten Rock Palace became even livelier than before the blockade.

Zhu Xuanji also felt the pressure of competition from this.

At present, he urgently needed to obtain huge contributions to widen the gap with his pursuers and secure his advantage.

The three Golden Core ancestors from the Fire Persimmon Immortal City's major families were Zhu Xuanji's helpers.

All three families invested in two paths.

The first path was aligning with Zhu Xuanji, pledging loyalty, and relying on the royal family.

The second path was cultivating their own cultivation modification teams, continuously breaking through the Molten Rock Palace's checkpoints.

This was the typical way of operating for cultivation families—not putting all their eggs in one basket.

Thus, truly powerful cultivation clans often had high-level cultivators serving in different countries, even hostile ones.

Slap!

Ning Xiaoren angrily slammed his hand on the table, growling, "He actually did it?!"

"Fine, fine."

"I originally thought the Zhou and Zheng families had uncovered the setup themselves and obtained the trial disciple marks."

"Turns out, it was Ning Zhuo!"

"For a mere thousand spirit stones, he sold such crucial information to Zheng Jian and Zhou Zeshen!"

"Does he not know that our Ning family could have used this chance to gain an advantage and close the gap with the Zhou and Zheng families?"

"He prioritized his personal gain over the family's greater good!"

"This Ning Zhuo is too short-sighted, too narrow-minded, too selfish."

"Just because we refused him the Ice Jade Wine, he immediately sold the information to outsiders."

"Biting the hand that feeds him!"

"Is he even a member of the Ning family? What has he learned all these years in school?!"

"It seems he needs to be taught a lesson, to understand how wrong his actions were."

Ning Xiaoren paced back and forth in his study. After a moment, he ordered the immediate freezing of Ning Zhuo's resource allocation within the modification team.

But then he remembered that Ning Zhuo's cultivation resources far exceeded that, with many other substantial income sources.

Ning Xiaoren thought of Ning Xiaohui, how she gathered main branch members but only reached the second room, while Ning Zhuo broke through to the eighth room in one go.

"Ning Xiaohui is so disappointing."

"If she could have outperformed Ning Zhuo, would this kid still dare to make waves and be so ambitious?!"

Ning Xiaoren paced some more, then issued a second order.

Since Ning Zhuo had joined the modification team, Ning Xiaoren had the authority to assign him tasks.

"So you're obsessed with researching mechanical constructs, are you?"

"Very well, Ning Zhuo."

"Now, you won't even have half an hour to spare for your research." Ning Xiaoren sneered inwardly.

Ning Zhuo refused the order.

Ning Zhuo quit the modification team.

"What?!" Ning Xiaoren was dumbfounded when he learned this.

Once he recovered, he was filled with rage and hatred.

"Audacious! Absolutely audacious!"

"How dare he! How dare he!"

"How dare he refuse the family's assignment? How dare he unilaterally quit the modification team?!"

"Ahhhhh!"

Ning Xiaoren was furious. He grabbed an inkstone from his desk and smashed it on the ground.

After smashing it, he felt something was missing.

So, he went to the private prison to see Ning Ze.

"Your wonderful nephew!" Ning Xiaoren raised a long whip and repeatedly lashed Ning Ze to vent his anger.

Ning Ze: "Ah—!"

(End of )