**: Ning Zhuo Gains Insight**

City Lord's Manor.

Flames, frost, rolling logs, metal blades, and giant boulders, each corresponding to one of the five elements, continuously assaulted Meng Chong.

Meng Chong's eyes flashed with sharp light. Utilizing his innate talent "Galloping Thunder," his movements were swift as lightning, exceptionally fierce, weaving through the gaps between the spells.

Only when the last wave of spells attacked did a metal blade finally graze his shoulder.

The subordinates responsible for sparring congratulated him repeatedly.

Meng Chong had made significant progress.

"Hahaha," Meng Chong laughed heartily. "Ten more sessions like this, and I won't fear those spell puppets' attacks when I challenge the stage again."

Meng Chong took a temporary break. Servants from the Meng family immediately presented carefully prepared tea and snacks, all spiritual food.

After having a few bites and sips, Meng Chong received the latest intelligence.

"What?" He slightly raised his eyebrows.

"Little Hui Ning failed to reach the preparation room three times today after her spirit entered the Immortal Palace, being intercepted and utterly defeated by the Mechanical Ape each time."

"Why is she so 'lucky'?"

"Why do I encounter that Mechanical Ape so rarely now?"

Meng Chong couldn't stop thinking about the Golden-Blooded War Ape, Da Sheng. After all, he had faced Yuan Dasheng multiple times and lost every time. He had been holding back his frustration, truly wanting to reclaim his pride.

However, under Ning Zhuo's arrangements and command, Yuan Dasheng rarely intercepted Meng Chong now. On the few occasions it did happen, it was often when Meng Chong was in the heat of battle; Yuan Dasheng would burst in and strike, frequently achieving success through sneak attacks.

This infuriated Meng Chong even more. Initially, he would curse loudly. Later, perhaps realizing the Mechanical Ape couldn't understand human speech, he voluntarily stopped.

For Little Hui Ning, Yuan Dasheng had become her nightmare. For Meng Chong, however, it was a desired opponent he could seldom encounter.

Zheng Family.

Mechanical Trap Training Room.

Zheng Jian walked slowly across the wooden floor.

His gaze was calm, his body exuded a chill, and his steps were very slow.

With each step, he lifted his leg high and lowered it gradually.

During the descent, his innate talent, "Heart-Piercing Insight," often activated, warning him.

Zheng Jian walked from one end to the other without triggering a single trap hidden beneath the floorboards.

He had undergone this kind of training many times already. Zheng Jian had gained a deeper level of control over his innate talent, and the training results were substantial.

However, what made Zheng Jian sigh in admiration were the Ning family's talismans.

"This 'Icy Heart Talisman' really suits me well."

"When I use this talisman, I can enter a state of absolute calm. The 'Heart-Piercing Insight' talent activates almost every time!"

"It's a shame. The Icy Heart Talisman can only be refined by cultivators specializing in the Icy Heart Art."

"And the Icy Heart Art is the core technique of the Ning family's main branch. Talismans like these, involving the mysteries of the Icy Heart Art, rarely circulate on the open market."

"I'm only able to enjoy this convenience thanks to the current cooperation between our three families."

"Ah..."

Zhou Family.

Underground Training Ground.

Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zeshen were preparing for their sparring match.

Simultaneously, they each took out a medicine pouch. Upon opening it, a pile of silver-gray powder was revealed.

They tilted their heads back, opened their mouths wide, and directly poured the silver-gray powder into their mouths.

This was the Mind-Splitting Powder.

The effects took hold quickly, causing slight changes in the expressions of these two Qi-refining geniuses from the Zhou family.

"Let's fight!" Zhou Zeshen shouted lowly.

Zhou Zhu responded with a grunt.

Zhou Zeshen initiated the attack first, activating a spell.

After defending, Zhou Zhu took out a mechanical war hammer.

The Mud Gate Earth-Shaking Hammer!

The hammer was almost as tall and huge as Zhou Zhu himself, and very heavy. Swinging it relying solely on Zhou Zhu's personal strength was quite strenuous.

Multiple round holes were exposed on the hammer's surface, from which fierce streams of air喷射出来.

The airflow propelled the hammer, assisting Zhou Zhu as he attacked Zhou Zeshen.

