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Zheng Jianlian then looked toward the Ning Family\'s Golden Core Ancestor.

The jade slip was very clear—this time, the key reason for the failure of the three-family alliance in exploring the Immortal Palace was because Ning Xiaohui had actually started an internal conflict in public!

This behavior was far too egregious.

The Ning Family\'s Golden Core Ancestor seemed completely unaware of the gaze directed at him. "Even if we had won this battle, we could see the difficulty of exploring the Lava Immortal Palace."

“The path of sending souls into the Immortal Palace is not that easy.”

This analysis struck a chord with the others.

Even though the defeat was regretful, the Golden Core ancestors of the three families had all witnessed the improved combat power of Yuan Dasheng and Qi Bai.

In this battle, the materials used to make the two mechanical creations were clearly a level above the previous ones.

Furthermore, they also employed various novel mechanical components—such as the self-destructing ape mechanism, the Wind-Fire Wheel, and the mechanism ropes that captured Ning Xie—all of which yielded significant combat results and should not be underestimated.

Naturally, the Golden Core ancestors of the three families attributed this improvement to the Lava Immortal Palace and to the deliberate arrangements made by the Three Sect Lords.

They would never have guessed that there was a mastermind controlling everything behind the scenes!

"Even if the Qi Refining juniors of the three-family alliance regroup and achieve some success, it won’t be smooth sailing."

“The path of sending souls into the Immortal Palace remains challenging.”

“Meng Chong possesses immortal potential, and with the City Lord’s renovation team dominating the leaderboard, it will be difficult for our renovation team to defeat such an opponent…”

The Golden Core ancestors communicated secretly via spiritual sense for a while, gradually reaching a consensus.

That was: to set out together, cooperate with Zhu Xuanji, and venture deep into Mount Huoshi to seize the Demon General mechanism!

From the perspective of the three families, they would rather see Zhu Xuanji ultimately obtain the Immortal Palace than Meng Kui.

If Meng Kui gained the Immortal Palace, the Meng family would move into the Immortal City in force, greatly squeezing the living space of the three families.

However, if Zhu Xuanji was victorious, then the three families would have rendered meritorious service to the royal family, which would undoubtedly strengthen their position in Huoshi Immortal City.

Zheng Shuanggou said, "Fellow Daoists, venturing deep into the volcano is a life-threatening risk."

“Before taking action, my family urgently needs to complete the forging of that mechanism weapon!”

The other Golden Cores were slightly taken aback, then simultaneously nodded.

The Zheng family had long ago obtained a set of mechanism blueprints from the Lava Immortal Palace.

According to the blueprints, the Zheng family spent a huge price and secretly forged a mechanism weapon.

The power of this weapon was immense, and even before it was fully completed, it had already brought great benefits to the Zheng family.

Previously, in a wager between the four Golden Cores of the Zheng and Zhou families, the two Golden Core cultivators of the Zheng family entered the Night Star Silk Formation, relying on this weapon to successfully break through.

As a result, the Zhou family\'s Golden Core dual cultivators learned of this weapon.

The Zheng family proactively traded Nine Yang Yellow Ox Ointment and gained the approval of the Zhou family’s dual cultivators, who agreed to help the Zheng family complete the subsequent forging of the mechanism weapon.

However, relying solely on the Zhou family’s formation skills was not enough.

Later, the Zheng family intentionally befriended the Ning family, hoping they could provide powerful extreme-cold quenching methods to help complete the forging of this mechanism weapon.

Due to this, the Zheng and Ning families grew closer, secretly exchanging many benefits.

For example, Zheng Jian obtained the Ice Heart Talisman, and Ning Xiaohui, under the personal guidance of a Zheng family cultivator, refined the Ghost Martial technique.

As a result, the Ning Family\'s Golden Core Ancestor was also aware of this mechanism weapon and had even seen the blueprints.

“If this weapon is completed, it would indeed be of great help!” Zhou Nongying had a deep impression of the mechanism weapon.

