: Ning Zhuo vs Zhou Zeshen (Part 2)

Author: Gu Zhenren

Date: 2024-07-31

"This sparring session is a bit dull," Ning Zhuo thought to himself, feeling rather bored deep down, even as most of his Thunderfall Birds above were destroyed. "Zhou Zeshen suggested this spar to build a closer relationship with me."

"During the first exchange, he intentionally held back and let me gain the upper hand to save face for me."

"Now, in this second exchange, I should return the favor and let him show off a bit."

"Oh?"

At that moment, Ning Zhuo's eyes lit up as he saw Zhou Zeshen take out his White Tiger Construct.

"So, Brother Zhou, you're also feeling bored and decided to spice things up, huh..."

"Excellent."

"Now is the perfect time to unveil it."

Ning Zhuo touched his storage belt.

A flash of fire erupted, and a serpent appeared before him.

The serpent was about five zhang long, with a girth of roughly one and a half chi. Its entire body was crimson and wooden, with red crystal eyes. Coiled like a giant tree, it looked imposing and majestic.

Zhou Zeshen raised an eyebrow, feeling pleased. "Good, this is more like it."

"Show me your full strength, Ning Zhuo!"

Zhou Zeshen's fighting spirit surged.

Ning Zhuo transmitted his voice softly, "Brother Zhou, take a look. This Fire Bamboo Snake is a construct I recently created, intended as an elite unit."

Zhou Zeshen's pupils slightly contracted. "A new construct from Brother Ning? Interesting, you've genuinely piqued my curiosity."

"But please be careful, Brother Ning."

"My White Tiger Charger is a classic construct from the Mudflow School, thoroughly tested and equipped with three different heads."

"If you lose, Brother Ning, don't say I didn't warn you beforehand."

Ning Zhuo laughed heartily and said no more. Manipulating the Fire Bamboo Snake with his法力提线, he sent it charging forward.

Zhou Zeshen commanded his White Tiger Charger to sprint through the mountain forest on all fours.

Then, it leaped gracefully into the air, covering over ten zhang in a single bound, landing on the opposite mountain.

Boom!

The construct tiger and snake collided solidly on the mountainside, snake head against tiger head, producing a explosive sound.

The snake's head reared back high, while the tiger's head deformed on impact, retracting directly into its neck.

Gears shifted inside the tiger's body, and when the head extended again, it had switched from a beast head to a ramming head.

Though carved with tiger patterns, the ramming head was solid, made of sturdy material, and extremely hard.

The White Tiger charged forth, stirring up a strong gust of wind.

Under Ning Zhuo's control, the Fire Bamboo Snake nimbly dodged.

Suddenly, white light erupted from the White Tiger, shining on the Fire Bamboo Snake. Surprisingly, the light made the snake's skin transparent, revealing its internal mechanical structure.

Inside the Fire Bamboo Snake, its skeleton was connected at intervals by large spherical joints.

Each sphere was black on one side and white on the other. The black side had the character for "death" (死), while the white side had the character for "life" (活).

With every movement of the snake, these spheres would periodically rotate and stop. Some would settle with the black "death" side facing out, others with the white "life" side.

When a sphere showed the white "life" side, the corresponding joint moved freely. When it showed the black "death" side, the joint would lock firmly in place.

Even more ingenious was that both the spheres and the snake's skeleton were engraved with formations, forming a tightly integrated whole.

"An interesting mechanical component..." Zhou Zeshen observed this closely through his White Tiger Charger and immediately understood part of the reason for the Fire Bamboo Snake's agility.

This spherical component was none other than the Half-Death, Half-Life Pearl.

Back then, Chen Cha, feeling guilty, had given Ning Zhuo his life's savings as compensation.

The Half-Death, Half-Life Pearl was Chen Cha's original creation.

Besides that, there was also a collection of formation texts called "The Coiling Snake Elastic Formation Collection," an early机缘 of Chen Cha's.

Relying on these two items, plus his own skill in constructs and a stroke of inspiration, Ning Zhuo had ultimately created the Fire Bamboo Snake.

The snake and tiger clashed noisily. Trees snapped one after another, and dust billowed from the battlefield. For a time, it was hard to tell who had the upper hand.

