: Cultivating Together as Three

To rent a cave dwelling, one had to go to the Internal Affairs Hall.

At the Internal Affairs Hall, Ning Zhuo already had an acquaintance—Cao Gui.

Previously, it was through Cao Gui that he had coordinated to deal with Yu Heye.

After some thought, Ning Zhuo decided to seek him out again.

When Cao Gui saw Ning Zhuo again, he narrowed his eyes and asked directly, "Friend Ning, are you friend or foe?"

Ning Zhuo smiled, "Naturally, a comrade-in-arms."

Cao Gui shook his head, "If that's the case, why have you repeatedly accepted Yu Heye's invitations to banquets?"

Yu Heye had offended the Cao family in the past.

As a member of the Cao family, one reason Cao Gui had agreed to collaborate with Ning Zhuo earlier was to cause trouble for Yu Heye.

Another reason was that Cao Gui himself was relatively poor, and Ning Zhuo had offered substantial compensation.

Ning Zhuo clasped his hands and bowed sincerely, "The conflict between Yu Heye and me was minor and has already been resolved. As a newcomer, turning a Golden Core cultivator from an enemy into a friend is the right path."

"I personally believe this does not hinder my friendship with you."

"After all, the Cao family is the Cao family, and you, Friend Cao Gui, are yourself. Brother Cao, in your current situation, how much has your family actually supported you?"

Cao Gui sighed deeply, "Although I am a marginal figure in the family, I obtained this position through family connections."

"How can one forget their roots?"

With that, he waved his sleeve, "I can understand your choice, Friend Ning. From now on, let us be strangers."

Ning Zhuo let out a long sigh, clasped his hands in salute, and said, "Your righteousness is admirable. It is my lack of fortune that I cannot be your friend. Farewell!"

Cao Gui watched Ning Zhuo leave before turning back to his work.

Ning Zhuo rode his cloud away from this Internal Affairs Hall and went to another one.

His expression was neutral; Cao Gui's change in attitude was one of the scenarios he had anticipated.

Originally, Ning Zhuo's plan was to use the opportunity of dealing with Yu Heye to get closer to the Cao family. Although the Cao family had declined, they were still a force among the old four peaks.

But then an unexpected development occurred—Yu Heye voluntarily submitted.

As a Golden Core cultivator, his submission held greater value, so Ning Zhuo naturally chose the latter.

This meant his relationship with Cao Gui was damaged. Today's meeting confirmed it.

"Becoming strangers—this outcome is neither good nor bad."

At least they hadn't become enemies.

Having confirmed this relationship, Ning Zhuo put the Cao family line of connection out of his mind.

One cannot make everyone like them; in other words, it's impossible to maintain good relations with all factions and individuals.

Especially in an environment full of contention, where one must compete for cultivation resources.

Between the Cao family and Yu Heye, Ning Zhuo chose the latter.

Between Shen Xi and Pi Fujie, Ning Zhuo chose the former.

When the time was ripe, he had to pick a side. In politics, neutrality is often the most dangerous. Loyalty that is not absolute is absolutely disloyal.

Only by choosing a faction could he deepen relationships further.

Ning Zhuo's political acumen in this regard was absolutely sufficient.

Half an hour later.

Ning Zhuo stood inside the Green Stone Cave Dwelling.

This was his newly rented cave dwelling.

The cave had five rooms and one main hall.

The mossy stone entrance hall was for receiving guests. The cultivation room was paved with green jade bricks, carved with a Qi Gathering Array. The alchemy and artifact refining room had an Earth Fire Array, meeting basic needs for pill refining and artifact forging. The two living quarters had few facilities.

The last room was a martial practice room, equipped with a Martial Practice Array. This was the main reason Ning Zhuo had chosen it.

The matter at Shuyu Studio was already settled, leaving only the Luoshu page. That couldn't be resolved quickly.

Moreover, Yu Heye could be considered a hidden connection Ning Zhuo had planted; staying there long-term would only attract attention.

He had just made an enemy of Pi Fujie and was bound to make more enemies in the future. Withdrawing promptly was naturally best.

It was also convenient that Gongsun Yan had joined them, as the original cave dwelling was no longer sufficient.

Ning Zhuo assigned the two living quarters in the Green Stone Cave to Chef Lao and Qing Chi. They were almost empty, but that made it convenient for them to arrange things themselves.

As for Gongsun Yan, he was to stay in the alchemy and artifact refining room.

Ning Zhuo himself didn't even have a living quarter; the cultivation room would suffice.