The Ning Family\'s Golden Core Ancestor frowned secretly.

To be honest, he didn’t want to see the Zheng family wield such a powerful weapon.

In his dealings with the Zheng family’s Golden Core cultivators, he had carefully maneuvered to secure many benefits for the Ning family.

The Ning Family\'s Golden Core Ancestor’s plan was to keep the Zheng family on edge with this mechanism weapon.

However, with the upcoming exploration of Mount Huoshi, even the Ning Family’s Golden Core Ancestor felt the pressure. If the Zheng family completed this weapon, it would indeed help ensure everyone’s survival.

The Ning Family\'s Golden Core Ancestor furrowed his brow tightly, shaking his head and sighing. He explained that using extreme-cold methods would damage himself and greatly affect his combat strength.

He was unwilling to assist with quenching before the expedition into Mount Huoshi.

He preferred to find an opportunity to help the Zheng family after the journey to Mount Huoshi.

Zheng Jianlian and Zheng Shuanggou exchanged a glance, both recognizing each other\'s determination.

The Ning Family\'s Golden Core Ancestor’s refusal was within their expectations.

It didn’t matter!

The Zheng family’s dual cultivators had their own way of forcing the Ning Family’s Golden Core Ancestor to comply.

That method was—Zhu Xuanji.

The Zheng family’s dual cultivators approached Zhu Xuanji, informing him that they had changed their minds and that to enter Mount Huoshi, they needed to complete a mechanism weapon.

And this weapon required the extreme-cold methods of the Ning Family’s Golden Core Ancestor for quenching.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xuanji immediately expressed his willingness to assist.

He quickly sought out the Ning Family’s Golden Core Ancestor. After a secret conversation, the Ning Family’s Golden Core Ancestor, pressured by the royal family, had no choice but to agree.

Ning Zhuo arrived at the Patriarch’s mansion and met with the Ning Family’s Patriarch.

"Branch family member Ning Zhuo greets the Patriarch!" Ning Zhuo cupped his hands in a formal gesture, his tone neutral and distant.

The Ning Family Patriarch, however, smiled warmly and beckoned to Ning Zhuo, “Come, Xiao Zhuo, sit here. Don’t just stand.”

Ning Zhuo remained expressionless, “Patriarch, please get to the point. I still have some black market affairs to handle.”

“Haha, I know, I know you’re a busy man,” the Ning Family Patriarch chuckled a few times, his tone kindly. “The reason I called you here this time is mainly because of Ning Xiaohui.”

“You know…”

Ning Zhuo interrupted immediately, “Ning Xiaohui harmed me! Is the Patriarch here to speak on her behalf?!”

“It wasn’t a scheme, it wasn’t a scheme,” the Ning Family Patriarch quickly denied. “We’re all family, how could there be any scheming?!”

“Ning Xiaohui is just too young. At a critical moment, she couldn’t handle the pressure and made a mistake.”

The Ning Family Patriarch emphasized at the end, “It was a mistake, indeed a mistake!”

Ning Zhuo sneered coldly, “If the Patriarch sees it that way, I have nothing more to say.”

“However…”

“Do you really believe that? Or are you deceiving yourself?”

“Do the elders of the Ning family all think this way? Or do most of them think so?”

The smile on the Ning Family Patriarch’s face grew even wider. “That’s why I specifically invited you here, Xiao Zhuo, to have you clarify this matter. Any reward can be negotiated!”

Ning Zhuo was slightly surprised, and then his eyes lit up, “Oh?”

Moments later, he left the Patriarch’s study, quite satisfied.

Once Ning Zhuo was confirmed to have left, the sound of things being smashed erupted from the Patriarch’s study.

The noise continued for quite a while before gradually ceasing.

Ning Zhuo stealthily arrived at the underground base, secretly meeting with Sun Lingtong.

Sun Lingtong was overjoyed to see Ning Zhuo. He jumped up, hugged Ning Zhuo’s shoulders, and gave him a firm pat.

