: Facing the Inspection

Ning Zhuo's residence.

Zhu Xuanji and Ning Zhuo stood facing each other.

Ning Zhuo breathed steadily, but his heart tightened. He thought calmly, "This moment has finally arrived."

Ever since Zhu Xuanji appeared and entered Fire Persimmon Immortal City...

Ever since Ning Zhuo came into contact with the Three Supreme Techniques and decided to cultivate them...

He had already anticipated this moment.

No, to be more precise, his expectation for this day began over a decade ago.

He had long foreseen that his cultivation would be inspected.

And he had prepared for it early on.

However, when this moment of trial truly arrived, Ning Zhuo couldn't help but feel his heartbeat quicken.

Facing any other Golden Core cultivator would be one thing, but against Zhu Xuanji, who possessed the Golden Eye talent, Ning Zhuo had no experience and couldn't grasp the nuances.

As a Qi Refinement stage cultivator, concealing his true cultivation from a Golden Core cultivator was an extremely difficult task.

Zhu Xuanji immediately noticed Ning Zhuo's accelerated heartbeat.

He said softly, "Your heartbeat is a bit fast. What's wrong? You seem a little nervous."

Ning Zhuo grinned. "Of course, Lord Zhu. Is this Demon Corrupted Blood Tendon Technique meant to complement the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art?"

"Are the legendary Three Supreme Techniques real?"

Ning Zhuo's face was full of anticipation for the Three Supreme Techniques.

Given that this concerned his path to enlightenment and the Three Supreme Techniques, a slightly faster heartbeat was perfectly natural.

Zhu Xuanji chuckled. "Since you asked, I'll share some good news with you."

"Based on what we've seen so far, the demon sect true scripture we seized does indeed complement the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art."

"Although this demon sect true scripture only goes up to the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, even from this content, we can see some connection to the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art."

Then, Zhu Xuanji changed the subject. "The Three Supreme Techniques cultivate the upper, middle, and lower dantians respectively."

"If you can build your foundation using these three techniques, your future prospects will undoubtedly be bright."

"Techniques that allow foundation building using all three dantians are exceedingly rare in this world!"

"So this time, when I inspect your aptitude, I will not only check your qi sea but also your essence sea. I'll also examine your spirit sea while I'm at it. How about that?"

Did Ning Zhuo dare refuse?

He immediately put on an expression of delight and said eagerly, "Lord Zhu, that's truly wonderful! Thank you for your efforts. Please conduct a thorough examination."

As he spoke, Ning Zhuo secretly activated the My Buddha Heart Demon Seal and the Cloud-hidden Bud beneath his tongue.

These two treasures were his key defenses against the inspection!

Zhu Xuanji released a thread of blood qi, which penetrated Ning Zhuo's body, delving deep until it reached his lower dantian, the essence sea.

Apart from magical treasures, only blood qi could enter or exit the lower dantian essence sea.

Zhu Xuanji's blood qi carried his divine sense, circling several times above Ning Zhuo's essence sea, taking in its entire appearance.

The Cloud-hidden Bud did its work, firmly concealing the true state of the essence sea and presenting only the scene Ning Zhuo had deliberately arranged to Zhu Xuanji.

Ning Zhuo had been practicing this continuously for over a decade. He was already thoroughly familiar with it, making it as instinctive as breathing.

When Zhu Xuanji probed the essence sea, he saw only that it was similar to that of an ordinary cultivator, albeit with a slightly deeper foundation. After all, Ning Zhuo had been consuming large amounts of spirit food recently.

Zhu Xuanji withdrew his blood qi and then channeled his magic power into Ning Zhuo's body.

Similarly, his magic power carried his divine sense.

Zhu Xuanji's magic power entered Ning Zhuo's middle dantian qi sea, where he saw five-colored clouds swirling and detected that Ning Zhuo's cultivation had reached the fourth layer, already at the peak of the fourth layer.

"It seems the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art is indeed very suitable for you," Zhu Xuanji praised lightly before withdrawing his magic power.

Finally, he directly released his divine sense to probe Ning Zhuo's upper dantian spirit sea.

The defense of the spirit sea was Ning Zhuo's strongest point.

Not only was the Cloud-hidden Bud used to conceal the true situation, but the My Buddha Heart Demon Seal was also there, suppressing and transforming both others and himself.

Sure enough, after scanning once, Zhu Xuanji found Ning Zhuo's spirit sea empty but vast in capacity.

This made Zhu Xuanji think of Ning Zhuo's innate talent.

To this day, the Ning family still hadn't determined what Ning Zhuo's talent was.

But some clues could be seen from Ning Zhuo's spirit sea.

Zhu Xuanji withdrew his divine sense.

The glints of golden light in his scrutinizing eyes also faded away.

"I have good news for you."

"Very good!"

"All three of your dantians are suitable for cultivating the Three Supreme Techniques."

"You have talent, and it lies within your spirit sea. From this perspective, the path of spirit cultivation is most suitable for you."

"For example, the Empty Emptiness Art, the signature technique of the Bukong Sect, focuses on cultivating the spirit sea while also cultivating the essence sea."

