: A Matter of Life and Death

Author: Gu Zhenren

July 31, 2024

Zhu Xuanji led the Golden Core cultivators from the three families deep into the volcano.

The group entered openly and boldly through the crater. As the royal special envoy, Zhu Xuanji ordered Meng Kui to properly guard the immortal city without any mistakes.

The Golden Cores from the three families were in high spirits. Usually suppressed by Meng Kui, they felt a sense of satisfaction seeing him now being the one under pressure.

Unless Meng Kui rebelled and became a traitor to the Southern Bean Kingdom, he had no choice but to guard the immortal city and the mountaintop, quietly awaiting Zhu Xuanji's return.

Ning Zhuo, of course, was unaware of Zhu Xuanji's group's actions. That same day, he began the first round of assembly.

He combined a large number of mechanical components, piecing them together to form a massive black iron skeleton.

Previously, the Tree Martial Ape stood eight chi, taller than Ning Zhuo. The Golden Blood War Ape was slightly shorter than him. This newly forged mechanical ape was truly a large-to-medium-sized construct.

Its skeleton alone measured one and a half zhang, equivalent to a two-story building. Just from the skeleton, one could sense its hardness and stubbornness, like an ancient beast.

The ape's skeleton and joints were all made of Ten Thousand Strikes Mysterious Iron.

Ning Zhuo then proceeded to assemble the mechanical ape's chest and back. These parts primarily used Crimson Sun Copper, making them very thick and extremely heavy.

Next, Ning Zhuo installed the ape's fingers, claws, and teeth. These were made of Diamond, sharp in texture, designed to enhance the mechanical ape's offensive power.

On the surface of the ape's crucial joints and skeleton, as well as the inner sides of its chest and back, intricate grooves were carved.

These grooves intertwined, forming an extremely complex array diagram. Upon closer inspection, one would realize that the diagram's incomprehensibility stemmed from at least three overlapping spell formations.

This was a remarkable array-laying technique, showcasing the Zhou family's expertise in formations!

Embedded within many of these grooves were thick Blood Silkworm Silk threads.

Ning Zhuo would use his magic power to dissolve these silk threads, integrating them into the array grooves to serve a maintenance function, extending the formation's usable lifespan by at least thirty percent.

The entire first round of assembly for the mechanical ape was completed through the secret cooperation of Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong.

Even with only the skeleton for its legs and lower body, the mechanical ape's weight had already exceeded thirty thousand jin. Ning Zhuo conservatively estimated that the fully assembled weight would hover around forty thousand jin.

At such a weight, even stepping on ordinary ground would leave slight indentations. This heavy body posed a greater challenge to its power source.

Therefore, Ning Zhuo utilized the Mechanical Heart Sphere Furnace · Fire Essence rewarded from the Molten Rock Immortal Palace.

This mechanism resembled a giant sphere, with a forging furnace at its center. The sphere's surface was dotted with cylindrical protrusions of varying sizes, lengths, and thicknesses.

Fire Essence would be fed into it, consumed to generate澎湃的动力 (péng pài de dòng lì - surging power), causing the cylindrical protrusions to continuously extend and retract, providing powerful motive force in various directions.

Because it consumed Fire Essence, the middle layer of the sphere employed internal carving techniques to cleverly arrange a highly functional storage formation.

But the Mechanical Heart Sphere Furnace alone wasn't enough; Ning Zhuo also incorporated Wind Fire Wheels.

According to his design, two large Wind Fire Wheels would be installed on the calves of the new mechanical ape. When necessary, these wheels would spin at full force, whipping up fierce winds and flames to violently propel the heavy mechanical ape forward!

The mechanical ape's palms would be very broad and thick. This time, the Martial Art Talismans filling its palms and wrists wouldn't number just over a dozen, but a full thirty-six.

As for why the design of the Martial Art Talismans and Wind Fire Wheels resembled those of the mechanical apes in the Molten Rock Immortal Palace? Ning Zhuo had long prepared his excuse: "What? Am I not allowed to draw inspiration from excellent designs?"

