: Thawing

2025-09-19 Author: Gu Zhenren

Xue Shu Yu Xie was sensible and took the initiative to greet him.

In contrast, Xue Cai Nu Hui remained motionless, staring blankly at Ning Zhuo.

Just to be safe, Ning Zhuo had his Life Threads suspended above the heads of both puppet constructs.

After inspecting them, he confirmed that the spirituality of both was at the Lingchang stage.

Ning Zhuo pondered, "Is it because the bodies like the Floating Ice Jade Hand and Weather Sphere·Ice Crystal Snow are too small, making it difficult for their spirituality to have room to grow?"

He speculated silently.

Most of his understanding of spirituality came from "The Theory of Spirit."

Although this book was highly valuable, its content was not extensive, limited mainly to the classification of spirituality.

"Perhaps I should look into the Wanxiang Sect to see if there are any methods for nurturing spirituality?"

Ning Zhuo made a mental note of this.

This was the benefit of joining a super sect. Many things unavailable on the market could be found here.

Of course, the Complete Book Pavilion probably had knowledge on spirituality as well. But since Ning Zhuo wasn't a member, acquiring jade slips of that level as a customer would cost him much more.

Besides, he was currently in the Wanxiang Sect, not the Complete Book Pavilion.

A short while later.

In the cultivation room, Xue Cai Nu Hui and Xue Shu Yu Xie stood facing each other, with a huge block of ice placed between them.

Inside the ice was a monkey-like mechanical puppet, none other than Heavy Armor Blood Ape·Da Sheng.

"Begin," Ning Zhuo commanded from further away, crossing his arms as he observed.

Xue Shu Yu Xie took the lead.

The ice dragon heads on her shoulder armor glowed with cold light, sharply striking the ice block in the center.

Countless azure light patterns rapidly spread throughout the ice, forming hexagonal structures.

The hexagons interconnected, creating a three-dimensional grid.

Ning Zhuo knew: the more of these grids, the deeper Xue Shu Yu Xie's control over the ice.

The hexagonal grid was just the surface manifestation; the real source of power was Xue Shu Yu Xie's innate talent—Snow Soul Ice Pith!

This talent gave its possessor a soul different from ordinary people, allowing them to project their soul out of their body even without soul cultivation and wield some ice-cold power.

If the soul was injured, it could accelerate self-healing by drawing on snow and ice.

The downside was that the soul's foundation would grow increasingly stronger, putting pressure on the physical body. In the early stages, this could lead to perpetual frostbite. The disparity between soul and body would widen as the cultivator's cultivation advanced.

By the mid to late stages, the cultivator's physical body would freeze to death, leaving only the soul to exist.

Once possessing the Snow Soul Ice Pith talent, cultivators would ultimately become ghost cultivators.

This was considered a lower-grade talent.

Most of the ice trapping Heavy Armor Blood Ape·Da Sheng was penetrated by the hexagonal grids.

But soon, Xue Shu Yu Xie's power reached its limit—the grids stopped abruptly just before touching Yuan Da Sheng's mechanical body, unable to reach it no matter how she pushed her talent.

Xue Shu Yu Xie proceeded to the next step.

The azure three-dimensional grids brightened intensely as mana was poured into them.

Crack, crack...

A series of crisp sounds echoed as the ice covered by the grids began to fracture. Then, countless ice particles, like billions of tiny diamonds, scattered and drifted out.

The ice encasing Heavy Armor Blood Ape·Da Sheng visibly diminished at a rapid pace.

After Xue Shu Yu Xie exerted her full effort, only a thin layer of ice remained around Yuan Da Sheng.

But this single layer presented a steep increase in difficulty; no matter how Xue Shu Yu Xie tried, it remained unmoved and undiminished.

Seeing this, Ning Zhuo promptly ordered Xue Cai Nu Hui to join in.

Her three pairs of jade arms suddenly unfolded, and the graceful female construct slowly levitated. Her innate talent, Ice Fat Jade Hands, began to activate, the tricolored enamel armor radiating brilliant light.

With the two constructs working together, a breakthrough was immediately made.

The thin layer of ice around Yuan Da Sheng melted away like snow under the scorching sun.

Dark Yin energy dispersed in all directions, but Ning Zhuo intervened, collecting it all to prevent any interference with the subsequent thawing and rescue efforts.

Inside the Heavy Armor Blood Ape·Da Sheng construct, ice had also formed, filling the interior.

The color of this ice was darker, clearly containing more Yin-attributed energy.

Even with Xue Shu Yu Xie and Xue Cai Nu Hui giving their all, they only managed to dissolve about thirty percent of the ice.

The remaining seventy percent stubbornly held its ground.

Divine Ability—Life Threads!

Ning Zhuo's eyes shone, a hint of joy on his face.

Unlike before, the Life Threads could finally connect with Yuan Da Sheng's spirituality.

His spirituality had shrunk into a ball, also frozen solid. No matter how Ning Zhuo called out, there was no response.