“Brother, you’re here!”

Although the two had met many times in the Lava Immortal Palace, their actual encounters in recent times had been few.

Sun Lingtong had been cooped up in the underground secret base all day, not meeting anyone, which had frustrated him.

Seeing his beloved younger brother, Sun Lingtong was naturally overjoyed.

But what made him even happier was that the two brothers now had the greatest spoils of this battle to examine—Ghost Cultivator Ning Xie!

Ning Xie was sealed tightly, with a dozen talismans plastered all over his body, immobilizing him completely.

“Boss, how do we deal with him? Do you have any good ideas?” Ning Zhuo asked.

Sun Lingtong shook his head, “If Qi Bai had soul-refining techniques, we would have let it refine him.”

“But now, its spirituality has dropped to fifty-six percent, making that impossible.”

Sun Lingtong sighed, looking up.

Before the battle began, Sun Lingtong had risked unlocking Qi Bai’s storage bag and used the Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Resolving Sutra to burn Qi Bai’s personal belongings, helping

the Netherworld Envoy Qi Bai regain a large amount of spirituality.

At one point, its spirituality had risen as high as ninety-two percent.

However, after the recent battle, Qi Bai’s spirituality had plummeted, dropping to fifty-six percent.

Originally, Ning Xie, possessing the Snow Soul Ice Spirit talent and being a Ghost Cultivator, would have been very suitable to be transformed into a Ghost General.

Qi Bai had previously controlled a Ghost General that had suppressed Ning Zhuo, leaving a deep impression on him.

But to restore the Netherworld Envoy Qi Bai’s soul-refining ability, it would have to pass the Spirit Resonance stage and develop strong spiritual wisdom before that could be possible.

This process would take too long!

Sun Lingtong preferred to use Ning Xie now to enhance their strength.

Ning Zhuo understood, “So, we’re going to refine him into a mechanism component?”

“Mm-hmm!” Sun Lingtong nodded repeatedly.

The Ning family wasn’t a major sect like the Soul-Devouring Sect or the No-Void Sect, so they didn’t have the means to mark their disciples’ deaths in a way that could trace back to the culprit.

This allowed Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong to deal with Ning Xie as they pleased.

Without hesitation, they opened the furnace and threw Ning Xie inside.

Then, the two of them simultaneously activated the Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Resolving Sutra, working together to ignite the furnace and grant Ning Xie true peace in death.

“It’s too hot, too hot,” Sun Lingtong said as he finished the refining process, letting the furnace cool down.

He used his small hand as a fan, fanning his flushed, sweaty face.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he took out the Netherworld Envoy Qi Bai and called for Ning Zhuo, “Xiao Zhuo, come over here.”

Qi Bai, in the recent battle, had wiped out several members of the renovation team and had used the Soul-Devouring technique multiple times.

“Boss, you go first!” Ning Zhuo quickly came to Sun Lingtong’s side.

Sun Lingtong didn’t stand on ceremony and manipulated Qi Bai, transferring a large amount of soul essence into himself.

“Ah, this feels so good!” Sun Lingtong closed his eyes in bliss, unable to contain his joy.

“Xiao Zhuo, your turn, your turn.” He absorbed half of the soul essence and then made way for Ning Zhuo.

Soon, Ning Zhuo also received the nourishment of the soul essence.

Their spiritual foundation, which had been more than a hundredfold, was now rapidly approaching the two-hundred mark!

The two of them absorbed all the soul essence, feeling immensely invigorated.

Once the furnace had fully cooled, they opened it and took out a mechanism sphere the size of a millstone.

The surface of the sphere was covered with a layer of glass, and a blue crystal strip encircled its middle like a blue belt.

There were circular blue crystals on both the top and bottom poles of the sphere.

Inside the glass, white vapor swirled, sometimes expanding and sometimes contracting.

The mechanism sphere floated in mid-air, emitting a faint chill.

Its spirituality was at thirty-six percent.

Mechanism—Weather Sphere: Ice Crystal Snow!