The crafting of the Martial Art Talismans was delegated to his subordinates. These former managers were all Foundation Establishment elites, capable of crafting such talismans without issue.

Thus, Ning Zhuo planned to prepare a stack of each type of Martial Art Talisman. The main idea was thorough combat preparation, ensuring no fear of overuse.

The most crucial part remained the internal structure of the mechanical ape.

A high-quality Blood Transformation Pool, originating from the Molten Rock Immortal Palace reward, would be placed in the position corresponding to the ape's lungs.

The Blood Oil Bottle, also from the rewards, would be connected to the Blood Transformation Pool and hung in the abdominal area corresponding to the lower dantian.

Adjacent to the Blood Oil Bottle in the abdomen would be a Blood Spring Gourd.

The Blood Spring Gourd contained Ning Zhuo's blood, serving as a guide to automatically purify the blood within the Blood Oil Bottle. Ning Zhuo's blood was the standard; the purified essence blood could be fully absorbed by him, perfectly meeting his needs.

Losing blood required Ning Zhuo to use elixirs for healing and rapid blood replenishment. However, healing was preferable to him personally refining essence blood! Because during the healing process, Ning Zhuo could fully engage in other cultivation practices, utilizing his time more efficiently.

Meanwhile, Zhu Xuanji's group continued descending deeper into the Fire Persimmon Mountain.

They sometimes used internal tunnels, other times had to carve their own path. Their numbers allowed them to take turns leading the vanguard, bearing the greatest pressure at the forefront of combat, constantly opening the way forward.

The number of Blaze Flame Demonic Beasts within the mountain was immense. Even though many had been lost during the previous frenzy attacking the Molten Rock Immortal Palace due to the Luck Field, the number remaining inside the mountain was still incalculable.

Zhu Xuanji wielded his precious ruler, dominating the battlefield. The Zheng family cultivators channeled earth fire, attacking fiercely. The Zhou family cultivators tossed formation disks, setting up battlefields. The Ning family ancestor exhaled frost, freezing enemies solid.

The six Golden Cores supported each other, their coordination gradually becoming more默契 (mò qì - tacit understanding). They rested a few times along the way, but eventually began to struggle to hold on.

The deeper they went, the stronger and more numerous the Blaze Flame Demonic Beasts became, constantly assaulting them, leaving them exhausted and unable to rest properly.

"We're here!" Zhu Xuanji shouted, boosting morale. They had finally fought their way to the Molten Flame Demon Ape's underground king's nest.

Zhu Xuanji immediately spotted the wreckage of the Mechanical Demon General.

But the next moment, the Demon Ape King rose with a long roar. Following its cry, figures of demon apes emerged from the flames, heavily surrounding Zhu Xuanji's group of six.

"Oh no!"

"They actually have five Golden Core level demon apes?"

"The enemy force is too strong, should we retreat?"

Demon apes possessed physically powerful bodies far surpassing humans. Unless one was a body cultivator, it was nearly impossible to match them in physical combat. None in Zhu Xuanji's group were body cultivators; even Zheng Shuanggou of the Zheng family only dabbled in it.

Zhu Xuanji also wanted to retreat, but the demon ape formation was too dense, ultimately blocking their escape.

A life-and-death battle thus commenced!

Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

Underground Secret Base.

Within thick, gloomy clouds, Luo Shang was entangled by several Enchanting Ghost Maidens. These female ghosts were highly skilled at stirring desires and draining male Yang energy.

Yet, amidst the crowd of seductive and alluring female ghosts, Luo Shang remained composed, his expression cold and calm, quietly cultivating his demonic arts and spells!

He was using the female ghosts to aid his cultivation.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed slightly as he detected a faint ripple. Immediately, the ripple expanded, and space seemed to part like a door being pushed open.

Sun Lingtong walked in.

He had to relocate periodically, moving to the next underground secret base. This time, it was here's turn.

(End of )