Zhou Zeshen didn't dare meet the attack head-on and retreated continuously. While retreating, he opened his storage pouch, from which a large number of mechanical bats flew out.

Mechanical — Night Sky Bats.

A large swarm of mechanical bats flew through the air, spewing thick black mist along the way.

The black mist swirled, filling the battlefield and obscuring Zhou Zhu's vision.

Zhou Zhu tried several methods but, seeing he couldn't disperse the black mist, decisively slapped his storage belt.

A large number of rats scurried out from the belt.

Mechanical — Burrowing Rats.

The mechanical rats landed on the ground and, under Zhou Zhu's control, immediately used their innate spell — Mire Spell.

The solid ground instantly turned into a swamp.

Zhou Zhu struck hard with his hammer, splashing countless yellow mud.

The hammer plunged deep into the swampy mud. Dozens of holes suddenly喷射出 streams of air simultaneously.

The hammer vibrated fiercely, sinking deeper into the mud and pulling Zhou Zhu down with it.

The large number of Night Sky Bats lost their primary target. Under Zhou Zeshen's command, they continuously descended into the swamp to capture the Burrowing Rats.

The Burrowing Rats defended themselves using the swamp terrain.

Whenever a Night Sky Bat missed its pounce, the Burrowing Rat's front-mounted spiral drill could pierce through the bat's frail body.

Conversely, if a Night Sky Bat managed to grab a Burrowing Rat, its innate spell could immediately seal the rat, greatly hindering its spiritual power usage.

Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zeshen found themselves in a stalemate. It wasn't until almost all the Burrowing Rats and Night Sky Bats were depleted that they tacitly agreed to stop the fight simultaneously.

As the black mist dissipated, both sat down cross-legged and simultaneously took out Multi-Heart Pills.

They immediately consumed the Multi-Heart Pills to consolidate the gains from their recent training.

After a long while, Zhou Zeshan was the first to open his eyes.

Merely a dozen breaths later, Zhou Zhu also opened his eyes.

Zhou Zeshan exclaimed with a hint of joy, "The combination of Mind-Splitting Powder and Multi-Heart Pills is indeed very effective! It allows us to master a deeper level of multi-tasking, splitting our focus to control more mechanical constructs."

"With continued training like this, we'll be able to control thirty mechanical bats or rats simultaneously."

Zhou Zhu unusually spoke a long sentence: "Our spiritual power is too limited. If battles lasted longer, the training benefits would be greater."

Zhou Zeshen sighed, "There's no helping it. We haven't found the subsequent cultivation method yet. Fortunately, everyone is at Qi Refining Level 3; we're all equally weak."

Zhou Zhu asked, "Is there really a subsequent cultivation method in the Molten Rock Immortal Palace?"

Zhou Zeshen replied, "Judging by the current trends, it's more likely than not. We just need to keep an eye on Meng Chong; he has the highest progress. If his cultivation breaks through to the fourth level, then the Molten Rock Immortal Palace definitely contains the subsequent method."

By this time, the modification teams from the four major forces generally had cultivation levels at the peak of Qi Refining Level 3.

Without the subsequent cultivation method, they could only remain stagnant.

Only the geniuses from each family could still make progress by training their innate talents.

Almost everyone else chose to study and delve into mechanical arts, seeking to become stronger through this path.

There was progress, but the extent was limited.

Including Meng Chong, everyone had entered a relatively stable bottleneck period.

Ning Zhuo, enveloped in floating clouds, silently practiced breathing exercises, continuing to refine his cultivation.

The magical tool, the Whirlwind Cart, pressed closely against his chest, rotating slowly.

Meanwhile, within Ning Zhuo's Middle Dantian Qi Sea, a whirlwind was stirring.

Vast amounts of spiritual power were sucked into the whirlwind, where they ground against and diminished each other.

This was a purification process.

The spiritual power Ning Zhuo absorbed through breathing exercises was impure and heterogeneous, after all, it was elevated through a shortcut via the Divine Sea realm and the Ice Jade Wine.

But after going through this process, the quality of his spiritual power would be significantly raised.

The purity of spiritual power is extremely important. The purer it is, the more positive the impact on all aspects, and the greater the advantage for the cultivator.