Zhou Zeshen's ten fingers twitched and flexed rapidly. The majority of his focus was on controlling the White Tiger Charger.

His remaining attention was devoted to the Burrowing Rats.

After the unfavorable first exchange, the retreating Burrowing Rats hadn't returned to Zhou Zeshen but had instead burrowed underground, stealthily making their way towards Ning Zhuo's position.

Although there were more Night Sky Bats in the air, and they could fly, allowing for a quicker assault on Ning Zhuo, Zhou Zeshen also had his pride.

He thought: Since Ning Zhuo deliberately held back in the aerial battle, it wouldn't be right for him to capitalize on an advantage intentionally given by the other party.

Therefore, he chose to use the Burrowing Rats.

When the Burrowing Rats got within ten zhang of Ning Zhuo, he detected them. Ning Zhuo had maintained a detection spell all along.

Upon discovering the rats, Ning Zhuo didn't change his position. Instead, he took out new Blaze Ape constructs to guard his perimeter.

Seeing this, Zhou Zeshen's pupils constricted.

Ning Zhuo's control ability was clearly a cut above his own.

At this moment, Ning Zhuo was simultaneously controlling the Fire Bamboo Snake, directing the first wave of five Blaze Apes to charge at Zhou Zeshen, AND he had just summoned five additional Blaze Apes.

This second wave of Blaze Apes, under Ning Zhuo's command, moved with the same agility and lifelike manner as real apes.

Zhou Zeshen certainly couldn't achieve this level of control.

His current limit was close to thirty units.

But this number had two prerequisites. First, it only counted easily controlled constructs like Night Sky Bats or Burrowing Rats. Second, it required Zhou Zeshen to have taken mind-splitting pills like the Spirit Division Powder.

The White Tiger Charger Zhou Zeshen was currently controlling demanded much more focus to unleash its true power.

This single construct occupied the vast majority of Zhou Zeshen's attention. He was also controlling three additional Burrowing Rats. The scant remaining mental energy he had left, he needed to reserve for casting his own spells at critical moments.

It could be said that Zhou Zeshen had already pushed his control ability in a常规 state to its limit.

Yet his opponent, Ning Zhuo, summoned five more Blaze Apes without changing expression and controlled them effortlessly.

If Zhou Zeshen wanted to increase his control, he would need to take pills.

"As expected, Ning Zhuo's talent lies in his intellect."

"This allows him to have far superior control ability compared to others, even in his normal state."

"To what extent is he exerting himself now? Eighty percent? Or ninety percent?"

Zhou Zeshen pondered and analyzed privately.

Ning Zhuo used the five guardian apes to neutralize the threat from the Burrowing Rats. He used the powerful Fire Bamboo Snake to block the opponent's White Tiger Charger.

Finally, seeing the five Blaze Apes surrounding him, Zhou Zeshen let out a sigh, laughed openly, and admitted defeat.

As the spar concluded, the watching Ning clansmen discussed animatedly,津津乐道 the displayed constructs and control techniques.

The most discussed topic was Ning Zhuo's newly revealed Fire Bamboo Snake.

In front of everyone, Zhou Zeshen handed over the Rivet Bolt Crossbow and its blueprints to Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo's favorable impression of Zhou Zeshen increased considerably.

He thought, "Zhou Zeshen proposed the spar, deliberately held back, and conceded defeat to boost my reputation and give me face."

"This is the real gift he intended to give."

"He knows I've just risen to prominence and need reputation. So, he didn't mind damaging his own pride to facilitate this."

"This kind of magnanimity is truly extraordinary."

Zhou Zeshen observed Ning Zhuo and felt that his attitude had become much more cordial.

He thought, "An intense battle can often convey sincerity as effectively as a heart-to-heart talk."

"Although this full-sparring session didn't reach the level of a heart-to-heart, it was enough to display both sides' genuine character."

"The only regret is that I couldn't probe the upper limit of Ning Zhuo's常规 combat power."

"Unless I take Spirit Division Powder or similar pills..."

But that was clearly impossible.

Taking pills would mean the friendly nature of the spar was gone, indicating desperation and a strong, urgent desire for victory.

