Chapter 162: Ning Zhuo Satisfied Them (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

A true disciple has a very high status and is quite important to a sect; they are the future high-level personnel and one of the core forces of the sect.

Immediately, an Elder pondered: "I remember this matter. Not long ago, Qi Bai took on a mission to go and spy on the Fire Persimmon Immortal City of the Nandou Kingdom. There are rumors that a mechanical Immortal Palace in the Fire Persimmon Mountain may have been born, which is the Lava Immortal Palace of the Three Sects Master from back then."

The Soul-Devouring Sect Master's gaze sank slightly: "Three Sects Master..."

"This person is not ordinary; his Void Refinement cultivation could actually shake the Body Integration level."

"He practiced the cultivation methods of the demonic, righteous, and Buddhist families, and indeed had talent. However, his later years were ominous; it seems he went into qi deviation and committed suicide."

The Sect Master thought for a while, looked at one of the sect Elders, and said: "Elder Luo, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

Elder Luo pondered: "A true disciple of our sect has fallen, we must investigate the true culprit and punish them severely! However, the Lava Immortal Palace is located in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City. If we dispatch Elder-level personnel, I'm afraid it will cause unnecessary misunderstandings."

"The old man thinks it is more appropriate to dispatch one or two capable Golden Dan cultivators and then dispatch a few Ghost Generals to protect them."

"Let's first investigate the true culprit, and then discuss and make a choice."

The Sect Master smiled: "This is the words of an experienced statesman. Then, Elder Luo, which true disciple do you think is more suitable?"

Elder Luo knew the Sect Master's intention in asking him specifically, and immediately said: "Promote the worthy without avoiding relatives; the old man recommends his nephew, Luo Shang."

"Good, then it will be Luo Shang." The Sect Master immediately ordered Luo Shang to go to the Fire Persimmon Immortal City to investigate, and dispatched a Ghost General with Nascent Soul-level combat power to protect him.

This was already the limit of operations under normal circumstances.

In a major demonic sect like the Soul-Devouring Sect, Elder personnel are at least at the Nascent Soul cultivation level. Dispatching Elder-level personnel would inevitably make the Nandou Kingdom nervous and likely trigger unnecessary fighting.

Once the misunderstanding escalates and makes the Soul-Devouring Sect provoke a behemoth like the Nandou Kingdom, that would not be good.

In the cultivation world, great power is often concentrated in one person.

A Nascent Soul-level existence can guard one side, for example, Meng Kui guarding the Fire Persimmon Immortal City. Similarly, a Nascent Soul cultivator can also invade one side.

Existences reaching this level cannot be moved lightly.

Therefore, when the Soul-Devouring Sect wanted to investigate the soul treasure reserves in the Fire Persimmon Mountain before, they only dispatched the Golden Dan true disciple Qi Bai. It wasn't that the Soul-Devouring Sect didn't have Nascent Soul levels, but under normal circumstances, dispatching Qi Bai was the most appropriate.

Now that Qi Bai is suspected to have died in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City, the Soul-Devouring Sect has a reason to dispatch a strong person to investigate.

This strong person does not have to be at the Nascent Soul stage, but must at least have Nascent Soul-level means. Therefore, dispatching a Ghost General with Nascent Soul-level combat power for protection is within the rules.

As for why the Soul-Devouring Sect, a dignified major demonic sect, would follow the rules?

The reason is simple.

Those with constant property have constant hearts.

The Soul-Devouring Sect occupies a large amount of territory and controls countless cultivation resources; with a large family and big business, they naturally have many scruples.

After receiving the order, Luo Shang immediately set off and rushed to the Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

Not long after he left, an inner disciple of the Soul-Devouring Sect quietly passed on the message.

The message went through layers of transit and finally arrived at a town.

The leader of the town then passed the message to the nearest secret sect station.

In the station, several cultivators were discussing and analyzing various intelligence.

"A true disciple of the Soul-Devouring Sect died? This is a big event!"

"The Soul-Devouring Sect has tentatively determined that he died in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City of the Nandou Kingdom."

"Isn't there a rumor over there that an Immortal Palace has been born?"

"Lava Immortal Palace? That's just one of the twelve palaces of the Three Sects Master, and it is indeed buried in the Fire Persimmon Mountain. This has been confirmed."

"Wait, in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City, aren't there disciples of our Non-Empty Gate?"

"Yes, there is one named Sun Lingtong, who manages the black market in the Fire Persimmon Immortal City and is considered well-informed. But he has not confirmed the truth of the Immortal Palace's birth, only reported some movements."

"Sun Lingtong... seems to be the only disciple of Xu Wuyan?"

"Yes. Many years ago, Elder Xu was trapped in the Lava Immortal Palace. Sun Lingtong stayed in the Immortal City, always believing that his master was not dead, but trapped in the Immortal City. The sect, considering his talent, once wanted to recruit him back, but was refused."

"Hehe, so stupid."

"I, on the other hand, think this child's character is commendable! And even if he returned to the sect, it might not be a good choice. Don't forget, that Elder Qing is Elder Xu's mortal enemy, and now has immense power in the sect."

"Stop, too much idle chatter, let's report this matter first."

"Whether it's the Soul-Devouring Sect or the Fire Persimmon Immortal City, we should dispatch sect disciples to investigate further."

A few days passed like this.

This secret station of the Non-Empty Gate had collected a lot more intelligence.

The cultivators of the Non-Empty Gate discussed again.

"Strange, the news about the birth of the Fire Persimmon Immortal City has suddenly skyrocketed recently."

"The source has been verified; it's the Meng family of the Nandou Kingdom."

"The Meng family?"

"Isn't Meng Kui, one of the four generals of the Meng family, the City Lord of the Fire Persimmon Immortal City? Why would he vigorously promote this matter?"