Innate talents like the Pure Yang Body allow spiritual power to inherently carry pure Yang energy, completely free of impurities.

Among the Seven Great Flames, the Glazed Pure Fire is sought after precisely because it can burn away impurities, making a cultivator's spiritual sense, spiritual power, and essence blood exceedingly pure.

Cultivators universally pursue spiritual power purity with unrelenting effort.

"The purification capability of the Whirlwind Cart is just a side effect; its real purpose is to speed up the rate of spiritual power refinement."

"A dedicated purification magical tool would be better."

After one round of purification, Ning Zhuo's spiritual power was reduced from ten parts to less than six parts—a significant difference.

Ning Zhuo continued to absorb spiritual energy, refining it into Five Elements spiritual power.

After repeating this process two or three times, Ning Zhuo replenished his purified spiritual power back to ten parts.

He paused his Qi Sea cultivation, intending to let the purified spiritual power properly nurture his Middle Dantian Qi Sea.

He then began his Essence Sea cultivation.

The source for refining essence blood was his physical body.

The physical body's condition is primarily influenced by ample spiritual food and elixirs.

Ning Zhuo never stinted on his cultivation resources.

Moreover, he used one Marrow-Cleansing Pill and one Detoxification Pill.

Both types of pills were bestowed by the Ning family's main branch. Not long ago, they had passed Sun Lingtong's careful inspection, and Ning Zhuo had also meticulously tested them himself.

The Marrow-Cleansing Pill could slightly enhance his physique. The Detoxification Pill mainly aimed to remove accumulated toxins within Ning Zhuo's body.

The effects weren't very pronounced.

On one hand, pills like the Marrow-Cleansing Pill require long-term, massive consumption to gradually show significant results.

Ning Zhuo had just started taking them.

On the other hand, Ning Zhuo primarily relied on spiritual food, with pills as supplements, so his accumulation of pill toxins, etc., wasn't substantial.

Soon, today's Essence Sea cultivation session ended.

Ning Zhuo began practicing spells.

He took out the Five Elements Ruler, held it in his hand, silently urged his Five Elements spiritual power, and cast the "Five Elements Mutual Promotion and Restraint" technique.

The floating clouds churned, barely concealing the fluctuations from Ning Zhuo's spellcasting.

The Five Elements Ruler could quickly separate Five Elements spiritual power. Using it to assist Ning Zhuo in practicing spells did have a positive effect.

"Complex."

"This spell is far too complex, the most intricate I've ever encountered in my life!"

"Sigh, if only there were corresponding rewards on the leaderboard."

"Perhaps later stages of the Immortal Palace might have them?"

Ning Zhuo had only just begun practicing this technique; the road ahead was long.

After practicing for a while, Ning Zhuo took out two Insight Diagrams: the "Frost Endurance Diagram" and the "Snow Pride Diagram."

He stared at them for a long time, then touched his forehead, still without any clue.

"No matter."

Ning Zhuo took out an Insight Pill and immediately consumed one.

He looked again at the two Insight Diagrams, his gaze unmoving.

His thoughts gradually drifted, and Ning Zhuo didn't rein them in, letting them发散.

Ning Zhuo began to faintly perceive the subtle sensations the Insight Diagrams evoked in him—a feeling he hadn't experienced before.

However, the insights from the diagrams were quite faint. Instead, the various mechanical blueprints in his mind, the texts on mechanical arts left by his mother, became exceptionally vivid.

Besides these, it was the various cultivation techniques and spells Ning Zhuo had obtained within the Molten Rock Immortal Palace.

"Funeral Pyre Prajna Spirit Liberation Sutra!"

Finally, the complete text of the Funeral Pyre Sutra appeared clearly in Ning Zhuo's mind, word for word.

Suddenly, Ning Zhuo gained a completely new comprehension of this sutra.

Joy spread across his face: "So this sutra can be interpreted on a deeper level."

"Excellent!"

"Now, relying solely on myself, I can also refine sentient mechanical constructs."

It was a case of specifically planting flowers only to have them fail to bloom, while casually planting willow wands resulted in a shaded grove.

Ning Zhuo himself never expected that while taking the Insight Pill intending to perceive the mysteries of the Insight Diagrams, he would instead gain new understanding regarding the Funeral Pyre Sutra.

(End of )