Thinking this, Zhou Zeshen still felt somewhat unwilling.

He couldn't help but try to probe with words, secretly transmitting his voice, deliberately provoking: "Brother Ning, I lost to you this time, just playing around. But next time we spar, I'll get a bit more serious and use at least fifty percent of my strength."

Ning Zhuo's heart stirred. "As I thought, Zhou Zeshen didn't even use half his strength."

He smiled slightly and replied candidly, "If Brother Zhou is interested, I'll do my best to accompany you. Next time, I'll also put in a bit more effort, at least forty percent of my power guaranteed."

Zhou Zeshen patted Ning Zhuo's shoulder and laughed heartily. "You..."

Simultaneously, he grumbled inwardly, "What a braggart!"

"He knows I'm probing, so he uses this method to brush me off?"

"Hmph."

"Indeed, I shouldn't have held out hope – thinking I could probe his depths with a simple sentence."

Zhou Zeshen felt Ning Zhuo was the same type of person as himself. Ning Zhuo also felt that he and Zhou Zeshen had a certain默契.

The two exchanged a smile, both feeling the other was intelligent, with many things understood without needing to be spoken.

Returning to the small courtyard, everyone chatted for a while longer.

Zhou Zeshen seized the opportunity to propose to Ning Zhuo: He requested Ning Zhuo's assistance for the Zhou family's modification team in challenging the leaderboards within the Molten Rock Palace, aiming to push some of the City Lord's Manor's cultivators out of the top ten.

"Of course, if we can advance further and surpass the entry standard, that would be even better!"

Ning Zhuo shook his head. "Brother Zhou's ambition is admirable."

"Surpass the entry standard?" Ning Zhuo sighed. "That's not something I can achieve. I must beg your pardon and decline. I'm truly constrained by circumstances and unable to spare the time."

Zhou Zeshen didn't give up. "Brother Ning, why not hear the conditions our Zhou family offers for your assistance?"

Zhou Zeshen listed a long string of resources, leaving Ning Chen, Ning Yong, and the others dumbfounded.

Upon recovering, everyone's breathing grew heavier, captivated by the substantial and generous reward.

Ning Zhuo, however, shook his head. With a smile, his attitude remained polite, warm, but firm. He consistently refused.

Instead, Ning Zhuo proposed a new form of cooperation: "The Molten Rock Palace is an inheritance of constructs. Currently, we're all stuck at the peak of the third level, only able to accumulate some knowledge of construct techniques."

"Since our three families have allied, why not establish a joint academy specifically for teaching construct techniques?"

"The teachers could be invited from among the various construct cultivators."

"In my opinion, the guest your family recruited, Chu Xiyao, would be very suitable."

Zhou Zeshen listened, his eyes darting as he thought, "Among the three families, the Ning family has the weakest foundation in construct expertise and the fewest construct cultivators."

"If the joint academy is established, the Ning family would benefit the most."

"However, this is indeed a good proposal. It would also be quite beneficial for my Zhou family."

Thinking this, Zhou Zeshen expressed that the proposal was excellent, he appreciated it, and supported it. However, this decision wasn't one he could make alone; he needed to report back to his family.

Ning Zhuo agreed.

As he was leaving, Zhou Zeshen transmitted a message to him, offering a piece of information as a gesture of goodwill: "The heads of the three families have almost finished negotiations. They plan to gather the elites of the three families for another full-scale exploration of the Immortal Palace."

"They aim to encounter that construct ape and defeat it!"

"Many speculate that the construct ape might be a challenge set up by the Three Sages. Defeating it would likely result in a significant reward from them."

"If we can truly destroy the construct ape, studying its internal structure would allow us to develop countermeasures and methods of restraint in the future."

Ning Zhuo was surprised. "There's such a plan? Thank you for informing me. When is it scheduled to begin?"

Zhou Zeshen: "It will be implemented within the next few days. Before the full-scale exploration, everyone will be gathered for a unified secret training session."

"Brother Ning, you might want to make some preparations."

Ning Zhuo revealed a grave expression and nodded meaningfully with emphasis. "Indeed, more preparations are necessary!"

(End of )