His requirements in this regard weren't high.

After arranging everything, Ning Zhuo activated the array in the martial practice room and entered the array space.

The cost of using the martial practice hall wasn't high, but Ning Zhuo didn't dare risk exposing the sentience of Snow Maiden·Hui.

Inside the array space, he performed several rounds of Five Elements spells, causing ripples on the transparent boundary walls of the array space, testing its defensive strength.

However, Ning Zhuo didn't directly release Snow Maiden·Hui. Instead, he left the Green Stone Cave Dwelling alone.

He returned to the peak where Yu Heye was located and, using the mountain's teleportation stone room, secretly exchanged places with Sun Lingtong.

Sun Lingtong returned to the Green Stone Cave, while Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged before the Water Vortex Array.

During this time, Sun Lingtong had made阶段性 progress in studying the Water Vortex Array. Outside the Water Vortex Array, he had constructed another small array.

Using this small array, Ning Zhuo could communicate with the core of the array within the vortex—the Luoshu page. Sun Lingtong himself wouldn't have to use his Heavenly Gift Spirit Eyes every time, as that was too exhausting.

Through the small array, Ning Zhuo was influenced by the Dao artifact. Sun Lingtong, via the Life Thread, also蹭到了 the Luoshu page's influence.

Carrying this influence, Sun Lingtong carefully inspected the arrays of the Green Stone Cave, confirmed its safety, and then secretly left again.

Throughout the process, Chef Lao, Qing Chi, and Gongsun Yan were kept in the dark.

There was no need to tell them.

Sun Lingtong's proficiency in arrays was far superior to Ning Zhuo's. Moreover, with the aid of the Luoshu page, the inspection results were highly likely to be accurate.

Crucially, when Ning Zhuo chose this cave dwelling, his mechanism ring showed no reaction.

Cave dwellings of this level typically catered to wealthy Foundation Establishment cultivators. Within the Wanxiang Sect, there were many such individuals.

Unless Ning Zhuo was particularly unlucky and picked a特殊 one out of millions of choices, who would specifically target him?

But if it came to luck, Ning Zhuo wasn't lacking in that regard either.

After the events at White Paper Immortal City, he had gained the favor of Yang Tian; his luck wouldn't be bad. However, within the Wanxiang Sect's main headquarters, this luck influence wasn't明显 manifested. Any superpower had exclusive treasures to suppress fortune.

Considering all this, Ning Zhuo was almost completely certain the Green Stone Cave was safe.

Only after secretly exchanging with Sun Lingtong did he take out Snow Maiden·Hui inside the martial practice array.

He only used the Life Thread to暗中联系 this mechanism puppet, while he himself concealed his form and操控 numerous mechanism beasts to围攻 Snow Maiden·Hui.

Snow Maiden·Hui, caught in the encirclement, retaliated on her own, dismantling wave after wave of mechanism beasts into fragments.

In each battle, Ning Zhuo intentionally left gaps, allowing Snow Maiden·Hui to rest.

After all, sentience was primary;操控 the puppet also consumed energy.

Each time Snow Maiden·Hui won, she would slightly lift her head, standing proudly on the spot.

Through the Life Thread, Ning Zhuo could clearly feel her sentience's emotions naturally expressing themselves each time. His connection with Snow Maiden·Hui became increasingly smooth.

"My guess is probably correct."

"Snow Maiden·Hui's nature is—pride."

"As long as I continuously satisfy this aspect, I can express her nature and help her pass through the Sentient Phase faster."

The good times didn't last long.

As Snow Maiden·Hui's victories gradually increased, the pride she gained after battles diminished.

Even when Ning Zhuo intentionally increased the difficulty, such as adding more普通 mechanism beasts or enhancing his control over them, the pride Snow Maiden·Hui expressed from winning明显 decreased.

When the收益 dropped to a certain level, Ning Zhuo果断 stopped.

"Doing the same thing repeatedly indeed brings less and less joy. Even ordinary people would become麻木 after many times."

"Then let's do something else."

Knowing Ning Xiao Hui quite well, Ning Zhuo naturally thought of talisman making.

Ning Xiao Hui had been quite skilled at talisman making during her lifetime.

Ning Zhuo called Qing Chi to the martial practice room.

This time, he appeared in person, arranging for both Qing Chi and Snow Maiden·Hui to sit cross-legged before him.

Qing Chi first curiously observed the mechanism puppet, marveling at her beauty, then her gaze stuck to Ning Zhuo. Even with amnesia, she showed intense attachment.