"Are you familiar with the Bukong Sect?"

"Perhaps... you know Sun Lingtong better."

Ning Zhuo replied, "Of course I know Sun Lingtong. He was the controller of the last black market cycle."

"I've also considered the matter of my talent."

"But I believe the Three Supreme Techniques are more suitable for me. Now that I have the Five Elements Qi Rhythm Art and the Demon Corrupted Blood Tendon Technique, I might even obtain a spirit cultivation technique for the upper dantian in the future."

Zhu Xuanji nodded. "Indeed."

He looked seriously at Ning Zhuo. "But I must remind you not to be too complacent."

"Although we've obtained the demon sect true scripture, your situation still carries some danger."

Ning Zhuo showed surprise. "Lord Zhu, what do you mean?"

"My danger stems from the fact that many people previously believed the demon sect true scripture was in my possession."

"Now that the demon sect true scripture has appeared and was taken by the Zheng family ancestor, many witnessed this scene."

The battle among the Golden Core cultivators had drawn much attention.

The immortal city had a large population of cultivators, many of whom possessed techniques allowing them to observe the distant battlefield.

Zhu Xuanji sighed.

"On the surface, that seems to be the case."

"But to be honest, from my perspective, things aren't that simple."

Ning Zhuo immediately clasped his fists and bowed deeply. "Please enlighten me, Lord Zhu."

Zhu Xuanji sighed again. "Ning Zhuo, you've seen puppet shows, right? Right now, I feel as if there's a hidden hand behind the scenes."

"The recent Golden Core battle was like a puppet show. All the participating Golden Core cultivators were like marionettes, completely unaware."

"That stage was likely deliberately set up by the mastermind behind the scenes."

Ning Zhuo was taken aback. "Lord Zhu, are you suggesting the City Lord's Mansion?"

"Indeed, during the recent battle, only Chi Dun from the City Lord's Mansion acted. Fei Si never made a move."

"Moreover, the City Lord himself始终 remained on the sidelines. If he had intervened, he could have surely suppressed the entire situation."

Zhu Xuanji shook his head and sighed. "Getting him to act is difficult. You might not be familiar with his style. For him to personally step in, the situation would have to be extremely critical."

"Perhaps it is the City Lord's Mansion?"

Ning Zhuo said, "Lord Zhu, I'm not well-versed in investigating cases. However, I believe you will surely succeed!"

Zhu Xuanji's expression changed slightly, and he laughed. "You seem quite confident in me."

Ning Zhuo chuckled. "Of course! Because you are the Divine Constable, Zhu Xuanji, who uncovers hidden dangers for the people. You are the most upright person I have ever met."

"Of course, righteousness will prevail."

Zhu Xuanji was slightly stunned and looked seriously at the young man before him.

Ning Zhuo's eyes were clear and sincere. At this moment, he revealed his firm belief in the righteous path.

Seeing Ning Zhuo like this, Zhu Xuanji seemed to catch a glimpse of his younger self in an instant.

Like Ning Zhuo, he too had once held a firm belief in the righteous path.

Zhu Xuanji laughed again. "You rascal, framing Yuan Dasheng earlier—was that part of your righteous path?"

Ning Zhuo spread his hands. "That Monkey Head Gang started as a black organization anyway. Besides, what's wrong with getting rid of one ape?"

"And regarding the black market, here's what I think."

"If I control the black market, I can bring more order to it, maintain stability, and reduce bloodshed. At the same time, I can improve the lives of my clansmen."

"So why shouldn't I do it?"

"I feel the three major families all want a piece of the black market; they're just too concerned about face."

"I also care about face, but I have no choice—I need to fill my stomach first."

"I need to ensure my own survival before I can practice my righteous path and help my clan."

Zhu Xuanji nodded slightly and patted Ning Zhuo's shoulder. "At least you are pragmatic."

With that said.

Zhu Xuanji bid farewell.

Ning Zhuo saw him to the courtyard gate, watching until Zhu Xuanji disappeared from view.

Ning Zhuo turned back into the courtyard. As he walked, his eyebrows gradually rose, and an increasingly excited expression appeared on his face.

Once back inside his room, he closed the door and couldn't help but clench his fists, pumping his arms vigorously, feeling very exhilarated.

This action clearly showed—he was extremely happy.

After all, he had not only obtained the Demon Corrupted Blood Tendon Technique but also received Zhu Xuanji's approval of his aptitude. He was even told that cultivating all Three Supreme Techniques was completely feasible.

Full of excitement, Ning Zhuo went down to the basement to continue his cultivation.

However, whether he was studying texts on mechanism arts or sitting in meditation, his mind seemed somewhat distracted.

From time to time, he would pause and chuckle foolishly to himself.

These small actions unmistakably revealed his youthful nature.

Occasionally, he would also frown slightly, showing signs of doubt, as if thinking about his final conversation with Zhu Xuanji.

But then he would shake his head, as if saying, why bother thinking about this? Let the taller ones hold up the sky if it falls!

He even murmured softly, "Isn't there still Lord Zhu Xuanji?"

(End of )