As for using the Life Threads to extract it, that was out of the question.

Ning Zhuo sighed softly.

This was the limit.

Achieving this much was already quite good.

After all, both constructs were only made with Golden Core level materials and had Golden Core level combat power. Dealing with the methods of a Nascent Soul level expert in a life-and-death battle was indeed beyond their capability.

Fortunately, this situation was within Ning Zhuo's expectations.

He then ordered Xue Cai Nu Hui to continue using the Ice Fat Jade Hands.

But this time, instead of thawing, the Ice Fat Jade Hands added more ice.

The new ice froze over Heavy Armor Blood Ape·Da Sheng, almost restoring it to its previous state. However, this ice secretly contained vitality, continuously providing life force and nourishment to Yuan Da Sheng's spirituality.

Through the Life Threads, Ning Zhuo carefully observed and confirmed that Yuan Da Sheng's spirituality could barely sustain itself, slightly easing his worries.

"Ice Fat Jade Hands and Snow Soul Ice Pith are both innate talents, essentially embryonic divine abilities."

"Even with these two talents combined, they can't completely thaw him; I'll have to find another way."

Ning Zhuo had already thought of several related methods.

For example, using Nascent Soul level materials to construct new mechanical bodies that would allow them to exert Nascent Soul level combat power. That should solve Yuan Da Sheng's trouble.

But Ning Zhuo's skill in mechanical arts wasn't at that level yet.

Having the method but lacking the ability was Ning Zhuo's main issue.

Ning Zhuo then took out Shadow Blade·Ye Hu and had the two constructs attempt to solve its problem.

This attempt yielded even worse results than with Yuan Da Sheng.

Mainly because the issue with Shadow Blade·Ye Hu was different from that of Heavy Armor Blood Ape·Da Sheng. The latter was frozen, while the former was tarnished.

Even with Ning Zhuo's Life Threads attached to Shadow Blade·Ye Hu, he couldn't connect with its spirituality.

In the end, Ning Zhuo had no choice but to order Xue Cai Nu Hui to freeze Shadow Blade·Ye Hu in ice as well.

"I hope this preservation can also provide some support for Meng Ye Hu's spirituality!"

Ning Zhuo stored away Yuan Da Sheng and Meng Ye Hu and continued his cultivation.

Apart from his physical body, he constantly contemplated the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique. Currently, among his three Dantians, the Essence Sea Lower Dantian was lagging the most in progress.

Controlling Xue Cai Nu Hui and Xue Shu Yu Xie also became part of Ning Zhuo's training regimen.

Ning Zhuo discovered that by controlling these constructs, he could help their spirituality become more adept at mastering their bodies.

At the same time, through this, Ning Zhuo could also deepen his understanding of the mechanical puppets, laying a practical foundation for future improvements.

Ning Zhuo didn't forget about making money either.

Without sufficient spirit stones on hand, he felt a bit uneasy.

As for how to make money, Ning Zhuo had several methods in mind. He chose the fastest one—mass selling Ghost Path Golden Cores!

However, he didn't choose to do it within the Wanxiang Sect.

That would be too conspicuous! It could easily expose Ning Zhuo's strength and lead others to overestimate and pay undue attention to him.

After all, the Wanxiang Sect had Deity Transformation level experts stationed there.

Ning Zhuo chose to sell the Ghost Path Golden Cores to his old friends.

For example, Zhu Xuanji of Southern Bean Kingdom and the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect, or the Mu General's Manor and Three Generals Camp in Liangzhu Kingdom. As for White Paper Immortal City, it wasn't included in the sales scope.

"Although the distance is great, the advantage is secrecy."

"Even though I can't leave the Wanxiang Sect and am busy with other matters, I can have people from Southern Bean Kingdom and Liangzhu Kingdom come here to trade!"

For such large transactions, having old friends act as traveling merchants once was completely reasonable!

"Trading with the Southern Bean Royal Family and the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect, and having them bring the Spirit Concealing Willow along."

"It's been so long; that spirit plant should be well nurtured by now, right?"

Southern Bean Kingdom.

Zhu Xuanji was bent over his desk handling official duties.

A knock came at the door.

"Enter." Zhu Xuanji didn't look up, still writing something.

A subordinate knelt on the floor, his voice raspy like grinding stones from behind his mask: "Reporting, sir, the ambush was successful. Of the seven invaders, six died and one was injured. After interrogating the prisoner, it's confirmed they were cultivators from the Soul Devourer Sect."

As he spoke, the subordinate respectfully presented an identity waist token and a jade slip.

Only then did Zhu Xuanji slowly look up, reaching out and generating an attracting force that pulled the evidence—the waist token and jade slip—onto his desk.

Zhu Xuanji ignored the waist token and picked up the jade slip, channeling a portion of his spiritual sense into it.

The jade slip recorded the footage of the ambush.

In an unnamed canyon, crossbow bolts rained down like a storm, tearing through the night and catching the Soul Devourer Sect cultivators off guard. After the first wave of attacks, three were severely wounded.

