: Slaughtering Kin and Annihilating Clans?

2024-07-31 Author: Gu Zhenren

: Slaughtering Kin and Annihilating Clans?

Floating clouds drifted deep in the sky as Ning Zhuo practiced his cultivation in silence.

At times, five-colored auras swirled around him, his energy fluctuating. Other times, his vital essence surged, emitting a sinister demonic aura. Yet other times, he appeared dignified and solemn, his face radiant with Buddhist light.

After testing the three techniques once, he gained a more intuitive and profound understanding of the newly acquired subsequent methods for layers seven to nine.

"All three techniques retain their greatest original advantage—fast cultivation speed."

"But if I cultivate using the original methods, the time required will be at least three times longer than the total time spent so far!"

This was because the techniques for layers seven to nine introduced a new advantage—profound depth.

Whether it was spiritual sense, magic power, or vital essence, all were far denser and more substantial compared to those cultivated through ordinary techniques.

Although the advantage in cultivation speed remained, the total standard required increased threefold, thus extending the cultivation time by three times as well.

There was another point that made Ning Zhuo frown slightly.

"Starting from the seventh layer, these three techniques begin to resonate with each other."

"Minor breakthroughs are manageable, but major breakthroughs must progress uniformly, which is quite troublesome."

In other words, all three techniques must advance to the seventh, eighth, and ninth layers simultaneously. However, one technique could be at the early stage of the seventh layer, another at the mid-stage, and the third at the peak stage.

Previously, Ning Zhuo had reached the sixth layer in his Divine Sea cultivation, while the other two techniques were only at the fifth layer.

Such a situation was absolutely unacceptable for the subsequent techniques from layers seven to nine.

According to the techniques, if this occurred, it would severely impact the possibility of successfully building the foundation.

Ning Zhuo understood the reason.

"Because this involves the integration of the three fields!"

It was mentioned earlier that after the Qi Refinement stage comes the Foundation Building stage. The Qi Refinement stage has three main cultivation paths: the Upper Dantian (Divine Sea), the Middle Dantian (Qi Sea), and the Lower Dantian (Essence Sea).

For most techniques, they specialize in cultivating one dantian. Thus, they have no concerns in this regard.

However, excellent or top-tier techniques often involve cultivating more than one dantian, usually two.

Regardless of which two dantians are involved, they must be harmonized. For example, merging spirit and qi, unifying essence and spirit, or harmonizing essence and qi.

In the case of the Three Ancestors Sage, his goal was even more ambitious—the unification of the three treasures: essence, qi, and spirit!

This unification did not mean merging the three dantians into one but making their energies harmonize, functioning as one, truly paving the way to the Foundation Building stage.

Without this unification, Ning Zhuo’s cultivation of these three techniques would be like randomly practicing three incompatible techniques.

When attempting to break through to the Foundation Building stage, failure would be inevitable.

If all three dantians had cultivation but lacked harmony or clear prioritization, intense conflicts would arise, leading to failure in the breakthrough and mutual damage to the three dantians. In mild cases, this would affect the cultivation foundation, turning a genius into a waste; in severe cases, it could be life-threatening.

This was the main reason why cultivating all three dantians remained extremely rare, even in today’s advanced world of cultivation.

Ning Zhuo summarized: For the Three Ancestors techniques in the late Qi Refinement stage, the cultivation speed advantage remains, but the time required triples, and the three techniques must advance simultaneously.

He immediately recognized the difficulty.

"This means my Divine Sea cultivation can’t progress too quickly."

"I must balance the progress of the other two dantians."

"Fortunately, minor breakthroughs can be inconsistent. I can still use Ice Jade Wine to boost my Qi Sea cultivation."

"But what about Essence Sea cultivation?"

Ning Zhuo’s progress in the Essence Sea had always been the slowest.

It wasn’t that he lacked talent in this area or that his progress was genuinely slow. Rather, compared to his rapidly advancing Divine Sea and boosted Qi Sea, the Essence Sea always lagged.

Previously, this wasn’t an issue.

But now, according to the late-stage Three Ancestors techniques, this had become the biggest短板 (shortcoming) in Ning Zhuo’s cultivation.

"I’ve obtained the subsequent techniques, but new problems have emerged."

After just briefly studying the late-stage content related to the Mirror Platform Spirit Awakening Art, Ning Zhuo felt his Divine Sea cultivation stirring, on the verge of breaking through to the seventh layer. Alarmed, he immediately suppressed all related thoughts in his Divine Sea.

His Qi Sea cultivation had also reached the peak of the sixth layer.

Only his Essence Sea cultivation lagged behind.

"I must focus entirely on boosting my Essence Sea cultivation!"

Most of those who studied the Essence Sea practiced demonic techniques.

Ning Zhuo had limited exposure in this area.

His knowledge mainly came from the Ning family’s public library, and his expertise in mechanistry was largely inherited from his mother’s遗留 (left behind) texts.

Although he had collected intelligence in the black market for years and gathered some texts,

the quality of cultivation techniques and spells circulating in such markets was generally low (after all, Fire Persimmon Immortal City was a new city). Unless one got lucky or attended certain auctions, it was difficult to acquire high-quality techniques.

Demonic techniques were also targeted and banned by the authorities, making them hard to obtain through regular channels.

Before turning sixteen, Ning Zhuo firmly believed he would follow the path of righteousness and had little desire for demonic techniques.

He also hadn’t expected that the Lava Immortal Palace’s techniques involved cultivating all three paths.