Qing Chi always responded enthusiastically to Ning Zhuo's calls.

Ning Zhuo said, "I called you here today to teach you the most basic talisman making. Watch carefully!"

After speaking, Ning Zhuo demonstrated on the spot, creating a Lightbody Talisman.

The talisman's effect was to reduce the target's weight. If a mortal applied it and could activate it, they could tread snow without leaving traces, run swiftly over grass, instantly becoming a lightness skill master.

After demonstrating once, Ning Zhuo had Qing Chi and Snow Maiden·Hui attempt to make one.

Qing Chi showed embarrassment; her gaze had involuntarily fixated on Ning Zhuo's face, so she hadn't seen clearly how to make the talisman.

In contrast, Snow Maiden·Hui's sentience,不愧 originating from Ning Xiao Hui, was deeply captivated during Ning Zhuo's demonstration, staring intently at his talisman-making actions, motionless and fully focused.

Ning Zhuo had the two begin their attempts.

Snow Maiden·Hui remained still for a long time before starting, her movements rigid and mechanical, failing quickly.

Failing at talisman making could result in minor consequences like consuming法力 and精神, or severe ones like suffering backlash.

Fortunately, the Lightbody Talisman was too low-level and simple; both Snow Maiden·Hui and Qing Chi had enough foundation to withstand the negative consequences of multiple failures.

After failing, Snow Maiden·Hui continuously endured the negative outcomes.

Qing Chi was the same, but her movements became faster,进步神速, getting closer to success.

Ning Zhuo was secretly surprised, "My own progress when learning this talisman was slightly slower than hers. I didn't expect her to have such notable talent in this cultivation skill too!"

He looked back at Snow Maiden·Hui; because of the Life Thread connection, Ning Zhuo could clearly feel an anxious emotion from her.

Clearly, she was very interested in talisman making and had noticed Qing Chi's rapid progress, not wanting to lose to someone else.

Ning Zhuo looked at Qing Chi again and saw her frowning, looking very serious.

Even without the Life Thread, he could guess Qing Chi's thoughts—"I must go all out! If I can't even beat a mechanism puppet, wouldn't Young Master Ning Zhuo be very disappointed in me?"

Ning Zhuo sighed inwardly, thinking, "Sorry, Qing Chi."

He used the Life Thread again, connecting to Qing Chi, slightly influencing her fingers.

Qing Chi, in the middle of making a talisman, suddenly had her movements deform, drawing a rather离谱 arc, immediately failing.

Frowning, Qing Chi thought it was her own fine control failing and immediately started over.

Under Ning Zhuo's biased assistance, Snow Maiden·Hui's progress gradually caught up to and surpassed Qing Chi's, eventually succeeding first in making the talisman.

Her head tilted back even higher than before when she defeated the tiger demon!

Ning Zhuo also felt pleased inwardly; through the Life Thread, he could sense Snow Maiden·Hui's pride emotion was expressed极其浓烈, the strongest ever.

"This path is correct!"

Only Qing Chi was almost crying.

Why was she so useless? At critical moments, her fingers wouldn't obey, and her movements would deform!

She actually couldn't even beat a mechanism puppet—how could she face this!

As for why the mechanism puppet was so agile, Qing Chi, with her amnesia and lack of common knowledge, didn't find it strange.

Ning Zhuo nodded, praised Snow Maiden·Hui, eliciting another small wave of pride from her. Then, he comforted and encouraged Qing Chi.

The young girl gritted her teeth, full of感动, immediately vowing to work even harder!

Ning Zhuo had them compete again.

This time, Qing Chi went all out, and Ning Zhuo didn't interfere; she indeed made significant progress. But just as she was halfway through, Snow Maiden·Hui had already succeeded again.

"Is it because she's a mechanism, so once she succeeds once, she succeeds every time?" A gleam flashed in Ning Zhuo's eyes as he敏锐地察觉到 Snow Maiden·Hui's talisman-making movements were identical to before.

Buddhist Physician·Meng Yaoyin didn't count as his work. Ning Zhuo had created mechanism bodies for Yuan Dasheng and Meng Yehu. But both were combat types, and he hadn't had them learn any cultivation skills.

This situation with Snow Maiden·Hui was Ning Zhuo's first encounter.

He felt he had guessed the truth.

Next, he began testing.

Indeed, Snow Maiden·Hui succeeded in talisman making every time, all movements exactly the same.