The Soul Devourer Sect cultivators, black robes fluttering like a swarm of bats, counterattacked.

Ning Jiufan led the charge, with the disguised Divine Capture Division cultivators bravely engaging them. Due to thorough preparation, they suffered no casualties and completely subdued this Soul Devourer Sect team.

"Soul Devourer Sect..." Zhu Xuanji tapped his fingers on the desk, still harboring doubts.

He had been closely monitoring the Ning family of Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

On one hand, the Ning family had a secret alliance with the Southern Bean Royal Family and the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect. On the other hand, if Zhu Xuanji didn't want Fire Persimmon Immortal City and the Molten Rock Immortal Palace to fall into the Meng family's hands, he had to rely on the Ning family to counter the Meng family's advances.

Because of this close attention, Zhu Xuanji had previously discovered that someone had secretly infiltrated to gather intelligence on the Ning family, Ning Zhuo, and related matters.

Zhu Xuanji initially held back, then secretly investigated and found that the force probing the Ning family and Ning Zhuo's information was none other than the Soul Devourer Sect, one of the super势力.

"Han Ming and Qi Bai both lost to Ning Zhuo... but that alone shouldn't warrant the Soul Devourer Sect taking such drastic action, right?"

"This team sent to harm the Ning family had five Golden Core cultivators."

"Since they were investigating Ning Zhuo's whereabouts, it's likely our Tribulation Bearer has caused the Soul Devourer Sect even greater losses!"

Thinking of Ning Zhuo, Zhu Xuanji couldn't help but complain inwardly: "That brat, even after leaving, he still won't settle down, making me clean up his mess."

"Fortunately, he's already reached White Paper Immortal City, separated from our kingdom by North Wind Kingdom and Liangzhu Kingdom."

The intelligence channels of cultivation kingdoms were naturally extremely extensive.

It wasn't strange for Southern Bean Kingdom's intelligence reach to extend to the Yin Tide Black Marsh.

Otherwise, Zhu Xuanji wouldn't have been able to guide Ning Zhuo back then—telling him to find the Mourning Music Ghost Musician in White Paper Immortal City.

"Brat, you owe me a favor this time." As Zhu Xuanji thought this, he suddenly sneezed.

A faint sense of foreboding arose in his heart.

"Tch, why am I thinking about him? Better not to."

"Tribulation Bearer... should stay far away from him; the farther, the safer."

"Someone in the Soul Devourer Sect must have gotten too close, and look, they're in trouble now!"

Soul Devourer Sect.

Around the White Bone Altar, soul mist coiled and churned incessantly.

Messaging talismans circled the outskirts of the mist, not daring to venture in.

On the altar, Tian Shuang and Di Gui, sensing the messaging talismans, slowly withdrew their efforts. Both soul cultivators looked utterly exhausted.

Tian Shuang waved his sleeve, opening a clear path through the soul mist.

The messaging talismans swiftly flew along this temporary passage to the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts.

The two probed the messages with their spiritual sense, their faces darkening.

"What? A team of five Golden Cores and two elite Foundation Building cultivators was completely wiped out?!"

"How is that possible?"

They were shocked; this situation was beyond their expectations.

They had suffered a great loss at Ning Zhuo's hands in the Thousand Peaks Forest battlefield of Liangzhu Kingdom.

The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts missed the second major battle. After regrouping, they began their revenge operation.

But by that time, Ning Zhuo had already left Liangzhu Kingdom.

Since he used the Ten Thousand Mile Wandering Dragon to traverse space, the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts lost track of him just as they started.

For a period after that, they actively searched for information and posted tasks within the Soul Devourer Sect for others to join the search.

Unfortunately, the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts never found Ning Zhuo.

This drove Tian Shuang crazy with anxiety!

In the previous battle, Tian Shuang's losses were enormous. Not only did he give almost all his possessions to Ning Zhuo, but he also lost face completely in front of his old partner Di Gui.

What to do if they couldn't find Ning Zhuo?

After discussing it, the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts came up with an idea. They returned to the Soul Devourer Sect's main mountain gate and used the White Bone Altar there to perform divination on the Tian Shuang Ghost Mask.

Once Ning Zhuo used the Tian Shuang Ghost Mask, the divination would take effect, revealing his precise location.

The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts stayed on the White Bone Altar, taking turns to preside over it, maintaining it almost day and night at great cost.

But the Tian Shuang Ghost Mask showed no sign of activity.

"Impossible!"

"The Tian Shuang Ghost Mask has Nascent Soul level combat power; there's no way that brat Ning Zhuo never uses it, right?"

Holding onto this thought, they persisted for over a month, exhausting themselves half to death.

Unable to sustain it any longer, they decided to offer a heavy bounty, posting a task for fellow sect members to target the Ning family to force Ning Zhuo to show himself.

They didn't know that the Ning family was backed by the Southern Bean Royal Family.

The cultivator team they had placed high hopes on ended up completely annihilated!

(End of )