This resulted in a severe mismatch between his preparations and accumulation in demonic techniques and his actual needs.

Fortunately, he had an older brother figure who originated from a major邪派 (unorthodox sect).

Ning Zhuo decided to consult Sun Lingtong about this matter.

Sun Lingtong directly provided an answer: "It’s actually quite simple."

"Boosting essence and blood cultivation is easiest."

"But little Zhuo, you definitely can’t do it."

"Elder Brother, please speak freely," Ning Zhuo pressed.

Sun Lingtong then gave an answer that made Ning Zhuo’s expression change slightly, and he immediately shook his head: "I can’t do it, I can’t do it!"

Sun Lingtong’s method was simple: use clansmen who share the same bloodline.

Terrible demonic cultivators, for their own benefit, slaughter their clans to achieve rapid advancement in cultivation.

The key was, as long as the demonic cultivator focused on refining and purifying, this method had virtually no side effects!

Unwilling to give up, Ning Zhuo asked, "Elder Brother Sun, aside from this, are there any other methods?"

Sun Lingtong suggested a few alternatives, but they either had very high thresholds or were impractical for solving the immediate problem.

What could be done?

Ning Zhuo had no choice but to全力狂修 (cultivate frantically) his Essence Sea while gathering related intelligence, hoping to find external opportunities.

Sun Lingtong comforted him: "This isn’t really a bottleneck; you’re still making steady progress. This is a normal cultivation speed, yet you’re dissatisfied."

Ning Zhuo sighed and explained his concerns to Sun Lingtong.

Fire Persimmon Immortal City was becoming crowded, with outsiders continuously drawn by the recruitment decree, arriving to try and explore the immortal palace.

Ning Zhuo felt increasing pressure.

He had to go all out, race against time, and do everything possible to increase his chances of seizing the immortal palace.

Any slight slack, and he wouldn’t forgive himself.

"Ah, little Zhuo is pushing himself too hard," Sun Lingtong sighed inwardly but didn’t offer consolation.

He understood perfectly what the Lava Immortal Palace meant to Ning Zhuo’s life.

He also knew any劝说 (persuasion) would be meaningless. The most meaningful help he could provide was to fully assist Ning Zhuo.

That’s why Sun Lingtong, despite being wanted, risked staying in Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

He always hid in underground bases, moving periodically. Given his personality, this life was more torturous than imprisonment.

But Sun Lingtong endured it all, wanting to stay close to Ning Zhuo and see how he could help his little brother.

He didn’t know that his own situation was even more dangerous than Ning Zhuo’s—he was already targeted by two Golden Core true inheritors: Luo Shang from the Soul Devourer Sect and Yang Chanyu from the Unempty Gate.

When he rotated back to the previous underground base, he would fall into the enemy’s trap.

Ning Zhuo’s Courtyard.

"Good, this mechanical Blaze Monkey is well-made. I’ll buy it." Ning Zhuo paid for a mechanical monkey.

Lately, he had been making such purchases noticeably more often.

"Hmm, you improved and created this jet tube based on the Lava Immortal Palace’s mechanical diagrams?"

After receiving confirmation, Ning Zhuo also bought the jet mechanism tube to encourage the creator.

After Ning Xiaohui withdrew from the modification team, the remaining main branch members were few and, lacking leadership, were no longer a concern.

The Ning family’s modification team was now entirely under Ning Zhuo’s control.

Ning Zhuo proactively arranged for modification team members to gain mechanistry experience at various workshops.

After some time, the results were visibly outstanding!

This once made Ning Zhuo wonder if the Ning family was originally a mechanistry-focused clan and had strayed by primarily cultivating ice and snow techniques.

A former Foundation Building stage manager clarified this for him.

This former manager had participated in the高层 (upper echelon)’s selection process.

Ning Zhuo then understood that the modification team members weren’t randomly chosen. The Ning family upper echelons had carefully selected individuals suited for mechanistry from a large pool.

"The larger the family, the more talents suitable for different cultivation arts emerge."

"From the family’s perspective, having more people is better—the more, the merrier."

The meticulously selected personnel of the Ning family now fell into Ning Zhuo’s hands, working for him.

The black market once run by Sun Lingtong was also under Ning Zhuo’s control, and its profits skyrocketed.

Every situation has pros and cons. The influx of outsiders brought immense competitive pressure but also more transactions and income.

Ning Zhuo’s funds accumulated at an unprecedented rate, even though he spent continuously.

When donating to the orphanage, he gave a more substantial amount of spirit stones than initially planned.

The salaries paid to his Ning family Foundation Building subordinates became a rapidly decreasing portion of his total income.

Ning Zhuo also invested large sums in secretly gathering intelligence.

He collected much information about accelerating cultivation with demonic techniques, but most of it was unreliable.

With over a decade of experience cultivating his intelligence sensitivity, Ning Zhuo could often estimate the rumor content of information at a glance.

Most of the collected intelligence and clues were superficial rumors, lacking value.

The most common answer was the one Sun Lingtong mentioned—targeting one’s clansmen.

"Because it involves demonic techniques and the Lava Immortal Palace, I can’t seek help through official channels or from the three major families."

"The current situation is still manageable. But if my Essence Sea cultivation advances to the seventh layer, and the time required triples, that would be unbearable!"

Ning Zhuo pondered hard for many days.

Then, one day, a wonderful inspiration struck him, leading to a delightful breakthrough—

"Wait, I can have the mechanical puppets cultivate for me!"

(End of )