Qing Chi, without Ning Zhuo's暗中干扰, also became faster and faster after making her first Lightbody Talisman. Because the talisman was too basic and simple, she didn't fail either.

But each time, she never beat Snow Maiden·Hui.

"Once Xiao Hui learns a talisman, her making speed is at her maximum from the start."

"Qing Chi has great potential to tap. If they competed another dozen times, her speed would surpass Xiao Hui's."

"Each victory in talisman making expresses much more pride emotion than fighting mechanism beasts."

"It seems Snow Maiden·Hui inherited some traits from Ning Xiao Hui's lifetime. Compared to combat, she leans more towards talisman making!"

With this discovery, the mechanism puppet's定位 in Ning Zhuo's mind shifted directly from combat type to production type.

"She should have some combat ability, filling the战力空缺 while Yuan Dasheng and Meng Yehu are being repaired."

"But actually, she's more suited to making talismans."

"When her sentience grows in the future, I should equip her with a technique specifically for talisman making!"

"Of course, before that, I'll have her try other cultivation skills to试探出 her true situation."

Ning Zhuo had a预感 that Snow Maiden·Hui's定位 should be talisman making. But to be safe, he needed to try all cultivation skills.

Seeing that Qing Chi was about to surpass Snow Maiden·Hui, Ning Zhuo果断 said, "Alright, next, I'll teach you a second type of talisman."

Qing Chi gasped in surprise, but Ning Zhuo had already started demonstrating, so she had to放下遗憾 and focus on observing.

Learning from her previous lesson, Qing Chi observed very carefully this time.

But when it came to attempting talisman making, she still started making frequent mistakes.

"What's wrong with me?"

"It shouldn't be that hard! Why am I so nervous?"

"Am I... too eager to show off in front of the young master?"

Qing Chi grew more anxious and gradually began to doubt herself.

On the other side, Snow Maiden·Hui's learning progress was naturally far slower than Qing Chi's. After all, she was only at the Sentient Phase and hadn't grown to the Intelligent Phase yet.

Ning Zhuo naturally wouldn't let Qing Chi continue doubting. He果断 stood up, walked to Qing Chi, and directly reached out, holding her hand, "Let me help you. Don't be nervous; try to control your fingers, don't let them shake."

Whoosh!

Qing Chi felt as if she heard steam rushing out from the top of her head.

At that moment, she felt like she was about to explode, her heart pounding wildly.

She stared blankly at Ning Zhuo's hand holding hers, feeling as if she had fallen into a beautiful dream.

Ning Zhuo taught her hand-in-hand, tirelessly telling her where she had gone wrong, more meticulous and patient than teaching a young child.

Meanwhile, Ning Zhuo暗中 observed Snow Maiden·Hui, seeing her start moving, failing repeatedly, her progress increasing, and nodded inwardly.

Qing Chi's expression was stiff, her whole body tense, her heart no longer focused on talisman making but entirely on Ning Zhuo, constantly feeling the warmth of his palm.

She forgot the passage of time, feeling everything was wonderfully indescribable!

So much so that when Snow Maiden·Hui succeeded in making the talisman again and Ning Zhuo let go, she was jolted awake.

The mechanism puppet tilted her head back again, even more than before.

The reason was simple: her opponent had received more guidance yet still lost to her.

Instantly, intense pride emotion overflowed!

Ning Zhuo had them make the second type of talisman again. After waking up, Qing Chi focused entirely, going all out,凭借 talent that even surpassed Ning Zhuo's, quickly catching up again.

After succeeding in making the talisman for the first time, she also had a 100% success rate, and her speed increased rapidly.

But just as she showed signs of surpassing Snow Maiden·Hui again, Ning Zhuo果断 started teaching them a third type of talisman.

After demonstrating once, Ning Zhuo had both attempt it.

Qing Chi's first stroke was crooked!

Full of羞涩之情, she mustered courage, looking at Ning Zhuo with渴望 and期待, "Young master, my talent in talisman making is too low. Please help me."

Ning Zhuo: ...

This time, he hadn't used the Life Thread to influence her.

Ning Zhuo sighed inwardly, pretending not to know, and again taught Qing Chi hand-in-hand.

Thus, all three achieved their goals.

After most of the day, Snow Maiden·Hui still needed to continuously express emotions and hadn't directly advanced past the Sentient Phase.

Comparing her to Yuan Dasheng, Ning Zhuo暗中 guessed, "Yuan Dasheng previously broke free from control directly, acting autonomously, his emotions发泄得极其猛烈