"Indeed very strange."

"Has the higher-ups not decided to dispatch sect elites to the Fire Persimmon Immortal City to investigate? I feel there will be an opportunity."

Just as they were saying this, a voice suddenly came: "I have already arrived."

In the secret room, a group of cultivators were shocked, scattered in a rush, and urged their magic power, with a battle on the verge of breaking out.

A female cultivator slowly revealed her figure, and she showed the identity token in her hand, only then did the cultivators lift their guard and salute one after another.

The female cultivator acted decisively and swiftly. After appearing, she asked for all the intelligence related to the Fire Persimmon Immortal City and immediately set off for the Fire Persimmon Mountain.

"It's the true disciple Yang Chanyu."

"The sect actually dispatched her!"

"Yang Chanyu is Elder Qing's beloved disciple, and this time her purpose is definitely not simple. That Sun Lingtong is going to be in trouble."

Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

Ning Zhuo checked the recent intelligence, his brows slightly furrowed: "The rumors in the city recently seem a bit off!"

Without the black market channel, his intelligence gathering mainly relied on street rumors, and the quality of intelligence had dropped by more than one level.

Even so, Ning Zhuo still felt the atmosphere was subtle: "There seem to be many more unfamiliar faces in the city recently. The business of the inns has improved. Fights and accidents frequently occur in some places. If you look back carefully, you can see that the vicinity of these places are all important areas in the Immortal City, or key buildings."

For the past few days, he had been staying in the Ning family compound, almost never stepping out. He was either diligently practicing his cultivation method or hammering away in the temporarily assembled mechanical workshop.

The Tree Martial Fighting Ape had been destroyed, and the remaining skeleton had become extremely fragile after the war because it carried the Righteous Bone Gold Firmness.

Ning Zhuo had no choice but to start from scratch to build a mechanical ape.

This time it was not as convenient as the last time; Ning Zhuo lacked many materials.

Last time he was at the Zheng family, thanks to Zheng Jian's funding, he used many precious materials to build the Tree Martial Fighting Ape.

Ning Zhuo did not have such good luck this time.

During his bitter cultivation, a messenger brought an order to assemble.

Ning Zhuo acted according to the order and met secretly with Zheng Jian and others.

"Brother Ning Zhuo, we finally meet." Zheng Jian smiled heartily and took the initiative to greet him.

Ning Zhuo not only saw Zheng Jian but also Zhou Zhu and Zhou Zeshen.

"Congratulations on your recovery!" Ning Zhuo had a smile on his face, his smile quite sincere.

Zhou Zhu did not speak, while Zhou Zeshen said: "I heard that you and Ning Xiaohui explored the Immortal Palace and ran into Meng Chong?"

Ning Xiaohui couldn't help but snort coldly.

"Ashamed." Ning Zhuo sighed faintly, a look of fear appearing on his face, "The gap between us and Meng Chong is too big; we had no power to fight back at all."

"Honestly, for the past few days, my heart has been heavy, and it's hard to be happy."

"With Meng Chong in front, how could we be his opponents?"

Zhou Zeshen nodded, his expression becoming a bit more gloomy.

Zheng Jian patted Ning Zhuo on the shoulder and encouraged him: "If we unite as one, we might not be unable to win. It's too early to talk about failure now, Brother Ning Zhuo."

Ning Zhuo managed to squeeze out a smile, looking like he was deeply discouraged after being hit: "To contend with Meng Chong, I can't do it; I can only rely on all of you!"

Ning Xiaohui snorted coldly: "Ning Zhuo, with such a character, how are you worthy of the surname Ning?"

"After failing and being humiliated, you should hold your head high, be actively motivated, and wash away the shame with battle."

"Follow behind me and watch carefully!"

Thus, in the subsequent actions, Ning Xiaohui was the first to be soul-extracted by the Nether Envoy, Qi Bai. Amidst screams, her soul was on the verge of collapse, triggering the Immortal Palace mechanism, and her soul was sent back to her physical body.

Zhou Zeshen then said: "This action is very critical; we must try our best to clear as many levels as possible and catch up with Meng Chong."

Ning Zhuo satisfied him.

In the subsequent actions, Ning Zhuo communicated with Sun Lingtong and took the initiative to let the joint team of the three families go, allowing them to reach the preparation room.

The cultivators of the three families were very shocked when they saw the leaderboard.

"Meng Chong is indeed first!"

"There are actually so many people from the City Lord's Mansion's modification team on the list."

"Unreasonable! Meng Chong must have made great progress while we were recovering from our injuries!"

"It's just as we guessed before; the City Lord's Mansion is leading by too much."

Zhou Zeshen was the second to be soul-extracted.

The attack order discussed by Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong was reasonable.

The first priority was to attack Ning Xiaohui because her talent could not only restrain various mechanisms but also freeze and treat injuries after trauma.

The second was Zhou Zeshen. This person had outstanding intelligence and was good at commanding in battle; keeping him on the battlefield for a long time was irresponsible to his own side.

"Meng Chong is so powerful, I really want to fight him personally. Even if I lose, it doesn't matter; I can just see the gap between the enemy and us, and then work twice as hard later." Zheng Jian said with anticipation.

Ning Zhuo gave him double the satisfaction for his anticipation—letting Yuan Da Sheng focus on greeting him.

"I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!" Seeing Yuan Da Sheng pounce on him, Zheng Jian's talent was triggered, warning him frantically.

Zheng Jian became the third person to be soul-devoured.

Zhou Zhu was reticent and was left for last. Ning Zhuo saw that his brain didn't seem very flexible, so he chose him as a witness to personally witness Ning Zhuo's "death in battle."